Congratulations to the Phillies for giving it a great try as defending champs and to my Philly blogger friends like Chris Bowers, d-day, Will Bunch and C&L's own Susie Madrak who were good sports with me as we all watched the World Series.

Jeter, Posada and Pettitte were on David Letterman Thursday night to celebrate #27. Matsui, who made all of Japan proud by winning the MVP came on, holding the trophy. The only one missing from the Core Four was Mariano Rivera, the greatest reliever of all time. He'll be 40 this month and no one has ever done it better. These guys play the game the right way and do not act like fools doing it as so many pro athletes do these days.

And the Yankees do really well with a Democratic President:

Since winning the 1958 World Series when Republican Dwight Eisenhower was president, all nine of the Yankees’ titles have come under Democratic administrations — 1961, 1962, 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009. This bodes well for the Yankees for at least the next three seasons.

You may have wondered why I stopped posting about the series after my first one. Well, I'm kind of a superstitious sports fan (OK, I'm just a little bit obsessed) and when the Yanks lost Game One after I live-blogged it, I immediately gave that up.

It was a jinx, you see.

(graphic by Terry Colon)

I know the Philly bloggers are against me, but that's OK. I'm up for betting a few bags of Cheetos with my Philly faithful.

Much respect to them. Email me (crooksandliars@gmail.com) if you want to get it on...Because of the idiot, Bud Selig we have baseball that will go into November so the weather is a big issue. I'm a typical "Obsessed Fan," when it comes to sports and the playoffs and I love to call pitches like a catcher and manage the game. I will be working on the further adventures for the Obsessed Fan in the future, but for right now it's all baseball.

I'm live blogging the game on The Huffington Post right now. I hope I don't break my laptop because of a call from the umps. And I am very superstitious. OK, on to the series...

Here's the breakdown as I see it

1B) Howard vs Teixeira

Howard has a monster bat, but his glove doesn't equal Tex's. Mark needs to have a good hitting series because they will pitch around A-Rod all series long. I do believe that Mark will have an impact on the field throughout, but it's really close.

Edge: Even

2B) Utley vs Cano

Utley is a far better hitter than Cano, drives in more runs and batting in the middle of the potent Philly lineup proves the point, but Cano did hit .320 and played excellent defense.

Edge: Utley

SS) Jeter vs Rollins

This is an intriguing match-up because Rollins won the MVP last year for the NL, but if we look at comparing them in 2009, Derek had a much better year offensively. Rollins hit just .250 with an OBP of .296. Jeter hit .334 with an OBP of .406, but Rollins can still be deadly and he has more range than Jeter. However, Jeter has shown an incredible feel for the game especially in the playoffs that I have never seen before. His instincts are scary.

Edge: Jeter

Continue reading »

Limbaugh will be able to practice his perfect, conservative whine.

Rush Limbaugh is expected to be dropped from a group bidding to buy the St. Louis Rams, according to three NFL sources.

Dave Checketts, chairman of the NHL's St. Louis Blues and the point man in the Limbaugh group attempting to buy the Rams, realizes he must remove the controversial conservative radio host from his potential role as a minority member in the group in order to get approval from other NFL owners, the sources said.
--
Ultimately, the sources said, Checketts must reconfigure his group and find another investor to make his bid more viable.

Exactly when Limbaugh will be dropped is uncertain, though some familiar with the situation said it could be within the next week. It is unclear if the two sides even have spoken.

A Limbaugh spokesman told ESPN that Limbaugh would have no comment on Wedneday. Earlier, on his syndicated radio show, Limbaugh was defiant, holding on to hope that he still could be part of the ownership group that buys the Rams.

"I'm not even thinking of exiting," Limbaugh said on his program, according to a transcript provided to ESPN. "I'm not even thinking of caving. I am not a caver. None of us are. We have been betrayed by too many who have caved. Pioneers take the arrows. We are pioneers. It's a sad thing but our country over 200 years old now needs pioneers all over again, but we do."

Now the comedy begins. The NRO is doing the freak over this.

Limbaugh says he's colorblind. Yeah, he only sees two colors.

White and black.

