STEROIDS AND THE BLAME GAME!!!!
Before we get going here, let's agree to agree on something.
Big Mac and Sammy saved baseball. Along with a little help from "The Chicks Love The Long Ball" ads.
When Big Mac and Sammy had their big home run battle going on, baseball was trying to recover from a strike that had a lot of baseball fans thinking seriously about not being baseball fans anymore. "America's Pastime"? Because of the strike (along with things that had been building up), many people were sarcastically referring to baseball as "America's Past It's Time"!
And along came Big Mac and Sammy. The big ol' Paul Bunyan guy and the other guy who had a smile that was big time infectious.
BANG, BOOM, POW!!! The chicks who were lovin' the long ball were dancin', baseball's turnstiles were whirrin' and....?
Here's what I remember from that magical season. Announcer Joe Buck hugging Big Mac after he hit one of his (then) history making home runs.
Major League baseball is a small fraternity, folks. The fact that two guys were becoming home run record breakers was not going unnoticed by the other players. This was more than unbelievable! And other players wanted to know how they could improve their "game".
WHERE WERE BASEBALL'S ANNOUNCERS, SPORTS TALK HOSTS AND BASEBALL'S BEAT WRITER'S WHILE (all of a sudden) A LOT OF PLAYERS BEGAN TO GET BIGGER?!?
Yeah, I remember the guy who found the Andro in Big Mac's locker, but other than that?!?
I live in Los Angeles and right here in our own back yard, writers and broadcasters couldn't see how big a lot of Angel and (especially) Dodger players were getting?
We have Hall of Fame writers and broadcasters covering these two teams and we're supposed to believe they're all blind?!?
Okay...without proof, these guys would be asking for trouble if they publicly made accusations against players, but did any of them do any investigating?!?
Yes they did. As soon as Barry Bonds got bigger! He wasn't friendly. In fact, he was surly. Writers (except for the ones in San Francisco) loved to comment about Bonds' expanding foot and head sizes along with other parts of his anatomy.
They couldn't see (just to name two) what had happened to Eric Gagne and Roger Clemens?!?
Look, getting to cover a major league baseball team and having the privilege of access to major league ballplayers and having them call you by your first name in front of your peers or on a broadcast you're hosting is a "rush". It's one of the reasons a lot of people get into that business.
"Rock the boat" and you might not have that access anymore.
I'm now going to tell you how they could have avoided possible legal problems or access problems and still (in a subtle way) made a point.
Example: Most of the sports columnists and broadcasters think they know how to be funny. And some of them actually do! Why didn't someone do a column or a radio or television riff on a player (say Eric Gagne) who had gotten bigger than big and then made comments about how he (the broadcaster or columnist) would sure like to know how (say Eric Gagne) had done what he did so he (the broadcaster or columnist) could include that in the diet of his (the broadcaster's or columnist's) son who wanted to be a major league baseball player one day.
ENTERTAINMENT STUFF:
First of all, can we end this writer's strike, please?!? This has become a lousy Christmas season for a lot of people!!!
DEXTER'S SEASON FINALE:
If you haven't watched Showtime's "Dexter", you have missed some terrific television. Season two ended this past Sunday night, and it wrapped up things in the stylish way that has become this show's signature way of doing things. I loved season one, but I thought that season two got off to a slow start which made me believe we had a "one hit wonder" on our hands. Man, was I wrong about that!!! I can (now) hardly wait for season three!
"I AM LEGEND":
I saw "I Am Legend" yesterday. This is the new film starring (Mr. Box Office) Will Smith.
I wanted to like this move a lot! I didn't.
"I Am Legend" isn't a bad movie. It just isn't as good as I'd thought it would be. I'll tell you this. I certainly agree with the New York Times critic who said (something like) the dog in the film makes you understand why we have leash laws. And when you see the film you'll understand that observation as well. And I do recommend that you see "I Am Legend", but don't sit down expecting more than it is. Which is an entertaining film.
THE NEXT BLOG???
I don't think it'll be another twelve days before I write another one, but I am still working on projects that are taking more time than I thought they would. When I do write the next one, at least one of the subjects will be about something that makes me say, "Whaaaat?!?"
