Let's Go To The Tape!

HE'S SAFE?  HE'S SAFE?  ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME?  This is what many of us screamed last night after Julio Lugo was called safe at home in the bottom of the 19th inning of the Braves win over the Pirates.  While clearly out by about 5ft with the naked eye what we all saw on replay was conclusive enough.  And lets face it, all real baseball fans know the neighborhood rule, "if the ball beats you and a tag is implied, more often than not you will be called out".

Now that it has been a day or so, and many of you have had a moment to calm down, it is time to examine the need for extensive instant replay use in Major League Baseball.  Instead of them using it solely for home run calls.

You will not find a more "traditionalist" when it comes to baseball than I am.  My love for that tradition is largely what shaped my being a Mets fan instead of a Yankees fan, to me the DH is bullsh*t and robs the game of some of its strategy and purity.  And while the presence of human error has always been a part of the game, the 37,000 thousand angles and 2,000,000 replays available to the viewing public have not been.

The scrutiny that is now involved with umpiring/refereeing professional sports today almost demands that baseball catch up with the times, or at least the NFL and NBA, and allow its umpires to use all available tools to get the calls right.  There is simply too much on the line.  Games, places in the standings, post season victories, and the occasional perfect game have been affected and it's wrong.

I hope the Pirates don't end up tied or losing their division by 1 game at the end of the season.  If that does happen there will be a new "most hated man" in Pittsburgh and his name will be Jerry Meals.

One Giant Step

The New York Football Giants signed Mark Herzlich, an undrafted rookie linebacker out of Boston College, to a contract today.  This probably didn't even register on the radar of most football fans but it should have.  Not because the Giants are the best team in the world, this is a biased opinion, but because of Herzlich's story.  If you don't know it, which if you are a sports fan you should, you are about to hear it.

Two seasons ago as a junior Herzlich was the ACC defensive player of the year and was expected to be a first round pick in the NFL draft.  He decided to return to school for his senior year.  Shortly after making the decision he noticed that something just wasn't quite right with his health.  He was soon diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.  He sat out the 2009 football season to have treatment and surgery to have a rod placed in his femur.  He also served as a student assistant coach and inspiration to his teammates.

Mark returned to the field for the 2010 season and despite missing a year of football had a successful season recording 65 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, and 4 interceptions.  He was expected to be taken in the later rounds of this years NFL draft.  And though he was one of about 30 players invited to attend the event he went undrafted.  Being the 1st free agent signed by the Giants after the lockout was ended now means that he will still get to live out his NFL dream.

Herzlich will play with a chip on his shoulder because he was not drafted and an inspiration that few of us could ever imagine having had football and nearly his life taken from him.  I will be rooting for Herzlich to succeed not because I am Giants fan but because I'm a human fan.  Tough not to cheer for someone who's overcome so much to do the thing that he loves.

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN.

I did not see the game so I don't know how well/poorly the US may have played in their Women's World Cup finals match against Japan.  I understand that they lost on PK's after apparently dominating the match but were unable to capitalize on some very good scoring chances.  I will encourage you all to stop all the player bashing and remember one thing... despite what you think you absolutely could not have played better than any of the players you are ripping apart.  The run they went on to get to the final, while at times unbelievable, was impressive nonetheless.  The best team rarely wins in sports and today it seems was just Japans day. 

That being said just be proud of our ladies and the ride they took us on over the last 2 weeks.  While we all would have preferred that they had won the match we should all take one thing away from what we saw from them in the tournament.  The American fighting spirit is alive and well!  The result from today's game does not change that.  I am proud of the U.S. women's soccer team and PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN.

Prince And A Papa.

So the Mid-Summer classic, the Major League Baseball All Star Game which was played in Arizona this year, has come and gone.  While the game was entertaining it certainly was nothing to write home about.  I actually found the events that took place on the red carpet the day before to be more intriguing.  Particularly what happened to Prince Fielder and his family.

Prince Fielder, 1st baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers and captain of the National League Home Run Derby team, along with his wife and children were booed and had water thrown on them by Arizona Diamondback fans.  Not because the Brewers and Diamondbacks are heated rivals, they play in different divisions in the National League.  But because he didn't chose Justin Upton, right fielder for the Diamondbacks, to be on the Home Run Derby Team.

Hey Diamondback fans... it's a Home Run Derby.  It means nothing in the standings and many of you  forgot who won the damn thing fifteen minutes before it started.  Show a little class and human decency and not throw water and boo the man and his wife and kids.  At 5'11" and close to 300 lbs fans close enough to throw things at them are lucky Fielder didn't decide to go Home Run Derby on their heads. 

That's what I would have done if it was my family but I was glad he showed restraint and shut those people up with his play in the game.  He hit a 3 run home run that was all the National League needed to win the game and took home the games MVP award.  Poetic justice.... A Prince for a day!

Hope Springs Eternal!

No words really need to be written about what we saw today from the U.S. Women's soccer team.  Well maybe there are three.... NEVER GIVE UP!

USA 2 - BRAZIL 2

USA wins 5-3 on PK's.

Advances to the WWC semi-finals!

U-S-A!  U-S-A!  U-S-A!

A RING AND A PRAYER

Roy Williams, wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, is suing his ex-girlfriend to retrieve the $76K engagement ring that he gave her that she will not return.  Now while litigation in a scenario like this is rare, it is not uncommon for a man to request the ring back after an engagement goes south.  Especially one that carries such a hefty price tag.  And usually I would be completely on the side of the man trying to recover the ring.  Not this time.

I may never blog about relationships ever again but this was just to juicy to leave alone.  Turns out that Roy, intelligent and fantastically romantic suitor that he is, mailed the ring to what he hoped what be his bride to be.  Yes you read correctly, HE MAILED IT TO HER.  He videotaped his proposal and mailed that as well.  The decision to do both of these things probably put him at the top of the "ways to not propose" list.  This makes the guy who proposes on the video board, of  the local sporting event of your choice, look like Richard Gere in Pretty Woman climbing the fire escape to propose to Julia Roberts.

Gentlemen, and ladies, out there who may be considering a proposal, remember the lesson taught to us by Roy Williams.  Don't half ass it.  Use your whole ass!  Keep this in mind and maybe, just maybe, she'll say yes.  You'll also save yourself from paying for postage and a lawyer.

Run Fausto, Run!

It seems to happen at least once every season during Interleague play.  Some pitcher who is not used to batting and or running the bases hurts himself.  And soon after we hear cries from American League managers and front office personnel to either get rid of Interleague play or impose the DH on the National League.  Both arguments are compelling but these people are missing the point.  If you are a Major League Baseball player and you can't navigate running the bases unscathed, which is something many children do with out incident, maybe you should look into another line of work.  Seriously!

At some point in your baseball career you had to both hit and run the bases.  You knew this would be part of the deal when you signed up.  To see the "professionals" looking incompetent in doing something that amateurs and even everyday people do with relative ease is funny but embarrassing.

Instead of asking the National League to adopt the DH how about we make the American League get rid of it and force these players that are paid to play the game actually play all parts of the game.  That way when we see an AL pitcher go down running the bases we laugh it off as bad luck instead of expecting it to happen.