John Rooke - Thinking Out Loud
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Thinking out loud…and wondering whatever happened to ABC’s “Wide World of Sports?”
• Made it to Miller Park last weekend for the first time…and watched the Milwaukee Brewers play the Cincinnati Reds. Two takeaways – one, the park is beautiful, the prices are reasonable, the field views are mostly exceptional. Two, I don’t know how anyone stands in the box facing the Reds’ Aroldis Chapman, who topped out at 101 mph on half-a-dozen fastballs with apparent ease…like he’s tossing skee balls at the neighborhood arcade. The Brewer bats were overmatched, and he is a real force if he can locate that pitch…
• Brewer fans largely seem ready to forgive – if not totally forget – Ryan Braun and his PED misdeeds. That team, and really the entire organization, misses his presence on the field and in the community…
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST• The Rookie (aka my son, Austin Rooke) is adjusting to college life about as well as you can expect a freshman to adjust. Remember your first year in a dorm? I do. It’s been permanently branded in my frontal lobes…especially the parts including dorm food, synchronized door slams, short-sheeting beds, unhinging dormitory doors and telling the latest dirty jokes to the all-female 4th floor via the intercom system. What? You didn’t do those things? Oh, neither did I…
• In case you’re interested, he’s already on the air for the Marquette campus station WMUR, providing color for the occasional sports event and hosting a talk show Saturday’s from 1-2:30 ET called SportsSmack. Clever. And he’s got a better time slot than his old man. Follow here (@Sports_Smack) on Twitter, or here to listen www.marquetteradio.org...
• September 15th, 2013…the earliest the Yankees have been eliminated from the AL East division race in 21 years, since 1992. It felt good just saying the words “Yankees” and “eliminated” in the same sentence…
• Daniel Nava’s story of success is too unbelievable, even for Disney. Let’s start with Ripley…
• Is there anyone on the Red Sox team more deserving of the 10th Player Award than Nava? A player who has gone above and beyond expectations? From being cut by his high school team, and going from the independent leagues to a Top 10 batting average in the major leagues…Nava epitomizes what most fans have to feel about the ’13 Sox. Above and Beyond. Overachievers. Rags to riches. Worst to first…
• Let this one sink in…as of this week, Daniel Nava is batting .356 since the All-Star game in July. That’s 4th best in the big leagues. Just sayin’…
• I can come up with two other players who probably deserve this plaudit…namely Koji Uehara and John Lackey. But selecting either pitcher would be too easy. Nava has quietly gone about the business of not just doing his job, but improving on the job. C’mon. He can’t join the “Blood, Sweat and Beards” group, because he can’t grow one…
• Say what you want about Mike Napoli’s penchant for “the whiff.” He may have broken Mark Bellhorn’s ’04 record for K’s in a season, but he’s also produced more from the plate against the Yankees in a single season (7 HR’s, 20 RBI) than his predecessor, Adrian Gonzalez, managed in TWO years (5 HR’s, 21 RBI) against New York…
• Set up the playoff rotation? Would that jinx things at this stage? Lester, Buchholz, Peavy and Lackey. Clearly, Lackey needs to pitch at Fenway, no matter the opponent…
• I have absolutely zero problems with TB12 showing his emotions – and his frustration – on the field or on the sideline toward his young receivers and teammates. We’ve been asking for more demonstrative leadership from someone – anyone – on the team in the wake of Tedy Bruschi’s retirement…and now that he’s showing some of this, misguided or not, there are complaints? If you’re a highly paid CEO and your new employees aren’t getting the message, how would you handle it? Brady demands perfection, because he’s a perfectionist. Stoke the fires, Tom…
• Speaking of Bruschi – he nailed it on ESPN last week. Brady, and everyone else, needs to maintain at least “some” patience with the receiving corps. Does anyone recall 2001, when a pretty good defense picked up the slack for a young QB (Brady) at that time, until he could come along? And where did they end up that season? Uh huh…
• Nice job of counting by Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com…we’ve mentioned the relative youth the Patriots have overall this year…but did you know the Patriots have 21 1st or 2nd year players on their 53-man roster? That total is 3rd highest in the league this season, behind the St. Louis Rams and Cleveland Browns – not exactly primo playoff contenders…
• Considering the Patriots also returned 18 of 22 starters from last season, the roster make-up for 2013 is unusual, to say the least. You’ve got the old crust and the new bread…with only a little bit of meat in the middle. Doesn’t usually make for a very tasty sandwich, does it?
