One of the many pleasures about being on the eastern end of Long Island at this time of year is that I’m not bombarded every time I turn on a radio or a TV with talk of The Washington Redskins.
To be fair, Washington has improved as a sports town since the arrival of The Nationals, because a baseball team—even a bad one—gives people something to talk about and write about every day from March to October. This year, with signs of hope and the arrival of Stephen Strasburg, there has been interest in the Nats that goes beyond the hard-core baseball fans. Even the usually Redskins-obsessed sportstalk radio hosts in D.C. are willing to talk baseball on occasion.
That’s a major improvement. I still remember going on vacation to Boston in September of 1978. That was the year, of course, of the classic Yankees-Red Sox race that culminated in the Bucky Bleeping Dent one-game playoff won by the Yankees. Being in Boston that week was thrilling. Reading The Boston Globe every morning was fabulous. One Sunday afternoon a friend of mine and I drove to Salem and Gloucester. Along the way we switched back and forth between the Red Sox game and the Yankees game—picking up the Yankees signal on a Connecticut station. I think BOTH teams won in extra innings that day.
When I went back to Washington I walked into sports editor George Solomon’s office. He asked how my week off had been. “It was great,” I said. “The baseball writing in Boston is SO good. You know, it’s sad, you can’t really be a good sports town without a baseball team to write about.”
George went ballistic, told me I didn’t know what I was talking about and banished me from the office. I went back to my desk, picked up the sports section and counted EIGHT Redskin stories. There were brief wire stories on the Yankees and Red Sox. Case closed.
How important were the Redskins then—and now? My friend Terry Hanson was the publicity director in those days for The Washington Diplomats, the NASL soccer team—which was my first beat at The Post. Needless to say ANY publicity from The Post was a big deal for the Diplomats. The Diplomats offices were in RFK Stadium, a few yards away from the press box that was used for both soccer and football. It was just a little bit more crowded on football game days.
One morning Terry was in his office when his secretary came in to say George Solomon was on the phone. Terry practically jumped out of his chair. Maybe The Post wanted to do a long story on new coach Alan Spavin? Whatever it was, this was BIG—the sports editor of The Washington Post was calling HIM.
Hanson picked up the phone. George was almost breathless. This really was BIG he thought. “Terry I need a favor,” George said.
Trying to sound cool, Hanson said, “Well George, if I can arrange something, I’ll certainly try to help. What is it?”
“The Redskins play their first exhibition game tonight. I need to be sure our phone in the press box is working. Can you walk out there and check it for me?”
It was at that moment that it occurred to Hanson that George had probably never HEARD of Alan Spavin.
Even though I’ve lived in Washington since graduating from college, I’ve always felt somewhat adrift because I’ve never been able to wrap my arms around the local teams. I have come to like and enjoy the Capitals even though the Islanders will always be my hockey team—unless they move to Kansas City because the politicians on Long Island refuse to cooperate on a desperately needed new building—and I enjoy any success the Nats have unless it involves beating the Mets. I’m ambivalent about the Wizards because the last time I really cared about the NBA, Willis Reed and Walt Frazier were still suiting up for the Knicks.
Nowadays, with the internet and TV packages, someone like me can easily keep track of the Mets and the Islanders even while living in DC. What’s different being here (Long Island) versus being in DC is simple: the Redskins. Being in DC there is no escaping from them 12 months a year. They are a monolith and they know it, which is one reason why owner Dan Snyder can treat the media with disdain 90 percent of the time and get away with it.
Snyder came onto my radar—sadly—yesterday when I was in my car after hosting Jim Rome from a studio in Southampton and flipped on WFAN, expecting to hear talk about whether the Mets were going to trade for a starting pitcher. Instead, for some reason, the hosts were interviewing new Redskins coach Mike Shanahan.
I was about to hit a button to change the station when one of the hosts asked Shanahan about his decision to go work for Snyder. Look, there are about eight million reasons (a year) why Shanahan went to work for Snyder. Nothing wrong with that. Of course Shanahan wasn’t going to say that so he reverted to the old, “you know no one wants to win more than Dan Snyder,” line.
Almost all owners want to win. Some don’t have the kind of money Snyder has but they all want to win. Snyder wants to win for Snyder; for his ego and for no other reason. Clearly he has no respect for his fans because he has gouged them every chance he’s gotten since day one and last year, when they finally turned on him after 11 years of mis-management, he had his security people treat them like suspicious-looking characters trying to board an airplane.
The Redskins will be better this year—they pretty much have to be after last year’s 4-12 debacle. Donovan McNabb is a clear upgrade at quarterback; they finally drafted a left tackle and made improvements in the offensive line and Shanahan is an upgrade at coach. It finally occurred to Snyder that being the most hated man in Washington wasn’t really a good thing and he has been trying to rehab his image this offseason—staying in the background during free agent signings; talking to the media on occasion (almost always at a charity event so people HAVE to mention that a billionaire is doing charity work as if that somehow makes him a good guy) even jettisoning his long-time pit-bull PR guy who loved threatening the media members with banishment from Redskins Park if they didn’t behave properly.
