The Problem With MLB's Discipline Of The Phillies-Giants Brawl

In case you did not hear, the Giants and the Phillies got into a benches clearing brawl. As a result of this brawl, Shane Victorino got suspended three games, whereas Placido Polanco was inexplicably fined and Ramon Ramirez and (in particular) Eli Whiteside were only given fines. A few comments.

a). Shane Victorino was suspended for one reason and one reason alone: He pushed an umpire to re-enter a brawl. Why he is appealing that I have no earthly idea. The Phillies are entering a three-game series tonight against the Dodgers and following that will play in a three-game series at home against the Nationals. Please, Shane, do yourself and your team a favor and sit out against the weaker teams and end that.

b). Now that we got that taken care of. Why wasn't Eli Whiteside suspended? I can understand Ramon Ramirez not getting anything (I don't agree, but I understand why), but when a guy is hopping like around like he's Little Bunny Foo Foo and/or the world's worst Muhammad Ali impersonator, he has gone from the threshold of protecting his pitcher (which you could argue he was not even doing that as in the time between the plunking and Whiteside's tackle of Polanco, Ramirez advanced more than Victorino did, who before Whiteside's tackle, never exhibited any signs of wanting to fight) into the territory of "I want a fight." We all know what happened next. It is clear as day that Whiteside and Ramirez incited a bench-clearing brawl. Why is not that a suspension worthy offense? Better yet, what does that say about MLB?

MLB's statement on the matter might as well have been this: "MLB will not tolerate the physical abuse of umpires. However, if you incite contact with members of the opposing team, you will get away with only a paltry fine. Good friend and closer adviser to MLB, Gary Bettman, believes this is a good way to conduct business."

This is not a matter of wanting Eli Whiteside off the team in order to sabotage the Giants in the standings. Quite the opposite is true, in fact, it could be that MLB is getting very creative in their punishments and punishing the San Francisco Giants as a whole by not allowing them to have games where Eli Whiteside is not an eligible player. Cruel, unusual, and given the fact Whiteside has amassed a paltry 0.6 WAR in 60 games this season, effective.

c). Placido Polanco got fined for being on the wrong end of the worst-looking double leg takedown since Hornswoggle last stepped in a wrestling ring. What Placido Polanco was going to do, I have no idea, but aside from being on the wrong end of a tackle my grandmother could have executed better, he only showed he was doing the same thing everyone else was doing at that point. How on earth is it fair that he gets singled out because he made Whiteside look like he had less muscles than a toddler?

Ramon Ramirez, Eli Whiteside, and Placido Polanco got the same punishment for that fracas. Major League Baseball, ladies and gentlemen!

Thank you! Good night! Tip your waitresses! Try the veal!

Live From The Nassau Coliseum, It's Friday Night Fights!

Flyers-Senators Version 2.0? Bruins-Habs earlier this week? Before today, those games were considered the fight games of the year. Not anymore. Remember 9 days ago when Brent Johnson KO'd Rick DiPietro in 1 punch, fracturing some of DP's bones and knocking him out for 4-6 weeks?

Well for the Islanders tonight was all about revenge, and boy oh boy did they ever get it. Admittedly, a lot of the stunts the Isles pulled tonight were dirty, but I have a hard time gathering any sympathy for the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team that employs Matt Cooke. While there were many more scrums than this, here are the big fights courtesy of hockeyfights.com.



And if all those fights were not enough, the Islanders won the game 9-3. Here are the NHL.com highlights.



Oof. Now that's what I call a revenge game. Currently, the number is 351 PIMs, but the number has continued to rise as the night as gone on. It is unlikely that this will ultimately surpass the 2004 Senators-Flyers game which featured 419 combined penalty minutes thanks to 5 end of game fights/brawls in the span of a minute, but over 300 is closer than I ever thought anyone would ever get to touching that record.

This Penguins loss means the Flyers remain 3 points ahead of the Penguins in the Atlantic Division and with some Penguin players sure to be suspended because of this fiasco on top of their semmingly endlessly mounting injuries. The Flyers have to feel they are in a good position right now as long as they continue playing at the high level they have been playing at and to continue to successfully avoid the injury bug that has plagued the Penguins.

Update: Here is a video with the Islanders announcers calling every fight/skirmish in the 1st period. Here is a video with the Islanders announcers calling every fight/skirmish in the 2nd period. Here is a video with the Islanders announcers calling every fight/skirmish in the 3rd period. I can assure you these are much easier on the ears.

Senators-Flyers Fight Night II

Nearly 7 years ago, the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers engaged in one of the most famous brawls in recent hockey history. The record setting 419 penalty minutes from that game is a record that still holds today. The Flyers and Senators did not get close to that number, but there were still over 126 penalty minutes, including 80 in the span of a second as the NHL's most random fighting rivalry was at once more time in the 3rd period of the Flyers 6-2 beating of the Ottawa Senators. Same teams. Same arena. Same entertainment value.

