Money Players

25th Aniversary of the best rant ever

Chicago Cub manager Lee Elia going off on the Wrigley Field bums is the most poetic rant of all time As a kid growing up in Chicago, I could recite the Pledge of Allegiance and this:

They are really behind you around here. My f------ a--. What the f--- am I supposed to do? Go out there and let my f------ players get destroyed everyday? And be quiet about it? For the nickel dime people that show up.  The mother f------ don't even work. That's why they are out at the f------- game. They outta go out and get a f------- job and find out what it's like to go and earn a f------ living. 85% of the f------ world is world is working. The other 15% come out here.

Warning: This is the version without 10,000 bleeps.

Lee Elia is an underrated orator. Perhaps lost in the torrent of F bomb is some very skillfully delivered arguments."Right now, we have more losses than we have wins. The f------- changes that have happened in the Cubs organization are multifold. Alright, they don't show because we're 5-14. Unfortunately, that's the criteria [pronounced criterier] of them dumb 15 mother------- percent that come out to day baseball."

Beyond the F bombs, Elia had a pretty simple, sound view of baseball: "The name of the game is hit the ball, catch the ball and get the f----- job done."

UPDATE: Chicago Trib writer Teddy Greenstein looks back, including a great Sportsphone reference...as a kid I would call that 976# every 15 minutes to get score updates, much to my mother's chagrin. Jeff Davis, a good friend who wrote detailed biographies of Pete Rozelle and Papa Bear, was then Channel 5's sports producer. Davis recalls: "I never heard anyone go off like that with that kind of language. And I was in the Navy."

Muckrakers in college sports

Notice lately how many NCAA investigations are either the result of investigative journalists working in concert with civil lawsuits (real or threatened)? I am all for NCAA cheaters getting punished, but let's be clear: these are not all the cheaters in the NCAA-cheating universe...just the ones who irritate someone enough to talk to the media and/or threaten or file lawsuit.

Lately, there's been an increase in armchair NCAA investigators. Yahoo! Sports seemingly has become a third arm of NCAA enforcement, especially with its extensive coverage of Reggie Bush. Now Yahoo! examines the sleazier side of college coaches...using their oratory skills to help high schools with fundraisers.

Yahoo! lays down the law:

"The practice of coaches speaking at high school events has been going on for decades. But it's fundraising in association with those events that has prompted scrutiny. And should the NCAA find Notre Dame and Weis to be in violation of its rules, coaches across the nation could expect similar sanctions."

Steve Morgan, who once worked for the NCAA and now represents schools accused of NCAA wrongdoing, said:

"I think the issue is that if you didn't have regulations in this area, you'd have the possibility that coaches would exploit the opportunity to curry favor with certain high schools, and their hope would be to get a leg up in recruiting in that high school."

Leveling the playing field is an impossible thing to legislate. Big recruiting budgets and celebrity coaches will always enjoy a "leg up in recruiting." What makes the system basically fair is that schools all offer exactly the same number of scholarships and amount of playing time.

While the media and fans foster a culture of distrust, coaches also bear responsibility.

Consider this, courtesy of sportswriter Ray Melick:

"Alabama coach Nick Saban says he has 35 documented cases of secondary violations by other coaches that he has not reported, although he has used them as a 'What about them?' defense when confronted by compliance people questioning Saban about allegations made against him."

So this is how The Nasty Game is played? Coaches acting like vigilantes by taking compliance matters into their own hands in order to protect their own butts down the line. This "observe, document, but don't report" system is far different from the Honor Code, the bedrock of every university that holds integrity and fair play central to its mission.

In the end, all this creates a pretty bleak public view that supports former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian thesis that,  "In major college basketball, nine out of 10 teams break the rules. The other one is in last place."

--Marc Isenberg

Lou Pinella is no Lee Elia

Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan gives (mala)props to Cubs manager Lou Pinella. Sure Sweet Lou says "assimilated game" when he means "simulated game," and "vim and vinegar" when he's supposed to say "vim and vigor." And, he doesn't even know the exact words to our victory cheer. He calls out "Go, Cubs, Win" instead of "Go, Cubs, Go." Who cares? These are good times for long-suffering Cubs fans.

