Slow Sports Day? Not Here!

Kenny Rogers meets the media …

Fraley on the Stubbornness of Rogers …

Rogers tried to make the best of a bad situation.

To Rogers' credit, he did.

That meant going through the media grilling in a stuffy hotel ballroom. Some baseball officials thought Rogers would skip the session.

They should have known better. Rogers never goes the easy way.

Rogers sat in plain sight, surrounded by the largest media contingent by far.

Rogers answered every question, several of which were posed multiple times in various ways. He was never once combative or confrontational. He spoke in soft tones and grinned a few times, particularly when a television reporter asked if this was an escape from reality.

"This is not an escape," Rogers said. His mood was best described as sad puppy. Rogers' contriteness seemed genuine.

"People who have been around me understand what kind of guy I am and what makes me tick," Rogers said. "Things happened. I'm trying to deal with the issue the best I can and move on.

"For me, it was a mistake. I let myself be lowered by other situations. I never should have done that. Will fans understand? No. They're not in my shoes."

The Rogerian Apology …

Teixeira’s first All-Star experience …

I was watching Jason Bay on Monday night hit exactly 0 home runs for Canada. But there is no doubt he is a solid young player for the Pirates, and after reading up on him last night, I was reminded that he and Ace Oliver Perez were traded to Pittsburgh for Brian Giles by the Padres on August 26th, 2003. Not too bad a deal for those Pirates, eh? Both teams got what they wanted, I suppose, but the Pirates got cheap quality.

Kapler back in the USA …

NHL Prepares to Announce Deal??….

A rumour surfaced last night that the NHL has ordered a full-page ad for Thursday's edition of USA Today thanking hockey fans for their patience during the lockout. If true, that could be an indication that agreement on a contract is imminent.

This is pretty amusing: How do you sell tickets when you know you are going to suck? Play the “Faithful” card …That’s right. Put the ball in the fan’s court, and say, “Be faithful. Don’t you remember those 5 Super Bowls?”

MLS Salary information: And being a pro athlete doesn’t always make you rich …

Could you make ends meet on $11,700 a year, before taxes? How about $16,500?
For 86 players in Major League Soccer, that will have to do, because 26 percent of the league's 331 players make less than $20,000 a year in base salary, according to salary documents obtained by The New York Times.

Page Six gets Anna Benson …

ANNA Benson, the outrageous wife of Mets pitcher Kris Benson, raised a whole lotta hell in Las Vegas last weekend. The buxom former stripper was ejected from the World Series of Poker at the Rio on Saturday for excessive cursing. After serving a 10-minute penalty for dropping the "f-bomb," a violation of tournament rules, Benson returned and asked her dealer, "Does that mean I can't say any other word? I can say c - - t, p - - - y and c - - k, but I can't say f - - k?" Benson — whose $10,000 entrance fee was sponsored by pokerblue.com — was immediately booted from the game. She also set tongues wagging when she was barred from the Prime Steakhouse at the Bellagio after they refused to let her eat with her French bulldog puppy, Petunia. "She threw a huge fit," tattles our snitch. "She even said, 'Don't you know who I am? The dog will stay in its carrier.' They said, 'Absolutely not,' and she stormed off." Anna — named "Baseball's Sexiest Wife" by FHM magazine — once told Howard Stern that if she caught her husband sleeping around, she would bed the entire Mets team right down to the groundskeepers.

And now, some email – (By the way, due to vacation plus moving, I am hundreds and hundreds of emails behind. I will try to catch up soon):

First, one on the media and Rogers:

A few weeks before the Roger’s incident, I wrote you an email regarding the media’s lack of balls in dealing with the Rangers. Soon after, the media grew a pair and started asking questions regarding Kenny Rogers injury. Then the attack on the camera man takes place and the press has been all over Rogers, how the Rangers handled it and how this organization is being run. I slept so soundly knowing the media was DOING THEIR JOB, asking the tough questions and holding this team accountable. Then Saturday happened. A guy who has cost his team a roster spot and four starts during a pennant chase. A guy who refuses to talk to the media and fans. A guy with a sleeze-ball agent who is trying to get a big payday in the middle of the season. The fans supported this clown and gave him an ovation! The fans think the media is being too tough on him! All he did was assault someone on camera. A crime any average guy would be arrested for on the spot. Maybe next time he should do something else to the cameraman for the whole world to see…..maybe a felony would make him even more of a fan favorite. My apologies to the media, you did your job, the fans did not. I just don’t get it.
Brian - Arlington

Here is one on why the Rangers did the curious thing of scheduling Rusty Greer on a hot, hot day instead of a cool night with a big crowd…

GREED! The Rangers intentionally planned Rusty Greer Day to be at the hottest time of the year at the hottest time of the day. It's not a day & time they traditionally draw well. They thought by honoring Rusty on such a day would sell more tickets & help an attendance that is lagging behind last year's pace. If the Rangers really cared about honoring Rusty, they would have done it on a Saturday night when they usually do draw well to ensure a packed house for Rusty. Instead , they prefer to use Rusty to sell a few more tickets & put more money in Mr. Hicks' pockets.

PS: And after all, that's a good thing. Other teams win pennants & go to the playoffs. But the Rangers make a profit! Isn't that what it's all about.

Now, this hockey question from Russ:

Andrew (of Andrew’s Stars Page) thinks Guerin is out. your thoughts Bob? I still hope the wings buy out Hatcher so we can take a crack at him again.

Allow me to catch some folks up before I answer. With the new salary cap, teams will really consider buy outs to help adjust their financial landscape. With a cap around $38 million, no team will wish to pay a single player a big chunk of cash.

There is also a provision in the CBA that prohibits the teams from paying one player more than 20% of the payroll ($7.6 million). Doug Armstrong was on Ticket Sports Saturday and suggested that he would not want to pay a single player any more than 10-15%. 10% seems completely impossible. $3.8 million will not get you a superstar, despite the current climate. But 15% is $5.7 million, and seems reasonable.

If a NHL team buys out a player, he is due 67% of his salary, but it will not count against the cap (as I understand the new CBA). Therefore, assuming Guerin’s final two years are for $9 million and $9 million, roll back his salary 24% to $6.75 million. Then, to buy him out, you must pay him $9 million dollars total (4.5 and 4.5) to walk away. You cannot re-sign him at all, so despite the fact that the Stars might WANT to buy him out, how can they pay him $9 million not to play, when he is arguably your best offensive player?

Does Hicks have the cash to just write that check, given the income uncertainties? It seems reasonable that they could buy out the last year of Pierre Turgeon’s deal which would likely be in the neighborhood of $2-3 million. But if your question is, Do the Stars Want to buy Guerin out, then I would say, “yes”. But I am not sure they can.

As for Hatcher, with all of the talk around the local hockey community, I have heard Derian Hatcher, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Joey Nieuwendyk are all soon to be Stars again. I cannot say I believe these ideas, because it flies in the face of what Doug Armstrong has preached. He claims this new team is about Morrow, Ott, Daley, Erskine, and Turco. Langenbrunner makes sense, but the others seem like wishful bridges to the past. I don’t see how reassembling the ’99 team for the ’06 playoffs makes any sense. Honestly, I do not believe Hatcher is half the player he was in 1999.

Oh well, I am happy to type hockey thoughts again, especially those that have to do with hockey (if you know what I mean).