Big Leather Couch

This is probably the best time of year in sports. March Madness has just ended and this year it ended with a bang. A fantastic final game that came down to the last shot in regulation and then went into overtime. Unfortunately, Memphis did not win, but all the same...a fantastic three weeks of basketball.

Baseball has just begun it's regular season and all 30 teams have hopes and dreams of playing into October. Little leagues and pony leagues and Cal Ripken leagues have begun across the country. Young boys and girls all out in the fresh air, playing a great game and learning sportsmanship and teamwork.

The NBA regular season is wrapping up and the playoffs begin in a week. We are not a huge fan of the NBA any longer; the game has become to much about me, me, me...but the playoffs hold an allure to see the best players in the game battling each and every evening.

The NHL playoffs began on Wednesday. We have totally lost interest in the NHL over the last few years. Still, our Rangers are playing well this year and we would not be unhappy if they could make a run at Lord Stanley.

We were looking at the four major sports and how their playoffs are set up. Both in the NHL and the NBA a full 53% of the teams get into the playoffs (16 out of 30 teams qualify). Is this necessary? Why have a regular season? Just let everyone in the playoffs and be done with it.

The NFL lets 37% of their teams into the playoffs (12 of 32 teams). A number of years ago MLB added wild-cards to their playoffs and many of the tried and true fans rebelled. In the end it has worked out pretty well and has kept many teams in the races until the last minute. But, in the end, only 26% of the teams make the playoffs (8 of 30). This is where we think the number should be.

The playoffs are for those teams that worked hard during the regular season...the teams that did their jobs the best. To allow 50%+ of the teams into the playoffs just seems, to us, to be overkill.

In Georgia, the azaleas are blooming and 42 invited men are walking the lush green fairways of Augusta National Golf Club. One of the hardest tickets in sports to obtain, these ducats are willed down to family members and cherished. This year marks the 51st appearance for Mr. Gary Player. It also marks the 30th Anniversary of his last win and he is 73 years young. Think about that...he has been playing in this tournament longer than most of our readers have been alive. remarkable!

He has won three Green Jackets over those years. Unfortunately, this track can be brutal and he shot a +11 in his first round.

Trivia fact...did you know that the Green Jackets are not allowed to leave the grounds of Augusta? YUP!

The Olympics begin in Beijing, China on August 8th, but the repercussions of the IOC selecting this location is causing world-wide upheavals. Protests have been held everywhere the Olympic Torch has appeared. Leaders or representatives of some countries are debating on whether they will boycott the opening ceremonies.

We understand the protests due to China's abysmal human rights records, but to physically attack normal citizens who are carrying the Torch, the symbol of these games, makes no sense.

Let's be honest folks, the Olympics have changed. Professionals are now allowed to take part in the games. they are covered in politics more so now than every before; discounting the 1936 games in Berlin, the US boycott in 1980 and the retaliatory boycott by the Soviet Union in 1984. There actually was a time when politics were not part of the Olympics. When amateurs competed against amateurs and the goal was to excel against the greatest from other countries.

Now, this week, the IOC executive board disqualified and stripped the medals from the athletes who won gold with Marion Jones in the 1,600-meter relay and bronze in the 400-meter relay.
Her teammates on the 1,600 squad were Jearl-Miles Clark, Monique Hennagan, LaTasha Colander-Richardson and Andrea Anderson (pictured above).

The 400-relay squad also had Chryste Gaines, Torri Edwards, Nanceen Perry and Passion Richardson.

We understand why Jones was asked to turn in her medals, but to chastise and stigmatize these other women is going overboard. There is no proof any of them cheated. They did their best and their team won. Some will say that they won because Jones cheated. Is the IOC now going to go back to the 60's and the 70's when the East Germans and the Soviets were using performance enhancing drugs and strip away all of those medals?

All of us who regretted the end of Brett Favre's career might have shed tears prematurely. "It would be hard to pass up, I guess," he told the Biloxi (Miss.) Sun Herald. "But three months from now, say that presents itself, I may say, you know what, I'm so glad I made that decision. I'm feel very comfortable in what I'm doing and my decision."
"Yeah, I can probably be up there doing that and playing, but again, I don't know. It's only speculating. I think the world of that team. I had a lot of fun, not only this year, but over my career."

