Archive for February, 2007
Can someone please alert Major League Baseball that there is no rivalry between Miami and Tampa Bay. There’s no hatred between those two cities. At the beginning of baseball season, I always check the Marlins schedule to see which teams the Fish will be playing during interleague games. (I’m a White Sox fan too.) And every year we get stuck with home and away series with Tampa Bay because someone at Major League Baseball decided there was a heated rivalry between the two cities. I doubt I could find Tampa on a map; so I guarantee you I have no desire to attend a game against them.
I understand White Sox-Cubs interleague games EVERY SEASON. I understand Yankees-Mets interleague games EVERY SEASON. But Marlins-Devil Rays? Are you kidding me? Every season? Is there a lot of bad blood between the Marlins and D-Rays? Are there people in both cities anxiously awaiting this series every year?
I’m going to make the guess that if I tried to gather up some friends to drive to Tampa for the Malins-Devil Rays series, I wouldn’t find one person to go with me. (And mind you, I work at a sports radio station.) Not ONE PERSON would want to go with me. Not ONE. Not a single one. No one.
With all the New Yorkers down here, wouldn’t it make more sense to have a yearly series against the Yankees? Or the Red Sox? Anyone but the Devil Rays. Come on, Major League Baseball. Correct this error. Stop making the Marlins play the Devil Rays. This was a terrible blog.
February 26th, 2007
I am completely shocked by the number of e-mails and postings online about what The Dan LeBatard Show DID to Tim Hardaway. Tim Hardaway was not tricked into saying something hateful. He answered a question honestly. The problem is, his answer was filled with hate. True hate for a group of people. And the reason this has blown up into a national story is because it’s shocking to hear such unbridled hate from someone we don’t expect it from. But, I will repeat… Tim Hardaway was not tricked or badgered into giving that answer.
I’ve seen e-mail after e-mail saying that Dan had him on the show because he knew he could GET him to say that. Nothing could be further from the truth. We had Tim on the show that day because we thought it would be interesting to get his take on Riley coming back… get his thoughts on the Heat… and ask him about gay athletes. Why ask him about gay athletes? Because that’s what’s been in the news lately. It was not an inappropriate question. ESPN generally dictates what the sports world is talking about. ESPN has put a lot of focus into John Amaechi’s book and his announcement that he’s gay. Most talk shows and columnists follow ESPN’s lead.
Before Tim Hardaway was asked about having a gay teammate, the same question was asked on our show to Charles Barkley, Andre Johnson, Robert Smith, Pat Williams, and a host of others. I never received one e-mail asking why Dan asked those guests questions about having a gay teammate. No one seemed to think that line of questioning was wrong, until Tim Hardaway responded to it with hate. Once Tim Hardaway went on a hate filled rant about gays, it became The Dan LeBatard Show’s fault. WHAT?
The e-mailers all have the same argument. “It’s a sports show. Just talk sports.” “Why did you ask him about a gay teammate? You blindsided him?” “If you have a basketball player on, just talk basketball.” This is all absurd to me. When Jose Canseco’s book came out, steroids became an interesting issue to talk about. That’s what ESPN was talking about, so that’s what sports talk shows were talking about. When Canseco’s book came out, all the guests on our show were asked their thoughts on steroids. The guests were asked how many teammates they knew that took steroids. The guests were asked if they had done steroids. THAT’S WHAT PEOPLE WERE TALKING ABOUT AT THE TIME.
When David Stern issued a decree requiring all NBA players adhere to a dress code, THAT became the hot topic. Clothes have nothing to do with sports, but that’s what everyone on sports talk shows was talking about. Every athlete that came on was asked about clothes and dress codes. And when that ceased to be an important topic, a new topic became the hot topic.
The same thing was happening this week. John Amaechi’s book came out on Wednesday… and it was released with a big media blitz. He was all over ESPN and the talk shows. So naturally, the topic of gay athletes became an issue on talk shows. And that’s why the question was asked of Tim Hardaway. It was topical. It was timely. Dwyane Wade was on ESPN News Thursday night from all star weekend. He was on to talk about the all star game and Converse shoes. The ESPN anchor asked him about gay athletes… not to trick D-Wade into saying something. He asked him because it’s in the news. That’s the same thing that happened with Tim Hardaway. He wasn’t ambushed.
