As long as there are attorneys like Mary Olive Pierson, lawyers will have nobody to blame but themselves for the bad jokes and general distaste for their profession. Pierson is the attorney for former LSU women's basketball coach Pokey Chatman. Chatman quit late in the season after rumors about improper relationships with some of her players. The university revealed yesterday what most people had suspected all along. Chatman allegedly had "inappropriate sexual relationships" with former players. If they were former players at the time of the alleged sexual relationships, then they were probably not inappropriate. If she had relationships with kids who were playing for her at the time, they can't be anything other than inappropriate. So, why doesn't LSU just said she was futzin' around with players and they are going to prosecute her for rape or fire her ass or something, or that she had sex with former players who are no longer at the university and it's none of their damn business. But, the administration is taking advice only from attorneys, so they talk around the issue until nobody knows what anybody means or what anybody did. How 'bout this; just tell the truth.
Then there is the aforementioned M.O. Pierson. What a maroon! According to the NY Times, her defense consists of the following statement:
"LSU has no written policy governing relationships between teachers and students and between coaches and athletes. I don't know that you can say something is inappropriate when no rule makes it so." BRILLIANT!
They probably don't have any written rules against having sex with a sheep at center court at halftime either. I wonder if Ms. Pierson thinks that is okay.
I need to find a cave and get away from the amoral assholes of the world for a bit before my head explodes. Oh beer babe; another tankard of ale please.
Stu
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Bush Leagues
Today we are answering an often asked question about sports in the Capital Region, posed this time by blogger Dave Lucas http://dave-lucas.blogspot.com. It was asked in a more comprehensive and thoughtful manner than sometimes in the past. This issue has been analyzed, dissected and debated for years. Why can’t sports teams- and we think he means professional sports teams- grow and thrive here?
Much as it pains me to say this, Sparky made some good points in his answer. Sometimes the product is simply over priced. His first point is probably the most important one. This is a minor league town. Arena Football, arguably a borderline major league, did thrive here when the Firebirds first hit town, but that was largely due to the novelty of the then new sport and the exceptional marketing job done by that organization. The same can be said for the original Albany Patroons.
Sparky also hits on another part of the equation when he talks about his preference for big-time college football and basketball in nearby Syracuse as opposed to minor league teams like the Patroons. People in this area have long been strong supporters and ardent followers of Syracuse football and basketball, as well as the major professional sports teams in New York and Boston. With fairly easy access to the venues in those cities, many people would prefer to see a few major college and professional sporting events each year than support a local minor league team on a regular basis. Dave also mentioned how fans in this area love the local college teams, though he forgot to include RPI men’s hockey, and that there is also a large and loyal group of high school sports fans in this area. Siena men’s basketball averaged just over 5,800 fans per home game this year, followed by RPI men’s Hockey (3,715) and UAwbany men’s basketball (3,175).
The succession of minor league teams in this area that have lasted only a few seasons faded into memory for various reasons. Some were poorly funded and had awful marketing plans, while some didn’t have the fan base. A few, like the Diamond Dogs, were the victims of a bad or inappropriate facility. In some cases, there were just too many teams competing for too few fans and too few entertainment dollars. Some weeks during the winter season you have UAwbany and Siena, basketball, RPI, River Rats and Union hockey and dozens of high school basketball games going on in a four or five day span. There are just not enough days in the week and not enough sports fans with the time and money to support everything.
One final and very important reason why this area has not been able to support professional sports on a regular basis is the make up of the local economy. This area has a strong and stable economy because we rely on state and local government and higher education for a much higher percentage of our jobs than many other comparably sized markets in the country. This is the capital with huge numbers of government employees. We also have a lot of colleges and universities employing thousands more people. We simply don’t have the corporate base to provide the advertising dollars and to buy large blocks of season tickets. I obviously don’t have research on this, but my guess is that a lot more individual people (Joe and Jane six-pack and their kids) buy tickets to events in this area than do in similar metropolitan regions elsewhere in the country. This is Awbany; it’s not Buffalo, Baltimore or Orlando. Hey, it’s not even Providence, Rochester or Syracuse.
Next issue: How come the capital city doesn’t have a decent facility for football, soccer and other events? Until Uncle Joe Bruno gave HVCC a bunch of our money to put his name on the baseball stadium in Troy, we had no decent outdoor facility of any size.