Oh, feel free to ignore the awful and clueless commentary Ottawa Senators announcers.

Fight #1



I have no idea what Denis Potvin was smoking but that was a clean hit by Giroux on Jesse Winchester. The only "cheap shot" in this video is Chris Neil jumping on top of Giroux afterwards. But I digress, and as you'll see, Chris Neil will owe up to his cheap shot later on.

Fight #2



And now Fight #3, 1 second after the Foligno-Giroux fight, comes the massive line brawl.



Sean O'Donnell has a unique way of turtleing.

What the Ottawa announcers are referring to here is Shelley turning down a fight with Matt Carkner who had wanted to fight Shelley before this incident but after the Giroux hit on Winchester, but Shelley, likely remembering Chris Neil jumping Giroux, saved his fists for Neil. Kind of a bitch move by Shelley because Neil is smaller, but at the same time, he was standing up for his teammate, so it goes both ways. One more thing about the Sens announcers: Did they have any idea what was going on in that last fight? Any? At all?

Even though it was no where close to the 419 penalty minutes of 2004 (and for the record, I don't think that record will ever go down), 126 is pretty impressive. And the Flyers came out on top in the fights and in the game, so all in all, a good night of hockey from the Wells Fargo Center.

Mike Richards Does What Every Hockey Fan Dreams Of

And that is beating the carcass of renowned dirty player Matt Cooke.



This was just the start of a stretch of 3 minutes and 59 seconds that saw 11 penalties called, only 4 of which were for fighting, including the two here to Richards and Cooke. Granted the shots at the end that Richards got in were while Cooke was on a knee and thus not the cleanest beatdowns you'll see, it must be considered that the player getting beaten down is Matt Cooke, therefore, some leeway will be provided. Following the last meeting between the Flyers and the Penguins this season, Mike Richards made some rather unflattering comments about the Pens that probably drew some ire. It is good to see that unlike some people probably would, Mike Richards did not hide from his words and the captain of the Flyers fought the Penguins biggest goon. Now if only we could have gotten Sidney Crosby to fight Dan Carcillo.....

Marc Savard: Classless Hypocrite (UPDATED WITH VIDEO)

Seeing as I work tomorrow and won't be around until the night, I want to get this up as soon as possible, even if it is without the video that I would love.

So here is what happened: Mike Richards hit Savard with a borderline cross check against the boards. The refs could have called a minor penalty and no one would have complained. Instead of trying to further draw the penalty, Savard gets up and proceeds to cross check Mike Richards in the face and then continue to beat on him while Milan Lucic joins the beatdown of Richards. Thankfully Gagne arrived a few seconds later to put an end to the madness. Savard, Lucic, and Richards all got roughing penalties and the Flyers were given a PP.

After the game, Savard gave this quote.

“I just got fired up. I got one the other night in Philly from behind [which was called boarding against Darroll Powe], and then I was facing the glass again in the same situation and then I look back at [David] Booth, [David] Krejci, those guys … I mean, enough’s enough. I mean, I don’t know. That’s all,” said Savard after the loss, which sends the series back to Philly for Game 6 Wednesday night.

Savard was then asked if he was accusing Richards of trying to injure players by referring back to the concussion-causing hit on Booth earlier this season and the hit that broke Krejci’s wrist in Game 3 of this series. Of course, Savard had a similar beef with Matt Cooke of Pittsburgh for a hit that caused a concussion March 7.

“I mean, I don’t know. That’s the way he plays. It’s part of his demeanor. He’ll never change. So I don’t know,” said Savard.

Wait a minute? You are going to play the sympathy card for dangerous plays and head shots all the while delivering a head shot to Richards on your own? What the fuck is this?

I understand the guy wants to protect himself as he is coming back from his nasty concussion, but cross checking someone on the face and ganging up on Mike Richards is not going to accomplish anything. The only message it sends is that you are scum and are willing to stoop to dirty levels, thus, inviting the Flyers to do the same. Was Richards hit on Savard questionable? Absolutely. Should his 2-minute minor have been for that and not a phantom roughing penalty from that scrum? Yes. Is it classy to retaliate a minor penalty questionable hit with suspension worthy actions? Hell no.

No video is up on YouTube and NHL.com conveniently has nothing posted on this (gee....I wonder why), but if something is up tomorrow night when I get home, I will post it and you can judge Richards' initial hit and Savard's retaliation and subsequent hypocrisy for yourself.

Update: Here's the video.

Italian Newsrooms Are Violent And Dangerous Places

I just have to say bizarre. And that guy doing the newscast could not hear that 2 people right behind him were exchanging fisticuffs? Assuming it is real (and at this point I have my doubts), you gotta love how he just got up and walked off once he did realize it. He said "arrivederci" and then realized there is no need for him to stay here where two guys rolling on the ground can bowl him over. Too funny.