Today, after conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh responded to critics of his bid to purchase the St. Louis Rams who have stated that he is "insensitive" about race by claiming that he is "colorblind" and "treat[s] everyone equally," Media Matters for America released research documenting more than two dozen examples of Limbaugh making racially charged or race-baiting remarks.
As Media Matters' research documents, there are at least 28 examples of Limbaugh making racially charged remarks, including:

• "We are being told that we have to hope [Obama] succeeds, that we have to bend over, grab the ankles ... because his father was black."
• "I do believe" Obama is an "angry black guy."
• "[I]n Obama's America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering."
• "Obama's entire economic program is reparations."
• Obama is "more African in his roots than he is American" and is "behaving like an African colonial despot."
• Obama is "Halfrican-American."
• "Obama has disowned his white half ... he's decided he's got to go all in on the black side."
• Sotomayor "a reverse racist" appointed by Obama, "the greatest living example of a reverse racist."
• Obama "wants us to have the same health care and plan that he had in Kenya" and "wants to be the black FDR."
• Latching onto LA Times op-ed, Limbaugh sings "Barack, The Magic Negro."

• "God does not have a birth certificate. Neither does Obama"; Obama "has yet to prove he's a citizen."

• Limbaugh on Gates controversy: "Here you have a black president trying to destroy a white policeman."

• Limbaugh suggests Obama would not have acted on Somali pirates if he'd known they were "actually young, black Muslim teenagers."

• Limbaugh suggests Democrats, media believe "you can't criticize the little black man-child."

• "The government's been taking care of [young blacks] their whole lives."

• "The days of [minorities] not having any power are over, and they are angry."

• "[M]inorities never do anything for which they have to apologize."

• Limbaugh: "The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well."
• Limbaugh says "NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips."

• Limbaugh declares basketball "the favorite sport of gangs."
• Limbaugh invented "racial component" to Hackett's decision to withdraw from Ohio primary race.
• Limbaugh on Survivor series: "African-American tribe" worst swimmers, Hispanics "will do things other people won't do."
• Limbaugh suggested Colin Powell only supported Obama because of race.
• Limbaugh: Gates is an "angry racist."
• Limbaugh called illegal immigrants an "invasive species."
• Limbaugh repeatedly calls Native Americans "Injuns."
• Limbaugh says Democrats' interest in Darfur is securing black "voting bloc."
• Limbaugh says that if "feminazis" had remembered to oppose "affirmative action for black guys ... they wouldn't face the situation they face today."

Rush Limbaugh's chances at becoming an owner of the St. Louis Rams are virtually over.

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said this afternoon that the divisive rhetoric of prospective Rams minority owner Rush Limbaugh makes him unappealing.

"I myself couldn't even think of voting for him," said Irsay speaking from the NFL's fall ownership meetings in Boston.

Asked if he'd spoken to other owners about Limbaugh's candidacy, Irsay said, "I haven't and I don't think I would even go to the point of talking to Tony Dungy, Jim Caldwell, Dwight Freeney, talking to those men and seeing what their positions are. I'm very sensitive to know there are scars out there. I think as a nation we need to stop it. Our words do damage and it's something that we don't need. We need to get to a higher level of humanity and we have.

And the NFL Commissioner chimed in with this.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said here Tuesday that it would be inappropriate for the owner of an NFL franchise to make the sort of controversial statements attributed in the past to conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

"I've said many times before we're all held to a high standard here, and I think divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about," Goodell said at an NFL owners' meeting. "I would not want to see those comments coming from people who are in a responsible position in the NFL, absolutely not."

I heard Mike Francesa, a NY sports talk show host that I actually liked, sort of defend Limbaugh by saying that he didn't realize there was a political test that someone needs to pass to be able to own a team. He said the McNabb statements were ignorant that Limbaugh made on ESPN, but it seemed that he thought that incident was the one NFL players objected to. I believe he doesn't know all the foul and racist garbage Rush has been peddling over the airwaves since Obama started running for president. Hey, most sports owners supported John McCain, but as a sports fan, who really cares about that?

