COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY - MIKE IN DA - JANUARY 16, 2011

COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY

Written by: Mike in DA
Date posted: 1/16/2011


EVER WONDER WHAT THE REF WAS DOING WHEN HE CALLED A TIMEOUT?

COOLEST SPORTS NICKNAMES: “SHOELESS” JOE JACKSON

Today’s sports nicknames are terrible: A-Rod, L.T., K-Rod, etc. They are usually nothing more than a combination of a player’s first and last name.


But nicknames haven’t always been so bad. Here is another cool one from the past: “Shoeless” Joe Jackson.

Joe Jackson started carrying his nickname around years before he ever helped throw the 1919 World Series. When Jackson was a teenager, he was playing for a mill team and tried to play a game in Anderson, SC, while breaking in a new pair of cleats. The cleats started giving him a blister, so he decided to finish the game barefoot. A heckler who saw him running to third base in his socks called him a “shoeless son of a gun” – which in those days was probably way worse than insulting somebody’s mama – and the name stuck. Today he would just be a guy who got dropped for breaking a Nike shoe endorsement contract.


FYI – Shoeless Joe had a lifetime .356 batting average in thirteen MLB seasons.


FLUB OF THE DAY

From Saturday's Houston Chronicle, there were several proofreading mistakes that I found, but the most obvious was on page C 13 (College Basketball):

"1986: The 3-point line was added at 19 feet, 9 inches from the basket. It has since been pushed back to 20 feet, 99 inches from the basket."

FROM THE HMW MAILBAG:



Anonymous left a comment on the 7/13 review of ESPN 97.5’s mid-day show, "REVIEW: THE BLITZ - MIKE IN DA - JULY 13, 2010" (http://sheltonmedia.blogspot.com/2010/07/review-blitz-mike-in-da-july-13-2010.html):



“The Blitz is horrible. Listening to them is like standing too close to the dork table at a high school party. A lot of talk about women they can't get and farts. Such a big market like Houston deserves better. Their show is a big hole in the sports airwaves between "The Herd" and SVP. (Carl) Dukes' show is a great local program but the Blitz is just terrible.”

MANChild Swagga left a comment on the 7/15 post " REMEMBERING MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.: MLK WEEK..." (http://sheltonmedia.blogspot.com/2011/01/remembering-martin-luther-king-jr.html):

“Great post my Friend. I have always had mucho respect or you Bro. 'Never thought I'd be saying this to a lesbian (j/k no homo). Easy Bro.”

My response is: I think you’re getting Lesbo and myself confused. I'm not a lesbian. At least, not yet.

Badweatherman left a comment on Craig Shelton’s 1/14 post "ARROGANCE IS IGNORANCE"! - CRAIG SHELTON - JANUAR.. (http://sheltonmedia.blogspot.com/2011/01/arrogance-is-ignorance-craig-shelton.html):

“Great post as always, and a resounding "Amen" from those of us in the peanut gallery. I can't really get where being a sports personality in this market is all that hard of a job. Anecdotal digressions are one thing, but most of us don't really care about what's chapping whoever's ass today. I would listen to political talk if that was what I wanted to hear. Basically (and I absolutely hate to paraphrase Rome), but I want sports personalities that have a take and don't suck. This city is awash in great topics that are all locally relevant. If that isn't enough, then the national scene is just as full. An opening diatribe detailing the latest person, place, or thing that pissed in Mr. Radioman's Wheaties is the last thing that I want to hear. Each of our own respective worlds are full of doing this mundane job, or dealing with this or that stupid thing that we have to do or whatever else drags us down in the course of keeping the lights on at home. I want to hear sport talk when I dial that station in.”

Matt Simon left a comment on the 1/14 post "COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY - MIKE IN DA - JA..."(http://sheltonmedia.blogspot.com/2011/01/comments-from-peanut-gallery-mike-in-da_14.html):
 

“I agree with your opinion on Josh and Rich being a short-lived combination. I liked his one-hour slot much better, and I think it had a lot to do with the fact that he didn't have anyone else in the studio to rag on. He would take time to shoot slugs at his producer, but making fun of anyone in sight gets old after too long. Dude comes across as an expert in talking about people behind their backs. Like you said, he is obviously willing to walk over anyone on the way to the top. I actually look forward to the change if it comes. Did you hear him talk about that Yahoo user-blog bashing the Texans as legitimate journalism? The "article" didn't even cite the correct year Mario Williams was drafted. Quality "source" Josh.”

Matt Simon also left a comment on Craig Shelton’s post of 1/13, "THE EXAMPLE OF ARROGANCE AND IGNORANCE: RICH LORD ...": (http://sheltonmedia.blogspot.com/2011/01/example-of-arrogance-and-ignorance-rich.html):



"He needed to slam the "blogger". The article should have never been brought up by Josh in the first place. Before he even read the first paragraph, it was obvious that the author wasn't on top of his game. I am a "blogger" I suppose, but I don't want crap like that piece labeled legit by someone like Josh Innes, looking for ammo to pick on Texans fans. Why don't they read a Stradley, Burge or Battle Red blog? Honestly, I hope they read your blog every once in a while. I think it deserves conversation more than a Yahoo crap-job.


Damn. I just went back to the audio, re-listened, and heard the obvious shots at callers and "non-experts" who think their opinion matters. Well, well, well. That pretty much changed my opinion from my first comment. I read the blog mentioned, and I still think it is crap, but Rich (Lord) wasn't talking about the blog on Yahoo, he was talking about us. I absolutely hated to hear him say, "...I mean, they are not the experts!" I didn't remember that part this morning. Kettle, I would like to introduce you to pot. Wow Rich. Stay classy. If I were you, I would banish all of those idiot callers from contributing to your show. We need the ‘truth’ from the ‘experts’.”

