COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY
Written by: Mike in DADate posted: 12/8/2010
THE WAY THEY'VE PLAYED THIS SEASON, THERE'S NOTHING MORE APPROPRIATE THAN A BENGALS' TOILET SEAT!
FLUB OF THE DAY
On his SR610 show Tuesday (12/7), Josh Innes was talking about the Detroit Pistons who were in town to play the Rockets. He mentioned Tayshaun Prince whom he said reminds him of Eddie Murphy who was in one of the “Superman” movies. I guess all “Negroes” look alike to Josh because it was actually Richard Pryor who played in the trash-filled "Superman III”. The texts came flying in to correct Josh. When that happens. that's a "FIVE STAR FLUB".On “The Matt Thomas Show” on Sports Talk 790 (I’m glad they dumped that “Sports Animal” crap last year), I enjoy his “Believe It or Not” shtick during the show’s final segment. It is sometimes challenging, sometimes informative, and sometimes comical when Matt or his high-priced intern, Ross, come up with some funny unbelievable statements.
But this past Monday (12/6), the segment was all botched up when the topic was “Bowl Games”. Matt named a former “Bowl Game” with the years it existed and the caller had to believe the statement or not.
You would assume that the “bowl games” would be post-season Division 1-A bowls, but the segment included Division 1-AA bowls and bowls that were not post-season bowls like the "Tobacco Bowl" and "Oyster Bowl", which are regular season games similar to the “Iron Bowl” and “Egg Bowl”. Also, some of the years given for a couple of the bowl games were incorrect. Considering they had three $50 gift certificates for a restaurant/hotel for the winners, it was a shame there were no winners. If you're going to run a contest, do it right.
And on the same show, Matt was talking about Don Meredith’s passing away and Matt’s past memories of Monday Night Football. One of his remembrances was when Lawrence Taylor broke Joe Namath’s leg. I might have misheard, but I’m sure Matt will check out the audio to see if he said Joe Namath or Joe Theismann. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THE MIGHTY GWINN!
Tuesday (December 7) marked the first anniversary of Sports Talk 790's Dylan Gwinn as a Sports Talk 790 talk host. I might have missed it, since I only listened to a small part of that day's show, but I don't think the guys at 790 know much about the significance of December 7 ( Japanese "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor) or Dylan would have made some kind of comedic reference to his anniversary coinciding with the attack on "Pearl".
Later on during the "Matt Thomas Show", a caller ended his call wanting to thank all the veterans who served the country in honor of D-Day. WTF? D-Day is in June (6th) and deals with the European theater of war. Matt's producer (aka "high-priced intern") Ross realized that, but the guys had to look it up to confirm the date of the attack on "Pearl".
This brings me to another one of my pet peeves and that is that many of our sports talkers will spend their time talking about rock bands, movies, hot babes, the best food places in town, what they did over the weekend, etc. But they very rarely talk about significant dates in American History or ethnic holidays when they come up.
When was the last time you heard a sports talk host wish people a Happy Chinese New Year or Happy Jewish New Year or a Good Ramadan, etc. to the show's listeners. Let us know that you are aware of these things or are you? You can always check on the Internet to see if anything notable is going on that day for a quick mention.
LET'S GO BOWLING!
People like me who like the present set-up for college football and oppose any kind of playoff at the end of the season like to say that college football has the most exciting regular season of any sport and that “for the top contending teams, every game is a playoff”. I do agree that the regular season games in college football tend to have more of a “life-or-death” atmosphere around them than do regular season games in other sports, but here is where I get off that bandwagon.
After the great regular season where any loss is potentially able to end whatever realistic goals a team has set for itself, the college football season turns into the single most meaningless post-season in any sport.
This year, 70 schools in Division 1-A will compete in bowl games. If you look at bowl games as post-season events that means 70 out of 120 teams will make the post-season. If you’re mathematically-challenged that represents a post-season success rate of 58.3%. It’s just like an 8-and-under Memorial Ashford Soccer League where all the teams get trophies for participation, hustle, and good-sportsmanship.
Here is the good news. There are at least 70 teams that won at least six games this year meaning that there will not be a need to try to convince fans and viewers that a 5-7 team deserves attention in the college football post-season.
