BOSTON IRISH: July 2011

Thursday, July 28, 2011

European Baseball Championship qualifying tournament 2011: Time to get back to a single location tournament.

This morning, as Major League Baseball gears up for the home stretch, European baseball is embroiled in a qualification tournament for the second tier nations across the continent. The tournament is split amongst several countries, with Ireland playing its section in Barcelona, Spain. The tournament is a qualifier for the ‘Pool A’ tournament where all the European big guns take part, including the likes of Italy and the Netherlands.

At this stage you may be saying to yourself, ‘’Wait, there’s baseball in Europe?’’ Well, there certainly is. In fact, it’s very popular. Since 1996 the Irish National Baseball Team has taken part in tournaments in England, Austria, Croatia, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Portugal and this year in Barcelona, Spain.

In previous tournaments, the teams all met at a single location, played out great games amongst hundreds of European baseball players and fans, with the two finalists being promoted to Pool A. This season, the tournament has been split into several sections, spread throughout Europe. For example, Ireland are playing in Spain, along with Finland, Hungary and Switzerland. The tournament has been spread amongst the cities Krymsk, Tel Aviv, Zagreb, Barcelona and Antwerp.

There are two major problems with this odd, complicated format. On a most basic level, it simply isn’t very fair. Secondly, this format saps the energy, colour and drama from the tournament.

Irish team huddle - 2006

On the first point, breaking the tournament up like this means the bigger seeds basically never have to play each other, and get a much easier path back up to the Pool A tournament. For example, Spain are no doubt having a great tournament, however they have all the elements in their favour. They are playing on home soil, in front of home fans, with a big squad of players that are close to home. Most importantly, they only have to win a handful of games against a very small number of opponents, and their mission is completed. Whatever way you want to look at it, European baseball is ensuring that the ‘bigger’, stronger teams in Pool B get every chance possible to get instantly promoted back to the action in Pool A.

This tournament format is not fair and even handed, and every major international sporting tournament should start from that point. The only logical and fair way to hold the tournament is to play at a single location, neutral if possible. Bring the teams together, and let them fight it out on a fair, balanced, level playing field for the right to be promoted to Pool A.

On the second point, splitting the tournament up like this completely drains the colour out of it. I have had the privilege of playing for Ireland in several European tournaments, and one of the most memorable and enjoyable aspects of those was getting to meet and play against so many diverse European Nations.

Here were the final standings of the 1998 tournament played in Austria. Check out the number of teams involved.

European Seniors Championship
"B" Pool Austria - 1998
Final Standing

1.Croatia - Promoted
2.Slovenia - Promoted
3.Georgia
4.Austria
5.Ukraine
6.Denmark
7.Switzerland
8.Ireland
9.Lithuania
10.Slovakia
11.Hungary
12.Finland
13.Portugal
14.Bulgaria
15.Yugoslavia

The 1998 Irish National Baseball Team

Even the compromise of two tournaments as in 2004 would be acceptable. At least there were still several teams participating in each ‘half’.

European Seniors Championship
"B" Pool 2004

Group "A" - Poland
Final Standing

1. Ukraine - Promoted
2. Belgium
3. Lithuania
4. Slovakia
5. Poland
6. Romania
7. Bulgaria
8. Belarus
9. Moldova

Group "B" - Germany
Final Standing

1. Germany - Promoted
2. Slovenia
3. Ireland
4. Serbia-Montenegro
5. Israel
6. Finland
7. Switzerland
8. Austria
9. Hungary

Just looking at those final standings from tournaments of years passed you can see straight away the obvious lure of keeping the tournament together. As a player at those tournaments, it was a rich, rewarding experience to play baseball amongst so many diverse European nations. The tournaments were real events, with players from other countries meeting, socializing and rooting for (and against!) one another during the games.

