John Rooke - Thinking Out Loud
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Thinking out loud…and wondering how I can play my way into the mahjong match next door…
• A friend of mine asked me what my “walk up” song would be if I had one. You know, the tunes played in ballparks as baseball players step from the on-deck circle to the batters’ box? Great question. I think “Tom Sawyer” by Rush would be solid, especially since Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” is taken. Or Flo Rida’s “5, 4, 3, 2, 1…”
• I realize you can’t have an “open season” on someone like A-Fraud, hence the suspension by MLB on Ryan Dempster, but he’s made a mockery of baseball. Alex Rodriguez deserves every pitch thrown his way high and tight…
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST• Now that we’ve had some time to consider the ramifications…I still don’t mind Dempster’s plunking A-Roid. I know what the end result was. I know that every game – every at-bat, every pitch – counts for something from here on out. I know the Red Sox are in a tight squeeze for the AL East flag and the playoffs. But I also know that sometimes there are bigger pictures involved, and even if Dempster says he didn’t purposely try to hit Rodriguez (wink, wink), the message he sent was a loud one. And it’s the same message I gave here a couple of weeks ago. Get out…now…
• The “standing O” Dempster received walking off the field – even though he stunk at his job last Sunday night – says volumes. So does the fact he didn’t appeal the suspension…
• As a fan, I can certainly live with the five game suspension. He doesn’t even really miss a start, he just skips one. And a $2500 fine? Worth every penny. Shoot, can we make it 10 games? Just sayin’…
• And David Ortiz should just keep his mouth shut on the subject. We know he’s friends with A-Rod, but Dempster is his teammate. Whether you agree or disagree with him is not the point. Support isn’t an option, it’s mandatory. It’s like your mother once told you – if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all…
• Better late than never…since his recall from Pawtucket, Will Middlebrooks is hitting better than .400. And I darn near caught his homerun ball in left field at AT&T Park in San Francisco last Wednesday. Dude two rows above me made a great grab. Seriously, I was ready to sacrifice the refreshments, too…
• Not for nuthin’…but Red Sox Nation was out in full force in the Bay Area this past week. I had the chance to sample it myself…
• AT&T Park has it all over EVERYONE else in the stadium food department. My choice of cuisine (haute cuisine, indeed) was the Jerk chicken nachos and an ice cold adult beverage as an accompaniment. And they piled on the peppers, onions and salsa, with a huge portion of chicken. Love when they do that. Hint to proprietors everywhere – it’s the little extras that will keep me coming back for more…
• Can someone please explain exactly WHY John Farrell decided to bring in a pitcher fresh from Pawtucket (Brayan Villareal) with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth last Tuesday night in San Francisco? Isn’t this guy supposed to know pitching? And four straight balls? I could throw one down the middle for someone to hit. Really…
• Brayan Villareal? There’s not a better choice in the bullpen to make?
