Lost Luster and Sand (dusky) Traps

Major League Baseball can say what it wants, but inter-league play has clearly lost its luster.

Even the Cubs and Sox didn't sell out all six of their games at Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellular, respectively (just two, in fact). There was a time you would've had to kill to get a ticket to one of those games at either park.

And I'm telling ya', those series between Minnesota and Cincinnati, San Diego and Seattle, Toronto and Miami and, of course, Cleveland and Houston - not to be missed. Compelling doesn't begin to describe them.

No, really, it doesn't.

And the White Sox would likely not want to see the National League again after getting kicked around the way they did all through inter-league action. Even the Cubs beat the crap out of them.

It's time to re-examine the value of inter-league play, declare it the promotional ploy that it always was to get fans back after the '94 strike [http://reds.enquirer.com/2004/08/12/STRIKEBOX12-LOPRESTI.html]. And stop giving us Padres-Mariners.

Please, stop! Please. Padres-Mariners? Please!

***

Quick, how many people believe Roger Clemens when he says he didn't lie about using steroids?


Raise your arms, please. Without a steroid-injection assist, that is. Or without being blinded by his celebrity.


I believe him - that he lied, that is. They all lied. All the users. Regardless of what a court of law said. Regardless of what any commission came up with. Regardless of what anyone says or doesn't say. Regardless of what any lawyer says.


Baseball does, indeed, keep what happens in the clubhouse in the clubhouse. These guys don't rat each other out. So, whatever it says in the Mitchell Report, it doesn't matter.


Andy Pettitte used [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3156305]. He confessed. And apologized. Jason Giambi used [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/11/sports/baseball/11giambi.html]. And apologized. Alex Rodriguez used [http://gothamist.com/2009/02/17/alex_rodiguez_talks_to_the_media.php#photo-1]. And finally confessed. And Apologized. Mark McGwire too [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=4817817]. Even Barry Bonds did [http://pugetsoundblogs.com/peabody/2011/03/22/bonds-admits-steroid-use-in-opening-statement/]. Up to a point. Don't recall his apology though.


Sammy Sosa? No speak English...


Roger Clemens? No speak truth.


That 21-3 year did help me win my fantasy league that season though. Thanks, Roger.

***

The Jerry Sandusky story is disgusting, disheartening and dispels all the notions you have of the goodwill coaches have for players and kids as their role models and teachers. It will linger for as long as all the lawsuits and appeals linger.

And well it should...

***

I keep watching MLB pitchers miss starts and appearances or go on the Disabled List with what teams describe as "soreness."

Football players play through anything. They strap up, saddle up and get out there. Hockey players too. Basketball players try, at least.

Even amputees compete in para-Olympic-like events.

But pitchers? "Aww, my awm huwts. I can't thwo too day. Gwive me a wollypop and lwet me go home."

Soreness is part of life. Deal with it. I'm sore when I come home from the gym. After I vigorously wash my car. Have sex.

Your muscles get sore.

Get used to it, wusses.

***

Do you think The Wisconsin-Green Bay "Fighting Phoenix" get upset every time they see a University of Phoenix commercial in which the grad in focus says, "I'm a Phoenix," in regard to his or her success in life and career?

I think they should sue and then, after they win, we'll have a "University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Fighting Phoenix" Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Wouldn't that be too cool?

***

This is usually the part where I say I'm going on vacation soon for the summer and my blog will be disappearing so I can spend more time with my family.

Yeah, right.

I'm not going. And my blog's not disappearing.

###

Howard Schlossberg is editor of the Journal of Sports Media [http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/product/Journal-of-Sports-Media,673232.aspx]. He's an associate professor of journalism at Columbia College Chicago [https://www.facebook.com/pages/CCC-Journalism-Columbia-College-Chicago/115604591875424], where creativity and learning are embraced hand-in-hand. And he still writes sports for the Daily Herald [http://www.dailyherald.com/] in Chicago's northwest suburbs. 

Post-Steroids Hall of Fame

I'm getting tired of hearing about guys who should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame [baseballhall.org].


But aren't.


The "Steroids Era," as it's known, in combination with the DH, has left these guys in HoF purgatory.


The June 10 Chicago Tribune [chicagotribune.com] made my case for me. In a fascinating little non-debate between its Hall of Fame-eligible sports reporters, they battle (not very much, really) over whether White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko [http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5908] is Hall material.


He's 36 years old. Has hit 407 homers. Has 2,093 hits, 1,294 RBI, has scored 1,072 times and has a .284 BA.


If he plays 4 more years and averages 25 homers (through age 40), he looks to be a shoe-in, right? The magic 500-homer mark, right? Will the White Sox, to whom he's been so loyal, taking less money in free agency to remain a "South-Sider," reward his loyalty a year-and-a-half from now when he's a 37-year-old free agent and pay him what he's been worth or what he'll be worth as his talents--and numbers--tail off? Tell that to the LA Angels of Anaheim and Albert Pujols. So far, at least.


Before steroids though, it wasn't necessarily 500 homers  that made you a lock (hello Fred "Crime Dog" McGriff [http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/7869]  at 493 homers - that season with the Cubs is gonna' jinx ya').


