Sonia Sotomayor played key role in ending Major League Baseball strike in 1995

Neil A. Lewis of The New York Times writes how possible Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor played a key role in ending the baseball strike in 1995... "After play resumed, The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that by saving the season, Judge Sotomayor joined forever the ranks of Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson and Ted Williams. The Chicago Sun-Times said she “delivered a wicked fastball” to baseball owners and emerged as one of the most inspiring figures in the history of the sport." ...

Neil A. Lewis

Candace Parker gives birth to baby girl

This was reported by the Associated Press...
Los Angeles Sparks star Candace Parker has given birth to a baby girl.

It is the first child for the WNBA's reigning MVP and rookie of the year and husband Shelden Williams of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Goodwin Sports Management announced the baby girl was born in Los Angeles on Wednesday. She weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and was 20 inches long.

"Shelden and I are thrilled," Parker said in a release. "This is such a life changing moment for us, we feel blessed to have a healthy and beautiful baby girl."

Parker averaged 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds last season. She was also on the U.S. team that won a gold medal at the Beijjing Olympics.

Parker plans to rejoin the Sparks once she gets the OK from her doctor. The WNBA season begins June 6.

Kentucky Derby champ MIne That Bird gets no respect

Kentucky Derby champ Mine That Bird is getting no respect after winning as a 50-1 shot...first his jockey jumped ship, then he was listed as the third favorite behind Pioneerof the Nile and a horse that did not even run the Derby, and a filly at that, Rachel Alexandra (photo, above) -- who is going to be ridden by Calvin Borel, the same jockey who was on Mine that Bird two weeks ago...

Filly Facts
- It has been 85 years since a filly won the Preakness
- It has been 103 years since one won as the favorite
- Nellie Morse was the last filly to win, in 1924
- Whimsical, at 8-5, was the last winner to go off as the favorite

Ken Murray of the Baltimore Sun writes how the filly is the favorite... "History waits for Preakness favorite Rachel Alexandra on Saturday, and it's not good history. The 3-year-old filly drew the 13th and outside post Wednesday for the Preakness Stakes, drawing a groan from the crowd of invited onlookers inside an air-conditioned tent at Pimlico Race Course." ...

Ken Murray

Vic Ziegel of the New York Daily News writes how Mind That Bird's trainer says the Derby was not a fluke... "Mine That Bird, vanned from Churchill Downs, with Woolley driving all 10 hours, and received a police escort for the last few miles. "The first time I've had the police leading me instead of chasing me," the trainer said. A joke, he told a joke. Who knew he had a punch line in him? Or turn out to be something more than an aw-shucks cowboy who might be capable of delivering a complete sentence." ...

Vic Ziegel

Below is the 2:20 clip of Rachel Alexandra's win at the Kentucky Oaks...

Who would be the posterboy for what is wrong with baseball?

A lot has been going on with baseball over the last few years...the players who were once looked upon as heroes are now considered liars, dirty, cheats, and villans...so this brings up a question, if you had to pick a posterboy of what is wrong with baseball, who would be on that poster?...

Would it be someone like Alex Rodriguez or Barry Bonds...how about Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, or Manny Ramirez...does Jose Canseco fit the bill...and let's not just focus on the "alleged" steroid users...what about Pete Rose...who is the posterboy for what is wrong with baseball...

So take a few minutes to think about it and post your views in the comments section...

Thank you!...

Danny Ozark, former Phillies manager, dies

While going through my week's worth of New York Times, I came across the obit of former Philadelphia Phillies manager Danny Ozark...

As a kid, I remember Ozark always leading the Phillies to the playoffs and losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers...the Phillies had Steve Carlton, Larry Christenson, Randy Lerch on the mound...Greg Luzinski, Bake McBride, Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa, and Garry Maddox patrolled the field for those teams...

This is what was written in the obit...
Danny Ozark, the manager who led the Philadelphia Phillies to three consecutive National League East titles but fell short of the World Series each time, died Thursday at his home in Vero Beach, Fla. He was 85.

His death was announced by team officials.