One of the greatest games of baseball I have ever seen was in 1998 when the underdog Georgian team, wearing purple t-shirts as their uniforms and playing with a tiny, financially challenged squad, took on and beat the somewhat arrogant Austrian host team. The latter expected to brush the rag-tag Georgians aside. The under dogs were quite literally camping to save money. The game was very exciting, and was made all the more colourful by players from all the different teams watching the game, rooting loudly for the Georgians (no offence to the very hospitable hosts, everyone loves an underdog!). The massive bench-clearing brawl didn’t hurt the entertainment value either.

Those brilliant, vibrant moments are few and far between now however, as European baseball has successfully diluted the qualifier tournament to the point where underdogs basically have very little chance, and the status quo is inevitably maintained.

Perhaps that’s what they want?

It is a crying shame that European baseball is so transparently weighting the qualifier tournament in the favour of the bigger seeds. It is unfair, and plays against the spirit of competition. There is simply no way you can, with a straight face, tell me that it is easier to organise five separate tournaments instead of one played at a single location. That just isn’t logical.

European baseball needs to scrap this convoluted, transparent format, and get back to playing a proper, fair and, at the end of the day, more culturally rewarding and enjoyable, single tournament.

Related links
Baseball Ireland
The 2011 European Baseball qualifiers - Barcelona

Linkage

Comments
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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Bill Frist, the downfall of online poker and jobs being lost in Dublin and the rest of the World.

Ever ask yourself ‘Why?’ Ever consider quietly to yourself, ‘I wonder why did the Feds shut down all the US Online poker sites on April 15th past?’

When you sit back and think about all the elements that make up the US Government’s recent crusade against online gambling, what sticks out most is the giant elephant in the room. Vegas, and all things connected to same. How is Vegas such an untouchable entity, while competing online poker sites are being toppled like a house of cards as we speak? On top of that, further questions (little baby elephants) include; Why is it an NFL rule that teams provide detailed injury reports the Friday before a game? Why does ESPN print the lines of all games, college and professional? Why can people spend their money on state lotteries without fear of breaking the law? Why can those things happen, but online poker is being 'smoked out'?

First things first, a quick disclaimer. This column has no interest in defending the interests of ‘Big Money’, in any field, including online poker. However, if you don’t understand that literally thousands of people are going to lose millions of dollars and their jobs in this disaster, you have your head buried deeper in the sand than those that think this US Government crusade is solely against ‘the evils of gambling’.

Close to 700 of those people who are in danger of losing their jobs, for example, are in Dublin. Pocket Kings, based in Loughlinstown, provides IT and other services to the Internet poker site, Full Tilt Poker. The latter is in limbo at the moment, hammered on all sides by legislation stemming from the US Governments actions in 2007 and on April 15th, ‘Black Friday’, earlier this year.

Taking a step back, what exactly is going on?

On October 13, 2006 the US Government basically declared war on Internet gambling. Then President George W. Bush signed into the Port Security Improvement Act of 2006. At the last minute an addition was made to that, entitled The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (or UIGEA). This additional act

"prohibits gambling businesses from knowingly accepting payments in connection with the participation of another person in a bet or wager that involves the use of the Internet and that is unlawful under any federal or state law."

As with many of President Bush’s actions, there is an element of, at the very least, curiosity, attached to the passing of this bill. It was passed on the last day before Congress adjourned for the 2006 elections, meaning there was considerably less people around than usual, meaning in turn less competition and debate against or on the bill.

Incredibly, no one on the Senate-House Conference Committee had seen the final language of the bill before it was passed. Bill Frist, former majority leader of the Senate, and Jon Kyl are both credited with progressing the UIGEA's passage through the Senate. More on Mr Frist shortly. This last-minute rulemaking that ‘binds the hands’ of an incoming administration is commonly termed the midnight drop. The final regulations were finalized and released November 12, 2008, and came into effect on January 19, 2009, the day before the Obama administration took office.

That was part one. In part two, Federal authorities ‘dropped the hammer’, as it were. On April 15th 2011, Absolute Poker was named in an indictment by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York along with two other popular poker sites — Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker. The indictment alleges that the sites committed bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling offenses by “tricking” U.S. banks into processing online gambling transactions, a violation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (which we just discussed). The government seized the websites and more than 75 bank accounts and indicted 11 people on charges of illegal Internet gambling, bank fraud and money laundering.

