Why it pays to live near Canada

The Olympics start next Friday and I was just checking out TV listings and noticed something interesting..

Living 18 miles south of Canada, I get a few Canadian networks on TV.

NBC is showing the opening ceremony next Friday at 8 p.m. By that time it will have aired TWICE on Canadian TV, which is showing it live at 7 a.m. and re-airing it again at 6 p.m.

This is typical however. I remember watching Nancy and Tonya skate about 12 hours before CBS aired it in 1994..one of the RARE times I actually watched skating on TV, just wanted to see if someone would be whacked again.

Hall of Fame Weekend

Tomorrow is induction day for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown NY.
The two main inductees this year are relief pitcher Rich Gossage and manager Dick Williams.
Williams managed the Boston Red Sox, Oakland A's, California Angels, Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners, finishing with a record of 1,571-1,451.
He managed the 1967 AL champion Boston Red Sox and won World Series titles with the A's in 1972 and 73 and then led the San Diego Padres to their first World Series in 1984. He also was a key part of the Montreal Expos turnaround, even though he was not there when the team finally won a division title in 1981.
He's also the answer to a trivia question. The manager of the defending league champion gets to manage the All-Star Game the following season. Most would assume Mike Scioscia was the first Angel All-Star manager in 2003, after his team won the 2002 World Series. But Williams left the A's after the 73 season and managed the Angels in 1974, so he got to manage that All-Star game in an Angel uniform.
Gossage played for the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Oakland A's and Seattle Mariners in his career (it's almost worth a four-hour drive down to Cooperstown just to see how they fit all those teams on his plaque!). He finished with 310 career saves and may be the last old-school reliever to make the hall. By old-school I refer to relief pitchers who actually came into the game when there were potential tying or go-ahead runs on base as early as the seventh inning!

Olympics will ruin baseball, before killing it!

It's already known that baseball and softball are being wiped out of the Olympics after the current games end next month.
Here's the latest in Olympic-baseball stupidity courtesy of an LA Times blog:
Extra innings during Beijing Olympic baseball games will have something extra.

The rules will stay the same for the first 10 innings, but if a contest stretches into an 11th inning, each team would begin its next at-bat with runners on first and second. Managers also will be allowed to start the 11th at any point in their batting order.

Here's how it would work, according to the Associated Press: A manager who chooses to lead off the 11th with the club's No. 3 hitter would have to put the No. 1 batter on second base and the No. 2 hitter on first. If there's a 12th inning, it would begin wherever the previous lineup left off -- again with two batters on base and one at the plate.

The changes announced Friday by the International Baseball Federation will go into effect in time for the Beijing Games that begin on Aug. 8.

The changes were made to save time, said federation President Harvey Schiller: "We must demonstrate to the International Olympic Committee [that] not only does our game belong alongside the other great sports of the world, but our sport is manageable from a television and operational standpoint.”

AP reports that USA Baseball executive director Paul Seiler initially opposed the change, but he gradually came around.

"The traditionalist in me says, 'no way,' " Seiler said. "But you know, in the Olympics, where you have [a] finite amount of time to get your program finished [and] the early game goes 15, 16, 17 innings, then what does that do? Television is affected, transportation is affected — a lot of logistical things that we don’t have to worry about on a Friday night in Durham. It’s a domino" effect.

Tale of two football players

Two football players found out they won't be playing in the NFL this season for different reasons.
Caleb Campbell, a recent graduate of West Point, was told he could try out for the Detroit Lions, who drafted him in the 7th round, only to find out the day before training camp opened that someone on capital hill had demanded he instead honor his 2-year service commitment.
Muhammad Abdulqaadir, a running back from Southern Illinois who had 21 touchdowns this year, has not been offered any NFL tryouts. The reason for this is believed to be that his father, Mujahid Abdulqaadir Menepta, is currently in jail on terrorist charges and is accused of having something to do with 9/11.
Not really sure what to say on either case. I do think policy was changed at the last minute for Campbell, but I also think if you go to a military academy you owe it to your country and the taxpayers who paid your college tuition, to do your service.
As for Abdulqaadir..He is estranged from his father, for obvious reasons, and I'm not sure why you'd punish a son for a sin of his father. I guess it's good Fidel Castro didn't have a son named Stu who tried out for major league baseball in the 60s.

Brother can you spare 25 million?

Angels reliever Francisco Rodriguez seems poised to obliterate the saves record of 57 set by Bobby Thigpen in 1990. Rodriguez has 42 saves with 61 games remaining in the season.
But the big news around K-Rod, as he is nicknamed, and which I'll use because I'm tired of typing 'Rodriquez' is his plan to file for free agency after the season ends, hoping he'll get a $25 million a year deal.
First thought: I don't blame K-Rod for being upset with the Angels. He was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying he won't negotiate with the team during the season because they had six-plus years to work something out with him and didn't. (For those of you unfamiliar, baseball players have to be in the league x number of years before they can become a free agent, so early in their careers they are at the mercy of their team or arbitration hearings to get a better payday). The Angels have messed with K-Rod in the past. They took him to arbitration last year and won, only having to pay him $10 million this season instead of $12. One wonders if it might have been better to just pay the extra $2 million and keep somewhat of a good relationship with a 26-year old phenom. Also, back in 2002, the team voted to give him less than a 100-percent share of the world championship money, even though he was arguably one of the two or three most important reasons why the team won the title! The rational was that he only joined the team a few weeks before the playoffs, which is true.
That said, I don't think K-Rod will be an Angel next year. The above paragraph is reason enough why he'll leave the franchise and I don't see the Angels shelling out $25 million for any player!
Will that kill the Angels? Absolutely not.
Relievers have short shelf-lives nowdays. Remember Eric Gagne? The Mariano Riveras who are stars for a decade or more are few and far between.
No one doubts he is having a great season this year, but he still has two or three blown saves, despite his 42 saves and his WHIP (Walks, plus hits divided by innings pitched) is 1.235. That means he gets the job done, but makes the manager or fans (like this one) very nervous in the process.
So who could be the Angels next closer if K-Rod leaves? There are two options on the current roster. Setup man Jose Arredondo, 24, has a 4-0 record this year with a 1.33 ERA and has a 1.00 WHIP. Another option, though MUCH more risky, is to use 32-year old Kelvim Escobar, a starting pitcher who has missed all of this season with injury. Nobody knows how healthy he'll be next year, but the Angels don't need another starting pitcher and Escobar did record 38 saves for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2002.
If I was the Angels I'd sneak Arredondo into a few save situations late in the season on days when K-Rod could use a rest. Get him some experience in the pressure situation and be prepared for the possibility that he may be the future.

I'm back with changes

This blog has returned, but it will be different than the one which was here prior. It will consist of my opinions and other assorted things on the world of sports with some 'other' activities included from time to time. There will be less about my personal life or the antics of friends involved.
For those who read a few facts about me. I grew up in Southern California, Manhattan Beach to be precise. I have worked as a sportswriter for the Watertown Daily Times in upstate New York since late 1993 and my main beat is the Clarkson University men's hockey team.
I should also include teams I like so any biases I may have can be known, although I think I can be fair even if I write about a team I like or dislike.
Baseball: Los Angeles Angels
Basketball: Pro - Los Angeles Lakers; Colleges - University of Arizona and USC
Football: Pro - Oakland Raiders; Colleges - USC and University of Arizona (note: USC football is something I've loved since I was eight years old!)
Hockey: Los Angeles Kings (can you guys win something just ONCE!?)