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Eric Gagne To Have Surgery Friday
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Athletes, Injuries, MLB,
After having right elbow surgery last year that effectively ended his 2005 season, Los Angeles Dodgers closer, Eric Gagne, is scheduled to go under the knife again on Friday to remove a nerve just under the skin on the same elbow, which happens to be his pitching elbow. Never a good thing. There is no timetable as to when Gagne will return, and he will be out indefinitely. Once thought of as the most intimidating closer in all of baseball, Gagne has definitely lost some of that luster thanks to his recent injury woes the past couple of seasons. Who knows if he’ll ever be the same again. Just like L.L. Cool J said back in the day - “Don’t call it a comeback!” At least for now.
Read More 
| Forbes
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WFAN 660 AM is one of the two major sports talk radio stations here in New York City along with 1050 ESPN Radio. Self-proclaimed Mets fan and radio-host Joe Benigno was harshly critical of the Mets loss last night to the Washington Nationals. It is only the second and third game of the 2006 season, and he was already in pessimistic mood. As a knowledgeable fan, he knows that the baseball season is long, and as long as you keep winning series at home and stay around .500 on the road, your team will do fine. Benigno’s tirade was about Billy Wagner’s blown save and the Metallica song Enter Sandman controversy. Benigno is saying Wagner doesn’t deserve to have that song as his theme music if he keeps blowing saves, and that Mariano Rivera already has that song. Wrong! Billy Wagner already had those particular song years before Mariano Rivera, when he was on the Houston Astros. It’s only one blown save, I’d rather have one loss in early April than a blown save in the middle of September against the Atlanta Braves in extra innings fighting for the division. Another topic is the constant booing of Carols Beltran by fans, which he encourages. How can a player possibly perform up to expectations if he is constantly being harassed by the home fans? I took the sane approach and turned off the radio, that is the only way to get these pompous personalities off the air, generating low ratings.
Chicks Dig The Long Ball…And Apparently So Does Dickey
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Editorial, MLB,
Remember that Nike commercial from what seems like a decade ago that ends with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine saying - “Chicks dig the long ball” after watching a power display by an alleged ‘roid user who will go unmentioned as not to give him any publicity. Well, Texas Rangers pitcher R.A. Dickey must have because he sure gave up a lot of them tonight against the Detroit Tigers. Okay, saying Dickey “dug” all those dingers would be presumptious in that Dickey is a masochist, but you have to admit, throwing knuckleballs in a cigar box like Ameriquest Field in Arlington AKA Coors Field South might not be a good idea if the pitch isn’t effective. Brandon Inge homering on the second pitch of the game should have made Dickey raise his eyebrow just a little bit. Magglio Ordonez hitting one out three batters later should have made Dickey raise his eyebrow like he was The Rock because he should have “sa-sa-sa-sa-smellllllled… what the Tigers… were… cooking” - a whole lot of dingers. In the end, Dickey tied a post-1900 MLB record for most home runs given up in a game, surrending six altogether. He tied the record with yet another knuckleballer, the Boston Red Sox Tim Wakefield, who achieved the feat during the 2004 season. Guess who the team was…that’s right, the Mighty Detroit Tigers. So, we learned two things from tonight’s event: one, if you like throwing knucklers, take the night off if you’re playing the Tigers. And, two, Inge, Ordonez, Chris Shelton (who homered twice!), Craig Monroe, and Marcus Thames should be some very happy men tonight if, in fact, chicks do indeed dig the long ball.
Oh man, there is nothing more entertaining than watching celebrities and athletes falling from grace. The thing that people most will remember Derek Lowe for is celebrating after his Game 5 save in the 2003 ALDS series and making a grabbing the crotch gesture and his affair with Fox Sports reporter Carolyn Hughes that went public. Now Lowe takes another low blow with the addiction stigma as reports indicate he has been taking ritalin for his attention deficit disorder. Manager Grady Little is going to have a fun time in Dodger land this season, with Nomar Garciaparra going on the DL and Eric Gagne not at full strength - and now this.