On This Day In 2004: Friday Night Fights

Friday, March 5, 2004. Arguably one of the greatest sets of fights in hockey history. 32 seconds and 5 rounds of fights and brawls later, the Flyers were left with only 7 available players and the Senators 6.

Watch the greatness for yourself.

Round 1


Rounds 2 and 3


Rounds 4 and 5 (listen as Jim Jackson delivers the greatest call in the history of fighting at the end of Round 5)


"PATRICK SHARP HAMMERED HIM WITH A RIGHT! DOWN HE GOES! DOWN GOES SPEZZA! DOWN GOES SPEZZA!"

Ottawa would score a goal in that final 1:12 to close the gap to 2, thus giving the Flyers a 5-3 win in one of the greatest Flyers games I have ever seen. Believe it or not, I still have that game on VHS video tape, and yes, every now and again when I am home, I pop it in the 'ole VCR player. Fights just do not get any more epic than that.

Meet Dan Carcillo's Successors

You can definitely file this one under the category of pure randomness. Seeing as we are all still reeling from the fallout of the Rangers and the Flyers debuting Thursday Night Fights to America last night, I figured why not show you their successors. Meet the Russian Penguins and the Northern Stars. Brace yourselves for a bench clearing brawl that ended up resulting in a total of 707 penalty minutes. But JFein, you ask, what is so special about a massive bench clearing brawl in Russia? I'll tell you what is so special about it: The fighters are 9-years old.



Bettman beware! If these kids have anything to say about it, fighting will be in hockey for a long time to come, whether Bettman likes it or not.

Aspeaking of fights in hockey, I elected not to post this in the Carcillo-Gaborik post because frankly, I wanted to make the point about the media and the distortions and the disillusionment of the Rangers, their media, and their fans. This, however, is just about an epic fight, so while we are at it, enjoy Scott Hartnell knocking the shit out of Sean Avery.



You know you've done a good thing as a Flyer when Penguins fans are cheering your accomplishments. Good stuff last night at the Wachovia Center.

Carcillo And Gaborik Drop The Gloves; Flyers Fans See Facts, Rangers Fans See Delusions

Oh man, I love hockey. The Flyers played a picture perfect game which included Ray Emery getting a much needed shutout a shaky performance against Washington and only showing slight improvement against Columbus. But the part of the game that was most talked about had nothing to do with goals, but rather it was a fight between Carbomb Dan Carcillo and Marian Gaborik.

While the result of the fight was as one would figure, the start of the fight has already created quite a bit of controversy between Flyers fans and Rangers fans.

Normally I would run the video first, but at the risk of corrupting your minds of delusions as the only video of the fight online is that of the Rangers MSG broadcast, I will give you the facts of what happened first, let you spot those facts for yourself as you watch, and you can laugh at the delusions.

Here is what happened:

Ray Emery made a save with players in front of the net. Tollefson of the Flyers and Dubinsky of the Rangers pushed and shoved in front of the net.

Carcillo, gloves on, engaged Gaborik to the glass. Carcillo settles down as if to end it, knowing that it is not his purpose in the game to start a fight with a team's star player. Yes, he has a reputation, but Laviolette has coached him well and his discipline has grown enormously in the past few months. Well for Carbomb's standards at least, but I digress....Gaborik then starts pushing back and manages to get Carcillo up against the class. It is at this point, unprompted, Marion Gaborik starts dropping his gloves and lands a brief punch in while Carcillo responds to Gaborik's green light of his gloves dropping by dropping his own gloves.

So do you understand? Gaborik dropping gloves = green light for Carcillo to destroy shit.

And now, here is the video of the fight, complete with whiny Rangers announcers painting Dan Carcillo as evil incarnate. Watch with pleasure, listen at your own risk.



From the official Rangers Twitter right after the fight: "Carcillo jumps Gaborik, lands flurry of punches; Torts screaming at Laviolette; #Rangers furious; #NYR still down 1-0"

Did anyone see a jumping there?

John Tortorella kept exclaiming after the game how there was "no honor" in that, according to TSN's James Duthie on Twitter (EDIT: exact quotes from Tortorella: "I was frustrated because there’s simply no honor, I sit behind the bench with a suit and tie on. I’m not trying to run anybody down, I just think there’s a lack of honor." and "Well, there’s no honor in that, I don’t play the game, I don’t wear the uniform. I don’t want to say too much about it, but there’s simply no honor in that."). How was that not honorable? It's part of the game. Gaborik dropped his gloves first while tangled up with Carbomb. Fighting is part of the game of hockey like it or not, and when that happens and you do it against the other team's biggest fighter, guess what, Marion is going to get the crap beat out of him.

