The Roundup: Professor Claims Paul Pierce Hand Gesture Was a Gang Sign (Piru Bloods, Baby!)
Baseball, College Basketball, Drugs, Gangs, Horse Racing, Media Gossip/Musings, Movies, Politics May 2nd. 2008, 8:05am
Ahhh, nothing like some Cavallari in the morning … sounds like Carlos Beltran had a fantastic birthday … great screen grab … the LA Galaxy are set to play Iran? … from the world of random – Mariah Carey just up and married some guy? … tremendous and lengthy interview with Mr. FJM …
According to a professor who spent 10 years working the gang scene in LA, Pierce’s gesture was a “classic Piru Bloods sign.” Howard Beck writes that “the Piru Bloods, named for a street in Compton, are one of the original Los Angeles gangs, and they are prominent in Inglewood, where Pierce grew up.” (NYT)
Vin Scully, one of the best sports voices ever, isn’t retiring yet, but it sounds like this might be his last season. We hope not. (LA Times)
We’ll have a Derby post later in the day, but for now: Forget Big Brown, go with Pyro. (Washington Post)
In honor of Ironman’s debut this weekend: the Ironmen of sports, led by Ripken, of course. (Tom Jones .02)
Did a lacrosse player pull a Scott Peterson? (Sports Point)
You’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but this fellow lied about a whole lot of stuff. (Marine Corps Times)
Chris Lofton’s subpar season at Tennessee? The guy had radiation treatments for cancer. That’s a tough kid. (Rush the Court)
Tim Montgomery used to be the fastest man on earth, but when you’re using heroin, you can’t run from the cops. (Steroid Nation)
ESPN is getting into the movie business, which is cool for every young writer who has a screenplay in the works (like us), until you realize it’s under the Disney umbrella, and ultimately, you know they won’t touch anything risky. (USA Today)
Anyone else pissed that we keep getting more worthless bowl games? GREED is a horrible thing. (Tampa Trib)
If you’ve ever wondered if the media was in bed with politicians, well, Barbara Walters was. (Washington Post)
81 Responses to “The Roundup: Professor Claims Paul Pierce Hand Gesture Was a Gang Sign (Piru Bloods, Baby!)”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:14 AM
@Sean Jean
How shocked were you to hear about Lofton’s cancer?
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:23 AM
Ironman Count:
White Dudes: 11
Other: 4
Hooray for maintaining lazy stereotypes.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:30 AM
I live in Pa. and subscribe to MLB Extra Innings. Late at night, I tune in to the home Dodger telecasts, and listening to Vin Scully call games is amazing (I remember his network games in the 1980s). The man pulls out stuff from decades ago and calls game unlike any other human alive. Man, I can’t believe he once broadcast Brooklyn Dodger games. The man is a legend. I get the package for the Yankees, but he alone might be worth it.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:30 AM
@TBL – Some common sense from Whitlock on the Media vs. Blogs. This stupidass fight is going to get worse before it gets better though.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8094674/Media-madness
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:31 AM
Jennifer Lopez’ ass is going to look like a bunch of crisco in saran wrap in about 3 years.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:37 AM
“That Nick Cannon is hilarious daddy.” -Dave Chappelle’s son
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:37 AM
Nice to see the P.C. police are keeping busy.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:38 AM
Tampa already has the Outback Bowl. Plus, Tropicana Field has never hosted a football game before
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:38 AM
agreed with bignuts. i had a subscription to MLBtv (F the people who change their passwords) and watching dodgers home games were awesome, scully is like an artist.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:42 AM
“Oh yeah? Well, you are the blackest man I have ever been with”
you see, this was long before Wesley Snipes .. Charlie Murphy.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:46 AM
Shoot. about 15 people sent this in yesterday … forgot to link it. What’s the overall consensus of the article? Was he too hard on Leitch?
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:48 AM
If you’ve ever wondered if the media was in bed with politicians…
All media is fair and balanced. Especially the NYT.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:50 AM
I think he was.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:50 AM
DC is getting a bowl as well. it is really getting out of hand. how long til we have 40 bowl games?