To say the Internet Casino business in the United States is reeling is a major understatement. So why is all this happening? Why has the US Government basically destroyed the online Casino business? If you strip away all the surrounding noise, it really is pretty simple. Two major factors basically. Bill Frist and his ties to land based Casinos, and then the fact that the US Government doesn’t want to miss out on the profits from gambling.

First to Mr Frist.

Pay attention, because here comes the science part. Which Republican Senator championed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006? That would be Bill Frist. What does the UIGEA specifically do? It attacks Internet gambling. What interest group has provided thousands of dollars to Bill Frist’s campaign war chests since 1997? Land based Casinos, naturally.

Perhaps you are beginning to see a possible conflict of interests developing here?

The publically available breakdown of Frist’s campaign funding from previous years makes fascinating reading. It is all there in black and white. For the period 1997 to 2002, Harrah's Entertainment contributed $14,250 to the Frist campaign. What does Harrah's Entertainment do? Glad you asked. Caesars Entertainment Corporation (formerly Harrah's Entertainment from 1995 to 2010) is a private gaming corporation that owns and operates over 50 casinos, hotels, and seven golf courses under several brands.

How about Mandalay Resort Group, which, in 2004, contributed $10,000, that was disclosed, to the Frist campaign. Mandalay Resort Group was, prior to its purchase by MGM, a hotel-casino operator based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Its major properties included Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur and Circus Circus, as well as half of the Monte Carlo. In terms of market capitalization, it was one of the largest land based casino operators in the world.

You would have to imagine it might be in the interest of Harrahs, the Mandalay resort group and other land based Casino contributors to the Frist fund to have its greatest competitors, Internet Casinos, wiped off the map. Does it not strike you as somewhat curious then that one of the politicians they gave large amounts of cash to (and God knows what else) is the champion of a bill that has basically completely destroyed Internet based Casinos in the United States?

We can all see what’s going on there, right?

Now to the second factor, the US Government missing out on potential profits from gambling.

First a very important figure. This is a figure Casinos, both online and land based, don’t want you to know. On average, 8% of those who play online poker turn a profit in any given fiscal year. This is both a commonly known and fiercely protected figure in the gaming community. You can imagine why they don’t want it to become common knowledge. Those in the Casino business are turning a profit against roughly 92% of those who either sit down in front of a computer or come through their doors!

The United States government was very unhappy that the money 92% of people were losing on gambling Web sites was going overseas. They have absolutely no problem with you losing money in State lotteries, United States based horse racing and or a Vegas Casino. It just doesn't want the money flowing to operators of these overseas Web sites.

You can focus on the devastating financial impact the US Governments crusade has and will have on the fat cats of the Internet poker industry, and stifle a laugh, however make no mistake, the proverbial common man is being hit as hard if not harder than the rich. The online poker companies named in the federal indictment are either already broke, or heading in the same direction. Players who had money with them will probably never see that money again. Shareholders are also left holding thin air. The owners of those companies are obviously in big trouble, but spare a thought for the common staff who are about to or already have lost their jobs.

This brings us back to Pocket Kings in Dublin. Those 700 people are all taxpaying, law abiding citizens. Talented graphic designers, translators, Project Managers, Quality Assurance specialists, software engineers and everything in between. They do not deserve to be out of work.

To illustrate how global an issue this is, in Costa Rica, where Absolute Poker and UB (formerly Ultimate Bet) have their operations center, more than 300 customer support and marketing employees – approximately 95 percent of the staff — have already been let go. All over the world people are going to lose their jobs because Bill Frist is funded by land based Casinos, and the US Government is too short sighted to bring internet gambling ‘back into the fold’ and make it a government regulated, audited and taxable commodity.

This last point raises one last serious issue.

