Archive for August, 2007
There are several sports related blogs/websites that I read on a fairly consistent basis. Deadspin.com is a great source for wacky sports stuff. I also visit www.sportech.info for South Florida based stuff… and www.bigdaveonsports.com as well. But there are two blogs that I truly read on a consistent basis: Greg Cote’s Blog at www.herald.com and Ethan Skolnick’s Blog at www.sunsentinel.com.
I consider Greg Cote the godfather of South Florida sports blogging, although there were probably many more blogs before his. I enjoy Ethan’s blog too, often because he writes about radio and I find that interesting. I love reading the comments on the blogs too… Man, our radio show gets ripped constantly.
Anyway, I’m stealing an idea from Cote and Skolnick. Every now and then they open up their blogs to “questions and answers.” Post a question… they’ll respond with an answer. I’m going to try the same. Go ahead. Ask anything. Nothing is off limits. You ask it and I’m gonna answer it.
August 27th, 2007
I was planning on blogging this week about the David Samson- Scott Olsen drama that played out on The Dan LeBatard Show last week. To refresh, the Marlins team president, David Samson, has a weekly show with Dan where he talks mostly about movies, but also about baseball topics. We enjoy having David Samson on because he’s not afraid to say what he really thinks. He’s gotten into trouble doing our show several different times, but that never scares him away from coming back every Wednesday and saying what he truly feels.
Last Wednesday he was responding to a listeners e-mail about the future of Scott Olsen with The Marlins. Samson stated that the Marlins have Olsen in therapy, but if he was to be found guilty of a felony, he (Samson) would not want him on the team any longer. I’m not going to defend what David Samson said. To disclose that an employee is in therapy is wrong. It’s no one’s business but the employee’s and the employer’s. But, I don’t have a problem with Samson saying he doesn’t want felons on the team because that’s his opinion. (And, it’s usually most sports fans’ opinions too.)
Scott Olsen’s agent Matt Sosnick reacted to what happened by going on a tirade against Samson. (I also have no problem with that- an agent SHOULD defend their client.) The problem I had with Sosnick’s response was that he went after David Samson’s height. His height? Are we in 7th grade here? Sosnick called Samson “a tiny, little minuscule fish in a small pond.” He also said “It’s not between me and David. It’s between David and the world.'’ That’s just another way of saying it’s a short person complex… It’s always the “short person against the world.”
I am short. I’ve lived with that type of bias my entire life. For some reason, if a short person is opinionated or has a dominant personality, people automatically default to the “Napoleon complex” thing. It’s absurd.
So my blog this week was not going to be in defense of David Samson. My blog this week was going to question why Scott Olsen’s agent brought up David Samson’s physical stature in his comments. And then I read Andy King’s blog. Andy, in all his wisdom, states that David Samson must have a Napoleon complex. Andy (and I’m sure many others) would have you believe that David Samson saying he doesn’t want a felon on his team has something to do with David Samson being short. Andy (and others) would imply that if David Samson was taller, he wouldn’t have a problem with felons being on his team. It’s absurd. To bring height into this is absolutely absurd. But that’s what always happens.
Callers will call in about Samson and will immediately say, “that little runt has something to prove.” It will always default to height, as if that has ANYTHING to do with it. Lovie Smith and the Chicago Bears’ front office cut Tank Johnson during the offseason because of all his run-ins with the law. Was their decision shaped by height? Or because Lovie Smith is taller, his decision has merit, while David Samson’s opinions are based on the fact that he’s short.
If Jeffrey Loria comes out and says he agrees with David Samson, then what will you say? If Yao Ming says he doesn’t believe felons should play professional sports, then what will you say? You may not agree with Samson… You may not like Samson… but to imply that anything he says is based on his being short is ridiculous. It’s patently absurd.
August 20th, 2007
I’m probably going to get killed in all the responses posted to this blog, but what the hell. Sometimes you just have to put yourself out there and say what you feel.
We talked on the air last week about an unsubstantiated story on the internet that said Jessica Alba gave Derek Jeter herpes. (Or vice versa; I can’t really remember, but it doesn’t really matter anyway.) So, we’re talking about herpes on the air when a guy calls in and shares the following story: He says he was dating a girl for 11 months when one night, driving home from a party, she pulls over and (while crying) tells the guy that she has herpes and she knows she should have told him at the start of the relationship and she feels terrible, but she has to be honest with him now.
