Ahhhhhhhh, Summer!

Birdie’s Rocket to the Pennant
In 1966, Cleveland Indians manager Birdie Tebbetts put together his “Rocket to the Pennant.” It was a sort of chart for success that helped monitor the Indians’ won/loss record for the season. It appeared in the daily paper as a rocket with a caricature of manager Birdie guiding the progress across the top of the sports page. Unfortunately, the rocket blew up sometime in August as the team finished the season at 81-81 after starting out 10-0. Borrowing Birdie’s Rocket, here is how the remainder of the season needs to play out to win the Central Division and make the playoffs:

• 9/28 90 wins
• 9/21 86 wins
• 9/14 83 wins
• 9/7 78 wins
• 8/31 74 wins
• 8/24 71 wins
• 8/17 67 wins
• 8/10 63 wins
• 8/3 59 wins
• 7/31 56 wins
• 7/27 54 wins
• 7/13 48 wins
• 7/6 45 wins
• 6/30 41 wins
• 6/22 37 wins
• 6/15 33 wins
• 6/12 31 wins

Not Quite As Bad As Gasoline Pricing…But Just As Sickening!
Ex-ref Tim Donahy, on the verge of being sentenced for his involvement in a gambling scandal as an NBA referee, stated that “rigging” of games is more widespread in the NBA. Commissioner David Stern dismissed the allegation claiming it was “baseless.”
Hopefully, Stern is just doing damage control and will launch a full-scale investigation (or ask that the FBI investigation continue). Tim Donahy may have ulterior motives to reduce or eliminate jail time that should accompany his upcoming sentencing, but just because a dishonest ref “blows the whistle” on his counterparts and league officials does not mean that a problem does not exist. Stern dismisses the claim saying, “He turned on basically all of his colleagues in an attempt to demonstrate that he is not the only one who engaged in criminal activity." Anyone who watched the Cavaliers – Wizards playoff series knows that Lebron James’ mother was a more effective whistle blower than the refs assigned to that series. The Cavaliers eventually outplayed the Wizards but the Wizards could have lost the series due to player suspensions if the refs were not looking the other way. Both the NBA and MLB are in desperate need of strong commissioners, the likes of the NFL’s Roger Goodall.