Reynolds' Rap

October 5, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

One hundred is a nice round number. An aspirational one. Probably just not the favorite of Chicago Cub fans or executives at Fox Sports at the moment.

The Los Angeles Dodgers topped the Cubs last night 3-1, sweeping away the heavily favored N.L. Central champions.in three games. The loss extended the the Northsiders' World Series winless streak to 100 calendar years (99 on the field as labor unrest cancelled the 1994 campaign without a champion).

Hence, the legends of Tinker, Evans to Chance, not to mention curses involving a billy goat\, a black cat and one Steve Bartman, live on in Chitown.

Surely, it was going to happen this year, so Cub fans and Fox believed, or more likely hoped. After all, Lou Piniella’s troops were well-armed and sported a lineup that was the envy of most clubs. 

But ...Read More

September 27, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Weather-permitting, a lot of eyes -- including some very interested parties at Turner Sports -- will be focused on Saturday’s New York Mets-Florida Marlins matchup at 1:05 p.m.

Now down two games to the National League East-leading Phillies and one to the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card hunt, the Amazins are sending out ace, off-season acquisition Johan Santana on three days rest to fry the Fish. Should the Mets fail, the Phillies would win the division without having to take out the lowly 100-loss Washington Nationals in the late-afternoon window. Moreover, a Milwaukee triumph over the NL Central winners, the Chicago Cubs, in that same time slot, would mark the second straight season the Mets let a senior circuit playoff berth slip in September.

Not to mention putting a major damper on tomorrow’s sendoff of Shea, which will give way to Citifie...Read More

September 22, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

On Friday, I paid my respects in person for the last time. At almost 1 a.m. Monday YES, had just finished its post-Stadium coverage, closing the lights on viewers’ window into "The House That Ruth Built."

The last game at “baseball’s cathedral” was over, bittersweet with memories of great accomplishments at a place I've visited hundreds of times and whose likes will never be seen again.

Brought into your living room by YES and/or ESPN2, the ceremony, celebrating Yankee Stadium, was part All-Star Game, part Old-Timers Day, part museum piece. The Yankees trotted out legends past and of more recent vintage to their various positions of glory on the field. There were also surrogates for stars and wives/children of men who passed way too young. Cameras flashed and flashed.

...Read More

September 14, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

We all should have known better.

After the BCS championship game blowout by Florida in 2007...And the embarrassing loss to LSU in the title tilt earlier this year…THE Ohio State against a good team in front of 93,000-plus fans in LA?

Fuhgetaboutit!

Still, it was the fifth-ranked Buckeyes against Pete Carroll’s top-ranked USC bunch. It was the latest game of the century. Or at least the week. ESPN/ABC billed it as “Collision in the Coliseum.”

But you would have been better served Saturday night to cue up Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. In the LA Coliseum, Trojan supporters reveled in the carnage. On ABC, though, even Russell Crowe’s general Maximus Decimus Meridius wouldn’t have had the temerity to ask ‘Are you not entertained?’ I wasn’t.

It was familiar, though. ...Read More

September 8, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

His fifth straight U.S. Open championship in Flushing Meadow Monday must have been especially sweet for Roger Federer.

2008 had been a disaster by his exalted standards. Heading into the campaign with 12 majors in his pocket, a three-peat of his 2006 and 2007 campaigns -- wins in Melbourne, London and New York -- would have pushed the Swiss racquet maestro past Pete Sampras as tennis’ all-time Grand Slam champion.

But a loss in the semifinals at the Australian to Novak Djokovic started the year in the wrong direction. Then it slipped out that Roger had mono. A blowout by his nemesis Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros didn’t do much for Federer fans or his psyche.

But surely, the express would be righted at Wimbledon. There, Bjorn Borg’s five consecutive crowns would be toppled by the man with the Old English ‘F’ on his ca...Read More