I know if the Redskins start to win this fall, people in DC will jump back on their bandwagon so fast it will make heads spin. George Steinbrenner went from constantly booed to canonized in New York not so much because he changed—although he clearly did—but because the Yankees became winners. Snyder has none of Steinbrenner’s charm OR his sense of humor. But if his team wins this fall, few in Washington will care.
Maybe I’ll take another vacation in Boston in September.
------------------------------
John's new book: "Moment of Glory--The Year Underdogs Ruled The Majors,"--is now available online and in bookstores nationwide. Visit your favorite retailer, or click here for online purchases
Showing posts with label Washington Nationals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washington Nationals. Show all posts
Friday, July 16, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Strasburg debut – really glad I went; Nats putting pieces together to make baseball fun in Washington
There are certain moments when you walk out of an event and say very simply: I’m glad I was there. Last night, at Nationals Park, was one of those nights.
Stephen Strasburg’s debut with The Washington Nationals was one of the most hyped events in Washington sports history. It was such a big deal that the guys on sports talk radio stations actually stopped talking about the Redskins for more than 15 minutes. In a town where getting anyone other than the core 15 to 20,000 fans to pay attention to the Nationals, everyone was talking about them for a solid week leading up to Strasburg’s ballyhooed arrival.
I have become one of those people who actually prefers quiet nights when the ballpark is half full and the press box is two-thirds empty. I’d rather not deal with the hassles that come with sellout crowds or major media events. (I guess this is a sign of getting old). But there are some things you have to go see if you have the chance to do so and this was one of those things.
So I went. I’m really glad I did.
It was absolutely impossible for the kid to live up to the hype that has followed him since he was drafted by the Nats a year ago. Every step on his road to DC has been chronicled in almost agonizing detail from the soap opera contract negotiations (with Scott Boras as your agent all negotiations are going to be drawn out soap operas) to the progression through extended spring training, the Arizona Fall League, spring training, Double-A Harrisburg and finally Syracuse in Triple-A before making the most anticipated arrival Washington has seen since Barack Obama showed up on January 20th, 2009.
And yet, he DID live up to the hype—and more. He threw one bad pitch, and it really wasn’t THAT bad, a change-up that Delwyn Young hit into the rightfield bleachers for a two-run home run in the fourth inning. After that, he completely shut the Pirates down the rest of the way, retiring the last 10 batters he faced, EIGHT on strikeouts. He struck out the last seven hitters in a row and came out to a standing ovation after throwing 94 pitches in seven innings.
His fastball hit 100 a couple of times and he was consistently between 97 and 99. His off-speed stuff was dazzling. But here’s what was really amazing: He walked NONE. He’s 21, he can throw four pitches and he has extraordinary control. Wow. Even some of the skeptical old baseball writers I was sitting with were open-mouthed by the time he was finished. I was too—and I’m usually one of those guys who pulls for the underdog, not the guy with the $15 million contract and Scott Boras as an agent.
What’s more, I’ve been hearing about Strasburg’s aversion to the media almost since day one. On his first day at extended spring training, Strasburg whined about having to talk to the media. I wrote a column for The Washington Post saying he better get over the notion that he was too big or too good to talk to the media because it was now part of his job.
I got a phone call the next day from Stan Kasten, the president of the Nats. I’ve known Stan a long time and we give each other a hard time frequently but I like him. He’s smart and he’s funny and he always returns a phone call.
“You’re wrong about Strasburg,” he said. “He’s a good kid. He doesn’t think he’s too big to talk to the media. He’s just shy.”
I was skeptical. That’s the way I am, especially when I sense guys are being coached to not say anything (often true of Boras players) or want the perks of stardom but not the responsibility. During the run-up to Strasburg’s arrival, The Washington Post covered everything he did. Dave Sheinen, The Post’s superb baseball writer, chronicled every game he pitched, every move he made. It wasn’t easy for Sheinen since he had no real access to Strasburg and had to get most of his insights into him from others. If you put me in a situation like that, where you can’t walk up to a guy in the clubhouse and chat with him casually, I’d get frustrated.
Sheinen’s a lot more patient than I am. What’s more, he told me that in spite of that, he liked the kid, that he really WAS shy and a little bit embarrassed by all the attention. What’s more, his teammates seemed to genuinely like him, which is always an important test for a star. Eddie Murray was never media-friendly but everyone in the Orioles clubhouse always swore by him as a teammate. You had to respect that about him even when he was growling at you.
My guess, based on last night, is that Strasburg isn’t a growler—although clearly talking to the media is never going to be his favorite sport. Kasten said before the game that as time goes on and the media requests go down—there were more than 200 accredited media at last night’s game making it feel like a postseason game on the field and in the clubhouses beforehand—the team will sit down with Strasburg and explain to him that the time has come to loosen the reins. It is a long baseball season. My guess is he’ll come to know the beat writers and a few other people and loosen up a little. He comes across as genuinely shy.
That aside, he is very clearly the real deal. You can talk about how lousy the Pirates are—and they are, especially with Ryan Doumit out of the lineup as he was last night—but Strasburg is going to pitch well against anyone and everyone. Sure, he’ll have some bad nights the way every pitcher does, and he’s not going to go 16-0 (I don’t think) the rest of the season.