But if Aaron Rodgers went down with an injury?

"Aaron has fallen into a great situation," Favre said. "And if that opportunity presented itself and they did call, it would be tempting. And I very well could be enticed do it."

Favre did say he would be hard-pressed to accept in October and it would all depend upon if he was in shape.

C'mon folks...do you think he would NOT be in shape and would NOT say yes? Me thinks he would be on the first play to Green Bay.

Well...maybe three of you have gotten to this point without hitting the 'close window' button and moved on to another blog...

For you three...here is some Tuneage for your weekend. Have a great one...be safe...be happy.

Live at Keystone is the re-issue an an album originally released in 1973. It was the result of a jam session at the Keystone in Berkeley with guitarist Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders on keyboard, John Kahn on bass, and Bill Vitt on drums. When it was originally released in the 70's, this was record one of a two record set. With the remastered 2004 release, it was split into two separate discs; however, an additional track, "Merl's Tune" was added so that you have 55 minutes of music on volume one.

Merl Saunders was a long-time collaborator with Garcia, with the Dead, and the leader of many different bands in the Bay Area. He's also worked as a keyboardist on the Hammond organ with a long list of musicians, including Harry Belafonte, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, B.B. King, and Bonnie Raitt.

Two to take you into the weekend "It's No Use" and the aforementioned "Merl's Tune"

ENJOY...

Hello and happy Friday to all of our so special guests…

Well, yes this is about sports, but it is more about the social attitudes of those who happen to play sports than the sports themselves…and those social attitudes seem to be continuing to slide downward awful fast…

Chomp Chomp Chomp…
Pacman Jones (real name Adam Bernard Jones), was drafted into the NFL after his junior year at college. Since then, he has been arrested more times than he has intercepted a pass…

This guy has five arrests, many happening when he is around strip-clubs and he has been suspended for the entire 2007 season by new commissioner Roger Goodell who appears to have decided it is time for the NFL players to clean up their images.

Jones has not learned though, as after being suspended he still is in trouble. He was stopped in May for speeding in a car not registered to him and in June was questioned about a shooting at a …ready kiddies…strip-club. He was not at the scene when the shooting occurred, but it involved members of his entourage.

Ah the ever present entourage....

And The Wheel Goes Round And Round…
Leading the Tour de France, having won the yellow jersey on Wednesday, Michael Rasmussen was sent home last night and told not to come back.

Insisting that "doping is the enemy, not cycling" and that "things are changing" for the better, the organizers of the Tour de France hailed the ouster of Michael Rasmussen from the race on Thursday.

Rasmussen, a 33-year-old Dane, was expelled by his Rabobank team late Wednesday for lying about his whereabouts to avoid drug tests before the Tour started July 7.

Instead of being in Mexico, as he repeatedly said, he was seen training in Italy. That unraveled his week long defense that he had evaded the unscheduled tests by mistake, not by design.

Rasmussen left his team hotel in Pau late Wednesday for Italy, race officials said, adding that the French police had arrived at the hotel just too late to arrest him. (sorry, can't stop myself...isn't the line 'the French police arrived at the hotel just too late...' kind of redundant? Like what have those people ever done on time or correctly?)

At a news conference before the start of the 17th stage, Christian Prudhomme, the race director, said, "What happened yesterday is probably the best thing that has happened in the last eight days."

Shit…why not just make the drugs allowable and let all the riders do them…this race has become a farce unto itself. Last years winner American Floyd Landis is still hiding out in shame after having his race tests come back positive and losing his title.

YO…people...they are gonna take blood…they are gonna test you…and they ain’t buying that your girlfriend was going to leave you unless your hair thickened up…

WHISTLE IF YOU LIKE ME
Everyone knows Michael Jordan likes to lay a few sheckles at the craps table and on the golf course. The NBA knew all that …but it was MICHAEL!

Now comes word that Tim Donaghy, who spent 13-years as an NBA ref, may have been effecting the outcome of games with his calls…a whole new way for the gamblers to deal with POINT-SHAVING!

Don’t ask the athlete making $20,000,000.00/year to take a dive…have to pay them too much money. So go to the guys who can totally influence a game…the refs.

