Posted by sportretort in NFL, Sports.
Tags: 2014 super bowl, cold weather super bowl, new york super bowl, NFL, Super Bowl
Snow during the '08 NFC championship game in Green Bay. (Photo from SI.com)
The NFL announced the first ever cold weather outdoor Super Bowl yesterday. The 2014 game will be played in New Jersey in an outdoor stadium. It will be the first Super Bowl game played outdoors in a city where the mean temperature for game day is below 50 degrees. It will not, however, be the first cold weather Championship game the league has played. Back in the day, before Super Bowls and domes, the game was played in the elements. There have been cold games before.
I, for one, have no problem with a game in the elements. I remember the Ice Bowl. Who can ever forget the Tuck Rule game, played in a snowstorm in New England. The MNF Green Bay at Denver blizzard game is STILL one of the most watched Monday games ever. What I find interesting is the reaction of those who do not like it. “What about the fans?” they cry. This is so unfair to the fans.
It snowed during the Oakland-NE 'tuck rule game.' (Photo from SI.com)
Since when does the NFL care about the fan? A few years ago the NFL was receiving complaints about the length of games. Seems they were cutting too far into network TV time. How did the league address the issue? Did they decrease the number of mandatory TV commercial breaks? Did they lower the play clock or decrease the number of time outs per team? No. They decreased the length of halftime, making it virtually impossible for the fans at the stadium to go to the restroom and buy a dog and a beverage without missing playing time. I have been a season ticket holder in the NFL for about 2 decades. I have had my team go to Super Bowls and have never even sniffed tickets to the game. How many real fans can afford to pay upwards of $1,000 for a ticket to the game? Forget about the cost of food, drink and a hotel room. The week before the big game is an orgy of corporate excess, a chance for the NFL to wine and dine their big sponsors. It is not for the average fan. If it were, why not play in every NFL city? Why should fans in Tampa and Phoenix and New Orleans get to host the festivities? If you are from Green Bay or Chicago or Denver, you will never get to host. Why not? If you can throw the parties in Detroit, why not Seattle or Boston? And what about the argument that the game should be played under the best possible circumstances? If that is the case, why do the games take over 4 hours to play? The Super Bowl is packed with so many commercials that there is no flow any more. Half time is almost twice as long as a normal contest for the ‘spectacular’ the NFL provides. These things are for the fans? I think not. Perhaps a good exposure to the early February elements may bring some sense back to the NFL, and to its showcase game.
The Big Apple will get its chance. I say good. Lets also reward fans in the other NFL cities. Lets make the Super Bowl a football game again.
Did anyone actually seen the Fog Bowl in Chicago on the last day of 1988? (photo from SI.com)
Posted by sportretort in Sports, Uncategorized.
Tags: chicago bulls, cleveland cavaliers, lebron james, michael Jordan, nba playoffs
James was overshadowed by the Celtics all game long (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
Fifteen points! Game 5 of a best of seven playoff series tied at 2 games each, at HOME, and the best he can do is score 15 points!?! With apologies to Simon and Garfunkel, Fans in Cleveland are singing “where have you gone, LeBron James, ….” King James? He looked more like Harry Houdini last night. We couldn’t find him because he kept disappearing. The Witness Protection Service wishes they could hide people as well as James hid last night. Remind me again why they keep giving this guy the MVP trophy.
Can we now stop the comparisons with Michael Jordan? The only thing Jordan and James have in common is an ego as big as all they come. The difference between them is that MJ had a heart to match that ego. And the stones to fight. James needs to man up and grow his grapes, and build some heart. Perhaps a trip with Dorothy to visit the Wizzard is in order. FIFTEEN POINTS??? In his 179 playoff games, Jordan NEVER scored so few points.
James is no MJ
Last night was the 4th time James was held to 15 or less in his 70 playoff games. Jordanesque? Hardly. MJ grabbed 6 rings while with the Bulls, including his first one in his seventh season. This is LBJ’s seventh season. If the Cavs drop game 6 in Boston, James may have played his last home game in Cleveland. Rumor has it that James will land in New York or Chicago next season. The way he plays during the playoffs, perhaps he should consider the Harlem Globetrotters. There he can showcase his ego and antics and not have to worry about outcomes. He can throw the chalk in the air and pose for imaginary cameras, play the Clown Prince and not worry about the game. The outcome is pre-ordained.
To be sure, Nike will continue to pay him his millions. The NBA will continue to fawn over him. After all, he is the King! He represents all that the NBA has become. A mere shell of itself. A joke compared to what it was when MJ and Bird and Majic were the persona of the League. But come playoff time, the Clown Prince will continue to step aside for true basketball royalty. Just like he did again last night. The King is dead. Long live the Clown Prince!!
Posted by sportretort in mlb, Sports.
Tags: colorado rockies, cy young award, mlb, ubaldo jimenez
Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez
In the bizarro world that is Major League Baseball, perhaps the oddest event of all is that a pitching star has emerged
in Colorado. The rarified air of Coors Field is the home of Ubaldo Jimenez. The home of the Blake Street Bombers and 15-13 games hosts one of the best pitchers in the game. You can’t pitch at altitude, right? I can hear the cries of unfair humidor advantage already! Jimenez threw the season’s first, and so far only, no-hitter at Atlanta on April 17th.
Just a fluke, right? Wrong. In his 3 starts since the no-hitter, he has gone 3-0, allowing only one run on 11 hits and 6 walks in 20 1/3 innings pitched. Oh, and he has struck out 24 batters over that stretch. He is 6-0 so far this season with an astonishing 0.87 ERA. He is a workhorse. In his no-hitter, he threw 128 pitches. He seemed to have lost nothing, however, as his last pitch was a 97 mph fastball. He has thrown 115 or more pitches in 4 of his six starts this season. The concern among the talking heads is that he is being used too much, but he topped that count 10 times last season, with an additional 11 starts of pitch counts between 105-114. He was 15-12 last season. Something clicked during the all-star break, however, because he went 9-3 after July 17th. He is 15-3 in his last 18 decisions. His current 6 game winning streak is the second such streak in this run.
The Rockies have ridden the right arm to a 6-0 record in games he has staarted this season. They are 7-13 in the other games so far this season.
[The guy is filthy right now. He topped the 100 mph mark several times last night while setting his game career high of 13 strike outs. The only time he got in trouble, and had his 26 inning scoreless streak come to an end was when he went to the curveball too much. His sinker was simply untouchable again last night. He shows no signs of stopping any time soon. While he will not finish with an ERA under one, he is only the fifth pitcher in recent times to start 5-0 with a sub one ERA. Each of the other 4 won the Cy Young award. While it is too early to talk that award, especially with the likes of Tim Lincecum and Roy Halladay in the National League, it is not to early to say that the NL pitcher of the month for April is off to an early lead. Rocky Mountain High may just become Rocky Mountain Cy.