• Danny Amendola. Already anointed as the great tease. Anyone else wonder why someone of his apparent athletic ability just can’t seem to stay on the field? I’ve got an idea or two, and I don’t like what I’m thinking…
• He can’t be faking it, or dogging it if he’s smart. Amendola has a bonus clause in his contract that states for every game he’s on the active roster, he earns $31,250 on top of his base salary. I don’t know about you…but that kind of coin would get my butt in gear…
• Pats fans, at least you’re not Browns fans. Cleveland traded LAST YEAR’S #1 draft pick Trent Richardson (#3 overall) to Indianapolis because he doesn’t fit in with their plans to build a winner. Really? An Alabama player, who played hurt last season (with broken ribs), isn’t what you’re looking for in Cleveland? Whoa…
• Anyone doubting Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks now? It was a home game, but holding San Francisco to three points last week? That’s almost better than a shut out…kinda rubs their noses in it…
• Love this…an Orlando TV station actually ran a crawl across the bottom of the screen Sunday during their carriage of the Jacksonville-Oakland game – won by the Raiders – instead of the potentially more attractive “Manning Bowl” matchup. Or instead of any other matchup. It said “In accordance with NFL policy, WKMG must carry all Jacksonville Jaguars away games. We apologize for any inconvenience.” That’s some disclaimer…
• Speaking of the Jaguars, fans of the team (apparently, they do exist) held a rally last week at the stadium to support Tim Tebow…and “guilt” the team into signing him to play for Jacksonville. About 23 fans showed up. I wish Tebow nothing but the best, but I’m not certain I could wish THAT on him…
• We’re two weeks (and change) deep into the NFL season, and already it looks like Denver and Seattle are above everyone else. Keep this in mind, before you plan your Super Bowl parties – the season is a marathon, not a sprint. Injuries will be a factor. Superior depth, which is hard to find on most rosters, will win out…
• Since 1990, 63% of NFL teams that start a season 2-0 have reached the post-season. Just 12% of teams starting 0-2 have made the playoffs. One of those was New England, starting 0-2 in 2001…and eventually winning the Super Bowl. Patience is still a virtue…
• My buddy Statbeast sez he was impressed at the grocery store last week with a mother showing patience toward her crying little girl. “Now Ellen, we’re almost through, stop the tears and we’ll go home for a nice nap in a minute,” he heard her say. When outside the store, he told the mom he was impressed with the patience she showed little Ellen. The mom replied “my little girl’s name is Tammy. I’m Ellen…”
• Awkward, times two…no, not my junior high and high school years, but in general terms…celebrity interviews on national networks. Why do producers insist upon conducting them, and why do producers think we really care what Eminem (aka Marshall Mathers, if you didn’t know) thinks about football? ICYMI, can you think of a play-by-play announcer more ill-suited to discuss “life” with the famed rapper than Brent Musberger? Stupid is as stupid does…
• Not for nuthin’…but what does it say that we (as in New England) have three franchise owners who are ranked among the 400 richest Americans? Forbes released a list of those with the real money bags this week, with 14 NFL owners (Robert Kraft included), four NHL owners (Jeremy Jacobs is there) and just two baseball owners (including John Henry) on the roster of rich Americans. Bill Gates topped the list, again, with a net worth of $72 billion. The richest person in the sports world is Nike chairman Phil Knight – at a mere $16.3 billion…
• The image coming from the Oklahoma State campus this week of a Sports Illustrated writer being stabbed in effigy for the magazine’s expose on the athletic department? Not just disturbing. It shows how the impact of a successful football program in some parts of the country twists priorities, and minds…
• Quick – fill in the blank. __________ is the root of all evil…
• If you answered “money” is the root of all evil, go straight to the head of the class. If you answered “The NCAA,” you score well for creativity. If you answered “The NCAA’s money,” you are wise beyond your years…
• NCAA President Mark Emmert spoke at Marquette this week and said the “amateur” status of student-athletes would not change, despite a growing sentiment toward making these student-athletes “employees.” In other words – paying them. Emmert said he recognized a tension growing between the “collegiate model and the commercial model, as he put it…and by the way, it’s nothing new.” Gee, thanks. Brilliant…