Stu
Much as it pains me to say this, Sparky made some good points in his answer. Sometimes the product is simply over priced. His first point is probably the most important one. This is a minor league town. Arena Football, arguably a borderline major league, did thrive here when the Firebirds first hit town, but that was largely due to the novelty of the then new sport and the exceptional marketing job done by that organization. The same can be said for the original Albany Patroons.
Sparky also hits on another part of the equation when he talks about his preference for big-time college football and basketball in nearby Syracuse as opposed to minor league teams like the Patroons. People in this area have long been strong supporters and ardent followers of Syracuse football and basketball, as well as the major professional sports teams in New York and Boston. With fairly easy access to the venues in those cities, many people would prefer to see a few major college and professional sporting events each year than support a local minor league team on a regular basis. Dave also mentioned how fans in this area love the local college teams, though he forgot to include RPI men’s hockey, and that there is also a large and loyal group of high school sports fans in this area. Siena men’s basketball averaged just over 5,800 fans per home game this year, followed by RPI men’s Hockey (3,715) and UAwbany men’s basketball (3,175).
The succession of minor league teams in this area that have lasted only a few seasons faded into memory for various reasons. Some were poorly funded and had awful marketing plans, while some didn’t have the fan base. A few, like the Diamond Dogs, were the victims of a bad or inappropriate facility. In some cases, there were just too many teams competing for too few fans and too few entertainment dollars. Some weeks during the winter season you have UAwbany and Siena, basketball, RPI, River Rats and Union hockey and dozens of high school basketball games going on in a four or five day span. There are just not enough days in the week and not enough sports fans with the time and money to support everything.
One final and very important reason why this area has not been able to support professional sports on a regular basis is the make up of the local economy. This area has a strong and stable economy because we rely on state and local government and higher education for a much higher percentage of our jobs than many other comparably sized markets in the country. This is the capital with huge numbers of government employees. We also have a lot of colleges and universities employing thousands more people. We simply don’t have the corporate base to provide the advertising dollars and to buy large blocks of season tickets. I obviously don’t have research on this, but my guess is that a lot more individual people (Joe and Jane six-pack and their kids) buy tickets to events in this area than do in similar metropolitan regions elsewhere in the country. This is Awbany; it’s not Buffalo, Baltimore or Orlando. Hey, it’s not even Providence, Rochester or Syracuse.
Next issue: How come the capital city doesn’t have a decent facility for football, soccer and other events? Until Uncle Joe Bruno gave HVCC a bunch of our money to put his name on the baseball stadium in Troy, we had no decent outdoor facility of any size.
Stu
Sunday, April 15, 2007
small-timers
Yo, putzes
There's a good reason fans in Albany don't support professional sports. Because Albany can't come to the realization that it's a small-time market.
Don't forget, the Patroons that are playing now aren't the Patroons that were playing two weeks ago. The new Patroons are the USBL team, which is like watching pickup basketball at a playground. How else do you explain Craig Forth playing professional basketball? Give me a break.
The Rats only draw when they give half of the house away on promotional nights, and rightfully so, because $10 to park, $13 for a ticket and $6 for a beer are big-market prices, not Albany prices. And here's the clincher that this is a small-time market. The powers that be at the Times Union Center didn't even block off dates for possible Rats playoff games! The Rats have to play their home playoff games at the Glens Falls Civic Center, and then have the audacity to charge $17 per ticket!
At least when I go to the Carrier Dome, I know I'm going to see bigtime athletics, even if Syracuse is bad. I'd rather pay to watch Iowa-Syracuse football or DePaul-Syracuse basketball than waste money of the CBA or, God forbid, the USBL.
This isn't a big-time market, and fans shouldn't have to pay an arm and a leg to see mediocre sports.
Sparky
There's a good reason fans in Albany don't support professional sports. Because Albany can't come to the realization that it's a small-time market.
Don't forget, the Patroons that are playing now aren't the Patroons that were playing two weeks ago. The new Patroons are the USBL team, which is like watching pickup basketball at a playground. How else do you explain Craig Forth playing professional basketball? Give me a break.
The Rats only draw when they give half of the house away on promotional nights, and rightfully so, because $10 to park, $13 for a ticket and $6 for a beer are big-market prices, not Albany prices. And here's the clincher that this is a small-time market. The powers that be at the Times Union Center didn't even block off dates for possible Rats playoff games! The Rats have to play their home playoff games at the Glens Falls Civic Center, and then have the audacity to charge $17 per ticket!
At least when I go to the Carrier Dome, I know I'm going to see bigtime athletics, even if Syracuse is bad. I'd rather pay to watch Iowa-Syracuse football or DePaul-Syracuse basketball than waste money of the CBA or, God forbid, the USBL.
