Talkin’ Baseball, ‘Roids And Outrageous Prices
When a baseball fan sings “Buy me some peanuts and Crackerjack,” he means it. The average fan is tapped out these days.
He can’t afford to pay runaway ballpark prices himself. That was one of the obvious conclusions gained from a recent Associated Press survey.
Here are some highlights:
- Of those surveyed, 45 percent said their major concern with baseball was the high cost. “The prices at the concession stands are insane,” Indians fan Larry Jameson told the AP at spring training in Arizona. “Eight bucks for a beer. My wife bought a T-shirt. It cost her 22 bucks. She was going to get me a golf shirt. It was 55 bucks. I said forget about it, we need a plane ticket home.”
- Another 29 percent cited high baseball salaries as their primary concern.
- Steroids are still an issue; 19 percent of the fans cited it as their primary concern and 57 percent of those surveyed said no player who used steroids or performance-enhancing drugs should get into the Hall of Fame.
- To Bud Selig’s chagrin, 60 percent said they had no interest in the World Baseball Classic.
- Most alarming of all: 11 percent who went to a game in 2008 said they aren’t likely to go back this year.
Thank goodness Our National Pastime still features some intense rivalries to stir fan interest.
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Questions to ponder while wondering if we’ll ever see Troy Glaus in St. Louis again:
- Will the National League be able to stop or even contain Chris Duncan this spring?
- Where did the Blues’ offense run off to Wednesday night?
- If Mike Danton is paroled from a Canadian prison, what will become of this guy? Will he reunite with his creepy agent/mentor/whatever David Frost?
- Now that Mike Anderson got a nice bump in pay, will he upgrade Mizzou’s non-conference schedule and give fans a reason to attend the early games?
CAN THE FINAL FOUR LIVE UP TO THIS?
Ah, the memories of great games of the past . . .
THE ANSWER IS WRONG
Coming back from a back injury, Allen Iverson has been used off the bench by Pistons coach Michael Curry. This displeases him.
“I’d rather retire before I do this again,” Iverson said. “I can’t be effective playing this way. I’m not used to it. It’s tough for me both mentally and physically. If I’m able to go out there, I should be able to get it done and I can’t right now. It’s my fault. I have to be able to overcome the adversity and do what I have to do. I just have to find a way to get it done. Not being 100 percent makes it harder and you can see that I’m not 100 percent.”
Iverson also made news this week for coming out on the wrong side in litigation. Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle picks up the story:
“Fans love Allen Iverson because he is the little guy kicking sand in the faces of NBA thugs and bullies. They slam li’l Allen to the hardwood and he bounces back up and makes ‘em pay. But that’s all an act. In real life, Iverson is the bully. He has been ordered to pay $260,000 to a man who was beaten up in a nightclub in 2005 by Iverson’s bodyguard.
“Look, maybe the guy deserved the vicious beat-down. He and a friend refused to vacate the club’s VIP section to make room for Iverson and his personal traveling fellowship group. So Iverson’s stood on a chair and watched his bodyguard beat the snot out of Mr. Partypooper. Dude didn’t even get to shoot free throws.”
COMING TO A BOOKSTORE NEAR YOU
“A Mother For All Seasons,” the new book penned by Debbie Phelps, mother of Michael Phelps. We can’t wait for this.
Hopefully his acting career will get its own chapter.
QUIPS ‘R US
Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:
Mark Kriegel, FoxSports.com, on John Calipari: “He’s a fine coach, perhaps the best of Larry Brown’s disciples, and a great recruiter. That’s not necessarily a sign of virtue. Great recruiting is like great sausage-making; you don’t really want to know what goes into those things. But bad recruiting will get you hung in effigy. Barring any flagrant NCAA violations, though, that’s not something Calipari will have to worry about. If he could get players at UMass and Memphis, he’ll do just fine at Kentucky.”
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Duke lost to a lower seed in a sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament. To Blue Devils fans, for the first time, Coach K is now Coach Not-OK.”
