COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY - MIKE IN DA - OCTOBER 18, 2010

COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY!

Written by: Mike in DA
Date posted: 10/18/2010

FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY ARCHIVES: FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE!

1. Under Pressure:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYXKaAzEJrk  Mesmerizing video of "homeless guy" miming Under Pressure using two Kermit puppets.

2. March of the Emperors: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odxM_oJLF3A

3. Bank Robbery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er7fb8LaZtk&NR=1


TIRICO WAS SILENT ON FAVRE SCANDAL!

You may have noticed that Mike Tirico was unusually silent last Monday night on MNF on ESPN whenever Brett Favre's dong pictures were being discussed. Tirico had some of those problems himself in the past.

Back in 1992, Tirico himself was accused in several instances of sexual harassment when he was working for ESPN. One of the women that accused him of sexual harassment said that he would not leave her alone at a party. When the woman ignored Tirico and even told him to leave her alone, Tirico persisted. He allegedly proceeded to try and reach his hand between her thighs.

This is just one of the instances where Tirico was accused of harassment. There were several more. He claims that they were all merely misunderstandings. He was suspended by ESPN for three months back in 1992, but none of these allegations against him were ever proven.

INES SAINZ' 15 MINUTES OF FAME STARTING TO PAY OFF!

Ines Sainz, the self-proclaimed "hottest sports reporter in Mexico" who was at the center of a controversy with the New York Jets last month is starting to capitalize on her 15 minutes of fame (http://sheltonmedia.blogspot.com/2010/10/top-10-reasons-ines-sains-ever-became.html).



Ines has been signed as a Top Rank TV boxing reporter. Her first job is to conduct pre-event reports and interviews and offer ringside commentary for the Manny Pacquaio – Antonio Margarito fight in Arlington, TX on November 13.

In addition, the Mexican television reporter who said the New York Jets made her feel uncomfortable in their locker room returned to work this week for Azteca TV, but she now does her interviews outside the locker room either on the field or on the sideline.

NOW WE KNOW WHAT CAUSED THE DOWNFALL OF WILL FERRELL!

FLUB OF THE DAY!

First of all, kudos to Matt Thomas (Sports Talk 790) for turning himself in for a flub he made on his show on Wednesday (10/13) when he said ex-NBAer, Gheorghe Muresan, was dead. Muresan, the 39-year old Romanian, is alive and well and living in Franklin Lakes, NJ.  It takes a real man to admit he flubbed.

Speaking of real men, Barry Warner is continually losing his status as one in the eyes of the Peanut Gallery, as he flubbed again on Wednesday night (10/13) during the SR 610 Evening Show. Barry was interviewing Texans' safety, Dominique Barber, whose father, Marion Sr. (not to be confused with Marion Jr., a running back who plays for the Cowboys), played for the New York Jets from 1982-88. However, Barry who either didn't do his homework or had a brain cramp said that Dominique's dad played for the Vikings and had to be corrected by Dominique.

John Lopez on the SR610 Morning Show on Thursday (10/14) had trouble figuring out the time difference between Houston and China where the Rockets were playing last week vs. the New Jersey Nets. Rather than going to the Internet, John took the easy way out and said there was a 12-hour time difference. There is actually a 13-hour difference, which will become 14 hours on November 7 when we revert back to Standard Time.

LOCAL SPORTS TALK'S VERSION OF ALI VS. FRAZIER!

This is a short piece between those two sports talk heavyweights, Brad from Spring Branch and "Longhorn" Scott (PG's September "Caller of the Month") from 4/14/2010 on 1560 KGOW's John and Lance Show  (http://thegame.podbean.com/2010/04/14/brad-in-spring-branch-vs-longhorn-scott/).

A RARE CLASSY MOMENT IN SPORTS!

Many of the Peanut Gallery rants here celebrate what goes wrong in sports and what is contrary to the way real people live their lives. Today, I want to go in the opposite direction and acknowledge a recent classy behavior in sports.

The SF Giants had just won the NLDS (National League Division Series for the acronym-challenged) over the Atlanta Braves last Monday (10/11) and were celebrating on the field, as they should have. The Braves’ defeat meant this was the final game in the managerial/baseball career of Bobby Cox and the fans offered their tribute to Cox, as they should have. At that point, in a moment of pure sportsmanship and class, the SF Giants stopped their on-field celebration, faced the Braves dugout and tipped their caps to Bobby Cox as the retiring opposing manager. That was first class sportsmanship and the players/managers/coaches who performed that act deserve kudos and acknowledgment.

For all the stats TBS threw at us during the Braves - Giants playoff series, where's the one giving the Braves' record in games after Bobby Cox got thrown out of?

ONE BOWL IS OUT,  ONE BOWL IS IN!

The International Bowl is history, caput, bye-bye, au revoir. There will be no early January college football game in Toronto this year; there will be no game between a mediocre Big East team and a MAC team for fans to ignore.

FYI - The International Bowl was played in Toronto from 2007 through 2010. During its run, it was the only post-season bowl game played outside the United States, the first such game since the Bacardi Bowl, played in Havana, Cuba, on January 1, 1937 between Villanova and Auburn (a 7-7 tie).

In effect, the new Pinstripe Bowl to be played in the new Yankee Stadium in New York City on December 30, is the replacement for the International Bowl. The Big East will send a team and the Big 12 will send a team that finishes in the bottom half of the conference standings. It is way too early to project the third place finisher in the Big East but the bowl organizers have to be praying for it to be either Rutgers, Syracuse, or UConn to attract a few alums to the late December game.

