Author: Vin

Vin is a Philly boy who shouldn't be invited into your house because he'll judge you on your book and music collection. He owns Dawkins, Utley, Iverson, and Lindros jerseys, which is all you really need to know about him. He can be reached at [email protected].

Categories
Soccer

Croatian Soccer fans are racist idiots


It seems every story we do on soccer is tied to racism. The governing body of European soccer, UEFA, has warned Croatian soccer officials that they are in danger of getting tossed out of the 2008 European Championships if there are any more racist incidents from their fans because they have a history of racist behavior. In 2004 the Croatian Federation was fined because black French players were racially abused and white supremecist banners were displayed.


UEFA’s William Gaillard warned: “We won’t tolerate racism. We have had many problems with this in Eastern Europe before and Croatia have been among the worst offenders.

But we are determined this will not happen again and will send out a strong message to stop any incidents during the game against England.

FIFA have recently introduced new rules which can, in extreme cases, lead to a team being docked points or even being excluded from the competition.

Because of the problems we have encountered with Croatian teams in the past, they have been warned future sanctions will be much heavier than any which have been imposed for previous incidents.

Everyone (except the idiot fans) is absolutely livid about the human swastika that 200 Croatian fans formed at a game in Italy. Shouldn’t security have broken this up? Only in soccer is racism so blatant and rampant. Say what you want about ugly Americans but we keep comments about players to their mothers, wives, and pill popping — not the color of their skin.

You know, it’s sad when a brilliant idea like creating a message with people at a stadium is wasted on something like this. Imagine how great it would have been if fans spelled out FU TO at the Eagles-Cowboys game last Sunday.

Links:
[IHT]: Roundup: Croatia warned over racist chants

[The Sun UK]: Nazty

Categories
Detroit Lions

What happens when Fire_____.com is obsolete?


Today, we stumbled upon FireMillen.com and their attempt to organize a “Baltimore Orioles-esque walkout” for the Bills game. Personally, we think the Bills game (10/15) is way too soon and way too low profile for a protest. We suggest they go with their other idea and stage a protest for the Thanksgiving Day game. Sure the matchup of Lions-Dolphins is going to send more people to sleep than the trytophan in the turkey but at least it’s a national game.

FireMillen.com is also suggesting that people wear any color to the games other than the Lions blue. However, if you don’t tell people what color to wear, you end up with a mishmash of colors in the stands and it just looks like a normal apathetic fan base (you know, like Falcons games) instead of a protest of the pathetic job that Matt Millen is doing with the franchise. This brings us to the fans of opposing teams in the NFC North. Shouldn’t they band together and make sure Matt Millen doesn’t get fired? When you can count on an exec to produce two easy wins for your team a year, you want to make sure he’s there for a long time. (It’s the same reason NFC East fans love Daniel Snyder.)

Finally, we have to wonder what becomes of websites like FireMillen.com when Matt Millen eventually gets fired. (Because if he isn’t fired soon, you know he’s got photos of William Clay Ford doing something illegal to Roary the mascot. ) It seems you would have to wait around for someone foolish enough to hire him. If someone else hires Matt Millen, we’ll lose all faith in billionaire owners but there’s still hope for the owner of FireDustyBaker.com

Categories
San Diego Chargers

Chargers still trailing Bengals by 5 arrests



Gets on the scoreboard

If the Bengals are Jailblazers East, does that make the Chargers the Bengals West or Jailblazers South? It’s hard to keep up with these nicknames for football teams anymore. On Monday cornerback Markus Curry was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. While at Michigan, Curry was arrested and put on probation for… you guessed it… domestic abuse.

Curry was immediately released by the team although GM A.J. Smith would not confirm that the release was a result of the arrest. Smith said, “There are many reasons why a player is released.” Ummm… sure. Just because B follows A doesn’t mean that A caused B. We get it. Just like Britney Spears turning into a fat disgusting mess had nothing to do with her hillbilly upbringing.

This marks the 5th arrest by a Chargers player. Shaun Phillips and Steve Foley were arrested in April, Steve Foley was arrested/shot in September. Terrence Kiel was arrested for selling cough syrup in late September. And now Curry. The Bengals have had 6 players arrested but since Chris Henry was arrested four times, they have an almost insurmountable lead in the crime department. Henry was started his two game suspension yesterday for violating the NFL’s conduct policy.

