According to this NPR interview with actress Beth Broderick, times are hard for Hollywood's working class actors. It seems the combination of bad ecomomic times, the explosion of reality television shows, and last year's writers' strike have caused the actress' annual income to decrease from a range of $300,000 to $500,000 per year down to $70,000 per year. During the interview Broderick says "Nobody wants to sit where I'm sitting and say, 'Hey, this is the reality. I did two movies, six guest-star spots and I starred in a one-woman show, and I'm not making any money. I'm on TV every day in every country in the world, and I don't make any money.' "
Meanwhile here on the East Coast, former Washington National Matt LeCroy has started a new career as minor league manager in the Nationals farm system. This recent Washington Times piece talks about LeCroy's new career and, of course, tells about the Nationals game in 2006 when the Astros stole seven bases in six innings while LeCroy was playing catcher. Then Nationals manager Frank Robinson pulled LeCroy from the game and then was brought to tears while talking about it in his post-game press conference. To me, that was Robinson's second finest moment during his tenure here in Washington. The first was the incident discussed in this previous Shedd's Spot post.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
What Do Borat and Lance Armstrong Have In Common?
This time every year while the baseball season is grinding toward the July 31 trade deadline and a lot of sports fans start getting impatient for NFL training camps to open, an international sporting event is going on in France (and Spain and Italy). That event, of course, is the Tour de France. I'd venture to say most casual sports fans know Lance Armstrong has come out of retirement and is in search of his eigth Tour de France title. But, beyond that, I think very few Americans know very much about the Tour or anything or anyone having to do with it.
Believe me, I'm no expert and there are a lot of things about team bike racing I have no clue about. But, a couple of things have caught my attention while dropping in on the Tour replay shows each night on Versus. The first is that this sports is pretty damn dangerous. There have been a few multi-rider pile ups in this year's Tour that have led to some riders leaving the Tour with injuries. Maybe the most notable was Armstrong's teammate, Levi Leipheimer, leaving with a broken wrist he suffered during a crash in stage 13. But, the most horrifying crash this year was a single rider crash in yesterday's 16th stage. Jens Voight apparently hit a bump while descending down a mountain at a speed somewhere between 40 and 50 MPH. Obviously, Voight was hospitalized after the crash.
Another item I found interesting is that the team that is considered the best, Team Astana, has been teetering on bankruptcy all through 2009. At one point earlier this year, the team's riders hadn't been paid in two months and cycling's governing body threatened to strip the team of its comptetive license unless the riders' pay was brought up to date. (And you thought the mothers of Elijah Dukes' children had a rough time of it collecting child support!) What makes this surprising is that Lance Armstrong is a member of Team Astana. Armstrong agreed to not take a salary when he joined the team, but that is not the case for the team's other riders, which include the aforementioned Leipheimer and current Tour leader Alberto Contador.
About this time, you're probably starting to wonder how a cycling "super" team can be in trouble financially. The answer is Team Astana's primary sponsor is the Astana Group, a collection of state owned businesses located in Kazakhstan. Yes Kazakhstan, native land of Sacha Baron Cohen's fictional character Borat. Although Borat may have made millions for Cohen, the real citizens of Kazakhstan and the country's businesses are stuck in a financial funk. And the funk is filtering down to Team Astana. The financial feasibility of the team is in question past the conclusion of this year's Tour de France, despite the fact Contador is all but a lock to win the Tour.
Earlier today Armstrong announced he has arranged sponsorship for the 2010 cycling season which will allow him to ride in next year's Tour, but no details were given. Maybe if we're lucky he'll ride for Team Borat...or maybe Team Bruno.
Believe me, I'm no expert and there are a lot of things about team bike racing I have no clue about. But, a couple of things have caught my attention while dropping in on the Tour replay shows each night on Versus. The first is that this sports is pretty damn dangerous. There have been a few multi-rider pile ups in this year's Tour that have led to some riders leaving the Tour with injuries. Maybe the most notable was Armstrong's teammate, Levi Leipheimer, leaving with a broken wrist he suffered during a crash in stage 13. But, the most horrifying crash this year was a single rider crash in yesterday's 16th stage. Jens Voight apparently hit a bump while descending down a mountain at a speed somewhere between 40 and 50 MPH. Obviously, Voight was hospitalized after the crash.
