A big yawn for the Olympics
August 9th, 2008I don’t think it’s possible for me to be any less interested in a sporting event than I am in the Olympics right now.
I’m not sure when I became such an Olympics hater. Maybe it was with the Dream Team in 1992. Maybe it was what led to the Dream Team in 1988. I don’t really know.
I do know that it has a lot to do with the whole thing being ruled by a television network. Shows like American Gladiators are only slightly more of a ‘made-for-TV’ event these days.
And that’s saying something.
Like Burl Ives said in ‘Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer’ … “tell me when it’s over.”
On PONYs and Federal
August 5th, 2008We’ve gotten an incredible number of phone calls since Saturday, asking one simple question:
“Do you have a score on the Federal game?”
In nearly 14 years at The Herald-Mail, I’ve never experienced the kind of widespread interest in a story like the Federal Little League All-Stars have generated in the last few weeks.
And why not? It’s been 40 years since Hagerstown has had a team this close to the Little League World Series. And Federal has the look of a team that can certainly make a run to Williamsport, Pa.
Then there are the Hagerstown PONY All-Stars, who have already qualified for the PONY World Series in Washington, Pa., beginning Saturday.
What do you want from life (or our sports section)?
August 5th, 2008OK, so the title is probably a reference you might not get, but the last minute of the song is worth the wait.
Anyway, the real reason for the post is again The Herald-Mail sports section. As my last post noted, we’re going through a bit of a transition at this point because of a tight economy, having to squeeze a whole lot of news into a little bit of space.
At this time of year, it doesn’t affect us too much. But once the high school teams begin their seasons, it will really start to hurt.
As I stated before, we’re hopeful that we’ll be alotted more space once September rolls around, but at this point, there are no guarantees.
So I’m trying to be proactive in planning for the worst-case scenario, which would be our section staying the same size as it is currently and having to find room for two to four high school games that we’ll be covering every night, in addition to college football and NFL seasons. Yikes!
What I’m hoping to hear from you is this: What is the most important thing to you in The Herald-Mail sports section?
Is it high school coverage that you depend on us for? Is it weekly stories on University of Maryland football? Are we the only place you read about the NFL?
In this Internet age, there are so many other places readers can get news on pro and college sports, so going forward, our focus will likely tend to shift heavily to the local high schools and youth leagues. But we do want to hear from you.
Please leave a comment on this post or send me an e-mail and let me know what it is you like (or don’t like) about our sports section.
The incredible shrinking sports section
August 1st, 2008Like a lot of my colleagues at The Herald-Mail, I’ve had several people ask me what’s happened to the newspaper - specifically, why is it so small now?
Well, like so many other businesses, the downturn in the economy (don’t call it a recession) has affected the newspaper business, including our newspaper.
Advertisers apparently aren’t buying ads like they used to, so fewer ads in the paper means fewer pages in the paper. I don’t know all the details on the business end of our company, but like any other business, we need to pay the bills.
I do know that the sports section is smaller than it has ever been. Contrary to popular belief, this is not by our choice. We’d love to put out a 5- or 6-page paper every weekday, and a 10-page section on the weekends. But if we were to do that, I’d probably have fewer people on my staff to put out that section. Sounds like a no-win situation to me.
Our publisher sent me an e-mail the other day pointing out that The Washington Post put out a 12-page sports section on a recent Sunday that contained a single, one-column ad. He said, ‘This is why the Post is on its second round of layoffs.’
Our hope is that things will improve beginning in September and that our section will go back to its normal size. Given that the high school season will be in full swing then, we’re REALLY hoping for that to be the case.
We love covering local sports and will continue to do so. This fall will definitely be a challenge for our department, and there are sure to be plenty of adjustments made to our section as we try to fit in the ever-increasing number of results that are reported to us.
In the meantime, pardon our dust as we undergo construction.
Only a memory … but a good one
July 31st, 2008Federal Little League’s postseason run has brought back some great memories from my youth.
I was part of the National Little League All-Star team in 1982 (back when there was only one all-star team per league and only one tournament). If I may say so (and I will), we had a heck of a team.
It was the first year Little League tournaments went to double-elimination format. We didn’t need it to win the district title, beating Halfway, Conococheague and Oakland twice. We were grateful for double elimination in the sectional tournament after blowing a lead and losing to Northeast in the winners’ bracket final. We then eliminated Brunswick in a 10-inning thriller before beating Northeast twice to win the sectional and advance to the state final in La Plata.