Ozark, whose streak of three consecutive N.L. East titles in the late 1970s is unmatched in team history, twice led the Phillies to more than 100 victories, with back-to-back 101-61 records in 1976 and 1977. The Phillies went 90-72 under him in 1978 for their third straight division title, but lost again in the National League Championship Series.

Ozark was fired late in the 1979 season as the Phillies stood at 65-67. They went on to finish 84-78 and rebounded under Dallas Green in 1980 to win the World Series.

The Phillies’ current chairman, Bill Giles, said, “His patience with some of the Phillies’ young players in 1973-75, particularly with Mike Schmidt, really paid off as the Phillies got to the postseason in 1976, 1977 and 1978 and eventually won the World Series in 1980 after he left.”

Schmidt, a Hall of Fame third baseman, reached the majors under Ozark’s watch.

Ozark was named Associated Press Manager of the Year in 1976 and finished with a 594-510 record in seven seasons with the Phillies. His 594 wins are the third most in team history.

Ozark is survived by his wife, Ginny, two children and three grandchildren.

Tipping pitches - Mickey Mantle got his

This week Selena Roberts reports in her new book about Alex Rodriguez that A-Rod allegedly tipped pitches to opponents when he played for the Texas Rangers...New York Times reporter Alan Schwarz wrote about the time the Detroit Tigers gave the great Mickey Mantle a tip during the last weeks of his career which resulted in his 535th homer (photo above)... "Mantle apparently didn’t believe Price, but when he saw McLain nodding on the mound, he understood what was going on. “High and tight, mediocre cheese,” Price said Mantle responded." ...

Alan Schwarz

Perry Mason episode inspired possible Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor to be a judge

Here is update on possible Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor...this report came from the Huffington Report:

With the retirement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter, President Obama has a space on the high court to fill. One of the top prospects is Sonia Sotomayor.

A Puerto Rican woman with 16 years of court experience who currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, Sotomayor is a graduate of Yale Law and an editor of the Yale Law Review. She shares a biographical footnote with Souter: they both were appointed by George H. W. Bush -- Sotomayor to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1992. Sotomayor was elevated to the appeals court by President Clinton.

Sotomayor spent five years as a prosecutor with the Manhattan District Attorney before going into private practice as a commercial litigator. During that time she also served on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the New York City Campaign Finance Board, and State of New York Mortgage Agency, where she helped provide mortgage insurance coverage to low-income housing and AIDS hospices.

She left for the U.S. District Court in 1992. At the time, Sotomayor told the New York Times that she was inspired to become a judge by an episode of "Perry Mason."

"I thought, what a wonderful occupation to have," Ms. Sotomayor said. "And I made the quantum leap: If that was the prosecutor's job, then the guy who made the decision to dismiss the case was the judge. That was what I was going to be."

Sotomayor has been considered as a potential Supreme Court Justice by both Republican and Democratic presidents.

Curtis Granderson robs Grady Sizemore of game winning home run

You have to watch this clip of Detroit's Curtis Granderson robbing Cleveland's Grady Sizemore of a game winning two-run home run in the botton of the ninth...the Tigers led 1-0 behind Justin Verlander's outstanding performance on the mound...but in the ninth, with a man on, Verlander gave up a game winning homer to Sizemore, until Granderson saved the day...this may be the play of the year in baseball because of its impact...

Chuck Daly - leader of the Bad Boys dies

Chuck Daly, former head basketball coach of the Detroit Pistons and head coach of the 1992 USA Olympic Basketball team died early Saturday morning...Daly was 78-years-old...

Before hitting it big with the Pistons, Daly had a humble start in coaching...he was a high school basketball coach for seven years at Punxsutawney High School in Pennsylvania before becoming an assistant coach at Duke University...Daly got his first head coaching gig when he took over at Boston College...in 1971 he left BC for the head coaching job at Penn...he led the Quakers to four Ivy League titles and four consecutive 20 win seasons...

