By Ryan Dugan
Philadelphia.
The home of democracy, the American Flag, Benjamin Franklin, Rocky Balboa, the Cheese Steak, and of course the Flyers, Sixers, Eagles, and Phillies. It is a tough city, a mean city and arguably the most frustrated sports city in all of America.
Tuesday night, October 21, 1980, I was just three months and 29 days old. Philadelphia Phillies closer Tug Mcgraw strikes out Kansas City Royals left fielder Willie Wilson, and 65,838 fans in Veterans Stadium go wild! Major League Baseball’s 76th annual World Series comes to an end, and the city of Philadelphia has a world title as the Phillies defeat the Royals 4 games to 1!
So what’s the big deal?
It was the last time the city of Philadelphia celebrated a champion!
I lived in the city of Philadelphia for almost all of 2003. It is one of the most blue-collar towns I have ever spent an extended amount of time in! It is cold and bitter in the winter when the wind blows in from the mighty Delaware River. It is messy and dirty with industrial ports, warehouses, and oil refineries down town. It is dangerous and deadly with gangs and crime elements up down. The city is diverse, cultured, historical, and as tough as nails. Its people are hard working, middle class, loud, opinionated; and in a constant love/hate relationship with its sports teams.
In the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB, Philadelphia is one of the worst sports cities in all of North America.
The Phillies were the cities last Champions in 1980. Over the last three baseball seasons, the Phillies have finished each year within three games of winning the National League Wild Card. The last time the Phillies even made the post season, was 1993. Which by the way, was the last time the World Series ended with a walk off homerun. Wild Thing Mitch Williams of the Philadelphia Phillies gave up a solo shot to Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Philadelphia Eagles have never won a Super Bowl. Eagle fans have had their hearts broken over the last five seasons by coming so close to a title and then falling short. Hearts are not the only things that have been broken. Quarterback Donovan Mcnabb has been seriously injured in back to back seasons. First a sports hernia cost him the 2005-2006 campaign. Then this season a torn ACL in his right knee, ended his season and hopes for a Super Bowl championship. Backup QB Jeff Garcia has the Eagles playoff bound, but the Eagles will most certainly fall short of a Super Bowl title yet again without the services of their franchise star.
76ers fans had faith that Allen Iverson would eventually get them a Championship, and in 2001 he came very close. However just as I write this I have learned that A-I has been officially traded to Denver. Now the 76ers season has unofficially come to an end. They stand no chance of making the playoffs this season.
In 2004 the Flyers came within one game of going to the Stanley Cup, but they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Finals. Tampa Bay went on to win it’s first Cup. The Flyers are 8-21 so far this year with about 60% of the regular season remaining. They already have almost no chance of making the post season.
No other city has the awful, hard, miserable luck that Philadelphia has in sports.
Even cities like Boston, who’s Red Sox, went 86 years without a Champion, always had great Patriots teams in the NFL and Celtic teams in the NBA. And the Chicago Cubs who have not won a world series in 98 years, at least had Michael Jordan in the NBA, and Mike Ditka in the NFL.
In fact there are only two other cities I can find that have worse overall sports records.
The first city would be Seattle Washington, which has never had a Champion in any professional sport. I give them a slight pass for a few reasons. First they have no NHL team, but second and more importantly they have less history in professional sports, as the city itself has less overall history compared to the rest of the country.
The other city is Cleveland, which has not had a winner since the 1948 Indians defeated the Boston Braves. I give them a slight pass as well, because they too have no NHL team. But also because they WILL get an NBA title sooner rather then later with power forward Lebron James.
So why is the city of Philadelphia in such an awful sports slump?
It varies from sport to sport. However there is certainly a serious lack of commitment from ownership and or leadership in all four organizations.
The old radio voices of the New York Yankees (my boys) John Sterling and Michael Kay use to tell me “Don’t get use to winning every year. It is a rare thing in professional sports. So enjoy it for as long as it lasts.” Looking at a city like Philadelphia can make a fan appreciate winning and recognize how rare it is.
