MIXED MESSAGES IN THE SPORTS WORLD ARE MAKING MY HEAD SPIN

Day Number I DON'T KNOW of self quarantine. I have lost track at this point, and also have lost a lot of sanity in the process.

This weekend I found some old games that were airing on television. I'm sure you found a bunch of them too and maybe you were like me and you tuned in with hopes to find some nostalgia and some good vibes. There were some good games on this weekend, I gotta hand it to the networks.....but it didn't work.

I found Jim Abbott's September 4th, 1993 no-hitter against the Indians but I didn't watch it for long, it just wasn't the same. I found one of my favorite hockey games of all time but I didn't watch it for long either, it just wasn't the same. Then I tried baking and I only finished that because once I started I couldn't stop mid project...but it wasn't what I was looking for.

So finally I just had to do it. I started searching the internet for something hopeful....but I didn't find it. Instead I found article after article of confusing and contradicting information. Boy, was that a mistake.

NBC Sports is telling us all HERE that our President had conference calls with commissioners from 12 professional sports leagues that he wants leagues to open doors to their fans by "August or September" and at that point baseball should just chalk it up to a lost season. That's just one source.

Then I see another article from FOX HERE that says MLB will consider quarantining players and playing games in empty spring training parks to start the season. But wow, that is stark contrast to what the New York Post said HERE about Ron Darling's opinion that MLB's season looks more and more doubtful with every day that passes.

Honestly, if football can start in September which is their regular schedule then they are golden. Of course, that's a big IF at this point. But, what about baseball? If baseball can't start in empty spring training parks like FOX suggests and an August or September time frame is most realistic.....do we even play this year? Do we have a "lost" season?

I hope not but, NJ.com has an interesting idea HERE where they interviewed David Cone and he laid out his plan IF he were commissioner and he got to call the shots. He said he would consider a round-robin tournament IF NEED BE. That's definitely creative, not quite sure exactly how that would work though.

And oh man....is your head spinning yet like mine? I should've stopped there, but I didn't. Then I made the mistake of going to twitter and just reading my feed when I see a quote from the NFL's chief medical officer and his grim opinion on not just the NFL....but ALL sports.

That statement is not directly related to us. It's not from our world, but it is still very telling. We all heard what happened almost a month ago now when the Jazz-Thunder game was stopped just before tip-off. Then eventually the NBA suspended the entire season, and then of course MLB and NHL were quick to follow. If one chief medical officer is saying and thinking this way....others from other sports are at least thinking the same way and I would put money on that.

At this point, I can't read anymore. I just need to step away because reading all of this is just draining. I don't know what to think anymore, and the sources that I have come to know and trust over the years are questionable. There's too much "chatter" out there and it isn't helping all of our fragile states of mind right now.

We all just want a normal life again, and we want our sports. We miss our sports but at this point I think a social media time out is in order. I'm a writer and a sports journalist....but even I am tired of hearing about what the media thinks. I just want the facts, that's it! Spare us all from the flashy sports headlines that are used for click bait.

So no more for me, I am going to step away and stop getting sucked into the click bait. Sports will be back, at some point. We will be back with the facts, but until then don't be like me and don't get sucked into the splash sports headlines that may or may not be true.


 

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj 

SORRY FOLKS. RUBEN TEJADA NEEDS TO BE MORE AGILE

I mean, is the media mad at the Chase Utley's slide, or are they just mad that the New York Mets lost?  I mean, I know the Mets are America's team these days, but the slide that Chase Utley made in a critical moment in last night's Game 2 of the NLDS was nothing that hasn't happened 100 times before.

Here's the thing, the media is in love with the Mets.  And let me go further, and let's be honest; if Ron Darling doesn't ask the question in the booth, "You don't think that play is dirty?", I'm not sure we're talking about this. Watch the clip below. No one seems shocked.  It's business as usual until it's determined that Tejada is hurt and Darling starts stirring the pot.

Darling also states... "They wouldn't even allow that in the NFL."  Charged words. And, OK, it's really not part of baseball to even drag that into the conversation. But clearly Darling is rooting for the Mets.

Look, Ty Cobb used to go in spikes high. That was dirty.  That was later banned.  But we all know that runners going to second on a potential double play have to try and take out that fielder. And guess who also knows that? Infielders.  We have all seen it happen for years in baseball.

Your job as a runner is to break up that play so your teammate can make it to first and so your inning can continue. Bottom line.

Sometimes you slide in hard. Sometimes you slide in really hard. Sometimes you even slide in exceptionally wide to go after that fielder.  It happened the other night between Beltre and Tulowitzki.