If you listen to the entire interview, you’ll hear Dan try to help Tim dig himself out of his answer. Dan tries to make the conversation a little more jovial… tries to take some of the heat off Hardaway… but Hardaway continues down his hateful path. Dan tries one last time to get Hardaway to think about what he’s saying. Dan asks him flatly, “You realize what you’re saying is homophobic? It’s bigotry.” All Tim Hardaway had to do at that point was say, “Oh, is that the way it’s coming across? Then I’m not saying it the right way… I don’t want to sound homophobic.” Had Hardaway said that, it never would have been heard anywhere else. But instead, Hardaway responded with, “I hate gay people.” No one DRAGGED that statement out of him. He offered it up. That’s his fault.
Later that night, CBS 4’s Sports Director Jim Berry got Hardaway on the phone to record an interview with him for the 11pm news. Jim Berry tried to help Hardaway out of his mess by giving him an opportunity to recant what he said. Hardaway stood by his comments. Jim Berry then asked Hardaway, “If you had a family member that was gay, what would you do?” Hardaway’s response: “I wouldn’t talk to them.” Tim Hardaway had numerous opportunities to backtrack from his statements and he never did. That’s not Dan LeBatard’s fault. That’s not Jim Berry’s fault. That’s not the media’s fault.
I do not think Tim Hardaway is a bad guy. I think he has some hateful feelings inside him towards a group of people. I’ve had hateful feelings before. I’m sure you’ve had hateful feelings before. Hate, unfortunately, is a part of being human. But humans are also able to overcome hate. Humans are able to realize mistakes… and differences… and other opinions. Throughout our lives we all grow… we all change. Things we might have believed when we were younger, we no longer believe. People change. People grow. Tim Hardaway will grow because of this. Tim Hardaway will become a better person because of all of this.
Sports talk shows will continue on. The Dan LeBatard Show will continue on. And sometime, maybe soon… maybe years from now, someone else will say something really stupid. And that person will become the story. And it will be THEIR fault; no one else’s.
February 16th, 2007
Nick Saban is on my mind again. I hate to admit it, but he is. I figured I was done stewing about Osaban Bin Lying, but I guess I still have a little anger left in me. A couple of weeks ago a tape came out where Nick Saban is referring to certain LSU fans as “coonasses.” Now it’s not a racial term, but it IS a slur. An insult. A dagger thrown at a class of people. Nick Saban said it. We’ve all heard him say it now. And nothing seems to be happening about it.
Now I understand that he said “coonass” while relating a story to some reporters while he thought it was off the record. I also understand that “coonass” is not the worst slur you could call a Cajun, and in fact some people of Cajun descent actually embrace the term, much the way some southerners love the term “redneck.” But to me, the bottom line is that Nick Saban told a story using a term that is considered UNACCEPTABLE for someone in a leadership position to say. He said it. We heard it. And there should be repercussions.
I don’t think he should lose his job over it; but the thing that kills me is that he doesn’t seem to be losing ANYTHING over it. The love affair with this dictator continues. Can you imagine if the Miami Hurricanes were traveling to play a game against LSU and a tape of Larry Coker or Randy Shannon or Kirby Freeman came out with them referring to LSU fans as “coonasses?” It would be national news. There would be suspensions. There would be sensitivity training. But when Nick Saban says it, and is caught saying it, there’s nothing. I don’t even sense much outrage from South Florida.
After what a fraud this guy has turned out to be, why aren’t we nailing Saban over the comment? Why has everyone allowed him to explain it away? It’s not like there’s a ton of sports news going on right now that’s taking up our time. Our opportunity to punish Nick Saban came and went… and we did nothing about it. I can only hope there are more tapes of Osaban Bin Lying floating around somewhere. Tapes that make the “coonass” tape sound G rated. I want this guy knocked down off his high horse. And I think we may have missed our opportunity.