• He’s been retired from baseball for more than 30 years…but the Spaceman is still amazing everyone, it seems. Bill Lee is now 66 years old, and just three years ago managed to pitch 5.1 innings for the Brockton Rox to get a win. He pitched a complete game for the San Rafael Pacifics last summer…and this year? He returned to the Pacifics and played all nine positions in a single game. On Senior Citizens’ Day, no less…
• Some initial impressions on Fox Sports 1…first of all, it’s tough to compare a fledgling network to a product that had a 30+ year head start (ESPN). So, I’m willing to cut them some slack. But Fox Sports Live is trying too hard to be funny…and they really love the color “blue.” Plus, the information on the screen – while it does stand out (logos, photos, etc.), it’s just way too much to comprehend. TMI. Information overload…
• Perhaps the producers at FS 1 should keep in mind a simple journalistic principle – KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid…
• Danny Amendola missed practice? Missed the game this week? Ruh roh…
• Actually, the standard-bearing theme for the pre-season insists that the 3rd game is usually the one where teams put their best feet forward. In other words, a real dress-rehearsal for the regular season. Then Detroit puts a 40-9 spanking on your heroes. Without Amendola, Vince Wilfork and Jerod Mayo in the lineup against the Lions, how much of a dress rehearsal was it in reality? Better hope it was just a blip on the radar screen…
• Turnovers kill. That is all…
• I have no problems with Robert Kraft “suggesting” to TB12 that he wear the brace on his left leg last week against Tampa Bay. Hey, the man is simply protecting his investment…
• Whoa…TB12, as we know, is capable of great things on the football field. As a result, his intake of more than $38 million last year (according to Forbes) shouldn’t come as a complete surprise. However, he’s not the highest earning employee in his own household. Forbes says his wife, Giselle Bundchen, earned $42 million – which was down $3 million from last year. Guess that makes Tom Terrific the slacker at his home…
• But he was no slacker when he had the chance to visit with the current players at his alma mater this week. Need a pep talk? Here you go…
• Brady should have given that pep talk to his offensive line before Thursday’s game in Detroit. The Lions flat-out whipped the Pats on the line of scrimmage…
• Nine first half New England possessions and just three points scored. Three fumbles. A pick. Not really the way you want your dress rehearsal to go, is it?
• I know the first roster cut down for the Patriots comes up Tuesday…but Tim Tebow will not be visiting The Turk to turn in his playbook. Not yet, anyway…
• Not a good start to Butler’s Big East future…after losing head coach Brad Stevens to the Celtics this off-season, the Bulldogs have also lost 6-4 forward Roosevelt Jones to torn wrist ligaments that will sideline him for the entire upcoming season. Jones averaged 10.5 points and better than five rebounds per game last season…
• Pre-season #1? That’s the national ranking of the PC women’s Cross Country team, heading into the fall, by Track and Field News. Two runners, seniors Emily Sisson and Sarah Mary Collins, are both ranked in the individual Top 10. Ray Treacy’s team finished second nationally last year. And the College is finally building his program an actual track to run on…
• Tweet of the Week I – from @CoachBobWalsh: “Mental toughness and unselfish play really get tested at a lunch for two when 5 crab and macadamia wontons show up as an appetizer…”
• Sayonara, Dice-K…Daisuke Matsuzaka asked for, and received, his release from the Cleveland Indians this past week. He didn’t pitch an inning at the major league level for them this season, and was a mere 5-8 at Triple A Columbus, before a desperation pick-up by the New York Mets. Guess that gyro-ball needs a tune up…
• On the other hand…no tune up needed for Ichiro Suzuki, who hit the 4000 career base hit mark this week – between his two professional leagues (Japan and MLB). Significant, nevertheless, as he, Pete Rose and Ty Cobb are the only players to accomplish the feat. One question, though…he’s spent 13 seasons playing here, making money over here…and he still has to speak through an interpreter? Dude, learn the language. You can afford it…
• And you just knew Rose had to put in his two cents here. Rose said this week if Ichiro’s Japanese hits count in his total, then we should add 427 minor leagues hits to Rose’s totals…because he was a professional then, too. Just not a major leaguer. He has a point. And where is Julio Franco in this discussion? He has 4232 career hits in MLB, the minors, Mexico, Japan, winter ball and Korea…
• Did you hear this week that former Philadelphia QB-turned-ESPN-commentator Ron “Jaws” Jaworski called the 49ers Colin Kaepernick potentially “one of the greatest quarterbacks ever?” To this I would say…fine. But is he Joe Montana or Tom Brady good, or is he Dan Marino good? The greatest players find a way to win…
• So while the Johnny Manziel saga continues to unfold over whether he was paid for autographs, or whether he signed thousands out of the goodness of his heart…the first freshman to ever win a Heisman now has a different obstacle to overcome – respect. The head coaches in the SEC didn’t even vote him in as the pre-season first team QB in his own league…
• I know there are a lot of people who take fantasy football very seriously. But there are some who do not (myself included), so I’m wondering what your thoughts might be on some of the “draft-killers” apparently out there in fantasyland?
