Here's To You, Mr. Robinson

For a young baseball fan, growing up in Baltimore during the 70’s was heaven. The Orioles were flying high and you could bank on them being a contender in the American League East all the way into September.

Back then, the away games were generally the only ones which were televised. So, when the Oriole’s were playing at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, I relied on broadcasters Chuck Thompson and Bill O'Donnell to deliver the game to me via a small transistor radio. They would paint such a vivid picture of the game that I often felt like I was sitting right behind the 3rd base dugout.

Obviously, I was a big Oriole’s fan, but there was one player who I particularly idolized. His name was Brooks Robinson. Brooks was a highlight reel of spectacular plays at third base thus earning him the nickname: The Human Vacuum Cleaner. And although most people remember him for his defensive play, Brooks was also a pretty decent hitter. To say that Brooks Robinson was admired in Baltimore would be an understatement. People were actually naming their kids after him!

I got the opportunity to meet my boyhood idol at an autograph signing at a local gas station (yes, back in the day, players actually did this!). I couldn’t take my eyes off of him as I anxiously waited behind the long line of other neighborhood kids. When I finally approached Brooks, he prepared to sign a complementary 8x10 head-shot of himself. He looked up at me and said, “Hi there, son. What’s your name?”

I nervously replied, “Kenny.”

Now keep in mind that, to me, this was like my Mom meeting Elvis. So, Brooks signs the photo with a ball-point pen. There were no Sharpies in those days. He hands the newly signed ball to me and says, “There you go, Kenny. Thanks for coming out.”

As a ten year old, hearing this local legend refer to me by name was simply amazing. Now that I felt like we officially knew each other, I followed up with a request. Like a kid asking Santa to bring his favorite Christmas toy, I looked up and said, “Mr. Robinson, could I get you to sign my baseball glove?”

He smiled and reached out for my glove. As he signed it, I imagined Brooks putting it on and snagging a line drive over the 3rd base bag. How cool would that be? Interrupting my daydream, he handed the signed glove back to me and asked, “So, what position do you play, Kenny?”

A little more relaxed now, I said, “Third base. Just like you, Brooks.”

He grinned and replied, “That's great. Best of luck to you, son.”

I could hardly wait to show my teammates my newly prized possession. With Brooks' autograph on my glove, I would be a shoe-in for the All-Star team! I can remember glancing at the signature as I took warm-ups at 3rd base before my Little League game. I couldn't help but feel like I had a distinct edge on the competition.

Even though it was a long time ago and my exchange with Brooks Robinson was very brief, it was one of the highlights of my childhood. He took the time to meet and greet every kid in the line that day. And he did it with a smile on his face. He was, no doubt, one of the classiest guys ever to play the game. (Is it any surprise that Brooks was an inspiration for a young Cal Ripken Jr?)

My cherished baseball glove is long gone, but the signed 8x10 still proudly hangs on my wall today. It always takes me back to those summer days of my childhood when all that really mattered was playing baseball by day and watching the O's at night.

Thanks for the memories, Brooks....

kw

The Real Refs - The First Night Back

Attending the Ravens/Browns game last night, I got a first hand look at the "real refs" as they made their much anticipated return to the NFL. As expected, they got a warm applause from the near-capacity crowd. This is the first time that I can ever remember the referees getting cheers for simply showing up. But it was well deserved after some of the shenanigans that we've seen from the replacement refs over the past three weeks.

But whether the calls were going for or against the home team, it was obvious that the referees were in complete control. The penalties were announced with confidence and clarity. This was quite a contrast from the replacement refs who, at times, seemed like they didn't know whether they were officiating a football game or a jello-wrestling contest.

The refs in last night's game kept the player's in line. We had the usual pushing and shoving, but none of the kung-fu fighting that we've seen in many of the previous games. Personal fouls were flagged appropriately throughout last night's game, which for the most part, kept the player's on relatively good behavior. Without all of these disruptions, the game moved at a sufficient pace.

