The Boycott is Over!

 

The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded away a prospect! Yes, instead of trading for prospects they traded away a prospect for a current big leaguer. The Pirates have acquired first baseman Derrek Lee from the Orioles for Single A first baseman Aaron Baker. Currently Lee is batting .246 with 12 home runs and 41 RBIs. Those numbers may not seem outstanding, but everything about this deal is positive. Since June 17th Lee has been batting .294. Even if Lee is horrible in Pittsburgh it is still a great deal. At the very least it lets us know the Pirates want to win. Which is much more than they have shown in the last 18 years.

For the last 8 years I have boycotted PNC Park, mainly out of anger with the Pirates ownership. I have often asked and argued for people to do the same. I have called people morons for consistently dropping money in ownership's pocket. I stand by my argument that after a team does not try to win, like the Pirates, the fans should quit paying. I would go as far to turn down free tickets. Its not that I hate baseball, I always wanted to go to the games, I love the baseball park atmosphere. However, I have never been and never will be a Pirates fan, at least not while Bob Nutting owns the team. I will not root for a team when I do not respect the ownership. Look at the two teams in Pittsburgh I do cheer for, the Penguins and the Steelers. One is owned by my childhood hero and the other is one the most respected families in all of sports. Nutting's greed has pushed me and many other baseball fans away from ever being true Pirates fans.

The positive to all of this is that it is now okay to enjoy the beautiful baseball facility on the North Shore. For the first time people can go to one of the nicest parks in the league and watch a competitive team. Like so many other people in this city I have wanted to go and enjoy a baseball game at PNC Park, now we can. In my opinion this trade is proof enough that we can and should make our way to a Pirates game this season, while the team is still relevant.

Rank... The Top 10 NHL Free Agent Signings

The NHL has had a busy month of July. Since free agent signing began on July 1st many teams have come unraveled, and others have become Stanley Cup contenders. This edition of Rank examines the ten most significant free agent signings.

10. Erik Cole - Montreal Canadiens

$4.5M - 4 Years
The Canadiens have signed a pure goal scorer. Last season Cole scored 26 goals for the Carolina Hurricanes. In the 05-06 season Cole received a Stanley Cup ring with the Canes, even though he only played in two playoff games. Montreal already had some dangerous scorers and this only adds to that. They certainly could beat out Boston to win the division next season.

9. Tomas Kaberle - Carolina Hurricanes

$4.25M - 3 Years
Kaberle has been to four all-star games and got his first Stanley Cup ring last season with the Boston Bruins. Kaberle has always been a very good offensive defenseman and excellent power play point man. He adds some much needed stability to Carolina's blue line. Even with this signing it is going to be hard for a team like Carolina to surpass Washington and Tampa Bay in that division.

8. Sheldon Souray - Dallas Stars

$1.65M - 1 Year
Not too many guys have a slap shot like Sheldon Souray. He is a two time 20 goal scorer, which is unheard of for defenseman in the modern NHL. Souray fell off the map last season in Edmonton, but then again so did Edmonton. Poor play and a broken hand led to playing 40 games in the AHL and a lack of interest in free agency. That explains the cheap, short term deal. However, when healthy Souray can still be an all-star caliber defenseman and will certainly make the Stars better.

7. Ville Leino - Buffalo Sabres

$4.5M - 6 Years
The embarrassing Philadelphia Flyers cap issues helped lead to Ville heading to Buffalo. He busted out in the 2010 playoffs and continued through last season. He is 27 years old and really hitting his stride. Last season he scored 19 goals and was a +14. He is a perfect player for the Sabres, I cannot think of any forward that fits their system better. I must also mention that Ville Leino is the most stylish dresser in the NHL, so thats an added bonus.

6. Simon Gagne - Los Angeles Kings

$3.5M - 2 Years
When healthy Gagne is one of the best left wings in the game. The problem is he has never played a full 82 games. Even though he missed 19 games with Tampa Bay last season he was a big reason they made it all the way to a game seven in the Eastern Conference Finals. He is a two time 40 goal scorer and has a knack for big moments. Now joining a great young Kings team Gagne can help them become a serious Stanley Cup contender.