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:51 AM
he was a little rough on deadspin in general but specified his displeasure was with DEADSPIN not ‘blogs.’
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:54 AM
Bissinger admits he was a little over the top. (Fan House)
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:54 AM
any one going to see iron man tonight?
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:55 AM
Employment situation is looking up.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:55 AM
Whitlock may have been a tad rough on Leitch, but I do see his point. What Deadspin did to Stuart Scott and other ESPN personalities at the Super Bowl (2-3 years ago?), while often quite funny, did overstep boundaries. Looking over Stu Scott’s shoulder to read his texts was more than a bit creepy. Turning around and speculating that Scott, a married father, was setting up a late night booty call was just disgusting. This is Whitlock’s beef w/ Deadspin, and it is legitimate.
Whitlock did admit, however, that he finds most of what he reads on Leitch’s site to be very entertaining. So, while he ripped him for the Stuart Scott incident, he didn’t completely bury him.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:56 AM
@crm
i heard that interview.. and he did seem sorry, but more for the reaction to the action than the actual action.. if you notice, he never said he takes back any of the points he made when ripping deadspin.. he only was sorry for cursing and mistreating leitch…
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:58 AM
Look at this chick’s legs, she blows that girl from the Hills out of the water.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:00 AM
@cortes – and he’s completely entitled to that. He wasn’t completely wrong in his points. It’s how he expressed himself.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:02 AM
Yeah, Leitch simply said that Dungy wasn’t black enough and Greg Gumbel is boring and white. I don’t see the problem. Obviously, being white is a superior thing.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:02 AM
no i agree i was just making the point to people who didn’t hear the interview that his contrition was for his anger, not points.. thats all
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:04 AM
I am just happy the Mets showed signs of life..hopefully they can actually show life on the field…as for Whitlock I thought his article was spot on…I think his criticism of Leitch was justified…While more poular than ever, I have also strayed a bit form deadspin and it is no longer a daily stop for me…he is a gossip and humor site and there is a too cool for the room sense amoung the commenters…while you do gossip and pop culture, I feel you bring things to the table daily that generates actual discussion, not just 200 one liners. I wasn’t going to compare but thats how I feel…the link you put up for Stop Mike Lupica was much more harsh in criticism of Leitch than Whitlock and he was spot on as well…Leitch should not be the voice of the blogs as Buzz Bissenger should not be the voice of books and newspapers…I alos think Leitch’s lack of an argument and his inability to express himself well verbally is going to hurt him in the long run…when Braylon Edwards makes the most sane and valid points during the discussion about Matt Leinart’s picture…Will has to reevelauate things a bit.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:04 AM
I don’t know about the Stu Scott/Deadspin stuff being too over the top or creepy. Famous or not, if you’re texting some discreet shit where someone else can see plain as day what you’re writing, then you’re an idiot.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:04 AM
I don’t think he was too hard on Leitch. I’m not a big deadspin fan and now he’s a martyr. It’s like when everybody pretended to like New Yorkers after 9/11. Can’t do it.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:05 AM
Let’s not forget that Jews are smarter than “regular” white people.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:07 AM
While I think Bissinger was out of line with his behavior, I don’t blame “old media” for having a bit of a chip on their shoulder regarding blogs. So many bloggers think creative, funny, edgy (can I use more adjectives?) writing must mean ripping everyone to shreds. Look at how Bob Costas, one of the best sportscasters of our time, has been vilified over the course of the past couple of months, merely for not bowing at the altar of blogs. Consider what Deadspin to do Stu Scott and Scott Van Pelt. And, on an ongoing basis, take a look at what FJM does to sports journalists. If the blogs are going to take this tact, they need to stop being such whiners every time it gets turned on them.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:07 AM
In Soviet Russia, Jews smart you!
