Sports This Week: Racist Writers, Soggy Fans, Soporific Announcers, And Naptime At Staples Center

Al Sharpton is at it again. Apparently on Monday well-known New York Post sports columnist Steve Serby was writing about how the Giants have handled the Plaxico Burress-primadonna issues this season and he wrote, "Good for [head coach Tom] Caughlin for tightening the noose around Plaxico Burress." Sharpton of course called the comment, "blatant racism," and a "media lynching."

So my question is this: is there any possibility that the writer had anything remotely close to racism in mind when he wrote that? ESPN's Michael Wilbon (who is black) said no. Or did he perhaps use the wrong term? If he had said, "tightening the reins," would it have been different? Would Sharpton then be upset with Serby for comparing an African American man to an animal? Seriously, there are so many problems in the world that we should be worried about. Is a guy using the wrong turn of phrase one of them?

Similarly, in West Hollywood there is a guy who hung an effigy of Sarah Palin from his chimney as a part of his Halloween decorations. Clearly it is a political statement, but it is also kinda funny. Had it been John McCain or Bush or Cheney or Osama bin Laden or Tom Cruise or the guy's neighbor or any other man, would it have been offensive? Of course not. I can see how the same thing with Barrack Obama would be crossing the line because in our overly politically-correct world, I doubt many people could look at that and see the statement about a political candidate and not a black man being hung. Probably rightfully so. But the fact that people are lining up in front of the home to protest a scene that is less ghoulish than many homes and nearly every Halloween store-front in town is completely insane.

Speaking of insane, I am excited for the Rays to win Game 5, the longest game in baseball history, and return to St. Pete for Game 6 so DirecTV can give us those fabulous blimp shots of the outside of the dome. Money well-spent there!

Bud Selig has been getting ripped for how he handled the rain-delay of Game 5. Honestly, what could he have done differently? The forecast called for 1/10" of rain over four hours and they wound up getting about 3". His fault? So maybe they could have delayed the game after about 4 innings when it got pretty wet out there. It was clear that they were not going to get a respite from the rain on Monday and that meant they'd finish Tuesday (or later), thus wiping out the innings that had been played - they'd start over from the first inning by rule. Is that what anyone wanted to have happen? How many plays were affected by the rain? They keep showing Jimmy Rollins drop a pop up and B.J. Upton steal a base as effects of the rain. Rollins dropped the ball because the wind blew it in, and Upton should have been slowed down by the rain.

The only problem out there was the mound; everyone else can get muddy. But with pitchers not being able to plant, there is a good chance someone will get hurt. But does anyone think that they should have called it after five and end the World Series there? Selig got lucky by having the Rays score to tie it up - he got bailed out. But what else could he have done? And besides, he had had a meeting with both G.M.s and managers and explained that what they would do in this scenario is exactly what ended up happening. The sportswriters are just upset they weren't in on it, but they should get over themselves and remember that they are there to report what happens, not to be involved in decision-making.

I have been trying to put my finger on what it is about Tim McCarver that I don't like (and that most people don't seem to like). He is a little full of himself, but they all are. His southern drawl is a little annoying, but I like to believe that I am not that prejudiced against southerners sounding stupid no matter what they're saying. I think I have figured it out though: he doesn't really give any commentary. Joe Buck just seems utterly bored with baseball and there is more dead air than any other broadcast team, but McCarver just doesn't say anything. He says what just happened, yes, but with no commentary. Being a commentator, this is a problem.

Listening to Harold Reynolds on TBS (and formerly ESPN), is a treat because he tells you what the coach should do on every pitch. He gives stories about similar scenarios. He reacts to plays like a fan and talks about the significance of things without every moment having to be the most important moment in American history like Buck seems to do. McCarver barely responds to what has happened and almost never gives any insight into what the managers or players might be thinking strategically. He just reads the graphics on the screen and gets pissed at Dion Sanders for spraying champagne on him. But at least Fox has those stretching, warming-up robots to keep us entertained.

Fox is now famous for their crowd-shots. The moment a play ends, we get two or three crowd shots and they return to the pitcher just in time for the next pitch. I don't like this for a few reasons: I don't give a crap about the fans for one thing. I want to see the players' reactions; those are the people we all sat down to watch. I want to see a pitcher's frustration. I want to see a guy stealing signs. I want to see a manager yelling at the umps. I don't want to see a baby sleeping on daddy.

However, it would be funny if Fox broadcast a regular season Laker game, because it is so dark in Staples Center for Laker games, you wouldn't be able to see anyone and the producers wouldn't know what to do with themselves. For the playoffs, the Lakers turn the crowd lights up so the celebs can get on camera, but in the regular season it looks like they had a power outage. It is as though they figure the Laker fans are pretty much napping the whole time anyway, so they may as well turn the lights off for them and hope the players don't make too much noise and wake everyone up. Last night's season opener wasn't a good game, but it was without a doubt the worst crowd I have ever seen (or heard, I suppose) at a professional sporting event. The Expos' crowds, all 4,000 strong, were louder. People always say that L.A. crowds don't cheer until the scoreboard says to and last night the scoreboards must have been turned off with the lights.

Patti LaBelle Clangs Out The Anthem

It is normally pretty easy to find something to write about on Mondays in the fall. After all, this weekend we had some huge NFL games, college football games, NHL games, final tune-ups for the NBA season, and of course the World Series! But to be honest I was in such a state of shock yesterday after hearing Patti LaBelle's rendition of what I am pretty sure was the National Anthem at Game 4, I couldn't really get my mind straightened out enough to put coherent thoughts down.