Actually, the plethora of bowl games screams out "revenue" for cities. The cities that have a stadium available, which will not be used in late December or early January for any other purpose find a sponsor to pay the expenses to put on a bowl game and then revenues flow into the local coffers from TV and the people who attend the games. I really think that is what is at the foundation level of the majority of the 35 bowl games that will happen this year. As in the past, besides looking in for gaming purposes, I will again tune in to check out the crowds to see if any of the “minor bowl games” actually play to stadiums that are half-full.
Michigan 30, UConn10Temple 30, UConn 16Rutgers 27, UConn 24Louisville 26, UConn 0
Michigan is 7-5 this year and 7th in the Big Ten.Temple didn't play in the MAC Championship Game.Rutgers is 4-8 overall and their only Big East win was over UConn.Louisville is 6-6 overall and 3-4 in the Big East.
That is the profile of a team that was an “automatic qualifier” for a BCS bowl game and some people complain about “outsiders” like TCU, Boise State, and Utah getting into the BCS Bowl mix there? And while a playoff could be a better system than the BCS, please understand that the BCS is an improvement over the bowl game system that existed prior to the creation of the BCS in the late 1990s. Had the BCS not come into existence, here is what would be happening to Oregon and Auburn in 2010.
Oregon would go to the Rose Bowl as the PAC-10 champ and would play the Big Ten champ. Since there were three Big Ten teams with records of 11-1, the previous tiebreaker was very simple. The team chosen to play in 2010 would be the one for whom it had been the longest time since the last appearance in the Rose Bowl. That would be Michigan State.
Auburn would go to the Sugar Bowl as the SEC champ and play whomever the Sugar Bowl organizing committee might name as their opponent. They might take one of the Big Ten teams that did not go to the Rose Bowl; they might even think about an Auburn/Alabama rematch; they could invite Virginia Tech as the ACC champion; it would be their choice. Except, they could not get the Big-12 champion because Oklahoma would be headed to the Orange Bowl to play whomever the Orange Bowl organizing committee might name as their opponent.
Oregon and Auburn would have been contractually prohibited from playing for the national championship; the poll voters would have picked the champion after all the bowl games were over. Remember, those are the same poll voters who had Florida (7-5) and Texas (5-7) in the Top Ten back in August. How’d that work out?
I watched a lot of college football games this season. In the final survey, the two best teams that I saw were Oregon and Auburn though Stanford was right on the heels of Auburn in the Crier's BCS Elimination Tournament final rankings. The BCS Championship Game in January 2011 will match my two best teams against one another. That means that for this season, the BCS “process” is a significant improvement over the system it replaced. Anyone who bashes the BCS “process” needs to acknowledge that fact.And before anyone says there has been an injustice done to TCU as college football’s third undefeated team, you can correctly say that in any playoff system that included more than two teams, TCU would have been a participant. However, unless you are a TCU alum, you cannot really say that TCU deserves to be in this year’s BCS Championship Game at the expense of eliminating either Auburn or Oregon.Lastly, the Bowl season was once known for ending on New Year’s Day (aka January 1). Now, “they” extend it all the way to Monday, January 10, for the BCS Championship Game, which is greater than a one month lead-in. Give us a break, as there has to be some kind of statute of limitations for the general public to care about bowl games.
This season, seven bowl games are played after January 1. If they keep making them, the Crier will keep looking for opportunities to wager on them, while being grateful that College Football does not have a playoff, which would severely limit the number of post-season opportunities available. Why does College Football need a playoff, anyway? Because post-seasons exist in other sports? If other sports jumped off a bridge, would College Football playoff-promoting clowns jump off the bridge, too?THIS BORED ISLANDER FAN TAKES UP KNITTING AT THE GAME!REST IN PEACE – GIL MCDOUGALD
Former New York Yankee, Gil McDougald, passed away last week at the age of 82. I didn't hear any of our sports talkers mention it because they probably didn't even know who the hell he was, but then I might have missed a mention of him because I don't listen to that many shows at this time of year because the talk is mostly Houston Texan talk and the talk is either very repetitive or people just talking out of their asses - that includes hosts and callers.Getting back to Gil, he played infield (2B, 3B, SS) for the Yankees for ten years from 1951-1960 and had a lifetime BA of .276. In 1951, he beat out MM, not Joe DiMaggio's wife, Marilyn Monroe, or rookie teammate, Mickey Mantle, but Minnie Minoso for AL Rookie of the Year.
