Here’s your bikini of the day from GetABikini.com

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- Jeff Blair’s co-host from 4:00 to 6:00 is Dave Perkins
4 pm: Alan Ashby, Toronto Blue Jays analyst for THE FAN Radio Network;
Marcel Bellefeuile, head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
5 pm: ESPN’s Dan Shulman; Jarrett Bell, writer for USA Today; TSN basketball analyst, Jack Armstrong.

On 640 with Bill Hayes and Watters thanks to Mike S.:
- Scott Burnside of ESPN on the Coyotes
- Fredrik Sjöström of the Maple Leafs
- Jim Barker, head coach of the Argos
- Russ Conway
- Darren Dreger of TSN

Thursday’s Game of the Night is the first (and hopefully not last) non-baseball post. Tonight marks the return of College Football and what a way to kick of the season with one of the great programs in the country Ohio State take on the Marshall Thundering Herd in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State went 11-2 last season and won their fifth consecutive Big Ten title.

Ohio St. has one of the nations most exciting players in College in quarterback Terrelle Pryor, once described as the Lebron James of football, Pryor has received mix reviews in his two years starting for the Buckeyes. In 2009, Pryor threw for 2094 yards completing 56.6% of his passes with 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also lead the Buckeyes in rushing 779 yards with seven rushing touchdowns on 4.8 yards per carry. The junior only threw over 200 yards in a game three times during the year, while only having two games throwing three plus touchdowns. Pryor will have his two favorite receiving options returning in Devier Posey and Dane Sanzenbacher. Posey plays the Santonio Holmes/Teddy Ginn Jr. roll on 60 catches Posey had 828 yards and eight touchdowns. Sanzenbacher plays the Anthony Gonzalez/Brian Hartline roll catching 36 balls with 570 yards and four td’s.

If the 2009 Rose Bowl MVP doesn’t develop as the passer coach Jim Tressel hoped he would when he arrived on campus in 2008, “The Sweater Vest” will have two horses to hand the ball of to in senior Brandon Saine and junior Daniel Herron. Saine on 145 carries last year ran for 739 yards, averaging 5.1 yards a carry and four touchdowns. Herron was equally effective out of the backfield on 153 carries the junior ran for 600 yards and seven touchdowns. Ball control is Ohio St. game in Columbus this season with a defense that ranked in the top five in the nation last year returns its anchor defensive tackle Cameron Heyward as well as its two top tacklers in Ross Homan and Brian Rolle. The Buckeyes held opponents to 12.5 points per game in 2009.

Marshall was 6-6 in Conference USA, is led by a new coach this year in Doc Holliday, are 0-13 against BCS opponents since 2005. Holliday was a member of Urban Meyer’s staff on Florida’s 2006 national championship team. Holliday is gonna rely on running back Darius Marshall, the junior is the heart and soul of The Herd, running for back to back 1000 yards season. In 2009 Marshall ran for 1131 yards averaging 5 yards a carry and 11 td’s to boot.

The Buckeyes, who haven’t dropped a home opener since a 19-0 loss to Penn State in 1978, will try to avoid another scare in their first game after holding on for a 31-27 win over Navy last year.

Ohio State most recently faced Marshall in 2004, winning 24-21.

Eggy doesn’t show up here anymore so I can tell you that I am in Las Vegas without pissing anyone off

Anyways. Recall my post earlier this week about how shitty the in game production of the Toronto Blue Jays and how I think HD is killing pro sports? Well- here in the good ol US of A the McPaper- the USA Today is given out free at most hotels and u’ll never guess what today’s cover story was about- No, not the President’s speech last night- that too was on the front page, but the cover story was about how NFL teams are having to deal with the fact that staying home is just too damn attractive to the common fan:

” When the NFL kicks off the 2010 season next week, about 1 million fans will turn out to watch games in stadiums across the nation.

And in their living rooms, an average of 16 million fans will gather to watch each of the 16 opening-weekend games in what has become the golden age for NFL consumption.

That’s because of big-screen, high-definition TVs, surround-sound systems, channels that allow viewers to watch multiple games at the same time and check on players’ stats, and the NFL’s RedZone Channel — a commercial-free, subscription-based channel that cuts to the most exciting game at anytime.

Together, such innovations during the past decade — driven in part by the NFL’s efforts to expand its reach as the most popular professional sports enterprise — have made the at-home experience better, and cheaper, than going to a stadium for many.

At-home viewing has become so attractive that the NFL — mindful of a 2.4% drop in attendance last season, the second consecutive year with a small decline — is increasingly concerned about making sure that fans consider trips to the stadium to be worth the effort.