Obviously, the guy is pissed. They’ve had unprotected sex, so he’s probably been exposed to the herpes virus, and he feels betrayed. He goes on to say that he ended the relationship immediately, got all his stuff out of her apartment, and never spoke to her again.
I said on air that I don’t think I could immediately break up with a girl I had been dating for 11 months just because she lied about having herpes. My take on the whole scenario was that after 11 months you have feelings, time, and emotion invested into the relationship and it shouldn’t be that easy to pull the plug on it just because she lied to you about having herpes. (I UNDERSTAND SHE PUT HIM AT RISK. I UNDERSTAND IT WAS WRONG NOT TO TELL HIM SOONER.) I’m just saying that after 11 months, it seems strange to be able to pull the plug that quickly on a relationship just because she lied about an STD.
Well, I got blasted on air by caller after caller. No one agreed with my situation. Someone asked me if I would feel the same way if she lied about having HIV… and of course I would find that a different situation because in that scenario she’d be putting your life at risk. Herpes, while probably a terrible disease, is not fatal. (I know… there are instances where herpes has been fatal, but for the most part it’s not considered a fatal disease.)
Another caller asked if I’d feel the same way if she said she cheated on me after 11 months. Again, I find that to be a different set of circumstances, not completely analogous to the herpes story.
So where do you stand? You’re dating a girl for 11 months… having lots of unprotected sex… and one night she tearfully tells you that she has herpes. She tells you that she knows she should have been honest with you from the beginning, but she just found it too difficult to tell you then. Could you forgive her? Could you stay with her? Just about everyone has told me I’m crazy. I’ve been told I should have my man card removed for even suggesting I could stay with a girl that did that to me. Anyone on my side here?
This blog has been brought to you by www.horsemuffins.com. For all your Dan LeBatard Show Merchandise needs, please visit www.horsemuffins.com. T-shirts, hats, kids clothing, ladies clothing… all available right now at www.horsemuffins.com.
August 13th, 2007
I was talking with Boog yesterday, when out of the blue he said, “my producer is weird.” Well, I know his producer Zaslow, and I would certainly agree that he has some pretty bizarre idiosyncrasies. He can’t snap his fingers… He can’t blow a bubble… He won’t eat chicken wings because they get his hands dirty… But I was curious why Boog felt the need to remind me that “Zas is weird.”
He explained that Zaslow’s “go to” cheese at Publix for a sub is Muenster cheese. And yes, that is weird. Muenster cheese is not a “go to” cheese. Swiss is a “go to.” American is a “go to.” For a sub, even provolone is a “go to.” But not Muenster. That’s a weird cheese to always get on your sub. Jonathan Zaslow is strange.
Later in the evening, Boog texted me “what’s your favorite TV show?” I had already forgotten our conversation earlier in the day about Zaslow, so I answered back “current or all time?” Boog was actually trying to set me up to answer “The Munsters” because that would have been funny based on our conversation earlier that day. Since I’m a little under the weather, I didn’t pick up on the joke, and I blew the punch line. Anyway…
That got Boog and I to start discussing actual favorite TV shows of all time. I texted back “Cheers, Seinfeld, and The Larry Sanders Show.” Then Boog asked me if I thought Seinfeld would hold up like Cheers has. So, I decided to pull my experiment on him. (I invite you to try this experiment also.) Boog is not Jewish. I am. If you tell a non-Jew that Seinfeld is the greatest show of all time, they will argue with you. Don’t know why. It’s not anti-semetic. It’s just that for some reason, non-Jews refuse to buy into the argument that Seinfeld was the greatest show of all time.
Obviously the majority of people watching Seinfeld over the years were not Jewish. It couldn’t have gotten the ratings it did without a huge non-Jewish audience. So the argument is not whether non-Jews liked Seinfeld, because they did. You will just be hard pressed to find a non-Jew that thinks it’s the greatest show of all time. Again, don’t know why this is, it just is. I’m not certain what’s at play there… but I really do find it to be true. You will not find non-Jews who tell you Seinfeld was the greatest show of all time.
Seinfeld didn’t start out a really Jewish show, either. George Costanza, his best friend, is supposed to be Italian. By the end of the show, George and his parents were the most Jewish family that had ever been on TV. But I digress. Go try the experiment for yourself. Find a non-Jew. Ask him or her their favorite TV shows… Then say that you think Seinfeld is the greatest show of all time. Tell them you think Seinfeld will have more staying power than Cheers or Friends or 24. And watch the reactions!
Shalom everybody.
August 1st, 2007