Now Rangers fans will try to tell you that Dan Carcillo was licking his chops all game to get at Marian Gaborik based off of a quote that Carcillo made. Well, they would be taking things out of context, here is the quote, full context, and while you will see how the Rangers will take the quote out of context to fit their delusional narrative of events, that is not what was said.

Here's the full quote: "“I wasn’t expecting him to drop his gloves and when he did, I was pretty much licking my chops."

And why would not Carcillo be licking his chops? Gaborik is a big time scorer on a hot streak. If you can get him out of the game for 5 minutes, by all means, take advantage of that opportunity. While Tortorella is on his delusion of dishonor, it really is a smart play by Carcillo that just so happens to allow him to do what he is best at: fighting.

Now there are some Rangers fans that are claiming that Gaborik was just defending himself when he dropped the gloves, which makes no sense on so many levels because Gaborik was on the aggressive side of the pushing at the time, not Carbomb, and secondly, why on earth would Gaborik defend himself by stripping himself of armor? If he was just trying to protect himself, wouldn't he want gloves? And

The good news though is that not all Ranger fans are like this. Consider this report on the game from, of all things, the Rangers correspondent at The Bleacher Report

At 5:43 into the second period, Daniel Carcillo pounded on Marion Gaborik. I know all about this and what Carcillo did was not wrong. If you watch the reviews , it was quite obvious that it was Gaborik trying to discard his gloves well before Carcillo did. Basically Gaborik had no idea what he was doing because that was just a stupid move on his part. Of Course Carcillo is going to drop the gloves and start swinging if he sees that a player is looking to do the same to him, and that is exactly what happen. Hey this is hockey, it is a tough sport and a fighting sport regardless who you are. Gaborik didn’t stand a chance but at the same time , his teammates should have jumped in before that beating could have ever taken place. No i didn't like the idea of Gabby getting a beating, He is not a fighter. but it was Gabby who really did drop the gloves first.

Logic! From a Rangers fan! At last!

Now I know what you are thinking, The Bleacher Report is normally a bunch of bullshit, so therefore, maybe those delusional Rangers are not so delusional after all.

Well, I will end with this one last screenshot of the video above.

As you can clearly see, there is only one glove on the ground. And if you look at the players, you can make out a bare fist. Trace the fist and see the jersey that the fist is coming from and whose fist does it end up being? The fist of the man who started the fight: Marian Gaborik.

Game 49, preview and game thread: New York Rangers at Philadelphia Flyers (Broad Street Hockey)

Flyers win 2-0, Rangers delusional in defeat (Broad Street Hockey)

Pete Carroll Is Not A Fan Of You Calling A Timeout When He Is Taking A Knee

With 50 seconds left and down by 14 points, UCLA failed to convert a 4th down thus sealing a 21-7 victory for USC. As Matt Barkley took his first knee, Rick Neuheisel called a timeout perhaps to fight to the last whistle for his kids or just to get under the skin of Pete Carroll. If the latter was the case, then mission accomplished. While the timeout is not on the video, Carroll's response to that timeout and the aftermath of it all is.



Simply classless. While I can see the justification for the timeout, Carroll had no business throwing that hail mary TD pass to rub it in or what not especially after he cried foul when Jim Harbaugh and Stanford did the exact same thing to him. What a classless hypocrite Carroll is.

And then UCLA took it far by marching out on the field like that and while my amygdala would have enjoyed a good SoCal brawl, it would have been a black mark on college football that never would have been forgotten and forever looked down upon.

Oh well. All I can tell USC, USC fans, and Pete Carroll is have a fun trip to the Emerald Bowl! May the Emerald Nuts be extra nutty for you guys. Or something.

Brent Musburger Lives Out The Fantasy Of Every American Sports Fan

Now I can say with almost 100% certainty that none of you were watching SportsNation yesterday (and why would you be?). You can count me in that group, but you can also put me in the group of the people that wished they saw it yesterday. Yesterday, something happened that I have been dying to see for years (and I think lots of sports fans, especially Philly sports fans, would agree) that this may be is the career highlight of Colin Cowherd. Brent Musburger was on the show and he suckerpunched Schrutebag! See for yourself.



Brent Musburger is now my new hero for life. Seriously. Brent, if you are out there and you are reading, you have just earned yourself one free post at FARN! Email me at FireAndyReidNow@gmail.com and we can hook something up there, pardner. You're my friend, Brent, you're my friend!

A Nathan Brice Pwning To Begin Your Night

I've been running around like a crazy madman for most of the day, so I have not really had time to put much up (not an uncommon occurance on a Wednesday). However, I have been perusing the blogs, and guess who showed up at AA today! Yes, it is indeed our good, good friend, Nathan Brice! The following is the conversation that took place today (as the conversation builds, I'll add to it).

