Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Save the Saints (and other stuff)...


I wanted to put this email at the top. There isn’t much I can do beyond this and a segment, but it does suck for Saints fans. Put yourself in their shoes for a moment and read this:


Dear Bob,

I am writing to you in support of the New Orleans Saints. As a lifelong Saints fan, I’m appalled by Benson’s actions following Hurricane Katrina. In our time of need, he’s trying to take away one of the only things we can find joy in – our beloved Saints. While everyone is speculating about where the team will end up, no one is really bringing to light the dirty things Benson is doing in New Orleans.

Benson is attempting to break his lease on the Saints Metairie, La. practice facility – a lease which costs him a whopping $1 annually. He claims the facility was damaged by Hurricane Katrina and later “trashed” by National Guard troops and FEMA workers. This simply isn’t true and the following link will provide you with a news story from our local CBS affiliate which proves the building has no damage and is virtually spotless: TV STORY

I haven’t seen anyone in the national media do a story on this, and they really should. People should know the truth about what’s really going on in New Orleans, and Tom Benson should be exposed for the ways he is trying to take our team away from us. I hope you will consider my story idea.

Many Thanks,
Dennis Labure
River Ridge, La.


Good luck, Saints fans. That isn’t fair or right.



White Sox win in 14


Geoff Blum, in his first Series at-bat, hit a home run off reliever Ezequiel Astacio with two out in the 14th inning to vault the Sox a 7-5 victory before a stunned sellout crowd of 42,848 fans at Minute Maid Park.

The Sox, with a 3-0 lead in this best-of-seven Series and a seven-game winning streak, can wrap up the Series as soon as Wednesday night. All 21 teams who had a 3-0 lead in the Series have won the championship, including 18 in four games.

The Sox won in a Series record five hours, 41 minutes. The 14-inning game tied the longest in Series history, as Boston and Brooklyn played 14 innings in Game 2 of the 1916 Series. The 17 pitchers used by the Sox and Houston set a Series record, and the nine used by the Sox also set a Series record. A record 43 players were used.


Swoopes is out of the closet

Eagles sign Jose Cortez

McNeal strug-gel-ling in Aggieland

Guerin off to a slow start

FC Dallas hires a dude who can sell them tickets …they hope…


First and foremost, Hitchcock was brought in to boost season ticket sales.
Based on his salesmanship in the league, Hitchcock might be the guy to do just that.
In eight years of MLS ticket sales, Hitchcock has earned the MLS Sales Director of the Year award three times, and the 2000 Commissioner's New Business Leadership Award. He comes to the club after selling for D.C. United (1998-2000), Colorado (2000-03) and Los Angeles (2003-05).

The LA Galaxy -- playing in the Home Depot Center, a soccer-specific stadium similar to Pizza Hut Park -- led MLS in 2005 attendance average (24,204).






TV Note: If you love the fight, and the UFC, please check out the replay of this week’s Ultimate Fighter 2 on Thursday night at 10pm on Spike TV. Dude, Luke (above) and Sammy put together a fight that I thought was tremendous. Awesome stuff. Read this review if you want it spoiled

TV Note #2: Looks like the rat I smelled on Survivor is being pursued elsewhere (thanks to p1 Fred):


TV Guide: Did Danni really recognize Gary as a former football player, or did you guys tip her off?

Jeff Probst:
We never divulge information to the castaways about each other. She knew exactly who he was. In an interview before the game started, she talked about how her father had a photo of him and how she once visited [his alma mater] Central Michigan University, where they have a huge shrine to him.

Sure, Jeff. Whatever you say.

TV Note #3: Over There wraps up its one and only season tonight according to USA Today


The cable series premiered to more than 4 million viewers after a wave of publicity resulting from speculation about public backlash and the involvement of noted producer Steven Bochco, who created the series with Chris Gerolmo.

But the numbers tailed off to fewer than 2 million, and the young adults prized by advertisers dropped to close to 1 million for later episodes. The series follows a group of Army soldiers in Iraq and their families at home.

Despite the ratings, FX president John Landgraf says he remains proud of Over There and hasn't made a final decision about its future. "I feel really good about it creatively. It's a tough show and at times a very darkly truthful show," he says.

"Chris and Steven did a really good job of developing their characters over the long haul. The last run of episodes is quite moving," Landgraf says. But "the ratings are probably below the level of sustainability from our standpoint."


