Month: July 2014

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What should the A’s do with the 10K “La Potencia” Yoenis Cespedes shirts?

The Oakland Athletics were scheduled to give away 10,000 Yoenis Cespedes shirts this weekend. But today’s trade of Cespedes now has the team wondering what they should do with the shirts.

It’s a tough situation for a marketing standpoint because there are fans who bought tickets so they can get the shirt. But the shirt is now irrelevant. Should they go the route of the giving it away as scheduled like the Indians did several years ago?

Or do the Athletics just scratch the promotion and try to find some kind of resolution? It’s unlikely they can come up with 10,000 replacement shirts in time, so they must find something else to do.

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My thoughts on Yoenis Cespedes being traded for Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes

When times were good with Yoenis Cespedes.

This was a huge move that woke me up. In fact, the text woke me up telling me to check Twitter.

Yoenis Cespedes gets traded to the Red Sox for Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes. WOW. The A’s rotation is stacked now. Pitching is their key to the small window of hope for the World Series title.

Lester is a free agent as season’s end, but this rental is a huge move. Getting Jonny Gomes back is also a really nice addition.

But losing Cespedes is a tough one to swallow since I am a huge fan of his. But this move is like the Billy Beane of old. Cespedes was going to be entering his final year of his contract next season. He wanted to stay, but the market probably said he wouldn’t stay. The idea was to do what Beane would do in the past and trade a star before he cost too much. This was it. But instead of prospects, Beane knows he needs stars now. This was that.

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I really like the new Pro Bowl format

Earlier this year I was with the NFL Network and I worked the entire week in preparation for the Pro Bowl. I really liked it.

The new format of picking your own team was a fun concept that I am glad the NFL adopted from the NHL. The uniforms weren’t all great, but it was nice to see something different. Overall, I actually had more interest in the Pro Bowl than I had in years past.

With this new announcement, I hope this generates more interest. It’s still the Pro Bowl, a meaningless exhibition game. But at least to me it’s more fun now. I like it.

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Ugly sweaters for all teams is the best news I’ve heard

I have been a fan of the ugly sweaters when they first released the NFL batch. Then they released the baseball versions. Then the hockey versions.

The good news now is that all teams will get their sweaters. At the time, all NFL teams were represented but only a handful for both MLB and NHL teams. In fact, the basketball versions were also limited. This news makes me happy.

I was apprehensive about getting the 49ers sweater because I didn’t really like the designs enough to get one. I had hoped that they would have them for the other teams. Now with this news, I am leaning towards the Sharks. Winter sport with a winter ugly sweater. That works out perfectly. But if the Warriors one is nice, that might be my second choice.

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MLB + Star Wars = Gold

AK 47 Studios is a graphic design brand that has combined some of our favorite pop culture icons and sports logos together.

Earlier today, he released a few Star Wars themed logos with MLB logos. I really like the Ackbar one.

Check out the others and the rest of his work on his Instagram.

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I finally watched “The Fan” and I have some thoughts on the movie

The Fan (1996)

In 1996, a movie called “The Fan” was released. It was about a deranged, obsessive baseball fan who went to crazy lengths to try to “help” his favorite ballplayer succeed. Of course, it wasn’t fandom, but an unhealthy obsession that led to stealing, kidnapping and murder.

I was only eight when this movie came out, so I never got a chance to see the movie. It wasn’t until last night I saw it on Crackle and decided to watch it. The plot of the movie in itself isn’t a bad one. There are plenty of crazy fans that go too far for their team or a favorite player sometimes. This story did go a little extreme, but the premise of this movie isn’t something that is out of the ordinary.

But sadly, that’s where the movie fails. As good as the story was, the storytelling was horrible.

So why do I feel compelled to tell my thoughts on a movie that was released 18 years ago?

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Sad Jaguars fan tries to salvage Justin Blackmon jersey

Justin Blackmon has not been able to avoid trouble since joining the Jaguars. He was a high draft pick but has given the Jaguars a headache. The team could be moving on from him, and fans are thinking about doing the same thing.

One sad Jaguars fans decided to convert his Justin Blackmon jersey to a Will Blackmon jersey. Will has not gotten in trouble since joining the Jaguars, so the fan changed the jersey from #14 to #24.

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A’s finally get rid of Jim Johnson

When the A’s first signed him, I thought it was a hefty $10 million investment. But he just wrapped up his second straight season of over 50 saves. So I knew that if he was to replace Grant Balfour, he’s a good candidate.

I watched him on Opening Day. He blew the game. I didn’t boo him, but I understood the reason for booing him. He had a big shoe to fill and he didn’t deliver. Then he started blowing more games. Then in blowouts, he couldn’t get through the innings without surrendering runs.

Last night was the final straw. He faced four batters and all of them would eventually score. His ERA ballooned to 6.94. That was enough. He had to go. He just was not good. He might do better elsewhere. But here, he was not the player the team paid for. What a shame. But this was the move that had to be made. It could have been made earlier, but better late than never.

Farewell.

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Since when do they put ads on team mascots?

I didn’t notice this before and maybe this is not new. But as I was looking through photos on my Facebook feed, this came up. Not only am I a fan of the ugly sweaters, but I noticed an ad patch on Swoop, the Eagles mascot.

Since when did they start putting ads on the mascots? I know that ads are placed on the team practice jerseys, but the mascot is also a walking billboard?

This is just another indication of the sign of the times. We already know ads are going to invade the players’ jerseys in the future. No reason to think even mascots will be safe from them.

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Doc Rivers will quit if Donald Sterling is still owner

I will never understand what Doc Rivers is going through. I don’t know what it will feel like to have an owner like Donald Sterling. I won’t try to understand.

If this does happen and Sterling is still around, I applaud Rivers for taking this stand. It may just be a way to force action, but it’s a powerful statement.