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Saturday, March 02, 2002
Kobe's The New KO Kid!  By Ben Maller Kobe Bryant woke the sleeping Lakers up last night at Staples Center. The World Champions had just beaten the Indiana Pacers 96-84 when Kobe decided he couldn't take anymore of Reggie Miller's lip. As the game ended Kobe charged the trash talking cheap shot artist from UCLA. As you would expect Miller backed away like a girl and the brawl ended up on the scorers table.  Miller wishes he was Kobe. Reggie has had a hall of fame career but he has spent all of it in Indiana losing to the Celtics, Knicks and Bulls in the playoffs. Miller is probably best known for being Spike Lee's bitch during those Pacers/Knicks playoff series. The one chance "Miller Time" had to win a championship he lost to the Kobe Bryant lead Lakers two years ago. Miller would have loved to have played at least part of his career in LA and with the Lakers, instead he is doomed to retire with no rings in the heartland. It was important for Kobe to show that he is not soft. Some in the NBA feel that Bryant would rather back down from a fight then face the battle. Rick Fox of the Lakers said after the game that they have been disrespected all season long and that teams don't give the Purple and Gold there do. That figures to change after they win the NBA Title for the third straight year. permalink
Elvis is Dead   By Ben Maller While some question the death of Elvis Presley nobody can question the death of Elvis Grbac's career. Grbac was brought to Baltimore to lead the Ravens offense after a solid run in Kansas City. In 2000, he was a Pro Bowl quarterback who threw for 500 yards in one game. Some in KC said the Grbac was selfish and not a good guy in the locker room. That didn't stop the Ravens from giving him a five-year, $30 million contract with a $5 million signing bonus. Elvis was a nightmare in Baltimore, throwing three more interceptions (18) than touchdown passes (15) and finishing with the league's 26th-best passer rating. It should be pointed out that the guy Grbac replaced Trent Dilfer who lead the Ravens to the Super Bowl title is again a free agent. According to sources Dilfer who is 19-1 in his last 20 starts doesn't want anything to do with Baltimore anymore. NFL experts say that Dilfer is the hottest name on the free agent market while Chris Chandler figures to get alot of interest.  Grbac will get another job in the NFL in some place like Cincinnati because that's how the league works. Lets hope that the Ravens learned there lesson when it comes to dealing with quarterbacks who actually win games. permalink Friday, March 01, 2002
Friday Thoughts, Opinions and Notes  By Ben Maller The Boston Red Sox probably feel like they owe Mike Port. Who can forget the 1996 American League Championship series. I got a kick out of seeing Tony Tavares at Expos camp. When Bud Selig went looking for a man to run a club into the ground, his first choice was Tavares who did just that with the Angels. Back in the 1980's, if a thirdbaseman hit .300 with 34 HR's and 112 RBI's he would have been a household name. Last season Aramis Ramirez of the Pittsburgh Pirates put those up and nobody, even in Pittsburgh, knows who he is.  I'm happy for Paul LoDuca, a good guy, who is now set for life after getting alot of Dodger Green this week. LoDuca and Matt Herges both spent almost a decade in the minors before making it to the big leagues. Let's just hope that LoDuca does not turn into the .270 hitting catcher with no power some thought he would be. I wrote a story this week about players who were in spring training despite being over the hill. Did you know that F.P. Santangelo is in spring camp with the New York Yankees along with fellow former 2000 Dodgers Kevin Elster and Jim Leyritz? I wonder if T.J. Simers of the Times knows about this. A member of the San Diego Padres front office is up for the Miss USA Crown. The Hagerstown Suns, a Class A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, rejected an Osama bin Laden bobblehead giveaway promotion after an Internet poll indicated most people thought it was stupid. Former Seattle Mariners & Baltimore Orioles PBP voice Ken Levine e-mailed a funny story. Levine was listening to the Minnesota Twins radio broadcast yesterday on WCCO and noticed that one of their sponsors was the Minnesota Cremation Society. Interesting. For such a young team, the Clippers sure have alot of injuries.  Darius Miles is not even a starter on his own team yet he is the pitch man for Nike's Michael Jordan shoes. NBA Jail has moved to Chicago. Charles Oakley when asked if would give up salary to be released by the Bulls to sign with the Lakers, Oakley said he would just continue to do his time till the season ends. This is the second time that Oakley has taken money over winning. He could have signed with the Lakers two years ago and decided to play with the Raptors. Ben Maller Trivia Question of the Week: Who has the best record against the spread in the NBA?? Michael Jordan made a mistake coming back to the Wizards. He looks old and while he has had a few special moments this season, Washington is going to be in the same spot they would have been had Jordan not come back, the Draft Lottery. The chairman of the San Antonio Spurs says the team is in a rebuilding mode. Maybe he should watch Golden State, Chicago, Memphis and Atlanta play if he wants to see what real rebuilding is.  