Shakedownsports.com

America’s reputation abroad has just taken another hit. This week the U.S. took on Pakistan in the Street Hockey World Cup Final and lost. That’s right, we lost to Pakistan in a sport that doesn’t involve wickets or elephants.

While it was an upset, the truth is that the loss is not as bad as it sounds. All 24 members of the Pakistani team are actually Canadian citizens eligible to play for Pakistan because a parent was born, works, or studies there. The team isn’t just a bunch of hockey players either. Two members of the team are ER doctors who find time to practice twice a week after work.

The 5-1 loss was a tough one for the U.S. team. Afterwards they blamed the defeat on international rules and Carmelo Anthony’s bad attitude.

1 Comment »

The Green Ranger is back. On Saturday Jason David Frank, the man famous for playing both the Green and White Rangers in “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,” will take part in an amateur Illinois cage fight. His opponent with be an undefeated boxer named Ron “The Badger” McMasters.

Frank, who won his first two amateur bouts, is not fighting in a Johnny Morton-like attempt to capture past glory. He was a nationally rated fighter in the late 1980’s, and in 1990 he won the prestigious Grand Champion title at the Las Vegas Winter Nationals. In 2003 Frank was inducted into the World Karate Union Hall of Fame, and he is currently a 6th degree black belt. Now that he is free of Disney’s fighting restrictions Frank is ready to pursue an MMA career.

All of this could spell trouble for his opponent. Even if “The Badger” somehow manages to take control of the fight, Frank can just have Zordon summon a Megazord to crush him.

1 Comment »

The Cincinnati Bengals have announced their training camp schedule, and the excitement of the 2007 season will begin on July 27th. Training camp highlights include a “mock game”—whatever that is—on August 4th, and a night practice followed by fireworks on August 1st.

I like that the team is having one night practice, but for the sake of the overworked Cincinnati police department shouldn’t they make every practice at night?—preferably between 10 p.m and 4 a.m. That should help keep the players out of trouble. If Roger Goodell is smart he will jump all over this idea.

No Comments »

–Former Mariner Edgar Martinez will be inducted into the Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame. Martinez, who will join Dikembe Mutombo and Kyle Petty as this year’s inductees, is being honored for his work with muscular dystrophy.

–Jarvis Moss is not a member of the Bengals. In fact, he’s one of the good guys in the NFL.

–Here is an outstanding story from the New York Times about the long journey of heralded New Mexico State recruit Herb Pope. You can now add his coach leaving to the list of things he has to overcome.

–The scoop on Phil Mickelson’s magical healer.

–Santa Clara and San Francisco are beginning to duke it out over the 49ers.

–Woody Paige takes a look at what it would have been like if A-Rod had signed with the Rockies.

–Hat day is just one of many new things Mike Tomlin has brought to the Steelers

No Comments »

The Colorado Rockies still believe the Yankees are a hot ticket, and they’re going to make their fans pay to see them. For this week’s series at Coors Field, the team has raised the price of a normal $42 seat behind home plate to $75. For the mathematically challenged, that’s a 79% increase.

It’s an outrageous price gouge for a three game series, but keep in mind all the things extra things that come with your ticket. In addition to seeing a baseball game you can see…

…which burly blonde A-Rod leaves the stadium with.

…Roger Clemens’ body double spit sunflower seeds in the dugout.

…Derek Jeter and his .964 fielding percentage (22nd in MLB) and .753 zone rating (last in MLB).

…a guy with “Wang” on the back of his jersey.

…a bunch of annoying Red Sox fans who came to Coors Field to root against the Yankees .

So there you have it—a plethora of things that make the Yankees exciting. Put it all together and Rockies fans find themselves paying 79% more for tickets.

3 Comments »

Just one week after beating Roger Federer in the French Open and creating the inkling of a possibility that he could give Federer some trouble at Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal fell back to earth. In a grass court tuneup last weekend Nadal lost in straight sets to the 106th ranked player in the world. With Nadal’s loss, Andy Roddick now appears to be Federer’s stiffest competition.  That means the hardest part of Wimbledon for Federer will be waking up in he morning and finding a way to get to the stadium.

1 Comment »

A quarrel between Kentucky’s public and private schools could affect many of the state’s high school athletes. Last week the Kentucky Board of Education voted in favor of a proposal that would force athletes who switch high schools to sit out a year. The proposal, called Proposal 2, will sill have to pass the approval of a state legislative committee before it can become an actual rule.

Proposal 2 is a response to public schools’ displeasure that private schools are dominating them in sports, and well as to the perception that private schools are illegally recruiting athletes under the pretense of recruiting students. The proposal hopes to cut down on the illegal recruiting of middle and high school athletes as well as prevent kids like O.J. Mayo from repeatedly switching high schools to further their athletic careers. If athletes want to be recruited or move to a better team, they will have to sit out a year.

Proposal 2 does have numerous exceptions. Athletes won’t have to sit out if they transfer because of a family move, transfer to a small school, or transfer to a school within 20 miles of their house. Still, private schools remain skeptical, saying they oppose the proposal because it restricts school choice. Proposal 2 is the first of its kind, and there’s no doubt that other states will be paying attention to the effect it has on Kentucky’s high school athletes.

