I have learned to loathe politics over the year, but I have always loved comedy. Especially Seinfeld. If you've been following the presidential election, you may know about Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. He's the quirky, Democratic, socialist running for president, and he's closer in the polls to Hillary Clinton than any of the other candidates running (or at least trying to), and looks and acts a lot like Larry David, who co-created the "show about nothing," and had his own show on HBO called Curb Your Enthusiasm. David and Sanders are very alike in their mannerisms and Saturday Night Live brought back David, who was a writer for one season on the show back in the 80s, to play the eccentric Senator. It's right up there with Tina Fey's Sarah Palin and Will Ferrell's George W. Bush. Lorne Michaels, PLEASE invite Larry back to do Sanders for as long as he's around during the race. Everyone though Donald Trump was a joke, but he's still around, so why not keep Bernie around a little longer? It might do wonders for ratings.
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When you're known as the lovable losers, you tend to grow on baseball fans, even if those folks aren't fans. The Chicago Cubs were expected to be this good...a year or two down the road. Instead, they've arrived early and look like the favorite to win the National League pennant as they will face the Mets in the National League Championship Series. Chicago went 97-65, which was only good for third place in a tough, National League Central, that boasted the top three records in baseball. They began their playoff run by beating the 98-win, second place Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League wild card game 4-0, thanks to Jake Arrieta's complete game shutout and runs driven in by Kyle Schwarber and Dexter Fowler. With their victory, the Cubs had a date with the first place St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series. It was said by many that whoever came out of the one-game wild card in the National League, Cubs or Pirates, would be a favorite to beat the Cardinals, who slowed down in the final stretch of the year after a really strong start. That projection proved to be right, as the Cubs disposed of St. Louis in five games, clinching a series at Wrigley Field for the first time ever. There's a lot of mystique around the Chicago Cubs franchise. They have the second-oldest ballpark in baseball, with that ivy on the outfield walls, the rooftop seating, and the fanbase has been loyal through all the ups and downs they've experienced over the last century. Oh, and if I may add something else you may already know, they have not won a World Series since 1908 and have not won a National League pennant since 1945. Of course, they came close to making it to fall classic in 1984, 1989 and that infamous 2003 series with Steve Bartman. Also throw in the goat from the 30s and the black cat from the 1969 season for good measure. Just having the Chicago Cubs in the playoff mix makes it more interesting. Television ratings should be good for the NLCS,, and if they make it to the World Series, it might be one of the largest audiences to watch a series in the last 20 years. If the Red Sox could end their drought, the Cubs shouldn't be too far away...right? Oh, and one more thing: The Back to the Future Part II prophecy! There is a scene when Marty McFly travels to the year 2015 and sees a news bulletin announcing the Cubs have won the World Series. By the way, the date was October 21, 2015, which is less than a week away. No hoverboards or hovercars just yet, but maybe a Cubs World Series title will come this year? I lied. One more thing. I promise. A commercial from the Playstation game, MLB 12: The Show, gives us an idea of what might happen if the Cubs win the World Series at Wrigley Field. USC football is in turmoil again. This time, you can't blame it on Mike Garrett. Garrett brought in Lane Kiffin before being replaced by Pat Haden. Haden fired Kiffin after a loss to Arizona State and many would say it was Haden cleaning up the mess that Garrett created. The current mess at USC involving Steve Sarkisian is Pat Haden's, and Haden's alone. Steve Sarkisian, who was Haden's hire, was fired a day after being put on temporary leave after showing up to practice in no condition to work, which is related to a drinking problem he has. Also, some assistants said that Sarkisian appeared to be drunk during the game at Arizona State back in September. While alcoholism is a serious issue and hopefully Sarkisian gets the help he needs, it appears that his problems with alcohol didn't just start recently with the incident at a booster event in August. The L.A. Times has an article that chronicles Sarkisian's drinking habits from his coaching days at Washington. More than 800 pages of receipts, hotel folios and expense reports obtained by The Times from Sarkisian's tenure at Washington show alcohol was a constant presence. Along with the accounts of his drinking, former players at Washington said that they were not surprised about this.