Stupid fans in Miami booed star point guard Anthony Carter this week when he returned from the injured list. No player in the NBA plays harder than Carter. The fans who booed AC are idiots. I saw that the New York Knicks lost four national television broadcasts. The Knicks will only be on network TV once more when they play the Lakers in mid-March at Staples. Charles Barkley on TNT said the Knicks could win the championship if they could play the Miami Heat all the time. I remember when the LA Clippers had buttons saying "I Like Ike." The Clips were trying to convince center Isaac Austin to resign with the club. Austin left as a free agent but the good news is he's available after being released by the Memphis Grizzlies yesterday. Tom Tolbert gets the job of replacing Jayson Williams on the NBC Studio show. As for Tolbert, as far as we know he has never killed anyone.  Duke is getting some losses out of the way before the NCAA tournament starts. The Oregon Ducks are the Minnesota Twins of the college basketball. The Ducks haven't lost at home and can't win on the road, yet they did enough to win the Pac-10 Title USC has lost four games this season at or near the buzzer. If that was UCLA, you would say that's bad coaching. At SC you say its bad luck! UCLA won, but lost for those alumni that bet on the game against Oregon State the Bruins didn't cover. The NFL has a serious problem when Pro Bowl players get cut year after year for cap reasons. If you can't afford to pay guys that play well then what's the point?  My early pick for NFL comeback player of the year in 2002 is Rob Johnson who will star now that he is out of Buffalo. I was at a sporting goods store in Irvine this week and noticed that the Doug Flutie #7 Chargers jersey was on sale. They must know something. Steve Spurrier is hard at work turning the Washington Redskins around. Spurrier got Danny Wurrfull and wants Jacquez Green and Willie Jackson to come to DC. All these guys are former Gators. So much for winning and keeping your job. The New England Patriots fired Ron O'Neil their head trainer after 18 years on the job this week. Bill Belichick didn't like him according to reports. This, by the way, would fall into the Karma category. Bill Romanowski is 35 Years old and signed a 7-Year deal with the Oakland Raiders. He has about as much chance to see the end of that contract as Dennis Miller does of getting a broadcasting gig at CBS or Fox to do football. John Cooper the ex-Ohio State head coach has been hired as a consultant for the Cincinnati Bengals and special assistant to the player personnel department. Cooper wanted to return to college coaching at Indiana or San Diego State but was not given the chance because he was a bum with the Buckeyes.  The best thing about the Olympics being over now is that we don't have to worry about Hockey for another four years. The NFL's best play-by-play voice Howard David has started as a sportstalk show host at WQAM in Miami. David says he took the job because sports radio is boring. David is expected to become the next play-by-play voice of the Miami Dolphins. Good news for wacky radio DJ's from coast to coast. Bubba the Love Sponge was found not guilty of animal cruelty in the slaughter of a hog a year ago in Florida. As great a football player as Eric Dickerson was, in my opinion in the Mid 80's he was the best ever with the LA Rams, that's how bad a broadcaster he was at ABC. Jim Rome is now one of my heroes. Rome is going to get $20 million dollars over the next five years to do three hours of sports talk radio a day. I wonder how much Tony Bruno is worth since he's the best sports talk show host in America.  The good thing is that with Jim Rome's new contract, Lee Klein (Pictured Above) is still worth the $7 dollars an hour he is getting paid to do his talk show.  John Madden will be missed on FOX. Who is going to cook a six-legged turkey at Thanksgiving this year? I heard a funny line yesterday about Al Michaels, he's had more partners the last couple of years on ABC than Wilt Chamberlin.  Now a message from our sponsors... A friendly reminder to listen to my radio show this weekend on your local Fox Sports Radio station. It's me along with Bob Page at the Fox Sports Update desk from 5am till 8am(est) Saturday morning. Sunday morning from 4am till 7am I'll be back again. (Heard coast to coast) Sunday night listen to my show from 10pm till 2am along with Jason Smith on your local Fox Sports radio station. (heard coast to coast and around the world.) Ben Maller Trivia Question of the Week Answer: The Seattle SuperSonics are 34-and-24 against the spread. Detroit is second at 32-and-23. Write Back:Send Ben Maller E mail by CLICKING HERE! permalink Wednesday, February 27, 2002