But there is no question he has everything it takes to be a truly great pitcher as long as he stays healthy. Just as important he can give life to a franchise that has desperately needed some life the last four years. The Nationals do have some other pieces in place: Ryan Zimmerman is an All-Star; Adam Dunn and Nyjer Morgan are solid players; Pudge Rodriguez can still call a game as well as anyone and Ian Desmond has a chance to be an outstanding shortstop. There are some other young pitchers in the organization, notably starters John Lannan and Jordan Zimmermann (who has been injured but is close to coming back) and Drew Storen, the future closer, who was drafted the same day as Strasburg and arrived in the big leagues a couple of weeks before Strasburg.
Storen is the son of Mark Patrick, a very talented sports-talk show host in Indianapolis who I’ve known for years. Storen is the complete opposite of Strasburg when it comes to the media and hoopla. Before the game last night I was talking to him in the clubhouse and I said, “I guess you’ll be glad to get tonight behind you, huh?”
Storen laughed. “I love this stuff,” he said. “To me it’s all fun. The more the merrier.”
That’s another reason I think Strasburg is going to do very well. He’s got great talent, he’s part of an improving young team and he not only has a designated closer coming along with him but a designated spokesman.
Washington may actually be a fun place to be in the coming weeks, months and even years. When it comes to baseball, like Storen said, the more the merrier.
****
A note here to Gordon who has been a dedicated and well-worth-reading poster almost since the blog began: With all due respect, there was one reason I wrote the blog on Monday about Coach Wooden and Red Auerbach and Morgan Wootten: I’d already written a column strictly on Coach Wooden that was there to be ready by everyone. Believe me it had nothing to do with book sales especially since I wrote the Red book seven years ago. It’s still in print and it might sell a couple hundred copies a year—I honestly don’t know the numbers—but believe me, bringing it up had nothing to do with trying to sell any books, it had to do with trying to tell a story.
-------
John recently appeared on The Jim Rome Show (www.jimrome.com) to discuss 'Moment of Glory.' Click here to download, or listen in the player below:
------------------------------
John's new book: "Moment of Glory--The Year Underdogs Ruled The Majors,"--is now available online and in bookstores nationwide. Visit your favorite retailer, or click here for online purchases
The Golf Channel will be airing a documentary based on the book "Caddy for Life: The Bruce Edwards Story," with the premiere showing Monday, June 14 at 9 p.m. ET.
Stephen Strasburg’s debut with The Washington Nationals was one of the most hyped events in Washington sports history. It was such a big deal that the guys on sports talk radio stations actually stopped talking about the Redskins for more than 15 minutes. In a town where getting anyone other than the core 15 to 20,000 fans to pay attention to the Nationals, everyone was talking about them for a solid week leading up to Strasburg’s ballyhooed arrival.
I have become one of those people who actually prefers quiet nights when the ballpark is half full and the press box is two-thirds empty. I’d rather not deal with the hassles that come with sellout crowds or major media events. (I guess this is a sign of getting old). But there are some things you have to go see if you have the chance to do so and this was one of those things.
So I went. I’m really glad I did.
It was absolutely impossible for the kid to live up to the hype that has followed him since he was drafted by the Nats a year ago. Every step on his road to DC has been chronicled in almost agonizing detail from the soap opera contract negotiations (with Scott Boras as your agent all negotiations are going to be drawn out soap operas) to the progression through extended spring training, the Arizona Fall League, spring training, Double-A Harrisburg and finally Syracuse in Triple-A before making the most anticipated arrival Washington has seen since Barack Obama showed up on January 20th, 2009.
And yet, he DID live up to the hype—and more. He threw one bad pitch, and it really wasn’t THAT bad, a change-up that Delwyn Young hit into the rightfield bleachers for a two-run home run in the fourth inning. After that, he completely shut the Pirates down the rest of the way, retiring the last 10 batters he faced, EIGHT on strikeouts. He struck out the last seven hitters in a row and came out to a standing ovation after throwing 94 pitches in seven innings.
His fastball hit 100 a couple of times and he was consistently between 97 and 99. His off-speed stuff was dazzling. But here’s what was really amazing: He walked NONE. He’s 21, he can throw four pitches and he has extraordinary control. Wow. Even some of the skeptical old baseball writers I was sitting with were open-mouthed by the time he was finished. I was too—and I’m usually one of those guys who pulls for the underdog, not the guy with the $15 million contract and Scott Boras as an agent.
What’s more, I’ve been hearing about Strasburg’s aversion to the media almost since day one. On his first day at extended spring training, Strasburg whined about having to talk to the media. I wrote a column for The Washington Post saying he better get over the notion that he was too big or too good to talk to the media because it was now part of his job.
I got a phone call the next day from Stan Kasten, the president of the Nats. I’ve known Stan a long time and we give each other a hard time frequently but I like him. He’s smart and he’s funny and he always returns a phone call.
“You’re wrong about Strasburg,” he said. “He’s a good kid. He doesn’t think he’s too big to talk to the media. He’s just shy.”
I was skeptical. That’s the way I am, especially when I sense guys are being coached to not say anything (often true of Boras players) or want the perks of stardom but not the responsibility. During the run-up to Strasburg’s arrival, The Washington Post covered everything he did. Dave Sheinen, The Post’s superb baseball writer, chronicled every game he pitched, every move he made. It wasn’t easy for Sheinen since he had no real access to Strasburg and had to get most of his insights into him from others. If you put me in a situation like that, where you can’t walk up to a guy in the clubhouse and chat with him casually, I’d get frustrated.
