tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49787400813524622662024-02-19T03:41:04.279-08:00KCBS Sports FansThe View From the Cheap SeatsStan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.comBlogger326125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-13933028296665420282014-08-20T07:39:00.000-07:002014-08-20T07:39:22.689-07:00The 26th ManMidwest baseball. Summer rain. Nothing unusual there.
Except for the stunningly inept performance in Chicago by the Wrigley Field grounds crew, leading to last night's 4-1/2 inning victory by the Cubs over the Giants. Yes, they played half a game in Chicago (and took longer than the typical Yankees-Red Sox game to do it), and when it was over, nobody was talking about Anthony Rizzo's home run.
Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-68145246342150300692014-06-27T06:32:00.000-07:002014-06-27T06:32:44.973-07:00Are We Going To Be Americans About This?America is going gaga over soccer. All of a sudden, we're painting our faces and destroying workplace productivity so we can follow the men's national team at the World Cup.
So now that the USMNT (that's insider-lingo, apparently required of anyone who REALLY knows what's up) has reached the Round of 16 by losing to Germany, it's time to start acting like Americans.
For starters, why do Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-29702533837995523512014-05-20T09:58:00.003-07:002014-05-20T09:58:40.929-07:00Peak Football?The phrase "peak oil" was in vogue a few years back. Geologist M. King Hubbert theorized the world was about to hit the peak of its petroleum-extraction capabilities and it would all be downhill after that.
Well, now I'm wondering if we're nearing "peak football". The list of problems facing the NFL gets longer all the time. The league's attempt to settle a lawsuit filed by those who suffered Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-55366104497472569812014-05-07T08:53:00.000-07:002014-05-07T08:53:35.351-07:00The Venture Capitalist In The Corner OfficeThe Warriors' decision to fire Mark Jackson after three successive seasons of improvement in the win-loss category will be debated ad nauseam. Right move? Wrong move? Of course, time will tell: if the Warriors wind up in the Western Conference finals next year, management will look like geniuses.
Rather than pick apart the decision, I'd like to focus on the environment in which it was made. Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-24415694146505810982014-04-30T07:46:00.000-07:002014-04-30T07:46:37.334-07:00Donald Sterling's Uncomfortable TruthIn all the fury about Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling's ugly comments, and in all the backslapping about the NBA's unprecedented sanctions, very little has been said about the uncomfortable truth of the matter: Donald Sterling is hardly the only American whose vision isn't colorblind.
Sterling's "crime", of course, was being caught on tape saying the sorts of things that make many of Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-26287891123182100002014-04-28T07:25:00.000-07:002014-04-28T07:25:42.271-07:00Cue Captain RenaultTo paraphrase Captain Renault's immortal line from the film "Casablanca": "I'm shocked, shocked to find that a sports team owner is a jerk!"
It is laughable to watch pundits far and wide demand action right now against the buffoon who's owned the Los Angeles Clippers since 1981. He's been an embarrassment pretty much since Day One. It doesn't take much digging to find the long record of Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-85702876538710249862014-04-07T09:23:00.000-07:002014-04-07T09:23:12.806-07:00How To Fix ReplayA week into the Major League Baseball season, it's already clear that the new replay rules need some work.
From the bizarre wait in Oakland while Coco Crisp's walkoff homer was confirmed, to the travesty in Phoenix where an obviously blown call at the plate couldn't be challenged because Bruce Bochy had already lost an appeal, to the uneven application of replay on the new "blocking the plate" Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-17688506692203330582014-03-27T09:52:00.001-07:002014-03-27T09:52:45.742-07:00Not "Jerry Maguire"The headlines scream about State Senator Leland Yee and Chinatown mobster Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow.
But there's a fascinating--and perhaps horrifying--story deeper in the massive criminal case unfolding in San Francisco.