The good news for Philadelphia fans is that when one of their teams finally does win a Championship it will be all the more sweet.
Because victory, just like wine, is so much sweeter with time!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Sunday, December 10, 2006
ESPN - Exploited Sports Programming Network
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word exploit as: the unethical use of something for one’s own profit. To me, no word better captures what the ESPN television network has become.
In ESPN’s 27-year history it has grown from a small, sports news network, to the self proclaimed “number one source in sports programming”. ESPN now reaches more then 90 million homes in the United States alone. Not bad considering the U.S. Census estimates there to be 124 million housing units across our great land.
This means ESPN is available in better then 85% of the average Americans home, and is watched by about 33% of all Americans. I would call that a bit more then a “source in sports programming”,
I would call that a monopoly.
Not even 15 years ago, ESPN was a totally different sports network. The largest change has been in it’s programming. These changes can easily be seen in its flagship program Sports Center. Sports Center use to be a half hour program that equally covered all four major sports, NFL, MLB, NHL, & NBA, (with some college sports coverage mixed in). Sports Center use to focus on highlights, and informing its viewers of game results.
The new ESPN theme is less content and more commentary!
Instead of good journalism, interesting stories, and investigative reporting, now we have former players, former coaches, and announcers that have become network made personalities, and stars of the show. We get Chris Berman nicknaming every athlete ever to hit a homerun, or score a touch down. Steward Scott doing highlights spoken in Ebonics. And Michael Irving, Steve Young, John Kruk, Barry Melrose throwing in their two cents like gospel.
Why bother showing coverage of a sports champion raising his trophy over his head, when viewers can see four schmucks sitting at a news desk!
ESPN is the number one abuser of sports information on cable television today. However nothing is more appalling then it’s sports coverage of Monday Night Football during the NFL regular season. When NFL coverage begins on ESPN, the rest of sports world goes on hold!
On April 18, 2006, ESPN signed a six-year, 1.1 Billion-dollar deal to televise Monday Night Football. It breaks down to roughly 600 million dollars a year, and 37.5 million dollars a game.
This past Monday night, ESPN had more then twelve reporters and commentators in Philadelphia for the Eagles / Panthers week 13 game. They also had three stages with news desks set up in three separate locations within Lincoln Financial Field. Their NFL coverage began at 6:00pm Eastern Standard Time, and it didn’t end until 3:00am Tuesday morning.
So what is so bad about that?
Well for the NHL Stanley Cup Final, this past June, ESPN sent no stages or news desks, only two reporters, and averaged less then five minutes of coverage a day on Sports Center.
That for the NHL Stanley Cup final!!!
In an age where news networks get there talking points from the White House, and major business conglomerates own television stations, information and entertainment is now twisted in ways never seen before in history.
Not only has responsible broadcast journalism becomes a thing of the past, it is hardly even missed, and worse yet, it is hardly even recognized as gone!
Why?
Ratings!
And why are ratings so important?
Money!
In ESPN’s 27-year history it has grown from a small, sports news network, to the self proclaimed “number one source in sports programming”. ESPN now reaches more then 90 million homes in the United States alone. Not bad considering the U.S. Census estimates there to be 124 million housing units across our great land.
This means ESPN is available in better then 85% of the average Americans home, and is watched by about 33% of all Americans. I would call that a bit more then a “source in sports programming”,
I would call that a monopoly.
Not even 15 years ago, ESPN was a totally different sports network. The largest change has been in it’s programming. These changes can easily be seen in its flagship program Sports Center. Sports Center use to be a half hour program that equally covered all four major sports, NFL, MLB, NHL, & NBA, (with some college sports coverage mixed in). Sports Center use to focus on highlights, and informing its viewers of game results.
The new ESPN theme is less content and more commentary!
Instead of good journalism, interesting stories, and investigative reporting, now we have former players, former coaches, and announcers that have become network made personalities, and stars of the show. We get Chris Berman nicknaming every athlete ever to hit a homerun, or score a touch down. Steward Scott doing highlights spoken in Ebonics. And Michael Irving, Steve Young, John Kruk, Barry Melrose throwing in their two cents like gospel.