But nothing lasts forever.........

As expected, the love affair between the fans and the officials was brought to an abrupt halt the first time a yellow flag was thrown against the Ravens. And at one point, the infamous "BULLSHIT" chant made a brief, but undeniable comeback from the pumped-up Baltimore crowd. One guy summed it up by holding up a sign that said, "Finally! We get to yell at the real refs! Welcome back!"

Ironically, the last play of the game was a Hail-Mary pass into the end zone. For those who don;t know, it was this very play in the Green Bay/Seattle game on Monday night that ultimately ended with the replacement refs blowing the call and awarding an undeserving win to the Seahawks. Fortunately, for the real refs last night, the pass from Cleveland quarterback Brandon Weeden sailed high and well over the head of his receivers. Time expired and the Ravens won the game with no controversy, 23-16.

Going forward, I'm sure there will be bad calls that will inevitably anger fans to some degree. But now that we have seen what the alternative is, at the very least, I think fans have a whole new respect for the "real" referees. Yes, it's definitely good to have them back......

kw

Big Bites & Customer Service

In a deliberate attempt to defy the First Lady's healthy lunch initiative, I stopped off a local 7-11 to grab a couple of Big Bites. My expectation? A simple exchange of cash and hot dogs. But things took a bit longer to execute because two of the 7-11 employees were having an animated discussion about one of their co-workers.

I quickly learned that someone named "Dre" really had a way of irritating the two female employees. Apparently, Dre had a habit of not putting a sufficient number of hot dogs and other greasy delectables on the griller. Dre was also guilty of a multitude of other infractions which was ultimately summed up by one of the women who simply called him worthless. Now, keep in mind, I'm standing in line waiting to pay for my hot dogs while all this is going on. Do I really care about Dre's work ethic? Do I really need to hear any of this? Hell no! I just want to take my hot dogs over to the chili/cheese station!

And this isn't the only time this kind of thing has happened to me. My checkout experience is sometimes delayed because the cashier has the sudden urge to discuss her work schedule with her neighbor cashier. And have you ever been in a checkout line and the cashier stops to take a call on her cell phone? Yep, it's definitely happened to me. And did you ever get one of those semi-mute cashiers? You know, the one that scans fifty items and then incoherently mumbles the total price? I hate it when I have to say, "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" over and over. It happens all of the time, especially with the younger cashiers.

I was in Lowe's the other day and I needed to get a key made. So, I stand in front of the key station, figuring   that someone would see me. I stood there for a couple of minutes, but still no one came to help me. I saw a few employees bullshitting near the tool section, so I decided to move around and do a few stretching exercises in an attempt to get their attention. One guy appeared to look my way but didn't bother to ask me if I needed anything. So, finally, I walked over to the group of employees and asked, "Excuse me for interrupting your conversation fellas, but could someone help me out over here?" One of the guys finally peeled away from the group and, without saying a word, headed over to the key machine. It was like I was wrong for asking him for assistance.

Is Chick-fil-A the only place in America were you can still get service with a smile???

kw

Baltimore - A Dirty City?

My hometown's trend of making the lists for all the wrong reasons continues as Baltimore was recently ranked as the third dirtiest city in America. This dubious honor comes via a recent survey conducted by Travel & Leisure magazine. And it comes after Baltimore was recently rated the second ugliest city and the third worst dressed in the country. Not surprising, Baltimore also cracked the top 100 most angry cities. This shouldn't really come as a surprise. If you're dirty, ugly and don't know how to dress, I would think that you would have a reason to be be pissed off most of the time.

So, is it fair to say that Charm City is a filthy city and out-ranked by only two others (New York and New Orleans)? Let's take a look.....

First off, from what I've read, part of the reason that Baltimore ranks so high on the dirty list is due to a serious rat problem, especially in the inner city. I guess there's some truth there. I've seen plenty of rats in downtown Baltimore, and I'm not just talking about the politicians. I was at the Inner Harbor eating lunch one day, when a large rat waddled near the outside table where I was sitting. He seemed to have no fear of humans as he just sat there and stared me down. I actually got up and moved to another table because the rat was making me feel guilty for eating in front of him.

