COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY!Written by: Mike in DADate posted: 9/5/2010BILINGUAL SPORTS TALK HOSTS?Now I know what they mean when they say a white sports talk host is fluently bilingual. If a black guy calls in, the host will suddenly stop talking standard English and say something like, "Dude, what's happenin', or “What’s up, my man” or “Bring it, my brotha", etc. That's being bilingual.THE FIRST MARATHON MAN!While reviewing "This Day in History" a few days ago, I came across the fact that exactly 2500 years ago this week (September 2) in 490 BC, the first marathoner, Pheidippides, dropped dead. For those of you who are history- or mythology-challenged, as the case may be, he was the Greek runner who was sent from the Plains of Marathon to Sparta to get help when the Persians landed at Marathon. That run was "supposedly" about 150 miles, give or take, and it took him two days. When the Persians had been defeated at Marathon, he ran to Athens, a mere 26 miles and 385 yards, to let the folks there know that the Greeks had been victorious. At that point, he dropped dead from exhaustion. I don't know why he didn't take a chariot or horse instead. It would have saved a lot of wear and tear on his body.Today, marathons are run at a distance supposedly the same as the run Pheidippides made from Marathon to Athens. I have no idea who actually measured the distance from start to finish, but he or she had a lot of time on his hands in those days.GOOD NEWS FOR LOCAL MARATHONERS!Speaking of marathons, in a previous Peanut Gallery, I told you about the roughly 7,000 people who were shut out of the annual Houston Marathon and Half Marathon scheduled for next January 30 because there was room for only 22,000 runners. As a result the ones who weren't accepted had to look for another goal race. Most of the people whose names weren't picked in the lottery live within the Houston metropolian area.There's good news for those marathon and half-marathoners who are still looking for a race, as they have a new option. Online registration is now open for the Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon and Half Marathon, which will debut February 20 at 7:30 AM in that city. It will be the first time a marathon has been run there since the mid-1990's.While the original marathon was primarily along the Galveston Seawall, the new double-loop course will start and end on the Strand, with about six miles along the Seawall. The half marathon will be a single loop.The races will be held the weekend before the Galveston Mardi Gras and will incorporate the festive theme. The fees are $85 for the marathon and $65 for the half marathon. That's if you register before December 6. Add $20 to the registration fee if you register between December 6 and January 16 and $40 if you register after January 17. What a bunch of crooks! Where's Wayne Dolcefino when you need him?If interested, you can register online at http://www.galvestonmardigrasmarathon.com./Please note that I got the website information from Roberta MacInnis' "Running Notebook" of 8/26 in the Houston Chronicle and chron.com. Of course, there was a flub in both places, as the website for the Galveston Marathon was shown incorrectly. The address above is the correct one.FLUB OF THE DAY!SR 610 always tells you to sign up for their "Sports Flashes", so that you'll be the first to know about what's going on in the sports world. On Friday morning (9/3) at about 9:30 AM, SR 610 broke the news that Kris Brown was waived and that Neil Rackers (pictured with wife, Rachel) won the Texans' kicking job. However, John and Lance on 1560 KGOW had broke the news a half-hour earlier. So it looks like SR610 may not always be the first to tell us of breaking news, as they promised. In Saturday's (9/4) Sports on the Air-Radio section in the Houston Chronicle, it showed Oklahoma vs. Florida State at 2:30 PM on 1560 KGOW. That game is next week. It should have shown Oklahoma vs. Utah State at 6 PM.STAT OF THE DAY!
Tom Glavine played 22 years in the major leagues with the Atlanta Braves and then the New York Mets before returning to Atlanta for his final season in 2008. Tom won 303 games (303-203, 3.54 ERA) in his career and in the post-season posted a 14-16 record with a 3.30 ERA.
Glavine looks like a sure Hall of Famer, most likely on his first shot at it because he hit the magic number of 300 wins, but he goes up against a pretty good crew of guys who will also be eligible for the Hall in 2014 for the first time. The guys heading that list are Greg Maddux (355 wins, 3.16 ERA), Frank Thomas (.301, 521 HRs, 1,704 RBIs), Mike Mussina (270 wins, 3.68 ERA), and Jeff Kent (a second baseman with power - .290, 377 HRs. 1,518 RBIs).
While doing my annual stat review for potential MLB Hall of Famers that will be eligible for the Hall, this time for 2014, a stat phenomena was brought to my attention while checking out baseball-reference.com.
The stat that I came across was the following:
In 1987, as a 21-year old rookie - Glavine went 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA with the Braves.
In 2008, as a 21-year veteran - Glavine went 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA with the Braves.
That is an example of statistical “symmetry”. Those come few and far between in sports.NFL NETWORK GETS A GRADE OF 100 FOR SELECTING THE BEST OF ALL TIME!
