Posts Tagged ‘DEAD BALLS ERA’
Cheap Seats Daily: FedExField Still Blows?
The Washington Post runs a Metro story about the fans who spend a day watching practice at Redskins Park. (Lemme quote Allen Iverson: "PRACTICE? We're talking PRACTICE?") One of the fans quoted in the piece is Peter Lalich. Though the story doesn't go into it, Lalich was the Everybody's-All-American kid from Springfield who was headed for stardom as a UVa quarterback before getting booted off the team for a string of teensy crimes that weren't considered crimes a generation ago, before we went to war on the use of even low-level mind-altering substances.
Lalich transferred to Oregon as soon as his run in Charlottesville went to hell, and, because of some weird quirk having something to do with his new school being on a quarter system and not semesters, he'll be eligible to play this season.
If the punishment schedule announced last year still holds, Lalich should get his drivers license back this week from Virginia authorities. It makes sense that Lalich would be on a practice field this time of year, but... Why isn't he in Oregon?
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Another formerly local athlete in some legal heat, and not dealing real well with it: Antonio Pierce, the ex-Redskins linebacker turned Giant person of interest in the Plaxico Burress thigh blast case, is making enemies with his tweets.
(AFTER THE JUMP: Examiner column calls out Duds? Godly folks are coming after the racist Redskins? Who says Cal Ripken and/or Eddie Murray were juiced? FedExField also sucks for things other than football games? Jeremy Mayfield called his stepmomma THAT? Van Pelt goes for big bucks, but Czarniak goes bid-less?)
Cheap Seats Daily: Anti-American, Anti-Bobblehead-Freak Rules Restored for Van Pelt Night!
In case you missed it: Jeopardy genius Ken Jennings puts "Dead Balls Era" in print! Man, we're he's clever!
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The Redskins cut free agent receiver Jaison Williams yesterday, reducing their supply of Guys Named Williams to a mere four -- Eddie, Edwin, Mike and Roydell -- and stealing from me the option of filling many more digital column inches with posts about Five Guys Named Williams.
And the girth of the Williams clan ain't what it once was, either: Redskins.com has comebacker OT Mike Williams down to a mere 337 pounds after a severe weight-reduction program. If so, he's lost about a Williams since signing with the Skins this spring.
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The end of another era: The Streak of '09 is over.
AFTER THE JUMP: "Thunderation" meets thunderation? Guaranteed Win Night wasn't really guaranteed? No free will if you want Van Pelt bobblehead? Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, and Lindsay Czarniak?
Breaking News: ‘Dead Balls Era™’ Uttered By Real Genius!
For years, I've wanted to leave my mark on baseball history, as a dog might on a patch of grass. I came up with a name for those years of the game dominated by huge stats and little testes: "The Dead Balls Era."
And I forced it on people.
I put "Dead Balls Era" in print again and again and again and again. I'd search the web every so often, only to get the bad news that nobody was adopting my brainchild. In December 2007, nearly three years after I'd started lobbying for my phrase to become the official name of the all-steroids, all-the-time time in the National Pastime, "Dead Balls Era" was getting nine hits on Google.
NINE!
Read More "Breaking News: ‘Dead Balls Era™’ Uttered By Real Genius!" »
Cal Ripken, Please Confess to Taking Something
After Alex Rodriguez's moisty ESPN interview acknowledging what sure smells like a small portion of his actual drug use, baseball's almost ready to put the dirty dealings of its Dead Balls Era™ in the rear-view mirror.
Almost. There's still one holdup: Cal Ripken hasn't been nailed yet.
Read More "Cal Ripken, Please Confess to Taking Something" »
Own a Piece of Hist*ry!
Jose Canseco, who will someday be viewed as the Deep Throat of the Dead Balls Era™, is offering fans and anybody else the chance to buy a bat, base, and cleats that back in 1988 factored into his becoming the first player in major league history to steal 40 bases and hit 40 home runs in the same season.
In the sales pitch on his personal Web site, Canseco points out that "Only two players have been able to accomplish this since, Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds."
Quite a club. Canseco, Rodriguez and Bonds will someday be viewed as the Murderers Row of the Dead Balls Era™. (Get used to it!)
Perhaps these items have been on sale for some time, or Canseco's not a student of the game: Ex-Nat Alfonso Soriano pledged the 40/40 frat in 2006.
BTW: The asking price for Canseco's detritus is $9,995.00.