It’s a significant challenge: The average cost to take a family of four to an NFL game was $413 in 2009. Throw in traffic jams, misbehaving fans, long lines for expensive concessions and the possibility of bad weather, and it’s not difficult to see why the league’s TV viewership exploded last season to its highest level since 1990.

“They make it mighty attractive to just be at home on a fall Sunday,” says Jody Males, 38, of Pittsburgh. “It’s one of those deals where you’re perfectly content just to sit at the couch and access the stuff they throw at you.”

Sound familiar????? This, sports fans is a big problem and if the NFL is suffering, the National Football league, the greatest marketing game on earth then we have a big problem in the other leagues. The good news is that the fine folks at the NFL get it and are already making adjustments:

“Many teams are getting aggressive about Goodell’s directive to make trips to stadiums more appealing.

They are offering handheld mobile units and smartphone applications that deliver replays, the RedZone Channel, broadcasts of other games, fantasy stats and other information exclusively to fans inside the stadium.

The Dallas Cowboys set a new standard with a massive overhead HD video board that was unveiled last year at the team’s new $1.2 billion stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The New York Jets and Giants opened a shared, $1.6 billion stadium with HD boards this season, and the Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots and Washington Redskins installed giant HD boards this year that cost millions of dollars and will offer fans not just live action and replays but also the RedZone Channel.

The Ravens are among several teams wiring their stadium so fans can use Wi-Fi with their cellphones.

Meanwhile, some teams are testing mobile units that will allow fans to see replays and other games from their seats.

The Patriots are among the teams trying a free smartphone application called YinzCam that fans in club seats can access via a Wi-Fi network. The Miami Dolphins use a handheld unit called FanVision that they distribute to season ticketholders.”

Here is Toronto, perhaps the largest cellular carrier could find away to add in some ingenuity to our baseball club. Anyone think that perhaps someone at Rogers could find a person to talk to at the Dome, or the Jays to offer up a solution??????

In reality, here is all you need to know:

“There’s no reason a fan should feel they’re going to miss anything by going to a game live,” says Brian Rolapp, the NFL’s vice president for digital media.”

That’s the 1 million dollar answer. The question, as far as I’m concerned is, do the powers that be at the NHL, MLB and NBA believe the same thing??????

So far, the answer is a very simple no. At least if you look at our Toronto teams.

“Today, however, the stadium experience has become a tough sell for some fans. Chicago resident Rich Rahn, 64, a former season ticketholder of the Los Angeles Rams and Raiders, says he now avoids stadiums.

“I’m 10 feet away from five screens,” he says of his living room setup. “It’s so much better than paying $65 and up for a ticket. I’ve just lost the enthusiasm to go out and sit in the crowd when I know I could be sitting in front of my TVs and enjoying it much better.”

I don’t want to beat the dead horse- but it was good to see this story so prominently displayed. I wish someone in Toronto sports was paying attention.

The USA Today story on the nfl dealing with improving the stadium experience is here

BTW- come on sports fans, give me some can’t lose bets….

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Here’s your bikini of the day from GetABikini.com

I’m in Vegas and missed the lineups today- but thought I’d give a bikini anyways..

Wednesday’s Game of the Night is at the beautiful AT&T Park in San Francisco, where the Giants (73-60) and Colorado Rockies (69-62) play game three of the series. The series is split a game a piece with the Rockies taking game one on Monday and San Fran won 5-2. Colorado has been terrible on the road this year going 26-41 away from Coors Field, and haven’t won a road series since June 28-30 in San Diego. Despite the poor record away from home the Rockies remain only three games back of the Giants and seven back from the San Diego Padres in the NL West. Tonight’s game has two fire-ballers on the hill, Tim Lincecum (11-9, 3.80 ERA) starts for the G-men, but Lincecum has not been himself in the second half of 2010 season in nine starts Timmy has an ERA of 5.17 with only two wins and five losses striking out only 48. This pales in comparison to his pre all star game numbers in 18 starts Lincecum was nine and four with a 3.16 ERA with 131 strikeouts. Another troubling stat is the tiny right hander is his opponents home run numbers pre all-star game eight in 18 starts, post all-star game seven in nine starts. Maybe hitters have finally caught up to the 26 year old phenomenon or the chemistry with new catcher Buster Posey, but the two time Cy Young winner has slowed down in 2010. On the other side Ubaldo Jimenez (17-5) has a chance to set the Rockies franchise record in wins at 18. After a terrific first half of 2010 had a 2.20 ERA 15 wins one loss and and 113 strikeouts. Jimenez has a 4.01 ERA with two wins and four losses post all-star game. Jimenez is 0-3 in four outings, since matching Colorado’s single-season record for wins.