• What should happen – NCAA membership votes on paying athletes a stipend to cover out-of-pocket costs as early as next summer at a “constitutional” convention. All 350+ NCAA members would participate. What could happen – approximately 60+ big-time football schools will decide they no longer wish to be governed by an organization that does not look after their best interests. And form their own governing body…their own set of rules…their own championships…their own March Madness…
• Rather than turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the problems facing intercollegiate athletics (see “Football, Johnny” at Texas A&M), ideas and forward thinking are sorely needed from the NCAA. Video game and athletic jersey revenue needs to be shared…and it will be, eventually. If the NCAA doesn’t decide an equitable distribution system, the courts will. Football – big time football – needs to operate under its own set of rules, while protecting the basketball tournament for everyone. And fix the transfer mess. How can some players transfer to play right away, and others not qualify under the same guidelines? It’s maddening. The NCAA must address and repair these issues promptly. The tick-tock you hear isn’t an alarm clock…
• Saddened to learn of the passing of former Syracuse athletic administrator Rob Edson last Saturday of a heart attack at age 45. Rob’s wife Sue runs the media relations/sports information office at Syracuse, and Rob had been the athletic director at Onondaga Community College and a former athletic administrator at SU. He was very good friends with Buffalo Bills head coach (and former Orange coach) Doug Marrone. If you saw Marrone break down on the podium following his first NFL win last Sunday, now you know why. They have two children, Thomas, 14 and Tracey, 11…
• If you’re one of those who think the Patriots should go and get another receiver – any receiver – you can strike Brandon Lloyd from the list. While the former wideout has already indicated he no longer is interested in playing…he’s now also got something else on his plate. He’s acting. In a movie. As a zombie-fighter…
• I know the Bruins almost won the Stanley Cup last season. But pre-season hockey? Might be worse than pre-season football. Meaningless. An exercise in, well, exercise. Wake me when it’s April…
• Or wake me when John Tortorella decides to go off on the Canadian media. He thought he could escape the glare of New York in Vancouver?
• Who knew? Former coach and current Pac-12 football analyst Rick Neuheisel, who I know from his days as a young QB in the old USFL in San Antonio, is a pretty darn good singer. He proved that recently on the Dan Patrick Show, singing a little ditty – not about Jack and Diane – but about Johnny Football…
• CBS college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg will no longer be working courtside along with Jim Nantz next season, as the network has moved him into the studio. Former UNLV and NBA guard Greg Anthony moves from the studio to the floor with Nantz for the upcoming year. Why – when Kellogg (by most accounts) has done a solid job since replacing Billy Packer in 2008? The network says they’re playing to their strengths. I say they’re paying to their strengths…
• Speaking of payments, or the lack thereof…have you heard the stories in Connecticut, where former UConn star Tate George (1990 last-second shot to beat Clemson in the NCAA’s) is accused of wire fraud? Included in the $2 million he’s accused of stealing is $250K from another former UConn star Charlie Villanueva…for a failed project in Bridgeport. And in a strange twist, former Friar Marques Bragg, brought in to defend George, ended up dealing a body blow – maybe worse than he ever did on the court…
• Seton Hall’s pickup of a commitment from Brooklyn guard Isaiah Whitehead, ranked #35 in the ESPN Top 100 for 2014, isn’t just a big get for Kevin Willard. It might be a career-saver. The Pirates are players in the new Big East, even if they struggle this year. A good sign for the league…
• Tweet of the Week I – from @SportsCenter: “Crazy stat of the day. Rangers-Rays drew 10.7K fans in a key AL Wild Card game. Devils-NY Rangers drew 11.9K for a preseason game…”
• Tweet of the Week II – from @OMGFacts: “The first archaeological evidence of soup comes from 6000 B.C. and its primary ingredient was hippopotamus…” What?!? It wasn’t turtle or duck?
