Gammons

My arms weren't long enough to hold the entire sports section up when I first started reading newspapers, so I used to stretch it out on the floor of the my Everett, Mass. house. I didn't look at bylines much then, but I knew who Peter Gammons was. I loved the Sunday paper because it meant his page-long notes column. Back then it was ofen the only place to get out of town notes and trade rumors.

It revolutionized sports writing. Thousands of writers do notes columns now on everything from baseball to college lacrosse. Gammons is as much a TV personality now as he is a writer, but his notes columns are still fresh and enjoyable.

He enters the writer broadcaster wing of the Hall of Fame this weekend. Richard Justice has a nice piece on Gammons and what he's meant to baseball and journalism.

One good, one stupid

Dan Wetzel is at his best when he's writing about basketball. This Greg Oden story reveals the next NBA star as likable and promising.

Don't politicians have better things to worry about? DC pols are upset that they're left out of ESPN's 50 States in 50 Days. Until everyone has a home and a job and cancer gets cured politicians should stop making idiocy into issues. [end of rant]

Who gets in?

I love baseball Hall of Fame debates. ESPN looks at current players that will, may or may not make it.

Part 1.
Part 2

Samuri Bears, A Windy City Olympics, Cheerleaders and Joe Morgan

This is a fun story on the Japaneese Samurai Bears of the Golden Baseball Lleague in California.

Jay Mariotti is against a Chicago Olympics.

Phil Sheridan doesn't like the Eagles cheerleader calendar.

Joe Reaves takes a few shots a Joe Morgan.

More Rosenhaus, Minor League baseball etc.

Part II of the Journal-Sentinel's Drew Rosenhaus profile.

Stan Grossfield has a look at the Grays, an independent minor league baseball team that plays all its games on the road.

Casey blog is updated today.

Rosenhaus, Beane and some lingering Lance links

The Jim Caple's Plimptonian appriach to journalism, but give the man credit, he has interesting story ideas. In this one, he gets Louisville Slugger to make replicas of bats used by Babe Ruth, Shoeless Joe Jackson and others and gave them to major leaguers to try using them.

Ian O'Connor writes that Billy Beane's demise was greatly exaggerated.

Dan Wetzel wishes AAU hadn't gotten so big.

Richard Justice and Jeff Bagwell wonder if Jeff Bagwell is done.



Mariotti says Lance Armstrong is irreplaceable.

Bob Ford wraps up his Lance coverage

Sports Illustrated did a nice look back, look ahead story on Armstrong

Into the sunset...

Armstrong's aura will not fade. He will be the rare retired athlete who picks up more fans long after he stops competing.
Because there will always be new cancer patients, frightened and depressed. And they will need to know the story of Lance Armstrong.

-- Mike LoPresti, USA Today

Bonnie DeSimone looks at Lance Armstrong's final statement.

The Seattle Times has a collection of quotes on Armstrong from people ranging from George Bush to Wayne Gretzky.

Philip Hersch on Armstrong's au revoir.

Hersch has scenes from the final day.

Diane Pucin says Armstrong wouldn't cry.
Pucin says next year's tour is wide open.


Jim Litke says he walked away at the right time.

John Smallwood hopes Armstrong stays retired.

Kevin Blackistone says Lance's legacy is greater as someone who inspired cancer fighters.

USA Today's Mike LoPresti takes a similar angle.
Consider the difference in sports heroes. Kids dream of growing up to be like Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan or Peyton Manning.
But kids, and adults, pray to be like Lance Armstrong.

Steve Hummer says cancer patients have been inspired.
Kelly estimated that over the three weeks of the Tour de France, another 80,000 people worldwide were diagnosed with cancer, and they wouldn't care one way or another if Armstrong would ride again, only that he had ridden once.
"People kept asking me if I was sad that he was not going to compete anymore. Yes and no," Kelly said. "It's cool that he accomplished what he did competitively, but what he did for me personally isn't over. He gave me the opportunity to pass his story on to other people."

Bob Ford says Armstrong has no peers.

George Vescey looks at champagne on the Champs Elysees one more time.