Much like the wildly unsuccessful Prohibition act of the 1930s, where people still found a way to drink, people are still going to play poker, people are still going to place bets. The US Government claims to be attempting to combat organized crime, when all they are doing is actively pushing people into the waiting, open arms of same. Instead of basically making a martyr out of it, strong regulation, taxing and auditing of the online gambling world would have had many positive knock-on effects.

It would not, however, have lined Bill Frist’s pockets with cash. And perhaps that’s the single biggest reason 'Joe Punter' is going to be doing his betting in an alley or a bar, handing over his cash to dubious, shady bookies. Perhaps that’s the single largest reason why thousands of talented, hard working people worldwide are now out of a job.

More and more stories are cropping up online where long time online poker players are finding themselves sitting at a $5 table in some Casino in Vegas. They are sitting there because their favourite online tables have been shut down. Those were shut down by a bill championed by Bill Frist. That gentleman’s political life has been funded in part by those same land based Casinos that our lonely, somewhat lost former online player is now sitting in.

Call it whatever you want, the circle of life, the food chain, the American Dream. Whatever it is, it’s blatantly obvious what’s going on. I hope, at the very least, Bill Frist gets the best comped rooms available in Vegas when he’s in town.

He has certainly earned it.

George and Bill, and portrait.

Linkage

Monday, July 18, 2011

Japan's Destiny! And other clichés

There’s a great line in the brilliant first series of ’30 Rock’, where Tracey Jordan asks Jack Donaghy ‘Do you like Phil Collins’? To which Jack replies, ‘I have two ears and a heart don’t I?’

Well, in the aftermath of Japan’s dramatic World Cup win over the United States last night, those with two ears and a heart worldwide no doubt are basking in the happiness emanating from a truly agreeable human story. This ‘season’ Japan has won the Men’s Asian Cup, the Women’s World Cup, and are at this moment making plans to take home the World Series and Superbowl.

A sporting triumph probably shouldn’t be over stated, but the whole point of this first section, this thinly veiled disclaimer, is to point out that this column completely understands the positive effect this trophy has on Japan’s people.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. As they say.

However, and surely you knew there was a ‘however’ coming, this column is resorting moodily to drugs and alcohol to block out the incredibly stomach churning headlines and articles we are being treated to this morning. You are left wondering, did these people watch the World Cup? Did they actually watch the final itself?

Let’s just get the nagging, stinging suspicion that’s hanging in the air out in the open. This column suspects there are an awful lot of people writing stories this morning that didn’t watch the match last night, and are gleefully jumping on the human story element in order to get some interesting copy printed up. The same people that produced shoddy, pop pieces on ‘The top five hottest World Cup players’ and then sat back and watched their hit counts rise.

You think that didn’t happen? It did. Some of the biggest sporting websites in the world produced hard hitting, Pulitzer prize worthy, meticulously researched slide shows on the Women’s World Cup’s hottest babes. You know what though, at least they didn’t get up this morning and write an article headlined ‘Japan’s destiny’.

At least the people judging the top hottest female World Cup players are transparently trying to load up on Internet hits. Sexist, swarthy and plain stupid as their actions are, they are just doing what many mainstream writers are resorting to. Namely, talking about butts and boobs in order to lure people into reading the sports/pop culture articles.

This column’s ire is reserved for those inane clowns writing this morning about ‘Japan’s destiny’. Destiny, really? So it was Japan’s destiny to largely survive twenty seven (TWENTY SEVEN!) shots on goal? It was Japan’s destiny to withstand several shots against the woodwork? It was their destiny to cynically chop Alex Morgan down, clean through on goal ready to pull the trigger on the World Cup winning goal?

The ‘destiny’ story line is such a paint-by-numbers, blasé and boring cliché that any journalist that uses it should be terminated immediately. On top of that, calling it their destiny is actually insulting to the Japanese themselves. Frankly I am sure they have greater things in their destiny, as a people, as a race.

Was it Uruguay’s destiny to cheat Ghana out of a World Cup semi final place in the men’s tournament? Japan basically did the exact same thing. Uruguay’s resident scum bag Luis Suarez (Too harsh? Reminder: He bit a player a few games after his disgraceful handball) was nodding with approval as Japan hacked down Morgan as she raced through clean on goal.

