BOSTON IRISH: April 2011

Friday, April 29, 2011

Scott, Obama and the big fat Elephant in the room

Watching Orioles ‘slugger’ Luke Scott chase down a fly ball in the outfield against the Red Sox earlier this week, with all the grace of a learning disabled elephant with a really bad foot injury, was fun.

Slightly less fun is the general reaction to his comments about President Obama

For those of you who missed it, Scott has aligned himself with those simple folk who don’t think President Obama is, you know, American.

This in spite the fact that the whole interview process for the Presidents job is reasonably thorough. You would imagine they probably do a little research into a person’s background. Well, apart from George Bush junior of course, who managed to get the job despite having an IQ of twelve, and a background of both alcohol and minor drug abuse. The fact of the matter is though, Obama is probably American. They probably checked that.

Luke Scott doesn’t believe this though.

It is his ardent belief that Obama is not American (no, seriously) and he has been very eager to reiterate his beliefs. When asked if he felt bad about what he said, Scott replied ‘’I felt tremendous about what I said, and I was proud of it’’.

You know what, this gun loving, right wing, racist (check out his comments on a black team mate who he thinks is an ‘animal’ or his love for throwing banana chips into a Dominican team mates batting helmet) idiot is not my concern. Scott is a simple minded, un-educated moron, who society adores because he is an ‘athlete’. He gets to spout out these hateful, poorly thought out and completely un-researched comments and the media repeat it to us on the glorious shark feeding fest that is the Internet.

What bothers me is the tepid reaction to his comments.

Whatever you think about Obama, whatever you think about his policies, his dress sense or his ball skills, he is still the President of the United States, and should be afforded the respect due an office of that stature. Amazingly people like Scott are not only being given air time with these hair brained conspiracy theories, they are being commended and defended for ‘speaking their minds’. Thankfully the Baltimore Orioles have officially distanced themselves from Scott’s asinine quotes, however last night Rick Dempsey, the Orioles commentator, spoke highly of Scott, who he particularly singled out as a ‘very religious’ man.

Rick, Adolf Hitler was a ‘very religious man’. Doesn’t mean he should be winning any ‘person of the week’ awards any time soon.

Let’s cut to the chase here. It’s pretty clear that people like Scott are getting away with this because Obama is black. You know it, I know it, heck even Fox News knows it. It’s the 5,000 lb elephant in the room that no one is commenting on. How is it so obvious? Imagine this scenario.

Imagine this for one second, and then tell me honestly, without flinching, that what I am suggesting isn’t true.

Imagine John McCain was president. Imagine Randy Moss launched a long, boring and stupid rant to the media that it was his belief that the President was not actually American. Can you imagine the uproar? Moss would be fined, villanized and would probably end up the subject of at least a few death threats.

Instead we get some borderline senile old Orioles commentator sycophantically praising Scott as a ‘deeply religious man’?

Am I missing something here? How on earth is this being accepted?

Last night Scott hit a home run off Red Sox starter Josh Beckett. He flipped his bat and showboated around the bases like a clown. Beckett screamed at him lustily and you worried for Scott's well-being come his next at bat. Rick Dempsey said he would understand if Beckett 'plunked' him. The Internet forums and message boards were awash with people saying they thought Scott was an idiot for acting like that.

All that for show-boating during a game.

The same guy can basically make incredibly ugly, hateful and yes, treasonous comments and he gets commended for it?

You don’t have to be one of those deeply religious people to know, this just isn’t right.

''Now watch this three..''

Linkage

Comments
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Friday, April 22, 2011

England backs itself to win Rugby World Cup. No, seriously.

File this under ‘hard to believe it is actually happening’. Where to even start? This will be met with particular incredulity in the United States, where ‘the Feds’ are literally arresting dozens of people involved in the gambling industry. We will get into that another time, but while that’s going on, the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) has actually placed bets on England to reach the late-knockout stages of the forthcoming Rugby World Cup.

They are doing this in order to be able to afford the bonus pay-outs to team and staff that would kick-in if England gets that far (semi final or further). The RFU has reportedly placed £250,000 on ‘their boys’ to do the job.

You read all of the above correctly, a sporting body is placing wagers with bookmakers on the progress of their national team in one of the biggest sporting tournaments in the World.

No, seriously.

And no one is batting an eye lid.