Now, the L.A. Times can gain access to all this information for their story. Didn't Pat Haden has access to this info? When USC hired Haden in 2010, it seemed to be a "spirited" hire. Haden is an old Trojan, just like his predecessor Mike Garrett. The former quarterback led USC to two national titles back in the 1970s. Oh, and like Garrett's hire of Kiffin, Haden hired one of Pete Carroll's former assistants. Was this a "buddy hire"? One of those hires where Haden thought he knew enough about Sarkisian where he did not need to do an extensive background check or did he know about his drinking problem and tried to keep it under wraps? Either way, Pat Haden failed miserably with this hire and his job should be in jeopardy. It appears that Southern Cal wants its athletic department and football program to have close ties with the university, particularly players from the glory days of USC and past assistants during the Pete Carroll era. Having coaches or athletic directors with past ties to the college doesn't guarantee you long-term success. Just ask Notre Dame about Charlie Weis. Speaking of Notre Dame, USC travels to South Bend to play Notre Dame this weekend. The Irish will have seen four different coaches on the Trojan sideline since 2012 after Saturday night's game. It might pain some at the university to hear this, but Pat Haden should be fired and the next head football coach and athletic director should be outsiders. It feels like Haden either tried to keep this information under wraps, or half-assed the background check on Sarkisian.
In the end, you can either root for the red-hot Chicago Cubs, or you can root for the team who was expected to lose, that has nothing to lose.
Pope Francis I is "Poping" in the United States, and he's giving advice on political and social issues. You know you're big when you're speaking to Congress and the United Nations. As a person raised Catholic (and I'm not a good one), I have some questions for him. 1. Does God care about the outcome of football games? 2. If no, does that explain why Notre Dame hasn't won a national title since 1988? 3. Is Tim Tebow an NFL Quarterback? 4. Has God considered talking to Tebow and letting him know he's not? 5. Is Bill Belichick the Devil? 6. Are St. Louis Cardinals fans Satan's messengers on Earth? 7. Did you have Kentucky winning March Madness in your Vatican bracket poll last spring? 8. You know you can't wear white after Labor Day in America, right? 9. Is your visit sponsored by Fiat and DraftKings? 10. How many Hail Marys do I owe you for writing this post? Spygate, Deflategate, now HeadsetGate?
There was actual football on Thursday night as the Patriots had the opening game of the 2015 season to celebrate their Super Bowl 49 win with a symphony, T-Pain and Robert Kraft walking out with the Lombardi trophy while "All I Do is Win" was performed live. The Patriots beat the Steelers 28-21 after a four touchdown performance by Tom Brady, the man centered around a controversy involving under-inflated balls, who had his four-game suspension wiped out by a federal judge because the National Football League mishandled their "independent" investigation. So you have the pomp and circumstance, the national anthem and finally! Kickoff. Time to put all controversy aside, right? Well, that was until the first quarter when it was reported that the Steelers coaches were receiving the Patriots radio broadcast in their ear. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said there have been headset issues in the past when his team plays in Foxboro. Uh, oh! Do we have another case of cheating by New England?! No. This isn't stealing signs or letting air out of footballs to get a competitive edge. It's an odd coincidence that just happened to occur at Gillette Stadium, home to the team that many are convinced have cheated their way to four Super Bowl titles in the last 13 years. Tomlin was clearly irritated during his postgame Thursday night. First, his team lost, and second, he's listening to Bob Socci and homer color commentator Scott Zolak in his ear during the first half while trying to talk to his coordinators and other coaches upstairs. Tomlin is the more vocal version of Belichick. Bill will disregard your question with a scowl and mumble, but Tomlin will be short and direct with you. The NFL said that the malfunction was due to the heavy rain, and the league does control communication on the sidelines. It's an embarrassing moment for them, but some will try to come up with a theory that the Patriots have a man on the staff they call "The Transmitter" who tampered with the Steelers signal to gain a competitive edge. If you think that, I hope you're wearing your tin foil hat. Even Bill Belichick said the Patriots experienced some issues. He wasn't specific on what he was receiving in his ear, but don't think for a second he was receiving Keith Butler calling out defensive plays. The way Brady and Gronkowski abused the Steelers secondary, it wasn't necessary. Also, the Patriots head coach said they've had issues before. But please, for the love of God, do not turn this into another "Gate" situation. I am "gated" out, and a lot of people who follow the NFL are, too. Roger Goodell, who was probably in a secret, underground bunker watching the game Thursday night, moaned when he heard Al Michaels say that the Steelers were getting the Patriots radio team in their ear. But, with the NFL news cycle operation on a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year format, it will have a clever nickname and hashtag on Twitter, and with the Patriots' reputation, people will look far too deep into this headset thing. Side note: Former Patriots tight end, current convicted killer and bad prison inmate Aaron Hernandez was brought up by Chris Collinsworth during the NBC broadcast Thursday night. It was like the joke a comedian makes during a roast that makes the audience groin and go "oh". Too soon? Yes. It will always be "too soon" for Hernandez.
