Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Leave it to George Steinbrenner to upstage the All-Star game. The news around here was dominated by Steinbrenner’s death Tuesday after suffering a massive heart attack in Tampa, Florida at age 80. It was ironic that he would pass away suddenly on the day of the All-Star game because the longtime Yankee owner was known for making moves that would get him on the back-pages of New York newspapers, often stealing headlines from other sports stories. His death however was front page news as Steinbrenner was one of the most influential sports figures in my lifetime. Love him or hate him he was motivated by winning and spared no expense in building the Yankees into the most successful and admired franchise in all of sports.

By the way I did hear many interesting stories about George yesterday. He was famous for firing managers with Billy Martin fired and hired five times by “The Boss.” However that’s nothing…he hired and fired a longtime team photographer 17 times. Steinbrenner was never afraid of dying from a heart attack…he said I don’t get heart attacks…I cause them.

Since major league baseball is still in its All-Star break you might want to check out tonight’s Triple-A All-Star game which will be televised live on the MLB Network from the home of the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs, the Phillies top farm team. I mention this because Toms River’s Jeff Frazier will be starting in the outfield for the International League All-Stars after having an outstanding first half for the Toledo Mud Hens. The 27-year old has 15 homers and 48 RBI’s while batting .273 for the Tigers Triple-A club. Frazier took part in the home run derby on Monday night and finished 4th among the eight participants.

An eyesore on Route 37 East in Toms River has been replaced by a sprawling contemporary car dealership which officially celebrated its grand opening Tuesday. Toms River Mayor Thomas Kelaher, Ocean County Freeholder Joe Vicari and Toms River-Ocean County Chamber of Commerce officials were among those attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Pine Belt Nissan which has moved into a building that was under construction nine years ago when it was destroyed by a fire. The new Pine Belt location is a welcome sight and great improvement to the area. Best wishes to Lou Trebino and David Sickel in their latest automotive venture.

Monday, July 12, 2010
Now that the World Cup is over what did we learn about soccer in the United States? First and foremost is that mainstream sports fans will get excited when the U.S. is playing with a competitive team as we saw over the first weeks of the month-long event. However we are not nearly good enough to play consistently with the top countries and frankly most people will not care about the World Cup if we’re not any good. To me it’s almost like hockey in the Olympics…if the US is not a contender then not too many people are going to really care. Where soccer gets a bit of an edge is that the ethnic make up of our country results in many getting excited about the fortunes of teams like Italy, Mexico, England and more. However the future of soccer in this country remains tied to the future success of teams that wear the red, white and blue.

If you are a Yankee fan than hearing Bob Sheppard’s voice was as reassuring as looking at a lineup with names like Mantle, Berra, Ford, Maris, Munson, Jackson, Guidry, Jeter, Pettitte, Rivera and many others. His first game as the Yankees public address announcer was April 17, 1951. That was Mickey Mantle’s first opening day in pinstripes and Joe DiMaggio’s last. From that day until September of 2007 his voice was what you heard when sitting in Yankee Stadium and Sheppard saw and called it all. He was also the PA announcer for the football Giants for 50 seasons and called other sporting events as well but certainly he was best-known when it came to baseball and the Yankees. Now the man called “The Voice of God” has died at the age of 99 although you might want to believe he’ll be introducing Mantle and DiMaggio again in a big ballpark above.

If you drive by football fields at Toms River East and Matawan this week you might be surprised to see players practicing in the heat of mid-July. That’s because its U.S. Army All Shore Gridiron Classic week with the 33rd annual All Star game set for Friday night at Matawan High School where Huskies Coach Joe Martucci will be in charge of the Monmouth County team. Charlie Diskin of Toms River East is the Ocean County head coach. Matt Harmon, Ed Sarluca & I will broadcast the game on our sister station, 105.7 The Hawk beginning at 7pm Friday.