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:07 AM
Hef…like myself it does not look like you drank you morning coffee…and you only had 2 years left before you are allowed to trash New Yorkers for 9/11…for shame
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:08 AM
As a casual “white guy” observer, it seems to me that there is quite the dilemma here for a black man in the sports media. On one hand, you have a guy like Greg Gumbel who speaks very well in front of the camera, comes across as a very educated and well-rounded guy, and people are calling him out for being “too white”. Conversely, you have guys like Steven A. Smith who is over the top in everything he does, and everyone calls him out and despises him because he’s being “that angry black man.” So what gives?
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:08 AM
They don’t take potshots at any person, only their writing, which is usually dreadful. There is a distinct difference.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:10 AM
There’s accidental racism, there’s latent racism, and then there’s what outofbounds just said. You, sir, should be ashamed.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:10 AM
sportshernia – Not that I think reporting on someone’s personal communications (be it verbal or text) is appropriate, but the bigger problem would seem to be that Scott didn’t appear to be doing anything untoward. And yet, he gets outed as a philanderer on the WWW because of what Daulerio thought he saw. Not cool.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:12 AM
Eh, well… I don’t think I worded that right. I’m not trying to be racist at all. I just am wondering where people expect the medium to be. You’re never going to make everyone happy.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:13 AM
Nick – FJM occasionally steps over the line (e.g., Murray Chass). I’ve come to appreciate that blog a bit more recently, but I’m not a huge fan of dedicating ones work exclusively to criticizing what others create.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:13 AM
Not to hard on Leitch. Was very specific about his displeasure, but didn’t go over the top to badmouth him. He seemed very honest about his likes and dislikes, but didn’t call on the police to clean up what he didn’t like, he just avoids it.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:14 AM
I don’t hate Screamin A because he’s black. I hate him because he’s obnoxious. I don’t give Skip Bayless a pass for being white.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:14 AM
I have the baseball package as well and after the Twins game, I have found myself switching over to the Dodgers just to listen to Scully. The man calls games like he is telling a story. I don’t know how he does it, but he just manages to pull out data and facts on players that you never could find on the internet.
I actually watched that Kevin Costner movie just because I heard that Scully was in it.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:15 AM
412: How about for fact checking and critiquing what other people create? Like making sure there aren’t errors or made up facts in an article? How about commenting on a holier than thou tone?
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:15 AM
I don’t think there is a medium, Screamin’ A is retarded. He talks out of the side of his mouth. Greg Gumble actually does homework on what he speaks.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:15 AM
outofbounds – You make a good point. It is offensive when guys like Dungy and Gumbel are criticized because they don’t meet someone’s preconceived notion of how a black man is supposed to speak and behave. I like alot of what Leitch has done, but I won’t defend this.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:15 AM
I really hope HBO does another segment with Whitlock, Wilbon, Bill Simmons, etc… that would be very interesting, as well as hilarious.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:17 AM
@out of bounds..
agree with you on another segment about race.. it really was fascinating, a shame that it was so short.. i hope they bring on simmons and le batard to add to whitlock and wilbon next time. that would be great..
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:17 AM
For all the talk about statistics being the downfall of baseball by these old media types, it literally takes 5 seconds to check baseball-reference.com to make sure you’re not talking clean out of your ass on very simple things.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:18 AM
Yeah I didn’t mean to start a stereotype conversation this early in the day… I hate Skip Bayless much more than I hate Steven A. Smith, but both for the same reasons.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:19 AM
Bill Simmons is the most subtle racist in sports media today.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:19 AM
Hef – FJM and anyone else has a right to do just that. I’m just saying a major criticism lodged at bloggers is that they don’t actually create anything but, rather, slam everyone who has a byline. It’s not an unfounded criticism.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:20 AM
@cortes:
Definitely! Plus, don’t Whitlock and Le Batard basically despise eachother? I might be thinking of someone else… but whoever Whitlock hates, we need to get him on there.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:21 AM
no no no… whitlock and lebby are tight.. whitlock comes on lebby’s show all the time to talk about race and stuff, their buddies.. not sure who your thinking of but its not lebby that he has a beef with..