Nathan Brice: I am going to say several things here.

1. If Thom Brennaman is filling in for Joe Buck this week, then those Dick Stockton to ESPN rumors must be true.

2. They obviously don't want to separate Kenny, Moose, and Goose because they might eventually overtake Joe, Troy, and Pam.

3. No Gus Johnson and no Bill Macatee is always a good thing.

4. They might have Chris Myers and Chris Rose confused because I really don't think that Myers can report from the dugout on Saturday in New York and then fly all the way across the country to Seattle in one night. Look into that.

5. Don Criqui needs to show improvement to keep doing games.

JFein: There is a reason why Kenny Albert does not work with Troy Aikman during the LCS and World Series and it is not because they don't want to separate Kenny, Moose, and Goose. They had Kenny Albert work with Troy Aikman before and the chemistry between the two was not good at all. Therefore, seeing as the 2nd announcer, Albert, can't fill in for Buck, Fox goes to their 3rd announcer, Thom Brennaman (not Dick Stockton). The way Fox does it is that their so-called 3rd, 4th, and 5th teams (Brennaman/Billick, Stockton/Davis, Rosen/Ryan), are all essentially equal, and seeing as Fox is phasing out Dick Stockton (or he is phasing himself out), Brennaman becomes the #1 guy while Buck is away.

And while I'm not sure about Chris Myers this year, last year he sideline reported a Falcons-Eagles game during the day and sideline reported a Rays-Phillies game during the night so it is certainly not out of the question that he does a Yankee game in New York on Saturday, flies out to Seattle afterward to do that game on Sunday, and then go down to Anaheim for Game 3 of the ALCS on Monday. It's Chris Myers, we're talking about, Fox works him like he's Superman (even though Myers is horrible). They always have and will probably continue to do so this week.

Nathan: The decisions that FOX makes with its "talent" continue to puzzle me. Chris Myers should be banned from television. Thom Brennaman should only broadcast Reds games. He should never do any national baseball games. He should never do another football game as long as he lives. Why he continues to do NFL games is puzzling. FOX will hopefully hire people like Dave Pasch and Bob Wischusen to replace the idiot announcers that are on there. I would not mind Chris Rose getting a full slate of NFL games. Ron Pitts should never do another NFL game on TV. Sam Rosen is not that bad, but Tim Ryan is a disaster. I hope that Trent Green and John Lynch move up quickly so that they can get rid of Tim and Charles Davis. I would also like them to hire Bob Papa from the NFL Network. Josh Lewin would also be another guy to potentially hire to work Cowboys games since Joe Buck cannot objectively call the games with the Cowboys. Kenny, Moose, and Goose could be the number one team in a couple of years because they are so good. As far as CBS teams go, the first two teams are good. Jim and Phil are great. Greg and Dan are pretty good, but they are a good number two team. Dick Enberg is still great but they cannot seem to give him a good analyst. Dan Fouts is a disaster. The other teams on CBS are catastrophic.

JFein: I would not mind Chris Rose getting a full slate of NFL games

Congratulations! You're a fan of one of the worst PbP guys in all of football!

/Bob Wischusen??? Seriously??? He's just as awful as Rose.
//I could go on, but I'll let the idiocy of what your 2 comments demomstrate for themselves how little you know and understand this business.

-----------------------------------------

As I said above, if he responds, I'll be sure to put it on here. His aura of great, in-depth knowlege of a business that in actuality he knows very little about is a constant source of great hilarity for me.

Your week 6 NFL and announcing schedule and broadcasting maps (Awful Announcing)

Blue Jays-Yankees Brawl FTW!

There's something so great about a bench-clearing brawl that is just so fun to watch. Watch as what starts as a little love top from Carlson to Jose Posada turns into an all out bench clearing brawl!



Good times! I love how one nudge like that can start a whole bench-clearing brawl filled with players going at each others throats. It always fascinates me what on earth can cause classy, grown, and mature men to rise up from the benches and start ripping and tearing and going after other people like that. Good times over in the Bronx......goooooooood times.

Blount Suspended For The Season

I have live blogged many memorable games and moments since starting this blog, but what happened last night with Oregon RB LaGarrette Blount may have been the most bizarre. And as a result of it, he will not play any more college football this season. And seeing as he is a senior, unless somehow he gets an extra year of elligibility, he won't play any more college football. From The LA Times.

The suspension, which was handed down by the school, will include a bowl game if Oregon qualifies. Blount, a senior, threw a punch that knocked Boise State defensive end Byron Hout to the turf.

Hout had approached Blount after Boise's 18-9 victory and struck the Oregon player on the shoulder pads. After throwing the punch, Blount had to be restrained by his coaches as he was escorted off the field.

