Left Coast Sports Babe

The College World Series is held every year in Omaha, Nebraska. 

Nebrakans are particularly appreciative of watching college level baseball talent – their nearest big league team is the Kansas City Royals.

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Though as popular as the event is, the “Road to Omaha” , which starts with 64 teams in the Regionals, has not achieved the fame and attention of the NCAA men’s basketball championship. 

Suggestion for the NCAA to increase interest: –  Print brackets on their website, along with the injunction that such brackets are not to be used for betting purposes, and call it  “June Madness.”

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The best of times, the worst of times.

On Saturday morning, Florida State catcher Buster Posey was named the college baseball player of the year by national baseball writers.  He was the fifth pick is the draft, after posting a .460 batting average, had played all nine positions, and had six saves with a 0.00 ERA.

In the afternoon game against Stanford, Posey went 1 for 4 with no RBIs, struck out twice, and gave up 6 runs in 1/3 of an inning in relief.  

Former Stanford star Tiger Woods had two eagles and a chip-in on the back nine to take the lead at the US open.

And at the College World Series Stanford scored 11 runs in the ninth to stun third seed Florida State.

Well, the sports are impressive.  But isn’t college supposed to be about academics?

(admitted bias here, my son is a walkon Stanford pitcher, although not on the playoff roster.)

Okay, I don’t usually post links to other sites.  But this, originally forwarded to my son by Nick Coombs, is ridiculously funny.   And ridiculously R rated.  At least.  It’s the Onion’s idea of Ozzie Guillen’s lineup card.  And if you don’t know the manager of the White Sox, suffice it to say he has one of the foulest mouths in baseball, if not all of sports.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/furious_ozzie_guillens

Okay, in  a summer where airlines seem to be competing for the stupidest new fees and charges, US AIr has just upped the ante.

Not content with charging for the first checked bag….they are as part of their “Business Model Transformation”, going to start charging for drinks.

Not alcoholic drinks.  Any drinks.  2.00 each.  Soda, juice, bottled water and coffee.

Yeah, right, coffee.  US Air is going to risk morning riots over 2.00 if passengers don’t bring cash on early morning flights. 

But it could get better.  Business travellers won’t care as much, except they will need receipts.  So this means that flight attendants, in addition to having to make change, will have to figure out ways to issue receipts.  Because this could add up to $10-20 for a roundtrip flight with connections.

And if coffee is 2.00, does that include cream and sugar?  How much for a refill?  What happens if flights are delayed on the runway.  Do you at least get free bottled water?

And what if you buy your own soda or juice drink at the airport?   If you want a cup and ice will there be a corkage charge?

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And while we are at it, if the airlines have to increase revenue so badly, how about onboard auctions? For example, they could have you put in a bid for how much it is worth to you to recline your seat.  Then you could also bid on how much it is worth to you to not have the person in front of you recline THEIR seat.   Highest bidder wins the space.

James Carville suggested today that Barack Obama select Al Gore as his vice presidential running mate.

Yeah, guess that would be good for Gore.  Help him get his message out.

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Jim Johnson, one of the Barack Obama’s advisors on his search committee for vice president, resigned today over allegations of his receiving questionable loans.

Next up, a committee to vet the vetters.   But then, who vets them?  So we need a committee to vet the people vetting the vetters.    Once we can figure out a way to pick THOSE people…

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Ron Wilson said he was the “happiest person in the NHL” after being hired as the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.   He really must have hated all that playoff pressure.

Trainer Rick Dutrow is still trying to figure who or what to blame in the wake of Big Brown’s disappointing finsh in the Belmont.  He does point out, however, as the 1 to 4 favorite, that Big Brown did win the popular vote.

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Regarding John McCain’s “I will veto every single beer” comment: Will his defense be that the night before he had too many bills?

No one knows exactly what was discussed during Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s private meeting.  But rumor has it they talked about his vice presidential search.  And Hillary told him that she thought the person who had done the  best job of being search committee chair  was Dick Cheney. 

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The San Francisco Giants are nearly at .500 on the road, but are six games below .500 at home.  In part because they just aren’t hitting at A T and T Park.  In fact, they have the worst home to road scoring ratio for anyone but Bill Clinton.

The first member of the 600-600 club.

600 home runs – 600 times on the disabled list.

The Seminoles are going back to the College World Series for the first time since 2000.

At Florida State they are thrilled,  recently the only times their athletes have made the news during the spring is in the police blotter.

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The University of Miami is also going to the College World Series.   No surprise there as they were the nation’s top seed.  But it’s a nice change for the state of Florida to have their top amateur baseball teams be other than the Marlins and Rays.

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No one can figure out what happened to Big Brown in the Belmont Stakes.  A New York favorite hasn’t flopped so spectacularly since Rudy Giuliani.

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Barack Obama is searching for a vice presidential running mate.   

A good choice might be an older white man,  maybe someone who is too old to have a future agenda of his own.  It would help if the candidate  had  a solid military background, and could attract independent to conservative voters…

Wonder if there’s a chance he can convince McCain to drop out and take the offer?

Big Brown has a chance on Sunday to become the second undefeated Triple Crown winner ever.    If he loses, on behalf of Seattle Slew, the 1972 Miami Dolphins will open champagne.

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The Boston Celtics historically have a reputation for being a racist team.  Not anymore, the only white guy on their court now is the painted leprechaun.

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And this is a very tacky joke.  Hillary fans with no sense of humor stop reading now please:

Why is it taking Hillary Clinton so long to concede?