Sheinen’s a lot more patient than I am. What’s more, he told me that in spite of that, he liked the kid, that he really WAS shy and a little bit embarrassed by all the attention. What’s more, his teammates seemed to genuinely like him, which is always an important test for a star. Eddie Murray was never media-friendly but everyone in the Orioles clubhouse always swore by him as a teammate. You had to respect that about him even when he was growling at you.
My guess, based on last night, is that Strasburg isn’t a growler—although clearly talking to the media is never going to be his favorite sport. Kasten said before the game that as time goes on and the media requests go down—there were more than 200 accredited media at last night’s game making it feel like a postseason game on the field and in the clubhouses beforehand—the team will sit down with Strasburg and explain to him that the time has come to loosen the reins. It is a long baseball season. My guess is he’ll come to know the beat writers and a few other people and loosen up a little. He comes across as genuinely shy.
That aside, he is very clearly the real deal. You can talk about how lousy the Pirates are—and they are, especially with Ryan Doumit out of the lineup as he was last night—but Strasburg is going to pitch well against anyone and everyone. Sure, he’ll have some bad nights the way every pitcher does, and he’s not going to go 16-0 (I don’t think) the rest of the season.
But there is no question he has everything it takes to be a truly great pitcher as long as he stays healthy. Just as important he can give life to a franchise that has desperately needed some life the last four years. The Nationals do have some other pieces in place: Ryan Zimmerman is an All-Star; Adam Dunn and Nyjer Morgan are solid players; Pudge Rodriguez can still call a game as well as anyone and Ian Desmond has a chance to be an outstanding shortstop. There are some other young pitchers in the organization, notably starters John Lannan and Jordan Zimmermann (who has been injured but is close to coming back) and Drew Storen, the future closer, who was drafted the same day as Strasburg and arrived in the big leagues a couple of weeks before Strasburg.
Storen is the son of Mark Patrick, a very talented sports-talk show host in Indianapolis who I’ve known for years. Storen is the complete opposite of Strasburg when it comes to the media and hoopla. Before the game last night I was talking to him in the clubhouse and I said, “I guess you’ll be glad to get tonight behind you, huh?”
Storen laughed. “I love this stuff,” he said. “To me it’s all fun. The more the merrier.”
That’s another reason I think Strasburg is going to do very well. He’s got great talent, he’s part of an improving young team and he not only has a designated closer coming along with him but a designated spokesman.
Washington may actually be a fun place to be in the coming weeks, months and even years. When it comes to baseball, like Storen said, the more the merrier.
****
A note here to Gordon who has been a dedicated and well-worth-reading poster almost since the blog began: With all due respect, there was one reason I wrote the blog on Monday about Coach Wooden and Red Auerbach and Morgan Wootten: I’d already written a column strictly on Coach Wooden that was there to be ready by everyone. Believe me it had nothing to do with book sales especially since I wrote the Red book seven years ago. It’s still in print and it might sell a couple hundred copies a year—I honestly don’t know the numbers—but believe me, bringing it up had nothing to do with trying to sell any books, it had to do with trying to tell a story.
-------
John recently appeared on The Jim Rome Show (www.jimrome.com) to discuss 'Moment of Glory.' Click here to download, or listen in the player below:
------------------------------
John's new book: "Moment of Glory--The Year Underdogs Ruled The Majors,"--is now available online and in bookstores nationwide. Visit your favorite retailer, or click here for online purchases
The Golf Channel will be airing a documentary based on the book "Caddy for Life: The Bruce Edwards Story," with the premiere showing Monday, June 14 at 9 p.m. ET.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
TV programs and ratings I don’t get – NFL and Redskins in the offseason; Duke wins lacrosse national title
On Monday, I made my weekly appearance on Washington Post Live, which is a daily show broadcast her on Comcast Sports Net in the DC area. I enjoy doing the show because I really like the people involved; because it often gives me a chance to see colleagues from The Post I don’t often see and because doing it Monday works perfectly for me since I need to go into the studio to tape my weekly Golf Channel essay.
So here’s what we led the show with on Memorial Day: the Redskins—or, as it is called on the show, ‘Burgundy and Gold Daily,’—which is code meaning that the bit is sponsored.
The Nationals played on Monday afternoon, trying to get back to .500 (they did), a pretty remarkable feat for a team that lost 103 games a year ago. One week from today, Stephen Strasburg, the most touted phenom to hit baseball in years, makes his Major League debut.
The Maryland women’s lacrosse team had won the national title on Sunday and the men’s national championship game was going on in Baltimore as we took our seats to start the show.
Here’s how much mention those stories got—not to mention Roy Halladay’s perfect game on Saturday and anything baseball—during a one hour show: zip, zero. Nothing. We did manage to talk about the NBA playoffs and the Stanley Cup finals. But the first 20 minutes of the show was all NFL.
Seriously. On Memorial Day.
In fact, the first question host Ivan Carter asked to Rick Maese, one of The Post’s 11 or 12 Redskins beat writers was something like, “I know there’s nothing going on right now but what are the Redskins doing right now?”