Sports team owners may not be John McCain’s answer to the Hollywood elite, but they’re overwhelmingly supporting his presidential campaign over Barack Obama’s. Through the end of June, team owners in the four major sports and their families have given to or raised as much or more than $3.2 million for McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, compared with as much as $615,000 for his Democratic rival Obama, according to a Politico analysis of data from the Federal Election Commission, the campaigns and interviews.

They aren't out there for hours every day publicly attacking the African American community at every turn. That's the difference.

Media Matters: Limbaugh: "[I]n Obama's America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering"

Rush Limbaugh Uses Innocent Detroiters As Show Pinata

Here's just a few more:

Some of his more recent lowlights:

– “Look, let me put it to you this way: The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.”

– “We need segregated buses. … This is Obama’s America.”

– “President Obama is black. And I think he’s got a chip on his shoulder.”

– Democrats are interested in Darfur to secure black “voting bloc.”

– “Minorities never do anything for which they have to apologize.”

– Obama’s nomination for president “goes back to the fact that nobody had the guts to stand up and say no to a black guy.”

– Obama is a “halfrican-American.”

If Mike Huckabee put a group together with Dave Checketts to try and buy a team as a minority owner, I bet there wouldn't be this kind of outrage.

Oh, and I love that Limbaugh wants to be a minority owner.

I woke up this morning and turned on ESPN's First and Ten to listen to as I made my coffee. The first thing I heard was that several football players came out slamming Rush Limbaugh over his bid to buy the St.Louis Rams after all his years of racial politics. I hope more black players rally around these two players and throw up a road block to this group that wants to buy the team.
NY Daily News:

Mathias Kiwanuka loves his former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, but the Giants' defensive end says he will never play for Spagnuolo's Rams if Rush Limbaugh purchases the team.

Kiwanuka and the Jets' Bart Scott made it clear Thursday that they would never play for the Rams or any team owned by the controversial conservative radio host.

"All I know is from the last comment I heard, he said in (President) Obama's America, white kids are getting beat up on the bus while black kids are chanting 'right on,'" Kiwanuka told The Daily News. "I mean, I don't want anything to do with a team that he has any part of. He can do whatever he wants, it is a free country. But if it goes through, I can tell you where I am not going to play."

I am not going to draw a conclusion from a person off of one comment, but when it is time after time after time and there's a consistent pattern of disrespect and just a complete misunderstanding of an entire culture that I am a part of, I can't respect him as a man.

Nicole Belle emailed me this piece from Think Progress that lists some of Boss Limbaugh's racist statements.

Indeed, as CNN reported at the time, ESPN fired Limbaugh from Sunday NFL Countdown for “his statement that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback succeed.” But, of course, Limbaugh has a long sordid history with making racist remarks. Some of his more recent lowlights:

– “Look, let me put it to you this way: The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.”

– “We need segregated buses. … This is Obama’s America.”

– “President Obama is black. And I think he’s got a chip on his shoulder.”

– Democrats are interested in Darfur to secure black “voting bloc.”

– “Minorities never do anything for which they have to apologize.”

– Obama’s nomination for president “goes back to the fact that nobody had the guts to stand up and say no to a black guy.”

– Obama is a “halfrican-American.”

Take my C&L/AOL Hot Seat Poll that is featured today on AOL which leans right. I submitted this post last night before I heard about players striking back at Limbaugh.

Rush Limbaugh, the man who got fired from ESPN for, let's face it, being a racist, now wants so buy the St. Louis Rams. I feel bad for the coach because his defensive schemes helped my NY Giants upset Tom Brady and the Patriots in the 2007 Super Bowl. Steve Spagnuolo now has to rebuild a horrible team and if Rush gets in there then he'll probably have to make sure he NEVER uses a black quarterback.

And Limbaugh never disappoints in being a blathering buffoon by saying this about the NBA:

LIMBAUGH: It's not reasonable that you should understand the insanity that local and state and federal bureaucracies are doing. It's perfectly normal and understandable that none of what they do would make sense to you. My question -- OK, a 1 cent sales tax to fight gang violence. What do you spend the money on to fight gang violence? Afterschool program -- don't we already have afterschool programs? Don't we already have -- what do you call it, extracurricular events? Midnight basketball -- I mean, we've done it all. We've taken the favorite sport of gangs, and we put it at midnight to get them on the basketball court. We had 100,000 new cops with Clinton -- we've done it all. And the problem still is out of control. Liberalism doesn't work.