Much like the magnificent women’s World Cup was much more than just a collection of soccer’s hottest babes, the final was much more than a neatly parceled, tidily wrapped up ‘great human story!’ Laud Japan all you want, but spare us this ‘destiny’ rubbish. Japan had a defensive, clever game plan, and they rode their luck, and executed great cynicism in taking the trophy.

Of course, nobody wants to hear that.

The big, successful Internet sites indicate people don’t want any part of actually dissecting the tournament and the big game itself. The billions of Internet hits they get suggest that what people want is to roll out of bed, check out a few pictures of Hope Solo, Alex Morgan and Lisa Dahlqvist, read about Japan’s destiny, and then go watch re-runs of Two and a Half Men in their boxer shorts.

Did this column enjoy the Women’s World Cup? Well, I have two eyes and a heart, so yes. And congratulations Japan. But, please, spare us the asinine garbage about destiny.

‘I have two ears and a heart don’t I?’

Linkage

Friday, July 15, 2011

The Red Sox and Jose Reyes: A match made in heaven.

As Major League Baseball trade deadline approaches, one potential deal stands out beacon like for the Boston Red Sox. Get Jose Reyes. Get him now. The assorted pieces just fit. Almost perfectly. The Mets are in that dreaded re-tooling phase. Boston needs a shortstop in the short and long term. Boston has the pieces to trade. It makes personal sense for Reyes, and finally, Boston would be building an Optimus Prime like juggernaut.

The Mets are clearly rebuilding for the future. They have traded their All Star closer, they are exploring other trade options too, and look ready to pull the trigger on basically any kind of a decent deal, particularly one that cuts payroll and or brings in ‘prospects’ in return.

Boston has the pieces to trade, including a plethora of starting pitching (Andrew Miller has already done enough to show prospective ‘buyers’ that he can be effective, particularly in the pitching friendly confines of the National League) and of course perennial prospect/project Jose Iglesias. Much as we all love the excitement a prospect brings, ask yourself Red Sox fans, who would you rather see at short, Iglesias or Reyes? There’s only one logical answer.

From Reyes point of view, why waste any more of your career playing for an owner who doesn’t appreciate you? Only a month ago Mets owner Fred Wilpon insulted basically his entire roster, including Reyes, in a toxic rant that brought attention on the Mets for all the wrong reasons. The club just looked disorganized and rudderless in the wake of the idiotic owners comments. Why should Reyes break a sweat for Wilpon, when all he gets in return is inane, thinly veiled insults?

Reyes would slot in beautifully in Boston. Tito Francona would be left with an enviable ‘problem’ of how to fit the speed of Reyes, Ellsbury and Crawford into a Boston lineup that would dominate not just the AL East but all of baseball for years. Can you imagine a one, two three of Ellsbury, Reyes and Gonzalez, with Pedroia and Crawford slotting in behind them. When David Ortiz finals hangs up his cleats, Gonzalez would move to the four hole, meaning Pedroia or Gonzalez could now bat third. The permutations are as numerable as they are sexy.

It would appear that Jose Reyes, one of the most exciting players in all of baseball, is out there for the right deal. The Red Sox should get a jump on the Yankees, the Rays and all the other Big Guns, and throw a Godfather deal at the Mets. Get Jose Reyes into that shortstop position at Fenway, then put your feet up and watch the runs score at an astronomical rate.

Linkage

Monday, July 11, 2011

The Sports Karma Gods punish the Brazil womens soccer team: USA advances

Anyone who doubts the existence of an all powerful guiding ‘force’ guiding the progress and results of sporting events called Sports Karma looks like a Carl Everett like buffoon after yesterdays stunning USA win over Brazil in the Women’s World Cup quarter finals.

