STILL HATING

I've been a Knicks fan since 1967. They had the 6th pick in the draft and took some guy named Danilo Gallinari. I'm not happy. Really wish they'd gone with Jerryd Bayless of Arizona. Actually I wish they'd have had the opportunity to select Kevin Love but those knuckleads from Memphs plucked him with the #5! Whoever gets Bayless from this point forward is getting one of the top 5 guys overall!

OF TRACK & FIELD

Having worked in Eugene radio for the better part of 15 years I obviously have no pride. Thus, I use prized Olympic Track & Field Trials tickets to get you to come here and pile up the blog hits in hopes of securing some seats. I have a pair of tickets along with hospitality passes for this coming Friday plus a pair of tickets, hospitality passes and a parking pass for the Friday Fourth of July session. You'll have to e-mail me the correct answer to the following question & I'll announce the winners of the drawing for the opening day tix after the first break tomorrow(1:20pm) and during the final break for the 4th(2:45).
Since Carl Lewis won his final 100 meter gold medal, 4 men have claimed the crown. Name them and the country whose flag they represented. Send your answer to
steve@1320thescore.com
Correct answers will get you in tomorrow's drawing. Good luck!

THANKS FOR THE LAUGHS GEORGE

The passing of George Carlin at age 71 certainly struck a chord with me as another of my favorite boyhood entertainers is gone. No question my sense of humor was formed mostly by he, Rodney Dangerfield & Richard Pryor. Pryor's "Here and Now" stand up video, I believe originally aired on HBO and is the funniest thing I've ever seen. Carlin's 1971 masterpiece "AM/FM" is the most brilliant stand up I've ever heard. Pryor passed away in December of 2005, Dangerfield in 2004. Rodney's "No Respect" album is also in my top 5 along with Dennis Leary's "No Cure for Cancer" and the classic Bill Cosby releases "Why is their Air" and "To Russel My Brother, With Whom I Slept". Carlin may have shocked many with his use of curse words, but the nature of his presentation was what allowed many parents to allow their kids(like me) to listen. It was not for the typical, uptight, hypocritical phony who was scared of words. You might be surprised to know that Bill Cosby is just 2 months older than Carlin.
I like to think my on air personality is comfortable, conversational and natural rather than a forced character. Listening to Carlin, memorizing his routines, then doing them in front of friends absolutely helped develop that. No question that with his passing the world is a little less aware, and certainly less humorous. He will be missed.

IN DEFENSE OF TIGER

Tiger Woods victory in the US Open will stand among the more legendary because of the setting and his worthy opponent, Rocco Mediate. Mediate had come up light in his 42 previous attempts at winning a major and was ranked 158th in the world. My issue, is now that Tiger has 14 major titles, and is just 4 short of the previously unthinkable total of 18 that Jack Nicklaus piled up is how adamant each side can be. Here's my two cents as to the greatest player ever debate. It's undecided but the conversation involves only these two. I'm the biggest Jack fan ever, but during his reign there were maybe a dozen or so players capable of beating him in either Open, the Masters or PGA. Yes, they were Hall of Famers like Arnie, Casper or Gary Player. The current fields are so cutthroat that a guy who barely qualified is so freaking talented he can win!
I don't like taking sides in this fight because the case for each is staggering but those who sell short today's field don't get it. Jack faced a small group of masterful players when it was rare to come out of nowhere to win a major. In recent memory, aside from Phil Mickelson and Woods, no names like Rich Beem, Shaun Micheel, Zach Johnson, Trevor Immelman, Ben Curtis, Todd Hamilton, Angel Cabrera, and Michael Campbell have won majors, all since 2002.
Take a similar period for Nicklaus as he became the guy to beat and moved into his early 30's. The only real no-name winners of a major would be Orville Moody, 68 Masters Champ Bob Goalby who did have 11 PGA Tour victories, and Robert DiVicenzo. Actually DiVicenzo won 2 majors, 6 PGA Tour Events & was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame. First time winners were rare in the Nicklaus dominated era while today it's commonplace.
Already this year on tour, there have been 6 first time tournament champions, Anthony Kim, Andres Romero, Johnson Wagner, Ryuji Imada, Brian Gay and Greg Craft. This was unthinkable back in the 60's & 70's.
The bottom line is let's wait for Tiger to get that 19th major and never sell the brilliance of either guy short.

WANTED: DOCUMENTED CHEATERS

Freaking hysterical story on most of the significant sports websites about major league baseball players named in the infamous Mitchell report as steroid boys not being able to get a job. We hear about agents turning over every rock for an opportunity, and one player, Jay Gibbons writing a letter to every team pleading his case. What these arrogant morons don't get is the ink is barely dry on that report. It was only submitted the middle of last December. They haven't paid nearly enough of a price! Here's a thought. If you hadn't used you wouldn't be unemployed. DUH!
They can cry about collusion all they want because the owners have no guarantee these yutzes won't fail another test and face a further suspension. If the entire bunch of bad apples is forced to sit out the whole 2008 season then can pass a pee test next autumn, I'm betting many will get the opportunity to revive the careers that THEY, and THEY alone sabotaged. The key here is the cliche that it's a privilege and not a right to play major league baseball. Perhaps being a spectator like the rest of us will get that point through their thick, needle sticking skulls. I have absolutely no sympathy for any of them. Of course the owners even attempting to get on any moral high horse is just as laughable. As far as I'm concerned, the quartet of slime(players, players union, owners and baseball itself) are equally guilty because all knew exactly what was going on but didn't care because fans were tearing through the turnstiles and the cash was pouring in. A wise man once said "If you're looking for sympathy, check the dictionary between S**t and Siphylus cause you ain't gonna find it here."