Another item I found interesting is that the team that is considered the best, Team Astana, has been teetering on bankruptcy all through 2009. At one point earlier this year, the team's riders hadn't been paid in two months and cycling's governing body threatened to strip the team of its comptetive license unless the riders' pay was brought up to date. (And you thought the mothers of Elijah Dukes' children had a rough time of it collecting child support!) What makes this surprising is that Lance Armstrong is a member of Team Astana. Armstrong agreed to not take a salary when he joined the team, but that is not the case for the team's other riders, which include the aforementioned Leipheimer and current Tour leader Alberto Contador.
About this time, you're probably starting to wonder how a cycling "super" team can be in trouble financially. The answer is Team Astana's primary sponsor is the Astana Group, a collection of state owned businesses located in Kazakhstan. Yes Kazakhstan, native land of Sacha Baron Cohen's fictional character Borat. Although Borat may have made millions for Cohen, the real citizens of Kazakhstan and the country's businesses are stuck in a financial funk. And the funk is filtering down to Team Astana. The financial feasibility of the team is in question past the conclusion of this year's Tour de France, despite the fact Contador is all but a lock to win the Tour.
Earlier today Armstrong announced he has arranged sponsorship for the 2010 cycling season which will allow him to ride in next year's Tour, but no details were given. Maybe if we're lucky he'll ride for Team Borat...or maybe Team Bruno.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Friday Frolics, Volume 21: Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Tomorrow, July 18th, would have been Screamin' Jay Hawkins 80th birthday. (He passed away in 2000). I really was hoping to include a performance of his classic "Constipation Blues" here, but the one available on Youtube was kind of boring. So instead, you get this performance of "I Put A Spell on You" from Hawkins' 1994 appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Midweek Time Killers: Baseball Old and New
The latest issue of Sports Illsutrated has this profile of legendary Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver. The piece readily references the two classic (and obscenity laiden) Earl Weaver clips that are posted for posterity on YouTube and that have been featured here on Shedd's Spot, the Manager's Corner radio program and Weaver's 1980 argument with an umpire at Memorial Stadium. But more importantly, the piece describes how Weaver was a forerunner in using statistical analysis to judge player performance and match ups.
The same Sports Illustrated issue also features a couple of other profiles most old time Orioles fans may want to skip, a story on the 1969 Miracle Mets and a "where are they now" piece on former Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Kent Tekulve.
Meanwhile, today's Harrisonburg Daily News Record includes this article on the first ever meeting between the Cal Ripken, Sr. League and Valley League All Stars. Both leagues are summer leagues for college baseball players. The Ripken League operates teams in and around Baltimore and Washington, D.C. while the Valley League operates teams in the northern half of the Shenandoah Valley. The game ended shortly before I began writing this post with the Ripken League winning 2-1.
And, if you haven't had enough baseball and Earl Weaver, you should be able to hear the Rhodes Tavern Troubadours musical tribute to Earl Weaver here.
The same Sports Illustrated issue also features a couple of other profiles most old time Orioles fans may want to skip, a story on the 1969 Miracle Mets and a "where are they now" piece on former Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Kent Tekulve.
Meanwhile, today's Harrisonburg Daily News Record includes this article on the first ever meeting between the Cal Ripken, Sr. League and Valley League All Stars. Both leagues are summer leagues for college baseball players. The Ripken League operates teams in and around Baltimore and Washington, D.C. while the Valley League operates teams in the northern half of the Shenandoah Valley. The game ended shortly before I began writing this post with the Ripken League winning 2-1.
And, if you haven't had enough baseball and Earl Weaver, you should be able to hear the Rhodes Tavern Troubadours musical tribute to Earl Weaver here.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Quickies
Both of the items in this week's belated Quickies post are relatated to HBO. HBO recently launched the website Comedy Fetish where fans can watch clips from their favorite HBO comedy series. I watched a few clips from my favorite HBO comedy series, Entourage and East Bound & Down, only to be disappointed that the clips included are the more tame ones and, guess what, have all the foul language blanked out. If you dig deeper, you'll see the site is nothing more than a marketing ploy to sell DVDs thru Barne & Noble and downloads thru iTunes.
If you'll remember back a couple of years, HBO's Real Sports ran a story on the financial wizardry of form baseball player Lenny Dykstra. Then, earlier this year, Real Sports ran a follow up story on how Dykstra's financial empire was crumbling around him. Last week, Dykstra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Here's The Philadelphia Inquirer story. But, this recent CNBC interview with Dykstra is far more entertaining.