5. Jaromir Jagr - Philadelphia Flyers

$3.3M - 1 Year
Jagr surprised everyone by signing with the Philadelphia Flyers. The biggest question mark is who is he now? He spent the last three years in the KHL, so no one is really sure how he will play in the NHL. In his last NHL season with the Rangers, Jagr scored 25 goals and had 71 points. Can he still put up numbers like that or is 39 too old to be a dominant wing in the NHL? A lot of the Flyers season depends on how he plays.

4. Michael Ryder - Dallas Stars

$3.5M - 2 Years
Ryder has been an excellent winger since he broke into the league with Montreal. He truly became a stud last season while helping Boston win the Stanley Cup. He made big plays all over the ice and scored key goals for the Bruins. I must say I was very surprised he did not get a bigger long term contract, and I was disappointed the Penguins didn't take a run at him. Dallas got the most scoring possible this offseason with Ryder and Souray.

3. Tomas Vokoun - Washington Capitals

$1.5M - 1 Year
There is no secret the Capitals only weakness has been goalie. Their plan is now for two time all star Tomas Vokoun  to fill that hole. The problem is Vokoun is 35 years old and has never played for a winning team. I am not sure how he would react to being in a pressure playoff situation, considering he has spent the last four seasons with the laughable Florida Panthers. With such a minuscule contract it appears Washington does not have a lot of confidence in him.

2. Brad Richards - New York Rangers

$6.66M - 9 Years
Brad Richards was the prize of the free agent season. He has never been a big time goal scorer, but has always been a very good playmaker. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy when Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup in 2004. It was blatantly obvious last season the Rangers needed a playmaking center for Marian Gaborik. Now they have that and may be poised to make a serious run at winning the division.

1. Ilya Bryzgalov - Philadelphia Flyers

$5.66M - 9 Years
For the last few seasons Bryz has been an outstanding goalie in Phoenix. He has been mentioned in MVP and Vezina Trophy conversation repeatedly. He took Phoenix from being the laughing stock of the Western Conference to a serious contender. The Flyers may have overhauled their whole team, but they may come out better than before only because of Bryzgalov. He may be the one reason the Flyers stay atop the Atlantic Division.

Dan Shaffer Blog Bonanza

Well first of all, I'd like to wish Bromer Sports a Happy First Birthday and am very glad to have been able to be a part of it up to this point.  So for a special day, I decided I would do something a little different and touch just a bit on a few topics.

MLB:

So did anyone hear about the blind person they let umpire the Pirates game the other night? Oh, wait, he wasn’t blind? Well he could have fooled me.  In all seriousness, as pretty much everyone across America (including Barbara Walters) has said, that was a horrible call and one of the worst that has been seen in a long time.  As upsetting as it was for the game to end that way, when it happened I was somehow not surprised.  You could tell that the umpire was tired and just decided he wanted to go home.  Now while that is one of the worst excuses someone could come up with, there is nothing you can do when he decides he is going to call the runner safe no matter what.  Outside of adding instant replay, which MLB seems reluctant to do, why not try something else to avoid travesties like that?  My suggestion is set a time limit for games or even just extra-inning games.  Would it really hurt to have a 5 hour limit on most games?  If everyone involves becomes unable to perform their duties at a high level wouldn’t it be better to just call it a night and finish up the game the next day?  There are obviously flaws with that idea but it’s better than having some bum decides he is tired and just end the game the way he feels.

NFL:

So very glad the stupid lockout is over.  Not because it means we have our precious football back but it is finally an end to the summer saga that the media likes to beat into the ground each summer (see Favre, Brett).  It will be nice once the season starts back up but until then none of this really has an effect on the end product.  I am glad the Steelers brought Ike Taylor back.  He might not be the flashiest corner but he is good for our team and I could not stomach seeing Willy Gay start for us this season, no way.  Now we set our sights on Willie Colon, who I am not a huge fan of but who is much better than what we put out there last season.  Any other moves that are made will depend on who restructures their contracts, but knowing the Steelers there won’t be many moves of real interest.