For the fourth-straight year, it's the good, the bad and usually ugly of the FBS-FCS matchups to open the college football season.
Every year, most of these FCS schools are at the mercy of Power 5 conference teams that need a tune-up before they face a school from Conference USA or the Sun Belt the following week. Sometimes, those schools get the great pay day and an upset victory that people will talk about for years (remember Appalachian State's win over Michigan in 2007?). There were two FCS upsets this weekend, but it did not involve any program that has a legitimate shot at the college football playoff. When you see who they are, you will understand. THE GOOD- FCS teams that knocked off the FBS that paid them to show up and be beat (but didn't) SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 41, KANSAS 38 -The Jayhawks are a colossal mess. Charlie Weis was the only person to come out a winner at Kansas last season. Even after being fired four games in, he's still making millions from his Notre Dame contract and now the one at Kansas. Weis is a mediocre college coach who still gets big paychecks from one of the most prominent college football programs in the country. Now he's got K.U. paying him seven figures to not work for them.
Worst of all, in-state rival Kansas State mocked them with their marching band's halftime show. That doesn't look like the Starship Enterprise, Mr. Spock.
PORTLAND STATE 24, WASHINGTON STATE 17 The Vikings are from the Big Sky Conference and beat the Cougars, who were 3-9 overall, and dead last in the Pac 12 North division. THE BAD- Lopsided scores that just missed being "ugly". RUTGERS 63, NORFOLK STATE 13 -Kicking five players off the team didn't hurt the Scarlett Knights. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Spartans were shut out 42-0 in the second half after going into the locker room only down 21-13 at halftime. MIAMI (FL) 45, BETHUNE-COOKMAN 0 The Canes scored 31 in the first half and coasted with two more scores. Another yawner. Next up for the U...Florida Atlantic! At least they are FBS. The Wildcats, who hail from Daytona Beach, had to endure a lightning delay on top of being shut out. THE UGLY- What most of us expect from these games OLE MISS 76, TENNESSEE-MARTIN 3 -The SEC has bragging rights as the best conference in college football. One criticism would be the scheduling of pushovers at the start and in-between games against conference opponents. The Rebels made easy picking of the Skyhawks. They play New Mexico State at home and Memphis on the road October 10 and 17. Hotty Toddy y'all! GEORGIA TECH 69, ALCORN STATE 6 -The Yellow Jackets will be force to be reckoned with in the ACC this season. The Braves provided a nice tune up for Georgia Tech's triple option offense. CALIFORNIA 73, GRAMBLING STATE 14 -It was 52-0 at halftime. Grambling State scored twice in the final quarter against all of Cal's backups. WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN (UGLY) LSU and McNeese State was cancelled due to lightning in Baton Rogue. Mother nature prevented a potential slaughtering by the Tigers. Some places just can't escape late summer weather that puts a damper on the first few weeks of the season. HONORABLE MENTION "WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN" CONNECTICUT 20, VILLANOVA 15 -The American Athletic Conference is Conference USA 2, but the Huskies losing to the Wildcats would have killed that buzz for the upcoming rivalry game against Central Florida later this season. You know. The one coach Bob Diaco created? Yeah, it's sad. So is the status of what used to be the Big East football conference. The title of this post is not the whole story. Some of you may or may not know, I work at 970 ESPN in Pittsburgh. I've worked as a producer on the David Todd Show, the afternoon drive show, since February 2013. About a week or two ago, I received a phone call from an anonymous tipster who asked if we were talking about Martavis Bryant. Obviously, nobody was talking about the Steelers wide receiver that day and I said "no." He then proceeded to tell me that Bryant would be suspended four games four violating the NFL's Substance Abuse Policy. Now, anybody who has screened calls for a sports radio talk show know you get the occasional crazy caller, telling you something they heard from his buddy at the bar. After hearing this news about Bryant, I asked anonymous who his source was on this piece of news. He had no source. I proceeded to play along like "yeah. OK. This is real" to appease him. Fast-forward to Thursday afternoon as I prepared for the show. While talking with two co-workers, Adam Schefter tweeted that Bryant was facing a four-game suspension. Now. I've kept anonymous' call in the back of my mind. When the news broke, I was stunned. I told my one co-worker, who does work with the HD Radio station devoted to the Steelers and I was dumb-founded for the hour or so leading up to David's show Thursday. I did not tell anyone about the call until Schefter broke the