Flippancy aside, isn’t it a little too coincidental how sports so often comes back to a Karmic like path? Take for example the 1966 World Cup final, where England used a much disputed ‘goal’ to beat the Germans. Is it merely a coincidence that in 2010 Germany survived a Frank Lampard ‘goal’, that clearly crossed the line but was disallowed, to go on to oust the heavily favoured Brits?

The above example in itself shows just how long Sports Karma is willing to lay in wait before raining down its own particular brand of justice.

Well, last night, the Sports Karma Gods were busy. Very busy. First they took note of Brazil’s incredibly long list of transgressions during the match itself. Then they considered what happened back in 2008. Then they doled out an incredibly ironic bucket full of Sports Karmic retribution. Their final judgment was as creative as it was stunning.

First, to examine the match itself. No matter what way you look at it, Brazil were basically daring the Sports Karma Gods to fire off a couple of lightning bolts. In the first half Aline annihilated Wambach with a horrific tackle, and when she was booked, the almost cartoon villain like Marta ‘dissented’ her way into the book too, Marta is an angry little creature at best, but she does herself no favours when she rants at officials, her face contorted with hate and anger.

Barely ten minutes later Aline tried to slap the ball into the net, and shockingly escaped a second yellow card, and subsequent red. Not happy with trying to palm the ball into the net, Brazil then tried to cheat their way to a penalty, as Daiane theatrically flopped in the penalty area, only for the referee to wave play on. Even when they did score, it was illegal, or should have been anyway. Brazil’s 92nd minute goal shouldn’t have been allowed, with at least two players in offside positions.

The USA were then shockingly denied a penalty, as Cristiane clattered into Lepeilbet inside the box, Cristiane even looked distraught momentarily, thinking she had fouled the player. Amazingly, the referee waved play on.

Brazil’s worst transgression in the match itself occurred after 115 minutes. This is the one that really got the attention of the Sports Karma Gods. With the States desperately pushing for an equalizer, Brazil’s Erika flopped to the ground with almost no contact during a corner kick. As Erika flopped around ‘in agony’ on the floor, the stretcher team ran on. Erika was barely on it for five seconds, before jogging back on. Blatant time wasting and cheating at its worst.

This last act perhaps was the catalyst that forced the Sports Karma Gods into dramatic action. In 2008. Hard working US player Abby Wambach had her leg broken by a Brazilian player, in a horror tackle Vinnie Jones would have been abjectly ashamed of. Naturally, who scored the spectacular last gasp equalizer to bring the game to penalty kicks? Wambach, of course! The statuesque striker kept her nerve to hammer the ball into the net with a well placed header.

The penalty kicks were almost an after thoughts, and Brazil were left to wonder where they went wrong as the States go forward to meet France in the semi. The initial quotes coming from the Brazilian camp seem to be focusing on bizarre religious questions (Why did God let this happen to us?) and players questioning the very setup of Brazilian football. As is so often the case in sports and indeed life, the answer is generally closer to home. Brazil should just watch a replay of the game, and try thinking about their nefarious, cheating and flopping ways in the context of the Sports Karma Gods.

Much like what happened to England first in 1966 and then 2010, the Sports Karma Gods sometimes take their time, but, they eventually always get the job done.

Linkage

Celtics Captain Paul Pierce and the World Series of Poker - his day one

Forget ‘The ring’. Paul Pierce wants a new bracelet. A World Series of Poker bracelet, to be specific. The Celtics captain entered the World Series of Poker Main Event and has performed admirably from the start. Pierce, who’s previous poker undocumented poker experience amounted to some house games, real money poker and other poker tournaments has already outlasted other stars who were knocked out early on. Ray Romano went bust shortly into day one of the event. Pierce had approximately $70,000 in chips late Saturday, absolutely an above average stack and will look to make more Monday.

ESPN.com poker columnist Andrew Feldman analyzed Pierce's performance at the table and reports that The Truth knows his cards.
"Since the start of the day, Pierce's chip counts have consistently been on the way up," writes Feldman. "He's been focused on the task at hand, quietly keeping to himself and offering a more serious demeanor at the table."