The NFL Network's (NFLN) attempt to pick the best 100 players in league history seems like a natural for it in its series, "The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players". The 10-part series started Friday night (9/3) and there will be plenty of replays, so don’t worry about missing any first-time showings. Also, God bless DVR.
The first episode covered Nos. 100-91, which included Joe Namath, Michael Strahan, Sam Huff (pictured below), Lenny Moore (pictured below), and Michael Irvin. The second episode (Nos. 90-81) is Tuesday night (9/7) at 8 pm CT. The final eight episodes run each Thursday from Sept. 16 to November 4 at 8 pm CT. Then the following week, Thursday Night Football, which starts on Nov. 11 takes over with Atlanta hosting Baltimore and will last for eight weeks through the remainder of the season.
Knowing that the NFL Films' vault is stockpiled with great footage, I’m sure NFLN will do justice to the Top 100. I just hope some of the greats from the late 40’s and 50’s who I saw like Otto Graham (pictured above), Norm Van Brocklin, Sammy Baugh, Don Hutson, and “Crazy Legs” Hirsch (pictured right)make the list because it always seems that “old school” guys often get overlooked by younger voters of these lists who never saw some of these guys play or may never even have heard of them.
To give the show added value, Steve Sabol, the head of NFL Films arranged to have a celebrity talk about the player's achievements. Spike Lee, Derek Jeter, Billy Dee Williams, and Burt Reynolds, are just a few of the people recruited to do this. LET’S HEAR IT FOR HOFFY!
As mentioned here the other day, Ken Hoffman no longer has a show on 1560 KGOW. Travis Rodgers will take over for Hoffy starting this Tuesday (9/7) in the 1-3 pm slot, formerly held by Hoffy and his sidekick, the inimitable David Nuno.
Hoffy’s show lasted for three years, as he started his show on August 20, 2007, a day that will live in infamy. That was the day that 1560 KGOW went on the air for the first time. It would be nice if 1560 could put together a “Best of Hoffy” show to pay homage to the guy.
Hopefully, Hoffy will show up as a guest on 1560 some time down the road for a formal goodbye to his fans, as few in number as we may be. From what I’ve read and heard, it seems like it was an amicable separation between Hoffy and 1560, though we know that Hoffy’s ratings were lousy according to Arbitron. I assume Hoffy is still welcome at the station to be a guest and will do so.
Hoffy may be gone from radio, at least for the time being, but you can still read his fun columns in the Houston Chronicle on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Though I was banned from his show as a caller, I have no hard feelings and wish him well.
Hoffy was a radio favorite of the HMW crew with his dry humor. We also enjoyed his interviewing skills, as Hoffy had some pretty interesting guests on his show, including some real unusual ones. It seemed like there wasn’t a question Hoffy was afraid to ask to a guest whether the guest was a stripper/bikini model, a dwarf (“height-challenged” for the politically correct), an actor/comedian, a sex therapist, an athlete, a plain wacko, a physically handicapped person, etc.
As a Chronicle writer, Hoffy went to South Williamsport, PA, to cover the adventures of the local Pearland Little League contingent that went to the Little League World Series (LLWS) a couple of weeks ago. (When I went to the LLWS in 1953 when Howard Cosell was announcing the game on radio for ABC, the city was known then as just plain Williamsport without the “South”.)One thing I noticed about Hoffy while listening to him for the past three years is that he thinks a lot like me. In Thursday’s Chronicle, Hoffy wrote a column entitled, “A Misunderstood Song, Used Wrong Again” (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/hoffman/7182146.html)In the column, Hoffy brought up the fact that Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” was played over the PA system during the LLWS and the Little League mascot and an umpire were dancing to it. His point here is that if you pay attention to the lyrics of the song, it is not as patriotic as you may think it is and maybe shouldn’t have been part one of the last vestiges of the American way of life - the Little League.
The song is in part a tribute to Springsteen's friends who participated in the Vietnam War, some of whom died. It also protests the hardships that Vietnam vets faced upon their return from the war. The song's lyrics trace the protagonist's working-class origins, induction into the armed forces, and rebellious return home.
In the song, there is mention of the siege of the Marine base at Khe Sanh by the NVA (North Vietnamese Army for the acronym-challenged). Eventually with the help of the First Cav, we broke the siege, only to withdraw from the outpost a couple of months later. Khe Sanh thus became one of the symbols of the futility of the war effort back in the States.
The song is a protest, but still is patriotic to a lesser degree. He's showing that although he is/was against the war he is still very proud to say that he's "born in the U.S.A". The song is simply a protest against the Vietnam war, and the grotesque treatment the returning soldiers received. Many people think it's patriotic because of the chorus, but it's not really as compared to "Yankee Doodle Dandy", which Hoffy uses as an example. It's about what the soldiers came back to experience. They were Americans, they fought for their country like they were made to. Returning to America, some soldiers were spat upon and hated for doing what they were forced to do. Look where they've gotten, is what he's saying. Over recent years, a significant percentage of the homeless are Vietnam vets. Bruce is asking, what are you doing for us; where is the heroes' treatment?