news. They were as surprised as I was. Even though the anonymous source was right about Bryant's suspension, what was I supposed to do? I know several Steelers beat writers who knew NOTHING about this until Thursday afternoon. If I took this guys "sourceless" report and blogged about it or had David talk about it, the local media would have ripped me or him apart for reporting a story without a reliable source. Then again, we'd both look like geniuses with today's news. Either way, I decided to disregard what I thought was a false rumor. This afternoon, I received a call from the anonymous tipster. Like some callers, I was waiting for him to gloat and tell me I was dumb for disregarding his report. Instead, he let me know he was the guy who gave me the info a week or so ago, and that he was a fan of David's show. After reiterating that he wasn't just blowing smoke out of his "you know what" with his report on Bryant, he said he'd be calling us again between 4 and 7pm with any new information regarding the Steelers. I kept my condescending "OK" reply and thanked him. I have the mysterious insider's phone number in my guest book. His number indicates that he is from the Pittsburgh area, but I don't know what to expect as the 2015 season unfolds for the Steelers. Should I trust this anonymous source with any possible, future info he passes along, or be skeptical like I was with his report on Martavis Bryant? Next time, I'll at least ask for a name (or at least an alias). Also, this would make for a good "Twilight Zone" episode (if it were still on the air). Like most in America, I will be glued to college football and the NFL when September rolls around. But lately, I have found myself watching more soccer as of late. Mainly the Barclays Premier League, and will occasionally peak at an MLS game on Fox Sports 1 or ESPN. Three years ago, I would have had little to no interest in watching soccer, unless it was the U.S. in the World Cup. Now, I find myself watching the sport beyond FIFA's tournament, and as of last year, have made Premier League games a part of my Saturday and Sunday mornings leading into football. "Our" football. Like most Americans who tune in to watch soccer, I'll watch the Premiership for a few reasons. First, it's been easier to find on television with NBC Sports carrying games now (and through 2022), and promoting them very well, the quality of talent in the league and the structure of the league. The idea that teams can be kicked out with relegation was one thing I found intriguing about the Premier League, and the entire league system where teams are constantly moving up and down. Imagine if relegation existed in baseball or football? The Pirates would have been relegated to a lower league several times during their two decades of losing. No more tanking for high draft picks in the NFL if defunct leagues like the USFL and UFL still existed as lower tier leagues in American football? Premier League soccer functions like Major League Baseball, but has the popularity of the NFL in America. No salary cap means the teams with higher payrolls are more likely to succeed, and those in the middle or on the bottom work with what they have. Soccer, unlike football, is commercial free during the two, 45 minute halves. Football has its fair share of T.V. timeouts that constantly stop action (especially when they go to another commercial after a kickoff, after just taking one after a score!). But hey, that's how they make money. One other thing I have noticed about games. When they say they are going to start at a certain time, they start at that time. Too many times college and NFL games will start 15-20 minutes after they were supposed to begin. Soccer matches are usually done within two hours. My parents can't get over the idea that the clock never stops, what injury time is, and what offsides in soccer is. Also, with football becoming more offensive-minded, they wanna see score bigger than 1-0. I got over the whole "the scores are too low" thing a while back. Soccer is a simple game that has had little to no rule changes since its inception. After watching it for a while, you get to know the rules, and with the five hour time difference, it fills your weekend morning schedule on television, that is usually landscaped with magazine programs and your standard pregame shows for whatever sports are on that afternoon. In no way am I a soccer junkie. I can't name every player on a particular team in the Premier League. I'm just casually watching, learning more about the game every time I tune into a match. Whether you noticed or not, there have been fewer post here on my site.
I've been doing a lot more with 970 ESPN's social media pages on Facebook and Twitter. I was also given my own blog on the site some time ago, as well. Do me a favor? LIKE us on Facebook, FOLLOW us on Twitter, and check out my blog page PRODUCER SEAN, once in a while if you could. Thanks and also, thanks for visiting my site. |
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