NBA:

Let’s go lockout! NBA is not exciting to me until playoff time anyways.  Gives more room for hockey to grab more attention. 

NHL:

Can the season start already? After the disappointing way last season ended for the Pens, it will be great to see all of our stars back out there and hopefully healthy.  With the talent this team has, every season could be THE season.  Even last year was looking pretty promising until Sid’s noggin went silly and Geno’s knee blew up.  Now those two will be coming back extra motivated to show they haven’t lost anything thanks to those injuries and I for one “CAN’T WAIT” to see the kind of show they put on.  I am also interested to see how all of our newer players fit into the equation.  Free agent Steve Sullivan and even James Neal and Matt Niskanen will all have their first real shot to show what they can do on this team.  And lastly, who is going to step up and fill in the last few spots we have?  Players like Mark Letestu, Dustin Jeffery, Eric Tangradi, Nick Johnson, Joe Vitale and newer additions Jason Williams and Steve Macintyre will battle for those precious few spots left on our team.  Will any make a big splash in camp? Will Simon Despres play so above his level that he forces the Pens to give him a shot with the big club? These questions are just the tip of the iceburg (get it?) for why I can’t wait for hockey to return.

MMA:

After my first trip to a live MMA event in June (UFC Live on Versus 4), my interest and excitement for the sport was never higher. Unfortunately there really hasn’t been much to be excited about since then.  Thankfully starting in August there will be a ton of fights in the upcoming months.  Heck, even this weekend is a huge fight between Fedor and Dan Henderson in Strikeforce.  I am pumped to see these two legends go at it.  Also between now and the end of the year, we will see almost every one of the UFC Champions enter the Octagon to defend their belt.  Now because I’m lazy and don’t feel like looking up the exact number I can’t be sure, but at some point in September and October I think there is something absurd like 6 fights in 7 weeks?  Not only is that a huge amount of fights for us fans, but for those of us in a UFC Fantasy League (yes the exsist!) that’s an insane amount of points.  Down with the Polish Powerhouse!

Oh and one more quick one…

WWE:

CM PUNK FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!!

Here’s to another year for the blog!

Peace and Love, Chumps

Dan Shaffer

Women's Soccer

Today the US women's soccer team were part of a shocking and disappointing end to the Women's World Cup. After taking a 1-0 lead in the 2nd half they allowed the Japanese to tie the game with little time remaining. In "extra time" team USA took the lead back on a beautiful header by Abby Wambach.  Then deja vu kicked in and the Japanese tied the game at two. So the incredible back and forth championship game went into a shootout. As I am sure everyone is aware of the Japanese won the shootout, easily.

This game was a real eye opener for me. Not in the sense of becoming a women's soccer fan. This game allowed me to realize everything that is wrong with women's soccer, at least from an American perspective. The problem is simply that you have put the words "womens" and "soccer" together and expect fans to watch. I have no problem with soccer, I love watching the men's world cup. I do not have any interest in watching women's sports though. Each area of these sporting worlds have obvious flaws that need to be dealt with for either soccer or women's sports to become appreciated in America.

The problems for soccer have to deal with the game itself. My biggest issues are with the game clock and officiating.  First off how do you have a 90 minute game that does not end at the 90 minute mark? It is absurd, it takes half the excitement out of the end of the game. Players do not know whether they need to score in the next two minutes or if they have five minutes. The clock should stop when a player is injured, you should not let the clock run and just add a random amount of time after the 90 minutes. You lose every casual fans interest and understanding of the game when you do that. The officiating of these games is impossible to understand. There is no cut and dry ruling for what a yellow or red card is. Also how does any sport offer a warning? If flow of play must be stopped because a player got stepped on or tripped that should be a penalty. The reason soccer is not and never will be popular in America is because the game is completely based on the subjectivity of the officials, nothing is objective. My biggest gripe about today's game is that it was the championship game of the biggest women's soccer tournament in the world and the championship was decided in a shootout! Imagine if the Super Bowl was decided by a field goal kicking competition. That is exactly what happened today. I guess I should be satisfied they didn't let them game end in a tie and saw the trophy in half.

