New foursquare Badge, The ESPN Foam Finger Badge!

I'm on a bit of a hot streak. Yesterday I unlocked the Man v. Food Nation Badge, today I unlocked the ESPN Foam Finger Badge.

I have looked at several blogs to try to figure out how I actually earned the badge. I know when I earned it. My wife Tammy and I went to the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies Baseball game tonight at Great American Ball Park. When I checked in on fourquare, I got the badge.

To get the badge I know you have to be following ESPN on foursquare.

The game tonight was nationally televised on ESPN. As best as I can figure if you check-in to a venue that ESPN has left a tip for (and they have left a tip for Great American Ball Park) you earn the badge. I think...Or it may have something to do with the fact that an ESPN event (Monday Night Baseball) was going on there.

ESPN Foam Finger Badge

ESPN Foam Finger

Your voice is raspy. Your legs are sore. Your team couldn’t do it without you. High five, you’re a true sports fan.

Unlocked by jiresell on Mon Aug 29, 2011 at 6:49 PM at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, OH.

 Philadelphia Phillies vs. Cincinnati Reds

Grantland.com, My New Favorite Website And Their Open Letter to Jim Tressel

A couple of months ago, ESPN/ESPN.com writer extraordinaire, Bill Simmons, launched the website Grantland.com.

I have quickly become a big fan of the site. Great writing, not only on sports but also on pop culture.

This open letter to Coach Jim Tressel was posted yesterday, written by John Brandon. Excellent!

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6891889/dear-coach-tressel

You can follow Grantland.com on twitter, @grantland33.

Major League Soccer to be Broadcast On Versus (Soon to be Named NBC Sports Network) In 2012!

I know this was announced on August 10th, but NBC is already promoting Major League Soccer by showing this clip during their Sunday Night Football broadcast on 8/21/2011:

Major League Soccer matches will primarily be shown on Versus (soon to be renamed NBC Sports Network) which already reaches double the households Fox Soccer Channel currently has access to. 41 matches per year will be broadcast on Versus, 4 on NBC.

ESPN will still show matches Nationally, as will Univision.

Fox Soccer's Major League Soccer broadcasts have always had an amateurish feel to me. Based on how Versus/NBC Sports promotes and the quality of their broadcasts of the National Hockey League and the Tour de France, this arrangement will be huge for Major League Soccer!

Details:

http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/10/m-l-s-and-nbc-sports-announce-new-tv-deal/

Terrelle Pryor Gone

Jim Tressel and Terrelle Pryor in the Good Ole Days

Terrelle Pryor will not play his senior season at Ohio State.

Here's the article from the Columbus Dispatch's website:

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2011/06/07/pryor-skips-senior-year-ohio-state.html

Here's his statement:

"In the best interest of my teammates, I have made the decision to forego (sic) my senior year of football at The Ohio State University," Pryor said in a prepared statement read by his attorney Larry James.

Bottom line, Terrelle Pryor had lost the respect of his teammates. Buckeye Nation wasn't going to welcome him back.

He couldn't even get the name right when he announced that he would attend Ohio State University back in March of 2008. THE UNIVERSITY OF OHIO STATE?!?!

Here's the press conference from that fateful day:

Hmmmm....

As I write this, ESPN has reported that Terrelle Pryor made $20,000-$40,000 signing memorabilia for a Columbus Businessman at Ohio State.

Idiot. Good riddance.

Here's the report from ESPN.com:

Terrelle Pryor Signings Netted Thousands

Jim Tressel Resigns-I'm Not Surprised

The Columbus Dispatch is also reporting that Jim Tressel was encouraged to resign by Ohio State University officials. Link:

Sources: Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel was encouraged to resign

There are reports that a damning article about Ohio State football and Jim Tressel is going to come out in Sports Illustrated this week, so it looks like the issues facing the program are too overwhelming for Jim Tressel to stay on as head coach.

Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio has been asking some intriguing questions of his guests on this morning's show. Can you win in big time college football and stay clean in the NCAA's eyes?


Look at some recent history. There are questions surrounding the 2011 National Champion Auburn and their recruitment of Cam Newton in addition to allegations of recruiting violations against the team Auburn beat, Oregon. USC will probably have to vacate their 2004 National Championship due to major infractions. 

ESPN just broadcast a report Sunday morning on their show, Outside the Lines, regarding the impact on recruiting that 7 on 7 high school football summer leagues is having. Third-party influences in the recruiting of college football players are becoming problematic according to the report.

