Life as Sports Reporter

Greatest Baseball Promotion Ever

Well, this has got to be outlandish promotion that I have ever seen.  This was a completely absurd bobblehead promotion that actually worked.  Your second to last place Twinkies began selling on their official website a limited edition collection of 25 bobblehead dolls representing every player from the 1991 World Series Team.  The limited-edition set will be available to purchase on July 18 at 9 a.m. for $391.  All proceeds from the bubbleheads will be going to the Minnesota Twins Community Fund.  So I must admit that it is least going to a good cause.  I cannot anybody wanting to sport all 25 bobbleheads, yet then again since Minnesota’s other sport teams aren’t up to the caliber of the Twins you never know. 

There were 1,000 sets available for $391 each … and they sold out almost immediately, which means Holy Bleep the Twinkies made $391,000, the “net proceeds” of which will be donated to their community fund. As opposed to, say, going toward Drew Butera‘s $429,000 salary or something.

According to team president Dave St. Peter, Minnesota will wear their "M" logo hats from August 5-7 during the reunion weekend. A DVD of the 1991 World Series will also go on sale in early August. And on August 5, the first 10,000 fans to that night's Twins game will receive a Kent Hrbek bobblehead doll, which replicates his famous tag of Atlanta's Ron Gant at first base in Game 2 of the 1991 World Series.

What a Wild Game in Tampa Bay Last Night

    So last night I had BBQ with my landlord cooking some amazing burgers.  Last night also had a wild and crazy game in Tampa Bay.  Not only did this game have a coach get tossed, it also went 16 innings with a 1-0 victory.  David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox had follow through swing to the mask of home plate umpire Chad Fairchild, which prompted him to swear live on television unfortunately ESPN didn’t get the memo, and Fairchild’s thoughts on what an Ortiz follow through to the side of his melon feels like comes through loud and clear. Having never experienced a big leaguer’s back-swing to the side of my head, and never, ever wanting to, I can only imagine that Fairchild was spot on in his assessment that it does indeed hurt like a “son-of-a-bitch.”

       Of course I have an extremely low pain threshold but that’s beside the point.  Last night a freakish moment where broken glass was shattered all over the playing field by Sean Rodriguez going into stands and on the playing surface.  The game was delayed momentarily as grounds crew members cleaned up the debris. Let’s just hope they got all the broken glass out of the artificial turf, especially those tiny little pieces, and I thought my night was perfect with just having burgers.  Oh well that’s why I love this crazy game.   


Ortiz Back Swing to the Mask

Sean Rodriguez Foul Ball Swing

Dirk Nowitzki Basketball Camp

The Espy's and Cuban

The NBA Lockout keeps looming over our heads and we truly don’t have any idea as to when it’s going to be over.  As you may know I’m a huge NBA Fan I love the drama I love the atmosphere of individuals complaining to referees about a certain call.  The only aspect of this game that I find disgusting is the fact that Flopping has taken center stage.  It’s a travesty to the game of basketball and to our Legends of the game.  With that said last night were the Espys an award show basically for espn to make an extra buck and to give out bogus awards.  The only awards that show true character is the Jimmy V Award, and the Arthur Ash Award.   With the lockout the NBA has threatened that if there is any contact with players and owners that they could receive up to $1 million dollars in fines if they break that rule.  The Dallas Mavericks with owner Mark Cuban received the award for Best Team.  Jason Kidd made light of the moment by saying “You do have the checks, so you can pay the fine,” Kidd said. “It’s only a million dollars.”   

            This to me was the highlight of the night other than Seth Meyers opening Monologue; ESPN has done better ESPY’S in the past.  Overall this was a sub-par event, we can not force all of the blame on ESPN it was also a bad year for sport’s highlights.  In comparison the Espy’s are kind of like this years NBA Draft mediocre better luck next year. 

D Wade has to Win No Matter What

This is such a classic game that I grew up playing on the school yards, road trips away from home.  The rules of this game are simple if the person behind you makes it before you do, you lose.  Wade takes it to the extreme he cheats on three separate occasions and he still ends up losing to smaller version of him.  I guess the moral of this is D-Wade takes this game seriously.  

All-Star Game brings in some craziness don't you think

The San Francisco Giants outrageous closer had these cleats created just for the 2011 MLB All-Star game, and since this is Brian Wilson we’re talking about here, they look exactly how you’d think they’d look.  Totally badass.
I mean seriously do expect anything different from a guy that has one of the most outrageous beards in Major League Baseball History.  Believe me I'm starting to fear the Beard.  