Look, it’s not Ivan’s fault. It isn’t the fault of the people putting on the show either. A few weeks ago I asked Scott Taylor, who produces the show and would (like me) do Navy football all the time given the chance (his dad played at Navy) why in the world we had to lead the show with the Redskins in the middle of May.
“The ratings people tell us that everything spikes when we talk Redskins and spikes almost as much when we talk NFL,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter if anything is actually going on. If we’re talking about the Redskins people watch.”
I actually wondered if the reason it was so hard to EVER talk about the Nationals was that their games are televised on MASN and not on Comcast. Scott said that wasn’t the case. “It’s the ratings thing,” he said. “When we talk Nats, unless it’s Strasburg maybe, we lose people.”
I swear to God I don’t get it. Look, I like watching the NFL on Sundays as much as anyone. I spent an entire season hanging out with an NFL team when I wrote, “Next Man Up,” and enjoyed the experience. So this isn’t about me being anti-football. Okay, I may be anti-Redskins because the owner is three of the most arrogant people who ever lived and no amount of spinning to try to convince me there’s a “new,” Dan Snyder is going to make me think differently.
I have no problem talking about or writing about the NFL or the Redskins when there is something going on. But when you open the show by saying, “there’s nothing going on,” and then spend 20 minutes discussing preparations for mini-camp? I mean OMG as my daughter would say. At one point we switched over to talk about the Ravens. You know what we revealed to the audience? That Anquan Boldin was a good pickup. Pretty insightful stuff, huh?
There are certain people in sports and certain teams in sports and I guess certain leagues in sports that completely fascinate people no matter what. Tommy Roy, who produces golf for NBC, once told me that an informal survey of golf fans had shown that more people would rather watch Tiger Woods lean against his golf bag than watch someone else actually hitting a golf ball.
The same is true in this town of the Redskins. There’s a truly awful show that airs on Comcast called ‘Redskins Nation,’ which is a daily infomercial on the wonders of the team. If you were to watch this show—and staying in the same room with it for five minutes is a major challenge—you would think the Redskins were about to begin their quest for a fifth straight Super Bowl title. Anyone—ANYONE—who criticizes anyone or anything about the organization is labeled, “a hater,” by the ineffable host.
I asked once WHY the show was allowed on the air. The answer was simple: It’s the highest rated show Comcast has.
Talk about the apocalypse being upon us.
At least now I have the next six days to watch golf, baseball, hockey and basketball. And to write and talk about them—especially golf with “Moment of Glory,” now out all over the country, Eldrick T. Woods playing this week and The Nationwide Tour coming to DC. Of course next Monday it will be more, ‘Burgundy and Gold Daily.’
Maybe we can talk some more about what the Redskins haven’t been doing.
******
Wanted to thank the poster, ‘Bevo,’ for absolutely proving my point about people in academia on Friday. If I had tried to make up a fictional character to prove what I was saying about the existence of people like him at colleges around the country I couldn’t have done any better. And thanks to those who responded on my behalf. No need for me to add anything to what they’ve already said.
And finally: I felt a little torn Monday when Duke won the NCAA men’s lacrosse championship game. The ending was certainly dramatic and you had to feel good for the players and for Coach John Danowski, who I’m told is a good guy. To say that he took over under trying circumstances is putting it mildly. And there are people out there who still refer to the ‘Duke lacrosse scandal,’ without mentioning that not only were the charges against the three players dropped but the prosecutor who brought them was disbarred.
I’m always hesitant to even bring this topic up because it makes people on both sides SO angry.
That said, I’ve never bought the argument that the players were martyrs as some people have made them out to be. There WAS bad behavior going on that night, including racial slurs that have never been denied. Beyond that though, there were fifth year players on this Duke team granted an extra year by the NCAA because DUKE decided to shut the program down in 2006. While it is impossible not to feel empathy for the young men who weren’t part of the incident at all, you can’t help but wonder why the NCAA felt obligated to bail Duke out after its administration completely mishandled the entire situation.
I guess, in a sense, some things will never be resolved. But Monday should give the school—and more important the players—some kind of closure and a legitimate reason to celebrate.
--------------------------------------
John's new book: "Moment of Glory--The Year Underdogs Ruled The Majors,"--is now available online and in bookstores nationwide. Visit your favorite retailer, or click here for online purchases
To listen to 'The Bob and Tom Show' interview about 'Moment of Glory', please click the play button below:
So here’s what we led the show with on Memorial Day: the Redskins—or, as it is called on the show, ‘Burgundy and Gold Daily,’—which is code meaning that the bit is sponsored.
The Nationals played on Monday afternoon, trying to get back to .500 (they did), a pretty remarkable feat for a team that lost 103 games a year ago. One week from today, Stephen Strasburg, the most touted phenom to hit baseball in years, makes his Major League debut.
The Maryland women’s lacrosse team had won the national title on Sunday and the men’s national championship game was going on in Baltimore as we took our seats to start the show.
Here’s how much mention those stories got—not to mention Roy Halladay’s perfect game on Saturday and anything baseball—during a one hour show: zip, zero. Nothing. We did manage to talk about the NBA playoffs and the Stanley Cup finals. But the first 20 minutes of the show was all NFL.