I have said it before on this blog. Are Ohio State and Jim Tressel any better or worse than any other University trying to maintain their football program as a perennial top 20 in the country? It's a big business with multiple influences both inside and outside of those programs. And although the NCAA expects these programs to maintain "institutional control" it seems as though it is an impossible task.


Former Notre Dame head football coach and ESPN college football analyst Bob Davie had the best take I have heard regarding Jim Tressel's resignation. On Colin Cowherd's ESPN radio show this morning he said that Coach Tressel was the victim of a "self-inflicted wound" by not reporting the violations he was aware of to the NCAA and his superiors at Ohio State a year ago. 


College football and Ohio State will survive this. The Jim Tressel resignation will make for a great couple of days of coverage on talk radio and on the blogs. Columbus, Ohio will be batty for a couple of weeks. But soon all will be forgotten, and big-time college football will be back again in the Fall. Just a bump in the road in the big business that is college football.

Kirk Herbstreit-Harsh Words for Ohio State Football Fans

Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN College Football Analyst and former Ohio State Quarterback had some pretty harsh words for Ohio State and it's fan base in the wake of the "notice of allegations" sent to Ohio State from the NCAA today.

Here's the full report from ESPN.com:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6424573

A couple of quotes from Kirk:

"The Ohio State fan base blindly is supporting Ohio State and Jim Tressel. It's almost gotten to the point that he beats Michigan, he wins 10 games, he goes to BCS bowl games, they'll support him no matter what he does as far as the fan base.

"If this would have happened to John Cooper [Herbstreit's coach], not only would they have fired him, they would have actually lined it up and had a firing squad and fired him."

“quit recruiting players like Maurice Clarett and Terrelle Pryor.” 

Kirk Herbstreit and his family recently moved away from Columbus as he had decided that if he was going to be objective as a college football analyst, including being critical of his Alma mater, he wouldn't subject he and his family to the vocal minority of Ohio State fans who just couldn't understand that.

“Nobody loves Ohio State more than me,” said Herbstreit, a former Buckeyes quarterback. “I still have a picture of Woody Hayes and my dad (Jim, a former OSU player) in my office, and nobody will do more than I do for the university behind the scenes. But I’ve got a job to do, and I’m going to continue to be fair and objective. To continue to have to defend myself and my family in regards to my love and devotion to Ohio State is unfair.”

“From a sports perspective, this is rough,” he said. “I love Ohio State. Love the Blue Jackets. Love the Reds. Those are my hobbies. I don’t like moving. I love living here. I don’t want to leave. But I just can’t do this anymore. I really can’t keep going like this.

“Eighty to ninety percent of the Ohio State fans are great. It’s the vocal minority that make it rough. They probably represent only 5 to 10 percent of the fan base, but they are relentless.”


Kirk is right in his evaluation of the situation at Ohio State. Jim Tressel, believing he was protecting his players. But the players have also made bad choices. When you recruit players of questionable character, you will pay the price.

But, as I noted in my previous post on regarding this subject-who cares? It's big time college football, and winning is the goal. Ohio State and Jim Tressel are no better or worse than any other major college football coach or program.


GO BUCKS!

Opening Day in Cincinnati-"And This One Belongs to the Reds!"

This year it was my youngest son Michael's turn to go to the Cincinnati Reds' Opening Day with me. Cincinnati's Opening Day traditions are unlike any other in baseball.

Michael and Me at Great American Ballpark Today

It begins with the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade in downtown Cincinnati. Cincinnati Reds' Hall of Famer Joe Morgan (one of my all-time favorites) was this year's Grand Marshall. Over 190 bands, dance groups, floats, politicians and businesses marched in the parade, which followed a route from Findlay Market in the Over The Rhine neighborhood past Fountain Square, a total of 2 miles.

Of course Great American Ballpark was sold out for the game between the Reds and the Brewers. The sun was out, which made the 45 degree temperature quite bearable.

(The Enquirer/Cara Owsley)

The Reds won the game 7-6 in the bottom of the 9th on a walk-off 3-run homer by catcher Ramon Hernandez! It was a great way to end an Opening Day Game. Maybe this will lead to a wire-to wire World Championship like the 1990 Cincinnati Reds. My son Michael posted this on his Facebook Page:

Michael Sell

Best Reds game of my life. Perfect way to end opening day. Walk off by Hernandez. Unbelievable.




He is right!