Dead Spin sez:

Much like softball is the favorite sport of lesbians and soccer the preferred choice for illegal immigrants, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh declares basketball "the favorite sport of gangs." I thought it was dominoes?

Adam Best has a great post up called: 10 Changes Rush Limbaugh Would Make To The Rams

I know I'm a week late, but the NFL is finally under way and it looks like a pretty wide open year. I'm a NY Giants fan and they play the hated Cowboys on the road in the opening game of their new stadium on NBC's Sunday Night Football. The one where punters can hit the mega score board that Jerry Jones just had built.

Tom Brady was rusty, but in the end looked like Brady with the help of a fumble. JaMarcus Russell is very young and not ready to start in the NFL, but still hasn't been half as bad as Jake Delhomme. Adrian Peterson is awesome and even though I can't stand the media coverage surrounding Brett Favre, (He gets the Anna Nicole Smith treatment) I laugh at the way the media suddenly turned on their golden boy.

Injuries are hitting teams early and that's always a drag.

Anyway, who do you like and who are you rooting for?

Some big games for week 2:

New England at NY Jets

New Orleans at Philadelphia

Pittsburgh at Chicago

Baltimore at San Diego

NY Giants at Dallas

Indianapolis at Miami

He had it right in his grasp and came oh so close. History that is. Tom Watson almost did the unthinkable today when he just fell short and lost in a four hole playoff at the British Open in Turnberry, Scotland. The odds had him at something like a 1000-1 long shot to win it before the tournament started and boy did he ever smash that betting line apart. And it all came down to the last hole of the Open. Just par the hole and take the trophy. His tee shot was great, but then he hit his second and third shots a little too hard on eighteen and he missed his 10-foot victory putt which made him lose his one stroke lead---forced the playoff and poof--lost his chance at history. it happened that fast.

In his presser he was really disappointed because he knew he had it in his hands and all competitors for the most part do not like to finish second in anything even if they're almost 60. It still was a remarkable run and one that should make us take notice and tell us that anything is possible in life. Watson was also coming off of a hip replacement this year which made it even more improbable that he had a chance to win a major. Just walking 18 holes in one day is tiring, but to do it for four straight days was simply remarkable.

Tom also should be recognized for his civil rights stance when he quit a Club because they refused to allow Jews to become members.

Which brings us to Tom Watson, one of the greatest golfers of his generation and whose heroic, but unsuccessful charge for the Claret Jug at age 59 will be long-remembered. Tom is a rock-ribbed midwesterner from Missouri, a native of Kansas City, and like his father, who taught him golf, was a lifelong member of the National Golf Club of Kansas City.

In 1990, the Club refused membership to someone because he was Jewish. Quietly, without fanfare, Watson immediately quit the Club, but made his reasons why known privately. Not until the Club dropped its exclusionary policies did Watson rejoin.

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Talk about ego and image control. Because of King James and the actions NIKE took, they've created a LeBron-Gate. It's so ridiculous.

The first mistake Nike made in the viral video mess that is LeBron-gate was trying to hide something from Gary Parrish. If you dropped Parrish in the middle of Afghanistan he'd emerge with Osama bin Laden's carcass in one hand, the details of John Calipari's new contract in the other, and a cell phone secured between his teeth. Nice work, Nike. Who did you think you were trying to fool, anyway? ESPN? The second mistake Nike made in LeBron-gate?

It underestimated the angry mood of the country toward arrogant mega-corporations who think they can do what they want, when they want. Nike believes that because it runs cute commercials and pals around with handsome athletes, it's no different from a sniveling credit card company or predatory bank.

To many people, Nike is the sports equivalent of those entities. By confiscating video of LeBron James getting his muscled-up head dunked on and subsequently acting like the release of the video is a threat to national security, the company confirmed what many have long believed: Nike is a ruthless corporation no different from other cutthroat companies.