Why bother showing coverage of a sports champion raising his trophy over his head, when viewers can see four schmucks sitting at a news desk!
ESPN is the number one abuser of sports information on cable television today. However nothing is more appalling then it’s sports coverage of Monday Night Football during the NFL regular season. When NFL coverage begins on ESPN, the rest of sports world goes on hold!
On April 18, 2006, ESPN signed a six-year, 1.1 Billion-dollar deal to televise Monday Night Football. It breaks down to roughly 600 million dollars a year, and 37.5 million dollars a game.
This past Monday night, ESPN had more then twelve reporters and commentators in Philadelphia for the Eagles / Panthers week 13 game. They also had three stages with news desks set up in three separate locations within Lincoln Financial Field. Their NFL coverage began at 6:00pm Eastern Standard Time, and it didn’t end until 3:00am Tuesday morning.
So what is so bad about that?
Well for the NHL Stanley Cup Final, this past June, ESPN sent no stages or news desks, only two reporters, and averaged less then five minutes of coverage a day on Sports Center.
That for the NHL Stanley Cup final!!!
In an age where news networks get there talking points from the White House, and major business conglomerates own television stations, information and entertainment is now twisted in ways never seen before in history.
Not only has responsible broadcast journalism becomes a thing of the past, it is hardly even missed, and worse yet, it is hardly even recognized as gone!
Why?
Ratings!
And why are ratings so important?
Money!
Saturday, December 2, 2006
Monster, or Nightmare?
So is this guy Daisuke Matsuzaka for real, or just a lot of international hype?
I myself have always been skeptical when I see a pitcher making a transition to Major League Baseball from Japan. Pitching in the Japanese Leagues has never been at the same level of competition as pitching in the United States in baseball’s 135-year history.
That is why guys like Mike Greenwell, Kevin Mitchell, and Mel Hall have ended their careers by playing in Japan. They became “washed up, has-beens” in MLB, who extended there careers in by hitting off average pitching in Japan.
This common practice was eloquently captured in the heinous 1990’s film “Mr. Baseball” staring Tom Selleck. In the film Tom plays a veteran MLB star who moves to Japan to prolong his fading career. If you have a chance to see it…don’t! It is awful!
Hitting in the U.S. or overseas is generally equal. The best of the best can do it regardless of race, league, or continental origin. The trouble has never been hitting. Pitching is a different story!
In 1995 Hideo Nomo became the first Japanese star to start games in the United States. Initially he was very good. At first he lead the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff to a division title with a 13-6 record and 2.54 ERA. However Nomo’s dominate reign with the Dodgers was short, and by his third season LA quickly cut ties with the Asian Born star.
Two years later in 1997, Hideki Irabu was suppose to be the “Japanese Nolan Ryan” in America. Instead he became “The Toad”, a nickname given to him by Yankees owner Geo. Stienbrener. After just six seasons in the big leagues, Irabu had only 405 strikeouts and a career ERA of 5.15. Not quite the 5714 strikeouts or 3.19 ERA Nolan Ryan had after 27 big league seasons.
However MLB scouts, executives, and organizations have thrown all these facts and figures away, going crazy when Daisuke Matsuzaka expressed a desire to play in America. The Boston Red Sox put up 51.1 million dollars just to begin talking to the right-hander.
Why?
Because everyone believes this guy is different!
Everyone thinks he will be the one to change history and break the mold! And in their defense there are some key differences.
He has a fastball in the mid 90’s, (a must for any pitcher). He throws a plethora of pitches from a variety of arm angles including a: curve ball, sinker, slider, and splitter. He has also flitted with a pitch that the OLD MAN first introduced me to, known affectionately as “the gyro ball”. It is similar to a curve ball, but breaks later and harder. “It looks like it changes mid-form from a fastball to a curve” to quote TOM.
Those closest to Matsuzaka also say he has a caviler approach to pitching that is not seen by the average hurler. He is always in a good mental state when pitching, and is hardly, if ever, raddled on the mound.