If you'll remember back a couple of years, HBO's Real Sports ran a story on the financial wizardry of form baseball player Lenny Dykstra. Then, earlier this year, Real Sports ran a follow up story on how Dykstra's financial empire was crumbling around him. Last week, Dykstra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Here's The Philadelphia Inquirer story. But, this recent CNBC interview with Dykstra is far more entertaining.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Friday Frolics, Volume 20: Furry Fetish
In honor of the new season of Entourage beginning this coming Sunday, here's a classic Johnny Drama scene.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Midweek Time Killers...Serena and The Fat Man
I'm beginning to think I should just turn over the Midweek Time Killers series of posts to "J.D" in Richmond. He seems to be turning me on to more and more of the reading material included here. Monday, "J.D." sent me an email with info on this column by Jason Whitlock which takes several shots at Serena Williams, despite her recent Wimbledon win. I'm not going to comment any further on the column. But, I am going to include a few links to other blogs and columns where the writers throw their two cents in on Whitlock's column. There is this blog from The Pitch-Kansas City that also has a great picture of Whitlock with some "entertainers". The Retort has this and there is piece is entitled "Fat Man Calls Serena Williams Overweight…F*cking Hypocrite!". I do think the title of the aforementioned "Fat Man..." piece holds some merit because Whitlock is shaped a lot like another man who is somewhat associated with Kansas City, Jimmy Rushing (pictured below), long time lead singer with the Count Basie Orchestra. And, oh yeah, Rushing's nickname was Mr. Five by Five. Hmmm...maybe Whitlock could adopt the name?
And finally, if you haven't had enough of Jason Whitlock, there is this 2006 interview with The Big Lead, which was conducted not too long after Whitlock's departure from ESPN's Page 2.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The Politically Incorrect Nationals Report
Yesterday's Washington Times sports page included Mark Zuckerman's weekly Nationals Report. The lead item in the report was Shawn Hill, the talented but often injured starting pitcher the Nationals released during spring training, and his recent Tommy John surgery. As Zuckerman commented, many fans were upset about Hill's release and I readily admit I was one of them. But obviously, Nationals acting GM Mike Rizzo made the right call on Hill.
After the item on Hill, Zuckerman went on to write about minor league pitcher J.D. Martin, who is putting together a fine season at AAA Syracuse, before moving onto some poor attempts at humor. One of those attempts happened to involve Adam Dunn's 300th career HR, which he hit Saturday. I had the pleasure of seeing the homer sail over my head in right field Saturday and be caught a fan further back in the upper deck. That fan happened to be William Sanders, a U.S. Army colonel, who just happens to be African-American. Sanders returned the ball to Dunn after the game and Dunn gave Sanders an autographed jersey and autographed balls in return. Of course, Zuckerman reports, in his attempt at humor, that Colonel Sanders "exchanged it for a bucket of chicken". I guess Zuckerman didn't actually see Sanders in person or see a picture of the colonel, but who knows. And, I have to think the sports editor at the Times wasn't paying much attention either. I guess that's what happens when a last place baseball team is being covered by a major city's second rate newspaper.
(As a footnote, I'll point out I love politically incorrect humor and do not want to sound hypocritical. Obviously, I've made several attempts at politically incorrect humor here on Shedd's Spot. But in my opninion, there is really no place for it in what is supposed to be a legitimate newspaper's reporting on sports or the news.)
After the item on Hill, Zuckerman went on to write about minor league pitcher J.D. Martin, who is putting together a fine season at AAA Syracuse, before moving onto some poor attempts at humor. One of those attempts happened to involve Adam Dunn's 300th career HR, which he hit Saturday. I had the pleasure of seeing the homer sail over my head in right field Saturday and be caught a fan further back in the upper deck. That fan happened to be William Sanders, a U.S. Army colonel, who just happens to be African-American. Sanders returned the ball to Dunn after the game and Dunn gave Sanders an autographed jersey and autographed balls in return. Of course, Zuckerman reports, in his attempt at humor, that Colonel Sanders "exchanged it for a bucket of chicken". I guess Zuckerman didn't actually see Sanders in person or see a picture of the colonel, but who knows. And, I have to think the sports editor at the Times wasn't paying much attention either. I guess that's what happens when a last place baseball team is being covered by a major city's second rate newspaper.
(As a footnote, I'll point out I love politically incorrect humor and do not want to sound hypocritical. Obviously, I've made several attempts at politically incorrect humor here on Shedd's Spot. But in my opninion, there is really no place for it in what is supposed to be a legitimate newspaper's reporting on sports or the news.)
