Okay, we're a little late to the party on this but considering the Red Sox are pulling into town for a weekend set and bringing the usual remenants of an old Grateful Dead concert with them, we figured it was time.

As much as the RSN can get on your last nerve, the phenomenon has spawned some fairly amusing bits of Internet flotsam and jetsam, including but not limited to a Web site called SexySoxGirls.com.

As far as I can tell, it has already been featured by the Boston Herald's Web site and Dan Lamothe's Red Sox Monster and has probably been mentioned on a bunch of others.

And while we're at it, here's an amusing bit of fictional (I do believe) dialogue with a "typical" Red Sox fan courtesy of the Hot Dog & Friends Web site (warning, some blue language appears, especially preceding the words "Yankees" and "A-Rod"). 

So, if you're headed down to Camden Yards, be braced for the obvious -- the closest thing to a cult known to sports. The good thing for local bars and restaurants is that they bring cash.  And it will be a lot more tolerable if they bring some of the fans from the above-mentioned Web site.  Remember, be strong but non-violent.

Photo: James A. Finley/AP

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

For many reasons, the Western Conference finals between the L.A. Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs emphasized a changing of the guard in the NBA, or at least the Western Conference.  The Spurs are still a good team but somewhere along the line, a certain quality about that team that been a strength (experience) turned into a weakness (age).

Or at least the Spurs appeared old when faced with a younger, intense and talented team that has come into its own and now has confidence in its own abilities.

The Lakers beat the Spurs, 100-92, last night at the Staples Center to win the conference finals, 4-1, and await either Boston and Detroit where the Celts lead that series, 3-2.  As they did in several games this series, the Spurs led early -- by 13 after the first quarter, by 17 during the second and even by 10 in the third.  But the Laker defense muffled the Spurs and in the fourth period, Kobe Bryant took over, much as he did in Game 1 and scored 17 points.

Now, Bryant's contention during an interview after last season that, "At this point I'd go play on Pluto" seems laughable.  And the direction for the Spurs, winners of four NBA titles since 1999, seems uncertain.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

Doug Collins is reportedly close to getting a second go-around in Chicago as head coach of the Bulls just about two decades after he was escorted to the door there after the 1988-89 season on the eve of a dynasty about to blossom.  If hired, this would be Collins' fourth shot at a head coaching job following a roller-coaster tour-of-duty in Detroit in the 1990s and an awkward stint baby-sitting the Michael Jordan Washington Wizards earlier this decade.

Three decades.  Three teams. Three strikes.  But in the NBA, apparently you're (almost) never out.  Especially if you can talk a good game and as a TV analyst, Collins can talk as good a game as anyone.

Bulls VP of basketball operations John Paxson, who played for Collins, said in a statement that he has been in contact with his old coach but that a deal has not been finalized.  However, after losing out on former Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni to the New York Knicks, it's hard to imagine Chicago not corralling Collins and turning their new coach search into an Easter egg hunt.

So assuming Collins is the guy in Chicago, there is a temptation to call his hiring a classic case of coach recycling.  The good old boy network at work. Larry Brown Redux.

But I think the Bulls could have done a lot worse.  Collins just might be the right guy for the right team at the right time.  On the plus side, Collins is believed to be a teacher who can shape young talent.  He's also been a quick-turnaround coach; all three of his previous teams showed double-digit win improvements in his first seasons.  On the other hand, the knock on Collins is that he has been high-strung.  When his players need the Rock of Gibraltar, they get Krakatoa.

Interestingly, the fiery Collins' replacement in Chicago was an assistant who defined stoicism, Phil Jackson.  But even though Collins may have gotten on MJ's last nerve with the Bulls, Jordan thought enough of his old coach to hire him in Washington.

But back to the 2008 Chicago Bulls. It's clear that the Bulls wanted a known quantity.  They unsuccessfully chased D'Antoni. Then, things brightened for the Bulls when they hit a 50-to-1 shot in winning the top pick in the NBA lottery. They already have a decent, relatively young nucleus that underperformed last season.  And now they have a shot at either Kansas State forward Michael Beasley or Memphis point guard Derrick Rose.

In Collins, they're getting a gifted communicator who now has 20 years of reflection and mellowing under his belt since his flame-out in Chicago the first time. You know, sometimes even leftovers are better the second day.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

In today's Sun, I had a column that discussed Saturday night's mixed martial arts event on CBS that is ground-breaking in some respects for MMA.

Although MMA is a staple on cable channels such as Spike and Versus, this card of bouts represents the first time that the sport will be featured on live, prime-time network television (9 p.m.) and will showcase a heavyweight fighter who has become a sports-pop culture phenomenon almost solely on the basis of video that has appeared on YouTube -- Kimbo Slice.

Slice (real name Kevin Ferguson) is a Miami-based slugger who has just two "regulation" fights but became famous for his non-sanctioned brawls in gyms, backyards and parking lots with many of those punch-outs being circulated on YouTube. In little more than a year, Slice has gone from an unknown to the cover of ESPN the Magazine. That's how a star can be born in the early 21st century.

His most famous bout to date was with a fading MMA big name, Tank Abbott, back in February. Slice made short work of Abbott in about a minute. If you haven't seen Kimbo Slice at work, here's an introduction.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

Pseudo or legit as a "sports" event, the 39th World Series of Poker gets started tomorrow at the Rio casino in Las Vegas. (To avoid the debate, we'll try to just call it a game).

Actually, the WSOP calendar begins today but the card game is a "mega-satellite," meaning it's a qualifying tournament for the Main Event that doesn't even start until early July.

To clarify, the World Series of Poker is literally a series of tournaments -- 55 of them this year that stretch out over 6 1/2 weeks -- and not just the famous $10,000 No-limit Texas Hold 'em Championship, aka the Main Event, that's replayed on ESPN over and over. Included are various styles of poker and a range of buy-in amounts.

Each of the 55 events on the WSOP schedule produces a champion and a bracelet is awarded, just like in the Main Event. And the Main Event isn't even the most expensive buy-in at the World Series of Poker. One tournament, the H.O.R.S.E. Championship, requires a $50,000 buy-in.  Players in that one -- most of them top professionals -- have to play a rotation of five styles of Poker -- Hold 'em, Omaha, Razz, Stud (seven-card) and Eight-or-better (a stud game that's high-low).

While the poker boom overall has cooled a bit -- in part, due to a federal law passed in 2006 that makes it more difficult to transfer money in and out of Internet poker accounts --  the World Series continued to grow last year and break records for participation despite the fact that it's pretty pricey to play in. In addition to the Main Event, seven other tournaments require $10,000 buy-ins and eight more require a $5,000 ante. About the cheapest ride you can take in the open events is for $1,500 and some of those tournaments attracted nearly 3,000 players last year. Event No. 1 tomorrow is a big one, a $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Hold'em.

As a spectator event, the WSOP hits its peak for the start of the Main Event, which begins July 3, continues until there's just nine players left at a "Final Table" on July 14 and then suspends play until November 9-10 for a television finale on ESPN. But for fans, the big splash is the first four opening days of the Main Event (July 3-6). So many players are entered (more than 6,300 last year), the first round is held over four days. That's when spectators can see the famous poker pros, Hollywood and sports celebrities and just average Joes and Janes start out on a quest for the richest single prize in the world of "games." There's a poker exhibition that goes on in a nearby pavilion room concurrently with the start of the tournament so those first four days have a real carnival feel.

The WSOP has plans to help make spectating easier and more enjoyable this year and as the event gets closer, we'll pass along more details.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

By the weekend, the NBA could have a so-called "dream" matchup for the league finals. The Lakers -- who lead the Spurs, 3-1 -- could wrap up their Western Conference series against San Antonio tonight at home. The Celtics has a little tougher job. Ahead 3-2 in the Eastern finals, Boston will try to close out the Pistons tomorrow night but the game is in Detroit.

The Lakers are 7-0 at the Staples Center in the playoffs and in their last game at home, ran away from the Spurs by 30 points. There have been times during this series when San Antonio has looked tired, suddenly old, and trying to keep their title defense alive on the road appears to be a bridge too far.

The trailing Pistons seem to be in better shape going home but their top scorer, Richard Hamilton, left last night's game late with an injured elbow (X-rays were negative) and Rasheed Wallace is playing with six technicals and one more gets him a one-game suspension. That's a lot of baggage to carry against the Celtics.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

If things keep going like this, Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie won't need any help from a pitching coach, he'll need a psychiatrist or a lawyer. This kind of stuff could drive a guy nuts. It could make him sue for lack of support. All those cliches for when bad things happen to good pitchers.

Every fifth day, Guthrie is handed the ball and typically, he turns in a better-than-decent job holding the opposition to two, three runs. And typically, the Orioles' offense goes south.  It did it again last night in a 4-2 loss to the Yankees that left the O's treading water at .500 for the seventh time this season.

Sun Orioles' beat writer Jeff Zrebiec did an excellent job today chronicling the team's hitting problems when Guthrie, now 2-6, pitches. In today's game story, Zrebiec came up with these numbers: "The Orioles have scored a total of eight runs in his six losses this season and two runs or fewer in five of his 12 starts."

Baltimore had a couple of opportunities to catch up last night but couldn't come up with the clutch hit. The O's left six men in scoring position.

On the Yankees' side, the Joba Chamberlain script worked perfectly. Starter Andy Pettitte, who merely has to show up to beat the Orioles, pitched 6 2/3 innings and gave up the two runs; Chamberlain -- who is being groomed to start -- threw 1 1/3 (28 pitches) and struck out three, and Mariano Rivera closed it out in the ninth.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 8:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

If it's the NBA playoffs, there has to be an officiating controversy and sure enough ...

Last night's Los Angeles-San Antonio Game 4 won by the Lakers, 93-91, put L.A. ahead in the series, 3-1, with the Western Conference finals moving back to the Left Coast. But it ended with a controversial non-call by an officiating crew that included Joey Crawford. Crawford, one of the league's better officials but one who has also displayed a temper, had a notorious blow-up with the Spurs' Tim Duncan last year.

On the play, San Antonio's Brent Barry, looking to take the last shot, got Los Angeles' Derek Fisher off his feet on a pump-fake, dribble -- and contact was made -- just before Barry's three-pointer that was off-the-mark. Barry wanted the call at the time but backed off later.

For the record, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich took the refs off the hook saying: "If I was the official I wouldn't have called that a foul."

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
                    

This note comes from a Sun colleague.

Recently my wife came back from a business trip to Chicago with gifts for our kids.  Among them was a Cubs t-shirt for our 17-year-old son who was born in Chicago and has been a Cubs fan all his life.  On the back of the shirt was the name and number of the Cubs' Japanese import, Kosuke Fukudome.

When my son wore the shirt to his high school the other day, he was stopped in the hall by an administrator who was apparently alarmed to see "Fukudome" on the back of one of his student's shirts.  My son explained that it was merely a player's name.  Nonetheless, the administrator said the shirt was inappropriate and suggested that maybe my son should root for the White Sox for the remainder of the school year.

Photo: Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune 

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

Just because it was a great line, I wanted to pass along this excerpt from a recent Norman Chad column.

Chad was riffing on betting on tennis, a column inspired by the fact that the French Open is going on. 

At one point, Chad goes off on a gambling tangent remarking on Dolphins cornerback Will Allen who is the subject of an allegation involving a dispute over money and a gun.  Here's Chad's take:

Dolphins cornerback Will Allen is under police investigation for an incident in a Bed Bath & Beyond parking lot that allegedly involved Allen pulling a gun in a dispute over a gambling debt. I am shocked -- shocked! -- to find that NFL players are shopping at Bed Bath & Beyond.

