I've been asking and being asked all day today where Dr. Joe Morgan was during the opening HOF introductions during last night's All Star Game and for the life of I me I can't find any answers. Well HR Derby has a thought and it's as good as any....

Did Morgan develop another flareup of Ryne-itis, also known as Sandberg Syndrome, wherein those afflicted can’t be anywhere near the man who broke Morgan’s record for Second Basemen? As you’ll recall, Joe Morgan was conspiculously absent at Sandberg’s Hall of Fame induction in 2005.

It’s not like Joe didn’t know how to get to Yankee Stadium … he was in the building the night before when he announced the 2008 Home Run Derby.

No, I think this is just another case of Joe Morgan not wanting to share ANY stage with Ryne Sandberg.

I can't believe that Morgan is still peeved about Sandberg coming out of retirement to beat is 2nd Basemen HR record, but then again this is Joe were talking about. He also had one of those stellar ESPN chats where he answered about four questions, but still didn't address it....

chris (NJ): Hi Joe, How great was last night? What was your Fav part of last night?

SportsNation Joe Morgan: We talked about Uggla making mistakes, but some guys made great plays under pressure. Cristian Guzman made a few plays with two outs and the winning run at third, and they were not easy plays. The throw McLouth made to home plate when Navarro was trying to score was great. Some of the defensive plays under pressure impressed me. I was also impressed with some of the pitchers on both sides, who struck out pretty good hitters in pressure situations.

SportsNation Joe Morgan: I also liked the aggressiveness the AL showed in stealing bases.

Very very interesting. It's a shame too because as a player he deserves to be there. It's time to stop being selfish and petty but that might be too much to ask of the good doctor.

Why wasn’t Joe Morgan at the All-Star Game last night? Oh right, Ryne Sandberg was there. (HR Derby)

It seems like a Billy Packer bashing kind of day, so I'm going to join in. Before this Hansborough-Henderson Incident, before the Mid-Major controversy last year, before the St Joes incident, and before the Allen Iverson "tough monkey" incident.....I've hated Billy Packer.
There are not many announcers I say I hate. Sure I dislike A LOT of them, but hate isn't a word that I just throw around. I may use it when describing people like Joe Buck and Joe Theismann, but I never really mean it.


Well with Billy....I MEAN IT.

There is not a more misinformed, loud mouth, sweeper of generalizations...than Bill Packer. Everything that comes out of his mouth is more often than not either A) Completely Wrong, or B) So entirely joyless...that I want to punch myself in the groin repeatedly. Everything has to be so forceful and lackluster for some reason. (And you thought I was negative?)

I don't think Packer has had a nice thing to say about anyone ever, and I'd like to have someone prove to me that he even likes the game of basketball.

The problem I have with announcers on a whole is that they NEVER admit when they are wrong. It's okay to make mistakes...we understand. But when you do...let us know, and tell us WHY you made the mistake. What exactly was it in the pitch, the coverage, the baserunning, the penalty, the foul, and/or the replay...that you missed? We may have missed it too! It's not hard to do at all really. Say what you will about John Madden, but he has always done this after mistakes....that is what gives him a free pass with most viewers.

Well my hatred all came to a (screaming) head last night when he commented that Gerald Henderson was going for the ball (when the ball had been out of the screen for a good whole second) on the Hansbrough foul at the end of last night's Duke-UNC game. The replay clearly showed multiple times that he was wrong, and he continued to hammer away at it. That wasn't even the worst part.....he then said that not only shouldn't Henderson get a flagrant....that he shouldn't get a foul at all?!?!?!


"And you know what? It was not a nasty shot. Henderson was not looking for a cheap shot there. It was not an intentional foul at all. You can see right there he was going for the ball. It's one thing if a guy is going for a dirty punch....sucker play."

(What the hell is a "sucker play"?) Are you even watching the replay?!?!?! The ball is off the screen and already past Henderson when he makes the swipe. Hard foul yes...intentional maybe....going for the ball? Not a chance. It's people/broadcasters like Billy Packer that give the others such a bad name. Let's look at the aforementioned "rap sheet"......

• -In 1996, during an on-air broadcast of a game between Georgetown and Villanova, Packer described the Hoyas star guard Allen Iverson as a "tough monkey".
• -In 2000, Packer publicly apologized to two Duke University students for alleged sexist comments he made before a men's basketball game in Cameron Indoor Stadium. According to published reports, when the students asked Packer to show his press pass, he responded, "Since when do we let women control who gets into a men's basketball game? Why don't you go find a women's game to let people into?"
• -In 2004, he was involved in an on-air spat with Saint Joseph's University head coach Phil Martelli, when he questioned the #1 seed that St. Joe's was given by the NCAA committee. The Hawks ended up being defeated one game short of the Final Four. This is similar to his criticism of Larry Bird's undefeated Indiana State University team getting ranked #1 in the media polls and a #1 seed in the 1979 tournament. Indiana State eventually made the final game, losing to a Michigan State team led by Magic Johnson.
• -In 2006, Packer again hit sports headlines after blasting the inclusion of mid-major teams in the NCAA tournament, when larger conference teams like University of Cincinnati and Florida State University were left out altogether. [1] His comments caused a backlash among fans of mid-major conferences such as the Missouri Valley Conference and Colonial Athletic Association, both of whom have ended up having successful tournament showings (Bradley University and Wichita State University making it to the Sweet Sixteen and George Mason University advancing to the Final Four). Packer complained on Selection Sunday that teams from these two conferences had won just one game between them in the past three year's tournaments, despite committee chairman Craig Littlepage repeatedly telling Packer and his colleague Jim Nantz that past tournament performance was not a factor in determining the field.