Another time, I was driving along Key Highway when I saw a humongous rat in the road ahead. I'm not kidding you, I actually thought that it was someone dressed up as the Chuck E. Cheese mascot! If I hit this thing, it would have probably totaled my car. So, I flashed my high beams a few times and blew my horn in an attempt to scare it out of my path. Although, I don't really think that the rat was intimidated by any of this, he did scurry off to the side of the road and I was able to pass without incident.

I'm assuming the reason for so many of the city rats can be blamed, at least partially, on the amount of trash on the streets. On numerous occasions, I have been sitting at a red light and watched the driver in front of me roll down the window and toss a bag of trash right onto the street. In most cases, it's usually a fast food bag. But I've also seen people empty out their butt-filled ashtrays onto the street as well as half eaten food, beer cans and in one extra special episode, a baby's used diaper. I never understood why people do stuff like this.  There are trash cans everywhere. Is it really asking too much to hold your garbage until the nest time you pass one? People just don't seem to have any community pride in much of the inner city....

Back in the 1970's, city officials introduced a clean-up campaign known as Trash Ball. Community trash cans were painted white and topped off with an orange rim in attempt to make them look like a large basketball net. Attached to each can was a metal sign that said things like Slam It, Dunk It, Hook it, etc. This was supposed to encourage residents to "shoot" their trash into the can instead of tossing in onto the street. Well, I guess Mayor Schaefer and company had good intentions, but they put a little too much faith the the basketball skills of Baltimoreans. People would attempt to shoot their trash into the can, but more times than not, they missed. And as a result, it was common to see a large collection of "missed shots" lying on the sidewalk next to the can. So, in effect, it turned decent people into unsuspecting litterbugs.

And what is it with people in the city throwing trash into the sewers and storm drains? No wonder there's flooding every time we have a thunderstorm. The sewers are all clogged up with garbage!

And then there's the graffiti problem. You'll see incoherent words and symbols spray painted over bridges, buildings and bus stops. I remember one downtown building where the property owners would whitewash all of the graffiti one day only to have new graffiti appear the next day. Most of these spray-painters like to call themselves grafitti "artists", but I never saw them for anything except vandals. I remember the scene in the movie "Colors" where the two cops (played by Sean Penn and Robert Duvall) catch a graffiti "artist" in action. They take away his can of paint and spray it in his face. Of course, if Baltimore City cops did that, someone would videotape it and post it on You Tube. This, of course, would ultimately end up with the cop losing his job and the graffiti "artist" getting an undisclosed settlement from the city.

Now, I don't know if Baltimore is the third dirtiest city in the entire country. But, I do think that there's plenty of room for improvement. Come on people, pick up your damn trash!

kw

Bring Back The Real Refs!

Watching this year's NFL games with the replacement referees is really tweaking my nerves. Their ridiculous antics continue to give the NFL more reasons to give the real refs what they're asking for. Football is a huge business and nothing less than professional officiating should be accepted. Fans spend a lot of money on tickets, jerseys, memorabilia and in my particular case, beer. So, as die-hard football fans, don't we deserve better than this?

At times, the game has looked more like a Three Stooges episode rather than a professional football game. The replacement refs have shown on numerous occasions that they don't even understand the rules. I can understand a referee missing a call every now and then, but at the very least, he should know the rules. Here are a few of the better moments from this season:

• Rams running back, Steven Jackson, fumbled the ball and it was recovered by the Redskins. Although the play was ruled a fumble by the officials, the Ram's head coach threw the challenge flag. Then after the review, the ball was awarded back to the Rams. One major problem: A coach is NOT allowed to challenge a play when a fumble is ruled on the field. Actually, the Rams should have been hit with a 15 yard penalty for challenging a "non-challengable" play.
• Bengals QB Andy Dalton threw an incomplete pass to AJ Green. All right class, who can tell me what happens to the clock when there's an incomplete pass? That's right, the clock stops! But the officials, who are responsible for monitoring the game clock, didn't catch it and the clock continued to run. I hate when that happens....
• And in last night's game between Atlanta and Denver, a fight broke out on the field. One player threw a punch right in front of the ref which ended with the ref flat on his ass. I seriously think that a regular ref would have tossed the player out of the game. But not the replacement ref. In fact, he didn't even throw a flag!