Read More | ESPN
Tennessee Titans Steve McNair’s Contract Dispute
Posted by Jeff Chan Categories: Athletes, Front Office, NFL, Rumors,
It sure stinks to be Steve McNair these days. After years of sacrificing his body and renegotiating his contract for the better of the team, the Titans have kicked McNair out of team’s facilities. McNair is owed $10 million this season and will take up $24 million against the team’s salary cap this season. The Titans are looking for McNair to once again restructure his contract or he might be released. With offensive coordinator Norm Chow on board, the Titans will most likely select Matt Leinert in the upcoming draft with the third selection, most likely ending the McNair era. Leinert had played under Chow at USC.
Read More | Chris Mortensen
When I first read the headline, I thought Jesse Jackson was talking about getting a good hitter in the order behind Barry Bonds, so he doesn’t get walked all the time. He was referring to Bonds getting a syringe thrown in his direction the other day in San Diego and the police and MLB not doing anything about it. When I first heard news of that, I thought it was a fairly amusing joke, but after some time to digest the situation, it is heading in the wrong direction. Sure it is fun to boo the guy, but when it gets to the point, where Bonds is afraid of his personal safety, that is just wrong. After the Ron Artest/ Auburn Hills melee, we as a society should get our act together. Despite dressing up as Paula Abdul, Bonds has not endeared himself to the fans. Where did it all go wrong for Bonds and baseball fans? Bonds’ life sure has had better days, to top it off it was recently reported that his aunt was severely injured in a car collision. Usually when athletes get older, they learn from their mistakes from their youth. I would say America started officially hating Bonds for good after fighting in the dugout with ex-teammate Jeff Kent. I hope the fans are smart enough not to do something stupid to the Bonds, like pick a fight with him over a foul ball in the left field seats. If such an event should occur, I would like to say now that the media should not throw Bonds under the bus for his behavior, if the situation were to present itself.
Read More | Seattle PI
After complaining about the full-length spandex earlier in March in this article, to our delight, the NBA has put a stop to stocking tights. What is surprising though is that the majority of the country doesn’t agree with the decision. In an ESPN poll, over 86,661 voters have cast their opinions. The result were over 76% of the fans don’t mind them, and 24% were glad to see them go.
Read More | Darren Rovell
Rick Pitino’s Former Assistants Doing Well For Themselves
Posted by Jeff Chan Categories: Front Office, NCAA, College Basketball,
Two former Rick Pitino assistants have made headlines the last couple of days. Billy Donovan led Florida to it’s first NCAA basketball title, and Herb Sendek took the head coaching job at Arizona State University. Both Donovan and Sendek were Pitino assistant’s at Kentucky. Tubby Smith was also under Pitino’s staff, and has put his own mark on the Kentucky program.
Donovan led a strong sophomore recruiting class to the promise land yesterday by defeating UCLA, to the dismay of Bill Walton. With two NCAA championship games under Donovan’s belt, he may now be propelled into an elite class of head coaches. Sendek who has had success as the head coach of the N.C. State Wolfpack in recent years, but has come up short in head to head against the elite of the ACC with a 17-54 record against rivals Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest. With Sendek on board, the Pac-10 Conference just got tougher by one more team.
Read More | ESPN
Today is opening day, so Tino might just be rusty getting in front of the camera after a couple months off, but today he sure seems off. With Karl Ravech, John Kruk and Harold Reynolds going over their picks to win the NL East, Tino went off on a long tangent critiquing the entire NL East. I can just imaging the producers just going nuts trying to get Ravech’s attention to cut him off saying “We have five more divisions to cover, shut him up!” Good luck to Tino on the next telecast. Ravech also seems to be slightly more smug than in years past, maybe we need a Peter Gammons appearance to steal his thunder.
The Toronto Raptors lost to the New Orleans Hornets last night in 2 OT, despite a strong game by Charlie Villanueva who had 25 points and 18 rebounds. He was overshadowed by rookie sensation Chris Paul who had a triple double. Mike James, who has been outstanding this year averaging 19.3 PPG clanked from the field going 5-25. Here are James’ thoughts:
“Sometimes me and the rim just don’t agree,” James said. “For 20 of the shots tonight me and the rim weren’t really on good terms. I think I did something to her last night. I normally treat her good, talk to her nice. I don’t ever curse her out, but tonight maybe she was a little mad at me, but that’s all right. I’m going to give her flowers and candy before the next game.”
Hopefully next game, James and the basket have made up by then.
Read More | Yahoo!
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