Here's the whole column.  Thanks to the The Big Lead for the heads-up.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Curt Schilling writes the the blog 38 pitches but Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain gets to star in an off-Broadway production of 55 Pitches tonight at Camden Yards against the Orioles.

Directed by Joe Girardi and produced by Hank Steinbrenner, 55 Pitches promises to be a coming-of-age story of a 22-year-old hurler's transformation from the bullpen to the starting rotation to save a proud and storied baseball franchise's season from being crushed under the weight of its own earned run average.

The script for tonight's Yankees-Orioles performance is a little odd. Andy Pettitte is scheduled to start against Jeremy Guthrie but New York's plan is to write Pettitte out of the episode after five, maybe six innings, and send Chamberlain on stage to throw 50 to 55 pitches. This is all designed to ease Chamberlain into the starting rotation, something for which Yankee Boss II (Hank) has loudly lobbied. In the event Pettitte goes seven innings, Chamberlain's work work day would be shorter, delaying both his long relief appearance and his entry into the starting rotation.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

When you think about it, there's no more demanding and unforgiving event in sports than trying to capture the Triple Crown.

Big Brown (left), winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, has his connections and race fans reassured a little today after a brisk, uneventful workout at Belmont yesterday. The powerful bay has been diagnosed with a small crack in his left front hoof and while the early call was that it was a minor issue that shouldn't keep him out of the Belmont Stakes on June 7, well, the recent history of great horses has you holding your breath.

But the thing about the Triple Crown is that everything has to go perfectly for a horse to make it happen. Obviously, the horse has to be a great one. Then, every race has to come off without mishap. The horse has to get a good ride from the jockey. The horse has to be physically ready on race day; any injury, even a small one, and it's an opportunity lost forever. Which brings us to the final circumstance that makes winning the Triple Crown so tough. A horse gets just one opportunity in a career.

John Elway got 16 seasons to win a Super Bowl and finally won his first in his 15th year. If Tiger Woods doesn't win the grand slam one year, he has the next. But Big Brown gets just this one shot -- and it all has to go just perfect.

Photo:  Gene Sweeney Jr./Sun

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Maybe it wasn't the most memorable game an Orioles team has ever played and its overall significance -- it got this team that's been bobbing at break-even all season back to a game over .500 -- may not turn out to be very great in the standings.

On the other hand, if you stuck with last night's 10-9 O's win over the Yankees in 11 innings, chances are that it will stick in your memory bank for a while and maybe it will become part of the adhesive that helps make this team become a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

In my case, I started with the game the old-fashioned way, listening on the radio driving on I-95, including the remarkable Orioles' fifth inning when Melvin Mora, Luke Scott and Kevin Millar hit homers in the space of five at-bats. For Millar it was the second of the game and for the team, it was a total of five homers. And all I kept thinking with the game tied at 8-8 was how much of a shame it would be for this team, which has such a tough time mustering offense, to lose after hitting five home runs.

That's how you begin to think if you follow this team close enough, right?

By the seventh inning, I had switched to TV so I did get to see Brian Roberts' incredible double-play in the top of the 11th that kept the game close. Bases loaded with Yankees and no out. It was a wickedly sharp grounder that Roberts turned into an unusual 4-2-5 double play.  New York did move a run across for a 9-8 lead but the play kept the Orioles within striking distance -- and strike they did, loading the bases themselves with one out and the score tied 9-9. That's when Alex Cintron, who has all of 14 at-bats as an Oriole, won one of the team's most remarkable games in recent history with a fly ball single.

Again, if you stayed with this one, you'll remember it like a terrific movie for all the little things.  The Orioles coming back three times -- twice from four back. The nine homers, all of New York's by Yankee big names like Rodriguez and Giambi and Abreu and Damon. The hour-plus rain delay. Yankee Hideki Matsui's at-bat in a driving rain in the top of the ninth that ended in a line drive out to Millar with runners on second and third.

Certainly, baseball is a game where you turn the page quickly -- 162 games a season requires it.  But Orioles fans who saw last night's game, should return to this one in their thoughts and enjoy it over and over, and O's fans who are just hearing about it today, should hope that its effect remains with the team for a good long while.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

There's good news and bad news for the NHL if U.S. interest in the sport can be partly gauged by the number of newspapers willing to cover the Stanley Cup Finals this year between Pittsburgh and Detroit.

The good news is that more American newspapers are sending reporters to cover the Stanley Cup Finals this year than last when Anaheim played Ottawa. The bad news is that the increased number of papers (outside of the two participating cities) is just eight. That's right, just eight American newspapers are covering the entire series between clearly two of the league's more popular teams. A additional handful of papers will cover a portion of the Stanley Cup Finals. In Canada, outside Toronto, only two dailies are covering the full series.

It has been a mixed bag for the NHL in trying to regain its popularity since the lockout season of 2004-05. According to a story in Canada's Globe & Mail, TV ratings and Internet traffic for the NHL were up this year. However, newspapers are coping with the tough economics of the newspaper publishing business and even papers in strong U.S. hockey markets, such as Philadelphia, are not sending reporters to cover the championship series.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

When are people going to figure out that the expression, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" is just a marketing slogan.  It really doesn't work that way.

Adam "Pacman" Jones paid a $20,000 debt he owed Caesars Palace and escaped further legal  problems.  There was another $1,675 added to the bill for penalties and processing fees to the Clark County district attorney's office.

The office of Clark County district attorney David Roger had sought an arrest warrant for Jones  because the former Tennessee Titans cornerback had failed to repay $20,000 in unpaid casino markers to the Las Vegas casino.  Jones, who was traded to the Dallas Cowboys recently, took out the markers back in September while cooling his heels during his season-long suspension from the NFL.

Jones' lawyer says the NFL has been told about the situation and that the delay in paying the casino has been because Jones needed to liquidate some assets to come up with the cash for Caesars Palace.

In Nevada, failing to pay casino markers is tantamount to passing a bad check.  Last week, Charles Barkley's gambling habits made news when the Clark County D.A.'s office went after him for $400,000 he owed to the Wynn Las Vegas.  Barkley has paid the Wynn and was also supposed to pay the district attorney's office $40,000 for a processing fee.

Because Jones got the money to the district attorney's within 24 hours of a criminal complaint being filed, he avoided a possible arrest warrant. Jones also is a witness in a 2007 Vegas shooting incident that wounded three people including a man who was paralyzed.  Of course, Jones is still waiting for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to green-light him for 2008 so he can play for his new team, the Cowboys.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

In football, there's a so-called Roy Williams rule outlawing the horse-collar tackle and back in the day, the introduction of a shot clock in college basketball was largely regarded as the Dean Smith rule because of the legendary coach's slow-down four-corners offense.

Now, in IRL, they have the new Danica Rule.  It's a way to handicap race cars with extra weight so that lighter drivers -- Danica Patrick weighs about 100 pounds -- don't have an advantage over their competitors.

Even IRL president Brian Barnhart thinks it's a lit nit-picky making the point that in hoops, they don't make taller basketball players shoot at a higher basket.   Ok, so that's an example flawed by its impracticality but the point this: How far do you go in artificially leveling the playing field over a perceived advantage?

To her credit, Patrick doesn't whine about the rule change.

"They don't do that in other sports. But on the day that everything matters, it's not going to be an issue," she said.

The IRL's big day is coming up, the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.  Some cars in the field, including Patrick's, will carry extra weight near the fuel cell.  In her case, it will be 35 pounds.

Patrick isn't the only driver who will feel the impact of the rule that is administered somewhat oddly. On Team Penske, for instance, there are two drivers who are within two pounds of each other -- Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe -- but Briscoe gets 10 pounds added to his car.  Presumably, that's because of the sliding scale system used in figuring how to handicap the cars.

IRL is not unique in having a weight handicap system.  NASCAR does it and so does Champ Car.

Photo: Associated Press

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

Speaking of the Orioles' hitting, many fans see a most obvious answer.

T-E-I-X-E-I-R-A. Local boy who has already made good.

Mark Teixeira, now toiling for the Atlanta Braves, is off to a bit of a slow start -- for him.  He's batting .279 with five home runs and 27 RBIs so far this season.  But his career 162-game averages are .286, 36 HRs and 119 RBIs.  He'd look awfully good hitting behind Nick Markakis, wouldn't he?  Sure isn't hurting Chipper Jones any.

Well, after this season, Teixeira becomes a free agent and here's the amusing part -- there are competing public Internet campaigns to encourage the Orioles to sign Teixeira and for the Braves to keep him.

The Teixeira-to-the-Orioles Web site is bringmarkhome.withthispetition and the lobbying effort to have him remain a Brave is keepteixeira. 

Ah, this Internet thing ... it's just so democratic.

Photo: Associated Press

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Last night's Orioles' 2-1 loss to the Yankees on a single by New York's Robinson Cano in the bottom of the ninth was more proof -- as if we needed any -- about how thin the difference is between top of the heap and bottom of the barrel in baseball.

Win those three-game series regularly and you go to the playoffs.  Lose three-game series regularly and you're in the basement of your division.  And the difference between the O's winning and losing this most recent three-game series at Yankee Stadium was one run.  And that one run actually resulted from an untimely walk by normally dependable relief pitcher Jim Johnson to Bobby Abreu.  It's the baseball version of  for-the-loss-of-a-nail-a-kingdom-was-lost.

Interestingly, during last night's game, there was an graphic about how the Orioles have done in close games this year. They were at the top of the American League at 11-6 in one-run decisions -- before last night's ninth inning.

It seems to me that one-run losses are often the result of good pitching and bad hitting -- that's a gut-feel feel take on it, not a Bill James analysis. But it just seems to stand to reason that games in which a team gets bad pitching turn into blow-outs.  Orioles' second baseman Brian Roberts blamed last night, and other poor offensive showings by Baltimore, on the veteran hitters, including himself. The Orioles do not have a lineup regular hitting above .265.

Roberts is at .263, Nick Markakis is at .257, Kevin Millar is batting .241.  And that's the way is up and down the lineup.  This is not a shock.  We expected some of this going in.  When you think about it, how many teams can expect to have a winning record with no one in the everyday lineup hitting .300, or close to it. The Orioles are lucky to have gotten key hits here and there to go along with better-than-expected pitching to keep them above .500. Freddie Bynum is at .286 but he has 35 at-bats.   At least, it puts the team's needs into focus.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Last week, we reported that some of the Baltimore Ravens' cheerleaders were in the Dominican Republic doing a photo shoot for their first-ever calendar and Ravens New Media Coordinator Dave Lang was down there filing video reports and lending any assistance needed. For instance, in one video we saw Dave holding a back what looked like fairly weighty palm frond so that the photographer had better composition for a picture.  It looked exhausting.  Dave reports that the hours were long and the work fairly non-stop but on a sympathy scale of 1 to 10, he gets minus-bazillion.

But we are quite grateful that Dave found some time to send along a few photos of the cheerleaders.  Ravens fans might be impressed to learn that the Purple & Black have twins on the squad, Chase and Paige R., pictured here (it's team policy not to release last names).  I'm not sure if any other NFL team can boast of twins ... just could be a league first.

And below, Adriene B.

There are more photos after the jump.

You can order the calendar here and apparently, folks who pre-order get their calendar signed by all 18 cheerleaders.