Wetzel says Armstrong has done as much for hope as he has for cycling.

Sunday Tour Links

George Vescey says Lance Armstrong's time trial win was a final statement
Ann Killion says nobody has gone out in better style
Dale Robertson says next stop history
Kevin Blackistone says the future of American cycling is bright.
The Chicago Tribune looks at how Armstrong's success spurred the growth of the sport.
Posnanski says he's been rooting for Lance even though he doesn't understand the race at all.

Other Sunday Lance links
Boston Globe
Chicago Tribune
Philly Inquirer
Houston Chronicle

Links are limited today because I'm working from a slow computer.

The Miami Herald has a nostalgic Lance Armstrong.

Bonnie DeSimone looks at whether Armstrong will push for a time trial win.

Crosbymania

Not surprisingly they're excited about Sidney Crosby in the Steel City.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette looks at his and the Penguins future.

Sidney Crosby, Holy bobbleheads and a winding down Tour de France

Biblical bobbleheads? Just some of the Christian fun at "Faith Night" at the minor league ballparks... relax I'm just teasing...


The Dallas Morning News looks at NHL-bound Sidney Crosby


The Miami Herald looks back at the Havana Sugar Kings

Tour de France links:
Paul Daugherty somewhat gleefully admits he doesn't really get the Tour de France.

Bonnie DeSimone says the end of the Armstrong era could begin the Basso era.

NY Times looks at Tour Life after Lance.

Philip Hersh has Lance anxious to be done.

The Seattle PI's John Levesque says that the Tour de is better as an occasional diversion in the US.

Blackistone on Johan Brunyeel, the tactician behind Armstrong's success

A few extra Tour links

Levi Leipheimer still trying for a spot on the podium.

USA Today says Armstrong has changed sports as a whole.

Steve Hummer wonders if Americans will forget about the Tour after Armstrong retires. I like the following passage:

There are four other Americans in the top 20 of this Tour de France. Go ahead, name them. And we spotted you one already.
That would be Levi Leipheimer (currently sixth), Floyd Landis (ninth), George Hincapie (17th, and the winner of a Tour stage) and Julich (18th). All fine riders, along with Tour de Georgia winner Tom Danielson, who was too hurt to attend. But a successor has not raised both hands above his helmet when the call for a replacement went out.
Nor is one of them likely to want to make the kind of commitment to drama that America's two most famous cyclists have. Armstrong, of course, returned from cancer. Greg Lemond won two of his three Tours after almost dying in a hunting accident. It is difficult to find volunteers for that sort of duty.

All over the map

Today's links have as much continuity as Caught on the Fly...

Monte Poole thinks Hank Aaron's celebrity doesn't match his accomplishments.

The Stan Grossfeld looks at Chicago's overlooked first-place team.

The New York Times has a good look at the healing role of palalympic sports to disabled war veterans.

Not surprisingly T.J. Simers' column yesterday got some negative feedback.

The Washington Post has a well-written story on Michael Rabb, a man with a difficult choice on how he wants to be famous.


Tour de France Links
Some Lance Armstrong science

George Vescey says the countryside is the real star of tour coverage.

The best medicine

Paola Bovin has a nice column about the Arizona radio tandem who are both battling cancer with a sense of humor.

Two friends in France

Bob Ford looks at the long friendship between George Hincapie, who won Sunday's stage and Lance Armstrong.

George Vescey on Hincapie and Armstrong remembering Fabio Casartelli, wo died 10 years ago on the Tour.



Barring a crash, Andrew Hood says everyone else is fighting for second.

Norman Chad says Armstrong should take a dive.
"And can't anybody at least help the French? What, Jan Ullrich of Germany can't step up? Ullrich's been tracking Armstrong longer than Wile E. Coyote's been chasing the Road Runner. Geez. Pedal faster!"

Tiger X

The best golfer of our generation and maybe the best ever won his 10th major.
Plaschke wonders if Tigers is too good to be loved.

Mark Kizla says St. Andrews is too easy to be a British Open site. I'm guessing if he had asked pro golfers about this, his opinon wouldn't have gotten much support.