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Friday Frolics and Quickies All in One...Bikinis
The holiday weekend slowed things to a craw here at Shedd's Spot. Two baseball games and a lot of beer don't lend a lot of time for blogging.
According to Wikipedia, today (July 5th) marks the 63rd anniversary of the modern bikini. Of course, the modern two piece bathing suit known as the bikini was named after the Bikini Atoll, which was the site of U.S. nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958. An interesting aside here is that I once worked for a CPA firm that did the accounting for the the trust fund which managed the funds alotted to the Bikini natives by the U.S. government many years after the nuclear tests.
And staying on the subject of the bikini, I found it a little disturbing that so many women had the need to post videos on YouTube of their facial reactions during their first bikni waxing. Check it out for yourself.
Although she's not in a bikini, I don't think there are too many men in my age group who don't vividly remember this photo of Cheryl Tiegs from the 1978 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
Ending this post with the past due frolic, here is a related Bud Light commercial from a few years back.
According to Wikipedia, today (July 5th) marks the 63rd anniversary of the modern bikini. Of course, the modern two piece bathing suit known as the bikini was named after the Bikini Atoll, which was the site of U.S. nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958. An interesting aside here is that I once worked for a CPA firm that did the accounting for the the trust fund which managed the funds alotted to the Bikini natives by the U.S. government many years after the nuclear tests.
And staying on the subject of the bikini, I found it a little disturbing that so many women had the need to post videos on YouTube of their facial reactions during their first bikni waxing. Check it out for yourself.
Although she's not in a bikini, I don't think there are too many men in my age group who don't vividly remember this photo of Cheryl Tiegs from the 1978 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
Ending this post with the past due frolic, here is a related Bud Light commercial from a few years back.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Midweek Time Killers...Stupid and Serious Sports Stuff
Many D.C. area residents have probably heard about the awkward in game interview Senator John Kerry gave MASN's Debbi Taylor during one of the Red Sox-Nationals games at Nationals Park last week. I was at the game, so I didn't have the...uh....pleasure of seeing it, but the bulk of it can be read in this D.C. Sports Bog entry. If you dig a little deeper, it's easy to find more examples of Senator Kerry's stiffness and general lack of knowledge when it comes to sports. This Boston Herald column discusses a few of them.
A few weeks after being let go from Dan Snyder owned WTEM radio, Brian Mitchell speaks out about it to USA Today here. (I think it's time Mitchell and ol' CP, Clinton Portis, have it out in a celebrity boxing match. I know a certain fledgling charity in Arlington that would love to sponsor the match and collect the proceeds.) According to this Washington Post piece from a couple of weeks back, the managment of WJFK is planning a jump into full time sports radio. Maybe Mitchell can catch on there.
For a little lighter fare, that is not stupid, check out this WRC-TV website page which features Sonny Jurgensen's 1994 interview with Sammy Baugh.
And finally, "J.D." forwarded me this Jason Whitlock column about the recent HBO Real Sports piece on Jim Brown and Bill Russell. Seeing that Tiger Woods is in town for the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club, it seems appropriate to post a link to the column because part of the column discusses Jim Brown's feelings toward Tiger Woods. That happens, of course, after Whitlock talks about his fascination with strip clubs. Who else would write "Jesus walked with prostitutes. Jason walks with strippers."?
A few weeks after being let go from Dan Snyder owned WTEM radio, Brian Mitchell speaks out about it to USA Today here. (I think it's time Mitchell and ol' CP, Clinton Portis, have it out in a celebrity boxing match. I know a certain fledgling charity in Arlington that would love to sponsor the match and collect the proceeds.) According to this Washington Post piece from a couple of weeks back, the managment of WJFK is planning a jump into full time sports radio. Maybe Mitchell can catch on there.
For a little lighter fare, that is not stupid, check out this WRC-TV website page which features Sonny Jurgensen's 1994 interview with Sammy Baugh.
And finally, "J.D." forwarded me this Jason Whitlock column about the recent HBO Real Sports piece on Jim Brown and Bill Russell. Seeing that Tiger Woods is in town for the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club, it seems appropriate to post a link to the column because part of the column discusses Jim Brown's feelings toward Tiger Woods. That happens, of course, after Whitlock talks about his fascination with strip clubs. Who else would write "Jesus walked with prostitutes. Jason walks with strippers."?
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