We met our match there, losing two straight games to Easton. We led in the first game before Easton rallied to win 7-6, then lost 9-2 in the second game. Easton went on to win the East regional and advance to the Little League World Series.
Admittedly, my contributions to the team’s success were limited. There were no “must play” rules in All-Stars at that time. You earned your way onto the team, and from there, you earned your way onto the field.
Feel bad for Favre?
July 15th, 2008I’ve never been a huge Brett Favre fan, but I certainly admire his game and recognize that he’s one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks I’ve seen play. (I’d figure him in the top five with Montana, Elway, Marino and Bubby Brister).
And I understand his desire to keep playing, even though he did announce his retirement … tearfully … just a few months ago, saying he could not commit to another NFL season.
But imagine this: You tell your boss at the accounting firm today that you’re retiring because you just can’t take another day of dealing with clients. The boss says, “Think it over. Don’t make a hasty decision. We want you to stay.” But despite his pleas, you decide you’re through.
Four months later, after the firm has promoted another accountant to fill your position, you have second thoughts. Dealing with clients wasn’t as bad as you originally thought - and the pay was pretty good, too. You call the boss and say you want to go back to work, in the same position you had before.
What do you think the reaction would be? Do you think they would suddenly demote the guy they just promoted a few months earlier and give you your job back?
Granted, I know accounting and pro football are two wildly different businesses, but doesn’t the analogy at least fit a little bit?
Favre had to make a tough choice when he said he was finished playing. The Packers are making a tough choice - one that certainly is not popular in Wisconsin - by moving on with Aaron Rodgers at QB and leaving Favre out in the cold; not releasing him, not trading him, and apparently not willing to start him.
These are the circumstances of Favre’s second thoughts, and he’ll have to live with them.
Say goodbye to Olie the Goalie
May 10th, 2008It’s no big surprise that Olie Kolzig has played his last game in a Washington Capitals uniform. This was something you could see coming from the moment the Caps acquired Cristobal Huet before the trade deadline.
It became a foregone conclusion when Huet led the Caps to victory in their final seven regular-season games and into the playoffs for the first time in five years.
I’ve been a Kolzig fan for a lot of years. You can’t argue with the results - 301 wins, 22nd most in NHL history, many with subpar to average-at-best teams. Read the rest of this entry »
Oh … they’re saying “STEWWWWW”
January 3rd, 2008For the last month, I’ve been reading all of the stories about West Virginia’s preparations for the Fiesta Bowl and the mentions of interim coach Bill Stewart.
I figured I was much like my colleague, Bob Parasiliti, and wouldn’t know Bill Stewart from Jimmy Stewart.
It wasn’t until I flipped the game on Wednesday night that I started to wonder: “Do I know this guy?”
It couldn’t be that I know him … I mean, really, how could I? He must just be a guy that has a familiar face. And he’s a down-home kind of guy, so it must just be that his demeanor reminds me of someone.
But they kept showing him and I kept wondering: “Do I know him?”
If it looks like a choke and sounds like a choke …
December 3rd, 2007I’m not a big one on the “choke” label that so many sports fans throw around liberally.
However, what West Virginia did against Pitt on Saturday night … you can’t get a much bigger choke than that.
Yes, they’re rivals. Yes, Pitt had nothing to lose. Yes, WVU QB Pat White did miss some time in the game with an injury.
But if you are the No. 2 team in the country - or No. 1 in some polls - and you lose the way West Virginia lost, you gotta call a spade a spade. Or in this case, call a choke a choke.
I think this proved once and for all that WVU - and the Big East in general - was overrated all year long. They were never as good as advertised, from the time they were ranked as high as No. 3 in the preseason until they wet the bed in the Backyard Brawl.
Nor was anyone else in the Big East that good. All of those teams that were so highly ranked - WVU, Rutgers, Louisville, South Florida, UConn - at different times this season were pretenders.
And I’ve got a sneaky feeling Oklahoma is going to expose WVU and the Big East for the frauds that they are in the Fiesta Bowl. That could be ugly.
And starring, as big-headed Barry …
December 1st, 2007It looks like HBO will be making a movie out of the book “Game of Shadows” sometime soon.
The big question, however, is this: Who will play Barry Bonds in said movie?
My first choice was Terry Crews, but he might be a little too light-hearted to pull off the role.
How about Michael Clarke Duncan? Wouldn’t be a bad choice.
I don’t think there are any plans to delve into Barry’s days in Pittsburgh. I think Ralph Tresvant would be perfect to play Barry in that case.