Hout will not be suspended, Boise State announced. However, Broncos Coach Chris Peterson, during an interview on ESPN, said there "would be some internal consequences." Video footage showed Peterson trying to pull Hout away from Blount before the punch was thrown.

Good for the University of Oregon to really step in and make a statement on this behavior. And while it was seemingly not fully unprovoked as Byron Hout, the Boise player who was punched, tapped him on the shoulder pad and clearly said something, there is no excuse for sucker punching a player after a hard-fought, entertaining, albeit very sloppy, football game. While it seems that Blount is remorseful and sorry about the whole ordeal, what's done is done and Blount and his football career will pay dearly.

LaGarrette Blount Is A Disgrace

Simply a disgraceful end to the Oregon-Boise State game.



Unbelieveable. Truly a disgrace and hopefully he will pay for his immature actions. There is a difference between trash-talking and doing what Blount did and without a doubt, he crossed the line. The only good news from this whole thing is that Blount did apologize.



Apology or not, it may be a long time before LaGarette Blount plays college football again.

Fights Between Phillies And Mets Fans Surprise Sarge

I was saying in the LLWS open thread how Sarge was classic after My PHL 17 showed something it really should not have. Well the YouTube gods have obeyed my callings and I've got video. Keep in mind, this is immediately after Tom McCarthy and Gary "Sarge" Matthews, Sr. were touting how nice Citi Field was and such when all of a sudden this came on their screen.



Too funny! Now I'm not condoning the Phillies fan punching out the Mets fan or what not, but Sarge's "Oh my!" was simply priceless. I wonder what the producers were even thinking as that was clearly pre-taped footage. Good times at Citi Field!

Keith Olbermann Vs. Dan Steinberg: The Online Flame War!

I have been very serious in my criticizing and condemnation of Fox for doing a split-screen for Manny Ramirez's at-bats in his 2nd game back from steroid suspension during the Muts-Phillies game on Saturday. And one of my main and favorite articles to read and site on this blog was Keith Olbermann's post on his MLBlog, The Baseball Nerd. Well, Dan Steinberg of The Sporting Blog responded and guess what folks, we have an epic flame war of hilarity!

If you've been around the block at all for the past few days, I am sure you have seen this post by now, but if not, here is the link to my post quoting Olbermann's blog on his indignation and outrage over Man-Ram. Just for the sake of space and redundancy, I won't bring up the block quote for a 3rd time (besides, most of what he says shows up in Steinberg's blockquote. Apparently Dan Steinberg read and got a hold of it and if you've ever watched Countdown with Keith Olbermann, after reading this quote, you'll understand what I mean when I say he Keith Olbermann'd Keith Olbermann. Here's Steinberg's response via his post on The Sporting Blog.

And so I ask, please, someone, anyone, give us a little outrage. What's that, Keith Olbermann? You have something to say?

"Let's take you out to San Diego where Manny Ramirez is just back from a 50-game suspension. For cheating. For cutting corners. For breaking rules. For lying. For deception. For letting down his teammates. For contributing to suspicions against every honest player. For raising a giant middle finger to sportsmanship. For abusing the fans. For risking that for which Lou Gehrig would've given anything -- his own health."

For sneaking boogers into ballpark pizza cheese. For publicly admitting he likes Tiramisu better than Apple Pie. For feeding rat poison to toddlers. For ruining America.

"Ramirez, of course, homered today in his first at bat. And some people cheered. As if he were just back from an injury, or a death in the family. As if he were a hero. As if he were an honest man. As if he were somehow worthy of sharing the meaningfulness of this day with Lou Gehrig."

As if he were worthy of being alive, Keith; of sharing the status of "human being" with Lou Gehrig. Manny Ramirez should have declined all offers of oxygen, on this day, and on every other day that is an anniversary of a day on which Lou Gehrig was alive.

"This is Lou Gehrig's day. The rest of the juicers may come back and play tomorrow and there will not be boycotts. The Dodgers will probably go to the World Series, carried in part by a great flaming fraud like Ramirez. And judging by the brainless response of fans who would cheer anybody if they hit the ball 425 feet for their team, and boo anybody if they hit the ball 425 feet for their opponents, there will not even be significant repercussions."

For shame, for shame, baseball fans. You should all be standing in line to forfeit your mindless baseball entertainment, on account of there having been rule-breaking in that industry, which is devoted primarily to occupying the minds of 30-something lawyers with expense accounts, middle-aged journalists and college kids making fictional "trades" at 3 in the morning while eating week-old pizza slices they found in their closets. Why, oh why, don't you brainless masses boycott this farce in favor of a more wholesome, ethical and Gehrig-approved entertainment option? Like, go check out MSNBC's "Oddball" video page. Current options include "Pig Parade Held in Philippines," "Monkey Pee Monkey Do," and "Woman Puts Squirrel in Tank Top." I know for a fact that Gehrig could not get enough of the squirrel inside the tank top bit. In fact, he used to regularly stuff ferrets into his underwear.

"Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez and the others of the PED era did not belong in baseball today, and that they did not show the requisite awareness of their own shame, only makes it worse. Lord, send us a 'roider who has the presence of mind to say: "On this day I do my penance; I don't yet belong on the field even with just the memory of this man, I hope you'll forgive me and I can again earn your trust."

Because, you know, the world would never have a cross word to say about a 'roider who completely upstaged Lou Gehrig Day with a self-centered stunt involving a self-righteous self-benching. No, that'd be just swell.

Anyhow, I would argue further: that no one not named Gehrig should ever again be allowed to play baseball, even Strat-O-Matic. And that Manny Ramirez should be tasered every night for a year. And that the fans who have cheered for him should be tasered, too. And that Manny Ramirez is, pretty much, the Worst Person in the World. And that anyone who so much as cashes one check paid for with dirty baseball money from immoral cheering fans should be banished from civilized society.

Wait, Keith, why is there an MLB logo on your blog? Nooooooooooooooooooooo!

I agree with what Keith Olbermann says on the matter, and yet, this criticism from Steinberg is cleverly written and brillantly hilarious. He uses pretty much every tool in the book that Keith Olbermann utilizes in his Special Comments and uses them against him in a sarcastic way that is pure hilarity!

But wait! This flame war gets even better! KEITH OLBERMANN ACTUALLY RESPONDED!!!! Via Keith Olbermann's MLBlog, The Baseball Nerd.

I hadn't heard previously of Dan Steinberg and his blogs at The Washington Post and The Sporting News, but he goes a long way to defend Manny Ramirez and skewer me for what I wrote here Saturday (I think that's what he's doing - it's not exactly clear; it seems to be snark, a medium in which I've worked for 35 years, and whatever it is, I think he's doing it wrong). I criticized the juxtaposition of Fox's celebration of Ramirez's return and the MLB-wide official tributes to Lou Gehrig on the 70th Anniversary of his "day" at Yankee Stadium in 1939.

"As if he were worth of being alive, Keith; of sharing the status of "human being" with Lou Gehrig. Manny Ramirez should have declined all offers of oxygen, on this day, and on every other day that is an anniversary of a day on which Lou Gehrig was alive."

I confess to being mightily impressed at the head of steam he builds up on the long trek he makes towards his great climactic accusation of hypocrisy on my part.

"For shame, for shame, baseball fans. You should all be standing in line to forfeit your mindless baseball entertainment, on account of there having been rule-breaking in that industry, which is devoted primarily to occupying the minds of 30-something lawyers with expense accounts, middle-aged journalists and college kids making fictional "trades" at 3 in the morning while eating week-old pizza slices they found in their closets. Why, oh why, don't you brainless masses boycott this farce in favor of a more wholesome, ethical and Gehrig-approved entertainment option?"

I also confess to becoming afraid for him as he accelerates, the way we all used to become afraid for the Coyote in the Roadrunner cartoons, since we could see the edge of the mesa coming and he couldn't.

"I would argue further: that no one not named Gehrig should ever again be allowed to play baseball, even Strat-O-Matic. And that Manny Ramirez should be tasered every night for a year. And that the fans who have cheered for him should be tasered, too. And that Manny Ramirez is, pretty much, the Worst Person in the World. And that anyone who so much as cashes one check paid for with dirty baseball money from immoral cheering fans should be banished from civilized society.

Wait, Keith, why is there an MLB logo on your blog?

Nooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Umm... as anybody who reads the MLBlogs knows, baseball has no say over what is written here, by me, or anybody else. And, yes, this particular blog, MLB pays for. Only I don't get checks to cash. The money gets split three ways: to St. Jude's Hospital, to the Baseball Assistance Team, and to the education fund for the grandchildren of the former big leaguer and MLB.TV host John Marzano.

That was a long way to run to wind up going off a cliff like that. At least Mr. Steinberg was good enough to provide his own sound effect at the end.

But wait! There's even more to this hilarity! If you click on the above link and look closely, Steinberg actually responded to Olbermann in the comments section!

Well, the final line was added after I had already finished, and I guess I'll agree that it gives the wrong impression. Although I didn't really think you got paid for doing this. The point was more that you are associated with the official apparatus of MLB, which has clearly been pretty well filled with cheaters of various degrees for a long, long time. Seems to me either you give up on an entire generation of baseball fans, or you just accept the fact that cheaters were everywhere and you move on with your life. When so many were cheating, to me, it's a systemic problem and not a sign of individual moral failing.

As for the rest of the slop quoted above, apologies for not just writing what I thought. Here's what I think: there are so very many problems in the world that deserve outrage, many of which you highlight on TV. Manny Ramirez sullying the image of a man who's been dead for decades by trying to hit a ball with a piece of wood on a day his employer told him he was eligible just doesn't strike me as one of them.