Not the true spirit of streaks


STREAK INTACT: Falcons offensive tackle Todd Weiner extended his streak of consecutive starts to 49 by playing the first snap, but Barry Stokes played most of the first half at Weiner's right tackle spot. Weiner has an arm injury.


Gregg Easterbrook’s fine TMQB …Of course, I have not listed these like I should this season. Please forgive me.

Someone asked me yesterday how USC claims to be going for a 3-peat, and yet we clearly remember LSU spanking OU in 2003 for the national title. Well, according to this , USC is actually going for a 4-peat. Not confusing at all…

Once again, Liverpool is underachieving …WHY?

Back when I had the time (before I had this blog), I used to love the video games. Especially, my beloved SOCOM. But, you may recall, playing online meant dealing with the cussing, over-the-top 14 year old gamer on line. Don’t believe me? Watch this …but with your volume down, and your discretion on…

college football t-shirts and the comedy that goes with them

Colin sent me this development:


Bob, my buddy emailed me and told me to read this month's questionaire for the ticket chick. Specifically the question about Pete Rose. I got severe tired head after reading this answer. I've heard you guys talk about this before, so I thought you'd get a kick out of this, I cut and pasted her response......How can we talk about Pete Rose when we have troops in Iraq?

Should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame?

Her answer--"Once our troops are all home and safe then I’ll tell you whether or not a cheater should be allowed in the Hall of Fame…"

Power down.


He’s not making it up. Click Here for SaRatta …oh, dear.


Should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame? Once our troops are all home and safe then I’ll tell you whether or not a cheater should be allowed in the Hall of Fame…


Star Wars giggle

Another 1920’s glossary

Here are a few email-worthy “GNG’s”:


Bob and Dan,

Several of my old college buddies and I met in Chicago last weekend to go to the BYU/Notre Dame game on Saturday. We all got in Friday and wanted to check out downtown Chicago. After dinner, we walked around for a while, but none of us knew the area so we weren’t sure what to do. We noticed that there were carriage rides being offered. At first we laughed about taking a ride, but eventually decided to do it. Let me reiterate that none of us knew the area and it was cold that night. The carriage ride last about 45 minutes and we were able to see a lot of downtown Chicago as well as Lake Michigan. The ride was a little cold, so of course we had to share the blankets that were available on the carriage. I’ve got to admit, it all felt a little gay. Everyone that we passed by sure looked at us as if we were gay.

By the way, after the carriage ride we all enjoyed ice cream sundaes together.

BRAD ANDRUS


And, then this one with a visual aid:



Hey boys,

I know this one is pretty easy to determine, but I just had to send this to you. A group of friends and I were hanging out in downtown Ft Worth at a place called 8.0's where they have a 60 oz margarita. Ideally made for parties of women who sit around talking about Oparh and how Dr Phil thinks their husband is a terrible person and what not.

Anyway these two dudes sitting at the table next to us, who by the way look really manly in there Harley Davidson tee-shirts and ungroomed goatees, ordered one of these drinks. At first I thought that surly one of them got it on a bet to see how quickly he could down the sucker, but no. The waitress brought them two straws and they sipped on it together for the next 30 min or so, and then to make matters worse they ordered another. Because I could not believe what I saw, I had the girl sitting next to me take a picture with her camera phone.

I know you have discussed this situation before, but come on. When you see such a shocking event you just have to share it with the whole city.

The picture is attached. Sorry for the poor quality, we had to take it in such a way to where they didn't notice. But you can get the jest of it.

Thanks
P1 Symons





Genius! And here is some good Cowboys thinking from Jeremiah (Ontario?):


As much criticism that Roy Williams has gotten when he seems to blow a coverage at a crucial point in the game (vs. Redskins, Giants), and perhaps rightfully so, it only seems fair to commend him equally when the Dallas defense has such a stellar performance, like they did last week against Seattle, not to mention overall in the last 17 quarters of play. If it is appropriate to fault him particularly in a game like the one against the Giants where the defense played phenomenally but it seemed like he went brain dead at the end of the 4th quarter, then it seems only fair to commend him particularly for not getting stupid at the end of last week’s game. Likewise, it seems fair, not only to criticize him for blown coverage, but also to commend him for trying to make a play to change the outcome of the game—the caused fumble at goal line against the Giants and especially the interception against Seattle.