Kudos to Hoffy for bringing up the misinterpretation of the song, as listeners are focusing their attention primarily on the title and chorus of the song. Thanks to Hoffy, I don't expect "Born in the USA" to be played during next year's LLWS.Hoffy can now concentrate on his job as a food gourmet because he wasn't much of a sports talk host. HMW will miss Hoffy on 1560!FROM THE MAILBAG:
This is from loyal reader, Earlis, in response to the 9/2 PG section regarding Al Sharpton’s recent silence on the Roger Clemens federal indictment (http://sheltonmedia.blogspot.com/2010/09/comments-from-peanut-gallery-mike-in-da_02.html)."Indeed Sharpton plays his cards as does Bill O'Reilly, (Sean) Hannity, Rush (Limbaugh), ....yada yada yada. I would say that Clemens was treated better by the media than (Barry) Bonds. No question in my mind about it. Where "The Rocket" blundered was by going to Congress and appearing before the members. He did not have to do so. I do think he will beat the case. The trainer turned snitch will get laughed out of court. Evidence will not be allowed, etc. He will lose in the court of public opinion and the Hall of Fame is not his destiny. I don't want to see anybody go to jail. Let us move on. The process was screwed up and (Bud) Selig knew the deal, so let us not in hindsight try to create scapegoats amongst the players when the red dye is still gleaming on the hands of Selig and the and the owners from the drug heist that saved baseball. " END.Another loyal reader, Robnemar, had some comments about Sharpton:
“You are right about Al Sharpton and the lack or criticism for his timely and always calculated silence when he can make a point of balance in regard to the spectrum of race relations and dialogue in this country. He was all too silent during the Duke lacrosse team trouble once the truth was revealed. I think Sharpton doesn't know how to exist outside of a chaotic state. With that, I mean he has no value if there is no controversy. I believe he will help stir the pot in order to maintain his so-called value. He will instigate the controversy, if not outright create it himself when he has to. This isn't the right forum to convey the message of what is really the root of Sharpton, as to why he does what he does. But trust me, there is a lot to be said about Sharpton, Jackson, Hannity, Limbaugh, and even on a local level, the two Mikes - Michael Harris and Michael Berry. They never try to really fix the can of worms that they open. They just pop the top and then let the chips fall where they may. You are right though; Sharpton needs to be called out and taken to task.” END.
Please note that local sports talk hosts try to avoid a topic like the above just like they try to avoid war, pestilence, famine, and death. Earlis dropped HMW a note re Lamont Mann’s 8/31 piece entitled, “RALPH COOPER, TSU, PV": (http://sheltonmedia.blogspot.com/2010/08/ralph-cooper-tsu-pv.html):
"Yates got no luv from sportstalk radio Houston. They got bare minimum coverage after their second straight state title and a lot of it was only when the coach took it upon himself to call a particular station. I am of course excluding KCOH and to some degree KGOW. I am so pissed at Charley Pallilo that it ain't funny. I luv Charley, but he is dead wrong on his Yates position. The word for this crap is hypocrisy! I have seen with my own eyes Bellaire score 20 or 30 runs plus more than one time in the same baseball season; in fact against Jack Yates. Guess what? Black folk don't cry about chit like that."THE DAILY DISH: MOMMY ALWAYS TOLD US THAT HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY!
I don’t know Zach Nash from Zach Efron, Zachary Taylor, Zack Wheat, Steve Nash, Pluto Nash, Crosby Stills and Nash, the little Nash Rambler, Kevin Nash, or Nash Bridges, but I do know that he is a pretty honest kid when it comes to adhering to the rules of golf.
This is a story I heard a while back on one of the SR 610 shows, but because I’ve been so busy with football recently, I just came across it on the Internet though it occurred about three weeks ago – “Young Golfer Disqualifies Self, Gives Up Medal" (http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/38965862).
I don’t know who came up with the phrase, ''rules are meant to be broken”, but I would like him to meet young Zach. Zach recently disqualified himself after winning a junior Wisconsin PGA tournament event for having one too many clubs in his bag. The kid says he was shocked when he learned of his mistake a couple of hours hours after he won the tournament.
Honest Zach claims he wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he had kept his championship medal. I'm all for honesty and integrity, though I sometimes don't practice what I preach, but if the extra club didn't give Nash an advantage, why did he feel compelled to squeal on himself? If anything, he should feel extra proud for winning the event while walking the course with a heavier bag. Though I am not a golfer, I understand that golf prides itself on honesty, and players are expected to call penalties on themselves, but when it comes to rules, common sense has to come into play. Again, if Zach used an extra club to gain an advantage, then he cheated and should have turned himself in. But, that was not the case. I find it interesting that the self-righteous sport of golf, which still bans blacks and women from some of its courses, is so harsh when it comes to enforcing petty rules.
