Sports Bytes: July 29, 2010

Maybe Jay-Z should stick to rapping. According to MediaTakeOut.com, LeBron James ignored the hip-hop star's phone calls while mulling which franchise to sign with. I would imagine Nets majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov couldn't have been happy since, as once unidentified source put it, "It made [Jay Z] look like he couldn't deliver to the Nets management" . . .

How telling is it that two of the top-three most-hated teams in history (at least according to SI.com) were coached by Jimmy Johnson? The 1986 University of Miami Hurricanes and the 1992 Dallas Cowboys . . .

Tiger Woods announcing that he plans to play at the Bridgestone Invitational is as newsworthy as the latest Lindsay Lohan prison meltdown . . .

Note to Miguel Batista: I don't think many men would feel gypped if Miss Iowa knocked on their front door . . .

After speaking with Mets fans over the weekend, it's clear that the Jason Bay "Bobble-Head Doll" is closer to their hearts than is Bay himself . . .

Tough loss for the Mets last night. After surviving an horrendous opening inning from Johan Santana, NY stormed back to tie the game at seven and send the contest into extra-innings. Unfortunately, Albert Pujols waited until the 13th inning to drive in his only run of the game and send the Mets home with a heartbreaking 8-7 loss . . .

Alex Rodriguez can't hit his 600th homer soon enough. The NY media has been discussing the "event" ad nauseum for the past week. And truthfully, although I am a Yankees fan, I care as much about A-Rod's milestone as I did about Barry Bonds "breaking" Hank Aaron's home run record--which was not at all. Steroids and PEDs invalidate the stats of both players in my mind . . .

Speaking of the Yanks, the Bombers trounced the Indians last night 8-0, as every starting player had at least one hit except for Derek Jeter. (Jeter did fly out to the warning track in the 5th inning) Five Yankees had two hits . . .

Passing 1,000 RBIs was an impressive accomplishment for Yankees C Jorge Posada (1,002). Only 11 other catchers in history have done so. Posada has more career RBIs than any other active catcher with the exception of Ivan Rodriguez (1,292) . . .

Gotta love the Red Sox--well, not really. But you do have to respect their tenacious character. Just when it looked as if they were poised for a second-half collapse into oblivion, Boston completed a three-game sweep of the Angels in Los Angeles . . .

Expect the Strasburg's Rules to be even dumber than the Joba Rules . . .

Excellent move by the Jets signing veteran QB Mark Brunell to back-up Mark Sanchez. Brunell's leadership and experience will prove invaluable to the young quarterback . . .

At least one sports columnist has drank the Kool-Aid being served by Jets coach Rex Ryan--SI.com's Don Banks, who has installed the Jets at #1 in his NFL Pre-Season Power Rankings. Banks is just one of the people who will be disappointed by New York's performance this season . . .

Bengals management should consider adding a prop guy to its roster now that the franchise will reportedly house the NFL's two biggest clowns--Terrell Owens and Chad "the wide receiver formerly known as Johnson." Batman and Robin. Siskel and Ebert. No, Chad, it's more like Beavis and Butthead . . .

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Need a PR Specialist? Perhaps my 13 years of PR experience can satisfy those needs. I have publicized world champions such as Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield, and mega-events like Lewis-Tyson and De la Hoya-Vargas. Contact Donald Tremblay (The Rain Maker) at 718-664-3405 or at dtremblay@earthlink.net. For more info about me visit my LinkedIn Profile.

Sports Bytes-July 23, 2010

Alex Povetkin was the IBF's #1 ranked contender, which guaranteed him a world title shot against champion Wladimir Klitschko. Klitschko, in a bid to satisfy his mandatory challenger obligations, offered Povetkin a bout for Sept 11 in Germany. Povetkin declined, following the advice of his trainer Teddy Atlas who believes the 2004 Russian Gold Medalist is not ready yet for a world title challenge. "I think he deserves the chance to develop. . . . My job is to do the best job I can for the fighter and to make sure he is the best he can be when he's in a situation to fight." Povetkin would have been paid $2 million for the bout. Instead of Povetkin, Klitschko is now expected to defend his crown against IBF #2 ranked contender Samuel Peter. (The two fought previously in September 2005.) How the IBF came to the conclusion that Peter deserves a number two ranking is beyond me. Since losing to Vitali Klitschko and Eddie Chambers in back-to-back bouts, Peter has beaten four nondescript opponents whose combined record when he fought them was 69-39-8 . . .

Lots of offense in the Bronx last night during NY's 10-4 victory over Kansas City. Six Yankees drove in runs, and every starting player except Brett Gardner had at least one hit. (Gardner did walk once.) Alex Rodriguez led the hit-barrage with two doubles, a homer (number 599) and four RBIs. Kansas City pounded out 14 hits, but left 14 men on base . . . David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain, and Chan Ho Park combined for 2.2 innings of shutout relief; although, Chamberlain's inning was a nail-biter. C.C. Sabathia earned the win, but was hardly stellar: 6.1 innings, 3 earned runs, 11 hits, 4 walks, and 9 Ks . . .

Ugh, the Mets. What more can be said? . . .

I should have known better than to get excited about the Pirates. After scoring 26 runs in their last two games, the Bucs were held to only two runs by the Milwaukee Brewers . . .

The Rangers widened their lead over the Angels to six games following another Cliff Lee gem. Lee threw 8.1 innings while surrendering only two runs. He did not walk a batter the entire game . . .