Are these guys referees or rodeo clowns??

Watching the game over the past couple of weeks, I have seen many blatant calls that were totally missed. Many of which had tremendous potential to change the outcome of the game. Who knows where these guy's heads are? 

And we just informed today  that one of the referees for the Ravens/Eagles game this past Sunday had Philadelphia RB LeSean McCoy on his Fantasy team! I wonder if that was the same ref that threw the bullshit offensive-hold flag on Raven's receiver Jacoby Jones in the end zone?

Maybe I'm being a bit too critical. After all, many of these guys, up until recently, were coaching division II and III schools. And one guy actually came to the big show via the Lingerie Football League! I have to assume that women running around the field in their underwear is vastly different than your average NFL player. Not that I have anything against women running around in their underwear, but....oh nevermind. See how easily one can get distracted with all of this nonsense?

So, Mr. Goodell, do what you've gotta do. But get the professionals back on the field asap! The players and the fans both deserve it! The officiating circus that we've been watching so far this season really needs to pack up and leave town......

kw

Schools & Metal Detectors

Way back when I was a teenager, I can remember going to see a low-budget movie called "Class of 1984". It dealt with a futuristic school system that was in decay from gangs, drugs and violence. The one scene that struck me as far-fetched was where the students had to pass through a metal detector as they entered the school building. Keep in mind, this was back in the early 80's when the idea of walking through a metal detector on your way to Biology class seemed so unbelievable.

Fast forward to the year 2012 and we see that fiction has become fact. Some schools have had metal detectors since the 90's while many more are contemplating installing them. This is in response to the numerous shootings and other weapon incidents in America's schools.

Most of us are aware of the tragedy that occurred at Colorado's Columbine High School in 1999 where 14 students (and one teacher) were shot to death. But since then, nearly 150 additional people have been killed as a result of school shootings. In reality, school shootings have been going on since the 19th century. And unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be stopping. Just a couple of weeks ago, a student was shot at school near my hometown of Baltimore. And in the past week, there have been two other instances of students bringing guns into area schools.

So, how do we stop it? Do we put metal detectors in all schools? Do we set up TSA-type agents near every school entrance? Of course, that would inevitably open up a never-ending supply of groping lawsuits.

I think we really need to look into the root of the problem. For some people, it's politically convenient to blame everything on the guns. After all, you can't have a shooting without a gun, right? But is that really the problem? Saying that guns are the reason behind school shootings is like saying that box-cutters were responsible for 9/11.

However, I do think that people who are irresponsible with their firearms should be held accountable. If someone (like a student) gets hold of your gun because you failed to secure it, you share the responsibility for anything that happens with that gun. In many of today's shootings, guns were effortlessly obtained through family and friends. If just a few of these guns were safely secured, maybe a few more kids would have ended the day on a school-bus instead of an ambulance....

Here's staggering statistic: According to the US Department of Education, in the 1998-99 school year, 3523 students were expelled for bringing a firearm to school. And roughly roughly 350 of these kids were elementary students!

Apparently, many of the school shooters have acted out violently in retaliation for being bullied. It's estimated that 71% of school shooters were motivated by being bullied. This is something that has become a huge problem in our schools and can not be ignored. In the recent Baltimore school shooting, I was told by one of the parents that the shooter had been a victim of bullying throughout last year's school year. On the first day of class, I was also told the kid was sitting in the cafeteria when another group of kids threw food on him. This prompted him to retrieve his gun which was hidden in a school bathroom,. In the end, a special needs student was on his way to the hospital with a gunshot wound. I'm certainly not excusing the shooter's actions, but maybe, just maybe, there were some things that could have prevented the whole incident.