Nike has, after all, been repeatedly accused of running sweatshops. More on that in a moment.

I mean, I'd like LeBron to sign on with the Knicks because they've stunk for so long, but this is Cheneyesque behavior.

There's something about James and Nike that makes this story more stringent than it ordinarily would be. There wouldn't be as much outrage if there were video of Dwyane Wade or Kobe Bryant getting dunked on. There'd be interest, of course, but James is the most arrogant and guarded superstar in the NBA and Nike is the most arrogant and guarded company in sports. That combination has turned this story from pedestrian to interesting and, until Nike releases the video, it'll stay that way.

It's Nike's corporate-ness which is at the center of this entire fiasco. It's not just the public enjoying watching a giant company feel the pain of stepping on the wrong end of a rake. No rational human being would ever be this angry over a simple dunk video. This isn't about the dunk. This is about rage over the actions of the wealthy and powerful.

What harm would it have done to King James' image? Nothing. Who cares if he got dunked on? John Starks had an incredible dunk on Michael Jordan. Who remembers that now?

Did that dunk hurt his marketing image? Of course not. People should not buy their products until they release the footage so they never do this again. It wasn't a crime scene. The way they handled this situation is Gestapo-like. Only NBA fans would watch it and nobody would care at all. It was just fine for James to have 60 Minutes film him doing amazing things and making him out to be, well, a King, but this is somehow unacceptable to him.

(AP photo)

This is outrageous on so many levels and once again makes Americans feel that we pay for everything and the rich get away with murder.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth(notes) began serving a 30-day jail sentence Tuesday for killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in Florida, a punishment made possible by his cooperation with investigators and the fervent wish by the victim’s family to put the matter behind them.

Stallworth, 28, received the sentence after pleading guilty to a DUI manslaughter charge for striking and killing Mario Reyes while driving drunk March 14 in his black 2005 Bentley. The athlete also reached a confidential financial settlement with the family of the 59-year-old construction worker.

Without the plea deal, the DUI manslaughter conviction could have netted Stallworth 15 years in prison. After his release from jail, he must serve two years of house arrest and spend eight years on probation. The house arrest provisions will allow him to resume his football career, his attorney said.

I'm glad the family got compensated and I'm glad he cooperated, but 30 days for killing someone is a joke.

Who will win the NBA championship, the Lakers or the Magic?
If the Magic had a healthy Jameer Nelson, I think this series could have gone seven games. There's rumors that he still may play, but he won't be the same player coming off a serious injury. I have a feeling that Orlando will have to use Marcin Gortat with Superman together instead of just giving Howard a break if they want to compete with the Lakers height advantage. The Lakers caught a break that Kevin Garnett got hurt and the odds are that it will be a quick series, but if the Magic play well, it should be fun.

There's also a big Stanley Cup game tonight. Pittsburgh got a huge break when the refs missed a too many men on the ice penalty which then led to a goal for the Pens. I never saw six guys skating around for almost 30 seconds not called before. The Penguins need this one if they want a shot at the cup. If Detroit wins it, they will have to be considered one of the all time great NHL teams.

As you know, I'm a huge baseball fan, and even Major League Baseball is saying that Sonia Sotomayor ended the strike that almost destroyed the game under the idiot, Bud Selig.

It was Sotomayor's ruling that forced Major League Baseball players and owners to resume the national pastime in 1995 after a 234-day player strike wiped out the final six weeks of the regular season and the entire postseason in 1994.

On Dec. 23, 1994, with collective bargaining negotiations at a standstill, the owners implemented a salary cap. Commissioner Bud Selig announced at the time: "We are committed to playing the 1995 season and will do so with the best players willing to play."
----
The strike ended when Sotomayor issued a preliminary injunction against the owners on March 31, 1995. Three days later, the day before the season was scheduled to start, the strike was finally over. Sotomayor's decision to effectively order the 1990 work rules to be reinstated received support from a panel of the Court of Appeals for the New York-based Second Circuit, which denied the owners' request to stay the ruling.

Hey, Ted Frank of the NRO, it's not me saying this, but the MLB. It's on their own website.