If not one of those three teams, they might get Louisville or South Florida and that won't perk local interest in NYC, not even a little bit. Who the seventh place finisher in the Big-12 might be is equally obscure at the moment.

Those of us who love to watch for train-wrecks would prefer to see the inaugural game here be Louisville versus Baylor in NYC. Even accounting for the fact that the organizers will hand out plenty of free tickets to anyone who can fog a mirror, it would be worth tuning into that game just to see if half of the seats are actually occupied.

Here is the only advantage I can see for the Pinstripe Bowl as compared to the late International Bowl: I would not need to remember to bring my passport should I decide for some reason to go to the game.

A CALENDAR FLUB?

A Wisconsin company is trying to sell this calendar, printed before LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. Cleveland-area residents aren't showing much interest in James' merchandise, but his brand is popular elsewhere.



Needless to say, the $14.99 calendar is not selling in Cleveland. Not even collectors - people who might value an unopened James calendar - are buying his merchandise there.


But James' brand remains marketable in other parts of the country, where he's become an even larger national figure, as reported by the Marketing Dept. at John Carroll University's Boler School of Business, which is located in Cleveland.

THEN AND NOW


THEN: October 13, 1960 – The Pirates beat the Yankees in the seventh game of the World Series, 10-9, on Bill Mazeroski’s ninth-inning homer. There were 19 runs, 24 hits, and nine pitchers in the game. The game took 2:36 to play.

NOW: October 6, 2010 – The Yankees beat the Twins in the opening game of the ALDS, 6-4. There were 10 runs, 17 hits, and ten pitchers in the game. The game took 3:47 to play.

LPGA - FOR REAL WOMEN ONLY!

The LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association for the acronym-challenged) is an organization that seeks to provide a way for women golfers to make something more than a minimum wage existence. It promotes women’s athletics and serves to bring attention to women’s causes. The organization is generally regarded as one that supports and furthers women’s athletics.

For 18 years, a transgender woman who now goes by Lana Lawless (57) was a tough S.W.A.T. cop working the gang detail on the streets of Rialto, California. Now Lawless simply wants to try and play on the LPGA Tour.

The problem is that the rules of the LPGA limits membership and participation in their events to individuals who were “females at birth”. So Lana has filed a lawsuit in California, claiming that this rule violates California’s civil rights laws and the lawsuit seeks to prevent the LPGA from holding any events in California unless that rule is changed. The lawsuit was filed by Lawless in San Francisco District Court, as a discrimination lawsuit. 

No word yet as to whether or not Renée Richards will be called in to testify for the plaintiff.









YANKEE TACO BELL COMMERCIAL

You may have already seen the cute Taco Bell commercial where Yankee manager, Joe Girardi, and Yankee closer, Mariano Rivera promote Taco Bell’s XXL Chalupa

That’s the commercial where the Taco Bell customer (referred to as “rookie”) can’t finish the XXL Chalupa and Girardi comes over in his uniform and signals to Rivera, conveniently sitting in his uniform at a nearby table, to come in and finish up the meal, as closers are wont to do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ajx1CIf69s

I guess Girardi and Rivera needed the extra cash, since we’re still in an economic recession and the Yankees don’t pay that much.

Just in case you should spot Girardi and Rivera in a Taco Bell, take a picture if you have a camera with you and send it to the HMW photo desk (crierscorner@aol.com).




A GRAND WELCOME BACK FOR ROETHLISBERGER!

ODDS AND ENDS:

1. The Redskins had a “Homecoming” this weekend. Former Skins’ players were on hand as Russ Grimm got his Hall of Fame ring. (Grimm who is an Arizona Cardinal coach had the day off because the Cardinals had their bye week.) Some of those who attended were Larry Brown, Pat Fischer, Sam Huff, and Sonny Jurgensen.

2. The NFL marketing folks probably had to be restrained from calling this weekend something like NFL Fan Appreciation Weekend because the teams not playing this week were the Bengals, Bills, Cardinals, and Panthers. These four teams took a combined record of 5-15 with them to the sidelines this week. I suspect they weren't missed.

3. The 1972 Miami Dolphins got to drink their champagne pretty early this season when the Kansas City Chiefs lost last week to Indianapolis. Because it happened so early, not much attention was focused on those old attention-whores like Mercury Morris, Dick Anderson, Nick Buoniconti, etc. who for years popped champagne corks when the NFL's last unbeaten team fell, leaving the perfect mark of their 1972 team unmatched. They’ve never had to make plans for the uncorking as early as they did this season. Just a year after Indianapolis opened 14-0 and New Orleans 13-0, the Chiefs stood as the NFL’s last unbeaten team at 3-0 going into last week's game.  As a result of the Chiefs' loss, this is the first NFL season without a 4-0 club since 1970. I assume the champagne didn't taste nearly as good as last year or when New England's 18-0 start ended with a Super Bowl loss.

4. Another one of my pet peeves is when ending credits on TV shows are the size of a postage stamp. They’re so unreadable that they might as well eliminate them. I’m sure it’s another example of limitless greed.

5. Lots of sports fans become passionately involved in arguments about the importance and the use of replay in sports “to get it right”. Those “get it right” advocates should be applauding the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) about now. The PBA has adopted replay rules to check on foul-line infractions – similar to a foot-fault in tennis. Now if there really are a few million fans out there who are adamant about “getting it right”, the TV ratings for PBA events ought to go through the roof. Right!


MIKE IN DA

HMW

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