Shooting from the lip

A look back at the weekend in televised sports ...

Best coverage
Two weeks after NBC glossed over the death of Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby, the network recovered with an outstanding examination of horse safety during Saturday's Preakness preview. Bob Costas, at his absolute best in such moments, led a thought-provoking roundtable with veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage, former jockey Gary Stevens, Eight Belles owner Larry Jones and New York Times columnist Bill Rhoden, a critic of horse racing.

The part that remains troubling is Bramlage said that he found nothing in the post-mortem examination of Eight Belles that suggested she was predisposed to the injuries and that there is no proof anything is wrong with racing 2- and 3-year-olds. Stevens said jockey Gabriel Saez did nothing wrong. Jones said Eight Belles was never given steroids or painkillers in his care. The bottom line is, once again, nothing could have been done to prevent her death, and it's all chalked up to, "Well, that's just what happens sometimes.'' And that's not good enough. It's not good enough for opponents of horse racing and, most of all, it shouldn't be good enough for those who love horse racing.

After the Kentuck Derby and after Barbaro's death, I called for horse racing to be abolished. We all know that is never going to happen. There's too much money in it. But perhaps Eight Belles' death will lead the sport to re-examine itself. It has started and needs to continue studying breeding, racetrack surfaces, the use of painkillers and steroids. Most of all, it has become clear that the sport needs a national governing body. And don't just talk about changes. Don't say you're "looking at it.'' Do something.

The outrage for those of us bothered that horses are dying for the sake of money and sport is that it appears we are the ones leading the charge. Shouldn't it be the lovers of horse racing carrying the torch? Instead of shrugging shoulders, lashing out at those who want something done and saying, "Hey, stuff happens,'' those in the industry must step up to improve conditions for the horses they love. A national governing body would be a good start.

Longest show
While NBC should be praised for dedicating a good chunk of its Preakness preview show to Eight Belles and horse safety, the show was too long. Two hours of preview. That's approximately one minute of preview for every second of the race. That's a little much. The show was so long that it had not one, but two features on Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow.

Just a few years ago, Dutrow was a lost soul, mixed up in drugs, homeless and responsible for a daughter whose mother was murdered over drugs. "When I was at the stables, it's where I belonged,'' Dutrow said in the piece. "Whenever I'm (away from there), it's when I get myself in trouble.''

But instead of digging into the depths of Dutrow's problems, many questions were left unanswered. What kind of drugs are we talking about? How did he get the money to pay for them? Whom did he turn to for help? How did he go exactly from a homeless drug addict to trainer of the best horse many of us have seen in years? It would've been a fascinating story if NBC had bothered to tell it.

Number of the weekend
30. Times the Baseball Tonight crew said the name "DEVIL Rays'' during highlights of Saturday's Rays-Cardinals game. The crew members did it to poke fun at getting an equally fun letter from Rays president Matt Silverman telling them they were fined a $1 for every time they said "Devil.'' The crew promised to donate $30 to the Rays fund.

Strangest story
Did ESPN really do a long feature on women’s roller derby? Shown on Sunday morning's SportsCenter and then again Sunday night, the Outside the Lines-produced segment featured new roller derby stars such as Misfit Maiden, Savage Animal, Miss Print and Honey Homicide. Hey, I'm all for fun and games. I even admit that I used to watch and like studio wrestling as a kid. But here's my beef: the network barely covers the NHL and pretty much ignores mixed-martial arts, and yet it has time to feature a sport that isn't even a sport? What made the story off-kilter is it took roller derby a little too seriously — the tongue wasn't planted firmly enough in the cheek.

Best quote
When the Outside the Lines crew wasn't wasting our time with a silly roller derby piece, they were working on an interesting story about possible political ramifications at the Beijing Olympics. On Sunday's show, NBA star LeBron James made it known that he plans to speak out about China's abysmal human rights record during the Olympics, and that he hoped the American basketball team had a "gameplan on how to attack the situation.''

Some would say politics and sports do not mix, although I'm sure Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and the late Jackie Robinson might disagree with that. Michael Jordan and Tigers Woods have been criticized for not taking a more active role in political and social causes. However, part of what makes this country great is not only the right to speak out, but the right to not speak out.

But those who wish to speak their minds, particularly at the Olympics, should not be discouraged. The most valid point to come out of the discussion on OTL came from Lake Forest College anthropology of sports professor Holly Swyers, who said: "Sports is where we teach values. It makes a potent field for making a political statement. We teach kids from a very young age the idea of a level playing field and playing fair in sports.''