Seriously. On Memorial Day.
In fact, the first question host Ivan Carter asked to Rick Maese, one of The Post’s 11 or 12 Redskins beat writers was something like, “I know there’s nothing going on right now but what are the Redskins doing right now?”
Look, it’s not Ivan’s fault. It isn’t the fault of the people putting on the show either. A few weeks ago I asked Scott Taylor, who produces the show and would (like me) do Navy football all the time given the chance (his dad played at Navy) why in the world we had to lead the show with the Redskins in the middle of May.
“The ratings people tell us that everything spikes when we talk Redskins and spikes almost as much when we talk NFL,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter if anything is actually going on. If we’re talking about the Redskins people watch.”
I actually wondered if the reason it was so hard to EVER talk about the Nationals was that their games are televised on MASN and not on Comcast. Scott said that wasn’t the case. “It’s the ratings thing,” he said. “When we talk Nats, unless it’s Strasburg maybe, we lose people.”
I swear to God I don’t get it. Look, I like watching the NFL on Sundays as much as anyone. I spent an entire season hanging out with an NFL team when I wrote, “Next Man Up,” and enjoyed the experience. So this isn’t about me being anti-football. Okay, I may be anti-Redskins because the owner is three of the most arrogant people who ever lived and no amount of spinning to try to convince me there’s a “new,” Dan Snyder is going to make me think differently.
I have no problem talking about or writing about the NFL or the Redskins when there is something going on. But when you open the show by saying, “there’s nothing going on,” and then spend 20 minutes discussing preparations for mini-camp? I mean OMG as my daughter would say. At one point we switched over to talk about the Ravens. You know what we revealed to the audience? That Anquan Boldin was a good pickup. Pretty insightful stuff, huh?
There are certain people in sports and certain teams in sports and I guess certain leagues in sports that completely fascinate people no matter what. Tommy Roy, who produces golf for NBC, once told me that an informal survey of golf fans had shown that more people would rather watch Tiger Woods lean against his golf bag than watch someone else actually hitting a golf ball.
The same is true in this town of the Redskins. There’s a truly awful show that airs on Comcast called ‘Redskins Nation,’ which is a daily infomercial on the wonders of the team. If you were to watch this show—and staying in the same room with it for five minutes is a major challenge—you would think the Redskins were about to begin their quest for a fifth straight Super Bowl title. Anyone—ANYONE—who criticizes anyone or anything about the organization is labeled, “a hater,” by the ineffable host.
I asked once WHY the show was allowed on the air. The answer was simple: It’s the highest rated show Comcast has.
Talk about the apocalypse being upon us.
At least now I have the next six days to watch golf, baseball, hockey and basketball. And to write and talk about them—especially golf with “Moment of Glory,” now out all over the country, Eldrick T. Woods playing this week and The Nationwide Tour coming to DC. Of course next Monday it will be more, ‘Burgundy and Gold Daily.’
Maybe we can talk some more about what the Redskins haven’t been doing.
******
Wanted to thank the poster, ‘Bevo,’ for absolutely proving my point about people in academia on Friday. If I had tried to make up a fictional character to prove what I was saying about the existence of people like him at colleges around the country I couldn’t have done any better. And thanks to those who responded on my behalf. No need for me to add anything to what they’ve already said.
And finally: I felt a little torn Monday when Duke won the NCAA men’s lacrosse championship game. The ending was certainly dramatic and you had to feel good for the players and for Coach John Danowski, who I’m told is a good guy. To say that he took over under trying circumstances is putting it mildly. And there are people out there who still refer to the ‘Duke lacrosse scandal,’ without mentioning that not only were the charges against the three players dropped but the prosecutor who brought them was disbarred.
I’m always hesitant to even bring this topic up because it makes people on both sides SO angry.
That said, I’ve never bought the argument that the players were martyrs as some people have made them out to be. There WAS bad behavior going on that night, including racial slurs that have never been denied. Beyond that though, there were fifth year players on this Duke team granted an extra year by the NCAA because DUKE decided to shut the program down in 2006. While it is impossible not to feel empathy for the young men who weren’t part of the incident at all, you can’t help but wonder why the NCAA felt obligated to bail Duke out after its administration completely mishandled the entire situation.
I guess, in a sense, some things will never be resolved. But Monday should give the school—and more important the players—some kind of closure and a legitimate reason to celebrate.
--------------------------------------
John's new book: "Moment of Glory--The Year Underdogs Ruled The Majors,"--is now available online and in bookstores nationwide. Visit your favorite retailer, or click here for online purchases
To listen to 'The Bob and Tom Show' interview about 'Moment of Glory', please click the play button below:
Friday, April 30, 2010
Mets, Nationals fans emerge from April baseball with hope
There’s an old saying in baseball: Don’t believe too much of what you see in April or September.
It is not uncommon for lousy teams to get off to a good start in April only to be worn down by the grind of the 162 game season. There are lots of off days in April—some caused by poor weather—and the need for five starting pitchers (or more later when injuries kick in) isn’t there yet. The bullpen is still fresh and someone destined to hit .260 might be hitting .400.