Ramon Hernandez Greeted at Home Plate in the Bottom of the 9th

You can read all about the game on the Reds website:
Hernandez's Heroics lift Reds on Opening Day

Pete Rose at Opening Day 2011

It wouldn't be Opening Day in Cincinnati without a Pete Rose sighting in the ballpark. The crowd got a glimpse of Pete Rose in the 3rd inning, and he of course drew a big cheer.

I love Pete Rose, but the jacket and hat...someone needs to dress that guy!

The best lines about Pete's outfit were from Scott Van Pelt's (ESPN anchor and radio host) Twitter posts:

notthefakeSVP Scott Van Pelt 

Pete Rose.....transcendent http://twitpic.com/4fer6m

notthefakeSVP Scott Van Pelt 

Worth one more look @ ole Chuck Hustle just murdering fools in his Lid lifter get up (no annoying channel id) http://twitpic.com/4fesbx

notthefakeSVP Scott Van Pelt 

What happens to a dude? You just wake up one day and go- where's my clown hat and my Joseph and the amazing techincolor dreamcoat jacket at?

My NCAA Bracket is F**ked Up!

At the beginning of the NCAA Basketball Tournament I had all hope for a great year in NCAA bracketology. I posted my picks for all to see with confidence rarely seen in picking winners.

OUT!

Now it's Monday, and my bracket is a mess. I am ranked in 1,305,406th out of over 5.9 million entries (78th percentile) on the ESPN.com Tournament Challenge, but small consolation as University of Pittsburgh and Purdue are now out, leaving me with only University of Connecticut and Ohio State left from my Final Four picks, and Ohio State picked as my winner.

Base on the teams that are left, here are my revised picks for the Final Four:

OUT!

Ohio State

University of Connecticut

Kansas (New)

BYU (New)

Finals:

Ohio State

Kansas (New)

2011 NCAA Champion:

2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Champions!

Random Soccer Thoughts-MLS, CONCACAF Champions League, ESPN Broadcast

Major League Soccer (MLS) kicked off it's 16th season last night with the Los Angeles Galaxy beating the Seattle Sounders at Qwest Field 1-0. I'm thrilled that the season finally started!

The environment at Qwest, the Sounders home field, was fantastic. I'm sure the Galaxy are very happy getting 3 points out of the match. The MLS should be pleased with the opening match broadcast on ESPN, except for the fact that Real Salt Lake was playing the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League semi-finals at the very same time on Fox Soccer Channel.

MLS executives have said many times that success in the CONCACAF Champions League is very important for MLS clubs. Real Salt lake is the first MLS club to reach the semi-finals in the current format of the league. They ended up winning at home against the Costa Rican club Saprissa, taking a 2-0 lead into the second league which will be played at Saprissa's home field on April 5th. I just don't understand why they would have scheduled the MLS season opening match on the same night as an historic match for Real Salt Lake.

Speaking of scheduling snafus...March 26th is a FIFA International fixture date. Several National teams around the World will be playing friendlies, including the US Men's National Team. Another problem. The MLS continues to schedule regular season games on International fixture dates. On March 26th, the Columbus Crew play the New York Red Bull at home and the Red Bull will be missing 6 potential starters due to various International call-ups. Obviously this is good for the Crew, playing a weakened Red Bull team, but as a season ticket holder of the Crew, I would rather see them play the Red Bull at full strength.

Another thought:

-Taylor Twellman has joined Alexi Lalas and Max Bretos as an analyst on the ESPN MLS broadcasts for the 2011 season. Alexi Lalas is over the top in his opinions, but fairly entertaining. Taylor Twellman has improved since I saw him last year on ESPN broadcasts. But both were extremely critical of David Beckham last night regarding his training regimen and for not joining the the Los Angeles Galaxy until late in the preseason. I actually agreed with some of their points, but I think both made it a bigger deal than it actually is. I'm actually rooting for David Beckham to have a great year for the Galaxy!

ESPN Broadcast Analysts Max Bretos, Alexi Lalas and Taylor Twellman

Phil Simms-Hypocritical NFL Analyst!

Phil Simms, CBS NFL Football announcer, decided to confront Desmond Howard yesterday at the NFL Xperience exhibit in Dallas due to criticism Desmond had made earlier in the year about Mr.Simms' son Matt, a quarterback at the University of Tennessee. Apparently Mr. Howard had made the comments earlier in the season on ESPN College Gameday. Security had to step in so that Mr. Howard could continue with his appearance.