Sometimes you even slide in really late, you throw your hands up or you go in real aggressive as to get that fielder to lose balance or to not get that throw off... and you know what?

That's the game ladies and gentlemen! That's the game!  Ruben Tejada? He needs to get the hell out of the way!  Why in the hell is no one talking about that?  I mean... look at it?

No question Chase Utley comes into the base awkardly and slide is late. Trust me, I'm no fan of Chase Utley. But I do not see what the different is between his slide and others I've seen in Major League Baseball over the past 25 years, even longer.



Tejada needs to be athletic. Tejada needs to be more nimble, more agile. Tejada needs to move his ass and get that runner out at first. That's his job!

Look, I feel bad for Tejada.  The Mets are having a nice season and now the guy is out. That sucks. But the media is in love with the Mets this season, after all... it's a nice story.  But let's call that Utley slide what it is... it's baseball,  and whether you call it clean or not, the bottom line is Utley had done what plenty of runners coming into second base have done forever... BREAK UP THE DOUBLE PLAY... and he did his job there.

The Dodgers tied it up against the Mets right then and eventually won.  But no one is talking about that. They are instead falling into the bias trap. "The Mets got robbed!"

No... the Mets lost... get over it.

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SNARKY POST SNIPER TAKES AIM AT THE CAPTAIN

I am under no delusion that this post will do much to combat any anti-Yankee feelings. I mean I write for Bleeding Yankee Blue. Now those who read articles on the site know that you get the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to the Bronx Bombers here. We try to call it down the middle, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a Mets’ fan (as an example) just dismissed the entire endeavor as a Yankee propaganda machine…they’d be wrong. I have always thought that by and large fans and writers around baseball have found one piece of common ground to agree on, that being that Derek Jeter is a class act. I was fairly certain that it was just something we all saw clearly and concurred on. I have friends in Boston, hardened Yankee haters by the way, who will tell me time and time again, “I think the reason I dislike him is because I like the guy so much.” And they pull no punches in New England when it comes to all things New York.

The thing I think I’d been missing is that the deepest hatred of the Yanks and their Captain doesn’t come from the club’s greatest rival. It doesn’t come from the west coast or smaller markets…it comes from the other team and their fan base right here in the City of New York. The Mets hate on a grander scale than I ever gave them credit for. Silly Metropolitans, whining is for kids.

Michael Gray of the New York Post wrote a less than flattering article about Derek Jeter and his last season recently. Gray, a New York Mets fan, takes issue with the Captain and calls out his ego driven antics on this his final lap in the Big Leagues. The Post writer feels that Jeter’s humble, team first persona is a sham. He feels that Jeter is every bit an ego-maniacal superstar and that this farewell tour was a calculated, plotted out “Me” fest. He is not only absolutely wrong in my opinion; he is absolutely a sham himself and is letting his Yankee inferiority complex fuel his writing.

(In Photo: Jeter 1996)
I am an admitted Yankee fan. I am also a fan of Derek Jeter as a player and a person. If ever there was a “real deal” it’s the Kid from Kalamazoo. It’s not only the Yankees and their fans that will tell you Derek is as good as advertised. It’s his PEERS that truly tell his story. It the guys he’s played with, against and the guys coming up who looked up to him. That is the measure of a man. Mets’ fans and so-called Sports writers don’t have to like it, but don’t let your own nonsense cloud your vision. Your club is the other New York team. That isn’t really Derek Jeter’s fault. It’s not really anybody’s fault. The Mets got to the party later. The city was claimed long ago. Get over it…or move to Jersey. I won’t miss ya.

I am biased when it comes to my team, but I have said, agreeing with Gray, that we should save up the goodbyes until the end of the year. It would be EXACTLY what Jeter would want to. Michael’s sad attempt to paint Jeter as a selfish Prima Donna is just lame. You can see his words dripping with the jealously a sorority sister might have for the girl that got invited to the big formal dance by the Varsity letterman. Hey Mike, I think they did a better job with Citi Field if it helps you.

I don’t want to sound like the “Obnoxious Yankee Fans” I hear so much about. I don’t hate the Mets or their fans. I don’t see a rivalry here. My Grandmother became a Mets fan when the Dodgers (who I really do dislike) left Brooklyn. She would always talk about her “Ronny Darling” and “HoJo”. I have good memories of watching those great Met teams win…they weren’t my team, but hey, good for them.

The league on a whole is going to push and pull Derek Jeter to get every inch of press and money out of his farewell. It will be out of the man’s control for what he will have to deal with on this last ride into the sunset. Anyone not blinded by his or her own Blue and Orange glasses can see that. Derek Jeter is one of the good guys in this game…maybe one of the last. If it bothers you turn off your TVs and wait until 2015.