Best use of Congress
Ever since Congress started digging into baseball's steroid mess and Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter began looking into the Patriots and Spygate, you hear a lot of comments like this: "Doesn't Congress have enough to worry about without getting involved in sports? How about lowering gas prices? How about figuring out how to get us out of Iraq?''

But New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica made a valid point on ESPN's Sports Reporters by pointing out that Congress' involvement in sports has been worthwhile.

Lupica: "I always love it when (people say) 'Congress has more important things to worry about than sports.' Now this usually comes from people who have no idea what kinds of hearings Congress is holding when it isn't holding hearings about professional sports. ... For all the times the hearings cross the clown line, the fact is they serve a tremendous purpose, especially in the area of testing.''

Best event coverage
The production crew of ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball turned in an A-plus performance during the Yankees-Mets game, showing several replays of a Carlos Delgado shot that hit the foul pole, but was ruled a foul ball. The video and aftermath even uncovered two other controversies: that the entire foul pole is not painted yellow and that the foul pole at Yankee Stadium might not even be in the right location.

One nit: cameras showed reporters -- I assume they were from the New York papers -- talking to a fan next to the foul pole. ESPN send a camera out to show where the ball hit the foul pole, but why didn't ESPN send out sideline reporter Peter Gammons to talk to the fan as well? Might have made for a fun few moments.

The production also was razor-sharp in other moments: showing how the Yankees executed a rundown and how the third base umpire lined himself up to make sure a runner on third tagged up at the right time on a fly ball. Good stuff.

Comments

A note on derby, you have a valid point about SC not covering MMA and Hockey as well at they should, but did you even watch the piece about derby? In the first minute it was stated that this is NOT like old derby. This is a much more athletic recreation of the old 'sport'. Check out one of the local leagues in Florida, and tell me this isn't a serious sport.

Yes, like the previous commenter stated, modern roller derby IS a real sport! Modern roller derby is not staged, there are no fake fights, and there is no pre-determined winner. Check out www.wftda.org (the Women's Flat Track Derby Association) to see the rules that most modern derby leagues follow.

[Joseph J Marcus]

RE: Strangest Story

Yes, ESPN did air a story on Women's Roller Derby, a very physical and demanding sport. The women who play derby, while having unorthodox professional names such as Misfit Maiden, Savage Animal, etc., are athletes on par Curtis "Cujo" Joseph, Marvin "The Human Eraser" Webster, Michael "Air" Jordan, or any other "mainstream" sports players.

The Roller Derby of today is less WWE and more NFL. While a major component of the game is physical contact, it is limited to within established rules. Faux-fighting, or real fighting, is frowned upon and strictly prohibited by many leagues and the Women's Flat-Track Derby Association (wftda.com), a national organization. The contact is in preventing their offense and assisting your offense in scoring, just as in the NFL and NHL. Also, let us not forget that the Derby players do it with half the protective gear and on wheels.

The women of Roller Derby take their sport very seriously. You should attend a bout before making a judgment on a sport of which you know little.

Two cents indeed. I want a refund.

[Maeleeke]

Wow. A sports writer who's blatently, publicly biased about a sport that he obviously knows nothing about.

You should try watching a roller derby bout. You should go to a practice and watch how these women train. Better yet. You should strap on some skates and see how well you play.

If my father, who's coached some of the most noteable NFL athletes in history and coached in the most noteable football games (Superbowl, Rose Bowl, Pro Bowl) considers roller derby a serious sport, that should tell you something. He couldn't be more proud of me for participating roller derby and has made sure to tell all of his football colleagues about it.

I couldn't be more disgusted with your ignorant comments. Blog or not, as a former journalist I made it a habit to not talk about something I knew nothing about. Give it a try.

[Modiesel]

I agree with the above posts. You need to go see a bout in person before you call Roller Derby silly. So many people put tons of effort into the SPORT and are just now starting to get some recognition; it's unfortunate that you wrote that ignorant piece.

[Bear]

Sure, maybe not as much coverage as baseball, but I have seen plenty of hockey coverage on Sports Center! They report the scores, player stories, the standings. I agree, it's a shame that they don't cover MMA. But is that a reason NOT to spotlight a growing sport? And yes, as others have commented, A SPORT. I look forward to the day where ESPN will hopefully show at least bout highlights, if not full length bouts too! Roller derby is a helluva lot more interesting and exciting than poker for crying out loud...

[J. Obrist]

Dare I call this sexism? Or maybe I'm mistaken and you cover women in sports on another blog.

