Today's dose of strange
LSU football coach Les Miles must be one straight-up, loped-out G.
You don't know what I just typed. Frankly, I'm not sure what it means either.
But know this: Les Miles has more street cred than any other Southeastern Conference football coach at the moment, and not just because he won the Bowl Championship Series national title trophy back in January.
He's rollin' with the homies. Or one rather famous homey.
It seems, based on a story that just came across the Associated Press wire, that Miles and rapper Snoop Dogg are buddies. Or, in hip-hop parlance, they're crew through and through.
The Doggfather visited Miles in Baton Rouge and -- get this -- accompanied him to a Rotary Club meeting. According to the AP's account, Snoop put on an LSU jersey and said he just wanted ''to give his love and support'' to Miles. Miles told the AP that he became a fan of the music and the man through his son, Ben.
Could you picture any other SEC head coach hanging with the Snoop D-oh-double-jizzle? Or any other rapper for that matter?
Nick Saban in Kanye West's venetian blind-style sunglasses?
Mark Richt in baggy jeans and gold chains?
Bobby Petrino busting a funky rhyme?
Nope, not seeing it.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Ailing in Atlanta
The headline atop our sports section this morning read: "Big deal: Braves trade Teixeira.''
To which I say, with more than a little sarcasm: Big deal indeed.
Take Tuesday's trade of first baseman Mark Teixeira to the Los Angeles Angels as confirmation that the Atlanta Braves' season is effectively kaput, a train wreck that rivals Tila Tequila's love life.
The Braves acquired Tex last season, thinking his big bat would invigorate their lineup and enable them to separate themselves from a tightly-bunched National League East race. It might have worked if Tex had been equipped with another skill set aside from his excellent fielding and power hitting -- say the ability to perform orthopedic surgery or fill in as a closer or starting pitcher in a pinch.
And this season has presented one interminable pinch, what with Chipper Jones and Tim Hudson on the disabled list, the bullpen's revolving door and the health issues affecting John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Mike Hampton.
What the Braves got in return for Teixeira wasn't particularly remarkable: first baseman Casey Kotchman (.287, 12 homers, 54 RBI) and minor league pitcher Steve Marek. But, with this season spiraling further out of control after ghastly performances against Philadelphia and St. Louis, the Braves had to try to get something in exchange for Teixeira.
He was destined for free agency and its accompanying bidding war.
The Braves' gamble on Tex didn't yield significant gains for the franchise, largely due to circumstances beyond their control.
This season has been a disaster to date. It's time to set a new course and plan for 2009. There's no point in pretending there's still something to play for in the present when an 18-35 road record, four-game losing streak and crowded training room say otherwise.
The headline atop our sports section this morning read: "Big deal: Braves trade Teixeira.''
To which I say, with more than a little sarcasm: Big deal indeed.
Take Tuesday's trade of first baseman Mark Teixeira to the Los Angeles Angels as confirmation that the Atlanta Braves' season is effectively kaput, a train wreck that rivals Tila Tequila's love life.
The Braves acquired Tex last season, thinking his big bat would invigorate their lineup and enable them to separate themselves from a tightly-bunched National League East race. It might have worked if Tex had been equipped with another skill set aside from his excellent fielding and power hitting -- say the ability to perform orthopedic surgery or fill in as a closer or starting pitcher in a pinch.
And this season has presented one interminable pinch, what with Chipper Jones and Tim Hudson on the disabled list, the bullpen's revolving door and the health issues affecting John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Mike Hampton.
What the Braves got in return for Teixeira wasn't particularly remarkable: first baseman Casey Kotchman (.287, 12 homers, 54 RBI) and minor league pitcher Steve Marek. But, with this season spiraling further out of control after ghastly performances against Philadelphia and St. Louis, the Braves had to try to get something in exchange for Teixeira.
He was destined for free agency and its accompanying bidding war.
