WHERE AM I??

What's in a name?
Once again, baseball has let money win out over tradition and loyalty to the fans. The Chicago White Sox, once the home team at Comiskey Park has sold the name of their stadium to the highest bidder. Now they play their home games at legendary Guaranteed Rate Stadium. I don't know if it will help the team win games, but it sounds like you may be able to buy insurance or cash your paycheck there. 
Why aren't I used to this by now? There is already Enron Field in Houston, home of the oil barons, who will probably go there to conduct some "bidness."  Enron Corp. paid $100 million for the naming rights in 2000 for a 30-year term, then promptly went bankrupt in 2001. They're gone but the Astros are stuck with the name.
How about O.co Coliseum in Oakland. All those brilliant millionaires on the coast and all they could come up with is one letter? I would have been happier with at least Oh-Boy-Look-At-Us.co.
I'd like to go to a game at PNC Field but I don't know if I'd end up in Scranton or Pittsburgh.
There's just no romance in most of the stadium names any more. Too many are names after products or companies. Chase Field, Progressive Field, Coors field, Petco Park, Safeco Field, Tropicana Field, Miller Stadium, Target Field, Citizen Bank Park and the ever popular Citi Field. 
How many of you can name the cities that at least seven of these are in? Seven is about all I can name.

Kaepernick sits while citizens stand.
He says he sat because he couldn't honor a country that treated blacks and other minorities so badly. I'll take a stand on this, no pun intended. I respect your right to your beliefs but remember this is the country that allows you to make over $23 million in your career so far. If you don't like our country then leave. I respect your opinions so please respect mine. Lobby for change but respect the country that has given you so much. The team you play for, the San Francisco 49ers think what you did is okay, so shame on them, too.

Bryce Harper doesn't know when to be quiet.   
Once again, in the 9th inning of a tie game, he blew up at the umpire for missing the call on what Harper thought was a ball. Replay shows he was right, barely. So he gets tossed and his team loses in 11 innings. He took himself out when his team needed him the most. I'm no great advocate of umpires, but he's got to grow up and understand that the game comes first. 
Umpires lose control, too. In Detroit last night, home plate umpire Mike Everitt gave the old heave-ho to four, count em' four, Tigers over his calls behind the plate. Two players, Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez were ejected for arguing balls & strikes, as was hitting coach Wally Joiner. Manager Brad Ausmus was booted for...I don't know, maybe knowing Wally Joiner. This was almost as bad as the time I saw umpire Augie Guillelmi clear a whole dugout in a game in Syracuse, NY.  Augie was funnier.

The Sports Reporters. Ghostbuster Edition 
That's how moderator Janelle described this morning's panel, which featured four women for the first time. All good choices as they were all very knowledgeable and articulate. 
I do have one observation. The first topic was the Colin Kaepernick event and Janelle asked the panel what they thought of his actions and none of them really took a stand on it, they all described how they thought other people would react. Interesting but they all dodged taking a stand.
 

Some jilted Rams fans won’t be crying in their beer this season.

Hotshots Sports Bar & Grill, with 10 locations in Missouri, plans to lampoon the NFL team’s move from St. Louis to L.A. by lowering the price of domestic draft pitchers on game days by $1 for each TD scored against the Rams. (From Sideline Chatter by Dwight Perry)

The San-chise?
This is the nickname that Yankee Radio announcer John Sterling has given to the Yankees newest phe-nom, Gary Sanchez. I don't like the nickname but I sure do like the player. No one in the majors, maybe all of baseball, has been hotter in the last three weeks. Just when you think he's got to cool off, he blasts another one into the stands, 11 in all so far.  Even more impressive has been his play behind the plate. His bat may cool off, but I don't think his glove or his arm ever will.  Maybe Sterling is right.

A personal note
A very warm thank you to my wife, my traveling companion, my editor and mother to my children for 50 years of marriage. I don't know how she's managed to last but I know I never want to be without her around. When people ask how we did it, I tell them the answer is simple: We've always been able to make each other laugh...always. It's worked for the 50+ years we've known each other and I see no end to it.
Thanks, Annie.

***THEY SAID IT ***
"The final Olympic tally: The U.S. brought home 46 gold medals, 37 silver and four idiots."  -- Seth Meyers
" The Oakland Raiders have filed to trademark the name “Las Vegas Raiders.” If they move will the team’s new motto be “Against all odds?”  -- Janice Hough
"Usain Bolt won his third straight Olympic gold medal in the 100 meters. My favorite point was at the 70-meter mark when he passed Secretariat."  -- Brad Dickson

"Nike has announced it will be exiting the golf club business. Elin Nordegren has ordered some extra 9 irons before they cease production."  -- TC Chong
"Astronaut Jeff Williams spent  521 days in space beating the previous record held by Dennis Rodman."  -- Jim Barach

"Bruce Springsteen just played possibly his longest U.S. gig at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. — nearly four hours. In other words, they scheduled a concert, and a Yankees-Red Sox game broke out."  -- Dwight Perry

"US Cellular Field, the home of the Chicago White Sox have just sold the naming rights to “Guaranteed Rate” for the next 7 years. This is not to be confused with Wrigley Field which has been known as the home of “Guaranteed Losers” since 1908."  -- TC Chong
"Ryan Lochte might join the cast of “Dancing with the Stars. Wow, I knew he was in legal trouble, but I didn’t know we were already at the sentencing phase."  -- Seth Meyers
"The Twins-Astros game in Minneapolis was rained out on Umbrella Night. The Twins’ new Director of Irony called it “The greatest night in sports history.”"  -- Brad Dickson
"Tony Romo  has a broken bone in his back. So it will be at least until midseason before he can return to disappoint  Cowboy fans."  -- Janice Hough

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