In his ten years with the Yankees, he was on eight pennant winners and five World Champions. The last game Gil ever played in was Game 7 of the 1960 Yankees-Pirates World Series. That was the game in which Bill Mazeroski became a household name when he homered off of Ralph Terry in the ninth inning for a 10-9 victory and World Series Championship for the “Big Bad Bucs”, as they were called then.50TH ANNIVERSARY OF 1960 GAME #7 TO BE SHOWN ON MLB NETWORK!
Speaking of that game above, it will air on the Major League Baseball Network (MLBN) next Wednesday (December 15) at 8 pm ET. Don’t miss it, if you have access to it. Mel Allen of the Yankees and the Pirates’ Bob Prince will be the announcers. The ironic thing about that series is the Yankees outscored the Pirates, 55-26, yet lost the Series.
Last month MLBN, as part of the ’60 Series’ 50th anniversary aired Game 7 in a Pittsburgh theater, with Bob Costas hosting a panel that included Pirates shortstop Dick Groat (that season’s NL MVP), Pirates centerfielder Bill Virdon (the first Yankees manager hired and fired by George Steinbrenner) and Bobby Richardson (Series MVP, the only one ever from the losing team).FYI - Game #7 saw 19 runs scored on 24 hits and there were seven pitching changes. The game took only 2:36 to play. MAKE IT SIMPLE!I am not a NASCAR fan and don't know Jeff Gordon from Flash Gordon, Ruth Gordon, Gordon Gekko, or Gordon Lightfoot, but I was curious as to how the NASCAR championship cup is decided. The process is so hard to understand that you have to have it explained to you four times before you can actually say that you do not really understand it. As a result, I have a suggestion for the folks who run NASCAR. Why not make it simple by awarding the championship for a year to the driver/crew/racing team that wins the most races in that year? Even I could keep track of that without the aid of a super-computer.LPGA CHANGES RULES FOR WHAT IS CONSIDERED A "LADY"???In October, the Peanut Gallery told you of Lana Lawless, a former police officer who had a sex change operation five years ago. She filed the federal lawsuit in San Francisco in October claiming the ''female at birth'' requirement violated California's civil rights law. The 57-year-old was seeking to prevent the LPGA from conducting tournaments in the state until it changed its policy.
Lawless also sued the Long Drivers of America, which followed the LPGA policy. Lawless won the annual women's long-drive golf championship in 2008 with a 254-yard drive, but was barred from competing this year after organizers adopted the LPGA's gender rules.So the LPGA under legal pressure by the courts changed its eligibility rules for what constitutes a “lady”. The previous rule said that one had to be “female at birth”; that rule is no longer being used. 
With this in mind, Tiger Woods should get his people to figure out a way to get him on the LPGA Tour, so that he can end his losing streak and meet women at the same time.SPORTS TALK HOSTS BITE THE HANDS THAT FEED THEM!
Let's face it, many sports talk hosts are reliant on newspapers, yet often bite those hands that do their work for them.
In recent weeks, after the weekly Gary Kubiak press conferences, some of the local sports talk hosts have taken a swipe at Houston Chronicle sportswriter, John McClain, for asking a bunch of dull, non-provocative questions. Well, no kidding. Why would a local beat writer, in the most public of forums - and with radio and TV in the house - ask his best questions, the answers to which can be lifted and replayed long before the writer can write? Why would he ask in the wide open what he can later ask Coach Kubiak in a one-on-one?
In essence, the local sports talk hosts are complaining that the local sportswriter has failed to do his work for them.THAT'S THE BREAKS! Please consider the following: Wisconsin is 11-1 and will be playing in the Rose Bowl vs. TCU on New Year’s Day, which is one of the BCS bowls.Michigan State is 11-1 and was nowhere near one of the BCS bowl games, as they will play in the Capital One Bowl vs. Alabama.