Losing is never fun, but former Cubs manager Lee Elia made it so much more interesting. Nobody ever did 3-minute tirades better (sorry, Mike Gundy). In high school I could barely quote Shakespeare, but I had this memorized:

They are really behind you around here. My f------ a--. What the f--- am I supposed to do? Go out there and let my f------ players get destroyed everyday? And be quiet about it? For the nickel dime people that show up.  The mother f------ don't even work. That's why they are out at the f------- game. They outta go out and get a f------- job and find out what it's like to go and earn a f------ living. 85% of the f------ world is world is working. The other 15% come out here.

Athletes on Notice

By Preetom Bhattacharya

A trip out to Monument Park in Yankee Stadium reveals a collection of baseball legends - Babe Ruth, Micky Mantle, and Joe DiMaggio. They were treated like celebrities and royalty, getting anything they wanted, Marilyn Monroe included. Being treated like a celebrity these days, however, is very different than it was in the 20th Century.

Welcome to the new age of sports journalism: last week, the New York Post chronicled a late-night exploit of Yankee third-baseman Alex Rodriguez with a "mystery blond," complete with a picture of the two and their schedule for the night. The paper has gone so far as getting fan reaction of the "news" and witness accounts from people who have seen A-Rod with the woman in Seattle, Las Vegas, and Dallas. The Post isn't the only paper on the story, as the less-tabloidy New York Daily News also digs deep with their foray into this travesty of investigative journalism.

This kind of paparazzi treatment had been reserved for movie stars and British royalty/the Bekhams. In this digital age, websites like TMZ.com and various blogs like PerezHilton.com rely on camera phones and legions of rabid readers ready to get a picture at any time. Athletes have found embarrassing situations and their personal relationships exposed on the internet, but delving into a player's personal life to this degree is new for mainstream print media, away from the sensational, gossip-filled tabloids at the newsstand and next to the daily dish of news. Journalists are no longer protecting the athletes' exploits as they have in the past, when leagues worked with the media to upkeep the most pristine image of their players and their game. And fans are eager to become news makers rather than news consumers.

By paying for the exclusive rights to the photo, the New York Post has opened the same can of worms that the National Enquirer and Star have - creating a market for pictures of athletes in salacious situations. Why would a photographer be one of 30 others trying to get the best shot of Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton when they can be one of three trying to do the same with an athlete-celebrity like A-Rod or Peyton Manning? If they're paid well, they have no reason not to stalk athletes like they do Hollywood's finest. The tactics of blogs and websites that conventional media scoffed at just ten years ago are now being employed by those very detractors.

Does this mean a throng of photographers will be camping outside of LeBron James' house? Will they wait outside of a team's practice facility like they did for Michael Jordan? Jordan found a way around it - he sped his car up and exited the parking lot with such speed, no one could follow him. He even employed police escorts.

The day where all athletes need to consider such precautions seems to have arrived. Legitimate print media is only fulfilling the demand sports fans have to know the personal lives of the athletes that the fans invest so much of their time and money into. This kind of interest in the private lives of sports stars unfortunately isn't going to go away, meaning athletes won't be able to have many secrets.

As unfortunate as that may be, this is the new territory of professional athletics and sports stars must learn to protect their own persona.

Give Rosenhaus credit for trying

Clinton Portis made some unfortunate, uninformed comments regarding dog fighting when he said, "It's [Vick's] property; it's his dogs. If that's what he wants to do, do it." Later Portis issued a press statement apologizing. There's really no point spinning or parsing what Portis said.

But not Drew Rosenhaus, Portis' agent. Rosenhaus stands ready to defend any client no matter what the alleged infraction even if it is caught on tape.

"I like the fact that Clinton stood up for another athlete, but I want to clarify that he in no way, shape or form condones dog fighting or any type of illegal activity."

But to Rosenhaus' credit, he admitted that his love for dogs made it more difficult to defend a commission-paying NFL client. "It was awkward for me, because it was one of my clients and I'm a real dog lover myself," Rosenhaus said.

