Festivus is back! And with my aluminum pole, with a high strength-to-weight ratio, now pulled out of the crawl space we are ready for a tinsel-free Festivus miracle.
Another year has come and gone in the sports world, memories were made, champions were crowned and over the past 12 months, my basket was filled with content for this year’s piece.
We will start by paying our respect to the classic TV show Seinfeld with my favorite tradition, the “airing of grievances.”
I have a lot of problems with teams, commissioners, fans, owners, players, rules and mascots. And now, you’re gonna hear about it.
Here are all the ways the sports world has disappointed me over the past year:
Rockies mascot Dinger is the worst in professional sports
Is this really the best the Rockies could do in the mascot department? Time to make a trade my friends, I’ll take another pantless mascot in Clark from the Chicago Cubs all day.
I thought Colorado letting Charlie Blackmon rob Monfort and Co. of $13 million with a contract extension was bad, but having Dinger on a contract that won’t end takes the cake.
Baseball Hall of Fame dropped the ball
The 2023 class was filled with talent and real hall of famers. But again, the writers dropped the ball and left out some truly deserving players.
It was nice to finally see the “Crime Dog” Fred McGriff get the call to Cooperstown. Still not sure why a guy with 493 homers and one of the most feared hitters of the 1990s had to wait for the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee to get in.
Scott Rolen also got the call he was headed to Cooperstown, but I would argue he shouldn’t get in before other deserving guys. I mean, Rolen only had 316 home runs and 2,077 hits. Whereas, Jeff Kent and Todd Helton were better players with stats on the back of their baseball cards to prove it.
Kent finished with 2,461 hits and 377 homers (most all-time for second base), and a .290 batting average. Helton tallied 2,519 hits and 369 homers while hitting .316 for his career. Those are just a few stats to make my point.
Shannon Sharpe acting like a clown during NBA basketball game
Sharpe got into a courtside yelling match at a Lakers game with the Grizzlies’ Ja Morant.
It is laughable how a grown man jumps onto the court and makes a huge scene that is all about him being a tough guy.
Anyone else pulls that stunt sitting on the hardwood at an arena would have been ejected from the complex. All we got was a weak apology from Sharpe.
“I’ve preached for the last six and a half years responsibility and accountability, and I take full responsibility for what transpired,” Sharpe said. “I’m never gonna say that wasn’t Shannon Sharpe because that was me. That was just me getting out of character. And I’m sorry for all those who saw my actions and took offense to my actions.”
Good lord, no emotional impulse control mixed with no common sense. Doesn't realize he should be absolutely embarrassed. This is similar to Juwan Howard slapping a coach and not realizing for a week he did anything wrong. A regular fan gets permanently banned for this behavior. https://t.co/MFRIrsyoTm
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) January 21, 2023
We have said it before, but MLB commissioner Rob Manfred hates baseball.
Have a feeling Manfred will be on this list yearly until his time in MLB is done.
He keeps adding to the list with new rules that aren’t improving the game. The pitch clock and extra innings are at the top of my list.
Baseball was never intended to be a timed sport. If that’s your jam, head over to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park and watch the Rapids.
Baseball is a classic game purists love. I enjoy the experience of going to the ballyard and not having anywhere to be.
The other change was extra innings with the California tiebreaker rule with a runner starting on second base. If you don’t want to play free baseball, win it in nine. Gone are the thrilling 15-inning games where a bench runs low and the teams have to claw out a win.
I miss old-school baseball
I’m an old-school guy and happy I worked in professional ball back when the game was played the right way. I miss throwing inside, sliding hard into bags/taking guys out and pitchers wanting to go 7-8 innings a start… none of this quality four innings junk. Yes, looking at you Kyle Freeland.
Would love to hear a manager tell the likes of Gibson, Koufax, Palmer, Gooden, Hershiser, Clemens, Maddux and other greats to give us a solid five. And while you’re giving us that quality start, you can’t throw inside. Players today are soft.
This is tough to hear… would not fly in the old days! Unfortunately this is how players are being taught with modern analytics…. What are y’all’s thoughts? https://t.co/C1JWrLvAVC
— Roger Clemens (@rogerclemens) September 9, 2023
Golf Aurora 💰
Golf Aurora and other courses that charge full-price green fees in winter months.
I have heard it is because they don’t want to devalue the course. Well, I have news for those folks… it isn’t devaluing the course. A lot of high-end courses have seasonal rates.
Golfers will agree, a dormant course in winter months shouldn’t be charging premium green fees.
Will give a tip of the cap to the superintendents who work countless hours keeping a course in tip-top shape.
Rockies broadcasts due for some change
With AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain shutting down, it’s unsure who will broadcast Rockies games in 2024.
