Balancing The Books And The Gridiron

Likely the coolest story of the week that isn’t Padraig Harrington winning back-to-back British Opens here. If you read Sports Illustrated with any regularity, you probably remember the article a few months back chronicling all the members of the Rolle family, with its roots in Bahama and contributions to athletics.

Now, the latest member of the family to make the college football ranks is Myron Rolle, a junior at Florida State University and a hard-hitting safety. Barring any sort of slouch or complete drop-off, he’s expected to be a frist-round pick when the 2009 NFL Draft rolls around (joining his cousin Samari). And that’s all fine and good, except for the fact that Rolle could face a more difficult decision: first-round selection or Rhodes Scholarship?

It’s probably a lovely dilemma to have, and Rolle’s worked hard for it as a pre-med student with a 3.75 GPA. Now, it’s likely that he’ll be nominated to join the running for Rhodes Scholar status. And with all the stuff he goes through just to excel in both academics and football, the application process is harsh.

The application process is extensive. Rolle must write a personal-statement about his life aspirations, interview with the nominating committee and provide eight letters of recommendation — and that’s just to gain entry to the competition. Assuming FSU nominates him, Rolle would then enter one of 16 regional competitions against fellow candidates from Florida, Alabama and Tennessee. Students often compete in their hometown’s region rather than their school’s, and, not coincidentally, the field is usually dominated by Ivy League and other private schools. (Only seven of last year’s 32 winners came from so-called “state schools.”)

Rolle is determined to make his application stand out — so much so that he’s contacted intermediaries about potential recommendation letters from presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and Florida governor Charlie Crist.

There’s another football player applying with him — UCLA O-lineman Chris Joseph — but Rolle is the sole applicant who’s also stated he plans to play in the NFL. The last athlete to do this was USC QB Pat Haden, back in the 70s, who split his time as a Rhodes Scholar in Oxford for half the year and with the L.A. Rams for the other.

Writer Stewart Mandel is probably right when he writes that no current NFL team would allow Rolle a similar arrangement, but let’s hope Rolle is lucky and good enough to have to make the decision in the first place.

Stealing Signals: Clearing The Bases

Angels 4, Red Sox 2 - If I hear Thom Brennaman say “this is Angels baseball” again after a Halo runner moves from first to third on a base hit or lays down a sacrifice bunt, I will slay him. So-called “Angels baseball” did help with the win, as a couple of singles plus a sac bunt and an intentional walk loaded the bases for Erick Aybar, who hit a bases-loaded double off Josh Beckett to take the lead, which the Angels held on to through a bases loaded situation in the eighth and K-Rod putting runners on in the ninth (yet holding on for another save.)

Reds 7, Mets 2 - The Mets make Josh Fogg look good by hitting into three double plays and then having both Carlos Beltran and David Wright strike out with the bases loaded. Joey Votto drives in three runs (two of them with a triple.)

Yankees 4, A’s 3 - “Homer at the Bat” in real life, as Jose Molina gets plunked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th to end a four-and-a-half hour game. It only got to extras as Robinson Cano got his fourth hit and Wilson Betemit followed it with an RBI single off Huston Street in the 9th with two outs.

Astros 4, Cubs 1 - Wandy Rodriguez only gives up a home run to Carlos Zambrano in 6.2 innings of work, striking out seven.

Twins 14, Rangers 2 - Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau go ballistic off Texas pitching, driving in eight of Minnesota’s 14 runs. The Twins hit four homers total.

Diamondbacks 3, Dodgers 2 - Dan Haren threw seven scoreless, although his bullpen wanted to give it right back — Brandon Lyon gave up two runs in the 9th, but held on.

Royals 9, White Sox 1 - Every so often Gil Meche will put on a performance worthy of his contract, and teaming with three relievers to hold Chicago to one run is one of them. Billy Butler and John Buck hit two run homers, and Mike Aviles added a bases-loaded double.

Photo: AP/Matt A. Brown

The Old Man And The Internet-Based Sea

“There isn’t anything on earth as depressing as an old sportswriter.” - Ring Lardner

Generally, I like staying out of the pissing wars between print journalists and my sports blogging brothers and sisters; it’s like watching two sides scream into the ether — one yelling the usual “Get off our lawns!” and the other whining that Mom and Dad just don’t understand. However, I make an exception for the emergence of former New York Times baseball columnist Murray Chass online, complete with his “this is not a blog” manifesto in his “About” page, not to pillory him (The Big Lead and Fire Joe Morgan have already done an effective job of pointing out certain absurdities), but to offer a few thoughts as to why this obnoxiousness about the new and old media formats seems to plague baseball more than anything else.

(Side note: I’m not gonna take Chass on too much on nomenclature. Like I’ve written before, Bissinger has a point that got obscured in, ironically, vulgarity — and others have written that if the big sports bloggers were really completely committed to the journalistic end, hiding behind the “we’re just bloggers” defense doesn’t wash; internet sites covering politics frequently refer to themselves as “independent media,” with all the traditional ethics and standards implied.)

