The Cheap Seats: Jason and company sports blog (used to be Tom and Sean's)

Last weekend, the San Diego Padres won their fourth consecutive game by a 2-1 score.  Isn't that exciting???  It ought to be, as according the those that keep track, as it was a new record for winning consecutive games by identical 2-1 scores.  The folks on ESPN's Baseball Tonight seemed pretty jazzed about it, although perhaps they were being a little facetious.  What next?  Will there be an announcement when someone breaks Steve Finley's record for most times scratching his crotch at the plate during a nine inning game?  Will we find out who holds the record for most sunflower seeds consumed during a game?  Most check swings in a career?  Don't know about you, but I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to hear about the next record set in baseball.

All in all I think David Stern's been a good commissioner of the NBA.  And I can't fault him for pushing the message "it's all good:  the Celtics and Lakers are back, the boring old Spurs are gone.  Andjust forget about that Donaghy guy, he's an isolated bad seed".

 Problem is, the message is pushing back.  With a timing eerily similar to the "Rams walkthrough" allegations raised against the Patriots on the eve of the superbowl, disgraced official Tim Donaghy claimed that corruption was rampant and in some cases "ordered from above" among NBA refs.

As dismissive as Stern was about the charges, and as baseless as they might be, they were detailed with some credibility in the halftime show, and provide a cynical subtext to another year of dubious playoff officiating.

Conspiracy or not, when the home team gets 18-2 free throws in 2 consecutive games, and the working definition of flagrant, technical fouls seem to change as often as an NBA score, things are not as perfect as the commish would have you believe.

Have to start with a nod to Leon Powe, who overPOWEred the Lakers in the 2nd half, with 21 points and many trips to the foul line (Phil Jackson can tell you how many).   I'd already heard the remarkable story about his difficult childhood several times before they featured his story at halftime.  I worried the national TV exposure might be too much for him, but instead the "the Powe show" played out as though it had been scripted. 

But the real news of the day might be Michael Strahan's retirement.  Nothing unusual about publicly agonizing about the decision in the sports world, but rare and gratifying when a great athlete defers retirement for another year - and it's just long enough to win a championship.  Hopefully last season put him over the top of any financial issues pending from his divorce.  I'm relatively certain it did for the HOF. 

PS - Jackie MacMullan is back?  What in the name of new media is going on at  the Globe?? 

Coco Crisp, one of my favorite names in all sports, got hit in the hip yesterday by Tampa Bay's James Shields and decided to charge the mound and start a major league brawl.  What was he thinking?  Coco is a little guy and Shields is big.  Shields did not throw a ball anywhere near Coco's head.  After Coco's hard slide the night before, he and the Red Sox had to be pretty sure he was going to get thrown at.  And, lastly, why did he have to go after one of my better Fantasy League pitchers????  Shields was already having a lousy game, but I was hoping to get more than one inning out of him, but because Coco has to start a fight, Shields gets kicked out of the game as well, which hurts MY Fantasy team.  No milk for you Coco Crisp. 

Jackie MacMullan, one of the first to herald the Big Three, in dramatic fashion.  Jackie took a buyout from the Boston Globe in April (about the same time Tony Kornheiser took one from the Washington Post, among many, many others).  She lent considerable basketball knowledge and passion to  the Globe's Sports pages, and a feminine voice was a nice offset to Shaughnessey and Ryan, who alone write the featured sports columns today. 

What would she have made of Paul Pierce's heroics last night?  Sadly we can only imagine...Let's hope she continues to appear on Around The Horn, another forum where she more than holds her own w/the guys.

Business travel often expedites solutions, and it did recently when Tom and I - in the Bay Area for an "offsite" meeting - were able to attend an A's game together and work out some final details, such as the name for this blog, that we'd been discussing for ages via e-mail.

It's been a great week in sports:  while the wait for the NBA finals (starting tonight) has seemed interminable, we had the amazing game 5 of Stanley Cup finals, Manny Ramirez' 500th (- 502nd) home runs,  Pedro's triumphant return to the Mets, Joba's dubious start for the Yanks, and meltdowns by the Chicago (White Sox) and Seattle managers.  The former inspired this remarkable column by the Sun Times' Jay Mariotti, who's been publicly feuding with Guillen for a while.

What is it about Chicago managers and their rants?  We'll dedicate this first post to Tom's hometown, and let him try and answer this and let us know what he thinks about the Ozzie situ...

Frank Thomas hit 2 home runs in the game we saw vs. the Rays, and looked like he might reach 600 before Manny hit 500...until going on the disabled list.