This is basically akin to Roger Goodell turning up at a bookmaker with a suitcase of NFL cash-money, dropping it on a table and saying ‘Put this all on the Patriots to win the Superbowl next year, we need to cover our administration costs’. Don’t laugh! It’s really not that far off a comparison.

England are currently 9/1 to win the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Those who saw them get absolutely hammered in Dublin just a few weeks ago might be thinking, they may as well be 90/1. They are 10/3 to make the final itself, and around even money, depending who you bet with.

The RFU incredibly arrogant at the best of times, is trying to pawn this all off as ‘buying insurance’, based on their belief that England are pre-determined to make the late stages of the tournament.

No word how much the English cricket board had on themselves to win that tournament..

One major problem and one potentially hilarious pay-off involved here.

First of all, on a serious note, what kind of a ridiculously poor precedent does this set for England’s rugby players? If the RFU, the governing body of their sport, is placing wagers, why shouldn’t Joe Punter, Joe Soap, Johnny Rugby-player, be entitled to bet on his sport too? What’s to stop Player A of the Leicester Tigers, confident that his team are going to win and wishing to fund his country side manor lifestyle, placing a wager on his team destroying the opposition that game-day?

How do you tell him what he is doing is wrong, when the RFU is doing the same, multiplied by a quarter of a million, literally!

The pay-off? The potential for the RFU to lose their bet.

We all saw England take an absolute tonking in Dublin, subsequently followed by the cream of English rugby, Leicester, getting unceremoniously dumped out of the Heineken Cup by Leinster a few weeks later. The RFU may be the last to admit it, but English rugby is in no great shape right now. It is incredibly arrogant of them to place bets on themselves to make it deep into the tournament, particularly when they were so roundly beaten off the Dublin pitch not so long ago.

''Tonking'' - To take a severe beating

There is no way the Sports Karma Gods are going to let them away with this, no sir.

File this information away, and have a little chortle to yourself when England are beaten in the quarter finals. You may as well, the Sports Karma Gods will be having a chuckle too.

One more, just for giggles..

Linkage

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Kobe doin' cursin'

Last week, Manchester United superstar Wayne Rooney cursed a blue streak at an innocent television camera, instantly launching the cursing careers of millions of children. ‘‘Mum, Dad, **** you!!’’ A couple of nights ago, NBA superstar Kobe Bryant dusted off and used one of the uglier, more ignorant and stupid homophobic slur words available and threw it at an official.

Fascinatingly, in one case, the perpetrator was suspended. In the other, he was fined about a billionth of his weekly salary. NBA head honcho David Stern called the Bryant incident ‘Offensive and inexcusable’ If that’s the case, why didn’t he do something tangible about it? Fining Kobe Bryant $100,000 is like someone in work fining me $5 for cursing in the coffee room. Fining him that amount means absolutely nothing in real world terms. In basically letting Bryant away with his incredibly arrogant, stupid and ignorant slur, the NBA has shown that no, really, it doesn’t care.

Kobe has come out with a bland, timid statement saying his use of the word does not reflect his feelings on the gay and lesbian community. No word on if there’s any change on his attitude to women, but, we have a fairly good idea how he feels about them already.

If you are sitting there thinking to yourself, ‘Hey, give Kobe a break, everyone curses in the NBA’ well forget about it. The NBA has gone to great lengths to cut down on any sort of disrespect shown towards their officials. Quite literally, if you look at an NBA official wrong, you get ‘T-d up’, as they say. You are assessed a technical foul.

Furthermore, Kobe is a superstar, and with that comes great responsibility. We all know this, it barely warrants repeating. Everyone knows millions of children idolize Bryant, and you can bet plenty of kids went home and asked Mom and Dad these last few days, ‘Mum, Dad, what’s a f*****?’

All of that makes the NBA’s decision to slap Kobe gently on the wrist with such a pathetic penalty all the more confusing. What exactly were they trying to achieve here? The incredibly low fine, and lack of suspension, is an insult to the gay community and makes a mockery of the completely pointless ‘NBA cares’ (in the community) mantra. If the NBA really cared, Kobe Bryant would be riding the pine on a lengthy suspension, including the playoffs. The fact of the matter is, the NBA only cares about money, hence the pathetic, meaningless and completely hollow penalty.