Well now the pressure is on Boston.
The days are winding down for the Sox to close the deal, and get D-Mat in New England this coming summer. All signs point to the deal happening. But the Red Sox need more then just a free agent singing, they need an ace in the rotation!
In the last twelve months the Red Sox have: let Johnny Damon go to New York, traded away top starter Bronson Arroyo, froze up at trading deadline last August, and dropped to third place in the American League East ending the 2006 season. The pressure is on the Red Sox front office to make the right move for a change.
So the question still remains from the start of this article, is Daisuke Matsuzaka for real, or just a lot of international hype?
I say the stuff is there for D-Mat to break the mold. However if history has taught us anything, the odds are against any pitcher from the Japanese leagues becoming a consistent dominant ace in Major League Baseball!
I myself have always been skeptical when I see a pitcher making a transition to Major League Baseball from Japan. Pitching in the Japanese Leagues has never been at the same level of competition as pitching in the United States in baseball’s 135-year history.
That is why guys like Mike Greenwell, Kevin Mitchell, and Mel Hall have ended their careers by playing in Japan. They became “washed up, has-beens” in MLB, who extended there careers in by hitting off average pitching in Japan.
This common practice was eloquently captured in the heinous 1990’s film “Mr. Baseball” staring Tom Selleck. In the film Tom plays a veteran MLB star who moves to Japan to prolong his fading career. If you have a chance to see it…don’t! It is awful!
Hitting in the U.S. or overseas is generally equal. The best of the best can do it regardless of race, league, or continental origin. The trouble has never been hitting. Pitching is a different story!
In 1995 Hideo Nomo became the first Japanese star to start games in the United States. Initially he was very good. At first he lead the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff to a division title with a 13-6 record and 2.54 ERA. However Nomo’s dominate reign with the Dodgers was short, and by his third season LA quickly cut ties with the Asian Born star.
Two years later in 1997, Hideki Irabu was suppose to be the “Japanese Nolan Ryan” in America. Instead he became “The Toad”, a nickname given to him by Yankees owner Geo. Stienbrener. After just six seasons in the big leagues, Irabu had only 405 strikeouts and a career ERA of 5.15. Not quite the 5714 strikeouts or 3.19 ERA Nolan Ryan had after 27 big league seasons.
However MLB scouts, executives, and organizations have thrown all these facts and figures away, going crazy when Daisuke Matsuzaka expressed a desire to play in America. The Boston Red Sox put up 51.1 million dollars just to begin talking to the right-hander.
Why?
Because everyone believes this guy is different!
Everyone thinks he will be the one to change history and break the mold! And in their defense there are some key differences.
He has a fastball in the mid 90’s, (a must for any pitcher). He throws a plethora of pitches from a variety of arm angles including a: curve ball, sinker, slider, and splitter. He has also flitted with a pitch that the OLD MAN first introduced me to, known affectionately as “the gyro ball”. It is similar to a curve ball, but breaks later and harder. “It looks like it changes mid-form from a fastball to a curve” to quote TOM.
Those closest to Matsuzaka also say he has a caviler approach to pitching that is not seen by the average hurler. He is always in a good mental state when pitching, and is hardly, if ever, raddled on the mound.
Well now the pressure is on Boston.
The days are winding down for the Sox to close the deal, and get D-Mat in New England this coming summer. All signs point to the deal happening. But the Red Sox need more then just a free agent singing, they need an ace in the rotation!
In the last twelve months the Red Sox have: let Johnny Damon go to New York, traded away top starter Bronson Arroyo, froze up at trading deadline last August, and dropped to third place in the American League East ending the 2006 season. The pressure is on the Red Sox front office to make the right move for a change.
So the question still remains from the start of this article, is Daisuke Matsuzaka for real, or just a lot of international hype?
I say the stuff is there for D-Mat to break the mold. However if history has taught us anything, the odds are against any pitcher from the Japanese leagues becoming a consistent dominant ace in Major League Baseball!
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