We have two minutes, so let's go to the phones:
Dave in New Mexico, you’re on:"One cool thing about this story is that not only does Zach get the widespread recognition of his character he so deserves, everyone knows he won the match, too."
Patrick in Atlanta, you're on: "Bobby Jones is smiling down at you, Zach!! A true sportsman!!"
Duncan in KC, you're on: "Great kid! Maybe this guy could teach our President and Congress some lessons on morality and honesty. I wish this guy the best of luck!"Cat in Missouri, you're on:"This is just one example of many, many good teenagers. Unfortunately, it is the stinkers who usually get the attention. Bravo to Zach!"Giovanna, you're on:"Bravo. Isn't this how we all should be. It is a shame we think this is unusual, it should be the norm."
Sigmund in Queens, you're on: "How about Zach for President in 2020? He's too young? So let's amend the Constitution."
Roger from Wisconsin, you're on: "Congratulations, Zach, you've shown that you are a true champion. There are probably many others who also do the right thing - but we don't hear about them. Thanks, it's wonderful to hear stories like yours."
Julie from Toronto, you;re on: "I hope I do as good of a job raising my own son as Zach's parents have done with him. They must be so proud of their kid's integrity. What a wonderful story!"
Rick from Wisconsin, you're on:
Lew from Milwaukee, you're on: "What a great example for his peers. Let's hope they take notice and follow suit. It's kids like this that will lead this country forward in the future. I hope he's thinking about a career in politics. He'll be the ONLY honest politician we've ever had. Good for you Zach - you are a winner!!!"Roland from Houston, you're on:"What will Zach do on his taxes, or when he gets too much change at the supermarket, or if he runs for office how would he speak about other people who are also running? Let's see how honest he is then."
Terri from Orlando, you're on: "I gotta agree! This is how sports role models should be. Not only does it bring credit to himself but his parents too. Great integrity and honesty. Teen-agers really want to win. He did it anyway. What a refreshing breath of decency. I'm waiting for him to show up on Jay Leno or David Letterman or one of those other talk ahows."Steve from Brooklyn, you're on:"Golf is a ridiculous sport. Who cares how many clubs you have...geez!!! Now don't let your club touch the ground in a sand trap. God forbid you might disrupt the pretty rake lines. Stupid dumbass rules!!!"
Charles from Portland, you're on: "To the previous caller - yeah, the rules do seem stupid, but they are the rules and Zach followed them! A "Stop" sign on the street is stupid too sometimes but it is a rule. I'm sure Zach will win many more medals in his sport!"Arnie from Fresno, you're on:"Every time people start in on how kids today have no honor or honesty, I think of kids like young Mr. Nash. If he'd kept the medal, no one outside his small circle would have known who he was. Now, though, he's regarded far and wide as a stand-up guy and a true sportsman, and that will serve him very well in the future, in endeavors far beyond, and far larger than golf. Now that is fantastic! Clearly it is more important to this kid that he do the honorable thing rather than winning above all else. It's great to see examples of people whose actions reflect their own standards rather than the perceptions of others. Cheers! Zach.
Let's go to a break and pay some bills!HMWEmail: houstonmediawatch@yahoo.comlog: http://www.houstonmediawatch.com/Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lesbiancraigFacebook: Hmw Shelton
As mentioned here the other day, Ken Hoffman no longer has a show on 1560 KGOW. Travis Rodgers will take over for Hoffy starting this Tuesday (9/7) in the 1-3 pm slot, formerly held by Hoffy and his sidekick, the inimitable David Nuno. 
“You are right about Al Sharpton and the lack or criticism for his timely and always calculated silence when he can make a point of balance in regard to the spectrum of race relations and dialogue in this country. He was all too silent during the Duke lacrosse team trouble once the truth was revealed. I think Sharpton doesn't know how to exist outside of a chaotic state. With that, I mean he has no value if there is no controversy. I believe he will help stir the pot in order to maintain his so-called value. He will instigate the controversy, if not outright create it himself when he has to. This isn't the right forum to convey the message of what is really the root of Sharpton, as to why he does what he does. But trust me, there is a lot to be said about Sharpton, Jackson, Hannity, Limbaugh, and even on a local level, the two Mikes - Michael Harris and Michael Berry. They never try to really fix the can of worms that they open. They just pop the top and then let the chips fall where they may. You are right though; Sharpton needs to be called out and taken to task.” END. 
Rick from Wisconsin, you're on:
No comments:
Post a Comment