The fact that it is a women's sport does not help the cause either. America has a very deep rooted lack of interest in women's sports of all kinds. One of the problems being that most American's that watch sports on television are males between the age of 15 and 50, so most of these fans see female athletes as little more than objects of sexual desire. Which if you disagree with that sentiment you are blind. Look at the last 2 weeks, which athletes name has been brought up more than any other athlete in the world? Hope Solo, because she is arguably the most attractive woman on the soccer team. Most of the talk was not about how great of a goalie she is, and she is a great goalie, but it was about how beautiful she is. The same goes for all female athletes if they are attractive, like Danica Patrick or Maria Sharapova, they are famous. However, if they are just great athletes you do not hear about them. The other reason that women's sports are disregarded is a little less obvious. In Europe women's sports are very popular, that is because they appreciate them as something completely separate from men's sports. When we watch a women's basketball game we say they do not shoot, run, or dunk like the men. We seem to be incapable of appreciating the women's game separately from the men's. If American sports fans could begin to get over these two issues there might be a place in the American sports world for them.

I do not believe soccer will ever be popular in this country, without serious changes to the game. I also think that women's sports will continue to go on unappreciated and unnoticed. With the flash of excitement over US women's soccer there is a lot of talk of a professional women's soccer league flourishing in America. No such thing will happen. You may see a push for it, but it will fizzle out quickly. The same thing happened after the team won the World Cup in 1999. Then we went a whole decade without even thinking about them. I am proud that our team played so well in this World Cup and that they did their best bring a championship to the United States. Hopefully we'll get excited for them again four years from now.

No Child Left Behind?

Hundreds of schools are laying of teachers & administration across the country due to budget cuts, many kids are given very little opportunity to get the best education. What is even more unsettling is when teachers alter students tests scores to pass them to the next grade.

Atlanta schools have been put on the radar, as a decade long investigation led to 178 teachers & principals accused of cheating on state standardized test scores. Investigators have been looking into test scores since 2001 when test scores suddenly sky rocketed . The investigation led to 82 teachers confessing to changing wrong answers on tests to pass students. The Atlanta investigation is the largest cheating scandal in U.S. history.

Some teachers have confessed to having private meetings after school to change student's answers. Though none of the teachers wanted to be identified, it will only be a matter of time the investigation report will be available to the public. Investigators have found altered test scores starting with Kindergarten students.

It seems like the children are not even given a chance to learn starting at age five. All because teachers feared of losing their jobs because of low test scores. Now many schools are out of teachers & thousands of children are more than left behind. Having to play catch up for teachers making a horrible decision & gambling to future of many children in the state.

Tax payers pay for schools to do their job & teachers have used that money like toilet paper. Now tax payers are still left to wipe up their mess. Many schools will most likely be fined thousands of dollars & many teachers face criminal charges.

What is even more sickening is four district top administrators & two principals have been put on paid leave?! It is ridiculous to continue to pay ignorant individuals for taking advantage of the value of education. They should not be getting paid at all! What is going to happen to all of these children left to transfer to another school district or reading at a first grade level in sixth grade? This is only the tipping point of the fallout of the investigation. There are already other investigations in other states such as Philadelphia, Los Angeles, & Washington D.C. .

I think it's time to scrap the horrible No Child left Behind Act & start from scratch. These children are supposed to be our future & they are being screwed over the day the start school at age five. Hopefully all involved will definitely be held accountable for their actions & other schools change their cheating ways as well.

For more on this story visit: http://www.ajc.com/news/crct-investigators-shift-attention-1020736.html

Where's the color? Where's the good stuff?