Photos: Robert Bartlett/Courtesy Baltimore Ravens

Richelle K. (left, getting make-up done),  Amanda G. (right, floral pink suit)

Leslie A. (bottom left, on sand), Tara C. (bottom right, against palm tree)

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

So on top of everything else during the Orioles' 8-0 loss to the Yankees last night, the YES Network, which televises Yankees games, had a bleed-through on its telecast of an infamous line about Orioles hitting coach Terry Crowley. Apparently, during the third inning, with John Flaherty and Ken Singleton announcing and a shot of Crowley in the dugout on the air, in the background a vaguely familiar voice could be heard commenting on Crowley as a player. Something about how Crow was lucky to even be in baseball.

Actually, it's a pretty infamous Earl Weaver routine that has gotten new life on YouTube where Earl is in rare blue form doing a gag Q&A with fan questions. Naturally, it never aired but it's now an Internet classic. Since I saw last night's game on MASN, as most of you probably did, I didn't hear it first-hand, but I've seen the clip that's from the telecast. It gets real quiet in that booth after the call on Adam Jones' groundout to third. Warning: Indelicate language can be heard.

I checked with the YES Network and its explanation is as follows: Out in the production truck (isn't that how all these stories begin), an audio guy pulled up an audio clip regarding Crowley, without knowing exactly was was included, for the edification of his producer to determine whether it was appropriate to air. Somehow, through the magic of television, the Crowley comment seeped from the sanctuary of the production truck out to the throngs of folks out there in Yankees TV Land. YES says it apologizes to its viewers. And, I imagine, to Crowley.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
                    

Kobe Bryant scored 27 points in last night's 89-85 Lakers win over San Antonio in Game 1 of the West Conference but it felt more like 47. That's because Bryant reeled off 23 of those points in the final 17 1/2 minutes just in time for L.A. to rebound from a 20-point deficit.

It was as weird a game as you'll see a great individual player have. In the first half, Bryant seemed determined to penetrate and distribute, almost as if he wanted to see if a lab experiment would produce a certain result. And in the course of doing so, the league's MVP, who has been praised for his unselfishness this season, created some plays for his teammates, most impressively for Pau Gasol. Yet, the Spurs kept pulling further and further ahead. With Bryant scoring just two points in the first two periods, San Antonio led by eight at the half, and then by 20 with less than 18 minutes left in the game  

Finally, with the game approaching the point-of-no-return for the Lakers, Bryant flipped the switch and went to Plan B. It was if he was playing at 78 rpms while everyone else was still at 45 rpms (or better put for the 21st century, Kobe was digital while everyone else was still analog).

Jumpers and moves to the basket -- they all worked, they all went in (including the game-winner with 23 seconds left) -- and San Antonio was left stunned after figuring it had contained Bryant and stolen Game 1 on the road. If you're the Spurs, it has to be a scary feeling.

Photo: Associated Press

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

As surprising as the Orioles sightly-above .500 play has been so far this season, the real astonishing performance this year belongs to the Florida Marlins. The Marlins are baseball's equivalent of a fire-walker -- you see it but you can't figure out how it's done.

With a payroll of just $21.8 million, lowest in the Major Leagues and about one-tenth of the New York Yankees, the Marlins are leading the NL East (26-19) and yesterday added to their early-season accomplishments by handing Arizona's Brandon Webb his first loss of the season after Webb had won his first nine starts. Webb was trying to become only the third pitcher in nearly 90 years to win his first 10 games.

And it wasn't particularly easy because it wasn't as if Webb had a collapse. Down 1-0, the Marlins used a suicide squeeze bunt to scratch out their first run in the fifth and they needed a seven-inning, three-hit effort by their own starter Ricky Nolasco.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The less said about last night's 8-0 Orioles' loss to the Yankees the better. Or maybe better put, there's really not much to say.

Garrett Olson got roughed up -- six runs in less than three innings -- after four decent starts, which battered his ERA but hopefully, didn't rattle his confidence too much. That and third baseman Melvin Mora's injured finger are the biggest concerns coming out of the game. Mora was spiked and while he couldn't grip a ball, x-rays were negative.

Brian Burres pitches for the O's tonight. In his first start against the Yankees, the left-hander was part of a 6-0 shutout.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The excitement over yesterday's NBA lottery was more about who got the No.1 pick rather than the talent that was available -- at least compared to last year when Greg Oden was being hailed as a franchise changer.  Of course, Portland is still waiting to be transformed by Oden who sat out the year after knee surgery.  In the meantime, Kevin Durant, the No. 2 pick overall, wound up as Rookie of the Year for Seattle.

But back to this year -- the 1a and 1b picks are Kansas State forward Michael Beasley and Memphis point guard Derrick Rose, either or both could go on to have long, prosperous NBA careers.  But the lottery buzz is actually over Chicago, with less than a 2 percent chance to win the pick, doing just that.  Miami, the NBA's biggest loser this past season, at least got the No. 2 pick.  The Bulls went from the playoffs, actually the NBA's Elite Eight, in 2006-07, to out-of-playoffs this year.  Along the way, Chicago fired the coach it started the season with as well as the interim and has been spurned by Mike D'Antoni who took the Knicks' job after being booted by Phoenix.

So there's a lot of opportunity for renewal in Chicago and if this gets the Bulls kick-started again, that would be good for the NBA because the Bulls still have a patina of glamor -- albeit, quickly fading -- remaining from the Jordan years.  Just as the Celtics were a team with a legacy that was resurrected this year to great fanfare, a rejuvenated Bulls franchise can only help a league that runs a distant third for the hearts, minds and wallets of the American sports fan.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Just following up on the tale of Sir Charles and the magic beans -- meaning the 400,000 beans he owed the Wynn Las Vegas in unpaid markers -- well, the casino says it received its $400,000 from Barkley yesterday.

However, the Clark County district attorney's office says that it is still owed a $40,000 "processing fee." Barkley said he was unaware of the processing fee but intends to get that paid right away. Last week, the casino filed a civil complaint that Barkley had not paid the markers that date back to October. The D.A.'s office threatened to file a crimininal complaint. Not paying casino markers can be treated like writing bad checks in Nevada.

On TV, Barkley, now an analyst for TNT, too the blame for not getting the debt paid and swore off gambling "for now."

Certainly Barkley is entirely responsible for his gambling and its results -- this is a guy who had admitted to losing $10 million over the years -- but a $40,000 "processing fee?" That seems a little steep, doesn't it?

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
                    

There was certainly a lot for Orioles fans to enjoy about last night's 12-2 O's win over the Yankees in Yankee Stadium but again, for me, the highlight was Daniel Cabrera's pitching, especially his control.

Seven-run first innings are always welcomed but you can't always count on an All-Star like Derek Jeter committing a throwing error to open the door.  But what you can count on is consistent pitching.  And last night Cabrera showed again that he may have reached a plateau that a lot of people had to wonder whether he's ever achieve.

In seven innings, the big righthander gave up just two runs, struck out four and walked zero.  Of his 86 pitches, 52 were strikes.  His record is 5-1 and his ERA down to 3.48.

But let's get back to those walks.  Cabrera has given up just 24 free passes in 67.1 innings this year -- just three in his last 38.1 innings.  And he's worked at least seven innings in his last five straight starts.  In going 9-18 last year, Cabrera gave up nearly five walks per nine innings and made it through seven innings just eight times all year.

While the Orioles relief pitching has certainly been a collective pleasant surprise this season, Cabrera has  been the single most significant positive difference.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Now this is entertainment.

The Clark County D.A. says that he has no knowledge that Charles Barkley has repaid the $400,000 he owes the Wynn Las Vegas and officials at the casino-resort likewise are saying they have not received payment, according to an Associated Press story.

Last night on TNT, Barkley said he had repaid the $400,000 in markers signed in October and that he was giving up gambling "for now," which he said meant the next year or two. Last week, the casino filed a civil complaint saying Barkley owed them the cash and district attorney David Roger has said he'll file a criminal complaint if Barkley doesn't come up with the money by June 9.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

As usual with labor situations, the big picture is complex and the details infinitely more so, so let’s try to sum it up.

Go to the jump

Why did the owners do this?  The owners say that developing economic circumstances is making it more difficult to successfully operate their franchises because of: a) labor costs, b) the rookie pool, c) court decisions that have disallowed teams from recovering money from players who do not fulfill their contracts.

How does this change my life if I’m an NFL fan?  On the surface, for 2008 and 2009, it doesn’t alter a thing.  For 2010, things could get hairy.   That season salary cap rules would change giving teams greater latitude in signing players but players would need six years of service rather than four years to qualify for free agency. And the college draft goes away.  If that sounds like a prescription for chaos, it’s supposed to.  All of those changes that could be harmful to one or both sides are also intended as “poison pills” to get both sides to agree to a new deal.

Can there be a work stoppage?  Not until after the 2010 season.

So how does this get resolved?  You could write a book about how this could be resolved based on all kinds of scenarios.  The owners would obviously like the players to agree to a smaller percentage of the revenues that they are now guaranteed, which is 60 percent.  But that’s unlikely and this is way more complicated that that.  Among the factors affecting the owners is the overall economy and how it impacts financing and building new stadiums and operating the clubs day-to-day.  There are the aforementioned court decisions – Michael Vick is the name that pops into everyone’s head – that put teams on the hook for the salaries of players who aren’t on the field. And not discussed recently is the ongoing intra-owner dispute about how to distribute revenues among the league’s have and have-not franchises beyond the usual gate receipts and TV cash.

So what will happen to avoid a chaotic 2010 and a work stoppage beyond that?  Both sides will continue negotiating.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

First of all, let me make clear that I believe mixed martial arts at the levels we have come to be familiar with is as genuine as any sport -- so I don't want MMA fans to think that I have any negative notions about the sport and its legitmacy.

Having said that, the video here that has been making the Internet rounds is one that may strain credulity -- it's definitely, a have-to-see-it-to-believe-it moment. And the skeptical newspaper reporter in me even doubts what I think I'm seeing sometimes. I have read nothing that suggests that this is anything but legit. You can be the judge.

We have here a mixed martial arts fight between two newcomers, Tyler Bryan and Shaun Parker. I have no idea who is who. They get about nine seconds into their bout, the first for both, when they land simultaneous head blows and go down, knocked out cold.

I kept running the video over and over looking for details. Among the things I'm drawn to is the reaction of the referee. He takes a quick glance and makes an immediate signal. This outcome is called a technical draw, or so I understand. The bout was a Legends of Fighting Championship bout Friday in Indianapolis.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The NBA got the conference championship match-ups that, in its heart of hearts, it probably wanted all along.

The San Antonio Spurs used defense and their playoff savvy to end the New Orleans Hornets run, 91-82, in Game 7 of the second-round series last night.  That sets up a Spurs-L.A. Lakers Western Conference finals, beginning tomorrow, with some of the most recognizable names in the game playing.

In the Eastern Conference finals, it will two familiar powers -- one of them resuscitated -- starting this evening.  The worst-to-first Boston Celtics, riding its Big Three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, against the Detroit Pistons.  Missing, of course, is arguably the league's most entertaining player, Cleveland's LeBron James, but he contributed to a classic Game 7 when the Celtics beat the Cavaliers in that second-round series.

It remains to be seen whether getting some of the the more popular teams and most famous names in the game into the NBA's final four will help with TV ratings, especially in the league championship series.  Last year's rating for San Antonio's title sweep of Cleveland was 6.2, lowest in history and more than 25 percent lower than the previous year -- the Dallas-Miami finals, won by the Heat in six games.