Jeff Schultz, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Michael Vick’s attorneys get paid to put the best spin on things. But they’re deluded if they really believe that Vick is going to make $10 million a year when he starts playing again. He is not a marketing bonanza right now. Nobody will touch him for an endorsement deal for at least a year after he returns to the NFL, and maybe longer. Secondly, there will not be enough teams in the NFL vying for his services to mandate any semblance of a bidding war. That likely means his salary will be close to the NFL minimum and heavy on incentives. Attorney Daniel Marchum said, “There is no person with his talent in that position in all the league.” And then there’s the other 95 percent of the story, which he somehow left out.”
Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “Vote for the worst job in sports: A-Rod’s spiritual adviser, Allen Iverson’s bodyguard’s anger-management therapist, or Kobe Bryant’s housekeeper.”
MEGAPHONE
“I was surprised they decided to trade me this soon. I didn’t want to get traded. This wasn’t me. They [The Broncos] had been going back and forth saying things, wanting me to be their quarterback and then they didn’t. I really didn’t want this. I love Denver. I really like my teammates. I didn’t want it to get this far.”
Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, on an interview with FoxSports.com.
Anybody know what its going to cost to rent the new softball field by Busch? I’m thinking people are going to come up with some pretty creative uses for it.
With all the steroids and human growth hormones Albert P. has taken over
the last 5 years it will be interesting to see how his body holds up
and when the injuries start to mount.
Jay Cutler, you are a liar.
I really wish if you douche bags were going to put my name on something it would be the least bit funny, entertaining or state some fact. Stop hiding behind my moniker to make your jackass comments. Thanks to the boys that came to my defense last week – another simpleton with no talent.
Now on to bigger and better issues. I am really stunned that a Cardinal Player had his “timetable” for return to play pushed back. This is something that has never happened before, right? I mean two weeks, two months, what is the difference? As said before, Glaus will be lucky to play this year at all. Then we can put him in the same category as so many other unlucky players to be treated by physicians under the watch of the Cardinal organization.
Really, isn’t this enough already?
Mr. S.W.———you have routinely accused Pujols of being a steroid user in the past, now you claim somebody is abusing your blog name because of the same comment? You are the douchebag. You need to be blocked. This could be a fun and intersting forum to share thoughts and ideas, but your stupid comments are not needed. Speaking of stating facts, just where do you get yours? Why don’t you just go away?
cutler = george costanza in the seinfeld episode when he went on a rampage, quit his job, then realized he didn’t want to leave and went to work the next day and told everybody he was just kidding…. sorry, jay. i wonder how many teams want a strong-armed, weak-minded qb?
FYI, Debbie Phelps will be in town 4/18 @ the Doubletree in Chesterfield. http://www.stjohnsmercy.org/services/womens_services/bloom/debbie_phelps.asp
I’ve worked concessions at Busch (for daughter’s school) and people do love to complain about the prices, even while plunking down huge bucks for beer, brats, etc. It’s not like you can’t bring a $5 footlong into Busch with you and a bottle of water or two.
You can hear more of my pointless babble during the afternoon drive on 1380 am. Or, keep coming to this thread for a summary of my previous nights show as I do my best to be the first one to post. I know how you love to read my pointless, mindless, and irritating ‘rants’.
Duke basketball lost to a lower seed six seasons in a row because that lower seed was a better team than Duke in five of those seasons. It’s just that Duke usually gets branded with a #1 or #2 seed because they are Duke. It’s kind of like how Ohio State or Notre Dame football gets an automatic BCS berth as long as they can muster a minimum requirement or better. But then everybody wonders what happened when they lose 41-10 in that bowl game.
Gotta love that Cutler quote. Living in Denver, it’s all we’ve heard. McDainels screwed this up big time. They both are big babies. Cutler put his and his mom and dad’s houses up for sale three weeks ago and now says he didn’t want to be traded. He didn’t show up for any pre-season training and has been staying in Nashville since the proposed Kassell trade and then says this? Both sides were stupid but Cutler won’t get anywhere acting like a spoiled kid. McDaniels has already put himself behind the 8-ball in Denver with this episode and comes off looking quite not like the next Shanahan for sure!