A minute left, favored team up by 5 but the point spread is 3…gamblers have their money on the underdog. Underdog forward brings the ball down, time ticking away, up goes the three point shot…the defender goes up in the air and maybe, just maybe the very tip of his finger touches the shooter…

WHISTLE….foul shots…

Player makes two of three…his team loses, but the gamblers win…

Now David Stern, commissioner of the NBA is calling this the “darkest day the NBA has known.”

DAVID…dude…you are partially to blame for this. There were reports this guy might not be on the up and up, yet the NBA could not find proof. DO you know how many NBA security officials are at a game… a minimum of three…one for each team and ONE FOR THE REFS!

How does this happen? Easy. Guy likes to bet…loses money…some low-level associate of the bookie approaches and says ‘hey make sure the Pistons win by more than 7 tonight and your debt foes away.’


Hangin’ With The Homies
You are the starting quarterback for an NFL team. You have endorsements coming out of every orifice of your body. The owner of your team loves you to death, even though you really have not lived up to your potential…so, what do you do for fun?

You own fighting dogs and you train them to kill other dogs and you bet on them all you can….and if they lose, you and your friends kill them yourselves…

Then when it all comes out you use the handy ‘well, it is my house, but I am never there and I let my friends use it. I have no idea what goes on there.’

That’s right folks, the all encompassing ‘I have my head up my ass and do not know what is going on around me’ defense…

Mr. Michael Vick has had some other off the field scraps, including; Vick was asked to throw the water bottle away before going through security at an airport and made a fuss before finally doing so. The bottle was collected and found to have a false bottom. Originally it was reported there were traces of pot in the compartment, but that was later proven false.

In March 2005 a woman filed a civil lawsuit against Vick alleging she contracted genital herpes from Vick and that he failed to inform her that he had the disease. She further alleged that Vick had visited clinics under the alias "Ron Mexico" to get treatments and thus he knew of his condition.

This led to a deluge of fans ordering customized #7 Atlanta Falcons jerseys on NFLShop.com with the name "Mexico" on the back.

Due to the media interest surrounding the case, the National Football League disallowed the use of the jersey/name combination two days after the lawsuit. On April 24, 2006 Vick's attorney, revealed that the lawsuit had settled out of court with a undisclosed settlement

Now, he has been told to stay away from training camp and yesterday was his arrangement on the dog fighting and cruelty to animal charges.

And another horrible consequence of this…this case actually makes those imbeciles from PETA look like they are intelligent humans and not bizarre ‘let the animals live, kill the humans’ protesters.

Did Anyone Hear A Pin Drop?
As a point of reference, the Major League Baseball Home Run Record is 755 by Mr. Henry Aaron.

There are ONLY FIVE players who have hit more than 600 home runs in the history of the game. Now conservatively speaking, since 1900 there have been 7,600 players in the majors...

(OK, how did we get to 7,600? We know you were wondering Sparky...

24 (number of players) multiplied by 20 (average number of teams a year) multiplied by 75 (number of years, cut down for conservatism) divided by 5 (length of service) to get a CONSERVATIVE estimate

ANYWAYYYYYYYY ...sheesh...

Wait? What was that? You didn't know Mr. Sosa had hit his 600th home run? Should have been big news that even local news stations might mention...

But, with the black cloud hanging over his head the feat was met with a small pop instead of a huge celebration. His career, once a thing of a made-for-TV-movie, began to disintegrate when he was found to be using a corked bat during a game.

Then the specter of steroid use enveloped him like the darkness found in the minds of some bloggers...

So, a grand celebration turned into a little pop goes the weasel.....kind of appropriate...

BUT...just watch..very soon, possibly this season Ken Griffey Jr. will hit his 600th home run and the celebration will be different. This is a young man who did it the right way and looked to be the one who would pass Mr. Aaron and probably rack up quite a few other records until injuries cut short too many seasons.

Every team athlete today has a "Personal Conduct Clause" in their contract. What constitutes a violation of a "PCC"?

Should it be invoked if one of your players visits a strip club? Should it be invoked if, at that strip club, they get into an altercation with a 'fan'? What about a bar, or a restaurant? The movies?

Is it enough that paternity suits begin to start coming out of the woodwork? (Hellllllo NBA!) Is being caught with marijuana enough? What about cocaine or crack? Hey, how about steroids?