There is a well-known "Laker Effect" -- the phenomenon that Los Angeles frequently boosts the ratings because of the franchise's mystique.  We'll see if the Kobe Bryant-Lakers will have the same TV draw as its predecessors.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The lights along the famed Las Vegas Strip glowed just a little dimmer last night.

Charles Bakley swore off gambling -- "for right now."

Actually, Barkley's "for right now" is significant. He said he meant for the next year or two. Barkley's gambling has become grist for the public mill ever since the Wynn Las Vegas filed a civil complaint last week that he owned the swanky casino resort $400,000 in markers from last October. The Clark County D.A. followed by saying he could seek a criminal complaint. Last night on the TNT basketball show, Barkley said the money had been repaid.

"Just because I can afford to lose money doesn't mean I should do it," Barkley said in a reversal of his former stance of it's-not-a-problem-because-I-can-afford-it.

Here's Barkley with one his broadcast partners, Ernie Johnson Jr, sayimg he's through with gambling for the immediate future,

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

There may not be a lot of love for the Red Sox in these parts but you'd have to be the Grinch that Hates Baseball to not feel good for Jon Lester, Boston's 24-year-old pitcher who threw a no-hitter last night against Kansas City.

Lester's story is well-known by now.  He's a cancer survivor who was diagnosed and battled through non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.  He missed the end of the 2006 season; returned to pitching last July going 4-0 in the regular season and winning the World Series clincher against Colorado, and now this.  It was also Lester's first complete game in the majors.

In the 7-0 win over the Royals, he struck out nine and walked two.  Every no-hitter seems to need a spectacular play and Lester got his in the fourth when center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury went to his left and made a diving catch of a Jose Guillen line drive.  First baseman Kevin Youkilis also snagged a throw from SS Julio Lugo to retire David DeJesus in the third.

Photo:  Associated Press

Posted by Bill Ordine at 8:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The storyline for the Belmont is set. Kentucky-bred Big Brown is trying to become the first colt to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978. And the horse who apparently stands in his way at Belmont is Casino Drive, who was trained in Japan but born in Kentucky. Casino Drive won the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont on May 10 with, of all riders, Kent Desormeaux, who is Big Brown's jockey. Here's a look at Casino Drive (No. 1) in the Peter Pan. He spends a good part of the race on the rail, then makes his move and wins by five or six lengths.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Singer Ryan Parker has outdone himself this time as he strums a cautionary ballad about Charles Barkley profligate gambling to the tune of Kenny Rogers' The Gambler.

Last week, the Wynn Las Vegas, an upscale casino resort, filed a civil complaint saying that Barkley still owned the gambling hall $400,000 in unpaid markers from back in October. Barkley is a big Vegas guy and in interviews has related his exploits of occasions when he has won and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

His famous quote: "Do I have a gambling problem? Yeah, I do have a gambling problem. But I don't consider it a problem because I can afford to gamble."

After the Clark County district attorney got involved and started talking criminal complaint last week, Barkey said it was all his fault and promised to pay up. Enjoy the tune, you may have to turn the sound just a bit at the lower right of the video screen, there's a volume regulator to the right of the little loudspeaker icon.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

If a Utah high school javelin thrower had a little more loft on his state tournament winning toss, this story would not be so amusing. Luckily, though, the thrwo by Provo High's Anthony Miles throw caught newspaper photographer Ryan McGeeney just below the knee causing far less damage than if it had struck him in, say, the torso. McGeeney, an ex-U.S. Marine, works as an intern for the Ogden Standard-Examiner.

The description of the injury is a pip. The javelin pierced McGeeney's leg and an EMT cut off most of the javelin, sort of like they cut of the end of an arrow in an old cowboy movie, but leaving about a foot-and-half in the guy's leg.

As far as McGeeney's condition is concerned, apparently the javelin didn't hit any major blood vessels, ligaments or tendons and caught all skin and a little meat (I realize that's probably not standard medical terminology), so he's apparently going to be fine. A veteran of a tour-of-duty in Afghanistan, McGeeney did what every news photographer I'ver ever known would do -- he pulled out a camera and took a picture of the javelin in his leg. Warning, we have a link to the photo but remember, this is a javelin sticking through a leg. With that in mind, here it is.

This is the best quote from McGeeney on taking a photo of his own impalement: "If I didn't, it would probably be my editor's first question when I got back."

And that sounds like every editor I've ever known, too. More here.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Lorena Ochoa, the quietest superstar in sports, reasserted herself over the weekend by winning the Sybase Classic in Clifton, N.J., her sixth championship of the year.

Ochoa's wins of late have been of the Big Brown variety -- running away from the field. Yesterday, was a little different. She had a substantial lead early in the day, four strokes, but then backed up to the field. Still, no one could catch her and she won her sixth tournament of the season by a stroke over five players. At one point this year, she had captured four straight tournaments.

Ochoa is just 26 and has now won 20 tournaments in a little over two years. It was reasonable to expect that the next few years would feature dramatic battles between the newest women's golf superstar, Ochoa, and the player who had reigned for so long, Annika Sorenstam. But last week's announcement by Sorenstam that this would be her last season of full-time competition changed all that. The 37-year-old Sorenstam wants to focus on other things, both professionally and personally, including starting a family.

That's a good thing for her and she's entitled. Her achievements and contributions to the game provide a platinum legacy.

Meanwhile, Ochoa seems to be destined for a lot more days like yesterday where even when she doesn't play her best golf, the field just won't be up to catching her.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Among all the things to savor in the magnificent NBA Eastern Conference semifinal Game 7 between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers won by the Celts, 97-92, the thing that I found most interesting was that one of the most crucial plays turned out to be an element of the  game that's become almost quaint.

It wasn't a three-point rainbow, or a lightning quick move to the basket or a powerful rebound follow -- it was a jump ball. A jump ball! In today's game, jump balls are an anachronism, a throwback to a time when basketball players got the nickname cagers because the courts were actually enclosed with cages.

Yesterday's jump ball occurred with Boston ahead by three points and about 1:20 left in the game. The Cavs had just missed a shot and Cleveland's 7-foot-3 Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Boston's 6-foot-8 James Posey wound up on the floor clutching the basketball. Jump ball.

As much as Cleveland's LeBron James and Boston's Paul Pierce slugged it out offensively yesterday -- James with 45 points and Pierce with 41 -- this might have been their most classic   matchup moment of the entire game. The Cavs' Ilgauskas clearly wanted the ball to get to James but Pierce dove headlong for the loose tip and snared it as he hit the floor screaming in triumph. Neither team scored for nearly another minute until Boston's Ray Allen made a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left to give the Celtics a five-point lead.

There were certainly many dramatic moments as that game wound down but the scrum for that tip-off proved that sometimes, those old-school skills still come in handy.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

At the beginning of the season, most Orioles fans would have settled for this -- a quarter of the way into the season and the O's are three games above .500 and sitting just off the pace, 2 1/2 games behind the lead in third place in the AL East.  Just like Big Brown in the Preakness.

OK, that's a reach on the comparison because it's a little hard imagining these guys running away from the field in the stretch run the way the powerful bay did as he pranced to the wire Saturday.  But this is a good place for the Orioles.  However, if there was ever a crucial stretch in May, it's coming up right now.  The next thirteen games, six immediately on the road and then seven at home are all against division rivals, the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox.  The two-game sweep of Boston at Camden Yards early last week should be a confidence-builder.

Even seeing their four-game winning streak ended against the Nationals yesterday shouldn't be too disheartening for Baltimore.  Jeremy Gurthrie had a solid seven-inning, five-hit, three-walk outing that just didn't get him the win.  The other team got a little better pitching overall.

Tomorrow's series opener at Yankee Stadium is as interesting as they get.  The Orioles have the suddenly dependable and occasionally dominant Daniel Cabrera pitching against an old Baltimore friend, Mike Mussina.  Mussina's ERA is just a shade under 4.00 but he's put together a 6-3 record so far by holding down his walks to next to nothing, just six in nine games.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

After the Preakness Stakes, where Big Brown breezed to a 5 1/4-length victory against 11 challengers, the powerful bay's trainer, Rick Dutrow, talked about the Belmont in three weeks where the Derby and Preakness winner is expected to face his toughest rival yet, Casino Drive -- a horse from Japan.

“All the Japanese people thought Godzilla was dead,” Dutrow joked. “He’s not dead, he’s here.”

The scary creature description was in vogue today.

Jockey Julien Leparoux, who rode longshot Macho Again to second place, said of Big Brown: "We just got beat by a monster. He might just be a Triple Crown winner ... I don't like to be second, but it's not bad to be second to this horse."

Posted by Bill Ordine at 7:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Big Brown continued his assault today on the Triple Crown by winning the 133rd Preakness Stakes, running away from the rest of the 12-horse field at Pimlico Race Course.

With the victory, the powerful bay colt becomes the 30th horse in thoroughbred history to head to the Belmont Stakes with the elusive Triple Crown in his sights. Only 11 have captured all three of horse racing’s jewels -- the last was Affirmed in 1978.

The most recent horse to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness was Smarty Jones in 2004, but he faltered in the Belmont.

Jockey Kent Desormeaux guided Big Brown to a 5 ¼-length victory in 1:54.8.

Macho Again, ridden by Julien Leparoux, placed second and Icabad Crane, with Jeremy Rose aboard, finished third.

Trained by Richard E. Dutrow, Jr. and owned by IEAH Stables and Paul Poma Jr., Big Brown went off as a prohibitive 1-5 favorite and justified that wagering confidence. He paid just $2.40 to win.

Macho Again paid $17.20 to place and Icabad Crane, $5.60 to show.

Before today’s Preakness, the most common observation about the race was that it was Big Brown’s to lose. Big Brown, who takes his name from the UPS delivery services, had a short resume -- just four career starts -- but it was unblemished, four wins. His two big stakes race triumphs, the Kentucky Derby and the Florida Derby, were both by about five lengths.

In the Kentucky Derby, only the ill-fated filly Eight Belles, who finished second, could stay within hailing distance of Big Brown. Eight Belles never made it off the Churchill Downs track, suffering an injury after she crossed the finish line and being euthanized.

Only one starter from the Derby field even bothered to challenge Big Brown again in the Preakness, Gayego who finished 17th two weeks ago at Churchill.

Starting out of the No. 7 post position, Big Brown got on the rail early trailing pace-setter Gayego. He stayed there through the backstretch and on the far turn, went wide to get some running room. Once he had it, he kicked into a higher gear and pulled away from the rest of the field similar to his performance in the Derby.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 6:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown started out as a 1-2 favorite for the Preakness Stakes, which goes off in about 30 minutes and has now been bet down to 1-5. The only colt that's even remotely close in the wagering is Gayego at 9-1. Kentucky Bear is 13-1. The rest of the 12-horse field is 20-1 or higher.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The biggest upset of the day occurred in the 10th race when Pays to Dream went off at 19-1 and raced away from the field to win the Dixie Stakes on turf. Pays to Dream, ridden by Javier Castellano, not only had one of the largest margins of victories of the day, 7 1/2 lengths, but also the biggest payoff -- $40.40.
Stay Close actually didn’t but did manage to finish second with Rosie Napravnik riding and Ra Der Dean was third ridden by Horacio Karamanos.

* In the ninth race, Lantana Mob won the Hirsch Jacobs Stakes. Lantana Mob, with Robby Albarado riding, paid $5.60. Silver Edition, with Edgar Prado in the irons, was second and Force Freeze, with M. Clifton Berry aboard, was third.