Wisconsin lost to Michigan State by 10 points this season.SHIT (STEAMING HEAP of INCOMPETENCY TOURNAMENT):
My friend, Jack F., sent me the final seeding for a mythical eight-team tournament to determine the single worst Division 1-A football team this year. The format is single elimination and if a team loses, it has to keep playing.#1 Seed: Akron - MAC (1-11)#2 Seed: Western Kentucky - Sun Belt (2-10)#3 Seed: San José State - WAC (1-11)#4 Seed: New Mexico - MWC (1-11)#5 Seed: New Mexico State - WAC (2-10)#6 Seed: Memphis - C-USA (1-11)#7 Seed: Buffalo - MAC (2-10)#8 Seed: Bowling Green - MAC (2-10)
It would be fun to have this tournament and the natural sponsor would be Waste Management Inc.
ODDS AND ENDS:
1. I recently found out that in 2007, Oklahoma designated watermelon as the official state vegetable. I’m not a watermelon eater, but I always thought a watermelon was a fruit. I guess watermelons go both ways.
2. FYI - South Carolina's only victory over Auburn was a 16-14 win in Birmingham, AL, on December 2, 1933.
3. Though I’m happy with the system as it is now, I remember a certain politician who as a Presidential candidate said he favored a football playoff and said he might “throw his weight around” on that issue were he to be elected. Just count that as one more promise from a politician you can put on the “Dead Oratory Pile”.
4. At the beginning of the NBA season, a bar outside of Miami promised to pay its customers’ drink tabs every time the Heat lost. So far, the owners say they have refunded over 30 grand to customers. They insist it’s been worth it because of all the free publicity. I wouldn’t actually call that "free" publicity.5. As “predicted” here last week, to no one’s surprise, the Yankees and Derek Jeter came to an agreement this week and it was a compromise on both sides of the table that got things done, so that there would be no ill feelings on either side. The Yankees wanted the current “Mr. Yankee” from the beginning and “Mr. Yankee” wanted the Yankees from the beginning, but neither side was going to give in on the other side’s initial offer just as we thought. 6. Sports Illustrated has named Saints quarterback Drew Brees as its “2010 Sportsman of the Year”. On a side note, the Peanut Gallery has named Tiger Woods, its "2010 Playa of the Year".
7. With Peyton Manning's recent spree of interceptions - are his ever-present commercials becoming more or less annoying? Some people consider Peyton Manning the best QB of his generation, but Tom Brady's legacy will be three Super Bowl wins (and counting) and being married to super model Gisele. Manning's legacy will be just one Super Bowl and a slew of cheesy commercials (Cut that meat! Cut that meat!). I think I'd prefer Brady's legacy in the end.CRIER’S CORNER – LOCAL GAME OF INTEREST - THURSDAY’S GAME
INDIANAPOLIS at TENNESSEE* (for reading purposes only)
Peyton Manning just had the worst three-game stretch of his career since his rookie season, all the way back in 1998. The 11 picks he’s thrown in the last three games has led to three straight losses and a .500 record after 12 games. However, they’ll have an opportunity to right their ship against a Titans team with ills. Perhaps Vince Young had the support of the locker room, as well as the owner, because since Young walked out on Jeff Fisher and was subsequently banished by the coaching staff, the Titans have looked listless and unmotivated – the mark of a team that has lost faith in their coach. Just ask Minnesota or Dallas what that looks like. Manning has been hurt by the lack of rushing yardage this year (80 yards per game), but if either Joseph Addai or Donald Brown can get healthy enough to suit up, they should be able to take advantage of a Tennessee team that’s given up 420 rushing yards the past two weeks. Indianapolis has had Tennessee’s number of late, going 3-1 SU, ATS over the past two years, and that success continues this week as the Colts revive their flickering playoff hopes. INDIANAPOLIS, 27-23.MIKE IN DA
HMW
Email: houstonmediawatch@yahoo.comBlog: http://www.houstonmediawatch.com/Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lesbiancraigFacebook Search: HMW Shelton
No comments:
Post a Comment