And if you want to say that being outraged about Manny is also a topic unworthy of outrage, I will concede the point.

As for never having heard of me, I was the fella who turned up Miles Rawls, the Wizards fan who taunted Prez Obama this spring. You quoted from my piece extensively, on the air! And I thought that made us bff!

If you're not laughing right now at either what Steinberg and/or Olbermann said or just at the fact that 2 grown men (one of them being a multi-million dollar TV star) are having an online flame war about something like this, then there's gotta be something wrong with you because this is great! Good times.....gooooooooooood times.

For a great discussion on this, listen to today's episode of On The DL.

When Fighting In Hockey, One Should Not Daydream

I'm not exactly sure where Aaron Ward of the Boston Bruins was as he was about to fight with Scott Walker of the Carolina Hurricanes, but it certainly was not in the TD Banknorth Garden. Hell, Ward may not have even been on Planet Earth. And for it, he was literally Knocked The Fuck Out by Scott Walker. Here's the video for your enjoyment.



I feel like a mean-spirited person for laughing at that, but I can't help but to laugh while watching that. Did he not see Walker with the gloves off? He must have thought that instead of fighting they were at a dance hall and were about to tango or something. And afterwards he may have felt that way too. It's like "Hey honey, let's dance!" and then BAM!!! Down goes Ward!! It's can be a common occurance at dances. Really. It can.

In all seriousness though, Ward would ultimately be given pretty much every penalty in the book for what happened (5 for fighting, 2 for instigating, and a 10-minute misconduct along with whatever else the NHL decides to hand out). But come on, should a guy be punished for another man's daydream?

Scott Walker apparently does not follow "Queensbury Rules" (Puck Daddy)

Fighting In Hockey

So this seems to be a topic of intense discussion over the past month or so. Should fighting in hockey be banned? I was watching some WBC this morning on ESPN2 when after the game they went straight to Mike & Mike. And sure enough, they were talking about hockey fighting and whether or not is should be banned. Now personally as somewhat of a hockey fan, I feel like it is a part of the game and it should stay as is. Especially as a Flyer fan. Come on now, we're the Broad Street bullies! Fighting is what we do best. But even if you're not a Flyers fan, one has to appreciate what has to be one of the greatest fights brawls in hockey history. I'm not sure if any of you remember this, but it was March 5, 2004 and the Flyers took on the Ottawa Senators and at the very end of the game, got into 5 brawls over the course of 30 seconds playing time. The game set an NHL record with 419 penalty minutes and both teams ended the game with more coaches on the bench than players (although miraculously the game was played to conclusion) Appropriately enough, it was a Friday night and believe me, this forever redefined Friday Night Fights. And while you will soon figure it out, the announcers are the Flyers' announcers, Jim Jackson and Gary Dornhoefer. Watch these and tell me that fighting should not be banned in hockey. It's just way too fun to watch!

Round 1


Rounds 2 and 3


Rounds 4 and 5


"PATRICK SHARP HAMMERS HIM WITH A RIGHT! DOWN HE GOES! DOWN GOES SPEZZA! DOWN GOES SPEZZA!" Classic Jim Jackson. Jack Edwards is proud of you, JJ. Good times.....goooood times.

Fighting just adds way too much fun to the game. And I am also positive that the NHL would lose viewers en masse if they were to get rid of the fighting aspect of the game, just my thoughts (and my excuse to put up that awesome Senators-Flyers brawl from 5 years ago).

Back to the game itself, the Senators did score a goal in that last minute or so of play, but it obviously was not enough as the Flyers beat them 5-3.

A Decision Has Been Made Regarding The Two Teams Involved In The Alabama Basketbrawl

There have been numerous "basketbrawls", before shall we say, most notably the Ron Artest incident a few years ago, but there has been one in my memory where a herd of fans ran onto the court and started fighting each other. In case you have not seen the video before, here it is, and yes, a decision has been made as to who advances into the tournament.



Well then, that was certainly ugly. Now as far as the basketball situation goes, Carver was leading Valley 52-37 with 6:23 to go and a Valley player started a fight. So it would be natural that Carver would advance, would not it, as the game was obviously stopped following the brawl, right? Not so fast. The real winner in this is Talledegga High School who will get a buy into the Final Four of this tournament because neither team will advance. And frankly, I applaud AHSAA for doing this. Even though Carver had a clear lead and a Valley player started the brawl, both teams and both teams' fans were out of control and in the end, neither school deserves to be rewarded for what happened.

Basketbrawl breaks out in Ala. HS playoff game (Sports by Brooks)
AHSAA rules Carver-Montgomery and Valley are out of state tournament; Talledegga in Final Four (AL.com)