* In the 11th race, Buy the Barrel, with Gabrief Saez the jockey, had a strong stretch run. Lexi Star, Jeremy Rose aboard, finished second and Bear Now, Jamie Theriot riding, was third.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 5:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

In the eighth race, the Old Mutual Turf Sprint, winner Heros Reward and jockey Javier Castellano faced an unsuccessful claim of interference from jockeys Jeremy Rose and Rosie Napravnik.

Rose was on the second-place finisher True to Tradition and Napravnik was aboard the third-place horse, Blue Sailor. Heros Reward came from second to win by a neck and paid $5.60.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

With the track drying as Preakness Day has moved along, the middle-card races have had close finishes.

* In the fifth race, the all-filly and mare Skipat Stakes, Akronism chased down pace-setter My Sister Sue and won by a neck paying $6 even The third-place finisher was Acinonyx.

* In the sixth race, the Gallorett Handicap, also for fillies and mares but on turf, Roshani battled Lady Digby down the stretch and won by a half-length. Roshani paid $4.40. Valbenny came in third.

* In the Barbaro Stakes, the seventh race, Roman Emperor and Da' Tara separated from the field with Roman Emperor overtaking Da' Tara in the stretch and holding on for the win. Roman Emperor, with Jeremy Rose aboard, paid $5.20. Spurrier was the third-place horse.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

For many hopeful handicappers at Pimlico on Preakness Day, the sight of Rev. Joe Bochenek of St. Brigid's Roman Catholic Church in Canton making his way through the crowd is welcome indeed.

Father Joe leads a contingent of about 350 volunteers from St. Brigid's and the Knights of Columbus who help as ushers and ticket checkers at the Preakness. He's been doing this for 19 years and as the priest makes his way around the bustling apron checking on his volunteers, he wishes everyone who makes eye contact good luck, but some bettors want to take advantage of Father Joe's special connections.

"Sometimes, they want me to bless their betting tickets," Father Joe said. Then, after he sees which horses they've picked, "I tell them, 'You might need a miracle.'"

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

In the first race, Don'trythisathome had the longest name and the fastest trip to the finish line. He paid $6.20 and was followed by Saay mi Name and Archoman.

* In the second race, Media Play was the winner and also plaid $6.20. Access Love placed and Legit Passion showed.

* The first stakes race was the Maryland Sprint won by Starforaday with Barbaro jockey Edgar Prado aboard. Starforaday paid $8.20 and was followed across the finish line by Suave Jazz and Cognac Kisses. Starforaday trailed the field through the far turn and went four wide in the stretch.

* In the fourth race, a locally owned horse won the Deputed Testamony Starter Handicap, which is named after the last Maryland-bred to win the Preakness Stakes. The winner was Let Me Be Frank, owned by Mark Lapidus, who said he grew up just a few blocks from Pimlico. Let Me Be Frank, ridden by Jeremy Rose, won by three lengths and paid $9.60. Gammy's a Winner came in second and Wooded was third.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

It's Preakness Day at Pimlico and O, by the Way wouldn't miss it. 

Skies are sunny, the track is fast, if a little moist from yesterday's rain, and the stands and infield are filling up.

As usual, our first stop was the infield where we were stopped in our tracks by no less than Secretariat and Barbaro, or at least a pair of racegoers wearing horse heads that were supposed to represent those two great horses.

The two were Rob Cochran, 37, of Frederick, (Barbaro) and Scott Styles, 44, of Laurel (Secretariat).  Cochran, a civilian engineer for the Air Force, has been attending the Preakness Stakes for 21 years and Styles, a plumber, for 15 years.  They've been showing up in costume for the last five years or so.

"It's very popular," Cochran said. "It's a very simple gimmick that gets a lot of attention."

Cochran said that the horse masks cost $18 and have paid for themselves many times over, especially in attention from women.

Cochran and Styles have actually gotten national attention for showing up at Triple Crown races in their horse heads, including getting their photos in Sports Illustrated a couple of years ago.  They were at the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago and if Big Brown wins today, they'll travel to the Belmont.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

One of Big Brown's chief rivals for the Preakness has been scratched with a foot bruise.

This morning, it was announced that Behindatthebar will not make it to the starting gate at Pimlico tomorrow.  Behindatthebar trainer Todd Pletcher noticed that there might be a problem with the colt when the Lexington Stakes winner was warming up early this morning at Belmont Park, according to a news release.

Behindatthebar was scheduled for the No. 5 post position.  The early odds had him the number three horse at 10-1 behind huge favorite Big Brown (1-2) and Gayego (8-1).

The scratch leaves 12 horses in the race.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 3:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

A Michigan car salesman won the World Series of Golf in Las Vegas yesterday.

Andrew Johnson, of Davison, Mich., bested four other finalists and won $250,000 when he put his tee shot on a 163-yard, Par 3 playoff hole a few yards from the pin. The tournament is for amateurs and combines golf with poker betting strategy. Fittingly, three of the other four finalists were poker players, Allen Cunningham, Erick Lindgren and Dee Tiller. Lindgren finished second. The fifth finalist was a semi-retried builder from Las Vegas.

Three Maryland golfers were in the field of 80 and all three survived the first round befroe being eliminated the second day -- Rhett Butler, a Rockville insurance agent and last year's WSOG runner-up; Bill Strayton, of Mt. Airy, and Bob Winegard, of Burtonsville. For their first-round win, they each collected $10,000, which is the buy-in amount for the event.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Over the last few years, sports journalism has become as ripe a topic for discussion as the games and sports personalities that the journalists cover.

This trend started with talk radio but really picked up steam when some cyber caveman invented the first Blog, which, when you think about the sound of it, has a very cavemanish ring to it. A fair amount of blogging, regardless of the subject matter, fixates on other media -- print, broadcast and even cyber -- because many bloggers are motivated by what they perceive as a disconnect between institutional media and the public that media is suppose to serve. And bloggers believe they can bridge that gap.

Which brings us to the granddaddy of all sports media stories to date -- the Boston Herald's now discredited Super Bowl eve report that the Patriots taped the Rams walk-through prior to the Super Bowl back in 2002. By now, even penguins in Antarctica know that's not true and the Herald has fallen on its sword with an unusual front-page apology to the team and its fans.  Today, the reporter responsible for the article that appeared on Feb. 2, John Tomase, donned sackcloth and ashes in a lengthy apology and explanation of what went wrong.

You can study and pick apart Tomase's explanation all you want -- the reliance on hearsay accounts, the  degrees of distance that certain sources had with events, misinterpretations of events that Tomase did confirm and it really comes down to two things.  There was a fatal urgency in getting it first, and there was a breakdown in the checks-and-balances that are supposed to be a prudent and essential part of the machinery in any newsroom operation.

If you follow Tomase's narrative and put yourself in his place, you can see how he could be seduced into arriving at the mistaken gut belief that the Patriots taped the Rams' walk-through six years ago.  But in committing a gut belief to ink and paper, or even pixels, most reporters turn into Hamlet.  Contemplating another type of irrevocable action, the Bard's melancholy Dane says, "Conscience does make cowards of us all."  Grafting that thought onto the practice of journalism, we should all be suitably apprehensive about going into print until we are absolutely sure we have the story cold.

In Tomase's case, the scoop -- too often journalism's fool's gold -- contributed to making him  braver about the merits of his story than his reporting warranted.

But even more concerning is how the system apparently broke down at the Herald. Before the days of elaborate ethics codes and newsroom ombudsmen, journalists lived by the old cigar-chomping editor's admonition, "If your mother tells you she loves you, CHECK  IT OUT!"  Just as the Golden Rule sums up some of the most complex faith dogma, that trusty newsroom aphorism covers a lot of sound media practices territory.

Journalism, especially investigative journalism as it is practiced at the level of a metropolitan newspaper, is a highly collaborative enterprise.  Above the reporter is an assigning editor.  That assigning editor will usually consult with still another higher editor on a major story, such as the earth-shaking one that ran on Feb. 2 in the Herald about the Patriots' alleged transgression in 2002.  Then, there is the last line of defense, the copy desk, where at least two more editors often take a look.  Sometimes in this business, having someone's back means protecting him or her from a self-inflicted wound.  Unless Tomase bamboozled his superiors (and I doubt he would still have a job if he did), others at the Herald -- some with more stripes on their shoulder than Tomase -- failed in their duties as well. 

In his article today, Tomase made a personal observation that was particularly sobering.  He called the Rams' walk-through story something that he'll have to live with the rest of his life.  I hadn't thought about it in those terms but he's probably right.  This is the sort of thing that winds up in a person's obituary.

And I believe that Patriots fans who think that the story may have had some impact on New England's Super Bowl loss to the Giants three months ago are convinced it should also be etched on the guy's tombstone.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

That Charles Barkley, he's such a card.

After the Clark County, Nev., district attorney's office started talking criminal complaint because of Barkley's $400,000 in unpaid markers to the fancy-schmancy Wynn Las Vegas, the former NBA star and TV commentator promised to make good on the debt. 

Reached at a golf tournament yesterday Barkley blamed himself for letting so much time pass -- the markers were signed back in October -- but he also said: "All they had to do is call and say, 'Hey, you owe us this money.'"

If you're not rolling on the floor laughing right now, apparently you have no idea how casinos operate.  Someone owes them 400-large and they just keep quiet, kind of like you do when your buddy forgets to pay back that $60 he borrowed?

Uh, here's what part of casino's civil complaint said: "To date, and despite repeated demands, Barkley has refused to repay the $400,000."

"Repeated demands," yep, that sounds more like a casino that's owed $400,000.  And in Nevada, where they're real serious about unpaid debts to casinos, refusing to pay a marker is sort of like writing a bad check.

So Barkley wants everyone to know that he's not broke and intends to pony up the money.  But there's a serious side to this that I wrote about in today's Sun.

There is a tendency to write off Barkley's well-known gambling as the relatively harmless vice of choice of a well-heeled bon vivant.  But when you're a punter like Barkley -- who has claimed to lose more than $2 million at a stretch -- your pockets just might not be deep enough, and richer men than Barkley have faced disgrace because of it.

Photo:  Associated Press

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

The final Preakness horse we're taking a look at is the one who has dominated Triple Crown talk ever since his nearly five-length victory in the Kentucky Derby. Big Brown is a runaway 1-2 favorite with his closest rivals in the handicapping being Gayego (8-1) and Behindatthebar (10-1). As many fans know, Big Brown has a brief resume -- four races -- but it's spotless, four wins.

He shrugged off the disadvantage of the No. 20 starting gate at Churchill Downs, took the long way around the track on the outside and then at the top of the stretch, kicked into another gear. Big Brown ran away from all but the filly, Eight Belles, who gamely chased him to the wire before stumbling well after the finish line and suffering injuries that forced her to be euthanized.

Big Brown, who raced once as a two-year old in September and not again until March, came into prominence at the Florida Derby, which he won by a good five lengths as well. In that one, he led the entire way and was pulling away coming to the wire.

His name comes from the UPS delivery service and he has the No. 7 post position for tomorrow. Some rival trainers have expressed the notion that the only way for Big Brown to be beaten is for him to get bounced around a little by the pack. He is trained by former Marylander Rick Dutrow and is ridden by Kent Desormeaux.

Here he is at the Kentucky Derby (No. 20) and then at the Florida Derby (No. 12).

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Gayego, who was just announced as a Preakness starter earlier this week, is the only colt from the Kentucky Derby field to challenge Big Brown here in Baltimore. Gayego, who was flown in from the West Coast for the Preakness, was having a pretty good year until he finished 17th out of 20 starters in the Derby.