I don't think it is a stretch to say it is the worst National Anthem in major sports history. Roseanne Barr set the previous bar pretty low, but she wasn't a singer and was singing it as a joke - almost in character. Shameful, sure. But you had to expect that. People who sing OK but forget the words are bad, but that is more embarrassing than anything else.

This was the perfect storm of terrible National Anthems: Patti LaBelle is a singer. That's her career. So you'd think she could knock out the Anthem without too much trouble. And you'd think she'd be able to remember all 100 words or so.

Granted: she was never a very good singer and granted: the Anthem is not an easy song. But this was astonishing. She sounded like your crazy aunt who is in the choir at church and who just belts out everything she sings with complete confidence (hands up, eyes closed, pained expression on her face) because she's tone deaf and has no clue how far off she is.

I understand that the thing to do when singing the Anthem seems to be to go put one's own personal touch on it: add notes, add words, add pauses and generally stretch it out as long as possible, but honestly at some point doesn't it become absurd? Isn't it a little weird to show such feigned emotion for the words you are singing when you aren't even singing the right words, so you clearly don't know what the song means anyway?

It starts out OK, but the first word of the second line, "by the dawn's early light," you know this one is gonna be a doozy. So without further ado, here is a link to the performance. The link I had found with the entire version was taken down, and this is the best I could find. Sorry about the advertisement. Be careful about playing this if you have dogs or small children around.

"Getting Away With Murder" Isn't Just An Expression For Ray Lewis

As if I needed more reason to root against the Baltimore Ravens.

Not only did they embarrass my Giants in the Super Bowl in 2000, which is pretty insignificant in scale with the fact that Ray Lewis murdered two people before suddenly becoming Mr. Nice-Guy on TV to fix his image, but now they're adding fuel to the fire.

If you don't know the story, Lewis and two men were brought in for questioning after two other men were stabbed and killed following a bar fight. Lewis denied knowing the other two suspects and when it was determined that he'd lied about that and that the three were friends, were together then night of the murders, and had gotten into a fight with the dead guys, all three were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault. As it turns out, Lewis and a group of friends got into a fight with the two victims, and as many as six men beat the two up before stabbing them and piling into Lewis' stretch-SUV limo and fleeing the scene.

The prosecution had the case won, with witnesses who would testify that they saw Lewis at least punch, and at most stab one of the victims and then brag about it later. As the trial came, all of the witnesses changed their stories, and suddenly Lewis was alleged to have been trying to stop the fight. Lewis was given a deal that he'd serve no time if he plead guilty to lesser obstruction of justice charges and testify against his friends. He took the deal, though he did not implicate in his testimony. No one was ever convicted of the murders, and if Ray Lewis did not do it himself, he was there and knows who did. The NFL didn't even suspend him, after all he was the Super Bowl MVP!

Later Lewis avoided civil trials with the families of the men who were killed by buying them out. After this, Lewis went on a massive P.R. tour, recasting himself as a prayerful, soulful, responsible leader, taking young players under his wing, being the dutiful team veteran. Every announcer I ever heard seemed to buy into this show. Lewis was seen as "a passionate leader," "a warrior," and a "spiritual leader for his team," a role model.

It always seemed to me that while Lewis was clearly the team's leader, and he helped cultivate a proud, fierce and effective defense, he also helped create a bunch of thugs. And this season, they have shown their true colors.

Steelers' rookie running back Rashard Mendenhall, who had been thrust into the starting lineup due to an injury to Willie Parker, and who hadn't played all that well yet, allegedly sent a text message to a friend and former college teammate saying he was expecting a big game against the Ravens that following week. Unfortunately for Mendenhall, his friend (or former-friend, Ray Rice of the Ravens) passed the joke on to his teammates who decided to make bulletin-board material out of it and eventually went out and fractured Mendenhall's shoulder, knocking him out for the season. Adding insult to injury, Mendenhall insists the text never happened in the first place.

Ray Lewis was the player who delivered the hit that fractured his shoulder and afterwards was quite proud of himself. In Sports Illustrated last week, Dan Patrick gave this quote from Lewis: "After the play I wasn't screaming, 'He's hurt.' I was screaming, 'He's done.'" Lewis revelled in the young man's pain, and didn't bother to call for medical help. Patrick went on to write, "The Ravens linebacker said he'd take a hit like that over a sack or an INT any day...Lewis says after a big hit he recites the Lord's Prayer on the way back to the huddle." Quite a role model.

Linebacker Terrell Suggs said of the hit, "We definitely like to send our messages to rookie running backs who think they've made it. We did a good a job of sending a message."

Now the plot has thickened. On a syndicated radio show, Suggs was asked if the team had had a "bounty" on Mendenhall after his text-comments. Suggs replied, "Definitely. The bounty was out on him and the bounty was out on [receiver Hines Ward]." To Suggs' surprise, the league frowns on that type of thing and is now investigating. Suggs attempted to clear up the situation today by telling the Baltimore Sun, "There wasn't any bounty. He [the talk show host] asked me if there was a bounty and I just said I'm going to keep a watch on the guy." So apparently, when Suggs said, "definitely," he meant, "of course not."

No doubt the Ravens did have some sort of bounty on Mendenhall. No doubt Lewis was behind it. No doubt he'll will slip through this one too. After all, the guy already got away with murder, why would a little thing like assault get him down (which is what it would be if they went out with the intent to hurt Mendenhall and then did it)?

Baltimore wound up losing that game against Pittsburgh. Then they lost the next week, and were embarrassed (particularly their defense) by Indianapolis 31-3. They play the Raiders this week, and I truly never thought that this would ever happen in my life, but I will be rooting for the Raiders.