Fan Dies After Falling Over the Outfield Railing at the Ballpark in Arlington

Here are the details from this horrible news from espn:

A male fan has died after falling over the outfield railing and landing on the concrete behind the out-of-town scoreboard at the Rangers Ballpark during the second inning of Thursday’s game between the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics.“We are deeply saddened to learn that the man who fell has passed away as a result of this tragic accident,” Rangers president/CEO Nolan Ryan said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”The Rangers closed the clubhouse to the media after their 6-0 win. They haven’t released the name of the fan because they aren’t sure if all the family members have been notified.The left-field wall is 14 feet high and the fan went over the railing, which is a few feet higher, for an approximately 20-foot drop.

UPDATE: The fan has been identified as Shannon Stone, an 18-year veteran of the Brownwood (Texas) fire department.

The New Face Of Baseball Showing love to family

 So Bryce Harper is suppose to the face of baseball moving forward.  Now I will admit this is something that we do need.  As you might have already figured out I'm a die hard baseball fan and this story is something special because I know how much my family helped me along the way playing the game.  The picture of above is of Nationals wonder kid Bryce Harper get some ink down at a tattoo parlor.    As it turns out, Harper got inked on both wrists this visit to the tattoo parlor.  What did he get etched on his wrists you ask?
 “Mom” and “Pops” as a tribute to his parents, which is actually a nice way to honor you mother and father if you think about it, providing you’re into tattoos.  I don't know if I would take it the extreme of getting my mother and father Tattooed but looking back playing college ball in Texas away from home I can remember those lonely nights not knowing where I was going to go, what I was going to see.  My parents helped me just as much as Harpers Family helped him.  Yeah he might be arrogant and sometimes a jackass but this is legit. 

 

Sad day if you are a Florida Marlins Fan

So if you haven't figured out by now I'm a die hard baseball fan.  To hear this news coming out of Florida is just pathetic and sad.  Your baseball team is sitting in last place in your division, with attendance dwindling to roughly 17,000 per game (dead last in the majors), what’s an organization to do?  Simple close the upper deck of your baseball stadium to patrons. On the business side of this it makes sense to close the upper levels of Sun Life Stadium.  The Marlins aren't receiving a solid amount of spectators in the upper deck and there is no need to pay the staff or security or even the ushers.  Another example of this being good for fans is if you were a season-ticket holder who had seats in the upper levels you will now be upgraded, at no additional cost, to infield box seats for the remainder of the season.

Marlins spokesman P.J. Loyello (via the Miami Herald)…

Team officials decided it made little sense to staff the upper deck with ushers and security personnel for a section that attracted so few fans.
“It was an operational decision,” Loyello said. “We don’t sell a whole lot of upper deck seats.

My Pick for the Home Run Derby

Below is my pick for the 2011 Home Run Derby known other than Matt Kemp of the LA Dodgers.  I understand that he is a long shot but here is the thing Matt Kemp is already on a program that is dealing with owner issues.  The Dodgers are 11 games out with probably not much hope of making the post season but I have hope in Matt Kemp.  He has one beautiful swings in the game today Tonight will all see who actually holds up the trophy. 

Brian Wilson Loses his F*cking Mind

 Being a former player watching Brian Wilson the other night make the mistake of losing your mind I just sit back and laugh.  Yogi Berra once said “Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical.”  Yogi nailed it on the head literally when he was quoted saying this.  The funny part about the Brian Wilson saga is that his team even won the game against my Detroit Tigers.  In the video you will see Russell Crow as Happy Gilmore played by Brian Wilson.  Wilson first tosses the Gatorade Cooler against the wall and takes beat and shows his true apparition of Gatorade maybe Wilson wanted a Powerade.  For whatever reason he decided to have a little kid tantrum the best part is his teammates left him completely alone in the corner.  

A law that should not be taken place

According to Green Bay Police Captain Paul Ebel:

 “Right now we’re dissecting the law. We are reading it. We’re going to consult with the city’s attorneys, with the Packers organization. I think common sense will prevail in something like that.”

Forget trying to sneak in your tall boy Wisconsin legislation now has Green Bay police wondering if they can prevent people bringing there guns in Lambeau Field.  After a long hard fight of four years of gun-rights advocates lobbying in support of the cause, Wisconsin has now became the 49th state in union to allow citizens to carry concealed firearms.  My main question is should we allow Plaxico Burress? probably not because he will probably shoot himself in the foot again.  The National Football League has a policy that pervents fans from carrying guns into the any stadium.  However since Lambeau isn't owned by the NFL and is owned by the City of Green Bay & Brown Country Professional Football Stadium District the league might not be able to enforce this policy.

  
Says Pat Webb, the Stadium District’s executive director:

 “I don’t know enough about Wisconsin’s specific law to know if the stadiums are exempt or not or can be exempt.”

I guess time will only tell as to what will transpire.  Yet remember that Lockout is still Looming.  So even if it does happen they might only be able to partake in half of a season.