(graphic via ESPN)
For all you baseball fans. You probably know that Manny Ramirez was suspended for fifty games because he got caught taking a "banned substance." Sports reporting is very similar to political reporting. They have their own Village, their own Beltway mentality and their own wankers. And people like Peter Gammons (who at times is a very good reporter and is beloved by his Village elders) fill the David Broder role for them quite well. The medication Manny is believed to have taken is called HCG:

One report on the wire suggests that Ramirez took a drug called HCG, used to stimulate female fertility as well as testosterone production in men, and to treat delayed puberty in boys.

As the NY Times writes:

H.C.G., which has been banned since 2008, is similar to the drug Clomid, which has a history of being used in conjunction with steroids. According to medical experts, doctors prescribe H.C.G. to men who are having fertility problems or who have low levels of testosterone, both of which can be side effects of steroid use.

Jose Canseco was busted for illegally bringing HCG into the country:

HCG most recently made news when former major leaguer and admitted steroid user Jose Canseco was caught attempting to smuggle it into the U.S. from Mexico.

The Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement stated that Canseco admitted to bringing it across the border because “he is currently on a hormone therapy plan because his testosterone levels are extremely low due to his past steroid use.” HCG and LH were added to the banned drug list by MLB a year ago. They have been banned for male athletes by the World Anti-Doping Agency since 1987.

So while Manny says he needed it for medical reasons, there isn't much doubt why he needed it, is there?

Back to Gammons. He's a big-time ESPN hall of fame pundit and Boston apologist. This is what he had to say about Manny and the drug use from ESPN2 that I transcribed:

Gammons: He had a medical issue, went to a doctor in Miami, he got a prescription, the doctor told him it was perfectly alright, it would not violate drug policy, it turns out it does, and the drug did violate baseball's drug policy which is very strict and, ummm this is not, to my understanding it's not steroids, it's not a performance enhancing drug, but guys have been suspended before for drugs that were not on the list. I mean we had J.C. Romero got suspended for sixty days for something he bought at a normal store so, ummm, it's unfortunately doctor's and players don't always know what is banned and what isn't banned. I am told that he is absolutely devastated by it and I can tell you something else.

I, there was a rumor floating around about an hour and a half ago, I contacted one of the people in the Red Sox front office and he said he did not believe it for a second. So, it's not like there was a history there from a team that he doesn't have exactly good relations with. That team didn't believe for a second that he cheated.

Gammons sucks up the propaganda from the Red Sox organization like a man stranded in a desert without any water. Can you think of one reason why the Red Sox would deny that he was a juicer? Oh, wait, maybe it would tarnish their two World Series wins. You know, how that ended the curse of Babe Ruth. And the "medication" that Manny took was called HCG which steroid users use when they come off a steroid cycle to help them produce testosterone again.

Hey Peter. It wasn't a steroid, but it's for steroid users...What a wanker that Gammons is. Now back to politics.

Since I was a teenager I was always intrigued by the NFL draft since I'm a big NY Giants fan. I tape it and then scan until they draft. The Giants took Hakeem Nicks out of NC because the idiot known as Plaxico shot himself in the leg.

The NY Jets made a big trade today to get the highly rated USC QB, Mark Sanchez.
Are you a draft geek too? How is your team doing?

It's hockey time and I'm really into the race for the Stanley Cup. The players smash everything in sight and every shift is played to the max. I'm rooting for the NY Rangers, but Ovechkin is a freak of nature. In the East, Pittsburgh has really come on strong since the late season trades and might be playing at a higher level than they did last year. Tim Thomas of the Bruins and the man, Martin Brodeur will have something to say about that. Jeff Carter can score with the best of them and Mike Richards is a rock. Oh, and Carolina never loses at home.

I haven't watched a lot of hockey in the West, but San Jose had a tremendous year. Anaheim is one of those deadly #8 seeds and is going to take them to the mat. And what can you say about the Red Wings? It all falls on the shoulders of Chris Osgood and his goaltending because offensively they are as deadly as ever and now have Hossa. It's good to see Chicago back in too and you can't count out the Canucks.

Anyway, who are you rooting for and why will your team win?