February 12th, 2007
You have got to hand it to the NBA & ESPN because they consistently find a way to create and generate news when it seems like there’s nothing to talk about. David Stern has been carefully doing this for years and can be best highlighted by the timing of the age limit, dress code and new ball. Well with the help of the sports news monopoly that is ESPN the NBA has a new controversial topic to carry the momentum leading up to next week’s All-Star game in Vegas. The new book by ESPN entitled “Man in the Middle” shines light on the closeted life of recently outed ex-NBA scrub John Amaechi. For the next few weeks every player is going to be asked by a reporter about their feelings about having a gay teammate and then give a rehearsed quasi-homophobic, quasi-politically correct answer that will make this seem like a boring and bland topic. Except one thing, it’s not. Sexual preference is the final barrier in sports discrimination today and the idea of a male team sports athlete coming out the closet is one that is worth debating. However, after letting this topic stew in my head I came up with a simple response…..who cares?! I don’t mean that in a bad way, but in a good way. It shouldn’t matter whether Amaechi prefers the company of men and it shouldn’t matter if he doesn’t. I realize that this is a delicate issue so I’m trying to not to come across insensitive but as many other players have said in their responses to the topic, it doesn’t matter. Charles Barkley said it best earlier this week when he said the reason people keep saying we’d (referring to teammates) would have a problem is because America has a problem with homosexuality. I find this to be dead on accurate. It’s not the players who seem to care. Sure guys will probably make fun of a gay teammate, but after a while it would be no different than what teammates tease each other for on a daily basis. Once the guys on the court performing and scoring 30 points per game or hitting multiple home runs I believe that everything in the locker room will be like normal. You can argue that an openly gay athlete would have a lot to lose both on and off the court but I feel that there some many different financial opportunities that would arise that ultimately everything would end being more beneficial. Unfortunately it’s the rest of society that will have the problem accepting an openly gay and active athlete. It’ll be the fans throwing slurs at that player, not the teammates so if there’s anyone that needs to look themselves in the mirror before accepting an openly gay player it’s the rest of society that exists outside of the locker room.
Moving on to more uplifting discussion, this past week’s episode of “24” was fantastic. It seems that slowly Jack is turning into his old self and the fact that he was at the point of killing his brother seemed to exemplify that. It was pretty obvious that Jack’s dad is evil, but did he really need to kill Gram before we had a chance to learn what else he’s been involved in. Do you think that Jack will finally have the stones to kill his dad when he figures it all out? I get the feeling that the writers are still a little unclear what to do with the Fayed but you can basically guarantee that Chloe’s lover is definitely going to die (good chance Jack’s responsible).
Speaking of the T.V galaxy, Lost is back and thank god they returned with a decent episode. Clockwork Orange references are always enjoyable and so is watching someone get hit by a bus. Glad to have Lost back in my life now if they can only find a way to get Evangeline Lilly naked I’d be truly happy. Damn network television.
A quick shout out to the Heat who with a win on Tuesday against the Blazers can actually salvage this horrendous start and get back to .500. By the way, who shoved a giant hater stick up Hubie Brown’s ass? It’s like the old geezer hasn’t learned a thing in the past few seasons and continues to preach archaic analysis that has little bearing on today’s game. He’s still criticizing the Heat every chance he gets and fails to acknowledge that the players on the Heat don’t actually care what there record is against above .500 teams in the regular season so stop trying to make it seem like it’s an important stat. Anyway I thought we banned Hubie Brown from calling Heat games after last season, how is this still allowed? It’s like ABC/ESPN want to do everything possible to anger Miami fans. We just showed you a great time during Super Bowl week and you rewarded us with the B team broadcasters, that’s week. Next time South Florida hosts the Super Bowl we should banish all the ESPN/ABC to Homestead just to see how much they’d enjoy the communicate.
I’m out of here like a fat kid in dodge ball. Enjoy the Hubie bashing and I’ll have more 24/Lost talk coming later this week.
February 12th, 2007
Even though my beloved Chicago Bears lost the game, I will still count this Superbowl week as one of the greatest weeks of my life. Yes… of my life. And the Bears lost. I can’t imagine how I would feel if the Bears had actually won.