Seriously, can someone start a petition to nix this dick from all future broadcasts. Every year he does/says something so stupid that I cannot even think. I could care less if he's done every D-1 Final since 1974.....bench his ass. He drags Jim Nantz down every year, while great color guys like Bill Raftery sit at home and throw darts at his face.

Billy Packer, Information Dissemination Specialist (Deadspin)
Gerald Henderson's Elbow on Hansbrough: Video (Tarheel Mania)
Billy Packer (Wikipedia)

So Cedric Maxwell apologized yesterday, and the world is a better place. Actually no it isn't, but I'll skip ahead to the apology...

"If I said anything that might have been insensitive or sexist in any way, then I apologize because she worked extremely hard to get where she is now, end of quote," Maxwell said before the Celtics' game against the New York Knicks on WEEI-AM, which is owned by Entercom Communications.

"This really has been a fire storm," he added later.

Maxwell's co-announcer, Sean Grande, followed the apology by saying their show would not change. "We are not changing the way we do our jobs because of the tendency of media outlets to present people's comments in a way that serves their story," Grande said.

You know what....I think you should change. How about not saying derogatory things to upset large groups of people. That's a start right???

I know that we live in a society that is very (sometimes overly so) PC oriented, but this has to stop. I'm not getting on a soapbox here, but if you find what CM said funny, I feel sorry for you. A) We've established that it's hurtful, and B) It just wasn't funny. Maybe in the 40s that would have gotten a chuckle, but come on.....the kitchen? That's like saying women have smaller feet just so they can get closer to the sink (I kid I kid).

Maybe Holly Rowe should make a joke about Maxwell using a separate water fountain, and they'd be even. You see my point? Too many double standards. Let's just go back to what got us here......not make fun of Race, Sexual Orientation, Disabilities, and Gender......but rather make fun of each other's idiocy and dumbness. (More on this in the next post.)

I'll be first. I tried to save my brand new template last night and erased the whole thing, I fell down a set of stairs this morning in front of roughly 2o people, and I actually didn't think the Wizards would be THAT bad without Antawn Jamison.

LET THE JOKES COMMENCE!

Maxwell Apologizes for Ref Comments (CNNSI)

This Merrill Hoge thing had me chuckling at first. It was the beginning of the season and Vince Young hadn't done anything yet. It was the perfect time to be a skeptic about Young and pile on. But now? Now you're just sounding like a stubborn ass.

Sure the Titans run the ball. Travis Henry gets 70-90 yards in the first half....1 TD, and they're still down 10 points. They head into the second half and they get down 13. Head into the 4th and the lead is back down to 10......all of a sudden Vince is playing like a madman. The lead is three.....but crap there's only 3 minutes left. The defense finally wakes up and gets a stop. 2 minute drill time.....the Titans are trying for the tie. Umm, no they're not....Vince drives them down the field with a combo of runs and passes. Titans win.

Just think for a second if Fisher hadn't started the season with drunk-ass Kerry Collins under center. The Titans could be the fourth seed in the playoffs. Vince reminds me of two players actually.....the first is obvious.....John Elway. The second is a crossover of sports. Up until now there was one player that teams were terrified to face at the end of games. He is so clutch that people have solely kept track of his stats and late inning heroics. Well that one player is David Ortiz.










If I'm a defensive coordinator I do NOT want to face Vince during a two-minute drill. Your defense is tired, they are playing a pseudo prevent defense, and you're scared. You're scared to death. Hell, just ask the Texans' Richard Smith, the Giants' Tim Lewis, the Jags' Mike Smith, the Bills' Perry Fewell, the Colts' Ron Meeks, the Skins' Gregg Williams, and the Eagles' Jim Johnson.

Forget the mechanics, forget the players on the team, and forget the coaches....Vince Young does it on his own. He wills one of the crappiest teams to win. He doesn't have the defense that Elway had and he doesn't have the protection in the lineup that Ortiz has.

Look....Merrill....Buddy. I understand you want to "stick to your guns". But occasionally you're just wrong (see AA- Jemele Hill. I wouldn't say I like her, but she's not as bad is I originally pegged). While I may be wrong occasionally (rarely)......if I'm ever THAT wrong, I will admit it. But no one is ever this blatantly wrong. It's one thing to peg a rookie as a flash in the pan, but after he's proven you wrong over, and over, and over, and over again.....just give it up. Every other ESPN talking head does so and no one remembers (I wish this wasn't the case).

I think One More Dying Quail sums it up best by saying this.

"Whoever ultimately wins, one thing should certainly happen at ESPN: someone should take Merrill Hoge aside, tell him to stop letting whatever personal issues he has with Vince Young cloud his judgment, then teach him how to construct a reasonable argument."

I agree, either admit you are wrong, or just move the hell on Merrill. Check out the video collection below.