Read Casey's take on Gray & the Captain too. Read JETER ISN'T ABOUT EGO. WRITE THAT DOWN.

** Anyway, I was going to send out “Hey Jealously” by the Gin Blossoms to Michael Gray…but I’m angrier than that. I want him to WALK away. Here’s Pantera.”

--Mike O'Hara, MLB Fan Cave Host, Season 1
   Twitter: @mikeyoh21
"Paulie was always my favorite player."



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CALL THE GAME FAIR OR GET OFF THE AIR!

Of course, as a Yankee fan, we all love it when the Bombers make the post season.  I mean it’s exciting for God’s sake.  But, what I can’t stand is when the national announcers take cheap shots at the Yankees for all the world to hear on network television. At least, as Yankee fans, that's how we hear it.  I was awakened by this notion while watching ABC’s coverage of the USC vs. Notre Dame game.  Brent Musburger made a ridiculous comment two plays into the very first Irish possession.  He said, “The Irish are experiencing their first wrinkle of the game.”  Really?  A wrinkle?  They just picked up a first down in three plays, how is that wrinkle for a team that has gone undefeated?!  Then, like a shot deep to left, my brain immediately rushed to my file on Fox Sports Announcer Joe Buck and his blatant lack of respect for the Yankees.  He and his sidekick, Tim McCarver seem to blast into their Yankee digs way before first pitch.

Now, in their defense, no one can call a game like our home team announcers Kay, Ken Singleton, Paul O’Neill, Sterling and Waldman, who know our guys and know our city, but Buck and McCarver could tone it down a bit and stick with the game on the field. 

“One suggestion would be flanking a play-by-play guy with a color commentator who works for each team during the regular season. It would increase the knowledge of the teams and the personalities while balancing out any claims of bias between the two sides,” said reporter Josh Alper in his 2009 article Do Joe Buck and Tim McCarver hate the Yankees? The article takes it a bit further by delving into  Buck’s psyche a bit.  “More often than not, he seems to dislike just about everything about his job which he tends to approach with a smug (or professional, depending on your point of view) detachment that is antithetical to the way die hard fans feel about their favorite teams and sports. A good example is his flat call of David Tyree's unbelievable catch in the Giants-Patriots Super Bowl."

As a graduate of the Boston University’s College of Communication, it was drummed into me in course after course that you must balance passion with objectivity.  Joe Buck must have missed that course, or he buried deep within his archives.  Now, John Sterling may not always get it right, but he certainly has passion for the game.  He makes the game exciting, even if you yell back at him every chance you get.  And Kay keeps it real as well.  They are with the team, and when they get critical, it is not a bashing like certain announcers... are you listening Joe and Tim? “They are with the team all season and want it to win. They all swear their job is easier when things are going well as opposed to watching the Bombers squander a 10-game AL East lead,” as reported by the New York Daily News in early October our our guys (HERE). 

The Wall Street Journal (HERE) recently conducted a 30-team study on television baseball announcer bias. “The conventional wisdom in sports is that TV announcers should strive to call the game straight down the middle. It's a philosophy that's been embraced over the years by most of the famous baseball voices.”  The article went on to state that “by the rules of our study, anyone with a microphone who used a pronoun like "we," "us" or "our" to describe the home team was given a citation. Obscure pet names for players were also flagged: The Detroit Tigers announcers, for instance, referred to backup catcher Gerald Laird as "G-Money." Additional penalties were given for things like excessive moping after miscues or unrestrained glee after big moments. (A Miami Marlins broadcaster marked the end of a lengthy scoreless drought by screaming "Hallelujah!").”

I guess by these rules, long time great Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto’s “Holy Cow!” would be flagged as well and since this was just television announcers and not radio, Sterling and Waldman get a buy.  As for our local television announcers, they placed 26th with the Mets’ announcers Keith Hernandez , Gary Cohen, and Ron Darling placing least biased at 30th .  Number one on the list was White Sox announcer Hawk Harrelson (Read HERE).  He applauded his number one status.  He is a lover of the sport and lover of his team! 

(In Photo: Mel Allen)
Like it or not, baseball announcers are here to stay.  Many of the greats have space in the hallowed halls of Cooperstown. Our very own Mel Allen is there along with Harry Caray and Jack Buck, not to be confused with Joe.  They gave baseball a voice and life and someone to yell back at when things weren’t  going so well.  Today, baseball announcers continue this legacy while bringing humor and excitement into their signature calls.  But, what they should never do is beat up on the local team in such a way that fans feel the insult deep in their own core from their living room.  Those announcers need to take a hard look at their calls and keep it real, fair, or get off the air!

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof




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