This isn't a big-time market, and fans shouldn't have to pay an arm and a leg to see mediocre sports.
Sparky
Thursday, April 12, 2007
He's ALIVE
Oh shit, that's not necessarily good. Stopped by the cave tonight and it smelled like my dorm room in 1973 after we lit up a couple of dozen sticks of incense to freshen up the place; yeah that's right; freshen up the air a little; yeah.
You're right Sparky, it is indeed sad if I spend more than a few seconds thinking about where you might have wandered off to, but I was briefly sober and Kimmie did ask about when I had last seen you.
Oh well; A-Rod is off to a terrific start, but most of the Yankees pitching staff is on the disabled list, along with Matsui, so April and May could be interesting. The UAwbany LAX team continues to be ranked in the top three in the country and the Stanley Cup playoffs have finally started. The sports calendar is hitting another hot month so things should heat up in the cave, eh?
You're right Sparky, it is indeed sad if I spend more than a few seconds thinking about where you might have wandered off to, but I was briefly sober and Kimmie did ask about when I had last seen you.
Oh well; A-Rod is off to a terrific start, but most of the Yankees pitching staff is on the disabled list, along with Matsui, so April and May could be interesting. The UAwbany LAX team continues to be ranked in the top three in the country and the Stanley Cup playoffs have finally started. The sports calendar is hitting another hot month so things should heat up in the cave, eh?
Imus got screwed
I'm an Imus fan and believe that what he said about the Rutgers team was wrong and hurtful and he should pay a price. I don't believe that he should be fired and am sorry that he will not be on MSNBC or CBS. He will surface elsewhere.
Steve Capus, MSNBC and the NBC family of companies should be ashamed. Capus and NBC caved to pressure and fired Imus because sponsors began to pull their support. For Mr. Capus and NBC to say otherwise is shameful and dishonest. He and his board caved to pressure from the sponsors and to a lesser degree to the rants of some members of the NBC staff. Capus and the other leaders of the NBC family of companies made a gutless, shameful and wrong decision to abandon Imus and it will cost them. I, and I believe many others like me, will not watch any NBC news product anytime soon.
Capus and the other leaders of NBC who allowed liars and hypocrites to influence their decision and demonstrated that they are cowards and care only about the bottom line. This was purely a business decision and I understand that. For Capus and the other leaders at NBC to contend that it was anything else is insulting to us all.
Ask Al Sharpton if he has said he was sorry for the hurt and the lies he spewed during the Tawana Brawley case. he was a small-time huckster who made his career on the back of a lie and nobody has ever held him accountable. He has no credibility; and for corporate executives to bow to him is truly shameful.
Steve Capus, MSNBC and the NBC family of companies should be ashamed. Capus and NBC caved to pressure and fired Imus because sponsors began to pull their support. For Mr. Capus and NBC to say otherwise is shameful and dishonest. He and his board caved to pressure from the sponsors and to a lesser degree to the rants of some members of the NBC staff. Capus and the other leaders of the NBC family of companies made a gutless, shameful and wrong decision to abandon Imus and it will cost them. I, and I believe many others like me, will not watch any NBC news product anytime soon.
Capus and the other leaders of NBC who allowed liars and hypocrites to influence their decision and demonstrated that they are cowards and care only about the bottom line. This was purely a business decision and I understand that. For Capus and the other leaders at NBC to contend that it was anything else is insulting to us all.
Ask Al Sharpton if he has said he was sorry for the hurt and the lies he spewed during the Tawana Brawley case. he was a small-time huckster who made his career on the back of a lie and nobody has ever held him accountable. He has no credibility; and for corporate executives to bow to him is truly shameful.
get a life
Yo, putz
If all you have to do is worry about where I am, you're living one sorry life.
Can't believe the way they're taking the I-Man over the coals. Anyone who listens to Imus knows that it's one of the more irreverent shows on radio, and calling the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" is probably one of the tamest things he's said. But then Rev. Sharptongue jumps in and all hell breaks loose.
I find it pretty ironic that on the same day MSNBC says it's dropping the Imus simulcast that all charges are dropped against the guys from Duke who were accused of raping a black stripper/hooker/crack ho. Where's Rev. Al and Rev. Jesse in that one? Why aren't they demanding a public apology from the lying bitch who took down the whole Duke lacrosse program? Oh, that's right. She's black, and the victims were white.
You jus' can't make this shit up.
No wonder I stay in the cave. Heading back...