He won the Arkansas Derby (below) and had never finished lower than second in five trips (two as a 2-year-old). In winning the Arkansas Derby he stayed with pace-setter and Preakness entrant Tres Borrachos for most of the race and took command in the final turn holding off a challenger, Z Fortune, in the stretch. Tres Borrachos finished third in the Arkansas Derby. At Churchill Downs, Gayego got off to a poor start from the No. 19 post position and never overcame the traffic. Next to prohibitive favorite Big Brown, Gayego has the next lowest odds at 8-1. At Pimlico, he'll be wearing blinkers to help him focus and he'll be coming out of the No. 12 hole so he'll need a good break from the gate. The jockey is Mike Smith. It may not mean much but in recent years, Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex and Curlin all won the Arkansas Derby and, of course, also won the Preakness.

Tres Borrachos is one of the many longshots who some believe is just filling out the field for Big Brown. He has seven career starts with one win. As you'll see in the video, Tres Borrachos (No. 2) likes to get off to a fast start and tomorrow, he'll be coming out of the No. 2 gate so that should help him. His jockey is Tyler Baze. In the video, Gayego is No. 4.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

By now, you're probably aware that the Orioles completed a two-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox yesterday with a 6-3 win, as starter Daniel Cabrera went seven innings (zero walks) to raise his record to 4-1, closer George Sherrill got his 15th save and Jay Payton hit a grand slam. The Orioles are two games over .500 with a weekend series coming up against I-95 National League rival Washington. And if you haven't been to Camden Yards lately, you may not have seen the update of Orioles Magic.

Well, here it is from YouTube via Yahoo.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)
                    

Yankee Bravo has been a horse for all seasons, or at least all track surfaces. He started his career in England on turf (a win) and made his last run at the Santa Anita Derby (finishing fourth) on synthetic surface. In between, he had his lone race on a regular dirt track -- which, of course, he'll race on for the Preakness -- at the Louisiana Derby on March 8 finishing third. For his career, he has three wins (his first three races) in five starts.

Yankee Bravo has a good post position for Saturday, No. 4, and he'll be ridden by Alex Solis. Here's Yankee Bravo (No. 8) at the Louisiana Derby coming from the back of the pack to show.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Stevil's trainer, Nick Zito, has been making more news at Pimlico than the colt with Zito explaining his preferences for dirt tracks over synthetic surfaces. Zito believes more work and research can be done with dirt tracks to help protect race horses and he's not convinced that synthetic is a cure-all.

Meanwhile, his horse will be going out of the No. 9 position on Saturday with John Velazquez riding. Stevil won his maiden in October but has been a little ho-hum since with five finishes ranging from second to fifth. His most encouraging outing may have been his most recent, a fourth in the Blue Grass Stakes on April 12 where several Kentucky Derby horses ran and he came in just behind another Preakness contender, Kentucky Bear. Here's Stevil (No. 4) in the Blue Grass.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Giant Moon may be an interesting longshot in the Preakness. Looking at his chart, bettors will be put off by the fact that he finished out of the money in his last two races, both graded. But the colt was four-for-four prior to that, including the Count Fleet in January (below) where he shows a lot of heart heading to the wire.

The big blemish on the New York-bred's resume is finishing ninth in the Gotham Stakes but the race was on a muddy track and jockey Ramon Dominguez reeled him in to avoid injury. In the Wood Memorial on April 4, Giant Moon finished fourth but was just two lengths behind the winner and fourth-place Kentucky Derby runner Tale of Ekati. He got a less-than-desirable post draw for the Preakness, the No. 11 hole.

Here's Giant Moon (No. 10) in the Count Fleet:

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Three of the Preakness entrants had their last outing in the same race, the Lexington Stakes won by Behindatthebar. You can see here why the colt, who had his early starts in California, was installed at least at reasonable odds, 10-1, behind prohibitive favorite Big Brown (1-2).

In the Lexington on April 19, Behindatthebar comes from way back to run down three horses in the stretch, including Preakness starter, Riley Tucker. Also making a late charge but about a length-and-a-half behind Behindatthebar was another Preakness starter, Racecar Rhapsody.
Behindatthebar, who starts from the No. 5 hole Saturday, has won three of his five starts and the Todd Pletcher colt has been working at Belmont. David Flores is in the irons.

Riley Tucker has been training at Belmont, too, under Bill Mott. Since winning his maiden at Belmont, the dark bay has run six more times, including some graded stakes races, and he's hit the money five times but no more victories. Starting from the No. 10 gate at Old Hilltop, he's being ridden by Barbaro jockey Edgar Prado, who already has three trips on Riley Tucker.

Racecar Rhapsody has been training at Churchill. The colt has won once, as a two-year-old. As a three-year-old, he has two races, both of them fourth-place finishes. Racecar Rhapsody starts from No. 6 and Robby Albarado is the jockey.

Here's the Lexington:

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

In the draw for post positions yesterday, Preakness favorite Big Brown drew No. 7 in the 13-horse field for Saturday’s 133rd Preakness. Maryland Jockey Club linemaker Frank Carulli made the Kentucky Derby winner a 1-2 favorite

Gayego, the 17th-place finisher in Derby and coming out of the No. 12 hole Saturday, was installed at 8-to-1. Behindatthebar was rated at 10-1.

Here are the early Preakness odds.

Post Name Odds

No. 1 Macho Again 30-1
No. 2 Tres Borrachros 30-1
No. 3 Icabad Crane 30-1
No. 4 Yankee Bravo 15-1
No. 5 Behindatthebar 10-1
No. 6 Racecar Rhapsody 30-1
No. 7 Big Brown 1-2
No. 8 Kentucky Bear 15-1
No. 9 Stevil 30-1
No. 10 Riley Tucker 30-1
No. 11 Giant Moon 30-1
No. 12 Gayego 8-1
No. 13 Hey Byrn 20-1

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Sun sports writers Jamison Hensley and Mike Preston may cover the inconsequential aspects of the Baltimore Ravens, such as the progress of first-round draft pick, quarterback Joe Flacco. But we here at O, by the Way keep track of the really important developments within the organization -- like how the new cheerleader calendar photo shoot is going down in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

Actually, the guy with the real interesting assignment is Dave Lang of Ravens.com. Dave is  accompanying the cheerleaders on the photo shoot and is producing the appropriately titled "I Love My Job" Video Blog for the team Web site. The video reports are on the right side of the home page. Yesterday was water aerobics and beach dance lessons. Dave writes that this calendar duty may look like a "sweet gig" but he assures us that it's a lot of hard work, too (uh-huh).

Well, I can understand that. For instance, someone has to retrieve those wayward volleyballs being hit  by those cheerleaders. We didn't get an identification on the Ravens cheerleader here but we're pursuing that information because that's our job.

Photo: Shawn Hubbard/Courtesy Baltimore Ravens

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Maryland golfers did a good job in getting through the first round of the World Series of Golf in Las Vegas on Tuesday but all three were eliminated yesterday. The tournament combines golf with the betting strategy of poker.

Rockville's Rhett Butler, last year's WSOG runner-up and a fifth-place finisher in the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2006, was eliminated yesterday on No. 16 at Paiute Golf Resort when he risked his remaining 31,550 "chips" against a player who had about double that amount. Butler, who has a seven handicap, was in the top flight.

Mt. Airy's Bill Strayton and Burtonville's Bob Winegard were competing against each other in the third flight. That foursome was won by poker professional Erick Lindgren. Another poker pro, Allen Cunningham, made the final round from a flight that included comedian Ray Romano.

Today, the five finalists will play against each other with the winner getting $250,000. The prize money for the remaining finalists goes like this: $60,000, $50,000, $40,000 and $30,000. Players who made it to the second day, including the three Maryland players, won a minimum of $10,000, an amount that covered their buy-in.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Holy smokes, when did the Ravens become the Rodney Dangerfield of the NFL?

Can we expect a little stand-up here from John Harbaugh: "I'm tellin' ya, we just don't get no respect."

The total over-under wins for the upcoming season have been posted and the Ravens' number at the Las Vegas Hilton is sitting right there with the likes of the Raiders and 49ers. Actually, the Ravens are getting even less respect when you figure in the associated odds.

The Ravens over-under number is 6 (which does happen to be one more victory than they had a year ago). The associated odds are Over: +110, Under: -130.

Translation: If think the Ravens will win more than six games, you're betting $100 to win $110 (you actually collect $210 including your original bet). If you think the Ravens will win fewer than six games, you have to bet $130 to win 100.

In contrast, the Raiders are also at an over-under of 6 wins but the Over is -160 and the under is +140. The 49ers are also at an O-U of 6 with an Over of -150 and Under of +130.

Full odds after the jump

2008 NFL REGULAR SEASON WINS

TEAM WINS OVER UNDER

CARDINALS 7.5 OVER -140 UNDER +120

FALCONS 4.5 OVER -160 UNDER +140

RAVENS 6 OVER +110 UNDER -130

BILLS 7.5 OVER -175 UNDER +155

PANTHERS 7.5 OVER -140 UNDER +120

BEARS 8 OVER -110 UNDER -110

BENGALS 7 OVER -140 UNDER +120

BROWNS 8 OVER -120 UNDER EVEN

COWBOYS 10.5 OVER -150 UNDER +130

BRONCOS 7.5 OVER -135 UNDER +115

LIONS 6.5 OVER -130 UNDER +110

PACKERS 8.5 OVER +130 UNDER -150

TEXANS 7.5 OVER -110 UNDER -110

COLTS 11 OVER +150 UNDER -170

JAGUARS 10 OVER -120 UNDER EVEN

CHIEFS 5.5 OVER -140 UNDER +120

DOLPHINS 5.5 OVER -120 UNDER EVEN

VIKINGS 8.5 OVER +105 UNDER -125

PATRIOTS 12 OVER -120 UNDER EVEN

SAINTS 8.5 OVER -140 UNDER +120

GIANTS 8.5 OVER -130 UNDER +110

JETS 7.5 OVER -150 UNDER +130

RAIDERS 6 OVER -160 UNDER +140

EAGLES 8.5 OVER -140 UNDER +120

STEELERS 9 OVER -130 UNDER +110

CHARGERS 10.5 OVER -140 UNDER +120

49ERS 6 OVER -150 UNDER +130

SEAHAWKS 8.5 OVER -150 UNDER +130

RAMS 6.5 OVER -140 UNDER +120

BUCS 8 OVER +110 UNDER -130

TITANS 8 OVER -110 UNDER -110

REDSKINS 7.5 OVER -120 UNDER EVEN

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)
                    

Well, it's not surprising that Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter didn't come away from his interview with Matt Walsh quite as satisfied as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that that there's no more to be learned about Spygate.

During a press conference today, Specter called for an independent investigation similar to baseball's investigation of performance enhancing drug use conducted by former Sen. George Mitchell.  Specter mentioned that during yesterday's questioning of Matt Walsh by the NFL that a New England Patriots attorney participated.  Specter mentioned the lack of discussion about video taping activities between 2002 and 2005.  And he tossed out a reminder of the inconsistent release of information by the NFL early in its inquiry.

Note that Specter called for what would amount to an investigation initiated by the NFL and conducted by an independent investigator a la Mitchell.  For now, the Specter only hinted at  marshaling government resources regarding the issue.  Considering Goodell shrugged his shoulders and said yesterday that he had nowhere else to turn, he could argue that an independent investigator would likewise have nowhere else to turn.  And remember, the Mitchell investigation, without subpoena power, only got the traction it did because of help from federal investigators who themselves were investigating drug-related offenses.