Palmiero and Nicklaus

The Baltimore Sun has a nice profile on Rafael Palmiero.

The New York Times takes one more look back at Jack.

Baseball in Vegas?

The Mayor is trying

Jack's farewell

Quick links all from St. Andrews.

Jack Nicklaus' farewell 18 at St. Andrews has been, and will be a popular topic throughout the British Open.
Thoughts on it from David Whitley.

Steve Campbell looks at the stirring moemnt of silence Thursday in memory of those lost in last week's terror atacks in London.

Plaschke looks at David Diaz's eBay-purchased caddie.

The Girl

I had dinner with a fellow sportswriter , Wednesday night. He asked if I'd found anything great for this blog lately. While there has been a lot of good, I have encountered something great in a while.

Until today.



Los Angleles Times writer Kurt Streeter went hunting through Los Angeles gyms looking for a promising teen-aged fighter to chronicle. Instead he found a young girl, with an interesting past that was drawn to the ring. He looked at how she fought to be somebody and to help her father avoid his consideable demons. Streeter wrote the story in five parts. I was hooked halfway through part one. The time devoted to this story had to be considerable and I'm guessing years from now there will be updates and perhaps a book. It's long, but well worth it.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five

Links de Europe

Gene Wojciechowski looks at Tiger Woods giving a rare look into his private life.

Plaschke on the ghosts of St. Andrews.



New York Times details Armstrong losing a teammate, while holding on to the lead.

Bob Ford and Diane Pucin filed columns from France.

Return of the puck

Hockey is back.

Woj says the NHL has a long way to go just to reach relevance.

Ray Ratto seems like an odd choice to write about hockey for ESPN, considering his day job is writing columns in San Francisco, which doesn't have hockey and wasn't all that affected. That said I agree with his premise that Bob Goodnow and Gary Bettman should both be fired.

The Toronto Star has a look at some potential rule changes that might accompany hockey's return.

The Star says deal could be a win-win.

France, St. Andrews and Detroit

Amid more American League All-Star dominance, Thomas Boswell says Miguel Tejada might be hte best player in the game.

Boswell says Tejada may be the best in the game right now.


Bill Plaschke looks at Jack Nicklaus' farewell.

Bob Ryan on the wide-open field on the no-so-difficult course.



Kevin Blackistone says the French have grown to like Lance, but they thirst for a champion of their own.

Bonnie D has her account of Armstrong's impressive Tuesday. George Vescey too.

Great reporting

I have zero interest in New Jersey high school athletics, but this is a very well-reported story by the Bergen Record on the abuses of its administrators.

Life in the Minors

USA Today has a nice feature on a rookie's first days in the minors.

Post No. 300

ESPN debuted its ombudsman George Solomon. This seems like a good idea in theory, but I'm curious how it will play out practically.

Michael Rosenberg on the Home Run Derby.

The Miami Herald has a nice Dontrelle Willis story.

T.J. Simers is a proud "Grand Pa." Only Simers can get away with this column.

Links from Europe

Mixing the peloton with golf today. Columnists have been dispatched to Europe for the British Open. I'll be curious how many land in France afterward for the tour.

Plaschke looks at the legendary St. Andrews.

Gene Wojciechowski on Jack Nicklaus' appeal in Scotland.

The New York Times quickly posted Lance Armstrong's return to yellow on its web site. His success validates the prediction of Bob Ford.



Diane Pucin has a story about the Danish CSC team. She also has a Tour blog.

This page reachable through the NY Times, is a good place for the daily Tour update.

All-Star Monday

Lots of baseball today on the slowest sports day of the year. A lot of newspapers used today to run features, which mostly made for good reading.

The Boston Globe has features on the popularity of of David Ortiz and Johnny Damon.

Mike Beradino looks at the scarcity of black starting pitchers in the All Star game.

Joe Strauss looks at Albert Pujols' place in history.

John Eisenberg says Sammy Sosa has been a the opposite of what was expected - a good citizen and a bad hitter.

Richard Justice ranks America's best and worst baseball towns. I've started reading his blog regulalry too. He's got a nice rhythm to it.

