Umpires can be out of line, too

By Jorge Bannister
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Manny Ramirez. Utter those two words anywhere near a Red Sox fan and they’re sure to go into a frenzy.

Utter those two words to umpire John Hirschbeck, and he’s liable to throw you out like he did the slugger Tuesday night.

Let’s get one thing straight: I have no problem with umpires tossing players or coaches. In fact, I enjoy when the super stars get tossed more so than the Nick Green’s of the world.

(As an umpire for Little League and Babe Ruth games I haven’t tossed anyone yet. As a coach for a 13U AAU baseball team, I was tossed.)

With the Los Angeles Dodgers in Queens to play the New York Mets, Man-Ram wasn’t keen on some of the strike calls coming from Hirschbeck and barked at him for it.

Late in the game, it was more of the same, close calls not going Man-Ram’s way. After barking at Hirschbeck, Ramirez started his (extremely slow) stroll out to left field but not before tossing his bat, helmet and elbow guard — the elbow guard was tossed up in the air and landed, miraculously, in the right-handed batters box.

Hirschbeck didn’t even see the tossing of the elbow guard. He saw Ramirez fling his bat and helmet toward the Dodgers dugout, but he didn’t see the tossing of the elbow guard or where it landed. He was too busy looking into the crowd behind the plate to notice. However, he looked up toward the press box area, pointed at Man-Ram and, with a wave of the finger, tossed him.

Nobody knows what was said between the two except for Hirschbeck and Ramirez. Unfortunately, Major League Baseball, to my knowledge anyway, does not make incident reports filed by umpires available to the public.

I can see it now — REASON FOR EJECTION: He said I was doing a terrible job with the strike zone tonight..

Do you wanna hear something funny? He was terribad behind the plate. That’s right, terribad; a combination of terrible and bad. (I stole it from a friend. You can have it, too, if you’d like.)

The ejection, from the replay I’ve seen anyway, was unwarranted.

Major leaguers throw their stuff all the time and, yes, it’s a bad example for kids. And while big leaguers have to answer to owners and possible docks in pay, I suppose parents can dock their kids’ allowance for the week.

Some fans feel that the people in attendance at a baseball game go there to see the super stars and not the umpires. While that may be true, if the super star is acting like a complete jerk, the umpire is well within his rights to toss him.

That being said, I didn’t see Ramirez’s lips move as he was tossing his gear while making his stroll out to the outfield. If the elbow guard didn’t land anywhere near the batters box, Ramirez would’ve finished the game.

Mountain West, WAC had to do it

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Don't blame the Mountain West and the WAC for joining the BCS.

They fought a valiant battle, but in the end, it was all about survival. Several times over the years, there has been a Boise State or a Utah that has threatened to blow up the BCS once and for all. But it never happened. They couldn't beat it, so they had to join it.

The worst part about the whole thing is everytime a non-BCS team ended up faltering in its quest to screw up the system, the powers that be would say, "See? The system works."

Well, it still doesn't work. Just because it's better than the old corrupt system does not mean that it is a good system.

It is still unbelievable that so many conferences and Notre Dame would be so against the only truly proper way of determining a champion - a playoff. It's something that should happen in college football for two reasons. First, the fans want it.

But secondly, and seemingly more important to conference officials, it would make them more money. Think of the ratings and advertising dollars a playoff would bring in. Think of the borderline fans that would tune it. They do it for college basketball. Why wouldn't they do it for football? Face it, as Americans, we love drama and there's no better place to get great sports stories than in a tournament. Underdogs and upsets are what make sports great. Remember what George Mason's run in the NCAA basketball tournament in 2006 did for college basketball? Even to a lesser degree, having Bemidji State (ranked 16 out of 16 teams in the NCAA hockey tournament) in the frozen four peaked more interest in the event than normal.

But the BCS is the system we have and, well, it's what we're going to have to accept as being around for a long time with it's two biggest opponents joining its ranks.

But what were the MWC and WAC supposed to do? Let their conferences wither and die while the larger conferences bathe in their riches? No. They needed to survive and this was the only way they could. It doesn't make them hypocrites.

Let's just hope that now they're in, they can influence some changes from the inside.

Tough Titan: It's not all football all the time for Durand

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Ryan Durand's got a little free time on his hands and he's not upset one bit that he's away from organized football.

"Right now I'm not 100 percent focused on the team; you need your down time," said Durand, a 7th-round draft pick trying to make the team with the Tennessee Titans.

Currently, Durand is back home enjoying time with his girlfriend, friends and family. But he's still training hard with Mike Boyle in Boston, and tries to find a football field to do more conditioning on after his workouts are complete. 

His field of choice at the moment? Fitchburg State College.

"You do this so when you go to camp you won't be so sore," Durand said.

Durand reports back to Tennessee on July 30 and Training Camp officially opens on July 31.

The former Syracuse University guard is also excited about putting his autograph on his first professional contract.