What got you into the Hall before steroids was how you played the game, not how you "hit."


But steroids have raised the bar. The 500-homer level is the standard, as is the 300-win total for pitchers. So, as in the Tribune piece, a player the likes of Jeff Bagwell [http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bagweje01.shtml],  who likely never used steroids, is stuck at 449 homers and is likely not getting into the Hall.


He'll best be remembered though for things like not helping his Houston Astros team in the 2005 World Series by trying to play through an injury and hurting their chances to win. He put up abysmal stats (.125 BA in 4 games) against the White Sox and allowed Ozzie Guillen to out-manage Phil Garner in what would be the first World Series involving a team from the state of Texas.


Maybe steroids would've helped him hit 500 homers. Maybe steroids would've extended his career. Maybe steroids would've helped him heal faster and would have made him more effective in that World Series.


And maybe Paul Konerko has a chance to be in the Hall of Fame.

***

All of this goes to show that sports writers, the ones with Hall voting privileges, are brainwashed easily, their votes compromised that much more easily, by banned substances they don't even use.

I hope...

***

So I'm reading and reading about how Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has a chance to sign a bill and put slot machines in race tracks and put them on a level playing field with casinos which are sucking the life out of them by taking their customers.

If you believe that, then please know that you also believe, whether you believe it or not, that horse racing is nothing more than a gambling activity and every bit less a sport, every day.

Slot machines. At race tracks. Equals gambling. Not sports.

It's that simple.

And it creates funds that states want to use to alleviate their budget shortfalls via the taxes generated from gambling losses by people who gamble the most and can likely afford it the least.

***

Howard Schlossberg is editor of the Journal of Sports Media, with his first edition out this year. He's an associate professor of journalism at Columbia College Chicago, where creativity and learning are embraced hand-in-hand. And he still writes sports for the Daily Herald in Chicago's northwest suburbs. http://journalsportsmedia.blogspot.com; www.colum.edu; http://www.facebook.com/pages/CCC-Journalism-Columbia-College-Chicago/115604591875424   Journal of Sports Media, University of Nebraska PressColumbia College Chicago, Department of JournalismHoward Schlossberg, Sports Correspondent, Daily Herald (www.dailyherald.com)

Lawbreakers and other heroes

This is dedicated to unsafe drivers, bad offensive linemen, crooked politicians, would-be terrorists who spoof sports and, of course, Facebook.

***

So this YouTube video of a guy crashing his Lamborghini in a Chicago suburb so went viral. Just an ordinary guy crashing an extraordinary car.


Where was YouTube when Lance Briggs did this?

***

Say it with me now: "Mets no-hitter! Mets no-hitter!" 

***

Jay Cutler has been telling the media that he still has doubts about his offensive line's ability to protect now that the Bears drafted for defense and signed and/or traded for running backs and wide receivers.

None of whom will do any good for him or the team if he's flat on his back. Or worse, on Injured Reserve.

Caleb Hanie, last year was not all your fault.

Or was it?

Either way Jay, you shouldn't be dissin' your teammates and throwing them under the bus, especially the ones who are supposed to be protecting you.

Or should you?

***

John Edwards is not guilty of using campaign funds to conceal, protect and deceive over his affair with a woman who got pregnant while his wife was gravely ill and he was trying for the White House.

He might not have broken the law, but he sure is guilty. Once more the rich and influential do what they want, when and where they want to and with whomever they want.

And get away with it.

Damn, I sure hope O.J.'s plan to find the real killers is working out for him.

***

So, I'm in Canada, reading their version of USA Today, and the cover story is about a Canadian-born terrorist who is now relating how he mocked the North American lifestyle he once lived.

Heck, I do that everyday and I'm not a terrorist.

Now though, the terrorist, Omar Hammami, lives the life of no running water, no bathing, no healthy foods, no sanitary conditions and no life, really.

Go get 'em, kid. The only thing scary about you is your God-awful beard.

And your body odor.

***

With so many pitchers having "Tommy-John" elbow surgery or rotator-cuff shoulder surgery, you have to ask the question:

WTF is coaching and training these guys? Pitching coaches and pro trainers get so much praise for their abilities. Really? How come so many of their pupils go down with damaged wings?

***

Facebook has gone public with a stock market valuation of more than $100 million. More than $100 million!!!!!!

I write stinging sports commentaries on Facebook. I'm designing a course to teach about that. You'd think the assholes - uh, wise people - who run Facebook could 'grant' me $100,000 in seed money to develop the course and spread the gospel about how they are becoming the world's biggest web site.

No, wait...

Howard Schlossberg is editor of the Journal of Sports Media, with his first edition out this year. He's an associate professor of journalism at Columbia College Chicago, where creativity and learning are embraced hand-in-hand. And he still writes sports for the Daily Herald in Chicago's northwest suburbs. http://journalsportsmedia.blogspot.com; www.colum.edu; http://www.facebook.com/pages/CCC-Journalism-Columbia-College-Chicago/115604591875424   Journal of Sports Media, University of Nebraska PressColumbia College Chicago, Department of JournalismHoward Schlossberg, Sports Correspondent, Daily Herald (www.dailyherald.com)