We hear about this "PCC" all the time but so rarely hear it used. The Cincinnati Bengals would not be able to field a team if they used it. They probably win the award for the 'how to draft using a 10-most wanted list'...

Think we are fooling? Let's look at what has occurred since 2005:

1. Chris Henry (June 14th, ‘06) - providing alcohol to three under aged females. Did he score?
   
2. Chris Henry (Jan. 28th, ‘06) - possession of a concealed firearm, improper exhibition of firearm, aggravated assault with firearm. Why do we see him pulling his shirt front up to reveal the gun in his waistband. You all know the move...
   
3. A.J. Nicholson (June 3rd, ‘06) - burglary, vandalism, grant theft. Yeah, he ripped off a teammate. Now how do you think practices went for him after that?
   
4. Frostee Rucker (June 21st, ‘06) - vandalism, spousal battery. He-man stuff...sheesh.
   
5. Reggie McNeal (Dec. 3rd, ‘06) - resisting arrest and drug possession. 'But it was a clean hit coach!'
   
6. Eric Steinbach (Aug. 5th, ‘06) - boating under the influence. BUI...now don't you think he feels small around the rest of these guys?
   
7. A.J. Nicholson (May 18th, ‘06) - domestic violence. Another he-man...big guy loser.
   
8. Chris Henry (June 3rd, ‘06) - DUI, 0.092. Oh Chris...you character...
   
9. Odell Thurman (Sept. 25th, ‘06) - drunken driving, a 0.18. Think about that 0.18...guy was drunk enough for him and Matt-Man combined!
   
10. Deltha O’Neal (Dec. 9th, ‘06) - DWI, 0.10. Odell Thurman made fun of him for being such a pansy-man.
    
11. Matthias Askew (July 22nd, ‘06) - disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, failure to comply with police officer’s order, obstructing justice. Just a typical 'I am important reaction to officers trying to do their job.
    
12. Chris Henry (Dec. 15 ‘05) - weed possession. Don't bogart that joint, my friend, pass it over to me.....
    
13. Quincy Wilson (June 17, ‘07) - disorderly conduct. We once DJ'ed a wedding that got that crazy!
    

OK, OK, we know Chris Henry accounts for 4 of the thirteen (gosh we coulda' used this yesterday!).
Well…that is the end of our sports rant….

Yup…you got it…not one word on that other story. It will probably happen in the next few days and some will cheer and some will boo…

Hopefully in a few years that record will be broken by a guy named A-Rod…and the guy we have to hear about over and over will be gone and invisible from our lives.

Song of the day…

Back into the vault. Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy in the back we found this under some dust bunnies and cob-webs. August 5th 1967 is the date.

We are crossing the border (before you HAD to have a passport), to visit our friends up north.

Beautiful city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The venue is The O'Keefe Centre. It is now known as The Hummingbird Centre For The Performing Arts (we think, we hope..hehehe...ANGELL...let us know!).

Since it is the weekend, we are giving you two from "The Jefferson Airplane"...At this time the band consisted of:

Enjoy "3/5ths Of A Mile In 10 Seconds", written by Marty Balin and the true Airplane anthem "Somebody To Love" which was written by Darby Slick who, at that time was Grace Slick's brother-in-law...

A bootleg recording, the sound is a bit flat but you certainly get the full effect of Grace cranking out the lyrics and holding those long notes she could hold on 'Somebody'.....

Personally, we love to turn it up after the song ends to hear the stage banter...on some it is so distinct, especially the Dead concerts direct from the sound board...

And the wheels keep turning...and it's not really all sports...



Invited by clients to spend today at the PGA's Stanford St. Jude Championship being played here in Memphis at TPC Southland. This will be our first pro tournament...looking forward to it...

Have to leave Sunday for St. Cloud, MN once again. Should be there until Tuesday...Been a busy three weeks or so...




Stanley Cup Finals just ended...congrats to the Anaheim Ducks for their victory...

They came into being in 1993 as an expansion team named by the team owners, The Walt Disney Company, after their hit movie "The Mighty Ducks". The Disney Company sold the team in 2005 and the new owners dropped the "mighty" in 2006.

Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere - a native of Montreal...