Here’s your bikini of the day from GetABikini.com

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- Jeff Blair’s co-host from4:00 to 6:00 is Dave Perkins

- JAson DeVos
-Paul Henderson
- JP Ricciardi
-Stephen Brunt
-Mike Sunnucks

On 640 with Bill Hayes and Watters thanks to Mike S.:

- a discussion on the state of the U of T and York football programs

- Sam Gagner of the Oilers

- John Wortheim of Sports Illustrated on the US Open tennis tournament

Tuesday’s Game of the Night takes place at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio. The Chicago White Sox’s (71-60) look to take game two of the three game series from the Cleveland Indians (53-78). The White Sox are about to get a huge upgrade in their line up when Manny Ramirez (.311/8/40 in 66 games) could make his Sox’s debut tonight. Ramirez will be a welcome addition to the South Side’s line up looking for another consistent hitter behind the resurgent Paul Konerko (one of several former Dodgers players on the White Sox roster). Konerko’s been raking this season batting .320 with 32 home runs and 95 RBIs, Alex Rio’s has bounced back from an awful 2009 batting .295 with 19 home runs and 78 RBIs but an often injured Carlos Quentin(.238/24/80 in 112 games) and an underachieving Gordon Beckham (.257/9/47) have left major holes in Chi-towns lineup. Everyone remembers when Manny was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008 the effect he not only had on the line up (batting .398 after the trade) but on the city of L.A. as well. For the first time in a long time baseball was back in the hearts of Hollywood. Now that’s not to say Manny is going to have the same effect he did back in 2008 but any starter that has to look down the line up and see Rios, Konerko, Ramirez, Quentin knows he’s in for a rough night and that pitcher can’t make a mistake or that ball will be 400 feet away.  Former Dodger Edwin Jackson (8-10,4.44 ERA in 2010) is on the mound for the White Sox’s, Jackson is 2-0 with a 0.96 ERA since coming back to the AL. The right hander has struck out 34 in 28 innings and not allowing more than one earned run in any of his four starts. The Indians do not have much going on this season other then Korea’s Shin Soo Choo (.291/15/63). If it were not for the 28 year old do-it-all player one has to wonder where the Indians would be this year. Soo Choo leads Cleveland in Batting average, Home Runs, RBIs, On-Base percentage, and Hits.

Here’s your bikini of the day from GetABikini.com

On Fan 590 Tonight-

Jeff Blair’s co-host from 4:00 to 6:00 is Bruce Arthur

- Jim Barker- Argos Head Coach

- Mike Wilner- Fan 590 Baseball

- Don Banks- Sports Illustrated

- Faraz Sarwat- The Toronto Star

- Ken Rodney The Fan 590

On 640 with Bill Hayes and Watters thanks to Mike S.:

4: 45 – Clarke MacArthur (Toronto Maple Leafs)

5:05 – Questionable Decision of the Day

5:10 – Roger Cossack (ESPN Legal Analyst)

5:25 – Dave Naylor (Globe and Mail)

5:45 – Matt Lashoff (Toronto Maple Leafs)

6:10 – Professor Allison Macpherson (York University)

6:25 – Angela Ruggiero (USA Women’s Hockey)

So, there I was Friday night with Mrs. TSM and the two kids heading down to the Rogers Centre for the Toronto Blue Jays game, our first as a family all year. The tickets were a gift and were 1st row in the club level, 2nd deck right behind home plate. The kids, as you can expect were pretty psyched about going and we had promised them they could each get “something” from the game well before hand.

We headed down to the stadium early. With Mrs. TSM and the kids all born in Detroit, they wanted to be there for the first pitch and yes the national anthems. So there we were in the area of the dome around 605. Having scarfed down a burrito banditos burrito (me and the mrs. that is) and 1 Mikey’s hot dog (little TSM that is) we headed in for the game. The group decided to head for the store first so that the souvenir could be worn during the game. We got to the store a little before 615 and the place was jumping. Idiots like me ready to shell out a small fortune for t-shirts, balls and those insanely annoying plastic bracelets.

Anyways, the issue isn’t the $29 I paid for each of the t-shirts with the players names on the back. I was fully prepared to take one for the team, we didn’t have to eat at the dome and the parking and tickets were gratis. What I couldn’t believe is how piss poor the service was at the store. Keep in mind this is a Friday night. Now, I am not genius but I have to believe that games on Friday nights, like weekends tend to draw well as parents like us tend to bring our kids. Add to that the fact that it was one of the all you can eat promotional nights and well….

