Archive for October, 2011
You stay classy, Notre Dame.
Chapman High School, whose athletics teams have been known as the Fighting Irish since 1967, has been formally asked by the University of Notre Dame to change its leprechaun logo due to the college’s trademark on the image.
Notre Dame saw the leprechaun logo on the school’s website and promptly fired off a letter to the high school last summer demanding that the high school change its logo, although in their infinite charity, Notre Dame said it would allow Chapman to continue using the Fighting Irish moniker. Oh, and lest I forget to mention it, in 2008, the schools in Chapman were destroyed by a tornado, and through sheer will and determination by the town’s residents, that Chapman High School only reopened last January?
Said Chapman High School principal Kevin Suther, from a KWCH-TV report (via USA Today):
“Well when you get a letter from Notre Dame it gets your attention.
“For anything like stationary and school uniforms as long as its Chapman Fighting Irish, we are still the Fighting Irish”, says Suther.
Added superintendent Lacee Sell:
“They are no longer allowing us to use the fighting leprechaun mascot.”
Video report follows.
Florida Miami Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison, a bona fide hit on Twitter due to his oft-amusing, nonsensical observations, recently tweeted the above message regarding his sessions with the team’s therapist. As you recall, Morrison was shipped down to the minor leagues by the Marlins late in the season for which many believe — despite the organization’s quick dismissal of the suspicion — was due to his frequent and no-holds-barred Twitter ramblings. One might suspect that his now-revealed therapy sessions might be due to what the team perceives as some kind of psychological imbalance which manifests itself in his aforementioned Twitter behavior, but that is merely speculation on my part.
What isn’t speculation, however, is Morrison’s perception that the team therapist has interest in him beyond the accustomed clinical sense of treating his maladaptive behavior. In fact, he’s pretty darn sure she has taken something of a shine to him, possibly even in the realm of sexual pining for the baseball player. Interesting.
Is it possible there is some kind of psycho-sexual component to their relationship, akin to the dynamic exhibited between Tony Soprano and Dr. Jennifer Melfi on The Sopranos during their sessions? Perhaps. And if so, what recourse does this confused and conflicted therapist now have to reconcile her non-medical interest in her patient? Hard to say. Hopefully, she has her own personal Dr. Elliot Kupferberg which she can rely on to add perspective to her troubling situation. If not, there’s always new Marlins skipper Ozzie Guillen. I’m sure he could get her straightened out in no time.
[via @LoMoMarlins]
Daniel Rago, the 52-year-old Mount Prospect, Ill. resident who slapped Chicago Bears wide receiver/special teams ace Devin Hester upside the head at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Ill. last Friday, has come forward to not only apologize for his irresponsible actions which left him arrested on a misdemeanor battery charage but also to provide his side of the story why he would walk up to a grown man while waiting in a line and slap him. Rago claims that Hester cut in line in front of two elderly customers when a second teller window opened up and that his “parental instincts” — which apparently involves corporal punishment — took over.
Rago, who insists he was stone cold sober during the incident, made the following statements during an exclusive interview with FOX Chicago:
“I went over to the left of him and as a father would reprimand a kid — not saying he’s a kid, but a young man — and I just gave him a biff on the back of the head,” Rago said.
“I was wrong for doing that. Nothing justifies a person hitting or touching another person,” he said. “I was trying to defend the defenseless because they were elderly and they’re not going to speak up to a young man. I’m just a fairness kind of guy — I was taking that into my thought process. But I was totally wrong.”
It does appear that Rago feels genuine remorse for his knee-jerk, slappy reaction, not to mention he now says Hester did nothing wrong and was simply following the teller’s instructions to proceed up to the window. He has offered to donate $500 to Hester’s favorite charity as an act of penance for his behavior as well as perform community service so long as Hester forgives him.
