PINING FOR THE OLD NBA….By Bill Rogan (11-3-06)

Another NBA season is upon us and as I’ve done for the last several years I will try to get into it. I’ll watch some games, I’ll check out the box scores and after a week or two I’ll reach the same conclusion that I’ve reached every season since Michael Jordan retired. And that is, the NBA is an awful product.

The NBA players of today are more athletically gifted than the players I grew up watching. They just don’t play the same game I once loved.

Walt Frazier of the Knicks was my favorite player as a kid. I admired Clyde’s coolness under pressure. He would always make the big steal or hit a clutch jump shot and I can never recall him gesticulating to the crowd or the cameras.

Check out the Knicks point guard today. Stephon Marbury. Nuff said.
In my youth, I watched players such as John Havlicek, Elvin Hayes, Earl Monroe, Bob Lanier, Jerry West, Nate Archibald, Willis Reed, Dave Cowens and Bill Bradley play an exciting brand of team basketball with none of the histrionics that we see today.

A decade later I was enthralled watching Larry Bird and the Celtics and Magic Johnson and the Lakers play TEAM basketball.

But then came the Pistons with their thuggish brand of basketball. The Pat Riley Knicks with Patrick Ewing seemed more interested in winning by mauling their opponents than by skillfully outplaying them.

For a while in the 90’s the NBA was in my good graces because of Michael Jordan. He was all about winning. I loved watching John Stockton and Karl Malone too.

Now, take a look around the league. For every Steve Nash or LeBron James who I enjoy watching play, there are many more knuckleheads. I can’t take watching guys like Rasheed Wallace or Kenyon Martin play. I get sick to my stomach watching these whining multi-millionaires clang free throws, miss wide-open jump shots and play two-man basketball. The style of play today bores me. The coaches are powerless and unimaginative as well.

Players are more interested in dunking the ball and glaring menacingly at the camera to get on SportsCenter instead of winning. That is not the NBA I once loved.

Thank goodness for college basketball. 

YANKS DO SHEFF WRONG…..By Bill Rogan (10-27-06)

Gary Sheffield is angry. The Yankees picked up the 13-million dollar option on his contract and Sheff is steaming because he wanted to become a free agent in search of more money and a three-year deal. He has said he won’t play first base for the Yankees. He also said if they trade him, “There will be a problem.”

I feel bad for Sheffield. Here he was anticipating going someplace where he was appreciated, a place to extend his career and then the Yankees step in and say, “Not so fast Sheff, for 13-million you are stuck here pal.” That is just plain wrong.

I’m sorry. I just can’t go on. I apologize for getting emotional here. We love you Gary!

TIKI…..By Bill Rogan (10-24-06)

As a lifelong fan of the New York Football Giants, I was initially dismayed at the news that running back Tiki Barber was planning to retire following this season.

After giving it some thought, my feelings have changed. I’m glad for Barber. The guy has been a terrific player for the Giants, he’s put in 10 seasons in the NFL and if he wants to go out on top of his game and on his terms more power to him. Football needs Tiki Barber more than he needs football.

The pounding NFL players take week in and week out, especially running backs, is unfathomable to the normal human being. Many NFL players spend their post-playing careers limping around and in pain. It is not a shock that former NFL players have a shorter life span than men who didn’t play in the NFL. I admire Barber for knowing when it is time for him to leave.

Barber is also one of the few athletes who has a plan following football. He’ll go into broadcasting and he’ll be successful. You get the feeling Barber will be successful in anything he does.

Not many guys retire from sports in their prime. I can only think of three off the top of my head. Jim Brown, Sandy Koufax and Rocky Marciano. I’m sure there are a few others. Now, add Tiki Barber to the list.

So, I’m glad for Barber and I wish him well in his post-football life. He’s been a great Giant and I thank him for all the memories he has provided. I hope he ends up in the Hall of Fame someday. From a selfish point of view though, if Tiki decides he wants to play one more year, well, I won’t complain about that either.

LAMAR GETS THE BOOT..…..By Bill Rogan (10-18-06)

Broadcaster, and I use that term loosely, Lamar Thomas has been fired from his position as the color commentator for the University of Miami football team in the aftermath of the ugly brawl in the Orange Bowl between the Hurricanes and Florida International.