I missed this feature while I was on vacation. The Boston Globe's Stan Grossfield has babies, that were conceived by Red Sox fans during the playoffs last year, are starting to be born. When I found this story I was wondering, "What kind of people would tell a reporter abut their sex lives?" Of course I started reading it and the prominently featured couple are friends of mine from college. Their picture, which is a Boston Globe photo, is below.

Detroit on the defensive

Mitch Albom defends Detroit at All Star time. Mark this column. There'll be a similar one in January before the Super Bowl there.

Whitlock takes up the Motor City's cause too, but from an entirely different angle.

Monday Tour Links

George Vescey on the crazy fan spectacle of the Tour de France.

Lance Armstrong gives up the yellow jersey.

Bob Ford said while Armstrong willingly ceded the leader's jersey, he and his team showed readiness for the climbs this week.

A view from London

ESPN tennis correspondent Barry Lorge was in London when the explosions hit that city's transit system. He has a first-person account. (Borrowed this link from Andy Merritt's Left-Centerfield blog, which has a good post about the events as well).

Mike Bianchi said it would be nice if just once coaches didn't hide behind the legal system when their plyaers got in trouble with the law.

Boswell looks at the Nationals fans getting used to the anxiety that comes from a pennant race.

ESPN launched its new ETicket, a magazine style on-line feature, which I presume is going to be weekly. It's not a bad idea, but the first story is a suspect way to debut, a feature on Steve Bartman.

Poker

I've avoided putting any poker articles here in the past. It's something I'm interested in and like to read about, but I don't really consider it a sport. But the recent boom in the game's popularity has created a question in newsrooms: How much coverage does it deserve. It's particularly relevant during the World Series of Poker, which is currently going on in Vegas. So I've included a few links today to some poker-related stuff.

Card Player.com has continual updates of the main event.


Steve Rosenbloom, who may be the best regular journalist at covering poker, has a look at player's desire for bracelets.


The New York Times has James McManus, author of Positively Fifth Street, covering the World Series of Poker for them.


Jay Lovinger has a daily World Series of Poker updated every day for ESPN.

Rosenbloom is doing a blog from there.

The Dallas Morning News has an interview with David Williams.

Both Las Vegas papers had much lesser poker coverage than I thought.

Friday Lance Links

Nothing earthshattering today.

The Boston Globe looks at Jan Ullrich's homecoming as the Tour dips into Germany.

New York Times Tour Coverage is here.

Diane Pucin is covering the Tour for the L.A. Times.

Perspective I guess

I'll keep the politcal stuff to a minimum, I know people don't come here for that. I hope our citizens, not government, are as good to the British, as they were to us after September 11.

Lance Links

Much like last year, I'm planning to have quite a few Lance Armstrong/Tour de France links here.



Bob Ford says Tour officials place sponsorship before sportsmanship

Ford was very good last year. You can find all of his stuff here. (This link is fixed)
Ann Killion has a fun story on the voices of the tour.

Big reason for why I follow so close is here.

Oden, Rogers, logos and Joe Posnanski

Bill Plaschke wants Kenny Rogers out of the All Star game. Seems like most fans, not to mention cameramen, would agree.

There has been an absence of Joe Posnanski links here regularly. Here's two.

Posnanski wonders if Steinbrenner is mellowing.

Posnanski has clearly been talking to Bill James. He wants batting average eliminated.

Bob Kravitz finds Greg Oden refreshing.

It's a good day for Kravitz fans here. He has a good look at Cuban defector Hansel Izquierdo on the Fourth of July.

Bill Griffith has a look at the changing nature of athletes and access in Boston.

Sponsor Logos on NBA jerseys? Could be coming sooner than you think...

Vacation posting II

Gordon Edes has a good story on the Nationals' surprise success.

Mike Bianchi takes up the cameramen's cause.

The Washington Post has a nice feature on Vin Scully.

I'll have more tomorrow, when I get back to a computer that has all my newspaper passwords cookied in.

Vacation posting

The Globe's Bob Hohler has an in depth piece of criminal problems at Boston College.


More Tuesday maybe...