In 1978 Daly moved to the NBA as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers...his first NBA head coaching position came in the middle of the 1981-82 season when the coached the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers to a 9-32 mark...he was fired after the season and rejoined the 76ers as a radio broadcaster...

In 1983 the Pistons gave Daly a second shot at an NBA job...in nine seasons with Detroit, Daly led the Pistons to three NBA Finals, winning back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990...the Pistons were known as the Bad Boys with their lockdown, jaw-rattling defense...

In 1992 he coached the original Dream Team as the U.S. marched to a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics...after leaving Detroit, Daly coach for two years at New Jersey and another two years at Orlando before retiring at the end of the 1999 season...

Below are two articles about Daly...

Krista Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press writes about the death of former Pistons head coach Chuck Daly... "Chuck Daly, the Detroit Pistons coach who led the Bad Boys to the back-to-back NBA titles and was nicknamed Daddy Rich for his snappy dressing style, died this morning." ...

Krista Jahnke

Ken Shouler of the Basketball Encyclopedia wrote this tribute about Daly on ESPN.com... "He knew the league's rhythm was upbeat, as NBA teams topped 110 points per game. He also realized that teams shrank the court come playoff time and made half-court skirmishes the norm. "If you have to play that way in the playoffs, why not just do it in the regular season?" he wondered. "Why play one style for 82 games, then change it all around for the playoffs?" ...

Ken Shouler

Why can't men flush the urinal?

Zach over at The Big Picture does a segment called "Grinds My Gears" in which he basically vents about shit that pisses him off...today Stiles Points is going to do some venting...well, it's more like being puzzled by stupid lazy human beings...

- I hate when I go to take a leak at a urinal and find old piss still sitting at the bottom...how hard is it to get the back of your hand and push down the lever to flush your piss down the drain?????...in-fucking-credible...I hate smelling someone's stale piss that may have been sitting there for hours...

- With all this swine flu crap going around, I cannot believe the number of people who do not wash their hands -- especially after using the bathroom...once again, are some people so fucking lazy that they cannot take 20 seconds to put some soap on their hands and scrub them under warm water???...I'm not a germaphobe, like my one friend, but there are hygiene standards that must be followed by all in a civilized society...

- Now that the weather is getting warmer, I hate having to hear every Tom, Dick, and JoJo who drives by with their car stereo thumping and booming and rattling...I don't want to hear your music!!!...do these people think it cool to be driving around with their car rattling...well it's not!!!...

- I have no problem with motorcycles...I do have a problem with people who rev up their motorcycle which makes that stomach-ripping noise that takes time off your life...what is it with cyclists who sit at a stop sign or red light and rev up their engine???...does this provide some type of sexual stimulation for them???...does it make them more of a man because their motorcycle makes more noise???...

Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court

Sorry I haven't blogged in a couple of days but my work has taken me away...Stiles Points returns today, but not with a sports related issue...instead the topic deals with Barack Obama's nominee to replace Justice David Souter (photo, left) on the Supreme Court...

I have a penchant for following the make-up of the Supreme Court since my master's thesis dealt with this judicial body...talk has been rampant that Obama will select a woman as Souter's replacement...currently, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg is the only woman on the high court...

Through all my studies, I personally believe the Supreme Court should be comprised of men and women of various races and creeds - not that of a select few...but that has never happened...as president, Obama will more than likely have the rare opportunity in selecting three new Justices on the Supreme Court...it is assumed that Ginsberg will soon be retiring and Justice John Paul Stevens is in his late 80s...

With this opportunity, Obama can be the first president to have a truly diverse Supreme Court...historically, white males has been the choice...there has been two black males and two white women...the time has come to expand...

Obama needs to select a Hispanic person for this post...many don't realize the Hispanic population is this country's largest minority, even more than African-Americans...that is why he should nominate Sonia Sotomayor, Justice, U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit...

Sotomayor grew up in a Bronx housing development...she was diagnosed with diabetes at age 8...she earned her A.B. from Princeton University in 1976, where she won the Pyne Prize, the highest general award given to Princeton undergraduates...she then obtained her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979, where she was an editor of the Yale Law Journal...Sotomayor should win over conservatives as she once worked to "put away the bad guys" as New York County Assistant District Attorney...

