Nashville Sounds slighted... again
"The first Nashville professional sports head coach change."
That's how Kevin Ingram of 104.5 The Zone keeps referring to Jeff Fisher's departure from the Titans.
I don't care how long Ingram has been involved with sports, this one misstatement is enough to decertify any credentials he might have earned otherwise.
Seriously, it is.
All it does is add to the misguided notion that minor league baseball is "semi-pro."
Minor league baseball is professional baseball, period. There is no semi.
The Nashville Kats, an arena football league entry, was also a professional sports team. Again, not semi. Call it a minor sport, behind the NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA, but it was a professional team, and like the Sounds, coaches and managers came and went long before Fisher left.
Not only does Ingram say it on air, none of his on-air colleagues correct him.
It's inexcusable. It's Cris Collingworth always referring to Matt Hasselbeck as "Hasselback."
Tell them how the weather was... -- Ernest Hemingway bryce_martin_1@Lycos.com
Friday, January 28, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Charlie Louvin Likely a Mystery to Channel 4 and Elsewhere
Watching the twosome of Tom Randles and Demetria Kalodomis on TV's Channel 4 newscast regarding the death of country music great Charlie Louvin, I couldn't help but speculate that Randles had not clue one as to whom Louvin was, yet he had to sell his half of the back and forth with a stern countenance.
Of course, Randles nor anyone else in his capacity is not expected to be familiar with the names of all the entertainment personalities. As for Louvin, the fact is even most of those who consider themselves country music fans are not familiar with the Louvin name either. I can say that without speculation.
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Watching the twosome of Tom Randles and Demetria Kalodomis on TV's Channel 4 newscast regarding the death of country music great Charlie Louvin, I couldn't help but speculate that Randles had not clue one as to whom Louvin was, yet he had to sell his half of the back and forth with a stern countenance.
Of course, Randles nor anyone else in his capacity is not expected to be familiar with the names of all the entertainment personalities. As for Louvin, the fact is even most of those who consider themselves country music fans are not familiar with the Louvin name either. I can say that without speculation.
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Is lead the killer it's made out to be?
By Bryce Martin
Galena is the name of my home town. Galena means lead. My home town had the largest lead smelter in the world, starting around a hundred years ago.
"Long-term exposure to lead dust poses a health risk, particularly to young children."
I've heard that.
A killer tornado blasted the old home front over the past weekend. In the region, typical summer dust devils traditionally blew dust off mountains of mining waste, known by locals as chat piles.
We breathed it.
Still do.
The most recent tornado destruction in the region, and perhaps deadliest of all, that fairly well put Picher, Okla., to waste for good, was making news in stories and headines nationwide and alarming EPA people as to what extent it hasd stirred up ancient lead dust to wreak its own kind of havoc in the wake of front-end tornado damage.
I would surely imagine that breathing and taking into the body by other means elements of lead ore would be harmful to the body and, as most anything else, there are always exceptions. The exceptions might explain why at least three people from Galena that I am aware of have lived to be 100 years old, and many more have lived well into their 90s.
While I would not expect research later on to indicate that breathing lead dust over a long period of time is beneficial to a human being, I have to wonder if it is truly the menace it is made out to be by today's standards, where even a flake of lead paint on a child's toy causes an uproar.
My Galena is in Kansas. Other Galenas exist in Missouri, Illinois, and elsewhere, but mostly in the geologic lead belt that supplied lead ore turned into bullets for most of the rifle munitions used in World War II. Other Galenas have different names, such as Picher. There are, in fact, hundreds of towns not named Galena in roughly a six-state area that could have been thus named.
I knew her as Norma Thompson in the 1950s when she was my music teacher. She died at age 100 on October 20, 2003, in Oswego, Kan. With a zest for life, she taught vocal music appreciation and stressed such things as inflection and proper breathing while vocalizing. She didn't live all her wonderful years in Galena, but she was in the immediate region all that time, breathing in the times, if you will.
Questions remain after all these years. Why do some suffer and die from lead exposure and why do others just as touched go on to lead long and normal lives?
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By Bryce Martin
Galena is the name of my home town. Galena means lead. My home town had the largest lead smelter in the world, starting around a hundred years ago.
"Long-term exposure to lead dust poses a health risk, particularly to young children."