Let me preface that the comments below are not necessarily about Chass’ writings in and of themselves; he’s written good, mediocre, and bad columns, just like everyone else. They’re just generic trends I’ve noticed, reading columns about baseball over the years.

The Old Guard’s resistance against the Invasion of the Geeks and their statistical analysis has always struck me as perfectly ironic: no sport vehemently defends the sanctity of its statistical records like baseball, with the aid of said Old Guard, who is nothing if not fervent about protecting the old records from the ravages of both proven drug cheats and pillorying those not proven with suspicion or poorly sourced material without a second thought of innocence or guilt. (This defense of the old, hallowed records is also done with a slight bit of sleight-of-keyboard regarding the official discrimination policies of MLB, but don’t let that fuck you up. Whoops, I swore; Chass ain’t gonna like that. Anyway.)

S2N @ SbB, 7/16/08

• Apparently Kim Kardashian’s curves are too much for beau Reggie Bush, who’s pushing her to lose weight. Reggie, you must be out of your mind — why would you leave this behind?*
• We now return you to “As The Rocket Implodes.” Our latest episode: rumors that Kirk Radomski has found shipping receipts for HGH he sent to Roger Clemens.
• J.D. Drew, All-Star Game MVP, and he was ready to pitch if Terry Francona needed him.
• Todd Jones wants you to remember how awesome his facial hair is, despite the fact that it might not be so intimidating to hitters any more.

(*Golden showers on tape notwithstanding, she’s the only celebutante I find hot, never mind remotely attractive.)

Well, There Goes The Pretense Of Playing Defense

Yes, I’m aware that damn near everything in the NBA, in terms of trades and free agent signings, is done with an eye of keeping away from the luxury tax, if the team is not rich enough to avoid it. Still, it’s kind of disheartening — no, make that highly disheartening — to see the Nuggets essentially give away the team’s best defensive player to the Clippers for a conditional 2nd round pick. Nothing guaranteed, just conditional.

Marcus Camby is a former Defensive Player of the Year; the only player who seems to like playing defense in a Nuggets uniform, and getting rid of him is an easier move and the right call?

I’m guessing I simply don’t understand the monetary implications. Also, there’s something to be said for not putting money into an aging center. But it’s not like Carmelo Anthony or J.R. Smith play defense; Allen Iverson tries at times, but he’s not the greatest of defenders.

The Clippers fill the Elton Brand-sized hole on the defensive end of the floor for damn near nothing and turn what appeared to be a disastrous off-season into something salvageable, while I doubt the Nuggets will now seed the 8th seed of the playoffs, only to be swept or knocked out in five games once again.  I’m betting the Clippers may have just stolen that 8th seed from the Nuggets — which will at least be a moral victory for the second franchise in the Staples Center; maybe they’ll be the ones to be swept by the Lakers next season.

Camby shipping out [Denver Post]

Rolling The Tape To Find Signs Flashing

The NFL appears to be very, very concerned about a mostly-media-manufactured image problem (the common figure of athletes actually being arrested is 2.2%) among its athletes, and has taken a step that I’m not sure most of us were made aware of when Lord Roger Goodell’s regime started cracking down: they are now reviewing game tape for celebrations by players that might involve gang signs as hand gestures.

Oddly enough, the hiring of gang experts to go through tapes was not inspired by any particular athlete in its league, but the Boston Celtics’ Paul Pierce, who got fined $25K last year by David Stern for making what the NBA called “menacing gestures.”

Partly because of that episode, the NFL decided to make the identification of gang signs a point of emphasis this season, and has called on the resources of local and national authorities to learn more about gang culture.

“We were always suspicious that [gang-related hand signals] might be happening,” said Mike Pereira, the NFL’s vice president of officiating. “But the Paul Pierce thing is what brought it to light. When he was fined . . . that’s when we said we need to take a look at it and see if we need to be aware of it.”

NFL game officials will not be responsible for identifying gang signals but will alert league headquarters of anything unusual or suspicious they see. League executives declined to outline what action might be taken against offenders, but Pereira said, “it will be dealt with harshly. The commissioner is not going to stand for gang signals on the field.”

But how can you tell what the difference is between what could be perceived as a gang sign and what’s a signal? As Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Dennis Northcutt pointed out, there are many gangs, each with their own symbols, and people can have hand signs for anything and everything (not that it’s terribly common.)

A league’s image is everything, but there’s something to be said for waiting to fix a problem when it actually exists. I’m not sure this is actually one of the biggest things in terms of off-field matters that the NFL ought to worry about, despite the seemingly good intentions behind it.