"I went up to the GM's office and signed it," said Durand, who did that over two weeks ago.

Durand confirmed to Fan Fanatic Sports that he inked a four-year deal.

"It's better to get a three-year deal, but (the Titans) said they only give four-year deals to 7th-round picks," Durand said. "I was very excited about it. I was very glad to get it done with and glad to have some money in my pocket."

So what is Durand going to do with some of the money?

"I'm definitely going to get a new cell phone ... mine's a piece of junk," he joked. 

He also plans to put a good chuck of it in the bank just in case the NFL doesn't work out.

LISTEN UP ROOKIE

Durand and the rest of the NFL rookies got an orientation on the life of a professional football player at the end of June in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., at the Rookie Symposium. 

Durand was impressed with the speeches given by Super Bowl champion head coach Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers and former NFL wide receiver Chris Carter.

"(Tomlin) stressed coming into camp in shape, the in-shape man will win the job," Durand said. 

Carter, a future Hall of Famer, spoke on the last day and shared his positive and negative stories through his 16-year NFL career.

"He talked about not taking this opportunity for granted," Durand said. 

What I've learned about sports this week!

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

As I was driving into work, listening to to the radio, an idea for an article popped into my mind. This is the resulting brain activity, or fart, so let's see how this goes.

What I learned about Sports this week

1. The Boston Celtics are now a much better team. The addition of Rasheed Wallace is huge for team that had serious depth issues, especially going big. You know what ticks me off though. I can't stand how some people around here are ripping Sheed' for being unprofessional, and impulsive at times when they easily forget about the Paul Pierce ejection and wrapped head a few years ago. Speaking of Paul Pierce, it still get my blood pumping when I remember how he didn't to lose any street cred so he never identified the guy who stabbed him. That is why I don't like Paul Pierce.

2. The Boston Red Sox need Roy Halladay. The Sox are now tied for first place with the New York Yankees, who just happen to have one of the scariest lineups in baseball. In order to win this division the Red Sox still need more pitching. Give up prospects to get a hall of famer.

3. I learned how to break through a full court press in basketball. I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to the x's and o's of bball, so a serious shout out needs to be made to Sarah Palin. At least she knows something about a subject.

4. David Ortiz is not done. Whatever he did, he's turned his dismal season around. He'll never be the Ortiz of a few years ago, but he's hit .291, 8 HR and 20 RBI over the past month. The Red Sox will certainly take that now.

5. Manny Ramirez can still rake. Maybe he never doesn't need PED's or he's not off them. I don't know, but he's looked pretty good since his return. In no way, shape or form am I a Manny fan, but the strike 3 call he got when ejected the other day was a terrible call. Manny just needs to realize you can't throw your equipment near the ump.

Have a great weekend!

How will you remember McNair?

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

If you're a football fan, you'll probably remember Steve McNair as one tough quarterback for the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens. If you're not a sports fan, you'll remember him for being that football player that got shot to death by his 20-year-old girlfriend.

Really, it doesn't even matter how you remember him. 

The bottom line is that a life was cut way too short -- McNair was only 36 -- and it's simply a sad story.

When I first heard McNair was killed, I got that pit in my stomach and just started feeling bad for his family, friends and the millions of Titans fans that worshiped No. 9, who was no doubt the face of the Titans franchise.

I know there's many people out there that want to knock McNair down because he was seeing another woman even though he was still technically married, but I'm not going there. 

We all make mistakes in life -- some more than others -- but McNair never fumbled with his commitment to his community. He proved to be a great citizen in his community, always giving back and helping others in need.

On the field, he was just solid. He had an arm that kids dream about -- he always seemed like he could chuck that ball up to the moon -- and he could also beat you with his legs. Remember, McNair was that rare double-threat (passing, rushing) and a three-time Pro Bowler and 2003 co-MVP with Peyton Manning.  

But what separated him from other NFL quarterbacks was his toughness (see former New England Patriots QB Steve Grogan). Didn't it always seem like McNair was on the injury report with some sort of bump and bruise? But you always knew he would play whether he was listed as doubtful or questionable. 

That's the confidence you had in McNair. You always knew he'd show up, play hard and give his team a chance to win. 

Being tough is a characteristic that can't be taught or coached. You're either not afraid to run through a wall or you stop well short to not get injured. With McNair, you knew he'd not only run into the wall, he'd run through it for his teammates, coaches and fans.

How will you remember McNair? Will you remember his life or his death?

Fantasy Baseball: Frozen Ropes

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Welcome to the final Frozen Ropes of the first half. Since the All Star break is next week, I'm going to do something different for this article. I'm going to go over the Top 5 fantasy hitters of the first half, the Top 5 busts of the first half, and finish it off with 5 hitters who are having much better years than I anticipated.