In September, when teams have been eliminated from contention and bring players up from the minor leagues, there are always a couple who catch people’s eye with their play. Sometimes there’s a reason for it—Derek Jeter was a late call-up in 1995—sometimes it’s just September baseball.
So I sit here on the last day of April caught in a conundrum. The New York Mets, the team I grew up with, after what appeared to be a predictably terrible start, has reeled off seven straight wins and sits atop The National League East at 13-9. The suspect starting pitching, which appeared to be Johan Santana and whomever wanted the ball next, has suddenly been world-beating. Mike Pelfrey hasn’t given up a run since about 1994 and the team is winning WITHOUT centerfielder Carlos Beltran.
So, do I get excited? Or do I still to the old baseball axiom and check back in June?
The same question is being asked in Washington, where the Nationals, coming off back-to-back 100 loss seasons, are 12-10. Unlike the Mets, whose winning streak came entirely at home, the Nats have just gone into Chicago and won two-of-three from the Cubs, causing Lou Piniella to lose his mind, which is always entertaining.
Like the Mets, the Nationals are pitching better and, perhaps as important, they’re catching the ball much better. Last year their defense was so bad you had to avert your eyes on routine ground balls unless you were extremely brave. Now, the Nats are not only making routine plays, they’re making some spectacular ones too.
What’s more, the Nationals best pitcher is currently pitching in Harrisburg. Stephen Strasburg, the phenom picked No. 1 in last year’s draft has looked every inch of The Next Great Thing since spring training began. In his last outing he pitched five innings of no-hit baseball. He will probably be moved up to Triple-A Syracuse in the next couple of weeks and his pitch count will be carefully monitored as he is allowed to pitch more innings. He should be in Washington by June and if you put him at the top of the current starting group, the Nationals could be—dare I say it—pretty good.
Of course there’s a strong sense of foreboding based on disappointments of the past in both places. On their last homestand, the Nats played two playoff teams from last year, the Rockies and Dodgers, and struggled to draw 20,000 most nights. The Mets played in front of half-empty ballparks most of the time on the just-ended homestand. It may be that if both come back from road trips still playing well that the crowds will pick up. Baseball fans are like all other fans—they’re frontrunners. Fans of these two teams have lots of reasons to be skeptical though, regardless of their April records.
Still, it’s nice to see some hope. It’s better than being a fan of the Baltimore Orioles, who won two games in a row earlier this week to improve their record to 4-16. They’re now 4-18 and even with the Yankees in town this week, Camden Yards wasn’t close to sold out. Attendance was 26,439 on Thursday night—most of them Yankee fans. If the Orioles aren’t playing the Yankees or the Red Sox their attendance these days is brutal. Next week, they play the Minnesota Twins at home and the Twins have one of baseball’s more entertaining teams. They currently lead the American League Central. Do you think there will be a single crowd of more than 20,000 people?
Not likely. This in what is still as nice a ballpark as there is in baseball, even in its 19th year. And yet, with the Orioles clearly headed for a 12th straight losing season, they are down to die-hards only except when the Yankees and Red Sox show up and turn the ballpark into Yankee Stadium-south or Fenway Park-south. It is sad to see such a proud franchise in this state.
Team President Andy McPhail thinks the young pitchers the team has are going to get things turned around and it’s entirely possible that they will. Good pitching is like good goaltending in hockey or good putting in golf—it can hide all your other weaknesses. Right now, the Orioles pitching just isn’t good enough to hide anything. Maybe that will change.
The Mets are another story—at least at the moment. They go into Philadelphia this weekend on a roll. Most people had conceded The NL East title to the Phillies for a fourth straight year before the first pitch was thrown earlier this month. There still isn’t much reason to believe that isn’t going to be the case. That said, the team that was given the best chance to chase the Phillies was the Braves and they are off to an awful start. The Mets swept them last weekend in New York.
I can imagine what the talk shows are like in New York right now. They are probably discussing what the ticket prices will be like for a Subway Series in October in the two new ballparks.
I’m not ready to get that carried away just yet. It IS nice, whether you live in New York or Washington, to see the calendar turning from April to May and not be wondering what players your team might unload at the trading deadline. Think about this: in Baltimore, in Kansas City, in Pittsburgh, in Houston, the hopeful part of the baseball season is already over.
At least in New York and Washington right now, there’s hope. If that feeling still exists a month from now, it might be time to get serious. For now, I’m just going to sit back and enjoy.
God knows Mets fans and Nats fans are both entitled to a little bit of fun.
It is not uncommon for lousy teams to get off to a good start in April only to be worn down by the grind of the 162 game season. There are lots of off days in April—some caused by poor weather—and the need for five starting pitchers (or more later when injuries kick in) isn’t there yet. The bullpen is still fresh and someone destined to hit .260 might be hitting .400.
In September, when teams have been eliminated from contention and bring players up from the minor leagues, there are always a couple who catch people’s eye with their play. Sometimes there’s a reason for it—Derek Jeter was a late call-up in 1995—sometimes it’s just September baseball.
So I sit here on the last day of April caught in a conundrum. The New York Mets, the team I grew up with, after what appeared to be a predictably terrible start, has reeled off seven straight wins and sits atop The National League East at 13-9. The suspect starting pitching, which appeared to be Johan Santana and whomever wanted the ball next, has suddenly been world-beating. Mike Pelfrey hasn’t given up a run since about 1994 and the team is winning WITHOUT centerfielder Carlos Beltran.