Bullying definitely needs to be addressed and taken seriously by parents, teachers and school administrators. Close personal friends have informed me of incidents which lead me to believe that bullying is often casually dismissed in today's schools. The recurring violence should be a pretty good indication that something is seriously wrong. Getting an education shouldn't have to be painful.

I'm not sure what we need to do to create a safer learning environment for our kids. But I'm pretty sure the answer lies a lot deeper than metal detectors......

kw

Should Baseball Have Instant Replay?

While watching the end of the Oriole's/Yankees game on Saturday night, there was a close play at first base that resulted in the final out of the game and another come-from-behind win for the O's. But after reviewing the play (which consisted of Yankee's slugger Mark Texiera sliding headfirst into first base), it was pretty clear that the runner was actually safe. This would have given the Yankees at least one more at-bat and possibly changed the outcome of the game. But since there was no option to review the on-field call, the game abruptly ended with Texiera spitting out some dirt and what I assume were some colorful words for the first base umpire.


Currently, instant replay can only be used to help umpires determine the outcome of a home run. Basically, the instant replay can be used to determine:

• Whether a home run ball was fair or foul
• Whether the ball actually left the playing field
• Whether the ball was subject to fan interference 

The Baltimore Oriole's could have likely benefited from the fan interference rule in a 1996 playoff game with the Yankees. But unfortunately for the O's, the home run replay wasn't an option back then. In that case, a 12 year-old Yankee fan clearly reached over the fence and deflected a ball hit by Derrick Jeter which ultimately resulted in a home run. There's no telling whether or not Baltimore's Tony Tarasco would have made a play, but it appeared at the very least, that the ball would not have been a home run. Many Oriole fans are still bitter over the incident, feeling that it cost their team a trip to the World Series.

So, this brings up the question: Should instant replay be used in any controversial call in Major League Baseball?

We've already seen the delays in the NFL due to the instant replays. Although, they really are beneficial at times, do we really want to add a delay to a much slower paced sport like baseball? In football, you have twenty two players on the field moving all at once. No matter how good the referee is, there is inevitably going to be blown calls. So, I feel that there is indeed a need for the replay option in football. However, in baseball, things are much more deliberate. In other words, when a runner is heading to base, the umpire usually has more than enough time to position himself to make an accurate call. In football, chaos can ensue at any moment and catch the refs completely off guard, making it almost impossible to make the right call.

Aside from the controversial game between the O's and Yanks, there are many other pivotal playoff and World Series games that have been affected by blown calls. In one of the most infamous blown calls of all time, the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals were robbed of a World Series crown when Kansas City's Jorge Orta was called safe on a play were replays confirmed that he was clearly out. If the right call had been made, the Cardinals would have been celebrating. Instead, they went on to lose the game, and ultimately the World Series, to the Royals.

And on an individual basis, what baseball fan can forget Detroit's Armando Galarraga's perfect game in 2010 that was stolen due to a blown call at first base, which would have resulted in the final out. This guy pitched perfectly against the first twenty-six batters only to have number twenty-seven reach base on a blown call. So, instead of Galarraga going into the record books, he joined a list of many others who came so close. What a let-down......

Will baseball ever go to a replay system where any call can be reviewed? Or will there only be certain parts of the game, such as home runs, that will be eligible for a second look? Maybe only playoff and World Series games would be open to instant replay? One thing is for certain, when it's your team that's on the losing end of a bad call, the replay option sure sounds like a good thing.

And I know Yankees fans were upset about the blown call on Saturday night. And rightly so. But after the 1996 playoff incident, you're not going to get a whole lot of sympathy from this O's fan. Umpires are human and occasionally make mistakes. So for now, we're just going to have to accept it......

kw