• You want dirty? ESPN had been (emphasis on the word “had”) working on an investigative project with the PBS investigative series “Frontline” on head injuries and concussions in the NFL. All of a sudden this week, ESPN pulled out of the project. Why? According to the New York Times, two sources indicate the more than $1 billion annually paid to ESPN by the NFL was used as leverage. In other words – thou shalt not air our dirty laundry…if ya’ want the payments to keep coming…
• Sad to hear Dean “The Dream” Meminger, who was a part of some of the great Al McGuire-coached Marquette teams of the early ‘70’s, and also on the last Knicks’ title team in ’73, was found dead in a NY hotel room this week from a cocaine overdose…
• The story this week on the three Oklahoma teenagers who randomly shot and killed an Australian baseball player because they were “bored” is as shocking and appalling as it comes these days. While those three cretins should certainly pay the ultimate price for their decisions, shouldn’t there be some sort of ramification for the process of how they arrived at this decision in the first place? In other words…who or what is to blame for their not being able to process the consequences of their actions?
• How about some good news? Great to hear the one-and-only Vin Scully, the legendary Dodgers broadcaster, is coming back to the microphone for another year – his 65th in Major League Baseball. The man simply tells stories every bit as good as your grandfather could. Only your granddad doesn’t have his vocal chords…
• Tweet of the Week II – from Football Outsiders editor @FO_ScottKascmar: “Fact reminder: the last 7 Super Bowl champions played the NFC East and Patriots in the reg. season. Only 2013 team w/that schedule: #Broncos”
• You’re going to flip for this one…a Washington State cheerleader hits a trick shot, with a twist…
• Or maybe you’ll flip out over this one…why we should all be worried about our educational system, as some Alabama high school cheerleaders proudly display their, um, school spirit…
• As part of the westward trek to catch the Sox play the Giants this week, I also did some white water rafting down the south fork of the American River in northern California. An absolute blast. I won’t say the water was cold – but imagine a New Years’ Day Penguin Plunge in the Atlantic Ocean. Yes, it was that cold. But it was also exhilarating, and the views – breathtaking…
• My buddy Statbeast sez it gets so cold where he lives, the politicians actually have their hands in their own pockets…
• Our friend Kevin McNamara (@KevinMcNamara33) tweeted this week that a possible opening on the Bryant basketball coaching staff could be filled by former URI and BC coach Al Skinner. If it happens, it would be a huge get for the Bulldogs’ program, with former Skinner protégé Tim O’Shea benefitting from Skinner’s experience. And so would O’Shea’s players…
• A prediction – Abdul Malik Abu and Jared Terrell to PC. Pascal Chukwu, too. Criticize and deride if you must…dismiss it outright, fine. But the vibes (and the talk) still lean that way…
• Congrats to former Friar and St. Raphael alum Jeff Xavier…who just signed a new deal to play in Burgos, Spain for a 5th season…
• Ben Affleck as Batman?
• Kids, get out of town now. While you can. I’m leaving the door open for you…
• Who knew? I never knew mahjong was so popular. Similar to the western card game of rummy, there are mahjong “matches” at almost every street corner in and around Chinatown in San Francisco…drawing huge crowds at times…and there’s a 24-hour, never-ending game going on in the house next door to where I was staying in Sacramento this week. Wanna solve a budget crisis? Where are the tax collectors when you need them?
• From the mailbag this week – Rose in San Francisco, CA writes via email: “What are your thoughts on the new instant replay rules for baseball? I think they may be a huge pain in the ***.” Rose: Well put. I too, share your concern for replays. Baseball just can’t seem to get out of the way of its own stupidity. We don’t need longer games, we need shorter games, we need to create more interest from younger viewers, not drive them away from boredom. This being said, we do have the technology, so it should be used to some extent. But this idea of managerial “challenges?” Please. Next thing you know, managers will be throwing flags out onto the field…
• 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…