When all is said and done, how can anyone be surprised at this? Bryant has shown in the past a remarkable ability to slither his way out of trouble, and this appears to be just another one of those situations.

NBA Cares? As Wayne Rooney would say, **** that!

Linkage

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Feeling sorry for Rory? Not so much

Massive disclaimer. I am no big golf fan. This writer got all riled up when the American crowd disrespected the European players at the Ryder Cup a while back, and also enjoyed Padraig Harrington’s brief flirtation with sporting immortality. However other than that, he can take it or leave it.

However, show me a great sporting event, and other than Nascar, where it appears to me advertisement hoardings parade in a circle around a track, I will watch it. If you are reading this, there's a pretty above decent chance you are like that too. March Madness? Nice. Cheltenham? Fantastic. The MLB playoffs, The Champions League, sign me up. Even the recent Cricket World Cup final was pretty interesting.

There is no doubt the thrilling climax to the Masters on Sunday night was great television. Unless of course you write for an Irish or English newspaper or online sporting entity. If you had missed the Masters, and chanced upon the headlines and reports that are being churned out this week, you might think a great human tragedy had befallen Rory.

We on the Emerald Isle are a funny little nation when it comes to sports. More so than many, we latch onto our sporting heroes with the clinginess of Lindsay Lohan’s paparazzi following. Most often, it is somewhat well founded. The classy Sonya O’Sullivan. The easy calm cool of Padraig Harrington. The clinical, winning nature of Ronan O’Gara, and the gregarious, politically brilliant Brian O’Driscoll.

Rory? So far all we really know is, he doesn’t have any respect for the most revered of golfing tournaments, which also means he has very little interest in representing Europe, in which his home nation resides. We also know he likes to take easy pot shots at fallen stars (Step forward Tiger Woods) and that when on the 'Late late show', amongst adoring amateur golfers, he likes to act and look like he would rather be, well, somewhere else.

How have people so easily forgotten that incredibly stupid Ryder Cup comment? Need a reminder?

"The Ryder Cup is an exhibition at the end of the day. In the big scheme of things it's not that important to me."

I am certainly not saying the young golfer shouldn’t be consoled, and helped take a mature step forward after his dramatic one-day slump. What I am saying is, a little perspective is perhaps in order here. Nobody died. A young, rich and somewhat arrogant Irish golfer didn’t win a major golfing tournament.

There are probably people out there more worthy of our consolation.

Linkage

Thursday, April 07, 2011

MLB announces season winners and awards after 3% of the 2011 season

In a stunning development Major League Baseball has handed the Texas Rangers the 2011 World Series title, six games into the season. The decision has been greeted with glee by the Rangers. Team president Nolan Ryan, who was quoted as saying ''We only just handed out second place rings for last season last week, so this is just awesome!''

A Texas team official was quoted as saying ''The parade is going to be held some time next week, we actually have a few games this week'' apparently lamenting the fact that MLB has decided to actually play out the rest of the meaningless games until the end of the season.

The overwhelming choice as 'Team of the Universe', as chosen by 97% of online sporting entities, Texas players scoffed at those who pointed out that only 3% of the season has passed to date. 'I don't care what people think'' Josh Hamilton said ''Right now, we’re the best team in the Universe, and that's all that matters. Now it's time to drink some ginger ale and celebrate in a sensible fashion'' the former alcoholic hell-raiser said, as he donned ladies underwear and placed a ball-gag in his mouth.

All around the league players and teams celebrated as MLB decided to hand out all the awards after playing less than a week of the schedule.

Perennial joke the Cleveland Indians celebrated wildly with an impromptu locker room champagne bash. Having just beaten the Red Sox the Tribe's players and fans alike were jubilant. Wiping champagne from his face, Assdribble Cabrera shouted 'Nobody believed in us, but we done it, man! This goes out to all the fans. Sure, they (The Red Sox) will probably finish about twenty five games better off than us, but right now, we're the best. Pedro owned us, Troy O'Leary owned us, the Sox embarrassed us in the playoffs the last few times we played them, but right now, this is all us, this is our time!’’