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:22 AM
He dislikes Mariotti. But I think everyone else does too, so it’s not a big deal.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:24 AM
Nick..I haven’t read the statistics being the downfall of baseball article…considering we have been comparing the statistics of players for over 100 years…I think the point being made sometimes is the overanalysation of stats as the end all be all of baseball…I enjoy the stats as much as the beauty of the game…if it all was just stats I would watch the MLB stat tracker everyday and never watch a game…but the advent of new stats and fantasy baseball has breathed life into a younger generation of fans and has helped grow the sport leaps and bounds over the last 10 years and that is rarely brought up in the growth discussion.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:26 AM
@roman: I meant the saber stats us Vorpies use.
They think people try to turn the game into numbers only, and it takes away from the human element.
As if people like Bill James and Joe Sheehan hate the game so much, they’ll spend (literally) their lives devising new statistics to try and destroy the game.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:27 AM
I love sabremetrics and I’ve been watching baseball since before I was Nick P’s dad. And you know what, math makes baseball more fun.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:29 AM
agree with hef and nick on this one.. sheenan and the boys and BP do a great job and baseball is all the better for it.. the more informed discussions people can have about the sport without making shit up, the better..
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:29 AM
Mathletes rule and Joe Morgan drools
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:33 AM
I’m not going to go so far as to say sabremetrics adds to my enjoyment of the game (it does not), but I do appreciate the value of the analysis Bill James and others provide.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:33 AM
my team of eckstein’s will roll you new school mofos.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:34 AM
Nick…for that I agree…but I think it flairs up in interesting arguments like MVP…there were people who thought Hanley Ramirez should have been the MVP because of his numbers (which were phenominal) but neglected to tell how the Marlins would have been any worse than a last place team with out him…They knocked Jimmy Rollins (whose numbers were lacking in places such as OBP) for not doing enough…but having watched both 19 times a year…Jimmy did more to beat the division leader and get into the playoffs than Hanley did to put his team in last place…The Matt Holliday argument is valid considering what his team did as well (I thought it was Rollins but had nor Problem with Holliday getting it) I think that’s where these arguments need to look beyong numbers…you ask me would I rather have Rollins or Ramerez…I would pick Hanley (even though his defense is lacking and he takes games off) but more improtant to the team…I would pick Jimmy last year.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:42 AM
@RWH: 1 player can only play as well as possible to help his team. That’s what Hanley did, and he did it better than Jimmy. My MVP was David Wright last year. Hanley was a butcher on defense, so none of the big saber guys really thought he was MVP.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:46 AM
Nick..trust me my guy is David Wright, but after what that team did down the stretch (and Wright made errors in big spots to lose two games) I could not make him an MVP…and nothing would change me from that…I will say this though…because of a Bill James..a Chase Utely and a Davis Wright get a lot more credit than they would have 10 years ago because they would have been crticized for not hitting enough homers…Robbie Alomar’s career (pre-Mets) is going to be looked at better as time passes and I would hope he gets looked at for the Hall of Fame…he was the Utley and Wright of his time and he was a winning ballplayer.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:46 AM
Nick…dont you think David Wright’s defense is a little overrated? he makes a ton of errors.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:46 AM
Spencer…he can field with the best of them..his arm is inaccurate and weak..thats where I would say 80% of his errors stem from.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:48 AM
Zing! This always gives me a good chuckle in the morning.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:49 AM
He makes errors because he gets to more balls than most third baseman. He’s behind only Zimmerman with the glove in the NL, although I’ll accept arguments for Pedro Feliz.
You can’t really look at errors, because a guy like Jeter might not make many, but since he plays like he’s in concrete, he doesn’t get to as many balls as a better defender would.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:49 AM
Roman…yea, come to think of it, most of his errors that i can recall are all of the throwing variety. he does have a flair for the spectacular tho.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:49 AM
Nick…how DARE you insult Jeet like that.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:51 AM
He is also tremendous at covering the line and fielding the bunt…as Nick pointed out he has tremendous range…but If the Mets do not go out and get a 1B in the next year or so you will see him moved to first where he will win gold gloves..Keith Hernandez loves how he charges the plate and plays the bunt..and I will take Keith’s word for it since he is the best I have ever seen.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:54 AM
i would consider helping keithernandez move if he asked. the force is strong with his mustache.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:56 AM
But he smokes! I can’t deal with that.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:57 AM
Also, he probably banged Erin Andrews. So he’s got that going for him… Which is nice.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:06 AM
Whatever, Ripken was a fake. I don’t even watch baseball, and even I know that he didn’t play in a lot of games just to keep the streak going. They’d have him out there for one play and then replace him.
