Author: fartheroffthewall

The final four in the quest for global kickball domination comes down to this pre-set schedule: France vs. Belgium (Tuesday, 11 a.m.) and England vs. Croatia (Wednesday, 11 a.m.), either on Channel 11 Fox or Telemundo (we recommend the later). France and England are favored to win and advance to the final (Sunday, 8 a.m.) But then again Brazil was the heavy 9-to-4 favorite once the quarterfinals started. England, which hasn’t been this deep in the event since 1990, has the “It’s Coming Home” mantra to rally behind. Harry Kane is supposed to be in line to win the Golden Boot with six goals, and goalie Jordan Pickford is making a strong case for the Golden Glove after a strong performance against Sweden. But then, there’s Croatia. Croatia? Yup …

Continue reading “07.09.18: Five things you should plan for the week ahead based on unscientific evidence of guaranteed importance” →

This is where we witness, as Scott Cacciola wrote recently in the New York Times, a moment where “one person grabs hold of the collective psyche of fans, team officials and even civic leaders (to become) single-handedly in control of their fortunes.”
When does the parade up Chick Hearn Court begin again for LeBron James?
The announcement by his agency on Sunday afternoon that the 33-year-old intends to sign as a free agent with the Lakers on a four-year, $154 million deal — it will become official Friday — comes days after he turned down the chance to sign a five-year, $207 million deal to stay in Cleveland. Even though we’ve been told Paul George agreed to stay in Oklahoma City on a four-year, $137 million, that’s not really official yet, either.
Could he now change his mind?
Even though we’ve also been alerted to news that Chris Paul has agreed to a four-year, $160 million deal to stay with Houston, that’s not official either.
Could he now change his mind?
There’s also the deal announced that DeAndre Jordan has exercised his option to leave the Clippers and will agree to a one-year, $24 million deal in Dallas, his hometown, the Clippers believe as much that he’s gone and have already wished him well.
Could he now change his mind? He already did that once and stayed with the Clippers.
The point is: Things can still change between now and the end of the week. Even so much as: Will James change from No. 6 to No. 23 in yellow and purple?

Continue reading “07.02.18: Five things you should plan for the week ahead based on unscientific evidence of guaranteed importance” →

Jim Rome bravely broke the news to his TV viewers and radio listeners about 20 minutes into Monday’s episode.

“The late, great Thomas Earl Petty was fond of saying, ‘The waiting is the hardest part’,” But today the wait is officially over. Because today the results for the National Radio Hall of Fame vote are in. We first started talking about this six weeks ago when I announced at that time I was honored and humbled to be nominated for the Hall of Fame. So we ramped up. In fact, we all ramped up together. We spread the word together. We campaigned together. We voted together. We went to battle together. And then we waited for the results together.”

At this point, the lead is all but buried, but you can see where this is going.

“So right now, today, together, we take a dignified loss. And we do so together. It did not happen, clones. We fought hard. We gave it everything we had. There simply is nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to not hold up your head about. I saw the effort put forth. I saw how much you all wanted it for me and the program. You could not have done any more.”

Apparently, they could have, but …

Instead, in the awkwardly named category of  Spoken Word Format On-Air Personality,” Westwood One syndicated conservative talker Mark Levine came out as the winner. Joe Madison of SiriusXM and George Norry of Coast to Coast AM were also runners up.

A better Tom Petty reference at this point should be: Don’t do me like that.

A story on this National Radio Hall of Fame website notes that a “record-breaking half million-plus votes” were cast in the two public-elected categories. In another story, it notes there was “huge public campaign that Levin ran and his supporters in conservative circles.”

We gotta be amplified on this one: Rome was in the wrong category at the wrong time.

Incredible. Make that, ridiculous. Continue reading “Sports media notes version 06.27.18: Rome isn’t Radio Hall worthy, but Mike & Mike are? It’s categorically tone deaf” →

Any story right now that includes “LeBron James” and “Lakers” in it produces the click-bait you’d expect. Especially when they resort to picking out all the billboards around L.A. that seem to believe they can talk something into existence. The NBA’s free-agent period opens Saturday at 9 p.m., which is when Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka are on the clock.
James’ latest “decision” is expected come via his own media platform, Uninterrupted, after he did so via an ESPN TV special (2010) and then a Sports Illustrated story (2014). ESPN’s Brian Windhorst believes this announcement will come before July 4; others insist it will be July 6. Read it and weep.

Continue reading “06.25.18: Five things you should plan for the week ahead based on unscientific evidence of guaranteed importance” →