The Best:

1. Albert Pujols - .332, 32 HR, 83 RBI, 68 R, 10 SB

All I really have to say is WOW! This type of first half reminds me of the good ol' steroid years. I'm not stupid enough to allege anything, so don't take that statement the wrong way. FFS is not looking for another Raul Ibanez incident. What he's done is even more amazing considering he hasn't had a consistent hitter behind him all year. He should top 50 homers and 130 RBI easily.

2. Carl Crawford - .313, 8, 38, 58, 44

This is exactly the type of year Crawford can have when he's healthy. His legs are obviously back as his major league leading 44 stolen bases attest to. He'll never hit 30 homers, but around 20, 80+ RBI, 100+ Runs all lead to an amazing year. Watch out for the Rays in the 2nd half.

3. Prince Fielder - .312, 22, 77, 54, 0

Many people think he had a down year last year when he hit only 32 homers and had 102 RBI. That may be true, but now he's hammering the ball once again and is part of one of the best 3-4 combinations with Ryan Braun. He did have a very good 2nd half last year, so look for more of the same.

4. Tori Hunter - .305, 17, 65, 57, 13

I am going to steal a line from someone on ESPN, but I can't remember who said it so I apologize. Tori Hunter is like fine wine. He gets better with age. He's one of the early leaders for AL MVP as he's been huge for the Angels. He's well on his way for career bests in average, home runs, RBI, slugging, OBP, OPS, walks and stolen bases. Not bad for someone who just 34 and is playing in his 13th season.

5. Hanley Ramirez - .348, 14, 60, 51, 12

I've said it many time before, but HanRam is doing exactly what the Marlins wanted him to do when they moved him from leadoff to third in the batting order. He's now in a position to drive in runs, and already have 60 RBI on the season. His career high is 80, so he should smash that. His runs scored are down this year, but that's a simple case of not hitting leadoff. He's one of the most exciting players in baseball so watch him every chance you get.

The Worst:

1. Jimmy Rollins - .227, 7, 34, 49, 13

J-roll is in his 9th full season right now and it's clear that he's on the downside. I know he had a better 2nd half last season, but I don't see a turnaround this season. He's been downright awful so far, and if the Phillies were smart, they would not deal shortstop prospect Jason Donald.

2. Russell Martin - .255, 1, 25, 34, 8

The love muscle is one of my favorite players to don the signature uniform of the LA Dodgers. If you go back and look at my predictions, I actually said he was going to be in the NL MVP discussion. Boy, was I wrong. Really wrong. He only has 1 home run this season. 1 home run! I have no explanation as to what happened to him. He seems to get serious this offseason when it came to his diet and training, but none of that has helped.

3. Geovany Soto - .230, 8, 27, 19, 1

In his defense, he did start of the season with an injury. Unfortunately he hasn't been able to right the ship since. The Cubs hope it's a simple case of the sophomore slump. Soto's season is actually a microcosm of the Cubs season. High expectations and not delivering on them.

4. Magglio Ordonez - .260, 4, 28, 30, 3

I think Maggs is done. He's had a terrible season so far, and has relegated to a platoon. The platoon just may be a device to not allow him enough at bats to vest his option for next season. They're still in the divisional race, so let's see if he can turn it around for the Tigers in the 2nd half.

5. Chris Davis - .202, 15, 33, 31, 0

I was so high, so was everyone else, prior to the season. He had such a great 2nd half last year, that I thought he'd translate that into a full season. Of course he's still hit 15 home runs this year, but his average is awful and he's already struck out 114 times in only 258 at bats. Let me put is this way. He strikes out 44% of the time. Yikes! He may be damaged good this season, but still think he can be a productive power hitter in the majors.

6. Injury Busts - This is just a short list of top players who have struggled with injuries and their return from them. Jose Reyes, Josh Hamilton, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Quentin and Vlad Guerrero.

Pleasant Surprises:

1. Mark Reynolds - .259, 24, 62, 54, 15

He's can pretty much say he's a proven power hitter now. What I don't get is the 15 stolen bases. Talk about finding ways to increase your fantasy value

2. Raul Ibanez - .312, 22, 59, 54, 1

Before getting injured he was having a fantastic season. It looks like he'll be activated this weekend, so hopefully he can come back and enjoy Citizens Bank Park like the start of the year

3. Justin Upton - .296, 16, 50, 53, 12

J-UP has burst on the scene this year. He has more potential than his older brother, BJ, and has been pounding the ball. He's still so young, so look for him to be one of the better outfielders for the next 10 years.

4. Paul Konerko - .304, 16, 59, 39, 0

As a former Dodger's farmhand, he's always been a favorite of mine, so it brings a smile to my face to see him playing so well. Even before he hit 3 homers and 7 RBI in a game this week he was having a great season. I really thought he was done after last year, but once again I was wrong

5. Juan Rivera - .313, 16, 52, 36, 0

Apparently this is what happens when Rivera is healthy and gets playing time. This is the reason why the Angels have held onto him this long during his many injuries. He's been huge for the Angels during Vlad's injury and lack of power production this year.