Links:
[Sign On San Diego]: Bolts CB arrested; released by team

[Salt Lake Tribune]: NFL: Suspension begins for Henry

Categories
New York Yankees

Steinbrenner not senile – decides to keep Torre



Torre gets the thumbs up

Yankees fans rejoice (well, not really as you got knocked out of the first round of the playoffs), King George has decided that Joe Torre isn’t the problem behind his $200M choke. The New York Post is reporting that Steinbrenner felt Lou Pinella was close to a deal with the Nationals and also didn’t want to pay Torre $7M to lounge around in the sun so after a couple of days of deliberation, he has decided to keep Joe Torre.

We secretly were hoping that Steinbrenner would fire Torre so that the Yankees would implode next year. Hell, imagine if the Yankees missed out on Lou Pinella and had someone like Dusty Baker coaching them. That’d be high comedy. A $200M payroll with 20 wins. But alas, it seems the Yanks will retool their lineup and come out firing in 2007. Check out the links below for reaction from around the blogosphere.

Links:
[NY Post]: HE’S JOE-ING NOWHERE

[Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon]: A. Rod, Tigers, and Torre

[Dan Shanoff]: Can We Stop the Torre Talk, Now?

[Into the Woods]: Where do we go from here?

[Baseballistic]: Yankees Problems Aren’t Torre-Ential — They Start Upstairs
[Working Life]: Wait ‘Til Next Year–With Torre

Categories
MLB General

Oct 10 in Sports History: World Series edition



unassisted triple play

In 1920: An amazing trio of firsts occurred in the decisive Game 7 (of a nine-game series) of an otherwise drab World Series between the Cleveland Indians and Brooklyn Robins. In the first inning, Cleveland’s Elmer Smith hit the first grand slam in World Series history. In the fourth, the Indians’ Jim Bagby became the first pitcher to hit a home run in the WS; and in the eighth, little-used second baseman Bill Wambsganss converted the first (and only) unassisted triple play in World Series history to help the Indians take the Series 5-2. It was a bittersweet moment for the Indians; while they were celebrating their first championship, they were still mourning the death of Ray Chapman, who died earlier that summer as a result of a Carl Mays bean ball.

In 1926: While Babe Ruth was always considered a World Series hero for his feats in the postseason (pitching 29-plus scoreless innings for the Sox, calling his shot against the Cubs), he was actually a huge goat in the Yankees’ loss to the Cardinals in the decisive seventh game. Trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth at Yankee Stadium, Ruth reached first off a walk from a very hung over Grover Alexander (who won Game 6). With two outs and the slugging Bob Meusel at the plate with a 3-1 count, Ruth inexplicably took off on an attempt to steal second base without any type of sign from the coaches or manager. He got a horrible jump and was easily pegged for the final out of the series. Ruth was roundly booed, criticized and mocked in the newspapers for losing the series for the Yanks.

In 1904: Citing that the American League was a minor or “junior” league, New York Giants manager John McGraw refused to meet the Boston Americans (who had defeated the Pirates of the NL in 1903) in what would have been the second World Series. Arguments over rules, potential gate shares and personal animosity between McGraw and AL president Ban Johnson also led to the cancellation of the Series. Besides 1994 — when a player’s strike wiped out the postseason — it was the only time a World Series was not contested.

Categories
New York Yankees

Odds and Ends: Joe Torre expected to be fired



Dead man walking

As soon as Robinson Cano grounded out to end the game and the series, you knew it’d be about 5 seconds before a NY sportswriter put the finishing touches on his “George Steinbrenner thinking about firing Torre” article. (By the way, do you think A-Rod was secretly praying that Cano would not get on base so he wouldn’t make the last out?) Indeed, a report came out just hours later in the NY Daily News that Torre would be fired and be replaced by Lou Pinella.

As of Monday, no news has been announced about the fate of Torre but Steinbrenner issued a statement saying that the season was a “sad failure” and sources have told the NY Post that George is leaning towards firing Torre. If Torre does get fired, we’ll have to agree with the guy from Freakonomics blog and Salon’s King Kaufman about how silly it would be.

In other news…

[ESPN]: Culpepper, Saban had heated argument Friday

[Soccernista]: Team’s fans beat the crap out of them at the airport (video)

[Mike Tyson’s World Tour]: Tyson explains his World Freakshow Tour

[Wizard of Odds]: Spurrier Throws Assistant Under the Bus

[Hockey Rants]: Michal Handzus Needs Your Help

[USA Today]: Steffi Graf pays $360,000 for Agassi’s rackets

Categories
All Other Sports

That tire’s got eyes

Check out this clip from some English race. The “tyre” flies off a car, rolls down the track and lands on a pile of tires like it was a staged commercial.