It's the tale of a young man named Marlon Sullivan. On the one hand, there's the Marlon Sullivan who became one of the youngest licensed contract advisers for NFL Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-57618797677295428102014-03-14T09:08:00.000-07:002014-03-14T09:08:19.634-07:00The Dodger ExperimentMuch of the attention the Los Angeles Dodgers have been getting focuses on their drunken-sailor-level spending. The Dodgers will enter the 2014 season with the biggest payroll in the big leagues at over $220 million. That's $75 million more than the Giants and a staggering $160 million more than the A's.
But a much bigger story about money may be playing out in the Southland. The Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-85445822732284707092014-02-24T09:15:00.000-08:002014-02-24T09:15:49.656-08:00Nothing To See Here, Move AlongOne athlete came off the bench to nearly foul out while scoring zero points in 10 minutes of playing time in an NBA game.
The other wasn't even playing a game; he'd shown up for the increasingly-weird spectacle known as the NFL Scouting Combine.
Yet both Jason Collins and Michael Sam made history over the weekend. Now, let's hope what they represent becomes ordinary enough that it's Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-8415604539776586632013-11-25T06:44:00.000-08:002013-11-25T06:44:21.514-08:00Earth to NFL: Time To Get SeriousLet's not kid ourselves here: football is dangerous, and the NFL brand is very dangerous.
But if the NFL really and truly wanted to make it less dangerous, it would get more serious about the rules surrounding headhunting.
Sure, the "targeting" rule gets enforced and 15-yard penalties and fines get handed out.
But all too often, the headhunter gets rewarded even though he's penalized. Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-7314133877124173342013-11-13T08:54:00.000-08:002013-11-13T08:54:19.871-08:00The Hits Keep ComingAmerica's two biggest professional sports are facing the same problem: they've become too violent.
It's a real quandary for the NFL, which has marketed its brand of sanctioned mayhem for many a year. Now, the league is trying to ease away from the madness a bit, imposing heavier fines on players who deliver blows to the head. The unintended consequence may be more injuries to the knees of Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-6019992773501027072013-10-24T08:37:00.001-07:002013-10-24T08:37:06.886-07:00Not So Hard, Was It?Baseball is joining the headlong rush toward video replay.
But the Beantown Blooper in Game 1 of the World Series is proof that many, if not most, of the bad calls in baseball don't require replay to resolve. All they require is a quick meeting of the umpires.
When Dana DeMuth missed the call at second base (Cards shortstop Pete Kozma dropped a feed while trying to turn a double play), Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-12805822189670369302013-09-26T07:58:00.000-07:002013-09-26T07:58:30.037-07:00This Should Be An Easy CallAnywhere else on Earth, the chance to host a world-class event like the America's Cup would have the civic leaders abuzz.
But in case you haven't been paying attention, San Francisco may or may not be on the same planet as the rest of us. Side story that says a lot about the political realities of San Francisco: let's go back to 1983. Mayor Dianne Feinstein is facing a recall election after she Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-83506418474631510052013-09-03T07:48:00.000-07:002013-09-03T07:48:20.609-07:00How To Make a Problem WorseLook, everyone agrees that football needs to do something about the head injuries.
But I think that pretty soon, everyone is going to agree that the NCAA's new "targeting" rule is a complete disaster.
The first weekend of the college season brought a number of penalties for violation of the new rule, put in place this season in an attempt to make the game safer. In the NCAA's own language, the Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-85216585673379651752013-08-20T10:37:00.000-07:002013-08-20T10:37:16.986-07:00Dempster Achieves The ImpossibleI didn't see this coming: I'm sitting down to write a piece defending Alex Rodriguez.
While the Lords of Baseball (and certainly the New York Yankees) wish A-Rod would just go away, the boneheads of Boston have managed to render him at least a mildly sympathetic figure.
Numerous members of the Red Sox issued public complaints about Rodriguez' continued presence in the Yankees lineup while he Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-39398235297426671142013-07-29T06:58:00.000-07:002013-07-29T06:58:27.862-07:00Get Used To ItGiants fans, it's pretty bad right now. That sweep at the hands of the Cubs--all one-run losses, all marked by painful moments of failure--is the low point of 2013. For now.