Impressive recovery by the Braves following Wednesday's heartbreaking loss to the Padres. After watching Billy Wagner blow a two run, ninth-inning lead and then losing in 12 innings, you had to question how the Braves would respond Thursday afternoon. Question answered. Braves starter Tim Hudson pitched seven shutout innings while surrendering only four hits and walking just one batter. The Braves offense ripped the Padres staff for eight runs and 13 hits. The 8-0 drubbing earned the Braves the rubber match of the three-game series . . . The AP reports that "the Braves have lost only one of their last 21 series since May 10, going 16-1-4 in that span" . . .

The Phillies finally found a way to beat the Cards: hold them to one hit and take them into extra innings. Placido Polanco's 11th inning homer enabled the Phillies to salvage one of the four games this week against the Cards. It also ended the Cards eight-game winning streak . . . Phils starter Cole Hamels pitched eight shutout innings and only gave up one hit . . .

Speaking of the Cardinals, the ballclub is reportedly interested in trading for Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt. Can you imagine a starting staff of Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, and Roy Oswalt? Pretty frightening if you're an NL opponent . . .

Anyone else think Yankees reliever David Robertson looks like Niles Crane from "Frasier"? . . .

SPORTS BYTES WILL RETURN ON THURSDAY, JULY 29

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Need a PR Specialist? Perhaps my 13 years of PR experience can satisfy those needs. I have publicized world champions such as Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield, and mega-events like Lewis-Tyson and De la Hoya-Vargas. Contact Donald Tremblay (The Rain Maker) at 718-664-3405 or at dtremblay@earthlink.net. For more info about me visit my LinkedIn Profile.

Sports Bytes - July 22, 2010

When it comes to boxing the average person has visions of cigar-smoking gangsters fixing fights behind closed doors, a la the 1940s and 1950s. But as someone who has spent the better part of 15 years involved in the sport, I can assure people that fight fixing is rare. However, it must be admitted that even rare things do happen, and it appears that a recent bout in Australia between Danny Green and Paul Briggs is an example of this. Here we have what appears to be a classic case of a fighter taking a dive . . .

ESPN.com reports that former Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson will join the cast of "Survivor: Nicaragua." I don't blame Johnson. If I had spent the past few years listening to the inane comments and jokes of the "Phi Beta Kappas" hosting FOX's NFL Pre-Game show, I'd want to hide in the jungle, too . . .

A federal judge ruled yesterday that cheerleading is not a sport. Quinnipiac University attempted to eliminate its woman's volleyball team for budgetary reasons, and replace it with competitive cheerleading. The woman's volleyball team sued the university arguing that "the school was shutting down their sport while funneling resources unfairly into male athletics." The judge ruled that "the University's competitive cheerleading team does not qualify as a varsity sport for the purposes of Title IX and, therefore, its members may not be counted as athletic participants under the statute." Now if we can only convince a judge to rule that skateboarding and poker aren't real sports either . . .

Javier Vazquez nearly blew a six-run cushion on Wednesday afternoon, but was bailed out by one of the newest Yankees--Colin Curtis. Curtis entered the game in the 7th inning when Brett Gardner was ejected for arguing a strike two call. Curtis stepped into the batter's box down 0-2, worked the count to full, and then sent a screaming line-drive into the right field seats for a three-run blast that raised NY's lead to 10-5. Dale Robertson and Boone Logan pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, but Joba Chamberlain followed his usual M.O. by surrendering three hits and a run in his 1.1 innings of pitching. Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth inning . . .

The Red Sox lost again yesterday. Their July record is now 6-10. If you listen closely you can hear the sound of Red Sox fans tossing themselves into the Boston Harbor . . .

The Mets somehow got swept by the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks and are now 2-8 in their last 10 games. Their road record (19-30) is nearly the exact inverse of their home record (30-16). Talk about a "Jekyll and Hyde" complex . . .

Stephen Strasburg continues to embarrass hitters. Last night the Washington Nationals' phenom struck out seven Cincinnati Reds in 5.2 innings. What was most impressive about Strasburg's performance wasn't so much his velocity--which was amazing in its own right--but his location. Nationals C Ivan Rodriguez shifted his targets inside and outside of hitters all night, and Strasburg usually nailed the spots. Just ask Reds LF Jonny Gomes, who struck out twice against Strasburg--once on a blazing inside fastball, and once on a blazing outside fastball . . .

Someone better check the water in Pittsburgh. The Pirates have won two in a row and have scored 26 runs in those two games. Conversely, the team they've beaten, the Milwaukee Brewers, has surrendered at least 10 runs in their last three losses . . .

The Dodgers and Giants played nice last night, no bean balls or ejections. Los Angeles snapped its six-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory . . .

The first two games of the Padres-Braves series has produced some of this year's best baseball. Tonight's rubber match of the three-game series features San Diego's Clayton Richard against Atlanta's Tim Hudson. It's not often fans can watch "playoff-level" intensity in July. Enjoy it . . .

Now is not a good time to face the St. Louis Cardinals. Tony Larussa's team has won eight in a row, and has beaten two good teams during that stretch--the Dodgers and Phillies . . .

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Need a PR Specialist? Perhaps my 13 years of PR experience can satisfy those needs. I have publicized world champions such as Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield, and mega-events like Lewis-Tyson and De la Hoya-Vargas. Contact Donald Tremblay (The Rain Maker) at 718-664-3405 or at dtremblay@earthlink.net. For more info about me visit my LinkedIn Profile.