Sparky
If all you have to do is worry about where I am, you're living one sorry life.
Can't believe the way they're taking the I-Man over the coals. Anyone who listens to Imus knows that it's one of the more irreverent shows on radio, and calling the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" is probably one of the tamest things he's said. But then Rev. Sharptongue jumps in and all hell breaks loose.
I find it pretty ironic that on the same day MSNBC says it's dropping the Imus simulcast that all charges are dropped against the guys from Duke who were accused of raping a black stripper/hooker/crack ho. Where's Rev. Al and Rev. Jesse in that one? Why aren't they demanding a public apology from the lying bitch who took down the whole Duke lacrosse program? Oh, that's right. She's black, and the victims were white.
You jus' can't make this shit up.
No wonder I stay in the cave. Heading back...
Sparky
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Yoo Hoo!
Okay, it's been a week with no word from Sparky. He is officially AWOL. Probably locked himself in the cave again and can't find his way out. He'll figure it out when he finally runs outa beer and Depends.
Will the local yokels please get offa the Will Brown band wagon. Come on; Mike Lonergan gets an extension to his contract at Vermont and these clowns can only talk about how the Willie Loman of America East got more. Stop, already. The guy with the goofy haircut held up UAwbany and is going to stay around another year or two. He will sell out for money the next time he has a good offer from a legit DI team (St Bona doesn't count). Do we have to have a Will Brown story or two every week until they start running them every day next fall? This ain't God we're talking about, or even Ditka. It's Will freakin' Brown. Remember how Virginia ran his pups outa the gym in the first round of the NCAA? This guy is human and may only be the third or fourth best coach at his university. Let's not over look the job Scott Marr has done with the number two LAX team in the nation. Then of course there is Vives (track) and Bob Ford (football) who have been there and had success for decades. Let's not make Brownie the second coming of Doc Sauers just yet.
Will the local yokels please get offa the Will Brown band wagon. Come on; Mike Lonergan gets an extension to his contract at Vermont and these clowns can only talk about how the Willie Loman of America East got more. Stop, already. The guy with the goofy haircut held up UAwbany and is going to stay around another year or two. He will sell out for money the next time he has a good offer from a legit DI team (St Bona doesn't count). Do we have to have a Will Brown story or two every week until they start running them every day next fall? This ain't God we're talking about, or even Ditka. It's Will freakin' Brown. Remember how Virginia ran his pups outa the gym in the first round of the NCAA? This guy is human and may only be the third or fourth best coach at his university. Let's not over look the job Scott Marr has done with the number two LAX team in the nation. Then of course there is Vives (track) and Bob Ford (football) who have been there and had success for decades. Let's not make Brownie the second coming of Doc Sauers just yet.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Fock the Socks
So ten minutes into opening day I get an e-mail from Sparky about A-Rod making an error in the first inning of the first freakin' Yankees game of the season. The baseball season is 10 minutes old and shit hook is dumping all over Mr. Sincerity already. Come on, give the guy a little slack. So then The Rod Man whiffs in the bottom of the first and the boo birds are in full plume in duh Bronx and Sparky is probably struttin' around the cave naked, except for his Manny Ramirez Dreds Wig, and singing warm up the bus; not realizing that the Yankees are playing at home. But a few facts - and 26 World Titles - never stopped a red sox fan (read loser) from enjoying even a brief moment of pain in Yankeeland.
The Yankees make three errors, but bang out 12 hits, including a pair of home runs and win the game 9-5. My prediction stands. The Yankees will out-hit and out-pitch the American League and win 95-100 games and the pennant. A-Rod will hit .140 and make four errors in the playoffs, but the Bombers will win another World Series. The red sox will win about 90 games and lose in the first round and Manny; well Manny will be Manny and hit about .432 with 12 home runs against the Yankees; and then it will be football season and we can make fun of Eli for not comin' and Tom Coughlin for not goin'.
Surf's up, time for some golf. Oh, Beer Babe...
Stu
The Yankees make three errors, but bang out 12 hits, including a pair of home runs and win the game 9-5. My prediction stands. The Yankees will out-hit and out-pitch the American League and win 95-100 games and the pennant. A-Rod will hit .140 and make four errors in the playoffs, but the Bombers will win another World Series. The red sox will win about 90 games and lose in the first round and Manny; well Manny will be Manny and hit about .432 with 12 home runs against the Yankees; and then it will be football season and we can make fun of Eli for not comin' and Tom Coughlin for not goin'.
Surf's up, time for some golf. Oh, Beer Babe...
Stu
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