Feldman continued to say;
"After spending some time watching him play, it's clear that he's comfortable. With headphones on, he acts with precision, but his general demeanor is intimidating and adds an element to his game that not many others possess."

The general consensus from several observers is that Pierce is blending in seamlessly with the other participants. As much as a gigantic NBA star can do so, anyway. Pierce is apparently keeping to himself, but you can bet his decision to wear his NBA Championship is a well thought out and frankly brilliant tactic. You want to go all in with a guy wearing that?

It’s a far cry from draining threes, but Pierce has so far proved he belongs at the event, dealing with conviction and no little skill on ‘The Felt’.

Linkage

Celtics Captain Paul Pierce and the World Series of Poker - day one

Forget ‘The ring’. Paul Pierce wants a new bracelet. A World Series of Poker bracelet, to be specific. The Celtics captain entered the World Series of Poker Main Event and has performed admirably from the start. Pierce, who’s previous poker undocumented poker experience amounted to some house games and video poker has already outlasted other stars who were knocked out early on. Ray Romano went bust shortly into day one of the event. Pierce had approximately $70,000 in chips late Saturday, absolutely an above average stack and will look to make more Monday.

ESPN.com poker columnist Andrew Feldman analyzed Pierce's performance at the table and reports that The Truth knows his cards.
"Since the start of the day, Pierce's chip counts have consistently been on the way up," writes Feldman. "He's been focused on the task at hand, quietly keeping to himself and offering a more serious demeanor at the table."

Feldman continued to say;
"After spending some time watching him play, it's clear that he's comfortable. With headphones on, he acts with precision, but his general demeanor is intimidating and adds an element to his game that not many others possess."

No word as yet as to how Pierce is getting on playing the afterhours blackjack tables!

The general consensus from several observers is that Pierce is blending in seamlessly with the other participants. As much as a gigantic NBA star can do so, anyway. Pierce is apparently keeping to himself, but you can bet his decision to wear his NBA Championship is a well thought out and frankly brilliant tactic. You want to go all in with a guy wearing that?

It’s a far cry from draining threes, but Pierce has so far proved he belongs at the event, dealing with conviction and no little skill on ‘The Felt’.

Linkage

Friday, July 08, 2011

MLB needs to act now to prevent future tragedies at its stadiums

Last night a man brought his son to a baseball game, and ended up losing his life. Enough is enough, Major League Baseball has to act now. MLB has to adopt a zero tolerance safety policy going forward on this. There should be a drive from the highest parts of baseball to ensure that not one more of its paying fans are injured or worse at a baseball game, ever again.

In case you haven’t seen it as yet, during last night’s Rangers game, against Oakland, a firefighter from Brownwood called Shannon Stone fell twenty feet from the stands trying to catch a ball thrown by Josh Hamilton. The tragedy is exacerbated by the knowledge that, while being carted away with what would prove to be terminal injuries, Brown selflessly asked the Paramedics to; ‘Please check on my son. My son was up there by himself.’

Ones thoughts go out first and foremost to Brown’s family but also to Josh Hamilton, who strikes you as a very thoughtful person, and will no doubt bear this heavily weighted cross with understandable hardship. Hopefully the Rangers can help him through.

To the incident itself. MLB needs to completely eradicate tragedies like this. It is a reasonable expectation that whether you are paying $20 for a ticket in Texas, or $2,500 for one in New York, you will be, above all, safe while watching the game. MLB owes it to its high paying customers to provide them complete and utter safety while buying into and enjoying their product. These tragic incidents are happening too often, and it is time for MLB to act. Just last July another man was severely injured falling 30 feet at Rangers ballpark, and this May a man fell 20 feet at the Rockies ballpark, dying from his injuries. Once is a tragedy, three times in the space of a calendar year is borderline irresponsibility on not only the part of the teams but mainly on the part of MLB.