40 minutes later we finally left the store. There were 3 people working cash! It took 40 minutes to pay for 2 t-shirts. I looked around the store and asked for a manager, who told me that “they were short staffed”. Now, come on now. How many home games are there? How hard is it to find a few more of the $10/hr kids who were working???? I told the manager to take his boss to a store called the Apple Store to learn how a store should operate!

The same thing happened when we were at our seats (now rushed and exhausted) from the life long delay at the store and we ordered 4 pops. Not cups of soda, bottles. Again, it took 40 minutes to get our drinks. The response I got from the server was, you guessed it, we are short staffed.

Listen Blue Jays/ Rogers. If you want me to come back, like ever, this has to change. The tickets I was in cost $75 per seat. I’m sorry sir, were short staffed doesn’t cut it. You aren’t in business 365 days a year. You have a defined number of home games. There’s no excuse.

Now, the worst part. I’ve been yapping around these parts about how HD TV killed sports where here is where MLB (and all the other leagues for that matter) had better smarten up or the game will be over. I’m a sports fan. I know most of the rules in most of the games. However, shit happens in each and every game that needs explanation. There is something going on that even the most die hards of fans don’t get. We are pretty lucky in this town, we have good play by play folks for all our teams in radio and tv. The experience from my couch is fantastic. It doesn’t take 40 minutes to get a drink, the seat is comfortable and there isn’t an old fart sitting behind me asking my son to sit down when the Jays pitcher has 2 strikes on a Tigers batter. Here’s the killer; You have a beautiful tv set hanging in the arena, WHY THE HELL DON’T YOU USE IT?????????

All of the sudden in the game, Lyle Overbay is gone from first base. Vanished. At home, or in the car you would know that at first they thought he was traded then you learned he was sick. Later in the game whomever was playing centerfield for the Jays made what looked like an incredible catch in the outfield. On TV viewers at home got to see replays. Listeners on the radio would have heard all about it and then told why it wasn’t a catch. In the stadium, you get zero, zilch, nadda. We were there for the entire game, start to end. I think in total there were maybe 3 replays shown the entire night. Why do you build a huge jumbotron if all you are using it for is cheap inane promotions????

People always say that being at the game is different. You go to the games for the atmosphere. Fine, I can agree with that. I also know you don’t show controversial replays to rile up the fans… I’m sorry but that is crap. Total 100% crap. If someone pays good money to sit in the stadium or the arena and you have the benefit of a HD scoreboard- USE IT! MLB, Bud Selig or whoever else rules that replays can’t be shown is an idiot. If the decision is made locally by Rogers- then that person is an idiot. This isn’t rocket science. If the experience I get is better at home, I won’t go to the games. If I can’t follow what’s going on, and your not going to show me or tell me then I don’t care how good the atmosphere is I am staying home.

I recently heard someone from Tampa on the radio saying how the Devil Rays are mystified how, despite great promotions every night, cheap tickets and a winning team attendance sucks. The color person for the team I believe continued that the TV numbers were through the roof though. Well, I can tell you that there is no question in my mind that this part of the reason. Fine, Tampa isn’t the best stadium. I heard those guys who did 30 baseball stadiums in 30 days say it isn’t the worst either. Teams and leagues have to realize that the experience at home is really good these days. I can have my own tailgate, with my own buddy’s and I get great coverage of the games with play by play, the same commercial breaks- but no bathroom lines all in my house. If I can’t get at least that same experience at the game, why am I going to pay a lot more money to go??????

The movie industry gets it- why do you think all the new kids movies are in 3D? The only reason is that right now anyways, you can’t get that experience at home. Put any regular movie on my PS3 on my flat panel and it’s as good as any theater in the city. 3D I can’t replicate. I’d sooner pay $5-10 to rent a movie and have two or three of us watch it at home than the $45-50 it would cost to go out. But with 3D I can’t yet replicate that. So, the movie companies release everything in 3D so that I’m sucked into taking my kids. Sports leagues had better clue in or this phenomenon will continue. The umpire/official rule is ridiculous. People don’t need a replay to boo. The referees always get booed, always have always will. Show the folks in the stadiums what the folks at home see if you want to get them in to the building.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Here’s your bikini of the day from GetABikini.com

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- Jeff Blair’s co-host from 4:00 to 6:00 is Bruce Arthur
- Dave Perkins

On 640 with Bill Hayes and Watters thanks to Mike S.:

TBA