• Big time…I’ve heard of sponsorships for just about everything. But this “sponsorship” just about takes the cake donut. Or the beer. Look closely. The authenticity of the real thing is, well, real. Bravo…
• If you think the college shopping spree for new conference homes is over…it actually might get a kick start after the ACC and Maryland hook up in a North Carolina courtroom next week. The issue – the ACC is hoping to force the Terps to cough up their $52 million exit fee before departing for the Big 10. If Maryland wins this, it ain’t over til’ it’s over…
• Tweet of the Week III – from ESPN PR chief, Mike Soltys (@espnmikes): “It’s been a fun month. ESPN viewership is up 13% since Aug. 17.” August 17, in case you don’t recall, was the launch date for Fox Sports 1. This could get chippy…
• Specifically, why are ESPN’s numbers up? C’mon. Think hard about it. Could it be…the foot-ball? Of course it could. Fox can’t offer more than just a few college games at present, while ESPN rules the roost for pigskin. Football gets ratings. Which is why ESPN seems like an all-football network every time I turn it on. While the early returns on FS1’s programming largely leaves me unimpressed, let’s see what happens when hoops kick in, and FS1 reaches a more level playing field with the pigskin protectors…
• Let me say this right off the bat, literally…I really enjoy Don Orsillo on NESN Red Sox broadcasts. He does his homework, he knows the game, and he injects personality into the product. He works well with Dennis Eckersley, who continues to be insightful and witty filling in for Jerry Remy. But I cringe every time Don tosses “downstairs” to Jenny Dell for some inane poll which has absolutely NOTHING to do with the game being played. I mean, do you actually care who has the best beard on the team? Gimme the game. Just the game. And just win, baby…
• Although I did like the idea of the “Dollar beard night” promotion at Fenway Park this week. Wait, the Red Sox had a promotion? I thought the game itself was the promotion?
• Brown is doing something very cool on October 5th…at halftime of the Brown-URI football game they will host “RI Legends Day,” with Bill Almon, David Emma, Mark van Eeghan, Brad Faxon, Nancy Chaffee, Anna Grzebian, PC coach and 2-time Central all-stater Ed Cooley and former Friars Ernie DiGregorio, Joe Hassett and Sara DeCosta Hayes among those scheduled to be in attendance and recognized…
• Speaking of the Friars…this should address the issue of students showing – or not showing – up to the Dunk this season. The ticket office has a deal for students, a $99 season ticket…which is great on its own. But if students show up for EVERY game, not including games over the semester break…they get their money back. Can’t do much better than that…
• Another sign we’re getting older…former heavyweight boxing champ Ken Norton, Sr. passed away this week at age 70. He had suffered from poor health the past few years, but will most likely be remembered for breaking Muhammad Ali’s jaw to win a split decision in 1973. On free, live TV on a Saturday afternoon during ABC’s Wide World of Sports. Ali won a split decision against Norton in the rematch, and then Ali won a 3rd bout between them in 1976, at Yankee Stadium, to keep his heavyweight title…
• Wow, I had forgotten that. Free, live TV…on a Saturday afternoon…watching a heavyweight boxing match on Wide World of Sports. We didn’t have it so bad back then, did we? We didn’t know any better…
• ABC’s Wide World of Sports, with the introductory words spoken by the late, legendary host Jim McKay – “the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat” – ran from 1961 through 1998 primarily on Saturday afternoons as a weekly sports anthology series, and continued to 2006 for special events. It spawned a few TV spin-offs (remember “The Superstars” in the ‘70’s?)…but ran out of steam, and programming, as cable TV ended up offering more outlets for the relatively obscure sports WWOS was famous for showing. WWOS started televising the Little League World Series…the NCAA men’s basketball championship (in 1961)…and who can forget Mexican cliff diving?
• From the mailbag this week – @BrianCarlos1 from East Providence writes via Twitter: “Do you think the Friars will ever get an on campus arena for basketball?” @Brian: As good as that might sound, it just won’t happen. Where would you build it? There’s just no room, especially with the recent additions to the campus footprint…and the addition of a basketball-only facility now officially on the drawing board for the program. But, never say never. Joe Hassett has always told me that if he wins the lottery, the “Hassett Dome” is going up…
• Interested in having your questions on local RI sports (including the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Send ‘em to me! It’s your chance to “think out loud,” so send your questions and comments to [email protected]. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Follow me on Twitter, @JRbroadcaster…and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke ...
• Don’t forget to join us for GoLocal Sports on 103.7 FM, every Saturday from 7:00-9:00 am! Call in (401) 737-1287, or text us at 37937…and send email to the show - [email protected] .
• The recently released “Rhode Island Radio” from Arcadia Publishing is available for sale, and the book tells the story of the 91-year history of radio in our state through photographs, clippings and memories from many of the personalities who have graced our airwaves. If you’re in search of the gift that says “Rhode Island,” you’ve found it. Or, find it in local bookstores and online right here…