At this time the Supreme Court needs another female perspective...and it needs another "minority" other than African-American...Sotomayor more than fits this bill and should breeze through the process...

In the future, Obama must consider nominating an Asian-American and a Native-American...but that is for another day...

The greatest two words in sports - GAME SEVEN

There is nothing better in sports than these two words -- GAME SEVEN...

Tonight the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics lock up for Game 7 in one of the classic series in NBA history...if this game goes down to the last possession, it could be deemed the greatest series of all-time...you knew this could have the makings of a great series when Kevin Garnett yelled to the Chicago Bulls after the Celtics Game 2 victory - "Take that Mother Fuckers!!!"...it was on!!!!...great series must have passion, fighting, verbally jawing, technical fouls, flagrant fouls, buzzer beaters, overtime...and for the first six games, this series has every one of those key ingredients...

Below are links about today's game...sit back and enjoy the game at 8:00 p.m. on TNT...and my prediction -- Bulls win by 2 points...

Chicago Bulls Game Notes

Boston Celtics Game Notes

Sam Smith of Bulls.com writes this is the greatest series of all-time... "With seven overtime periods in the six games, this is heading to the first eight-game playoff in NBA history. Stop asking. There never has been anything like this. No NBA playoff series has ever seen more than four overtime periods, and the last one to have that many was 52 years ago. No NBA playoff series has had more than two overtime games. Nothing, really, even comes close to this." ...

Sam Smith

Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes how the mid-season acquisition of two players have made the Bulls a different team... "An argument can be made for the Feb. 19 trade with Sacramento that brought John Salmons and Brad Miller to the Bulls on the league's deal-day deadline. Those two have been instrumental in the team's run from postseason also-ran to the Eastern Conference's seventh seed." ...

Brian Hanley

Marc Spears of the Boston Globe writes that KG will not play tonight... "Team president Danny Ainge said yesterday via text message there are no plans for Garnett to play until next season." ...

Marc Spears

Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune writes about the excitement in Chicago surrounding Game 7... "And now the battle goes back to Boston on Saturday for Game 7 to settle things once and for all. Presumably. But if this series were grammar, it would be a run-on sentence. If it were math, it would be pi to the millionth digit. If it were gym class -- wait, it is gym class. It's a whole glorious day of gym class." ...

Rick Morrissey

Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe writes how both teams are evenly matched going into Game 7... "In any case, this is the most even matchup in NBA playoff history, illustrated by the seven overtime sessions going into tonight's Game 7 at the Garden." ...

Frank Dell'Apa

Major Harris of West Virginia gets his due as he will be inducted into College Football Hall of Fame

The College Football Hall of Fame announced today the 18 former players and coaches who will be inducted this summer...the one name that stood out to me was former West Virginia quarterback Major Harris...before Michael Vick and Vince Young there was Major Harris...Harris was a dual threat who could beat a team with his running and passing...

Harris was a 1986 graduate of Brashear High School in Pittsburgh...was a former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Athlete of the Year, starring in football and basketball...

While at West Virginia, as a sophomore, he led the Mountaineers to a perfect regular season and to the 1988 Fiesta Bowl to take on 11-0 Notre Dame...twice he finished in the top five in Heisman Trophy voting and became the first player in NCAA history to rush for 2,000 yards and throw for 5,000 in a career...

After 20 years, The Major is finally getting his due...

2009 Kentucky Derby

The field, from the rail out, is:
West Side Bernie (30-1)
Musket Man (20-1)
Mr. Hot Stuff (30-1)
Advice (30-1)
Hold Me Back (15-1)
Friesan Fire (5-1)
Papa Clem (20-1)
Mine That Bird (50-1)
Join in the Dance (50-1)
Regal Ransom (30-1)
Chocolate Candy (20-1)
General Quarters (20-1)
I Want Revenge (3-1)
Atomic Rain (50-1)
Dunkirk (4-1)
Pioneerof the Nile (4-1)
Summer Bird (50-1)
Nowhere to Hide (50-1)
Desert Party (15-1)
Flying Private (50-1)

Joe Girardi - who will replace him when he gets fired

It's just a matter of time before New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi gets canned...and the way the Yankees have been playing since Opening Day, he deserves to go...that was pathetic shit this past weekend at Fenway Park...a disgrace!!!...