I've heard that.
A killer tornado blasted the old home front over the past weekend. In the region, typical summer dust devils traditionally blew dust off mountains of mining waste, known by locals as chat piles.
We breathed it.
Still do.
The most recent tornado destruction in the region, and perhaps deadliest of all, that fairly well put Picher, Okla., to waste for good, was making news in stories and headines nationwide and alarming EPA people as to what extent it hasd stirred up ancient lead dust to wreak its own kind of havoc in the wake of front-end tornado damage.
I would surely imagine that breathing and taking into the body by other means elements of lead ore would be harmful to the body and, as most anything else, there are always exceptions. The exceptions might explain why at least three people from Galena that I am aware of have lived to be 100 years old, and many more have lived well into their 90s.
While I would not expect research later on to indicate that breathing lead dust over a long period of time is beneficial to a human being, I have to wonder if it is truly the menace it is made out to be by today's standards, where even a flake of lead paint on a child's toy causes an uproar.
My Galena is in Kansas. Other Galenas exist in Missouri, Illinois, and elsewhere, but mostly in the geologic lead belt that supplied lead ore turned into bullets for most of the rifle munitions used in World War II. Other Galenas have different names, such as Picher. There are, in fact, hundreds of towns not named Galena in roughly a six-state area that could have been thus named.
I knew her as Norma Thompson in the 1950s when she was my music teacher. She died at age 100 on October 20, 2003, in Oswego, Kan. With a zest for life, she taught vocal music appreciation and stressed such things as inflection and proper breathing while vocalizing. She didn't live all her wonderful years in Galena, but she was in the immediate region all that time, breathing in the times, if you will.
Questions remain after all these years. Why do some suffer and die from lead exposure and why do others just as touched go on to lead long and normal lives?
-30-
Friday, January 21, 2011
Climer Still Slouching Toward Clicheville
After justly criticizing The Tennessean's David Climer in a January 14 mention here for hanging his tired observations on cliched hooks, he continues undaunted along his merry, inept way.
In January 16, and 18, columns, he went back to back with "upon further review." Soon, he can write an entire column of nothing but worn-out phrases and then repeat it in all future columns.
January 21: he sunk ever lower to revive one of his favorites: "rearranged deck chairs on the Titanic."
Clever guy.
...
After justly criticizing The Tennessean's David Climer in a January 14 mention here for hanging his tired observations on cliched hooks, he continues undaunted along his merry, inept way.
In January 16, and 18, columns, he went back to back with "upon further review." Soon, he can write an entire column of nothing but worn-out phrases and then repeat it in all future columns.
January 21: he sunk ever lower to revive one of his favorites: "rearranged deck chairs on the Titanic."
Clever guy.
...
Friday, January 14, 2011
David Climer is worst sports columnist ever
By Bryce Martin
Jim Murray was one of the best newspaper sports columnists ever. A key feature of his regular col'yums for the Los Angeles Times was his regular use of hyperbole. English professors would have given him low marks for that, but who reads English professors.
Wells Twombly's name as a byline was probably better than anything he could write while covering sports in California's Bay area.
David Climer's constant use of cliches, not just cliches, but the tiredest of the genre, ranks him at the bottom of sports writers I have read.
It's bad enough that Climer's columns are not fresh, or even attempts to be fresh, but just rehashes of events and opinions that other writers have labored to write. The great sports writers are few. Those who are not great but considered good at least attempt to find a fresh angle to pursue.
But, that is not the main complaint.
Case in point, from Climer in the January 14th Tennessean while writing about Vanderbilt basketball: "ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION."
I put it in all caps because that is how it reads to me. It screams out. That's because Climer has never written a column without using that tired phrase (How's my Jim Murray hyperbole doing?).
Try this. On your computer, go to Google and in the web search slot type in "addition by subtraction" -- space -- then "David Climer" and you will see what I mean after you click in your search.
I realize the average reader does not have much of a background in English or journalism and will not notice such things. Count his editors in that category as well.
Climer has four other overly-tired cliches he regularly uses. I have seen all five in one column.
I don't know how he even holds a job as a columnist. It's certainly not due to his writing skills. It's sad to think it might be that he gets by because his reading audience is too dumbed-down to notice. His editors, too.