This is not the first time that Phil has been oversensitive about criticism his sons have received. In 2005 Steve Young criticized Phil's son Chris for his poor play with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Phil attacked him verbally a day later in a press conference.

Pretty amazing reading Desmond Howard's twitter stream on the incident. The best coverage of the altercation comes from the blog http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/. It includes Desmond's twitter feed.

Here is the article link: http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/cops-stop-phil-simms-attack-on-espns-howard-29469

Phil Simms and CBS released a statement about the incident:

UPDATE (2:44p PT): In response to today’s incident involving Desmond Howard, Phil Simms released the following statement to sportsbybrooks.com through CBS:
"Desmond and I were having a private conversation that became heated. But at no time was there ever a chance of any physical confrontation or that I felt the police officer assigned to me by the event planners for my appearance needed to separate the two of us."

Was this really the forum to air your grievances Phil? In addition, aren't you critical of NFL players' performance during your telecasts? I know we are talking about your sons, but criticism from analysts at big time college football programs and in the NFL is part of the deal. Thinking there are plenty of fathers and mothers of young men you have criticized who may have been upset, but didn't choose to verbally attack you in public.

Phil Simms should resign as an NFL analyst. Or CBS should fire him. Now that I think of it, maybe posting this is a bad idea. Oh well, what are the odds I will run into Phil Simms anyway...

Phil Simms at NFL Xperience. sportsbybrooks.com

Desmond Howard at NFL Xperience. sportsbybrooks.com

Major League Soccer Can Improve It's Product! Part 2

Just watched the MLS Cup on ESPN. Colorado won 2-1 in overtime on an own goal by FC Dallas. Match was a little ugly by soccer standards, but very exciting!

ESPN did a good job covering the match. The best move they made was bringing in Ian Darke for match play-by-play.

Building on my previous post, here are some additional recommendations for MLS:

Play the MLS Cup Championship at the home field of the team with the best seed coming into the MLS Cup Playoffs. It is obviously nice to reward BMO Field with the Championship match, but the neutral crowd is taking away from the atmosphere that would be much better in one of the team's home field.

Also, Don Garber, MLS Commissioner, announced at half time that the MLS would play a balanced schedule next year (18 team league with the addition of Vancouver and Portland). This means that each team will play a home-and-home against every other team for 34 matches total. Good move.

Now the bad news. Mr. Garber also announced ten teams would make the MLS Cup playoffs next year, further diluting the regular season. Bad move.

I still would advocate for a single table, rather than two divisions. Top 8 make the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Support Your Domestic Soccer League-MLS Cup 2010

This is pretty much a shameless plug, but having a relevant domestic soccer league is important to the USA's standing in International soccer.

Tomorrow night (Sunday, November 21st) at 8:30pm EST on ESPN the 2010 MLS Cup will be played between Colorado and FC Dallas. Watch it. It won't be the quality of an EPL or La Liga match, but it will be exciting!

Here is a link to everything you would want to know about the match:

MLS Cup 2010

A Great Weekend!

What a great weekend! My wife and I were able to go to Columbus and meet our great friends Beth and Jon McIntyre for the Ohio State/Penn State football game.

A little background. Jon and I graduated from Lakota High School in West Chester Ohio in 1981. Tammy, my wife, and Beth graduated from the same High School in 1982. Tammy and Beth graduated from Ohio State together, while Jon and I went to different schools.

Both of us got married in 1986. We have stayed friends ever since! It's hard to get together as much as we used to, with all of our kids being older (we each have three). In addition, we live in the Cincinnati, Ohio area, while Jon and Beth have recently moved to Connecticut.

Living so far apart is what made getting together this weekend so special! We all arrived Friday afternoon, had dinner at Haiku (in the Short North area of Columbus) and then went to the Big Bang Piano Bar and Gordon Biersch (where my daughter, Mallory, a senior at Ohio State met up with us and brought along her friends).

Saturday was breakfast and off to campus to check out ESPN Gameday and then to the game.

Of course, Ohio State won (not without a battle in the first half from Penn State). After the game we went to Rubino's Pizza in Bexley, and had a little carry out desert from Mitchell's Steakhouse.

It was such a nice weekend. We were able to catch up on our kids, our jobs, quotes from our favorite movies ("that's a YP, not an MP" guess the movie), and our families.

It is great to have friends like Beth and Jon! Just wish we could get together more often!

Go Bucks!