• Although, at this point the potential return of Billy Cundiff seems like the 2nd coming of Nick Lowery, let’s not jump off the deep end here. Although Billy was great within 40 yards, he missed some clutch kicks last season that were especially crippling to a team that struggled to score touchdowns. Now, here is Cundiff, returning from an serious injury, who perhaps hasn’t as much as kicked his dog in the ass since preseason. Granted, even that might be better than the job Cortez was doing, however I wonder is he the best Dallas can do? Was it Morten Anderson who snuck in a plug with Al Gifford on Monday Night indicating his interest in playing again? He was a pretty good kicker, and I wouldn’t imagine that anyone would be worried him losing a “step” in his old age since his ability would be clear in a few practices—either he can make the kicks or he cannot. Why aren’t we hearing anything about potential here coming from the Cowboys, which such a dire need glaringly apparent.

Jeremiah T. Vance


Week 6 Turnovers (winners are listed with turnover margin):

Car E, Dal E, Chi -1, Balt +2, Cin +3, TB +1, Jax +3, Atl +1, KC +3, SD +1, Den E, Buf +1, Sea -1, Ind +3

Week 6 totals: 9-2-3 82%
Season totals: 57-18-13 76% (lowest numbers in years)

Records for teams that finish:

+5 = 8-0 100%
+4 = 5-0 100%
+3 = 9-1 90%
+2 = 13-5 72%
+1 = 22-12 65%

Dallas’ results prove nothing whatsoever:

W - SD +1
L - Was +2
W - SF E
L - Oak -1
W - Phi -1
W – NYG E

Do 100 yard Rushers impact winning versus losing?

Teams that had 100 yard rushers in week 6:
TB W, ATL W, SD W, DEN W, Buf W, NYJ L, Sea (Alexander) W, Sea (Morris) W, Ind W

Week 6 record for teams with 100 yard rushers: 8-1
Season total: 37-6 86%

You might be saying, "Bob, didn't we just complete week 7?" Yes. Those numbers come tomorrow...

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, Bob is up EARLY--glad he wasn't on the jail chain this morning!!

I like to bust BaD Radio's balls as much as anyone, but I have to agree with the partial payment decision on the Corso sign bet.

The sign really wasn't funny, but they should get something for the effort. Bob, tell Greggo to "Eff off" the next time he calls you out on a bet--you're the one that got the tattoo!!!

Anonymous said...

i dont know whatis gayer, having a "shower party" or sharing a big martini with another dude.
maybe they were the village people type of bikers.

Anonymous said...

Some well known rumors I've heard this morning from people who "should" have some idea of what they are talking about:

Saints want out of N.O. badly:
Vikings ownership is blaming Red for selling them a defective team & rattling swords about moving:
San Antonio wants a team badly:
NFL wants a team in Los Angeles so bad it ain't funny:

No matter what happens, the people are getting totally screwed in those two cities--no Vikings Cruise pun intended.

BK in Plano said...

Al Gifford?

Anonymous said...

As sad as it is for New Orleans sports fans, can you really blame Benson (and the NBA Hornets owner too) for wanting to get the hell out of that town? Owning an NFL or NBA team is a business after all, as much as we'd like to not think about the business side of professional sports.

I've heard that up to 40% of those citizens living in New Orleans prior to Katrina will never return. Considering that and the disarray of the city and state government there, New Orleans is simply not a city capable of supporting a professional sports franchise any longer. It's sad, but that's simply the reality of the situation and you can't blame Benson for that.

Anonymous said...

Execellent Norm impression Attny!!!

Don't know if I'd touch the Vikings with a ten foot pole right now though.

I'm going to offer a big prize to anyone who can get on Dale Hansen's show with a BaD Radio sign. I'll let you know what the prize is and what you have to do to actually win it, AFTER the contest.

I hate the P1

Anonymous said...

I've got to agree with Anonymous about the Saints.

As much as we like to pretend like sports franchises "belong" to the fans in some way, that is simply not the case.

Professional sports is a business, and there is no co-ownership between owners and fans (unless the franchise is publically owned or somesuch). I don't understand why it isn't fair that Benson wants to leave NO. Would it be fair to expect him to continue to operate in a market that had already started dwindling even before the hurricane? I think THAT would not be fair.