So pardon me for rubbing salt in those open wounds. But have you been keeping an eye on the Dodgers' Yasiel Puig?
The 22-year-old Cuban has put up eye-popping numbers since he arrived in LA in early June. Not coincidentallyStan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-80142723759341165422013-07-11T10:24:00.001-07:002013-07-11T10:24:46.913-07:00Best of Times, Worst of TimesLet's roll the calendar back a few months. Here we are: it's the fall of 2012. The two Bay Area big league baseball teams are in tall clover: the Giants have followed a 94-win regular season with Mr. Toad's Wild Ride through the postseason to a second World Series title in three years. The plucky A's have posted 92 regular season wins, surprised both Texas and Anaheim to win the AL West, Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-37847960818549544692013-06-14T08:10:00.000-07:002013-06-14T08:10:34.357-07:00Baseball's Replay MessOpen letter to Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig: This isn't that hard to do.
I'm talking about baseball's absurd approach to the use of video replay.
As I've written before, I'm not in the replay camp. I'm just fine with umps blowing calls (after all, the players screw up and don't get re-do's), but I recognize that I'm in the minority. And the battle's been lost anyway; baseball already Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-61931337003199907442013-05-08T09:44:00.000-07:002013-05-08T09:44:03.521-07:00Another Shot to the HeadIt's happened again in baseball: a pitcher hit in the head by a line drive, crumpling on the mound as the stadium goes silent.
This time, it was Toronto's J.A. Happ, struck by a ball off the bat of Tampa's Desmond Jennings. The sound of the ball hitting Happ's skull was as audible as its impact with the bat. Jennings wound up at third with one of the stranger triples you'll ever see.
HappStan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-44876630142655809212013-05-03T07:03:00.000-07:002013-05-03T07:03:24.942-07:00Yellow For CourageI'm not really a fan of the made-for-TV bit of theater in which the home team gets all its fans to wear the same color. White, red, orange, black...we've seen it all and it always seems a bit hokey to me.
But I'm making an exception for the yellow T-shirts the Warriors have been handing out to their playoff crowds. Yellow is the color historically used to denote cowardice. This basketball team Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-1866922603074442842013-04-29T09:31:00.000-07:002013-04-29T09:31:11.958-07:00The Big OutIt's tempting to compare Jason Collins with Jackie Robinson; after all, the biopic about Robinson, "42", is a hot movie ticket right now and both are pioneers.
Yet Robinson's breaking of baseball's color line still seems like a bigger deal than Collins' first-ever announcement by an American major-sports player that he's gay. I say that because Robinson was demonstrably the first black Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-63188711181753094822013-04-22T07:06:00.000-07:002013-04-22T07:07:50.990-07:00Cruel Shoes
Nice kicks, eh? Those are Nike's "Lunar MVP Pro Pregame" shoes and they're very popular among San Francisco Giants players and coaches. Of course, they come in other colorways too, so you can bet other teams are sporting them as well.
Those are the cleatless models, ideal for jogging in the outfield during spring training or for a starting pitcher on his off-day to wear while lounging in the Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-76492153121781817082013-04-15T09:10:00.000-07:002013-04-15T09:10:20.933-07:00Golf's GoofTake nothing away from Adam Scott. His playoff win over Angel Cabrera at the Masters was gripping drama and Australians are rightfully celebrating the first-ever Augusta win by one of their own.
Sure, there'll be some downstream grumbling about Scott's use of one of those goofy "anchored" putters, which could end up being outlawed by the Lords of Golf.
But a putter kerfuffle is Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4978740081352462266.post-44527231420448437402013-04-04T09:37:00.003-07:002013-04-04T09:37:42.292-07:00On CoachingIt's been a bit amusing to watch the handwringing and indignation surrounding the Mike Rice story. In case you've missed the endless video replays, he's the Rutgers University basketball coach who was fired this week after video surfaced showing him engaged in a variety of manic and abusive behavior during practices.
The reaction of many brought back memories of Captain Renault in the Stan Bungerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08566227969971405730noreply@blogger.com0