The change may be a good thing in the end, as many fans feel this area needed an overhaul. There are only so many Supermo references, or clinics a guy can give during a broadcast. Baseball fans are knowledgeable, and don’t need seven people contributing during a game in and around the booth.
It would be a breath of fresh air for some new talent to take the reins in 2024.
Gary Player trashes Augusta National
Player might be a three-time Masters champion, but that doesn’t give him the right to trash its members or course. Player complaining about not being able to get tee times at Augusta National is one of the main reasons he isn’t invited more often.
It could also have to do something with his son being banned from the Masters for promoting golf balls during the opening tee shots in 2021… yes Player has won the Masters, but the traditions and way the club operates are what makes Augusta National a special place.
I will give Player some advice, stop running your mouth about how ANGC is just another course in Georgia. It’s not just another course, it is what we golfers consider hallowed grounds.
Sporting events should not start at 8 p.m.
We had this on the list last season, and it still rings true today. The only difference this year is Coach Prime agrees with us and thinks the 8 p.m. game times are bad for all involved.
“Who makes these 8 o’clock games? Dumbest thing ever. Stupidest thing ever invented in life. Who wants to stay up until 8 o’clock for a darn game?” Sanders said on his weekly radio show. “What about the East Coast — do they even care about ratings? Is anyone watching it? What are we supposed to do with the kids all day until 8 o’clock? What are we supposed to do in the hotel?”
Members of the media covering teams acting like fans and not journalists
To all the media outlets and local journalists openly rooting over the top for Avs/Nuggets and Buffs on social media during the postseason runs must have forgotten that they are journalists who are supposed to be impartial and report the news. If you want to be a fan and pumped after the fact I’m all for it… to all my coworkers who are beat reporters, I applaud you for how you run your beats. Y’all are professionals and I’m happy to work with ya.
MLB All-Star Game needs some fixing
Home run derby pitchers need to start throwing back at the bottom of the mound, go back to 10 outs and stop with the rapid-fire pitches.
The biggest change had to do with the uniforms. The ASG needs to go back to having players wear team uniforms. It made the game special seeing players in the home and away unis… baseball has lost its way over the years.
Golf course etiquette
This one is for all the players who decide they are special and need to hit in the lesson area at the driving range.
Those lesson grounds are for people who are paying a golf professional to give them a private lesson. And what comes with that is an area of more lush grounds to hit balls from. It’s one of the perks of paying for a private lesson at a course.
So next time you decide to hit a bucket of balls from the lesson grounds, just know the golf gods are looking down upon you with shanks and slices coming your way during your next round of golf.
Dick Monfort loves Wrigley West
Coors Field is Wrigley West when the Cubs come to town.
Monfort should be ashamed of the culture the Rockies have created around 20th and Blake. Saying his team will be a .500 ball club, striving to be average and then losing 103 games. How do you lose 100-plus games and not fire anyone?
But hey, at least when the Cubs come to town a packed house at Coors is a given.
MLB players wearing the oven mitts
The oven mitts these guys are wearing are a laughable joke. Players from years past are laughing at these guys… they aren’t about player safety. They are about getting an extra six inches closer to sliding safe into bags. Mr. “I hate baseball” Manfred won’t do anything about it, but clubhouse attendants across baseball need to throw these things in the trash where they belong.
College athletics are drunk with NIL, at least we know “now it’s legal”
All those California teams going to the ACC is pure comedy. Did those educated school presidents forget what the ACC stands for? I’ll give them the answer, Atlantic Coast Conference.
Everyone knows NIL and the massive power conferences are all about football and broadcast money. Other sports are going to feel the pain here. I feel bad for the normal student-athlete who has to deal with the brutal travel schedule.
Never thought I would see the day when players are staying in college longer and would rather go to class than make the jump to the professional ranks. Amazing what a few million dollars will make a student-athlete do.
We aren’t done here folks, it will continue to blow up in NCAA’s faces in 2024.
The No Fun League doesn’t like big hits
Big hits in football are not allowed anymore, even the legal ones.
Football has become so soft, at the sight of a big hit the laundry starts flying. The league needs to get back to some form of football or it will all turn into a glorified flag football league. And if you are going to have the FFL, you might hire Manfred as your commissioner since he has a thing for destroying legacy and creating unnecessary rules.
Festivus Yes! Bagels No!
As Festivus rolls on, we come to the feats of strength. As we have no room currently in the newsroom for such wrestling activities, I’ll leave ya with something relaxing you can enjoy: The Butler Cabin Yule log from Augusta National.
Tweet of the year
Vic Carapazza just informed the Reds dugout, it seems, that the second inning is not the time for the Cincy bullpen guys to go on an Eagle Scout adventure through the trees beyond CF.
— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel) May 17, 2023
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