No Comments »

The Texans understand they need a lot of help, and they’re looking for it in some unconventional places. Last week the team introduced two fight songs written by Sam Spence, the man who composed the music for NFL Films. One is based on a song called The Lineman and the other is titled Here Come the Texans.

It’s debatable whether a fight song can make Mario Williams play better, but when you think about it, didn’t the last 30 college football National Champions all have fight songs? Maybe this is just what the Texans needed. Whatever happens, the songs should help the team more than Evander Holyfield’s words of wisdom.

1 Comment »

After spending nearly a month on the hot seat, Sam Perlozzo’s burning posterior may finally get some relief. Today, with the team in the midst of an 8 game losing streak, the Orioles fired him. Here in the Baltimore/Washington area those who blame the team’s struggles on Perlozzo support the firing. Those who think he was victimized by a group of poorly performing players think he should have kept his job.

The truth is that Perlozzo deserved to be fired, not because there was something he could have done to make his team play better, but because his mismanagement of the Orioles’ bullpen in April and May made a losing streak like this a foregone conclusion. Allow me to explain. During the losing streak the much maligned $42 million Orioles bullpen had an 0-5 record. Perlozzo made the moves any other manager would have made, yet five games were squandered. No pitcher could get anybody out, not even stud closer Chris Ray. The bullpen was completely out of gas, and though many people may not have remembered, it was all Perlozzo’s fault.

During the first two months of the season, Perlozzo showed no confidence in his starting pitching and he repeatedly went to that freshly purchased Orioles bullpen day after day. Perlozzo’s mistake was that instead of viewing the bullpen as something that could help faltering starters, he viewed the starters as something that was just there to get him to his bullpen. Take a look at just a few of the times Perlozzo went to his bullpen without good reason.

4/6–Perlozzo pulls Adam Loewen after five innings. Loewen had given up only two runs, had thrown only 89 pitches, and had just notched a 1-2-3 5th inning.

4/7–Perlozzo pulls Steve Trachsel after 6 2/3 innings. Trachsel had just given up only his fourth hit of the day, and he had thrown only 92 pitches.

4/10–Perlozzo pulls Jaret Wright after 5 innings. Wright had given up an infield single and a walk to start the the 6th, but up until that point he had retired seven batters in a row and thrown five shutout innings on 75 pitches.

4/11–Perlozzo pulls Adam Loewen after five shutout innings. Loewen had given up nine baserunners, but his pitch count was under 100.

4/12–Perlozzo pulls Trachsel after 7 innings. Trachsel had given up just one run on three hits and had thrown only 86 pitches.

5/7–Perlozzo pulls Trachsel after 6 innings. Trachsel had given up just one run on six hits and thrown only 88 pitches.

5/8–Perlozzo pulls Jeremy Guthrie after 6 innings. It was just Guthrie’s 2nd start, but he had given up only one run on six hits and thrown only 67 pitches.

5/9–Perlozzo pulls Erik Bedard after 7 shutout innings. Bedard had struck out 10, given up just three hits, and only thrown 97 pitches.

5/13–Perlozzo pulls Jeremy Guthrie after 8 1/3 shutout innings. With a 5-0 lead, Guthrie was pulled after a one out error in the 9th. He had given up just three hits and thrown only 91 pitches. The Orioles would go on to lose 6-5.

5/20–Perlozzo pulls Bedard after 7 innings. At the time Bedard’s line was three hits, one run, 13 strikeouts, and only 98 pitches.

5/23–Perlozzo pulls Trachsel after 6 innings. Trachsel had given up just two runs on five hits and thrown only 95 pitches

5/29–Perlozzo pulls Guthrie after 7 innings. The Orioles had a four run lead, and Guthrie had given up just three hits on 96 pitches.

5/31–Perlozzo pulls Brian Burress after 5 innings. Burress had thrown only 85 pitches and given up just one run on three hits.

6/3–Perlozzo pulls Guthrie after 8 innings. Guthrie had given up just one run on three hits and had thrown only 88 pitches.

6/14–Perlozzo pulls Guthrie after 7 innings. Guthrie had given up just one run on four hits and thrown only 92 pitches.

Put it all together and this is 15 games the bullpen had to work significantly more than they should have. Add them to the games that Perlozzo actually needed to use his bullpen, and you can see why the Orioles relievers have run into problems in the last week. If Perlozzo is looking for the real reason he was fired, it’s not the 8 game losing streak, but rather these 15 games that made the 8 game losing streak possible.

7 Comments »

Stephon Marbury wants two things—Kobe Bryant as a teammate, and more reading. Earlier this week he took steps towards making those two things happen.

First let’s start with Kobe. On Saturday Marbury said it would be good for the NBA to have Kobe play in New York, and he publicly stated that he would love for Isiah Thomas to acquire the Lakers star. Marbury probably sees Kobe’s arrival as the best way to stop Nate Robinson and Steve Francis from getting playing time (and wisely so). However, before he starts leaving inviting messages on Kobe’s MySpace Page, he may want to familiarize himself with the number of field goals per game Kobe has attempted over the last three seasons. That stat may make the trade seem a little less worthwhile.

Saturday also marked the start of the 11th annual “Stephon Marbury Basketball Classic”, Marbury’s summer basketball tournament for New York City schoolchildren. This year the tournament has a new rule—all players are required to read three books and write an essay. It’s an amazing rule, and it surely will help Marbury change the world one $15 shoe and one book at a time.

No Comments »