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By Bryce Martin
Jim Murray was one of the best newspaper sports columnists ever. A key feature of his regular col'yums for the Los Angeles Times was his regular use of hyperbole. English professors would have given him low marks for that, but who reads English professors.
Wells Twombly's name as a byline was probably better than anything he could write while covering sports in California's Bay area.
David Climer's constant use of cliches, not just cliches, but the tiredest of the genre, ranks him at the bottom of sports writers I have read.
It's bad enough that Climer's columns are not fresh, or even attempts to be fresh, but just rehashes of events and opinions that other writers have labored to write. The great sports writers are few. Those who are not great but considered good at least attempt to find a fresh angle to pursue.
But, that is not the main complaint.
Case in point, from Climer in the January 14th Tennessean while writing about Vanderbilt basketball: "ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION."
I put it in all caps because that is how it reads to me. It screams out. That's because Climer has never written a column without using that tired phrase (How's my Jim Murray hyperbole doing?).
Try this. On your computer, go to Google and in the web search slot type in "addition by subtraction" -- space -- then "David Climer" and you will see what I mean after you click in your search.
I realize the average reader does not have much of a background in English or journalism and will not notice such things. Count his editors in that category as well.
Climer has four other overly-tired cliches he regularly uses. I have seen all five in one column.
I don't know how he even holds a job as a columnist. It's certainly not due to his writing skills. It's sad to think it might be that he gets by because his reading audience is too dumbed-down to notice. His editors, too.
-30-
Monday, January 03, 2011
Derrick Mason -- Hall of Fame career
By Bryce Martin
If it was possible to catch a football thrown in his direction, Derrick Mason would nearly always snare it. He was clutch and seldom missed a snap of playing time while with the Titans. In his 14 years in the NFL, he has missed just six regular season games.
I have kept up with his numbers since he left to join the Ravens. He is nearing Hall of Fame numbers.
He has some things against him: never being a top ten MVP vote getter, a lack of Pro Bowl nods (2), and other categories outside his actual accomplishments on the field. The fact that many consider him the best route runner in the NFL has to be considered.
I recently made my assertation based on who is in the hall with similar achievements at the wide receiver position. I knew Art Monk would be in that category and so I looked up Monk's numbers, since that is what got him in the HOF and is ultimately the decider for anyone.
Numberswise, Mason has played in 218 games to Monk's 224. That helps to compare since the total number of games is relatively equal. Mason has 830 less receiving yards, 12,721 to 11,891, and two fewer touchdowns, 68 to 66. It is very likely Mason will eclipse Monk in those prime production numbers next season.
Mason also has an intriguing and unreported string going. He had 61 total receptions this season, making it 11 years in a row he has had at least 60 receptions. The record holder in that category? Jerry Rice? Randy Moss? Raymond Berry? No, tight end Tony Gonzalez set the mark this season with 12 successive years of at least 60 receptions. Mason is breathing down his neck on that one.
-30-
By Bryce Martin
If it was possible to catch a football thrown in his direction, Derrick Mason would nearly always snare it. He was clutch and seldom missed a snap of playing time while with the Titans. In his 14 years in the NFL, he has missed just six regular season games.
I have kept up with his numbers since he left to join the Ravens. He is nearing Hall of Fame numbers.
He has some things against him: never being a top ten MVP vote getter, a lack of Pro Bowl nods (2), and other categories outside his actual accomplishments on the field. The fact that many consider him the best route runner in the NFL has to be considered.
I recently made my assertation based on who is in the hall with similar achievements at the wide receiver position. I knew Art Monk would be in that category and so I looked up Monk's numbers, since that is what got him in the HOF and is ultimately the decider for anyone.
Numberswise, Mason has played in 218 games to Monk's 224. That helps to compare since the total number of games is relatively equal. Mason has 830 less receiving yards, 12,721 to 11,891, and two fewer touchdowns, 68 to 66. It is very likely Mason will eclipse Monk in those prime production numbers next season.
Mason also has an intriguing and unreported string going. He had 61 total receptions this season, making it 11 years in a row he has had at least 60 receptions. The record holder in that category? Jerry Rice? Randy Moss? Raymond Berry? No, tight end Tony Gonzalez set the mark this season with 12 successive years of at least 60 receptions. Mason is breathing down his neck on that one.
-30-