We’ve all seen the disturbing video of players from both teams stomping and beating on each other. Every media person I know of has rightly condemned the barbarism that took place Saturday night. Every media person except for Lamar Thomas.

Thomas, the former Miami wide receiver, applauded the mayhem on the field saying that Florida International deserved to get their behinds kicked and nobody comes into the O.B. and talks trash. That kind of irresponsible chatter went on for a few minutes and included Thomas saying he wanted to go on to the field and throw too.

The result for Thomas was he got fired. While he should have been let go, the idiots who hired him should also be shown the door. 

What did Miami think they were going to get from Thomas? A polished, experienced broadcast journalist who would enhance the coverage of the game? Or, someone who was a thug, who fit the thug image that Miami seems to encourage and embrace?

Thomas is a hoodlum. A brief look back at Lamar’s gangsta career is impressive. He did some jail time for assaulting his pregnant fiancée with a deadly weapon. In another episode, he choked his fiancée with their 6-month-old child present. He’s also been arrested for violating probation and was sent to a mental institution for brandishing a handgun and threatening suicide.

Lamar Thomas, quite the model citizen and someone Miami thought would be a fine representative of Da U. Nice job Miami. You should be proud. Now maybe you could hire another pillar of the community and former Miami wide receiver to replace Thomas. Michael Irvin.

THE UNFORGETTABLE JULIO AQUINO…..By Bill Rogan (10-11-06)

I was thinking about Julio Aquino the other day. Julio was a pitcher I got to know when broadcasting minor league baseball.

It was the summer of 1996 and Julio Aquino was a right-hander from the Dominican Republic who had a flair for pitching and a zest for life. To say he was a character would be like saying Frank Sinatra could sing.

Early that season, Julio pitched very well in relief one evening, displaying pinpoint control and change-up that made hitters look foolish.

The next day, I asked Julio if he would be a guest on the pre-game show. He looked at my tape recorder and microphone, shrugged and mumbled, “No hablo Englais.”

Undeterred, I went to Manny Vazquez, a bi-lingual teammate to be a translator.

Manny went to Julio, they spoke briefly in Spanish, and then Manny said to me, “Julio said he feels real uncomfortable doing an interview even with a translator. He said that he is sorry.” I looked at Julio and he gave me a sheepish smile then walked away.

I had no problem with Julio declining to be interviewed. He was polite about it and if he feels uncomfortable doing an interview, so be it.

A week later, I strolled into the clubhouse to do my daily pre-game interview with manager Bump Wills (Maury’s son). At the entrance to the clubhouse, on the right, was Julio Aquino talking on a pay phone. He was speaking in perfect English. I made a mental note of that, went to Bump’s office, did my interview then sought out Julio.

He was sitting by his locker and I said, “Julio, how about an interview?” He flashed his dopey smile and went into his “No hablo Englais” routine.

I said, “Don’t give me that crap. I just heard you on the phone speaking English so you’re doing an interview…now!”

He laughed, realized he was busted, and agreed to the interview.

First question I asked was, “Julio, when did you learn to speak English?”

With a big grin, his response was, “I just learned it this week Bill.”

Julio was popular with his teammates. He was a cut-up and fun to be around. Although, one episode at the Canadian border tested everyone’s patience.

On a trip north, at 2 a.m., a bus full of tired and hungry ballplayers was entering Canada for a series against a team from St. Catharines.

Bump was sitting up front. He stood up and told everyone, in a stern voice, to “Shut up and be quiet.” Then he told the two Dominican players, Jose Martinez and Julio Aquino to get their passports and move to the front of the bus.

As we entered Canada, two border patrol agents got on the bus and the first agent asked who was in charge. Bump said he was and explained the purpose of the trip. Then the agent asked if there were any non-American’s on board. Bump replied, “Yes, we have two players from the Dominican Republic.”

Jose was clean cut, dressed conservatively in loafers, nice jeans, and a collared shirt. The agent looked at Jose, viewed his passport and said, “Are you Jose Martinez?” Jose politely said, “Yes sir.” The man handed the passport back to Jose who then returned to his seat.