Fake.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:25 AM
@ roman.. couldn’t disagree with you more about your analysis of hanley/rollins.. your basically punishing hanley for having bad teammates and propping up rollins because he had a better team.. individually, hanley was much better than rollins last year (btw pujols should have been mvp last year, his numbers were better than all of these guys, and baseball prospectus did an article on it) but speaking just in terms of hanley/rollins, i dont see the logic in giving it to rollins if you admit hanley was better.. his team sucked last year. thats not his fault dude.. its why i hate giving the mvp to the player on a contending team, rollins wasnt any more valuable than hanley, he just had cole hamels and ryan howard to help his contribution look mightier than it really was.. put hanley on that team for 162 games instead of rollins and they might have run away with that division.. seriously look at the VORP’s
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:46 AM
cortes..it is the Most Valuable Player..not the Most Outstanding Player…being valuable on a last place team definitely matters…hanley Rameriez has to get penalized here…I understand VORP hence why I like Hanley better but it is not what the award is about…it is about Value to your team not value to your position and If you take hanley off the Marlins they are still a last place team…If you take David Wright or Jimmy Rollins or Matt Holliday off there teams last year their teams are worse…hanley did not make his team better…it doesn’t make him any less of a player and his shitty teamamtes contributed but there are other awards available to Hanley that show his offensvie prowess..MVP is more than offensive stats..thats why ptichers can win the award..it should be about contributing to a winning team..if the candidates are weak on a contender than you can start looking at Hanley but there were too many high value players on contending teams to look at the best player on a last place club
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:54 AM
i understand and your respect your point, it’s certainly valid.. me personally i just don’t think we should be penalizing hanley because he’s on a bad team but i see where your coming from.. who do you think should be nba mvp this year? paul, lebron, kobe or KG?
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Paul..would have been mine…he has done a lot to bring the Hornets back and I think he works with lesser talent..but Lebron works by himself too its tough..to me Kobe should have won it on ‘06 but his start of the year disappointed me and he picked up his play when his talent around him responded and he has been in a new stratosphere since Gasol (I think Kobe is the best player in the NBA right now but I am not looking for the argument he and LeBron are neck and neck and Lebron will be better by the end of next year)..KG is real important and changed the tone but he plays with 2 All-stars and an improving Rondo…All 4 desreve consideration but the key to this is all 4 have their teams in contention for a title..so I made a long answer out of a short answer..I love CP3 and I think this is his year
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:03 AM
i go paul,kobe, lebron, KG..
you think lebron will be better than kobe next year? even though he plays no defense and doesn’t shoot the 3 as efficiently? interesting..
i can’t put KG any higher than 4th by the way.. this hasn’t even been one of his best offensive years, and he has a ton of help on that team..
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:08 AM
Yeah…because Kobe is 28 and is going to hit a point where his game fades as Lebron will be 24 and he is only coming into his prime…thats about it..I think they are both great and LeBron needs to find a better compliment than Boobie Gibson to accentuate his game…Remember…Kobe took 5 years to figure it all out and he was a second fiddle to Shaq…LeBron has been the Man while he has been figuring it out..I don’t think you have seen it all yet…
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:12 AM
One more thought…I always felt that Kobe was a Jordan tpye and LeBron was a Magic type…I feel to see all of LeBron you need to get him one or two scoring options that aren’t stiffs or ball hogs because LeBrons ability to pass and create is one of the lost things in his early years
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:19 AM
good points on both accounts.. we will see in the near future i guess lol