Rago is actually a huge Bears fan and was even at Soldier Field Sunday evening in his end zone seat to cheer on Hester and his teammates as they whipped the Minnesota Vikings. As we haven’t heard anything about Rago’s behavior at the game, it’s safe to say there likely were no long lines in the bathroom or at concessions that night. Or defenseless old people.
Chicago Bears Wide Receiver Devin Hester Assaulted at Rivers Casino [FOX Chicago]
Gnarly, brah. At long last, Pabst Blue Ribbon has made the transition from crappy beer that makes connoisseurs turn up their nose to the favored brew of choice of hipster doofuses across the country to now having their timeless logo emblazoned on snowboard bindings. Who woulda thunk it, right?
Apparently, the folks who run the Union Binding Company. Based in Seattle, Wash., Union Binding Company has teamed up with Pabst Blue Ribbon to create a set of snowboard bindings sure to appeal to the cross section of people who are snowboarders and who also try and act like drinking a certain seemingly substandard beer makes them appear ironically cooler (and just so you know, craft beer snobs are just as bad as hipsters in this regard, just in a different way).
And don’t think that just because the PBR logo is prominently featured on the bindings means that they are somehow an inferior product. Check out the description from Union Binding Company’s website:
Union Binding Company teams up with iconic American beer label Pabst Blue Ribbon, for a super limited run of co-branded bindings that will quench your thirst for ripping up the slopes this winter. Based on the Contact chassis, the PBR binding features the all-new Team highback, 3D Multi-Layer Tapered straps, and a Lifetime Baseplate warranty. When you’re this good, quality always comes through – PBR ME ASAP!
Sound pretty nice, right? Sadly for all you hipsters out there, the Pabst Blue Ribbon snowboard bindings had only a limited production run of 200, which promptly sold out in 2 minutes. Sucks to be you guys. Now in more ways than one.
Pabst Blue Ribbon bindings a hip hit [The Denver Post]
Here’s video of the world’s No. 2 tennis player in the world, Rafael Nadal, making an appearance during a Pro-Am event at the Castello Masters, a European Tour event held at the Club de Campo del Mediterráneo in Castellón, Spain. As you can see, he takes an eternity to finally tee off: first setting his ball on the tee, resetting it, lining up his club, taking a step back, addressing the ball and about after a minute, ultimately taking his shot.
Jeez, what’s the deal with Spanish athletes and slow, methodical golf play? Nadal’s snail-pace tee box appearance reminds me of fellow Spaniard, Sergio Garcia. Gee whiz.
Wait, the above statement wasn’t bigoted, was it? Oh dear. Me and my big mouth. Or keyboard, I guess, in this instance.
[H/T On The Go Tennis]
The 1986 World Series between the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox has gone down in history as one of the most memorable of all-time. The error by Bill Buckner in Game 6 which paved the way to New York’s thrilling 8-5 Game 7 victory, capping an improbable and unlikely comeback. And while Dwight Gooden was something of a disappointment in the series, going 0-2, without his contributions during the regular season when he went 17-6, the Mets likely never would have even seen the postseason.
Sadly, Gooden’s demons were already beginning to creep in and take control of his life in 1986, as drugs quickly developed into a crippling cross for the young pitching phenom to bear. And this sad reality is no better illustrated than by Gooden’s recent admission to ESPN that he missed the Mets’ 1986 World Series victory parade because he was all drugged out at a party in the projects of Long Island.
After attending a team celebration following the Game 7 win, Gooden made the trip to a different kind of party. Via Sporting News:
“When the party started winding down, for myself, a lot of times I get to a certain point of using drugs, the paranoia sticks in,” Gooden told ESPN. “So I end up leaving the party with the team, going to these projects, of all places, in Long Island. Hang out there.
“Then you know what time you have to be at the ballpark to go into the city for the parade, but I’m thinking ‘OK, I’ve got time.’ And the clocks, I mean the rooms are spinning. I said, ‘OK, I’ll leave in another hour. OK, maybe in 30 minutes I’ll leave. Well, maybe 15 more minutes I’ll leave. Then the next thing you know, the parade’s on and I’m watching the parade on TV. … Horrible, horrible feeling.”
