THE LAST FIVE ...

Closing up shop
- Wednesday, Aug. 02, 2006

It may be time for a change
- Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Entry in the air
- Friday, April 21, 2006

Still here
- Thursday, April 20, 2006

Music of the moment
- Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Or ... BE RANDOM!


GOOD READS

101 in 1001
American Road Trip, 1998


OTHER PEOPLE

Chupatintas
Dancing Brave
Fugging It Up
Kitty Sandwich
Mister Zero
Sideways Rain
Ultratart
Velcrometer


THE BASICS

My crew
Latest
Older
Notes
Our host
Profile

Friday, Jan. 9, 2004 - 3:50 p.m.

Sports talk and such

I haven't been moved to write about anything these past few days. I sent out my previous entry on Tug McGraw's death to some friends and family, and Mom writes back fawning over me telling me that she knows I like what I'm doing now but that I have so much talent and I should get back to that kind of writing before long and she's my biggest fan. That kind of praise bothers me, really. Even from Mom, whom I would expect it from. In fact, I almost didn't send it to her for that reason. I also got this from Brad: "Dan, that's a terrific story. It should be published somewhere -- guest column in the Asbury Park Press, perhaps, or at the least on the Dan C...'s Writings Web Site that should have been created years ago." And yet, I stop short of sending him this URL.

* * *

Brad also asked my thoughts on Pete Rose. I thought about writing about it earlier in the week, but I quickly lost interest. That's probably because I'm not sure what I think. Several years ago, I know I wanted Rose � "baseball's all-time Hit King" as every news report (and his book) refer to him several times � in the Hall of Fame. I was looking at his performance on the field, his accomplishments as a player, not his record and faults as a manager. And yet, as a manager he's still in uniform and, in a way, he's still on the field. When voting on players for the Hall of Fame, the Baseball Writers Association of America doensn't consider his post-playing career, whether that involves managing, coaching, acting, moonshining, whatever. So there's the argument that anything that came after Rose hung up his bat and glove shouldn't affect his candidacy.

Except there's the rule, the one that forbids gambling on baseball games, and the condition that comes along with a lifetime ban from the sport: No chance for the Hall of Fame. I do think that Pete Rose's accomplishments as a player warrant induction into the Hall of Fame, even with the gambling. But I don't think he should be allowed in for one simple reason:

He was asked 14 years ago if he bet on baseball, and he said, "No." He's essentially been asked every year � every day � since then and has not taken the opportunity to reverse course and come clean. He's only doing so now, in a book from which he'll profit, as a last-ditch effort to have the ban lifted and be put on the ballot for the Hall of Fame by December 2005, an important deadline. After the ballots for the Class of 2006 are mailed out that month, he won't be eligible to have his name on future ballots. Players are put onto the ballot five years after they retire and stay on it for 15 years, so long as they receive votes from more than 5 percent of the writers casting ballots. Once you hit the 20 years out of baseball mark, you're off the writers' ballot and can only be considered by the Veterans Committee, which is made up mostly of Hall of Famers. And Pete Rose's chances with his peers are a lot slimmer than with the writers. He knows he has to get this done now.

He also wants to manage again, which he can't under his current ban agreement. So what it all comes down to is a chance to make money off his name again for Pete Rose. The commissioner's office wants him to show remorse and contrition for what he's done, and he hasn't really done that. I agree with that stipulation. He doesn't seem that sorry. He's said it's the worst thing he's ever done, but he doesn't sound like he truly feels that way. He wrote in the book and has said since that he didn't think it was that big a deal when he was doing it. But how could he not? He also said he never bet against the Reds while he managed them (which I do believe; the guy was such a competitor who always wanted to win) and that he never pumped other managers or scouts for information on their teams. Well that, I don't know. Even if he didn't, say he's chatting with an opposing manager around the batting cage and the manager lets slip that a certain pitcher is scratched (OK, unlikely that the manager would reveal that, allowing Rose to adjust his lineup, but it's possible). Back in the clubhouse, it might dawn on Pete that a bet on the Reds that night might not be a bad idea.

But what it comes down to is the lying, and the fact that he had hundreds of chances to fix things, and didn't. Might as well keep him out.

* * *

The more I read Bill Simmons' column on ESPN.com's Page 2, the more I laugh and the more I like it. It reads like a blog in a lot of ways. But I was particularly amused by the following paragraph, which refers to the coin toss before overtime of the Packers-Seahawks playoff game on Sunday. At the time, I thought pretty much the same thing about Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck's comment after the coin toss:

(And what an unfair ending. Not only were they driving, but Hasselbeck was unconscious that whole game - even delivering that "We'll take the ball, and we're gonna score!" promise during the coint toss, which sounded like his voice was dubbed over by Robby Benson's character in "One on One." That was fantastic. Then again, only a BC grad would be dumb enough to say something like that in Lambeau. I guess I have no point.)

* * *

I just got an e-mail from a friend who forwarded what claimed to be the AP's sports rolodex, saying that it was inadvertently sent out on the wire and the phone numbers were legit. Having worked for a newspaper, I can see how that might happen, and it probably was an accurate list ... 10 years ago. During a quick scan of the names, I found at least a dozen dead people. Long dead, years dead. Wilt Chamberlain, Gene Autry, Walter Payton. It had a number for George W. Bush, who hasn't owned the Texas Rangers for about 10 years. The number for former Notre Dame coach Ara Parsegian had 219, the old area code for South Bend. While good for a laugh, I don't think that list would be good for much more.

Previous page: I believe
Next page: The view from my old room

� 1998-2004 DC Products. All rights reserved.

Yeah, sorry I have to be all legal on you here, but unless otherwise indicated, all that you read here is mine, mine, mine. But feel free to quote me or make fun of me or borrow what I write and send it out as an e-mail forward to all your friends, family and coworkers. Just don't say it's yours, you know?