Delirious bloggers around the world were gleefully celebrating the news. Foghorn Annoyinghorn, from Loudnoises.com, a particularly vociferous baseball blog, eulogised; ''This just proves that you should make snap judgements about the baseball season based on the evidence of 3% of the games. I feel vindicated'

Of course not all teams were happy with the news. The New York Yankees Brian Cashman was quoted as saying ''It would be nice if we had been given a chance to play Texas''. Doc Halladay of the Phillies, when asked for comment on the decision, threw a no hitter, punched the journalist in the face, and solved world hunger and poverty.

In Boston, noted angel of doom and depression Dan Shaughnessy celebrated as he practiced some self flagellation. ''I told you these guys sucked, and with this decision, MLB have shown me to be right, again.''

On the Red Sox, team ace Jon Lester pined 'Two starts, and my season is over. I guess what they are saying online is true. I do suck. I can't pitch. I understand that it is valid to be judged on one game only, and not say, on my sparkling résumé to date. I feel like I never threw a no-no, or shut the door on the Rockies to seal the Series in '07. Maybe those things were just a dream'

MLB had this to say about the early award of the season crown and other awards.

''MLB is delighted to crown the Texas Rangers the 2011 Champions. We feel we may as well just go ahead and do this now as Texas is clearly really awesome. In no way, shape or form will their second rate pitching staff, anchored by a former reliever who's arm is going to fall off before June, encounter any sort of depth or talent issues. Texas have in no way benefited from playing in the heat of their tiny ballpark, where balls fly out faster than Wimbledon. Of course they will perform at this rate through the slog of the summer, and into the cold winter where their players will no doubt love playing in the ice cold stadiums up North East. Plus, those Elk Antlers of whatever they are, are just simply adorable''

Finally, MLB will announce plans tomorrow to unveil a sold gold status of Josh Hamilton outside Rangers stadium, with the inscription, ''Most important human being since Charles Darwin. Fact''

Good old Josh, behaving as always.

Linkage

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Mass panic in Red Sox nation, yet again..

And here we are again. Another season of Major League Baseball, another mass panic in Red Sox nation. Perhaps the only difference this time around is it’s happening so early. Three games into a billion game season, the Sox ‘faithful’ are exploding en masse like Ridley Scott’s aliens out of people’s chests, shouting, railing and raging to everyone and anyone who will listen. Name one Internet entity and I guarantee you a Red Sox fan is venting on it. Mainstream sporting websites, blogs, Internet forums, Internet flat pack assembly forums, Internet cooking tip sites.

Even internet adult chat sites

‘Hi, I’m Mindy, what can I do you for big boy, do you like brunettes?’
‘Screw that Mindy, I wanna talk about the Sox! I can’t take any more of this season, it’s driving me nuts!’

'They aint gonna win the freakin World Series! Get 'em!'

Well, as any good Physician would say, settle down people. Relax. It’s not terminal. We can treat this. Take two of these and see me in the morning. And so forth.

A little perspective here. We are 4% the way through the MLB season. What happens today, tomorrow, even next week, is probably not going to have a massive impact on the outcome of the 2011 MLB season.

Step away from the precipice, lads and lassies.

There’s no denying it has been a particularly ugly, turgid start to the Red Sox season, however baseball judges teams on the long, hard slog, not the short, sharp dash. The Yankees no doubt feel pretty good about themselves, but they have people like Ivan Nova and AJ Burnett in their rotation. The Phillies are flexing a little muscle, but imagine the scenario if Cliff Lee’s body starts to fall apart again? The Rangers? Great to see those antler signs cropping up again, but let’s see them win a few games away from that ridiculous launching pad of a home field of theirs. A couple of cold evenings in the Bronx or in Fenway should set them straight.

Even with the insipid 0-3 record, believe it or not there are reasons for the Red Sox and their fans to be still ever hopeful for the season in store.

Let’s knock through them, one by one.

‘’I love it when you call me Big Papi’’
Papi is back, and this time he brought his bat
There’s something different about Papi in ’11, isn’t there? He looks calm, focussed and energized. He is launching the ball with authority, and going about it in a very business like manner. Papi is a deeply proud man, both an asset and a draw back at times. In this case, it’s pure gold. With Papi slugging away with a Grand Canyone sized chip on his shoulder down in the sixth hole, how deep is this Red Sox lineup, potentially? Most teams would be delirious to have a Papi like slugger batting third or fourth. The Sox can stash him in the six hole and watch the RBIs pile up. This is something to be happy about, for those Red Sox fans currently occupying metaphorical ledges around the globe.