Cocaine’s a helluva drug.
Gooden missed Mets’ 1986 parade because of drug-induced haze [Sporting News]
This is from some spirited soccer action in Greece from last weekend and it requires little explanation: Player A hovers over Player B and talks some smack. Player B responds to Player A’s taunts by pulling down Player A’s shorts. It’s pretty much an exact re-creation of my experiences in high school gym class. But I know what you’re wondering: was I the de-pantser or the de-pantsee? You know what? I’m going to answer that. What’s in the past is in the past.
I only wish I could understand what the announcers were saying, but unfortunately, everything coming out of their mouths is Greek to me.
[H/T Sports Grid]
Not too shabby, Deonte Wilson. During a spectacular 99-yard kick return for a touchdown, the senior from Daytona Beach (Fla.) Mainland High not only evades what appears to be great coverage by the special teams players from Palm Bay at the onset of the return (although he was ultimately sprung by some timely blocks), he proceeds to drag a couple of opponents the last 15 yards into the end zone for an incredible display of speed, agility and power which came together for one of the best plays out of high school football this season, joining North Haven (Conn.) QB Jalon White’s nifty desperation touchdown pass in September.
Wilson’s touchdown scamper-turned-power drag proved to be a critical play in the game, as Mainland beat Palm Bay by a score of 13-0.
[via Prep Rally]
Wake N’ Blog is the Sportress of Blogitude’s morning link dump. Send tips, link submissions, etc. to weedagainstspeed@gmail.com.
• An unidentified 43-year-old woman in Everett, Wash. is in custody after she allegedly attempted to cut her sleeping husband’s neck with a power saw. When officers arrived at the homestead, they could hear the victim yelling, “You tried to cut my head off. You’re going to jail.” She is currently being held on bail of $250,000 related to a charge of domestic violence assault. [msnbc]
• Mexican soccer team has been forced to issue an apology for the “mock execution” goal celebration. [Off the Bench]
• The large oil derrick that hangs above the rink at Rexall Place malfunctioned and was dangling above the Edmonton Oilers’ bench. [Puck Daddy]
• LeBron James admitted on Twitter that he misses his fans in Ohio. [Larry Brown Sports]
• Here’s a photo of Derek Jeter hanging out with some chicks at a NYC bar. [Busted Coverage]
• The week that was in screengrab snafus. [Awful Announcing]
• Check out this ominous dust storm cloud bearing down on Texas Tech’s football stadium. [Dr. Saturday]
• Michigan QB Devin Gardner’s crazy scramble from Saturday’s game set to Benny Hill music is awesome. [Kegs 'N Eggs]
• Yay! LOLNFL for Week 6! [Kissing Suzy Kolber]
• Ugh: Texas Rangers fan celebrates team’s World Series appearance with a version of Train’s “Hey Soul Sister.” That’s doubly bad. [Outside the Boxscore]
• Here’s video of shirtless Missouri fan getting maced and beat down by cops. [Guyism]
• The Onion Headline of the Day: Receiver Waves Hands To Let Quarterback Know He’s Not Open
According to police, a man was placed under arrest last Friday after he allegedly slapped Chicago Bears WR/KR/PR Devin Hester upside the head for no apparent reason.
Via the Chicago Tribune:
Hester was in a cash transaction line at around 10:40 p.m. Friday when Daniel Rago, 52, approached the football player, slapped him in the back of the head and walked away, Des Plaines Police Chief Jim Prandini said.
Hester notified the casino’s security team and Rago — of the 200 block of Wille Street in Mount Prospect — was escorted to a holding area and later arrested by Des Plaines police.