Note to Rosenhaus: Pay attention to NFL press releases. When Roger Goodell expresses that he is "extremely disappointed and embarrassed for Clinton Portis," understand it's all over but the yelling.

The Influence of David Halberstam

By Marc Isenberg

David Halberstam, one of my all-time favorite writers, died yesterday in a tragic car accident in Northern California. When I was twelve I remember my grandfather reading "The Best and Brightest," Halberstam's phenomenal book about the Nixon Administration. I had little interest at the time in reading a long political tome, so he bought me "The Breaks of the Game," which had just come out (around 1980). I went from reading "Flubber" and "The Outsiders" to reading a serious, fascinating book about life in the NBA, that was not just about sports, but also social history and politics.

My copy of "Breaks of the Game" is undoubtedly the most dog-eared book in my book collection (I've read it at least three times). There was a quote at the beginning of "Breaks" which always stuck with me. I even recited in my Bar Mitzvah speech.

It goes:

“Fame is a vapor, popularity is an accident, and money takes wings. The only thing that endures is character,” said a football player.

“Where’d you get that from?” his teammate asked.

“Heard it one night on TV…Brought me right up out of my chair. I never forgot it.”

The person who recited this quote: OJ Simpson.

Halberstam also wrote "Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made." For me, David Halberstam writing about Michael Jordan was like Shakespeare writing about Julius Caesar. Nobody captured Michael Jordan or any other athlete, social or political figure like Halberstam.

Halberstam wrote a poignant column on ESPN.com on the 9/11 aftermath and the role sports plays in society:

In truth, our lives are what we make of them. We work hard and, at the end of the day, in a world that is often mundane, the ability to watch one or two sports games a week is a kind of blessing, a relief from what is often a difficult routine. But if we want any kind of real emotional balance, we must get it from our loved ones, family, friends, co-workers.

RIP, David Halberstam.

Tributes
A tribute to my hero [Jim Caple/ESPN.com]
How David Halberstam set me on my career path [Mark Starr/Newsweek]

One shining moment from Billy Packer

By Marc Isenberg

The UNC/Duke rivalry hit a new low yesterday with the end-of-game foul by Duke's Gerald Henderson on UNC's Tyler Hansbrough.

NCAA president Myles Brand likes college sports served up nice and gentle, not "hostile and abusive."

Yesterday's Duke/UNC game was definitely the latter.

After the game, the officials released a statement characterizing the incident "as combative and confrontational action."

Reasonable? Not according to CBS's lead college basketball commentator Billy Packer.

And now for this week's installment of college hoops announcers acting badly...
Packer was absolutely convinced that the referees blew the call on Henderson's foul on Hansbrough, calling it unintentional, not flagrant.

After Henderson was ejected, Packer declared, "I think this is a poor piece of officiating. I didn't see any intent on [Henderson's] part."

Packer was making these comments while watching slo-mo replays...over and over. I am sure Henderson's intent was not to KO Hansbrough, but there is no defensive technique that I am aware of that involves using the forearm to block someone's shot.

Billy Packer, CBS's goto guy during March Madness, gets the Network's biggest college hoops assignments, including the UNC/Duke game, the ACC Tournament, and the Final Four. He is paid a lot of money (millions?) to offer expert insights about basketball, sportsmanship, officiating, you know, the nuances of the game that are often missed by less-skilled announcers.

Instead we get comments like:

"Since when do we let women control who gets into a men's basketball game? Why don't you go find a women's game to let people into?" [Packer's response to a Duke female working at Cameron Indoor when she had the audacity ask for him to present identification]

And Packer's the voice of college basketball's crown jewel?

I was also underwhelmed by Coach K's response.

According to ESPN's Pat Forde, Coach K said, "The game was over before that. I mean the outcome of the game, let's put it that way. That's unfortunate, too, that those people were in the game in that play. Maybe this wouldn't have happened."

Forde wrote, "So there. Hansbrough had it coming for playing mop-up minutes in a double-digit win. Naturally, this blame-the-victim jab went over wonderfully with [UNC coach Roy] Williams."