Big Mac and Sammy saved baseball. Along with a little help from "The Chicks Love The Long Ball" ads.
When Big Mac and Sammy had their big home run battle going on, baseball was trying to recover from a strike that had a lot of baseball fans thinking seriously about not being baseball fans anymore. "America's Pastime"? Because of the strike (along with things that had been building up), many people were sarcastically referring to baseball as "America's Past It's Time"!
And along came Big Mac and Sammy. The big ol' Paul Bunyan guy and the other guy who had a smile that was big time infectious.
BANG, BOOM, POW!!! The chicks who were lovin' the long ball were dancin', baseball's turnstiles were whirrin' and....?
Here's what I remember from that magical season. Announcer Joe Buck hugging Big Mac after he hit one of his (then) history making home runs.
Major League baseball is a small fraternity, folks. The fact that two guys were becoming home run record breakers was not going unnoticed by the other players. This was more than unbelievable! And other players wanted to know how they could improve their "game".
WHERE WERE BASEBALL'S ANNOUNCERS, SPORTS TALK HOSTS AND BASEBALL'S BEAT WRITER'S WHILE (all of a sudden) A LOT OF PLAYERS BEGAN TO GET BIGGER?!?
Yeah, I remember the guy who found the Andro in Big Mac's locker, but other than that?!?
I live in Los Angeles and right here in our own back yard, writers and broadcasters couldn't see how big a lot of Angel and (especially) Dodger players were getting?
We have Hall of Fame writers and broadcasters covering these two teams and we're supposed to believe they're all blind?!?
Okay...without proof, these guys would be asking for trouble if they publicly made accusations against players, but did any of them do any investigating?!?
Yes they did. As soon as Barry Bonds got bigger! He wasn't friendly. In fact, he was surly. Writers (except for the ones in San Francisco) loved to comment about Bonds' expanding foot and head sizes along with other parts of his anatomy.
They couldn't see (just to name two) what had happened to Eric Gagne and Roger Clemens?!?
Look, getting to cover a major league baseball team and having the privilege of access to major league ballplayers and having them call you by your first name in front of your peers or on a broadcast you're hosting is a "rush". It's one of the reasons a lot of people get into that business.
"Rock the boat" and you might not have that access anymore.
I'm now going to tell you how they could have avoided possible legal problems or access problems and still (in a subtle way) made a point.
Example: Most of the sports columnists and broadcasters think they know how to be funny. And some of them actually do! Why didn't someone do a column or a radio or television riff on a player (say Eric Gagne) who had gotten bigger than big and then made comments about how he (the broadcaster or columnist) would sure like to know how (say Eric Gagne) had done what he did so he (the broadcaster or columnist) could include that in the diet of his (the broadcaster's or columnist's) son who wanted to be a major league baseball player one day.
ENTERTAINMENT STUFF:
First of all, can we end this writer's strike, please?!? This has become a lousy Christmas season for a lot of people!!!
DEXTER'S SEASON FINALE:
If you haven't watched Showtime's "Dexter", you have missed some terrific television. Season two ended this past Sunday night, and it wrapped up things in the stylish way that has become this show's signature way of doing things. I loved season one, but I thought that season two got off to a slow start which made me believe we had a "one hit wonder" on our hands. Man, was I wrong about that!!! I can (now) hardly wait for season three!
"I AM LEGEND":
I saw "I Am Legend" yesterday. This is the new film starring (Mr. Box Office) Will Smith.
I wanted to like this move a lot! I didn't.
"I Am Legend" isn't a bad movie. It just isn't as good as I'd thought it would be. I'll tell you this. I certainly agree with the New York Times critic who said (something like) the dog in the film makes you understand why we have leash laws. And when you see the film you'll understand that observation as well. And I do recommend that you see "I Am Legend", but don't sit down expecting more than it is. Which is an entertaining film.
THE NEXT BLOG???
I don't think it'll be another twelve days before I write another one, but I am still working on projects that are taking more time than I thought they would. When I do write the next one, at least one of the subjects will be about something that makes me say, "Whaaaat?!?"
posted by Scott St. James at 10:38 AM
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