Well, now that the BET Awards are over, I guess I can look forward to the VMA's (MTV Video Music Awards). I'm a huge fan of award shows, especially when they are actually entertaining. Like the Tony's, BET awards, & VMA's. Not all music award shows are on point but those that I mentioned at least keep the excitement factor going throughout the show.

The Emmy's were announced & I was not at all surprised. There always seems to be a lack of diversity in their nominations. Of course they focus on shows that are from major networks or familiar with the audience. Out of  the 104 nominations, only 8 actors of a different ethnic background were nominated. That is only 8! 6 actors are black & two are Hispanic. What's the deal? The Academy always seems to overlook the best shows on T.V. as well as the actors. I'm not just irritated about the actors they overlook but there is some great T.V. out there & they always nominate the same shows.

Note to the Academy: The Office isn't funny anymore, there are other funny actors out here besides Alec Baldwin & Steve Carrell, oh, & the reality show competition category sucks!!!

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia was overlooked in the comedy series category. What a shame. Also Ru Paul's Drag Race was not part of the reality category. I never watch the Emmy's, only the red carpet pre-show. Of course I check out the next day on Fashion Police to see who Joan Rivers is going to rip open.



Unfortunately, the Academy always seems to bore the audience that actually watches T.V. . There's a disconnect with the audience unless they decide to look at web shows & shows that are actually good on FX, Comedy Central, & even Sundance. The Academy missed the block again. Are you going to watch?

Finally.......I'm back.

Hey kids. I've been gone for a minute, now I'm back with the Jumpoff! I decided to take a little break to explore my city & enjoy my small break from school. Now, I can get back to the real world. Well I guess the real world in my head & those that can relate. I tried to avoid the news channels on my break but it's just so damn hard! From the crisis of the Debt ceiling to the Casey Anthony case. There are so many crazy things going on in our world, I had to step back & appreciate the small things. I'm glad I did. I try to stick with positive notes in my postings & avoid any negative news. Unfortunately, the media feeds off of the fear of the public. It helps their ratings, but I don't need ratings or views. I'll continue to post what is important to our community & leave on a positive note. With all of that out of the way, here we go!!!!!!!

Is this all a dream?

By Travis Bromer

One game out of first place, a 47-43 record, three all-stars, and high expectations. Who are these guys and what have they done with the Pittsburgh Pirates? At the very least someone should tell them its the all-star break. Usually at this point in the season they are fighting for last place and have no hopes for a .500 record. On second thought lets hope no one tells them and they keep this sham up all summer.

I am not and do not pretend to be a Pirate fan. Personally them winning or losing has no effect on my feelings about baseball or the team. However, it always makes me happy to see any Pittsburgh team doing well. It makes the fans happy, it makes the city seem like a better place, most importantly it gives us a sport to pay attention to during the summer. Even if you never cared about baseball or the Pirates it has always been fun to go to PNC Park. Now you can go there and enjoy more than just the view of the city and the food, you can actually watch a competitive baseball team.

I have boycotted Pirate games since 2004. I have always turned down free tickets and refused to buy any Pirate merchandise. I did this out of disgust. I was disgusted by 18 consecutive losing seasons, not even making an attempt to put together a winning team, the constant trading away of talented players for "prospects", and the lack of respect for their fans. With the rapid turnaround and apparent interest in winning I am thinking about ending my boycott. I will continue to holdout until I see an example of them wanting to win beyond this year. To me that means either trading for a solid major league player at the deadline or at least not trading away Paul Maholm for a "prospect". Just imagine the attitude toward baseball this city would have if the Pirates made a trade to win now as opposed to three years from now.

This biggest question in all this great baseball is, can it continue? Really there is no answer, only time will tell. The team's roster is not much different from last season's when they lost over 100 games. So it is hard to stand up and say they will keep it up. I am still afraid the bottom will fall out soon and they will lose ten in a row. I hope they can keep this up, it would be truly amazing if they shocked the league and snuck into the playoffs. Remember to keep it all in perspective even if this team does not win the division we should be happy. At this point even a .500 record is a great season.