BenMaller.com - Ben's Takes

Friday Thoughts, Opinions and Notes

By Ben Maller

NEW YORK (BB) -Its great to have NFL Football back in the Los Angeles area. Watching the Dallas Cowboys in the preseason, brings back memories of the Rams there final season in Anaheim. (Bad Team Man! Bad Fing Team) Charles Barkley from the Jim Healy show.

So the Boston Red Sox fired Jimy Williams... Shocking? yes why did they wait 118 baseball games to do it? The question i have is what makes Joe Kerrigan the right man for the job.

The Angels hired pitching coach Marcel Lachemenn as skipper in the mid 90's... He was a disaster... The Devil Rays hired away Larry Rothchild from the world champion marlins in 1997. He was fired earlier this year... Infact I can't think of a pitching coach who turned into a great manager... can you?

Eric Lindros to the Rangers why? So MSG can show a superstar to the Fans of New York. There has never been a player in pro sports who has come back from a serious concussion problem. Not Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Michael Irvin, Pat Lafontaine or anyone else!

I don't believe the Kings are going to get Lindros... Although thousands of Ranger fans hope they do...

Coach Bill Belichick did the right thing suspending Terry Glenn for the season. Lets face it the New England Patriots sucked with Glenn they can be just as bad without him.

Barry Bonds has hit 53 Homers this season. I still believe in my heart when its money time. Bonds will choke as he always does in pressure situations... aka an average of under .200 in 27 playoff games in his career.

How horrible is the grounds crew at Veteran's Stadium? Not able to get the field ready for an NFL Exhibition game. Who goofed I've got to know! I've been told the Eagles and Ravens could have played after a two hour delay to fix the field. Problem is Philly management wanted to embarrass the City and Stadium workers.

I have always felt that Tony Banks is a poor NFL Quarterback. That said Jerry Jones and the Cowboys screwed Banks. Why sign a guy name him your starter and then release him after two preseason games. Kind of reminds me of what the Angels did to future hall of famer Jose Canseco

Here is hoping Banks who signed with the Redskins yesterday passes for 400 yards in a pair of wins against the Cowboys

Feel better Tommy Lasorda... the 74 year old hall of famer was eating earier this week at "Lasorda's" a restaurant owned by his brothers outside of Norristown, PA when he started feeling dizzy... Tommy is Baseball!

Most amazing stat of the 2001 Baseball season... Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners is batting just .261 leading off an inning but .480 with runners in scoring position.

With James Baldwin injuring his ribcage. And Gary Sheffield fatiged. Added to Andy Ashby, Darren Driefort and Kevin Brown It got me thinking that the Dodgersare Cursed! Call it the "Curse of the Piazza Trade"

I watched an Oakland vs. Toronto game this week... It got me thinking... How much money are the so called small market Athletics going to have to pay to keep Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson and Barry Zito.

Shawn Green could finish up his career as the greatest homerun hitter in Dodger History.... with 35 Homeruns he has the most by a Dodgers left-handed batter since the team moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958. No left-handed-hitting Dodger has reached 100 RBI since Duke Snider had 101 in 1956. Shawn has 99 RBI's

Tony Siragusa is my favorite player to watch. He's a big fat guy who shuts down the opponents running game. After watching him on HBO. I can hardly wait to watch him broadcast games. He will be the next super star in football broadcasting... Lets hope that FOX gets him!

Thoughts and Opinions on New York:

WFAN is the only true local sports station in America. As someone who has been in the radio business for eight years, I can't tell you how much fun it is to listen to the Fan and hear local talent 24 hours a day.

For the World's best Pastrami Sandwich visit Katz Deli on the Lower East Side.

Big Ben Trivia: Who is my favorite Yankee?? (answer bellow)

I don't want to be Rush Limbaugh or Alex Rodriguez. I wouldn't mind being Carson Daly for a day. The best collection of talent in NYC was spotted outside the MTV TRL Studio in Time Square! (in the rain)

Mike Piazza stars in a very entertaining commercial for Mets tickets. He is seen going around Manhattan, while annoying New Yorkers give him batting tips.

Yankee Stadium is the Cathedral of major league baseball.