I happened to love broadcasting all week from radio row. I thought there was a lot of energy and a lot of excitement building up to the game. I’m “into” celebrity. I like being around celebrities. I like meeting celebrities. I like taking pictures with celebrities. Not only did I get to meet celebrities this week… I was actually VALIDATED by two celebrities during the week.
On Monday, the first day of radio row, ESPN’s “Sports Guy” Bill Simmons was making the rounds. If you don’t know who he is, he’s the funniest and most creative person employed by ESPN at this time. He writes the lead column for ESPN’s Page 2, and has a HUGE following amongst the younger demographics. Dan LeBatard introduced me to Simmons on radio row… and I proceeded to knock out one funny line after another to a man many consider to be the funniest man in sports. And sure enough, he found ME funny. And he put me in his column. That’s right. If you read Bill Simmons’ column titled “Radio Daze,” you will see several references to me. That’s unbelievable. The funniest man in sports is quoting ME in his column because he thinks I’M funny. Crazy. And that was just day one.
Day two on radio row ended with me being invited to have dinner with Dan, Boog, Stugotz, Frank Caliendo, and Rick Telander from the Chicago Sun Times. Dinner with celebrities! Couldn’t be more excited. Frank Caliendo is now an A-List celeb… no doubt about it. Anyone who does the Letterman show more than 5 times is A-List. So here I was going to dinner with an A-List celebrity on Tuesday night. And where did we go to dinner? THE HOTTEST PLACE in Fort Lauderdale: Cafe Martorano. So we pull up to Cafe M and who is waiting for a table? Kyle Orton of the Bears. And Jim Miller, formerly of the Bears. And Jevon Kearse is there too. (And inside eating was Clarence Clemons from Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street band.) Since I have no shame, I took photos with Kyle Orton and Jim Miller. What’s the point of running into famous people if you don’t document it?
We had a great dinner at Cafe M. I was in my glory, since I’m an unapologetic star-fucker. The whole dinner, I was busy texting friends… “Guess who I’m eating with?” “Guess who’s here?” “I just took a picture with Kyle Orton!” (You know, as I read this blog back, I really am kind of a loser. Oh well.)
Radio row continued to get better and better throughout the week. If you go to the photo gallery on www.790theticket.com, you’ll see all the celebs and photos I’m writing about. On radio row I took pictures with everyone from Jim Rome to James Young (the lead guitarist from Styx.) Oh, you read that right. I took a photo with Jim Rome. Phenomenal. (I even took a picture of Dan with his nemesis, Larry Csonka.)
After radio row on Thursday, we moved our equipment to South Beach and hunkered down at the Versace Mansion. Can’t say that I really belong at the Versace Mansion, but what the hell, I was there. The Shaq party was Thursday night and it was ridiculous. It was a star fuckers dream. I took pictures with Reggie Bush, Michael Strahan, and most importantly… Kevin Federline. That’s right K-Fed. Britney Spears’ ex-husband. That guy. (In fact, if you look at the photo on the website, you can see me thinking to myself “Why am I taking a picture with K-Fed?”) That was the highlight of my Superbowl week experience… until Saturday night!
Saturday night was incredible for a celebrity seeker like me. There’s only one thing better than seeing and hanging out with celebrities… and that’s being acknowledged by one. I took my wife to see the 11pm Frank Caliendo show at the Improv on Saturday night. Twice during the show, Caliendo mentioned me by name. This was an unbelievable highlight for me. He mentioned me (and pointed me out from the stage) both times he did his Bill Walton impersonation. (That’s because I’ve been known to throw down a Walton impression myself.) Being mentioned by the comedian onstage in front of you is an AMAZING aphrodisiac for the girl you’re with. (Unless, of course, the girl you’re with is your wife of 9 years, and there isn’t really anything at this point that gets her in the mood. But that’s for another blog.)
So let’s recap. What did I do during Superbowl week? Bill Simmons wrote about me in his column. I went to dinner with celebrities. I took pictures with everyone from Terrell Owens to K-Fed. I hung out at the Versace Mansion. Frank Caliendo acknowledged me from the stage during his performance. And my beloved Bears lost the Superbowl. Who cares? Not this starfucker.
February 5th, 2007