‘’Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!!’’
The Yankees are enjoying something of a mirage
Great start for the kids in the Bronx, right? Hang on one short second there. Did you see opening day, against the Tigers? Detroit pulled up just short of wrapping the game up in fancy gift-wrap, and presenting it on a platter to the pinstriped ones. Let’s see a full season of that ramshackle rotation. Let’s see that OAP lineup (A-Rod, Jorge, Jeter and Rivera are all closer to 40 than most sensible Yankee fans would like) get through the season injury free. Let’s see Jibba Jobba Chamberlein get through a full season without landing in jail. Let’s see that flimsy, shallow looking bullpen make it to Soriano and Rivera every night without imploding. Let’s do all of the above before we go crowning the Yankees the 2011 AL East Champions.

‘’Run now baby run now baby run’’
Jacoby looks in serious shape
Probably the single most shining positive sign so far for the Red Stockings, has been the play of one Jacoby Ellsbury. You might remember Jacoby as the lad that Red Sox fans and scribes alike were ripping apart last season like a prehistoric Raptor tearing at some fresh meat. How dare he not play through two broken ribs!! The writers of stature who poked fun at Jacoby, and indeed questioned his manhood, know who they are and should feel suitably chastened. To their credit, Tito and the Sox front office stood behind their incredibly talented player, and he is rewarding them with a blistering start.

Ellsbury looks cool, calm and collected at the plate. He is taking his walks, and hitting hard line drives with authority. He looks healthy, eager and primed for a big year. Touch some wood, cross some fingers and or toes he stays healthy, if he does, the Sox suddenly have one of the most dynamic lead off men in all of baseball.

Act like you have been here before.
Texas, and others, don't appear to know what they want from this season.
It was very interesting watching the first three Sox games on the Texas Rangers network. Strange approach to the season emanating from down south. First of all, the glee with which the Rangers commentary teams greeted each and every Rangers hit was pretty incredible. They were celebrating with a fervour normally the domain of those brutally biased White Sox commentary team.

Guys, calm down. It's a long season. Act like you have been here before. Also, what on earth were those rings about? Amazingly the Rangers handed out rings on opening day. Sorry, what? Really? I have to admit I did find myself second guessing my memory of the 2010 MLB season. Did the Rangers win it all? Is that why they were handing out rings? However, after checking online, I confirmed, yes, San Francisco did indeed best them. So, Texas, what gives? Were these second place rings? Runner up rings?

What are you telling your players and indeed your fan base by handing out consolation rings?

Kind of a head scratcher, that one.

Yo, Adrian!
Adrian Gonzalez looks the real deal
Everyone told us he was this good. San Diego fans and players told us, as they lamented at losing him. The Knights of the keyboards told us with each and every pre-season prediction. The word out of the Red Sox spring training camp was, yes, he’s that good. Yet, often you really need to see it yourself, right? And see it we did. Adrian Gonzalez looks like he is primed to have at the very least an excellent first season for the Red Sox. He looks like that rare slugger that has the eye to hit for average, and the moxy to hit in the clutch too. With power. He also very nifty around the bag at first. A full season of Gonzo should placate even the most tense of Red Sox fans.

Finally, it’s April, stupid.
Seriously people, we are 4% of the way through a 162 game season. Some people’s reactions are nothing short of idiotic. In terms of knee jerk, hysterical reactions, the Spanish Inquisition had nothing on these clowns.

Naturally, there is no reasoning with some people. You have to lay it out in black and white. So, let's do just that. Exhibit A: The Red Sox won the 2004 World Series. They started the season with a horrific loss 7-2 to the Orioles, with no less than Sidney 'Show me a Judge and I'll punch him!' Ponson beating Pedro Martinez. They stumbled to a nasty looking 2-3 record out the gate, and yes, then they won the World Series.

How about the 2007 Red Sox? (You can probably see where I am going with this) The 2007 Sox lost on opening day 7-1 to the Royals. We can only reasonably assume that enraged Boston citizens then burnt the City down in anger, at losing to the lowly Royals. The Sox start to the 2007 season? A grim looking 2-3 record.

How did the 2007 MLB season, which started to horribly, work out for the Boston Red Sox?

Jeremy Grey: That's interesting John, that glass looks half full to me.
John Beckwith: Wow, now that you mention it, it is half full!

Linkage