Although, I must admit, in watching this segment myself I found the story to focus far more on fighting than is realistic. Maybe we can chalk that up to ESPN putting their own little spin on reality. At least the way the sport is maturing my my neck of the woods, the Pacific Northwest, derby is almost a 100% fight free zone.

[Daisy Nuke]

I agree with these other posts. How ignorant can you be? As I read what you wrote, my heart filled with anger, just as it filled with pride when I read others defending the amazing sport of roller derby. I hope you swallow your pride and make it out to a bout so you can see how fun and legitimate our sport is!!

[Vanessa]

you're a douchebag. go see a derby bout and then say it's not a sport. if MMA is a sport, for damn sure Derby is!

[Wanda Fuca]

The modern flat track roller derby totally rocks! It is, by far, my favorite sport.

How about watching some bouts to get a better idea.
Here is a cool site with lots of derby videos
http://www.RollerSport.TV

Check it out!!!

[Peter]

In my opinion, the new wave of Roller Derby is like the NFL and the NHL on quad skates and is one of the most exciting sport and cultural happenings I've seen in the last 30 years. It is very much a real sport and this is coming from a regular joe sports fan who likes Baseball, Hockey and Football. Maybe if ESPN can spare airtime for those athletic card players on the world series of poker, they can spare it for a Roller Derby regional playoff or its national championship.

And Tom, maybe you ought to go back to singing at a Las Vegas casino

[derbydeb]

I went to my first WFTDA bout this weekend and to suggest this is not a serious sport is obviously the observation of someone who has never been. Go to a bout, Mr. Jones. Sit ringside (floor seats if you're brave enough)and get educated! Don't let the funny names fool you, these women ARE althletes and Derby is real. Sexist BS from some uneducated fool is certainly worth the price you are charging. That's MY 2cents, Tom!

[Your in trouble now Tom]

Granted everyone has made some great comments. And yes Roller Derby is a sport, but even Nascar has to fight against this crap journalism. Tom there are several teams in your area. I think you owe these women the time to go share some of your 2 cents with them. Plus the original term is 2 bits (basically where we got quarters from)

Tom respond please! don't let your ego get the best of you.

How many fans at your last NHL bout in Tampa?

Was it close to the 3-5000 we are getting every weekend somewhere in America?

[CarnivorousLicks BCDG]

ESPN doesn't cover hockey because of internal issues between ESPN and the NHL.
It goes without saying nobody should ever talk about negatively about any sport without playing first. Hope you learn to be a better journalist.

[Bitches Bruze]

Our local sports writers thought the same thing about roller derby before they came out and actually watched our bouts and practices.

Prior to our bouts we were included in a piece about the Harlem Globetrotters.

Two weeks ago we were part of the "sports revival of Albany" and included in a piece with Serena Williams, professional hockey, and professional basketball.

If you're as serious about sports writing as we are about our sport, you'll get out there and witness it *before* you write about it. Even ESPN didn't get it all right - because they are attracting advertisers and hyping the margins of derby.

[Will B]

Tom,
First off examine the word sport.

–noun 1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

Yes MMA and hockey are sports. As previously mentioned internal conflicts are the reason for not showing on ESPN.

However to say Roller Derby is not a sport is inane. I challenge you to not only skate amongst a group but to do so while trying to get thru said group as they try to legally stop you. This may seem easy but let me clarify it is not.

These women are part speed skater, part offensive linemen, part strategist. They endurance of a road racing cyclists and in case I forgot to mention where far less padding than most full-contact sports.

Tom before you jump to conclusions about a SPORT you know little about, take the time to meet the skaters and attend the practices. The bouts are real, the sport is real and the injuries are real.

As an announcer of a Roller Derby league, I've seen the blood sweat and tears of these athletes. The hours of practice both on and off skates.

In the past it was not realistically portrayed and there was some choreography but times have changed. This is revised, revamped and really hot. Its grown to over 300 leagues across the globe.

This is the first real SPORT to come out of grass roots america in decades.

What is sport? How do you define it.