None of that is even remotely the case here.

For all the criticism Specter has gotten for his Comcast connections in taking on the NFL, I think he has been good for the fan.  For instance, if it weren't for Specter and Sen. Pat Leahy of Vermont pushing the right buttons, much of the country would not have seen the Patriots-Giants historic regular-season game.  And Specter's vigilance on the issue of the NFL honoring its end of the longstanding anti-trust bargain long predates the fight between the cable TV industry and the NFL Network.

But I expect in this case that Goodell will basically thank the senator for his interest and ignore the independent investigation suggestion as best he can.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

Three Maryland golfers have made it to today's second round of the World Series of Golf being played in Las Vegas, including Rockville insurance agent Rhett Butler who finished second in the unusual tournament last year.

The other two players who are listed as being from Maryland among 20 survivors from an original field of 80 are Bill Strayton of Mt. Airy and Bob Winegard of Burtonsville.

The tournament mixes golf with the betting strategies of poker. Players start out with a certain amount of "chips." They ante before each tee shot and then wager before each of the following shots on their chances to win the hole.  If a player fails to call a bet or raise and drops out of that hole, he or she loses the chips wagered to that point.

Players play in foursomes and advance to the next round by eliminating their three competitors.

"There were better golfers out there than me," Butler said, "but I think I had the advantage on betting strategy."

Butler knocked out all three rivals in his opening foursome at the Paiute Golf Course on holes No. 14, 15 and 17.  With the wind gusting to 50 mph,  Butler (a seven-handicapper) was putting for eagle on the par 5 No. 17 when he knocked out his final opponent.  He wound up three-putting for par but it was good enough for the win.

Butler not only finished second in last year's inaugural World Series of Golf and won $60,000 but more lucratively, he finished fifth in the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2006 winning $3.2 million.

The winner of the World Series of Golf gets $250,000.  Each of yesterday's survivors earned back at least their buy-in for the tournament, $10,000.  Included in the remaining field are poker professionals Erick Lindgren and Allen Cunningham as well as comedian Ray Romano.  Eliminated were poker pros Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson and Phil Gordon as well as last year's event winner Mark Ewing.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

There's a lot of negativity crackling through the New England sports atmosphere today.

Of course, the Orioles made their contribution with last night's 5-4 win over the Red Sox but the big story up is the remnants from Spygate.  After the Matt Walsh-Roger Goodell sit-down produced no new news, at least relative to espionage, Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady did a radio interview where he praised the Super Bowl victors, the Giants, but was disdainful of divisional rival, the Jets.  And while giving the it-was-wrong, we-paid-the-price and we've-moved-on speech on Spygate, Brady ripped ESPN analysts, including former players, for stoking the story.

Brady: "It's just kind of the environment right now, though. I think that's the way that guys make it. They just say the craziest things."

And finally (if there is a finally to Spygate), the Boston Herald made an unusual mea culpa for it's Super Bowl-eve report that laid the groundwork for months of speculation about the supposed taping of the Rams walk-though prior to the Super Bowl back in 2002.

The paper apologized to the everyone connected with the Patriots from Bob Kraft to the folks sitting at home watching on TV. In part, in read:

The Boston Herald regrets the damage done to the team by publication of the allegation, and sincerely apologizes to its readers and to the New England Patriots’ owners, players, employees and fans for our error.

And one more thing, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter still hasn't held his press briefing as a result of his talk with Walsh yesterday.  So it's not exactly all over quite yet.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Earl Weaver would have been proud.

The classic three-run home run that Weaver believed was one of the fundamental keys to winning -- and the relief pitching version of walking on water -- allowed the Orioles to knock off the Red Sox last night, 5-4.

The three-run homer belong to Luke Scott who, with one swing in the third inning, erased a ragged three-run first inning when Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie gave up three hits to the first four batters and the defense committed two errors (definitely not on Weaver's keys-to-winning list).

But much more dramatic was the relief pitching of Jim Johnson who put down a Red Sox rally in the seventh by getting Manny Ramirez to hit into a 1-2-3 DP with the bases loaded and no out and getting the next guy on a fly out.

Encouraging was that the Orioles didn't pack it in for the night after the rotten start.  Guthrie went on to pitch six innings, striking out seven and walking just one and the lineup kept leaning on Boston ace Josh Beckett until the third-inning break-through when the O's went ahead, 5-3.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

If Spygate has legs beyond today, it will require new evidence, new witnesses, new something.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell met with former Patriots employee Matt Walsh and said that whatever Walsh told him did not add to what the league already fundamentally understood to be the circumstances of the Patriots' violations of NFL policy regarding video recording opponents.

According to Walsh (according to Goodell) there was no taping of the St. Louis Rams' walk-through prior to the Super Bowl between the two teams which was won, of course, by New England.  Walsh is speaking with Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter presumably this afternoon and it remains to be seen whether Specter's concerns are allayed as a result of his questioning of Walsh.

My guess is that the senator will not be as ready to put the issue to rest as the commissioner but we'll see on that score.  Regardless, unless Specter wants to throw the weight of the federal government behind a further investigation -- a prospect I'm reluctant to handicap -- this marks the end of the inquiry.

All of which means that arguments about whether or not the Patriots' legacy is tainted will be consigned to bar stools, and the 21st century version of the bar stool -- Internet message boards and chat rooms.  People who are predisposed to dislike the Patriots will say New England have forfeited comparisons with the Steelers of the 1970s or the 49ers of the '80s or the Cowboys of the '90s because they "cheated."  Patriots backers will say that everyone in the NFL is an angle-shooter given the chance and the Patriots deserve their Super Bowls.

If this is the end of Spygate, my bet is that in 10 years or so, this chapter in NFL history will be couched in much the same way as the debate over whether the Giants' Bobby Thompson had the pitch signal when he hit the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" off Brooklyn's Ralph Branca.  Somewhere down the line, Spygate will make a historical transition from being divisively scandalous to merely being colorful.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

Macho Again helped save his three-year-old season with a surprise win in the Derby Trial about a week before the Kentucky Derby. In that race, he outran the favorite, Kodiak Kowboy, and paid $14.20.

Macho Again, a Florida-bred, has three wins in eight career starts but he disappointed with a seventh-place finish in the Lane's End Stakes. But that was a synthetic surface and Macho Again appears to be one of those horses who doesn't run well on synthetic. Of course at Pimlico, he'll be on dirt.

The gray colt has been training at Churchill Downs and is scheduled to fly into BWI Marshall tomorrow night along with Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness favorite Big Brown. Julien Leparoux is the jockey. We have a video of Macho Again's trainer Dallas Stewart talking about his horse's Preakness preparations followed by a workout at Churchill.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Kentucky Bear was the first Preakness challenger to arrive at Pimlico and has been working out at the Baltimore track. Kentucky Bear's trainer Reade Baker said that he wants his horse to become as familiar as possible with the track, the paddock, the starting gate. He'll be ridden by Jamie Theriot.

The colt was a bargain buy at the Keeneland auction going for just $40,000 after he broke through some fences just before the sale and got a little nicked up. Kentucky Bear has had three races with one win in his maiden at Gulfstream. His last outing was the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland where he finished third ahead of another scheduled Preakness entrant, Stevil. In the Blue Grass, Kentucky Bear is No. 2 (the video clears up after the first second or two).

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The much-anticipated meeting between NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and former Patriots employee Matt Walsh is being held today and afterward, Goodell is scheduled to hold a press conference in New York apparently to disclose what he learned.

The widespread belief is that the NFL wants to put the matter behind it with the conclusion that Goodell had previously arrived at -- that the Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick (left) derived negligible advantage from the practice of taping opponents' signals. And no wonder.  To conclude the opposite puts a virtual asterisk next to those Patriots' Super Bowls, which make up a significant portion of the league's legacy.

In a column today, ESPN's Sal Paolantonio suggests that Goodell's questioning of Walsh should focus on understanding something about Belichick's intentions and before-the-fact knowledge of wrong-doing (the New England coach's defense is that he didn't realize what he was doing was against NFL rules and the whole episode was merely an unfortunate result of misinterpreting the regulations).

It's an interesting point made by Paolantonio, a former news reporter and the author of a book on former Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo.  However, I'm not sure that Walsh's recollections -- after all, he left the Patriots in an unhappy parting more than five years ago -- and Wash's own interpretations of events and second-party motivations will represent definitive evidence of further Patriots' guilt.  Raise suspicions, perhaps, but not necessarily present Goodell with a smoking gun. Unless the league wants to continue peeling this onion by bringing in more people for more depositions (which could mean more grants of indemnification from civil liability).  And, of course, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter is still out there certainly available to stir the pot.  He gets his crack at Walsh, as well.

See, this is the difference between real life and sports.  Sports has nice neat endings called final scores with the issue settled in a couple of hours.  Real life is not nearly so accommodating.

Photo: Julie Jacobson/AP

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

For Terrell Owens non-fans who always labeled the Cowboys receiver a clown, here's some validation of that opinion.

Owens will be making a guest appearance on the MyNetworkTV's situation comedy "Under One Roof" tomorrow night at 8 p.m.  The premise of the show is that ne'er-to-do and star of the show, rapper-comedian-reality show goof Flavor Flav, is living with his well-to-do relatives.  In tomorrow's episode, the Owens character introduces himself as a long-lost brother who Flavor Flav suspects is a con artist looking for cash for an Internet venture. 

Owens, who had a small part in the Oliver Stone football movie "On Any Given Sunday," is hoping  he may have a career after football in show business.  You can be the judge.  This link has a couple of Owens moments from tomorrow's show.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

It was a weird evening for the Cleveland Indians.  In a double-header against Toronto, Cleveland pitchers held the Jays to zero runs over 18 innings and got an unassisted triple play and still managed to just split.

In the first game, the Indians' Fausto Carmona threw a five-hit complete game shutout and in the second, Cliff Lee was doing his impression of Bob Gibson (circa 1968) as he lowered his ERA to 0.67 in nine innings of scoreless work.  Along the way, Lee got some help of historical proportions when second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera  turned an unassisted triple-play in the fifth inning.  It was just the 14th unassisted triple play in Major League history.

The Blue Jays -- struggling to score runs -- had runners on first-and-second and tried a hit-and-run.  Toronto's Lyle Overbay poked a line to Cabrera's right.  The second baseman made the diving snag and both runners were committed, one had reached third base and the other second.  Cabrera touched both the bag and the runner at second and he was in the history books.

Cabrera then committed an oops when he tossed the ball into the stands as he trotted to the dugout.  Cleveland's flawless evening came undone in the top of the 10th when Toronto scored three runs off relief pitcher Rafael Betancourt to salvage the split.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Hey Byrn has been running in Florida where he won the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream about a month ago and finished fourth behind Big Brown in the Florida Derby. The colt failed to run in the Kentucky Derby after failing to earn enough money to quaify for the field.

So why the Preakness?

This quote from trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. on the Thoroughbred Times Web site: "The decision to run in the Preakness was made by his owner Mrs. [Beatrice] Oxenberg. She has family up in Baltimore and there's no reason why we shouldn't come. She said she wants to come and taste the crab cakes."

Hey Byrn has three wins in four starts (all at Gulfstream) as a three-year-old and one win in four outings (all at Calder) as a two-year-old.

Here's Hey Byrn (No. 2) in the Holy Bull.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

As part of our walk-up to the Preakness, we're going to profile the field that will challenge Kentucky Derby winner and prohibitive favorite Big Brown.