Big Ben To Buy Expos??   By Ben Maller I'm here to save Bud Selig's ass and help the owners out. I have just joined a group of investors from around the United States in an effort to buy the Montreal Expos baseball club from Major League Baseball. My hope is to get a piece of the team and get it a new ballpark in Canada or move the franchise to Washington, DC.  If you would like to join the effort to bring baseball's worst franchise back from the dead you can become an Investment Partner. When I get control of the franchise I'll lower ticket prices across the board and cut the price of beer to $2 bucks. The team will need a broadcaster that knows his stuff and his stats so my former partner Ross Porter will be my guy from the Dodgers. As for on the field moves this club needs alot of work. I'll hire Kevin Malone has my GM because he is familiar with the Expos and he got screwed over in LA. I figure that we can work some deals with the Angels and Dodgers because they are used to giving away good players for nothing (See Jim Edmonds and Mike Piazza) I would like to hire a good manager who knows how to win. Since Jim Tracy is taken by the Dodgers I'll get Bill Russell to take the job. Raul Mondesi would thrive in an Expos uniform he'll come over from Toronto to play along side Vlad Guerrero. I hear the Angels are shopping Darren Erstad, he can play for me anyday. I'll try and steal away superhero Eric Karros from the Dodgers to play first for me and then get Ismael Valdez from the Texas Rangers to join the rotation. I'll call Jeff Shaw and persuade him to come out of retirement and pitch for me. You can always use another left-hander in the bullpen so I'll pick up Mark Guthrie from the New York Mets.  Those are just a few of the moves I'll make to turn my Montreal Expos into a winner. I know some of you are thinking that a weekend overnight talk show host can't possibly have the money it takes to buy a big league baseball team, well your right but my Investment Partners have some bank. After I get control the moves I have talked about will make the Expos a competitive team and if not, who cares, at least I'll have a good time with the guys at bars on the road! It's my team and I can do what I want with it! permalink Tuesday, February 26, 2002
Karma is Great!  By Ben Maller It was Tuesday, April 6th, 1999, the second game of the baseball season the Dodgers were playing host to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. The game was interrupted by a benches-clearing incident in the sixth. Matt Williams, who tied the game with a solo homer in the fourth inning, nearly gave Arizona a 3-2 lead when he ripped a pitch that went just wide of the left-field foul pole. Dodger's starter Chan Ho Park drilled Williams with his next pitch, and both benches and bullpens emptied. After the game, I entered the Arizona Clubhouse and asked Matt Williams, who was holding a beer in his hand and looked like a skin head, if he felt that Chan Ho Park was dirty and was throwing at his head. Williams up and gave me a look of death and told me to repeat the question. I did, then Williams said if you're not going to ask an intelligent question then don't ask one at all. At this point I was kicked out of the Diamondback's clubhouse. I cursed Matt Williams on the radio after this and I have to believe that it has worked. Williams had a monster year in 1999 but since then he has spent more time on the DL than on the field. In 2000, the big dick played in just 96 games and last season he played in 106 games. Williams has been hurt and missed large parts of 6 of the last eight seasons.  Yesterday, at spring training camp in Arizona, Williams broke his left leg and will be out for the next eight weeks and figures to miss the start of the 2002 season. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy! permalink Monday, February 25, 2002
Old Spring Farts   By Ben Maller Spring Training is a great time of year for baseball fans. There is a sense of optimism and renewal. Your team hasn't lost yet and even if you know your team is going to blow this year at least there is a chance to win the always coveted Grapefruit or Cactus league title. One of the other great things about spring is the chance to watch players who are way past their prime give it one more shot. For those of you not used to the baseball lingo these players would be called "Non-roster invites" in other words an old fart who signed a minor league contract to play ball for a month with little or no chance to make the club. The Spring Training 2002 class of old farts: Kevin Elster in Yankees Camp: When I did Dodger Talk in 2000, Elster told me at least a dozen times he was going to retire from baseball and open up a bar in Las Vegas. I guess the bar didn't take off because Elster is in camp with the pinstripes at age 37. Carlos Baerga