Next up was Julio. The other agent took Julio’s passport, looked him over and saw a guy who was wearing bright orange pants, a loud flowered shirt buttoned halfway up to reveal several gold chains, long curly gel-slicked hair and sunglasses perched atop his head. The agent said, “Are you Julio Aquino?” Julio then did a little dance and in long, drawn out fashion said, “Si, Si Pedro!” The entire team exploded with laughter but the agent was not humored. Not one bit. She, yes she, simply said, “Come with me.” They took Julio off the bus and we waited for close to an hour for him to return.

Suddenly Julio’s antic didn’t seem so funny. Bump was ticked off and when they finally let Julio back on the bus, all the manager could do was shake his head in disbelief and tell his pitcher, “We should have left you here.” Yes, I cleaned that up a bit.

My other unforgettable experience with Julio came at ancient Centennial Field in Burlington, Vermont. Since I hated sitting around hotels all day, I would venture to the park several hours early. This hot summer day, around noon, I strolled into the stadium and saw just two people there. One was a groundskeeper down the first base line raking dirt. The other, to my surprise was Julio Aquino.

Julio was sitting on a folding chair, in his stylish street clothes, next to the third base dugout. I hopped the railing, grabbed a chair and sat beside Julio. We just talked. We talked about life in the Dominican, about life in the States, and about baseball. Julio kept saying how much he loved baseball and how appreciative he was to be able to play the game. To get paid to play was just a bonus. I asked him, “Have you ever thrown a no-hitter?” To my surprise he said, “No, but that is my dream, to throw a no-hitter.” I then asked him how he would react if he threw a no-hitter and he started to tell me. Then he said, “Wait. I will show you.”

Julio then sprinted to the mound in the empty ballpark. He stood on the rubber, peered in for the sign, went into his windup and fired an imaginary pitch. I guess it was a good delivery because a second after he let it fly, he sprinted halfway to home plate, slid on his knees, looked into the sky with arms raised in triumph and shouted several times, “Thank you God, thank you God, thank you God….” Caught up in the emotion of Julio’s no-no, I applauded then ran out to hug him. We jumped around for a moment then walked off the field. The groundskeeper, by this time had migrated near the screen behind home plate. He looked on with a blank stare.

When we sat back down in our chairs, Julio said with a wide smile, “THAT is how I would celebrate a no-hitter.”

Julio bounced around the minors for a few more seasons. Had he not suffered arm problems, I have no doubt he would have made it to the major leagues.

I don’t know what ever happened to Julio Aquino. My best guess is that he is back in the Dominican Republic, enjoying life, making people laugh and teaching kids the game that he loves so much.

A-ROD A-CHOKER…..(10-8-06)
His numbers are staggering. He’s a first ballot Hall of Famer. He’s also the biggest gag artist I’ve ever seen. I speak of the fraud known as Alex Rodriguez.

I don’t expect a player of his stature to come through in the clutch all the time. That’s unrealistic. But in the last three post-season series the Yankees have played in, A-Rod has messed the bed.

One bad playoff series can happen to anybody. But when you put three consecutive clunkers together, that’s a trend.

The only explanation I have for a player that extremely talented who constantly fails miserably in the clutch is that he can’t deal with pressure. In other words, he chokes. The worst word you can use to describe any athlete is choke. Alex Rodriguez is a choker.

If I’m Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman, I have to get rid of A-Rod. He’s not a ballplayer. He’s a corporation, a conglomerate, and a businessman. When you make the kind of scratch he does, you better sack up and come through when your team needs you. If you don’t, then you need to go. Rodriguez needs to be sent packing. To Tampa. To Kansas City. To Colorado. Any place where there is no pressure.

Former Yankees third baseman Scott Brosius didn’t compile A-Rod type numbers. Not even close. However, he came through in the clutch and has the World Series rings and World Series MVP award to prove it. Which player do you think Yankee fans hold in higher regard?
Rodriguez was booed all season long at home due to his past post-season collapses. After a 1-14 effort with zero runs knocked in this post-season, how do you think he’ll be received next season at Yankee Stadium. That’s right kids, not warmly. He’s got to go.