Huh. That’s an odd story. Perhaps this Rago fellow is not a big fan of electrifying kick and punt returns. Or possibly, he was a Vikings fan simply foreseeing what Hester was going to do against his team on Sunday night and decided to take action, however ill-advised it might have been.
Then again, if the guy was a Vikings fan, he would probably have been far too busy slapping himself to have any time to seek out Hester.
Cops: Man slaps Bears’ Devin Hester at Des Plaines casino [Chicago Tribune]
Boy, that’s two minutes of awkward right there. Sheesh. What could Andrei Kirilenko have possibly been thinking?
I dunno, man. Granted, the guy does have one wicked cool and massive back tattoo featuring a paladin riding dragon, but the Macarena? That’s a pretty awkward thing to see. Yet I suppose we cannot fault the guy for the fact that Russia is about 20 years behind the West as it pertains to pop culture phenomena. Yet I guess this is far better than doing that blasted “Achy Breaky Heart” dance. I suppose even Russians have their limits.
[H/T The Basketball Jones]
A funeral home in Bellevue, WA has come up with an unorthodox idea on how the loved ones of an avid golfer can properly honor a person close to them who has finished up the back nine of their life and has made the final stop at the 19th Hole in the Sky: a section of their cemetery has been designed to exclusively hold the mortal remains of lovers of the grand game.
On Tuesday, Oct. 25, the Sunset Hills Memorial Park and Funeral Home will officially open the Sunset Hills Memorial Golf Park, which consists of the replica of an actual golf hole and will be capable of accommodating over 1,000 dearly-departed duffers.
I just received an email – the same one I assume many other editors of sports blogs received as well – from Rick’s Cabaret New York detailing the World Series predictions of some of their exotic dancers. Usually, I wouldn’t take part in such a shameless plug, but the text of the email was far too amusing not to pass along:
RICK’S CABARET NEW YORK GIRLS SPLIT ON WORLD SERIES PREDICTIONS 
A non-scientific survey of some Rick’s Cabaret New York Girls reveals that the sexy showgirls can’t come to a conclusion on who will win the World Series, but they do have interesting opinions.
“It’s a virtual tie between those of us who predict the Cardinals will win and those of us who support the Rangers,” said Rick’s Cabaret Girl Sky.
Rick’s Cabaret Girl Alicia predicts the Cardinals will win for an unusual reason. “They have better looking uniforms. I like the red,” she cooed.
Rick’s Cabaret Girl Monica predicts that the Rangers will win it all. “Endy Chavez is a Ranger. Right? I’ve never met him, but I know he’s from my home town–Valencia, Venezuela–so I root for him.”
“Some of the Yankees and some Mets are regulars here at Rick’s,” said Rick’s Cabaret Girl Alison. “I know about them, but not much about the Rangers and the Cards.”
“I thought the Rangers were a hockey team,” said Rick’s Cabaret Girl Misty. “So I voted for the Cardinals,” she explained.
“Most of us agree on one thing. The Series will go seven games,” said twenty-two year old Rick’s Cabaret Girl Gianna. “You can bank on that.”
Bank on it we will, Gianna. But I would have been even more convinced of her prediction had she “cooed” it, like her coworker, Alicia. But then again, maybe I’m just a sucker for cooing, which might explain why I almost considered going to see The Good Year. Hey, I said almost.
But in the end, it’s hard to argue with Misty’s logic: the Rangers are a hockey team, too, so what’s the deal with that?
Note: above and below are two photos provided courtesy of Rick’s Cabaret that were included with the email. I cannot tell you which gal is which, but I’m pretty sure you don’t really care anyway.
Fail. I wonder who would start game one for the Cardinals NFL franchise: Neil Lomax, perhaps?
All kidding aside, one good thing would come out of the Arizona Cardinals facing the Texas Rangers in the World Series as opposed to the St. Louis Cardinals: at least that would mean we wouldn’t be subjected to the smugness of Tony La Russa for at least four games.
[via]