Concerned about gang signs, NFL reviews tapes [Los Angeles Times]

Giambi Gets Fan Campaigns While Bonds Sits And Waits

A column like this is why I’m a big fan of the New York Times’ William C. Rhoden: why is a former steroid user like Jason Giambi, someone who really didn’t fully admit he used (”stuff” is not a complete explanation), getting a campaign with fake mustaches to get the fans to vote him in for the last slot in the All-Star Game (which he lost to Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria) while the best hitter of his generation, Barry Bonds, waits for a team to call him?

Giambi’s half-hearted not-really-an-apology got him leeway and a way back in with the fans after a purgatory spent in unproductive baseball hell. The Yankees orchestrated an entire campaign to get him in the All-Star Game; hell, no one even brings up his steroid past any more. Yet Bonds’ impending perjury trial (which isn’t until next year) is enough to keep him from having a job this season.

Locker room distraction? Only because the press decides to make one out of him. That’s a self-fulfilling prophecy every time an analyst or reporter brings it up.  Asshole? Probably, but it’s not like baseball has all good guys in its clubhouses. There are productive players who are probably complete dicks, yet they still are playing in the league.

The problem is, as Rhoden notes, that Bonds has not and will not prostrate himself before Bud Selig, the media, or anyone else: he says he has not used PEDs and is sticking to it.  We are not comfortable with this. As a culture, we want penitence from athletes whom we believe have done wrong, we want them to be humble in ways we would imagine ourselves being in that position. Anything else upsets our sensibilities — and especially when it comes to the uppity black man.

Jason Giambi has been rehabilitated in the public eye.  Every announcer is still in thrall of what Rick Ankiel can do in center field with his pitching arm; no one recalls his shipments ordered from Signature Pharmacy in Florida.  Paul Byrd is having a sub-par season with the rest of the Cleveland Indians; he got a contract extension mere weeks after it came out that he got HGH from a dentist. Troy Glaus has had a pretty good season for a Cardinal team hanging around longer than anyone thought.

Oh, how soon we forget.

First Round High, Final Round Comedown

Josh Hamilton just gave a ton of people in Yankee Stadium and those of us watching on TV a massive home run orgy and series of orgasms with a first round of 28 dingers, as his seventy-something year old HS coach threw him batting practice pitches he nailed more than 500 feet, as his teammates Milton Bradley, Ian Kinsler, and Michael Young encouraged him while guys like David Ortiz and fellow competitors Justin Morneau, Lance Berkman, and others watched in awe.

It was a vulgar display of power, which obliterated Bobby Abreu’s one-round record of 24.

Of course, Hamilton lost the Derby — he couldn’t keep the power going, and when Morneau hit 5 in the final round, Hamilton could only muster 3.

But I don’t think anyone will notice that Morneau actually won, because it was Hamilton’s night — it was all about his comeback from drug addiction, his dreams, and as Hamilton himself said, his faith (I’m cynical about God shout-outs personally, but I’m not gonna hold that against him.)

Hamilton’s redemption is a wonderful story, to be sure. I hope it continues; he’s a great player to watch, but he is very lucky to have the grace of a second chance from a business and a media that doesn’t grant a lot of second chances.

Photo: AP/Julie Jacobson

The Eye Has Had Enough Of Billy Packer’s Act

After years of frustrating plenty of college basketball fans with his crotchety, no-fun act on CBS’ March Madness coverage, the Eye has thought better of Billy Packer, saying it will not bring him back for another season with Jim Nantz, preferring to promote Clark Kellogg instead to be its main color commentator for college basketball.

Again, I have no quarrel with the ditching of Packer (although the split seems very mutual, as Packer told the Miami Herald he’s tired of commentating). Somewhere during the last decade, the crabby act got really old and tired, plus his admission of not being a fan of sports along with his “fagging out” joke on Charlie Rose didn’t endear him any further (this isn’t even getting into the mess he started with St. Joseph’s Phil Martelli over its #1 seed in 2004 or calling Allen Iverson a monkey). Nantz is hard enough on me as play-by-play; while Packer can be considered about as college basketball as Dick Vitale, I’m not gonna miss him all that much.

But I’ve got to side with Lozo on this: why Clark Kellogg?  He may be next in line at CBS (and it’s probably because he works solely for CBS), but they have a more talented analyst in their midst during March who ought to be working Final Fours for them: Bill Raftery. I mean, having Raf give us an “ONIONS!” or a “Send it in, ____!” during the game is damn near a highlight in and of itself. He mixes great analysis with fun, and it’s clear he loves the game.

However, Kellogg is as good as we’ll get, because CBS won’t have its lead color guy for college basketball come from the ranks of guys they hire as contractors from ESPN — which is what really might have killed off any chance of getting the best analyst in this sport from getting its most plush job.

Photo: AP/Michael Conroy

S2N @ SbB, 7/14/08

• Nude rock climbers have my full attention.
• Dara Torres’ ex is a little bitter. Leaving your surgeon hubby for your fertility doctor. Ouch.
• That controversial LeBron James cover of Vogue magazine didn’t sell dick on newsstands.
• Scott Boras, back in A-Rod’s life as marriage counselor.