Girardi obviously is a baseball person who has a heckuva lot more knowledged about the game than me...but it seems that he cannot get this team to live up to their talents...the Yankees don't have any fire up their ass...

So with that being said, the clock is ticking on Girardi...since Billy Martin has been dead for the last 20 years and Joe Torre out west, let's look over, in no particular order, the list of some possible replacements... (those who are currently serving on a Major League coaching staff are listed as replacements after the season concludes)

Don Mattingly - Mattingly (photo, right) was the runner-up to replace Torre...Mattingly is Yankees Baseball...he epitomizes everything that is good with the game of baseball...he is currently the L.A. Dodgers hitting coach and it just kills me to see him in any other uniform but the Pinstripes...the knock of Mattingly is that he has no managerial experience...

Tony Pena - Pena is currently serving as Girardi's bench coach...he has managerial experience with the Kansas City Royals - which basically explains why he is now a bench coach and not a manager...but remember, Torre was considered a failure as a manager when he first took over in the Bronx...I'm not sure how the team responds to Pena...

Bobby Valentine - even though he does not call the shots anymore, The Boss was always intrigued by Bobby V...he would surely change the atmosphere in the clubhouse...Bobby V is over in Japan, but I have read that he would like to manage one more time in the Majors - but in the right situation...he loves the attention and the limelight of New York...

Willie Randolph - he is another favorite of The Boss...Randolph is the Brewers bench coach...he has managerial experience and is a well-known commodity within the current Yankees team...Randolph was canned last year by the Mets at mid-season...the Yanks would love nothing more than to bring him back to the Big Apple and have him stick it to their cross-town rivals by winning a World Series...

Davey Johnson - Johnson (photo) has been out the Major League managerial game for quite awhile...he served as the U.S. Olympic and World Baseball manager...he is a proven winner...and if Jack McKeon can win a World Series in his 70s, who's to say that Johnson can't get back in the saddle at a much younger age?...

Buck Showalter - Torre gets all the credit for the Yankees turnaround, and rightfully so...but people forget that Buck was the one who brought the Yanks back to respectability...the Yanks had the best record in baseball in the strike shortened season and he led them to the playoffs in 1995...he understands the Yankees way of doing things...

Dave Miley - Miley is the manager of the Yankees Triple A farm club in Scranton-Wilkes Barre...the Yanks have called up a minor league manager before in Stump Merrill...highly doubtful that he gets the job, but at least I thought his name should be tossed in the mix...

Paul O'Neill - this is a guy who would have the fire...I'm not sure if he wants to manage...he has zero managerial and coaching experience...however, it is a name that should not be forgotten for the future...O'Neill as manager and David Cone at pitching coach...that would be my pick for 5 years from now...

NBA Coach of the Year facts

Last week Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown received the Coach of the Year award in the NBA...here are some interesting facts about the annual award...

- Pat Riley (photo) is the only coach to receive the award three times...interestingly, each time he won the award, he was a head coach for a different team: Lakers (1989-90), Knicks (1992-92); Heat (1996-97)...

- Hubie Brown has the record for longest stretch between winning awards...Brown won his first award in 1977-78 as head coach of the Hawks...26 years later (2003-04), he won it again as coach of the Grizzlies...

- Gene Shue is second for the longest stretch between awards...in 1968-69 Shue won it as head coach of Baltimore...13 years later he received it as coach of Washington...

- Incredibly, these coaches never won the award: Jerry Sloan, Billy Cunningham, Jack Ramsey, Chuck Daly, Rudy Tomjanovich, K.C. Jones...