[Sasha Haughtbich]

I just want to say Thank You to all of the supporters of roller derby leaving your positive comments! Are you all in Tampa? Our next home game is coming up Saturday June 7th in Temple Terrace (Skateplex at Busch and 56th). Game time ~8pm.
Tom, if you haven't seen roller derby before, I encourage you to come out and see the Tampa Bay Derby Darlins and/or visit our website at www.tampabayderbydarlins.com
We do indeed work very hard and it does take skill and athleticism to be good. We have former speed skaters and a national figure skating (quads)champion on our league. We are a very dedicated and great group of women (and men), so I hope you will come out and show some local support - b/c we're more than just a bunch of girls on skates wearing fishnets and short skirts. We are business women, teachers, nurses, moms, athletes and so much more. Though I guess you'll have to come and meet us to find out for yourself! :)

Best,
*Sasha*

[Flirtin W Disaster]

I'll go one better! I'm sending you tickets to our next bout and when you are so impressed with what you've seen.. you can buy yourself a Tampa Bay Derby Darlins T-shirt and walk around sing the praises of roller derby! I'm glad you wrote this questionable blog, there's no such thing as bad publicity and as an honorable man you will feel the duty to check out what you have so tragically chastised. I can't wait to see your follow up!

[Anne Tagonize]

I think you've got a mob of angry derby girls after you now! That's happens when making flippant comments about our sport.

My body tells me this is a sport...most of us train daily to play this game and trust me, I'd much rather sit at a computer and type useless blog posts all day than work out.

And can you name ONE other amateur sport that consistently brings in 500-3500 PAID admissions?

[DayGlo Divine]

Think roller derby's not a sport? Then strap on a pair of skates and become a ref like I did. See the strategy, quick thinking, and physical agility needed to get through a pack of skaters or keep another from doing the same. Most similarly aggressive contact sports have clearly delineated offensive and defensive roles; in roller derby, skaters do both at the same time, all while on skates. See the injuries -- the hematomas, the dislocations, the broken bones. See the countless hours of blood, sweat, and tears these women dedicate to the sport. See the self-confidence they gain. See their families, who believe so much in what they are doing that they volunteer in any and every capacity to make it happen. See the fact that despite pummeling each other for 60 minutes, when the game ends, they are some of the most positive, kind, and fun people you will ever meet. And if that's enough to believe that roller derby skaters are athletes and that it's a sport, come to a practice for prospective skaters and see the hopefuls, many of whom didn't know how to skate at all when they started or hadn't done so in years. It wasn't very long ago that most of the skaters you see on the track looked just like they do. If what took them from one point to the other isn't athleticism, I don't know what is.

Oh, and after you've been reffing for a while and actually get to know the people on the track, you won't give a rat's about what they wear, and you'll completely understand why they might be a little protective of their identities in real life.

[Bulldog]

The growth of amateur women's flat track roller derby, in brief.

2003: 2 leagues are founded (TXRG, AZRD)
2004: 8
2005: 30+
2006: 120+
2007: 200+
Today: Over 300 leagues, including several dozen outside of the US (according to http://www.derbyroster.com/ )

Every single one of these leagues is a grassroots organization, created and run by the skaters. Many of these women spend the equivalent of a second full-time job practicing and developing their skills as well as taking part in the administration of the league and producing the bouts.

Does it still sound like a joke?

[Sweet N. Lowdown]

Hey Tom,

If you have a minute, check out the first story on this website:

http://facun.com/display?enter=true

My husband is an award winning newspaper photojournalist who has been documenting flat track roller derby for the last two years and will be publishing a photo book on the topic. Browse through the photos - this is truly a real sport and yes, as is probably quite obvious by now, we do take it very seriously.

Peace,

Sweet N. Lowdown
Dominion Derby Girls (WFTDA)
Norfolk, VA
www.myspace.com/jasminebrooke

[DELdaBULL]

Tom,
I am amused at how for a week you have 1 comment, but you say something negative (what 2 sentences?) about roller derby and you gett 22 of them (23 now).

[Tom Jones]

Let me say, for starters, that my comments about roller derby were directed more at the ESPN story than roller derby itself. But, okay, I'm giving in. I plan to attending a local roller derby event as soon as time permits. I promise.

[Callous Lily]

Awesome, Tom! You will not be disappointed. The Tampa Bay Derby Darlins mean business. They have some amazing talent and superb coaching.

[It IS unusual that you don't already love roller derby]

Man, I'm glad you came to your senses Tom. The more I read my fellow derby brethren defend our beloved sport the more pissed I got that you were so careless with your words. Enjoy the bout, although we all know you will.

[Paparoxie]

Hey Tom, put on some skates and see for yourself!

[checkya]

Have fun at the Tampa Bay Roller Derby Bout! I think you'll enjoy what you've obviously been missing out on so far.

Maybe, after you come to your senses, you'll even make it out to see WFTDA Nationals in Portland Oregon in November this year!