in Boston Red Sox Camp: Was the backbone of the early 90's Indians. In 1993 he drove in 114 runs with the tribe but has not been in the majors since 1999 with the Padres. Luis Polonia in Pittsburgh Pirates Camp: He's 37 years old and trying to come back from a year in the Mexican league. He was in his prime back in 1991 with the California Angels. His game is a speed game with no power. Good Luck! Mark Whiten in Los Angeles Dodgers Camp: One of baseball's best arms in the 1990's. Mark "Homerun hittin" Whiten once hit 4 homers with 12 RBI's in one game for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Cincinnati Reds. The problem is, that was 1993. Whiten has played for Toronto, Cleveland (2), St. Louis, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Atlanta and the Yankees. Lance Johnson in Montreal Expos Camp: Known has the One Dog with the Chicago White Sox. One scout called him the most selfish player in baseball in the mid 90's. Hit .333 with the Mets in 1996 with 69 RBI's and 50 stolen bases. Made $5 million dollars in 1999 with the Cubs. He hasn't played in the bigs since 2000 and if he makes the Expos he still wouldn't have made the majors. Butch Henry in Boston Red Sox Camp: Throw with your left-hand and you'll always have work. Henry has had several major arm injuries and has pitched in just nine games since 1997. He has not pitched in the majors since 1999. Chris Hammond in Atlanta Braves Camp: Similar to Butch Henry he has a left-hand and is breathing. Hammond has not played in the majors since 1998 with the Marlins. He's 36 and has no chance to make the Braves. Tim Scott in Los Angeles Dodgers Camp: It's hard to figure out how Scott made his way to Vero Beach. He's 35 right-handed and has never had a good season in a big league career that has not seen action since 1997. Greg Olson in Pittsburgh Pirates Camp: The one-man gas can. Olson was one of the biggest busts in recent Dodger history. In 2000 and 2001 Olson, combined to go 0-2 while allowing 32 earned runs in 41 innings pitched. Olson stole $3 Million dollars from the Blue during that time. Tony Tarascoin New York Mets Camp: Tarasco was the guy playing rightfield for the Baltimore Orioles when that kid Jeffery Mayor took a homerun ball away from him in 1997.   Jobless this spring: Devon White & Bobby Bonilla a pair of the biggest bums from the 90's Dodgers. Harold Baines he's not retired but he doesn't have a team. Andres Galarraga: The Big Cat played for the Giants and Rangers last season he's at home right now. Rey Sanchez: was the starting shortstop for the Royals and then Braves last season but can't get work this spring. David Cone: Says he only wants to play for the Mets, Yankees or Red Sox. They don't want him. permalink Sunday, February 24, 2002
Why I Love My Job
  By Ben Maller Its 2:30am in the morning on the west coast at the Fox Network Center in the main broadcast studio for the Fox Sports Radio Network. In the studio I sit next to Bob Page while engineer Jerry handles the callers and the board for the broadcast. I made a comment on the air that if you're listening to us at work you would want to pay close attention to a baseball story I was about to read. Bob said that nobody was working at this hour. I told Bob, as always, that he was nuts. We ended up opening up the phone lines to listeners who were working. We opened up the lines coast-to-coast taking calls from people listening to our show at work. We started with a Police Officer in Jacksonville, Fla. who was helping a women that had her car broken into. Then we went to a Truck Driver in Tulsa, OK who was driving from South Dakota to Arkansas and listening to our show the whole trip via XM Satelitte Radio. Next up was one of Bob's favorites Sebastian a male prostitue from KeyWest. Then we jumped over to Tucson to chat with a guy working at a Circle K. Then came a stripper who said she was from Houston and she was a big sports fan. (I think she was lying)  As a kid growing up in Southern California I used to listen to radio shows at night from far away cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Utah and New Mexico. I've always been in awe of the power that good radio brings. Nothing can help a long overnight shift go by quicker than a good radio show to listen to. Radio as they say is theater of the mind and I have never taken that power for granted and love the fact that I can help these guys that have to work the worst shift of the week weekend overnights out. Sure there are a lot of problems with this business. Ever since President Bill Clinton deregulated the number of stations a broadcasting company can own the radio industry has turned into a three-headed monster with Clear Channel, Infinity and ABC owning 95% of the stations. Yes, the job security blows also, but the ability to sit down in a radio studio and talk and tell stories into a mic and have people listen to what you have to say is a special thing. Screw TV! permalink |
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