R.I.P JIM MCKAY

Absolutely had to dedicate today's show and this blog to the passing of Jim McKay, the legendary broadcaster and over all class act. In an age when people waste their time and big chunks of their TV or radio listening with lying dirtbags like most of the political hosts on the air or reality TV, this man stood out as a bastion of character and integrity. As someone who will always work to raise the bar in this industry and not dumb down their show, I've always admired his work. Most praise his compassionate work for his coverage of the 1972 Munich Massacre but anyone can have a great moment like Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series. McKay did high level, quality, interesting, heartfelt work for more than a half century. When I was 8, 9, 10 or 12 years old watching ABC's Wide World of Sports, he made me care about cliff diving, cricket or auto racing because of his stories and presentation. As the years passsed when he covered the sports I loved like Horse Racing or more Olympics, they just seemed larger than life and filled with the intrigue he'd provide with his reports. In an era where the antics of a mindless bimbo like Paris or Brittany gets coverage, Jim's contributions seem even more sensational and brilliant. He takes his place in Broadcast Heaven alongside Howard Cosell, Chick Hearn, Red Barber and the pioneers who set a high standard for this industry and an example for those of us who refuse to give into the "dumbed down" presentations we see all too often. Here's to you Jim McKay and thanks for your humble greatness!

WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND

I was thinking about the reasons I was looking forward to this weekend like The Belmont, Game 2 of the NBA Finals, playing golf on Sunday, or just screwing around. Then I realized I do this stuff on Monday through Friday as well. I've decided to build my own Tannen calendar that does not clearly define days, just various 24 hour blocks of time. I'm playing in a scramble at Diamond Woods on Sunday. The history of man has given us many amazing inventions to make life easier, safer and happier. The 4 man scramble is right up there with the heart/lung machine. If you've ever had a miserable, aggravating round of golf, you know exactly what I mean. You're a nightmare off the tee, in the woods, in the sand, in the water, under trees and bushes, the medal score is piling up and the tab for buying drinks after the round as a loser is looming. With a scramble you can hit 3 crappy shots in a row, roll in the 16 footer for birdie on the par 5 and be a hero! It's a beautiful thing.
The more I learn about the co-owner of Big Brown, Michael Iavarone, the less I like this guy. Some shady dealings last decade that cost people some cash in the stock market. When asked if he had any kind of checkered past he said no, but when it came to light his firm was prosecuted for this kind of activity he played a familiar card. Said he wasn't prosecuted personally, never admitted guilt and only faced censure and a fine. That's like Bonds saying he never 'knowingly' took steroids. The New York paper Newsday also revealed federal and county tax liens totalling about three-quarters of a million dollars. What a knucklehead! I guess for the sake of the sport it would be nice to have a Triple-Crown champ, but a part of me likes the fact my all time favorite horse, Affirmed, was the last to accomplish the feat. Enjoy the weekend. Go Lakers!

THINKING OUT LOUD(in writing)

From now on Wednesdays are for random thoughts about sports or whatever pops into my questionable mind. I'll be kind of surprised if John Smoltz is able to revive his career. He's already had 4 surgical procedures on his throwing elbow, this next operation will be on his shoulder. The lock first ballot Hall of Famer is 41. He'll be missed from a sportsman's point of view. He was part of one of the great one way trades of all time. The Tigers dealt him to Atlanta just past the trade deadline in 1987 for Doyle Alexander. Alexander pitched his heart out down the stretch for Detroit going 9 & 0 and leading them into the ALCS, only to lose to the Twins. He retired after the 1989 season. Smoltzy was a core rotation guy for the Braves from 89 through 1999 when he was injured, had his elbow reconstructed and returned in a relief role in 2001. He became the regular closer the following year and went on a run saving 55, 45 and 44 games the next trio of seasons. The last 3 years he's been back in the rotation cranking out at least 200 innings per. This guy has been the ultimate team player and class act.
I'm not posting my NBA Finals prediction until after tomorrow's(Thur) show, but I'm taking the Lakers. Sure it's with my heart as I detest the Celtics, but I need to determine how many games. If LA takes game one, they might sweep.
We might crown a hockey champ tonight as Detroit is in Pittsburgh trying to wrap up the Stanley Cup. Still can't believe what I saw on Monday as the Wings took a 3-2 lead deep into the 3rd period only to give up a tying goal with 35 seconds left before succumbing in triple-overtime. They've really dominated play and like I mentioned on SportsTalk today, have been like a football team controlling time of possession and all the major stats but still haven't put this thing on ice. I've rarely seen a team at any level treasure the puck like this group.

MY CELTICS & LAKERS

Lot of talk about this upcoming NBA Finals & justifiably so as it's a masterpiece. Let's jump right in with your/my all-time match-up. If you had to historically pick the best LA/Boston team who makes the roster. Here are the ground rules. You can move a guy one honest spot from his natural position. This means no Laker frontcourt of Kareem, Wilt and Shaq because they're all centers & no way you're playing one at small forward. You can use Kobe or John Havlicek at either the shooting forward or shooting guard position. Dave Cowens qualifies as a center or power forward, don't even try it at shooting forward. Bill Russel is a go at power forward as well. I think you get the picture. My biggest issue was the Celtic backcourt because I know Bob Cousy is the first great flash & dash point guard and the hoop history buff in my can't leave him out. That said, here's my team. OH! Everyone gets to add a 6th man to ease this terrible burden.
Tannen says:
Boston Celtics:
PG: Bob Cousy
SG: John Havlicek
C: Bill Russell
PF: Kevin McHale
SF: Larry Legend
6th man: Huge self debate that included Dave Cowens, but I'm taking Dennis Johnson
LA Lakers:
PG: Really?
SG: Jerry West
C: Kareem
PF: Wilt
SF: Kobe
6th man: Tough to leave off Elgin Baylor but I'm taking Big Game James Worthy