May 5 - Does ESPN Hip-Hop its NBA telecasts?

If you want a subtle reminder of why the NBA has fallen off the charts, especially with suburban white voters, it may be instructive to take a look at where the league’s primary broadcast partner chooses to host its shows. Is there any reason why ESPN hosts its NBA telecast from Times Square instead of Bristol? If asked, I am sure ESPN would argue that its NBA telecasts are marquee events and therefore they should be broadcast from a marquee site. But this argument holds no water with me since both the football and baseball guys do their stuff right back at the Mother Ship. I may be over-analyzing this, but if had to guess, I would say the decision to mimic MTV and broadcast from the heart of New York City was made in part to cater to the league’s “urban” customers. Why else would John Saunders and the rest of his idiots be sited in New York with all that crap lingering in the background? This has got to pain league officials who were already concerned about the league’s future with middle class white dudes. Much to the leagues dismay, basketball has simply lost its cache out in the hinterlands. There are a number of reasons for this, but that isn’t important for this discussion. What is important is the fact that the league draws its meager support from the cities. And with that in mind, I guess ESPN figured they should cater to their audience and how better to achieve this then by broadcasting from the heart of the country’s biggest city. The only problem with my theory is why ESPN stopped at Times Square. If they were truly interested in hip hopping their telecasts, why not host their shows from a bar in North Philly or a club on the Southside of Chicago? I think the answer to that question is analysts like Tim Legler and Bill Laimbeer wouldn’t be caught dead in those areas.

Notes from the National: Tim Hudson slammed the door on Florida yesterday afternoon in a big NL East showdown. Burnett’s line was passable but was polluted by home runs to both Chipper and Andruw. Yankee fans are already calling up radio stations and asking when Juan Pierre becomes a free agent. Sorry folks, he is the Marlins property through 2006. Los Madres completed a sweep of Colorado and are now back at .500. Jake Peavy had a very ordinary game and justice was probably served when his bullpen gave up his win. Is Brian Giles ever going to warm up – he is 0 for his last 21. The Rockies are nothing special at Coors but they are downright putrid (1-13) on the road. The Dbacks took their second straight off San Francisco and now have Pittsburgh coming into Bank One for four. Luis Gonzalexz had three hits last night and he is now 12 for his last 25. A lot of people get down on LuGo but he is a relative bargain at $10 million a year. Brandon Webb gave Arizona another quality start yesterday as he moved to 4-0. The Reds slide continued as Mark Mulder played the role of dominatrix while Cincy played the bitch. Agent Mulder has now peeled off four wins in a row and don’t look now, but Scott Rolen has battled his way back to respectability. Let me get this straight – the Mets Jae Seo gives up one hit over seven and gets demoted as a reward. I know someone had to go down, but why did they choose Seo over Zambrano? The Mets get Benson back today which should help a staff that is basically Pedro and pray. Jose Reyes came into pinch hit last night and drew a walk - that is like former Pirate Rafael Belliard pinch hitting and nailing a 450 foot blast. The Brewers won their sixth straight and word has it GM Doug Melvin has asked Brian Cashman when Gary Sheffield will be made available. Brady Clark is having a real nice year for Milwaukee and it is only a matter of time before Yankee fans start asking when he is eligible for free agency. Along with Clark, Lyle Overbay is red hot for the Brewers right now. Brad Lidge got hammered last night and the strange thing is the offensively challenged Pirates did the job. The Rocket left that game with a 4-2 lead but the Assholes let him down once again. Do you think the Yanks regret parting ways with Nick Johnson? He is hitting .305 and sports an OBP of .414. The Dodgers may have lost Jose Valentin for the season which is probably a blessing. They will need to find a replacement but Valentin hasn’t done a thing since early April and his presence will not be missed. If I were GM Jerry DePodesta, I would be on the phone with Philly GM Ed Wade asking about Placido Polanco.

Airmail from the AL: The Orioles put up five on Roy Halladay yesterday which is no small feat. After being shut down for a couple of nights, Baltimore’s M&M boys had five hits yesterday. Texas murdered Danny Haren who is now 1-4 while the guy he was traded for is 4-1. The other guy involved in the Mulder trade – Kiki Calero – gave up five runs yesterday before he was lifted after getting just one out. The Angels completed their sweep over Seattle as Paul Byrd came through with a rare quality start. The Angels did a real job on Seattle’s offense this week as the Ms were only able to score four runs over the course of the three game series. Boston scored a big victory at Detroit last night as Keith Foulke actually came in and closed out a tight one. The Sox offense has been a bit spotty of late but it isn’t Johnny Damon’s fault. He leads the AL in hits and hitting with runners in scoring position. I guess he wants to get paid at season’s end. The Yanks slide continued with a sloppy 11-8 loss at Tampa and the pinstripes now run the risk of falling into last place with a loss tonight. For Yankee fans, there was good news and bad news last night. The good news is he got hit in the head by a pitch. The bad news is Jason Giambi appears alright. Can you believe Tom Gordon was an all-star last year? The White Sox just keep getting quality starts although the term “quality” probably needs to be adjusted when Kansas City is involved. Last night, Freddy Garcia did the job and today, Jose Contreras has thrown blanks though six. They haven’t played a tough schedule but it is time people start taking this team seriously.