I walked by the worlds most famous arena, Madison Square garden and to my dismay there was a huge banner advertising the New York Liberty of the WNBA. I though how proud Bill Plaschke of the times would be if lived in New York. It made me sick!

As much as i enjoy going to "The House That Ruth Built" Those 6.75 beers and 4.00 Dollar cokes are enough to make me run back to the Dodger Dog and a bad of nuts.

Avoid Times Square... The whole side of a building across from Penn Station/Madison Square garden is a picture of Heisman hopeful Oregon Quarterback Joey Harrington. Funny how Nike would pay for the add just a few blocks from the downtown athletic club.

I tried and tried some more. I couldn't find a New York Knicks fan who is going to miss Glen Rice who was sent to the Rockets in a three team deal last week.

Shea Stadium is the land fill of major league baseball.

Thanks to my brother Joe and his wife Michelle for letting me and my younger brother Mike invade there place all week.

Tune into my radio show Saturday morning from 5am till 8am eastern time. I'll be with my partner Patrick O'Neal as we break everything down and give you in the inside scoop on FOX SPORTS RADIO! Sunday Jason Smith will join me!

Big Ben Trivia Answer: Can you believe my favorie Yankee is Clay Bellinger who hit a pair of homeruns and drove in 4 runs on the Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. (One of the bombs landed 6 feet in front of me and my brothers near the leftfield foul pole.)

Talk to Big Ben E Mail Questions and Comments by CLICKING HERE
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Thursday, August 16, 2001

"Hacksaw gets Hacked"

by Ben Maller

The AP Story:

Lee Hamilton has resigned as the Vikings' radio play-by-play announcer after making several racially insensitive comments on his California radio show over the last 15 years.

'' I didn't feel what was going on was fair,'' Hamilton said Wednesday. ``I just didn't want to be associated with this type of thing.''

Among the comments that upset local NAACP leaders was one in which Hamilton appeared to question the ability of blacks to do sports talk radio. He also once referred to pitcher Hideki Irabu as a ``fat Jap.''

Hamilton, hired by the Vikings and KFAN Radio during the offseason, admitted making mistakes.

``When you do live provocative radio and take 250 calls a week you are going to get involved in some heated discussions,'' he said. ``Sometimes what you say does not come out quite right, and many times it is misinterpreted. I just don't think four controversial calls in 15 years should define my career.''

Nathaniel Khaliq, head of the St. Paul chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said two weeks ago that his group planned to ``strongly suggest'' to the Vikings they fire Hamilton.
NAACP leaders met with Vikings officials Tuesday night. Vikings executive vice president Mike Kelly said ``no specific demands'' were made at the meeting.

Ben's Take: My first job in sportsradio was interning on "SportsNight with Lee Hamilton."The show aired nightly on a very popular sports station in San Diego. Hacksaw taught me the basics and keys to being a sports talk personality. Nobody in this business works harder than the Saw. While my on-air style is very different than Hamilton's, the prep work I use for every show was gained under his mentoring.

At times, Lee did have a habit of saying things "on air" that were inappropriate. That said, he has always been good to me and I truly believe he is not a racist.

As memory serves me, the radio station had an open slot at night. It was auditioning on-air talent. They wanted a woman or a minority to fill the slot. A couple of African American hosts tried out on the air and were HORRIBLE!
The station hired someone else. A caller to Hamilton's show asked why the station had not hired a "Black" host. Lee then made a comment that black hosts were not qualified. What he meant was that the 2 guys that tried out were unqualified, but it came across sounding as if all black hosts were unqualified!

As for the claim that Hamilton called Hideki Irabu a ``Fat Jap.'' Wasn't it a New York tabloid that had the headline "Fat Toad"... and Irabu is from Japan...

Hacksaw has made mistakes. Should this cost him a play-by-play job? We are not talking about him hosting Vikings Talk here!

Lee Hamilton is "the best football play-by-play guy in the business."Listen to his work over the years with the Chargers, Seahawks, USC and SDSU and you will not find a better voice for football on the radio. I am disappointed in the Vikings because they did not stand by Lee and allow him to broadcast their games.

Another sports team without backbone... Another win for political correctness... YUCK! permalink

Sunday, August 12, 2001

Coming Soon...

Ben Maller's National Football League Preview!

Every team... In Depth... Hot Analysis and opinions!

Check back soon for details...

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