Categories
Philadelphia Eagles

Reporter takes the ultimate risk: wears Aikman jersey to the Linc



A take home to mom kinda gal

Remember in April we told you about Dateline NBC recruiting muslims to attend NASCAR events? It seemed to us that baiting redneck NASCAR fans was very shady on Dateline’s part. Well, sending a reporter wearing a Cowboys jersey to Lincoln Financial Field on the day that the Cowboys and the TO Circus returned to town seems like entrapment as well. At least the reporter had the sense to wear an Aikman jersey and not a Owens jersey.

The reporter took off his jersey after getting bumped “accidentally” by two Eagles fans at halftime so he was spared the brunt of the abuse spurred by second half drunkeness. He did however manage to get the reactions from some out of town Cowboys fans.


It was like the gladiator days and the mob ruled,” Doug Rodriguez said after the Eagles rallied in the second half to win.

“It’s scary. The fans are bullying and insulting. In your face. I’ve never seen anything like it. The fans are yelling in your ear and there is no one you can turn to and say, ‘Hey this is enough.’

After all the media coverage of how hostile Eagles fans are, why would you expect otherwise? The Linc is a place for Eagles fans. If all that happens to you is some drunk yelling at you, consider yourself lucky. Still, with all the negative stories that are likely to come out in the press about fans being abused at the game, the city of Philadelphia is reporting that only 4 arrests were made at the game. Hell, that’s not even enough arrests to make the Bengals players flinch.

Links:

[Philly.com]: Fanning the Flames with a Jersey

[Forbes]: Eagles Fans Show T.O. Their Worst

Categories
Houston Rockets

Van Gundy says Yao’s shoes are the problem


Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy is blaming Reebok for keeping his franchise center off the court.

This is a reoccurring issue with Yao’s feet, and he’s not getting the shoe on time from Reebok,” Van Gundy said. “He is not getting the shoe fitted properly so he doesn’t have reoccurring issues with his toe and feet. Yao’s got to be more demanding of this company. He’s not getting the results he wants. It puts him at risk.

It’s the same issue here this year. Nothing’s changed. It’s problematic. Some things can’t be prevented. This one I think can be with more attention to detail on the shoe he’s getting from the company that really should care about him.

Yao, having 8 million reasons to live defend Reebok, said that his shoes are fine — “I use the same kind of shoes. It never brings me any problems.”

Links:
[Houston Chronicle]: Shoes blamed for Yao’s toe woes

Categories
College Football

Oct 9 in Sports History: The biggest ass whoopin’ of all time



Coach John Heisman

In 1916: There are blowouts, and then there are BLOWOUTS. And then there are B-L-O-W-O-U-T-S. And after that we have what Georgia Tech did to tiny Cumberland University of Lebanon, TN in a college football game. Georgia Tech, coached by the legendary John Heisman (some award’s named after him, I don’t know), led 63-0 after the first quarter, 126-0 at halftime, slowed down in the third quarter at 180-0, and called off the dogs (I’m not being facetious, they cut time off the clock in the second half). When all was said and done, Tech impressed the pollsters with a 222-0 close shave in Atlanta. According to a game account by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, neither team made a first down; because Cumberland did not have a gain longer than 10 yards and Tech scored before they ever needed one. Tech’s Jim Preas kicked 17 out of 18 extra points. In the first half. (Heisman used a different team in the second half ). Cumberland.edu

In 1919: The Cincinnati Reds finished off the Chicago White Sox five games to three in the World Series. The Reds first World Series championship would quickly become tainted as some of the White Sox players admitted to hooking up with gamblers and throwing the series for money. The “Black Sox” Scandal would cast a shadow over baseball for decades. Eight White Sox players would be banned from baseball for life. (baseball-almanac.com)

In 1906: The first-ever World Series played in one city pitted the powerful Chicago Cubs, winners of a record 116 games, against the Chicago White Sox, affectionately known as the “Hitless Wonders.” The first game got underway under snowy skies, with the White Sox winning 2-1. They eventually shocked the Cubs and took the series. The games were so popular in Chicago that the two teams would meet at the end of every season for the next decade or so, even if they were not pennant winners. (baseball-almanac.com)