I know it hurts when YOUR teams moves. I know its depressing. But if you believe Benson owes it to the people of New Orleans to continue the franchise there, regardless of the financial consequences - then you have an overly romantic perception of professional sports.

Evie

P.S. AttnDan's Norm impersonation is genius.

Neil Payne said...

It is nice to know not all WNBA players are gay - just 50% are!

"The talk about the WNBA being full of lesbians is not true," Swoopes says. "There are as many straight women in the league as there are gay.

NP

Anonymous said...

It is nice to know not all WNBA players are gay - just 50% are!

That's the exact same thing I was thinking when I read her comments this morning! She says she wasn't born that way, so I guess the WNBA must have turned her into one. After all, her lover is a former assistant coach for the Houston team. Wow, can you imagine a star player doing one of the team's assistant coaches? How incredibly unstable is that?!?

Anonymous said...

"can you imagine a star player doing one of the team's assistant coaches?"

Yeah, Sheryl was doing one of the coaches on her own team, that's just flat out wrong.

Hmm, maybe that's what Rob Pettiti was hinting at when he said he'd want to be on that deserted island with Parcells. Now that is what I call a SICK thought...

-Patrick said...

To comment on the UFC show, that fight was awesome! Glad to hear you're getting into it Bob.

That was about as much pure, raw emotion I've seen in a while.

A guy whose dreams lie on how he does in this particular fight gets knocked out. When he comes to, he then realizes that he lost the fight and breaks down. Riveting stuff.

Anonymous said...

So which teams besides the Packers are publically owned, either directly or indirectly?

Anonymous said...

The Houston Texans are owned in public every week, but that wasn't quite the question....

Anonymous said...

For what its worth, I believe that after the packers, the rules were changed to prevent another team from being publicly owned.

but maybe that's a myth.

at any rate, no other teams are publicly owned.

Anonymous said...

I believe you can buy stock in the Boston Celtics.

Anonymous said...

I know that the Florida Panthers traded stock in the team on the stock market only a few years ago too.

Anonymous said...

Absolute horsesh*t call in tonight's Stars game. Here's the video of the clear goal by Morrow that was somehow waved off.

http://sportsblog.xtremeramblings.us/MorrowGoalSmall.mpg

I would think that if ever there were a perfect time to protest a game, this would be it.

Anonymous said...

check this out Bob, or should i say 'Garfield Dee'

http://www.blogthings.com/1920snamegenerator/

Anonymous said...

Wasn't there a goal that was scored the other night that came as the whistle blew to stop play that counted? I think they even when upstairs for a review. Bad call tonight refs.

Anonymous said...

You're referring to the Robitaille goal last Thursday. And what the NHL did that night is perfectly legal since that play was reviewed on the very next stoppage in play.

What drives me nuts is that two weeks ago in Edmonton, the Oilers cut a 2-0 Stars lead to 2-1 when they pounded home a loose puck. Problem is, a whistle blew right before the puck went into the net because the refs initially thought the puck was covered. The goal was allowed to stand.

Now how are you going to bend the rules to allow a goal that in all honesty should have been allowed to stand even though technically, it should be waved off because the whistle blew first, and then come back two weeks later and wave off a goal where the video clearly indicates the whistle comes after the puck has been well entombed into the back of the net?

It makes absolutely no sense to me.

Anonymous said...

1st, that morrow goal was Bullsh*t...

I hate the refs.

2nd,

The Saints should be able to do whatever they want. Its a business, and there are only 30-40% of the population back in New Orleans, and thats all that may return.

Both pro teams should find homes elsewhere if they aren't going to make money in NO.

Anonymous said...

Just to clarify:

I meant no other NFL teams, but of course I didn't say that the first time.

You can still buy into Florida Panthers Holding, except now its called Boca Resorts.

You can still buy into Boston Celtics Limited Partnership, except now its "Henkley Limited Partnership"

BusinessDIP

Anonymous said...

Bob,

Concerning Marquis Daniels: you were pretty hard on him yesterday on your show, and look at what the guy did last night. Semblence of two years ago. He is a smooth clutch player that is young, but has ice in his veins. How about that three pointer in the 1st OT? Huge. How about the steal in the 2nd OT? Huge.

I know you and Dan are not top notch basketball analysts, but give Daniels some credit; he can ball with the best of them.

Blaine in McKinney