The first colt we'll take a look can be called something of a favorite son candidate, Icabad Crane. Although a New York-bred, Icabad Crane trains at the Fair Hill Training Center -- the northern Maryland facility that was home to Barbaro -- and furthering Icabad Cranes' claim to some local status is that he won the Tesio Stakes at Pimlico last month. And finally, he'll be ridden by Jeremy Rose who was aboard triumphant Afleet Alex for the 2005 Preakness. Icadab Crane has just four lifetime starts -- three as a three-year-old -- with three wins and a third.

In the Tesio Stakes (below), you'll see that Icabad Crane (No. 3) had a bit of a rough start, was back in sixth and then weaved his way through traffic to catch the leader at the wire.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Superstar Tiger Woods and journeyman pro golfer Paul Goydos don't have a lot in common other than they both make a living hitting a little white ball around a big backyard on weekends.

Woods has won more tournaments in a single month than Goydos has won in his 16-year career. But yesterday, when Goydos' hopes of winning his third-ever PGA tour title sank with his ball into the water in front of the trademark 17th at Sawgrass, Woods would have been sympathetic. 

The hole, which is famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) for its keyhole island design has been described by Woods as being too "gimmicky" to be either the 17th hole of a round or the 71st of a tournament.   Well, yesterday, it was even more decisive as a sudden-death playoff hole that determined the duel between Goydos and Sergio Garcia for the Players Championship.

After Goydos' tee shot hit the water, Garcia put his on the green and parred the hole for the win.

Photo: Harry How/Getty Images

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

I know that sports is supposed to be about the best team winning but if the NBA Western Conference finals winds up being the Utah Jazz against the New Orleans Hornets – two franchises who lacked the simple creativity to change their nicknames when they relocated – the sports public outside of those two places will absolutely go to sleep.

In a New Orleans-Salt Lake City series, the only story line will be about how one team comes from a city that has built its reputation on great music and free-flowing booze against a team from a city that, well, hasn’t. Quick, other than New Orleans’ Chris Paul, name me a player from either team.

Both Utah and New Orleans are tied, 2-2, in their respective conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs. The Jazz beat beat the Lakers in OT and the Spurs pummeled the Hornets yesterday to even things up.

In contrast, consider a possible L.A.-San Antonio series. In this corner we have the league MVP, Kobe Bryant, now an almost sympathetic figure playing gingerly with a bad back, and the Zen master, Phil Jackson. And in the other corner, we have the NBA defending champions and the current original Big Three – Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.

There's even more star power in the stands. When such a series would be in L.A., at courtside, we have the menace of Jack Nicholson and the cool of Ice Cube. In San Antonio, it’s the glamour of Mrs. Tony Parker -- Eva Longoria (right).

Guess who the TV people are rooting for.

Photo: Eric Gay/AP

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
                    

The next three weeks will decide for Orioles fans whether they will have a baseball season -- or at least be convinced that there's a reason to keep their minds on baseball instead of counting the days until the Ravens open training camp in Westminster.

The O's salvaged what could have been a disastrous road trip by beating up on their cousins, the Kansas City Royals, and taking three out of four to finish the 10-game swing at 4-6. They return to Camden Yards at 19-19. If told in spring training that this team would be .500 in mid-May, I would have taken it.

Now, comes the crucible of an 18-game stretch where 12 are at home. More importantly, 15 of those 18 games are with divisional rivals -- the Yankees, Red Sox and suddenly  threatening Tampa Bay Rays. Sandwiched in there is an upcoming weekend series against Washington. Because of Boston's fast start, the O's are four games out of the division lead but  are in a crowded field for second in the wildcard chase (as irrelevant as it may seem at the moment) 2 1/2 games back. If the Orioles can come out of the other side of this still at .500 or even a shade better, it makes June at least worth paying attention to.

It begins tomorrow with a two-game series here -- Jeremy Guthrie and Daniel Cabrera pitch for Baltimore and postseason ace Josh Beckett and Jon Lester for Boston.

You want interesting, at least we've got interesting.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

The Travis County Sheriff's Office has released a tape of Chicago Bears' running back Cedric Benson in custody. The sheriff's office is not the agency that arrested Benson -- that was the Lower Colorado River Authority.

To be frank, the video shows nothing more than Benson walking through a booking facility, apparently compliant. It illustrates little about the events in dispute that involve Lower Colorado River Authority police. It was the river authority police who boarded Benson's boat last weekend and placed him under arrest for allegedly boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest. He was pepper-sprayed when, they said, he was threatening.

Benson has denied being being either intoxicated or uncooperative and has hired a lawyer to fight the charges.

Meanwhile, another witness who saw Benson on land being escorted by police after his arrest suggested they used unnecessarily force on the player.

Toby Patch, who was not a member of Benson's boating party, said:

"As they were taking him up the dock, they stopped. He said, 'I am fine, I can continue walking,' and they put their legs behind his knees and knocked him over his knees and started hog-carrying him," Patch told an Austin TV station.

"They ended up — I don't know why — but laid him on his back, I heard him say, 'Please don't pepper-spray me, please don't pepper-spray me.' It was uncalled for, it was ludicrous, no point for it."

So for whatever it's worth, here's the video of Benson in custody.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Former 49er great Joe Montana has filed a lawsuit for $75,000 against his first ex-wife, Kim Moses, (he has been married three times, I believe) and an auction company for auctioning off several personal items, They included a sentimental note he wrote to her while he was at Notre Dame, a student ID with his photo on it, a letter to Moses' parents in which he discusses football practice and their 1974 marriage certificate. Here's a link to the ID, notes and lawsuit.

Two thoughts. First, Joe has very good penmanship. Second, he ought to be glad she's not selling off the divorce paperwork.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

We have here two goofy videos ... just because it's Friday. The first is of a goldfish playing soccer. What's really amazing about this video is that the goldfish isn't complaining to a referee about being tripped. Oooh-lay, ole, ole, oooh-lay, ole, ole.

The second is of a fan at a Dodgers game making a one-handed snag of a home run ... while holding a child. He got to keep the ball but Child Services took away the baby. Just kidding there.

Thanks to AOL, the Big Lead and Lion in Oil for pointing them out.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Reports detailing the eight video recordings that former Patriots’ employee Matt Walsh turned over to the league may not include any smoking tapes that go beyond what New England coach Bill Belichick already had admitted to but there are a couple of interesting wrinkles.

For one, there was a tape of San Diego offensive signals. To date, it was believed that the Patriots had only been taping defensive signals because sideline-to-quarterback radio communication would have eliminated the need for offensive hand signals.

In addition, the tapes make apparent that was an increasing sophistication in how the tapes were shot and edited as the practice continued. The Walsh tapes date from 2000 to 2002 and later tapes showed a sequence that had coaches signaling instructions, then there was a scoreboard shot of down-and-distance, and then two shots of the resulting play from different angles.

Walsh is expected to meet with NFL officials on Tuesday and then later with Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter who has often shown an interest in the NFL’s activities.

If you take a look at the video that’s part of this link featuring ESPN investigative reporter Mike Fish, he makes an interesting point about the taping. Although it appears there is no new news here, the fact that the older tapes can now be viewed (remember, the league destroyed the more recent spy tapes) raises again the issue of competitive advantage the Patriots may have gained. Fish points out that if the Pats didn’t gain a competitive edge (the league has said that the taping did not impact on the outcome of games), then why would the Patriots have continued to refine their techniques as they went along? It would appear to be an awfully time-consuming exercise if it had no value. Would Belichick waste his staff's valuable time on work that had no payoff?

If nothing else, the Walsh-supplied tapes further fuel the debate over the legitimacy of the Patriots’ legacy.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
                    

I predict that in years to come, the Great Pizza Giveaway will be in all the business school text books as a case of what can happen when you're a corporate smart alec.

People were lined up for blocks in the Cleveland area yesterday as Papa John's made good on its 23-cents pizza mea culpa for dissing Cavaliers' star LeBron James. In the Cavs' playoff series against Washington, the pizza outfit handed out T-shirts at a game in Washington that said "Crybaby" with James' No. 23. It was a reference to a remark made by a Wizards' player about James.

So after a backlash in Cleveland, Papa John's tried to make nice with a promotion where on one day they sold a one-topping pizza for 23 cents (in honor of James' jersey number).  Yesterday, was the day of reckoning and and was it ever popular as you can see here. There wasn't any major unruliness but police were called in at a few locations to make sure things didn't get out of hand.

Apparently, a lot of people like pizza in Cleveland but a few said that they were taking advantage of the offer just to teach the pizza company a lesson not to mess with King James.

Photo: Tony Dejak/AP

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

While the Orioles' 4-1 win over Kansas City can be enjoyed for what it represented at the moment, the end of a five-game losing streak, there are occasionally things that happen in the now that have greater significance as far as the club's future is concerned.

In this case we're obviously talking about pitcher Daniel Cabrera who put together the three-hit complete game. It was the big right-hander's fifth straight start in which he has allowed three or fewer earned runs (four games with two or fewer) and last night on the post-game analysis, I heard a word used that I don't think I've heard applied to Cabrera -- "stopper." We have all heard "dominating" occasionally; "potential" a bunch of times, and too often "disappointing." But stopper was almost startling to have mentioned in the same sentence with Cabrera.

Looking at the big picture, Cabrera is one of those players who really does need to be part of the future. Andy MacPhail can't replace the current roster with 25 entirely new players. Some of these players have to be of a caliber to be part of a contender. Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, Jeremy Guthrie are the obvious ones. There are a handful of others that Orioles' fans can be hopeful about and Cabrera is at the top of that list.

The term stopper implies qualities that Cabrera hasn't shown until lately, consistency and reliability -- and those would make him a valuable piece to the proverbial puzzle.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Longtime newspaper readers out there, may recall an old double-panel comic strip called "There Oughta be a Law." It was a humorous take on the incongruities, even the hypocrisies, in life.

Which has me to wondering how it can be OK for Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie to pursue and get a verbal commitment from an eighth-grader last week and a ninth-grader earlier this week.

We hear about all kinds of rules and policies regarding college athletes working, and contact allowed between college coaches and legitimate high school recruits, and inappropriate team mascots – you name it – so how can this be all right? College coaches hanging around grammar school gyms (even figuratively) with designs on precocious athletes? Just on the face of it, it sounds creepy even if the verbal commitment isn't binding and technically, pointless (although the more subtle effect is to emotionally tie the kid and his family to an institution).

A USA Today story took on the issue today and a blog entry on The Big Lead pointed out that Gillispie didn’t invent the practice of cozying up to athletes barely in junior high and blamed several parties – the Internet, the recruiting tip-sheet crowd, AAU coaches, shoe companies and finally, the college coaches who can’t help themselves because of competitive pressures. And so my point is that that’s where the oversight from umbrella organizations should come in -- to help these desperate competition-stricken college coaches because they simply can’t help themselves.

The NCAA returned our phone call on this and a spokeswoman -- without specifically addressing the Gillispie situation -- explained that that organization prohibits active recruitment of young athletes until the student begins the ninth grade. Obviously, there's a huge difference between non-binding verbal commitments and binding letters of intent. The NCAA puts its weight behind the letters of intent. Those can't be signed until the student is a high school junior. The gray area of contact regarding pre-ninth graders can come about when it's the student that initiates contact with the insitution.

Meanwhile, one of our favorite sports pundits, songwriter Ryan Parker, opined on the issue in his own satirical fashion.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)