SPORTS TALK 790 GANGSTAS

Continuing with "gangsta" names for our local sports talk hosts, I went to http://www.gangstaname.com/

to get gangsta names for the Sports Talk 790 hosts to replace their boring-ass names for something harder:


Adam Wexler: White G
Matt Jackson: Old Duty Chimpanzee
Dylan Gwinn: King Pee Hands
Matt Thomas: Clowny Pee Hands
Charlie Pallilo: Drunken Poo-poo Pants

JOSH INNES SAYS THAT HE IS NOT A SHILL FOR THE ROCKETS!

The following is from Josh Innes’ blog on the SR610 website (1/12):

"The Rockets Are Fun To Watch
Jan 12


The Rockets are a really watchable team. I know that some people are going to find it hard to get behind a team that is a long shot to even make the playoffs. I get it. I’m all about winning and winning big. Having said that, the Rockets are a fighting team filled with guys who are fighting for jobs. This Rockets team is littered with expendable players. Nobody is untouchable. These guys know this and they play like a group of guys fighting for their own personal survival. I dig it. I am not a shill for the Rockets. I don’t work in the Rockets PR Department. I am a fan of the NBA and I am a fan of an entertaining product. The Rockets are an entertaining product.” END.

Josh claims that he is not a "shill" for the Rockets. My Webster Dictionary defines "shill" as follows: "A person who publicizes or praises something or someone for reasons of self-interest, personal profit, or friendship or loyalty."


Josh works for SR610, which is the broadcast home of the Houston Rockets, and he has guests from the Rockets team and organization on his show, including one of their TV announcers, Matt Bullard, who has a weekly one-hour gig on Josh's show with co-host, Rich Lord.  

That sounds like a "shill" to me. If John Granato (KGOW 1560) or Matt Thomas (Sports Talk 790) wrote that the Rockets were fun to watch, etc., and said that they are not "shills" for the Rockets, then that is a different story.


TV FREEZES OUT THE FANS AGAIN! SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW?

I was checking ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball schedule for the upcoming season and on April 10, it’s Yankees at Red Sox, followed by the Rangers at Yankees the following Sunday, April 17.

I lived in the Northeast for over 50 years and April evenings can get pretty cool or cold depending on one’s threshold. What MLB is telling the fans is to freeze your ass off. We don’t care. Playing baseball outdoors on Sunday nights in April is an inconvenience to most fans, but ESPN is paying MLB, so what is a fan to do.


And if you wanted to take your young kid to a Sunday game that's been rescheduled to the night, you're out of luck, as there’s school the next day.

On Sunday, April 3, the Sunday night game on ESPN is the Giants at Dodgers, a West Coast site in a venue where the average evening temps in April is at least 10 degrees warmer than in Boston and New York at that time of the year. Playing April Sunday night games in warmer environments is the logical thing to do, but as far as MLB is concerned, it’s always money and ratings over logic. So what else is new?

ODDS AND ENDS:

1. Gillette dumped Tiger Woods as a spokesman after his affairs came out in the news. Big Ben’s Beef Jerky dumped Ben Roethlisberger after his sexcapades were revealed. Nutrasystems dumped Lawrence Taylor after his hooking up with a 16-year-old girl. Coca Cola dumped an English soccer player after his cheating on his wife with a hooker made the London newspaper headlines. Wrangler Jeans dumped Brett Favre after his lewd texting. If this trend continues, consumers will be forced to purchase products based on the their quality and not who their athlete spokesperson is.

2. It’s kind of surprising to see Drew Brees and Peyton Manning in commercials now that their teams were eliminated in the first round of the NFL Playoffs. At the beginning of the season I picked them to meet in the Super Bowl again with Indy winning this time.

3. During the BCS Championship Game, players were continually slipping and even falling on the field. I read that a new field was brought in for the game, so that players could slip and fall. I guess someone who bet the Under came up with that idea.

4. Last week, ESPN Radio and ESPN TV, had actor Vince Vaughn and actor/director, Ron Howard, the latter being director of Vaughn’s new movie, “The Dilemma”. I smelled ESPN cross-promoting again, so I suspected that the film came from the Disney Studios, ESPN’s owner. I checked it out, but it was from Spyglass Entertainment, the movie’s producer. But upon further investigation, I found out Spyglass has a distribution deal with Disney. Once again, ESPN shows why they are the cross-promoting sports leader.

CRIER’S CORNER




BASKETBALL ACTION


Yesterday’s Record ATS: 9-4
Cumulative Season Record ATS: 248-159


NBA


SAN ANTONIO* (-7) over DENVER
Tough stretch here for the visitors. They had the lowly Cavs last night, but have two huge games coming up vs. the Lakers and the Thunder. Coach Popovich is nothing short of a genius, as he always seems to know what buttons to push. The best thing about Manu Ginobili is that he wears his heart on his sleeve and his will to win is completely evident. SAN ANTONIO, 114 - 100


COLLEGE HOOPS


MISSOURI STATE (-10.5) over BRADLEY*
Bears deploy a more exuberant offense than the Missouri Valley’s used to seeing. Braves barely aided by home crowd which knows bad product when they see it. MISSOURI STATE, 76-60.

MIKE IN DA

HMW

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