Syrup Can’t Cover Baseball’s Stain
Leave it to professional skeptic Jay Mariotti to rain on our All-Star Game parade:
“They booed Barack Obama and cheered the two Bushes, which is everything you need to know about this city,” he wrote in his FanHouse column. “They also trotted out every conceivable element of baseball-meets-Americana imagery, from syrupy music to Cardinals nostalgia to the very nice touch of All-Star players sharing hugs with heroes of community service. This was an obvious appeal to the country’s collective heart, gathering the living ex-presidents to issue video reminders of the sport’s importance.
“And through it all Tuesday night, a recurring thought kept hammering my brain in Busch Stadium. They were trying WAY . . . TOO . . . HARD.
“People aren’t going to renew their baseball romance just because the FOX network orchestrates it, demands it and pounds it into their senses. It’s going to take time for the American public to move past the ongoing steroid scandals, the ‘09 double whammy of Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez when we were being told the Steroids Era was, ahem, over. The pre-game ceremony oozed of a Bud Selig production, a gooey attempt to gloss over the game’s problems — a five-percent attendance drop, the perception that some players still could be using performance-enhancing drugs — and it reflected the commissioner’s typically delusional belief that baseball is in a golden era.”
Enough of the happy stuff – it’s time to get back to our daily cynicism. Tipsheet hopes you enjoyed the brief feel-good interlude.
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Questions to ponder while Albert Pujols sleeps in for a change:
- Is Matt Cassell really worth $63 million? What if he reverts to the form that kept him on the bench since his high school days?
- How will history remember the 2009 All-Star Game? Will history remember it all?
- Has Dallas Cowboys tight end Martellus Bennett learned a lasting lesson about political correctness? Or will he keep posting offensive videos on You Tube?
- Will athletes learn to be more selective while picking wives?
- Now that Terrell Owens has posed nude for his TV show ad, how will Chad Ochocinco top him?
THE DEATH OF SPORTSMANSHIP
While we were focusing on the All-Star Game, former pro wrestler Brock Lesnar brought shame onto the UFC – if that is even possible.
BLACKHAWK DONE
By most accounts, Dale Tallon has done stunningly well running the Blackhawks. On his watch, the franchise drafted exciting young stars and built a go-go offense around them.
But he was a holdover from the old Bill Wirtz/Bob Pulford regime. So his demise was inevitable, especially once Scott Bowman joined the franchise in an advisory role.
Sure, the failure to mail some qualifying contract offers forced the team to buck up on some long-term contracts for young veteran. But was the new GM, Scotty’s son Stan, the one responsible for such detail work as the assistant GM?
John McDonough used that mishap as his excuse to can Tallon. Here is what Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey wrote:
“There will be no way to prove whether they’re right or wrong. But why fix something that’s not broken? The Hawks had gone seven seasons without a playoff appearance until last season. And Tallon is what’s wrong?”
TV JOURNALISM IS HARD
As ESPN’s Kenny Mayne reminds us.
QUIPS ‘R US
Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:
Jayson Stark, ESPN.com: “They’re making history. They just can’t remember history. Yeah, not to suggest it’s been a while since the American League lost an All-Star Game or anything, but after the AL had ripped yet another All-Star triumph off its relentless July assembly line Tuesday night, we couldn’t find a single member of this year’s AL All-Stars who could correctly answer the following straightforward trivia question: Do you even remember the last time the National League won an All-Star Game?”
Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports: “President Barack Obama appeared on national television Tuesday night and declared ‘this is a problem’ about which of the following: a) The economy b) Health-care reform c) The National League All-Star team The last dozen years had been embarrassing and all to those wearing NL uniforms, but this was a new low: a sitting president, in the midst of a crippling recession, a contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearing and a never-ending war, called their All-Star game futility problematic.”
Tom Verducci, SI.com: “Be thankful we have the National League All-Star team, in the same way you should be thankful for Lou Costello, Gilligan, Charlie Brown, the Washington Generals and, OK, the Washington Nationals, too. The All-Star Game is way cool again, and not just because World Series home-field advantage is on the line or because the President of the United States showed up to fling the first pitch in a pair of blue jeans and fresh kicks (believed to be a presidential wardrobe first; don’t even try to get your mind around William Howard Taft in Levi’s). No, the NL’s streak of futility is exactly the narrative to keep the game interesting.”
MEGAPHONE
“When I came to the league, I was knocking at the door. Second year I was wiping off my feet. Third year I was stepping through the door. And from here on out, you’re going to know who I really am. Once I step through that door, it is time.”
Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes, to ESPN The Magazine.
Jeff… I like the postings. I too was putoff by all the Liberal causes PSA’ed all pre-game. Nothing really about baseball.
Matt Cassel (spelled correctly) may not be worth $63M but to be fair, he rode the bench at USC behind Carson Palmer, then Matt Leinart, both Heisman Trophy winners.
I like how “community service” is looked down on, being a liberal cause. Helping people is so un-American.
Ha: Helping people is un-American, killing them in illegal Wars of Agression and stealing their resources is the American Way!
Jeff,
St. Louis is more liberal than the people driving in from outside St. Louis to watch the All-Star game. George W. Bush throws a better pitch
than Obama. Obama is better at hoops and should stick with. The boos did
not surprise me, however, the lousy job the organization and MLB did in honoring Stan Musial was terrible. I can`t beleive how bad it was and I`m very disappointed with Cardinals organization. I also agree that Curt Flood should have been honored, I agree with Bryan Burwell.
ALL the liberal causes? What else besides the community service was there? I guess there was a color guard, the National Anthem and a giant American flag. But I thought that stuff was just American, not left or right.
I certainly hope Obama was booed. He’s fast becoming the worst president in history and the devastation he’s done to the U.S. economy will be permanent.
Thanks for the boot Albert, that secured the win early.
FrmrStLouisan, is that really necessary? “Oh, I better get in my quick jab at the president in the comments section to a column about baseball!” Pretty weak.
With all the criticism of the Fox coverage of the All Star game last night, I can’t believe no one has mentioned that NOT ONE TIME did they zoom in on the huge knockered blond in row 3.