- Also, these coaches only won the award one time: Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach, Gregg Popovich, Red Holzman, Lenny Wilkens, Larry Brown...

- Harry Gallatin of the St. Louis Hawks won the first award in 1962-62...

- Larry Bird is the only person to win Coach of the Year and league MVP...

Happy Birthday Jessica Alba

HAPPY 28th BIRTHDAY TO JESSICA ALBA!!!!

Pittsburgh Pirates off to a winning mark in April

First off, let's set the record straight...I am a New York Yankees fan and always will be...however, if the Bronx Bombers don't win the World Series this year, which I don't think they will, there are three teams that I hope can at least pull off what the Tampa Rays did last year...well, maybe that it too much to ask, but at least if these teams can have a winning record - Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, and Baltimore Orioles...

When I was a kid, way back in the late 1970s, these three teams were always in the playoffs and at the very least, in playoff contention going into the last few weeks of the season...

These are three franchises that have a wonderful rich history...but for the last 10 plus years, they have wallowed in the basement of their division after poor management decisions, poor drafts, injuries, and the inability to sign their best players to long-term deals...

Pittsburgh Pirates - I will go on record right now and openly admit that I am rooting for the Pirates...in fact I went out and bought a Pirates ballcap and a Roberto Clemente t-shirt...the Pirates were fierce competitors back in the day...and I am talking pre-Bonds...here was their lineup: 1st base - Pops Stargell; 2nd base - Scraps Garner; 3rd base - Mad-dog Madlock; short - Tim Foli; catcher - Ed Ott/Steve Nicosia; left - Bill Robinson; center - Omar Moreno; right - The Cobra, Dave Parker...and they were led by a good manager and a good person, Chuck Tanner...at the right is the team logo during the We are Family era...as of today, the Pirates are off to a good start as they stand at 11-7...

Kansas City Royals - the Royals annually won the A.L. West with Whitey Herzog as manager...they had a team of 1st base - John Mayberry; 2nd base - Frank White; 3rd base - George Brett; short - Freddie Patek; catcher - Darrell Porter; left - Willie Wilson; center - A.O., Amos Otis; right - Al Cowens; dh - Hal McRae...

Baltimore Orioles - Earl Weaver's team always just missed out of the playoffs in the late 1970s...but in 1979, the took the East and eliminated the Angels to win the A.L. Pennant before blowing a 3-1 lead to the Pirates in the World Series...back then they wore their orange Sunday Special jerseys at home at Memorial Stadium...Weaver would have his tomato plants growing in the bullpen...this was before Cal Ripken was playing...Mark Belanger manned the shortstop position and Eddie Murray was just a young buck...

So maybe the baseball Gods will look down on these franchises and give them a winning season because their fans sure deserve it...

Fucking incredible - the Yankees pitching sucks ass

The Yankees unloaded a ton of money this off-season on pitching...and on Saturday, the pitching could not hold a 6-0 going into the bottom of the fourth at Fenway...in the end, Jason Varitek hit a grand slam, Mike Lowell a 3-run homer and the Yanks lost 16-11...fucking incredible!!!

Detroit Lions begin new era

Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press writes about the newest leader of the Lions... "Who knows anything about the future of a 21-year-old — especially in the most complicated and demanding position in professional sports? Maybe he’ll be great. Maybe he won’t. Anyone who tells you more is blowing smoke. But here are a few things that are undeniable." ...

Mitch Albom

Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press writes about the Lions second first round pick... "Pettigrew becomes part of the Lions' youth movement on offense, joining quarterback Matthew Stafford, receiver Calvin Johnson and running back Kevin Smith." ...

Carlos Monarrez

Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press writes how Lou Delmas knows first hand about the Lions... "But unlike a lot of players who have little knowledge of the teams they are joining, Delmas followed the Lions' 0-16 season closely." ...

Carlos Monarrez

Nick Cotsonika of the Detroit Free Press writes how he scratched his head on the Lions second first round pick... "The Lions said they couldn't afford to pass up talent for need, and you can say they stuck to that by taking Pettigrew." ...

Nick Cotsonika