So, do I get excited? Or do I still to the old baseball axiom and check back in June?
The same question is being asked in Washington, where the Nationals, coming off back-to-back 100 loss seasons, are 12-10. Unlike the Mets, whose winning streak came entirely at home, the Nats have just gone into Chicago and won two-of-three from the Cubs, causing Lou Piniella to lose his mind, which is always entertaining.
Like the Mets, the Nationals are pitching better and, perhaps as important, they’re catching the ball much better. Last year their defense was so bad you had to avert your eyes on routine ground balls unless you were extremely brave. Now, the Nats are not only making routine plays, they’re making some spectacular ones too.
What’s more, the Nationals best pitcher is currently pitching in Harrisburg. Stephen Strasburg, the phenom picked No. 1 in last year’s draft has looked every inch of The Next Great Thing since spring training began. In his last outing he pitched five innings of no-hit baseball. He will probably be moved up to Triple-A Syracuse in the next couple of weeks and his pitch count will be carefully monitored as he is allowed to pitch more innings. He should be in Washington by June and if you put him at the top of the current starting group, the Nationals could be—dare I say it—pretty good.
Of course there’s a strong sense of foreboding based on disappointments of the past in both places. On their last homestand, the Nats played two playoff teams from last year, the Rockies and Dodgers, and struggled to draw 20,000 most nights. The Mets played in front of half-empty ballparks most of the time on the just-ended homestand. It may be that if both come back from road trips still playing well that the crowds will pick up. Baseball fans are like all other fans—they’re frontrunners. Fans of these two teams have lots of reasons to be skeptical though, regardless of their April records.
Still, it’s nice to see some hope. It’s better than being a fan of the Baltimore Orioles, who won two games in a row earlier this week to improve their record to 4-16. They’re now 4-18 and even with the Yankees in town this week, Camden Yards wasn’t close to sold out. Attendance was 26,439 on Thursday night—most of them Yankee fans. If the Orioles aren’t playing the Yankees or the Red Sox their attendance these days is brutal. Next week, they play the Minnesota Twins at home and the Twins have one of baseball’s more entertaining teams. They currently lead the American League Central. Do you think there will be a single crowd of more than 20,000 people?
Not likely. This in what is still as nice a ballpark as there is in baseball, even in its 19th year. And yet, with the Orioles clearly headed for a 12th straight losing season, they are down to die-hards only except when the Yankees and Red Sox show up and turn the ballpark into Yankee Stadium-south or Fenway Park-south. It is sad to see such a proud franchise in this state.
Team President Andy McPhail thinks the young pitchers the team has are going to get things turned around and it’s entirely possible that they will. Good pitching is like good goaltending in hockey or good putting in golf—it can hide all your other weaknesses. Right now, the Orioles pitching just isn’t good enough to hide anything. Maybe that will change.
The Mets are another story—at least at the moment. They go into Philadelphia this weekend on a roll. Most people had conceded The NL East title to the Phillies for a fourth straight year before the first pitch was thrown earlier this month. There still isn’t much reason to believe that isn’t going to be the case. That said, the team that was given the best chance to chase the Phillies was the Braves and they are off to an awful start. The Mets swept them last weekend in New York.
I can imagine what the talk shows are like in New York right now. They are probably discussing what the ticket prices will be like for a Subway Series in October in the two new ballparks.
I’m not ready to get that carried away just yet. It IS nice, whether you live in New York or Washington, to see the calendar turning from April to May and not be wondering what players your team might unload at the trading deadline. Think about this: in Baltimore, in Kansas City, in Pittsburgh, in Houston, the hopeful part of the baseball season is already over.
At least in New York and Washington right now, there’s hope. If that feeling still exists a month from now, it might be time to get serious. For now, I’m just going to sit back and enjoy.
God knows Mets fans and Nats fans are both entitled to a little bit of fun.
Monday, August 31, 2009
John's Monday Washington Post Article...
Here's my column from The Washington Post today, covering the Nats newest, Stephen Strasburg.....
Let's begin today with Stephen Strasburg's opening line to the media after his first 45-minute workout on Sunday as an employee of the Washington Nationals: "I thought I'd get a little bit of peace out here, but you guys are following me everywhere. It's something I guess I gotta deal with. I guess it just goes with the territory."
Yes it does. It goes with the territory when you're the No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball draft and when you are seen as the potential savior of a woebegone franchise. Athletes with special gifts can expect scrutiny -- sometimes over-the-top scrutiny.
Click here for the full story.......For Stephen Strasburg, the Missing 'Peace'
Let's begin today with Stephen Strasburg's opening line to the media after his first 45-minute workout on Sunday as an employee of the Washington Nationals: "I thought I'd get a little bit of peace out here, but you guys are following me everywhere. It's something I guess I gotta deal with. I guess it just goes with the territory."
Yes it does. It goes with the territory when you're the No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball draft and when you are seen as the potential savior of a woebegone franchise. Athletes with special gifts can expect scrutiny -- sometimes over-the-top scrutiny.
Click here for the full story.......For Stephen Strasburg, the Missing 'Peace'
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