It is unfortunate that the late-game incident overshadowed the game, including Hansbrough's brilliant 26-point, 17-rebound performance.

Related info
In a battle of image, Duke takes black eye [Pat Forde/ESPN.com]
Wow. How embarrassing for him and CBS (includes Youtube footage)  [Gunslingers blog]

More misinformed comments from Packer's past

Don't tell Dicky V a secret, baby!

Interesting story about Dick Vitale talking smack about Florida's Joakim Noah (Thank you Loser with Socks via Deadspin.)

Here's what Vitale clearly said:

"I'm going to tell you what. I'd take Horford over him. You know who told me that in confidence? Billy Donovan grabbed me all alone and said the pro scouts are making a mistake. He said there's no way I would take Noah over - he said he would never say that publicly - over Horford."

College basketball's number one cheerleader is really a yenta...a blabbermouth who can't keep a secret. Hardly suprising.

No NBA exec would take Dicky seriously. I just don't like Squawkbox-banter of NBA prospects, especially since Vitale used a credible college basketball coach to build his case.

The story should have ended there, but Vitale has to get the last (million) word(s). So he called the radio show back to deny he ever said anything about a conversation with Donovan that mentioned Noah and his NBA prospects. The host then explained that Vitale is heard talking about precisely this and that it was broadcast on the air. Next strategy: Recant, baby, recant. He was just joking around with fans like he always does. Have I got a stock tip for you? Sell Joakim Noah (Stock ticker: CHAMP).

And what did Dicky V say about Donovan commenting on Joakim Noah and his NBA prospects? Never happened.

Thankfully Donovan is far more media savvy than Vitale. Said Donovan, "I'm not going to comment on something I didn't say."

Now what? The Big Lead suggests we "patiently await ESPN’s coverage of this one." ESPN's "ombudsman" George Solomon, care to comment?

Steve Rushin leaving Sports Illustrated

Steve Rushin is ending his 19-year run at Sports Illustrated. He will be missed. At least two other SI writers have been reportedly been let go. These departures appear to be part of a larger trend by SI to rid itself of much of its breathable "Air and Space" and turn the magazine over to a higher power: swimsuit models.

Of course, a picture of a scantily clad woman tells a 1000 words. By that word count, Rick Reilly better up his game.

I don't have a problem with magazines that show (tasteful) photos of beautiful woman, but leave it to the pros (Maxim, FHM, etc.). Sports Illustrated is Axe-ing readers to accept bread and circus over good writing. No subtlety here: "Spray more. Get more."

So goodbye Steve Rushin. Get ready for more Jenn Sterger. The title "Air and Space" remains appropriate, although now good writing will be replaced by gobs of silicon.

 

Additional reading
NBCSports.com's John Walters fond farewell to Rushin
Chicago Tribune's Teddy Greenstein on Rushin

2/26 UPDATE: The Big Lead's post mortem on Rushin and SI

Hating (and loving) Tim Hardaway

By Marc Isenberg

Last week John Amaechi announced, er published, he is gay. This turned out to be a spot check for our nation to see if we're okay with the subject of homosexuality. Most passed. A few were stupid enough to express their true feelings. Tim Hardaway let it be known: "I HATE GAY PEOPLE."

There are places in our society, unfortunately, where comments like this are still acceptable..like at a KKK rally, for example...assuming Tim kept his hood on. Of course, Dave Chappelle, who reappeared courtside at last night's NBA's All-Star Game, already did this bit.

Hardaway apparently never saw the connection between hatred of gays and African Americans. Blacks were banned from many professional sports leagues and denied entrance into many schools simply because of the color of their skin. Now Hardaway would like to impose a similar ban on gays. Hardaway should be reminded that every million that he ever earned in his NBA career is the direct result of our society coming to its senses that equality and tolerance mattered.

Related articles

Hardaway has offered his apologies.
David Zirin on reactions to Amaechi.
Mitch Albom on homophobic locker rooms.

UPDATE: ESPN.com columnist Mary Buckheit writes her "coming out" column, even if she swore she never would.

This is a University of Arizona and Tim Hardaway fan.
Guess he felt safe that no one would clock him.