MLB is certainly diligent enough when it comes to policing MLB TV content on sites such as YouTube and such, hopefully they will approach a necessary safety audit with as much aggressive vigour. It is their product, and thus their ultimate responsibility to ensure each club strives to maintain 100% safety protocols and procedures at their ballparks. The clubs will have to implement safety strategies, but it is up to MLB to police this absolutely necessary action.

MLB can ensure that Shannon Stone’s heart breaking death is not in vain. They can, in Mr. Stone’s name, implement a complete and utter lockdown policy on safety in Major League ballparks across the United States. They can lead by example to football, hockey, basketball and indeed all other sports, and even Worldwide.

Of all the worthy tributes that will be paid to Mr. Stone in the coming days and weeks, the most meaningful will be if Major League Baseball ensures that an incident as terrible as this never, ever happens again.

Linkage

Thursday, July 07, 2011

The Roger Clemens defence: There is none.

In 1994 I spent a summer working on Cape Cod. Whilst I wasn’t completely ‘new’ to baseball, it was my first summer where I spent mornings drinking Snapple, eating bagels and trawling through the box scores diligently noting my newly crowned favourite players' statistics.

Visiting a friend in Chicago during a road trip, I had seats behind home plate with Jason Bere striking out thirteen. I always looked for his line in the box scores. I was entranced by Aaron Sele’s seemingly effortless, smooth ‘twelve to six’ curve, so I kept an eye out for his numbers. My first ever live game at Fenway Park was the Red Sox and Brewers, with no less than Roger Clemens on the hill. Yes, as I walked in to the stadium, I heard ‘Rocket Man’ on the public address system.

Naturally I followed his progress, when not on TV, through newspaper stories and box scores.

His status as ‘one of my favourites’ did not, however, last long. To the casual observer, Clemens was a star for the Boston Red Sox. A Superstar, to be exact. If Clemens was pitching in the here and now, ESPN would deify him ala LeBron. He would have his own particular celebrity niche on the Internet. He would be endorsing everything from Trucks to Lite Beers and you bet he would be appearing on glossy quasi military recruitment infomercials, telling us how great it is the troops are ‘protecting our freedoms’.

Clemens, a long time ago

Unfortunately for Clemens, he lived in a time where, you know, reality was the norm. People knew. People didn’t rely on ESPN or the like telling them what opinion to have on a Superstar. They made up their own mind, based on actual, real information.

Waltzing innocently back to the summer of ’94, a few nights after seeing Clemens pitch at Fenway, I rolled in to the ‘Bombshelter’ bar, down by the harbour in Wellfleet. Now, bear in mind, I had just seen one of the greatest pitchers of all time at work, I had been indoctrinated by the Red Sox media friendly game day program, telling me exactly how awesome Clemens was. I had spent months digesting his impressive statistical lines. As far as I concerned, before I walked into the bar that evening, Clemens was a super duper Superstar.

My perception didn’t last long. Let’s just say, I am not astonished to see Roger Clemens sitting in court, right now. I am not astonished ESPN is leading with stories like ‘Clemens and defence team ready for road ahead’.

Drinking down a cold beer after a long hot day’s work, I ventured to one of the assembled gentlemen at the bar that Roger Clemens was awesome. His retort was nothing short of X-rated. If I recall correctly, he said;

‘’**** that ***hole. Clemens is a ******* ****.’’

I waited for the laughter, but it never came. Instead, his friends joined in. The only difference is their language was even more course. I raised a few statistical arguments in his defence, and they were shot down one by one like Japanese Zeros at Midway. The general consensus was that, it didn’t matter what Clemens did on the field, he was such an unlikeable character off the field, that any good on the field, on the mound, was negated.

The funny thing is, after the initial surprise wore off, during the next few weeks I began to hear and even read more stories about Clemens, and how rude, selfish and generally arrogant he was.
There are probably some people still kind of either, on the fence, or maybe even still hoping Clemens comes out of this smelling of roses.

The hard working, blue collar working men of Cape Cod, however, were never in doubt. As far back as 1994, they though that Clemens, a star on a team that meant more to them than family members mean to some, was, and I quote ‘’A big fat ***hole’

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