The Braves' gamble on Tex didn't yield significant gains for the franchise, largely due to circumstances beyond their control.
This season has been a disaster to date. It's time to set a new course and plan for 2009. There's no point in pretending there's still something to play for in the present when an 18-35 road record, four-game losing streak and crowded training room say otherwise.
Monday, July 28, 2008
It's all Greek to me
You might have visited my blog 'hood last week in search of updates from Southeastern Conference Football Media Days in Birmingham.
I had planned to oblige with anecdotes about everything from Tim Tebow saving orphans to Urban Meyer referring to himself in the third-person to Alabama fans tearing through the merchandise in the nearby Bama Fever store on the day Nick Saban arrived to Phil Fulmer looking as if he as trying to pass a kidney stone while avoiding questions about his subpoena.
All very entertaining stuff.
Unfortunately, technology did not cooperate.
For some reason, the wireless computer network at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover left me helpless and hopeless in an unsuccessful attempt to navigate a language barrier.
When I used google or attempted to sign on to my blog, the templates came up in German.
I kid you not.
I was left to try to decipher words like Bloggenglobben and Heffweisen.
OK, I made up those words. But it still doesn't change the fact that my screen was filled with characters that, when read, sounded a lot like a lead-in to a Def Leppard song: "Unduh gleeben globben globen ...'' Or something like that.
Anyway, I'm happy to report that my search engines and blog templates are in English again.
You might have visited my blog 'hood last week in search of updates from Southeastern Conference Football Media Days in Birmingham.
I had planned to oblige with anecdotes about everything from Tim Tebow saving orphans to Urban Meyer referring to himself in the third-person to Alabama fans tearing through the merchandise in the nearby Bama Fever store on the day Nick Saban arrived to Phil Fulmer looking as if he as trying to pass a kidney stone while avoiding questions about his subpoena.
All very entertaining stuff.
Unfortunately, technology did not cooperate.
For some reason, the wireless computer network at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover left me helpless and hopeless in an unsuccessful attempt to navigate a language barrier.
When I used google or attempted to sign on to my blog, the templates came up in German.
I kid you not.
I was left to try to decipher words like Bloggenglobben and Heffweisen.
OK, I made up those words. But it still doesn't change the fact that my screen was filled with characters that, when read, sounded a lot like a lead-in to a Def Leppard song: "Unduh gleeben globben globen ...'' Or something like that.
Anyway, I'm happy to report that my search engines and blog templates are in English again.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
The fish are biting
Did you see the story that ran on page A2 of Wednesday's Ledger-Enquirer?
It seems a 6-foot catfish in Berlin, Germany, died after trying to consume a soccer ball. According to the Associated Press story, the fish was found floating atop the water in a canal with a blue and white soccer ball in its mouth.
A police spokesman said the fish tried to eat the ball and it got lodged in its mouth, leading to its death. Personally, I'm reluctant to bite on that story. The situation warrants further investigation because soccer fans in the country were undoubtedly riled up after Spain's 1-0 victory over Germany in the Euro 2008 championship.
Perhaps some German soccer hooligan took out his or her frustration on the fish -- especially if the catfish hailed from somewhere like Barcelona or Madrid.
Either way, it's fishy.
Did you see the story that ran on page A2 of Wednesday's Ledger-Enquirer?
It seems a 6-foot catfish in Berlin, Germany, died after trying to consume a soccer ball. According to the Associated Press story, the fish was found floating atop the water in a canal with a blue and white soccer ball in its mouth.
A police spokesman said the fish tried to eat the ball and it got lodged in its mouth, leading to its death. Personally, I'm reluctant to bite on that story. The situation warrants further investigation because soccer fans in the country were undoubtedly riled up after Spain's 1-0 victory over Germany in the Euro 2008 championship.
Perhaps some German soccer hooligan took out his or her frustration on the fish -- especially if the catfish hailed from somewhere like Barcelona or Madrid.
Either way, it's fishy.
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