She really cares about her staff and wants to make sure all of them have good jobs first.  Especially the flying monkeys.

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Apparently Bill Clinton wanted to end the evening with grace.

But Hillary vetoed that, maybe when she found out that grace was an intern.

Hockey  Jokes!

Though first congratulations to the Detroit Red Wings.  At least some results out of Michigan count this year…

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In the movie the “The Love Guru”,  set to debut in the US June 20, actor Mike Myers plays a character who tries to help a  Toronto Maple Leafs player lead his team to a championship. 

So why did they call the movie “The Love Guru?” Because “The Miracle Worker” was already taken.

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Thursday is the Major League Baseball draft, where every year teams try to guess which talented amateurs will help their team in the future.  Not to be confused with the trade deadline, where every year the Yankees try to guess which well-paid professionals will help them get back into the playoffs.

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For many college athletes, tomorrow will be their first glimpse of real money.  Unless they are at USC.

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Despite his $126 million contract, San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito is 1 and 9 this year. 

With that kind of success to money ratio, when he retires he has a great future as an NBC programming executive.

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John McCain says we are making progress in Iraq.    Why, in a few years,  conditions in the country may be almost as good as before we invaded.

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Tuesday night, instead of conceding, Hillary Clinton talked again and again about her 18 million supporters, without going into the complicated math she used to reach that figure.

But if she really wants to say that voting numbers should decide a VP candidate, then shouldn’t Barack offer the second place job to David Archileta?

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Senator Clinton also said she would not be making a decision tonight about her future plans.  She did indicate, however, that she plans to make time to organize this year’s World Series Parade for the New York Yankees.

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McCain is now using the phrase “the right change.”

But looking at his positions now and in the past on choice, on taxes, and on torture, and think…actually, wouldn’t a more accurate slogan be “change to the right?”

(or more specifically, “change to the far right?”)

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The Denver Broncos have cut running back Travis Henry, as Coach Mike Shanahan said “He’s just too inconsistent as a person.”

Really?  Henry has nine children by nine different women, what was Shanahan’s first clue?

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The Toronto Maple Leafs are talking to ex-Sharks coach Ron Wilson.  Might be a good fit. At least Wilson wouldn’t have to worry about any more embarrassing early round playoff losses.

Tampa Bay’s baseball team is in first place for the first time in June, after dropping “Devil” from their name to go simply by the name “Rays.”

In her quest for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton finds that strategy intriguing,  but she isn’t sure whether she would be better off dropping “Hillary” or “Clinton.”

Opponents were quick to criticize Barack Obama in the wake of controversial anti-Hillary comments made by one of his supporters who is a Catholic priest.

Many Republicans stated that they could not understand why he had not long ago distanced himself from a man with a record of embarrassing behavior.

Then some of them excused themselves, as they had to attend a private McCain fundraiser with President Bush.

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President Bush also apprarently was shocked to hear that his ex-press secretary, who he considered a friend, has actually written a book.

Of course, President Bush is generally shocked to hear that one of his friends has READ a book.

An epitaph for San Antonio’s quick exit.  With apologies to the Bard.

You say young Barry’s spur was cold?  Of Hotspurs,  coldspurs?

Television viewers last weekend were treated to the sight of a small, furious woman trying to go after a man who had come up from behind and knocked her out of the race.

But it wasn’t just Hillary,  Danica Patrick was also pretty angry at the guy who crashed into her in the pits.

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John McCain is continuing to assert that Barack Obama needs to go to Iraq to really understand the war situation.  When asked for how long, Senator McCain replied “a three or four year tour of duty” should take care of it.

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And New York Governor David Paterson has directed the state to start recognizing same-sex marriages from elsewhere.

Rudy Giuliani responded with the argument that marriage should be between a man and a woman, and then another woman, and then the other woman.

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High-priced free agent Andruw Jones just had knee surgery and will be sidelined for about four to six weeks.  Which means during that time he will contribute about as much to the Dodgers as he has in the past four to six weeks.

(Note to explain the joke,  Jones signed a two year $36 million contract, and has been hitting .165. Additional note to Dodgers fans, yes, I KNOW about Zito.  There will be more jokes about him too.)

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With the Yankees in last place and the Mets on their way, all of a sudden Hillary Clinton’s second place finish might be turn out to be the best spring performance out of New York.

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Congrats to the Spokane Chiefs, who won the Canadian Hockey League championship, and then promptly had their captain drop and break the trophy.

Well, at least that’s one embarrassing moment that may never befall the San Jose Sharks.

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Yes, the first place Tampa Bay Rays.  Not a joke.  The team is 16 and 1 at home in their last 17 games at Tropicana Field.    One of the generally perceived worst indoor stadiums in baseball.

So wonder if their slogan should be “There’s no place like Dome?”

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The Stanley Cup hockey finals this year feature two American teams.  Which somehow doesn’t seem right as it’s Canada’s national sport. 

In fact, it’s almost as odd as if say, a Japanese man were to win an American eating contest.

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How bad a slump is Hillary Clinton in these days?  Rumor has it that Monica Lewinsky mailed her a thong.

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NBC is already starting advertising for the Beijing Olympic games.  Asking “How often is it when the
entire world can share a moment as it happens?”
Well, it won’t be much more often this summer.  Considering that NBC will make sure that most of the US will see those moments in primetime,  “plausibly live” the day after they happen ….