PODCAST: ON THE DL
PODCAST: ON THE DL
After spending yesterday in bed, it’s amazing we have a show today. I apologize for sounding like Harvey Fierstein, but there are topics to discuss, so we’re here to discuss them.
We start with a brief recap of the US Open. Finally, the national championship showed up on Monday, with about as much drama as a tournament could have.
We discuss what everyone else is talking about -- Did Glover win or did the field lose? And is it fair to say that guys choked? They missed putts on tough greens with a lot of pressure. Is that choking? Maybe it is. Regardless, Glover came in at even par (+3 for the day) to win his first major championship. Could this mean more for him, as Scott Van Pelt thinks? And what’s the best storyline coming out of the weekend? No doubt it’s the resurgence of David Duval.
We also address some emails from yesterday about rooting against golfers and how that compares to a sport like NASCAR. There is golf karma, as one emailer explains. Another, however, says he’d root against Sergio Garcia when tying his shoes. Fair point.
Talking Baseball:
Don Fehr is retiring as head of the MLB Players Union. He’s in his early 60s and wants to have a life and relax. Nobody can blame the guy. But why did this come out yesterday? The decision seems curiously timed, especially with the sports world focused on the Monday finale of the US Open.
Nick suspects that there is a giant shoe dangling over Fehr’s head waiting to drop. Perhaps more of the names on this steroid list will be coming out soon. Perhaps it’s nothing more than the fact that he wanted the announcement to come out before the All-Star break so he can turn the rest of the season into a victory lap. It just seems odd that this announcement would come when it did, especially when he’s not leaving his post until March.
We also talk about Fehr’s legacy. People hate this guy, but hasn’t he been great for the sport of baseball? He’s the ultimate defense attorney. Sure he blocked some steroid testing and in a way contributed to the PED culture by doing so, but that was his job -- protect the interest of the players. And we’re not sure how many people even care anymore about the steroids issue. We all want to know the names, but will that make us think any different of those players? How can it with the list of names that have already come out?
The fact is, Fehr and Bud Selig are linked together forever, and no matter what you say about Selig and his bumbling demeanor, they have done wonders with the game of baseball. Baseball is more popular now than any point in my lifetime and makes more money than it ever has. Say what you want about Selig and Fehr, but it’s like that because of them.
Inside the Press Box:
Stephen A. Smith went nuts on Twitter yesterday, calling out people for not watching his show when it was on. But the reason this is news is because SAS was calling out his own people -- writing that black people have to be more involved in keeping black shows on TV. He didn’t care that I didn’t watch. He cared that black people didn’t do more to keep his show on the air, but now come up to him and say how much they love him on TV.
Smith kept stating that it wasn’t about his defunct show Quite Frankly, but he never named another show he was referring to. Quite Frankly, he’s still bitter about things, and it came out in many consecutive 140-character maniacal outbursts.
Why not do this on his blog? Why not do this on his podcast? It seems odd and very curious that SAS would explode like this on the Twitterverse. Deadspin linked to some of the posts and you can read his entire rant on his personal Twitter feed. SAS is not a crazy man -- he’s undoubtedly sane and very well reasoned -- but this comes off as angry, militant and a little scary.
The lesson the last few weeks we’ve all been talking about is that you never know who is listening or reading these days. Assume everyone is. Quite Frankly, we think Stephen A. should take that advice.
Again, sorry for the voice today. Hopefully we’ll be back at full strength by tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
On the DL Podcast - Episode 196