William World News William F. Yurasko's blog v.14 – Nats, Penn State, greater DC, Capitals, travel, more

Washington Nationals fire TV announcer Rob Dibble after his comments about Stephen Strasburg – The Post
MASN Washington Nationals analyst Rob Dibble, who never let facts get in the way of machismo, has been fired by the team. Oddly enough, he was hired by John Angelos, the son of MASN/Baltimore Orioles principle owner Peter Angelos. How that relationship works ought to be explained some time.

Dibble’s take on the situation, surprisingly short and not bitter DC Sports Bog, The Post.

Dibble’s shortcoming were numerous and the remarks that challenging Stephen Strasburg’s manhood for calling out a trainer when he was injured were just about the final straw. I think Dibble also criticized Ray Knight, his MASN colleague as well. Let’s review why Dibble simply needed to go, in no particular order:

• Talking over the play-by-play announcer — Dibble often talked, yelled or grunted over Bob Carpenter’s calls. If I were Carpenter I would have been furious.
• Grunting — yes, the man grunted during big plays like home runs, etc.
• Arrogance — Dibble could not get over the fact that he played baseball and the people watching, writing/blogging about it, did not. The man was way too impressed with himself.
• Antagonizing the audience — He has been anti-blogger from about day 1 and recently offended female baseball fans by insinuating that two women sitting in the front row talked about shopping instead of watching the game. Who knows what they were talking about Rob? We know you were not talking about the game. Also, why are people down on women who like baseball? I just don’t get it.
• Opinions based on something other than experience, access or facts — Why should I respect an analyst, whose career ended early due to arm trouble, when he talks about needing to pitch through pain? Why should I respect an analyst who suggests that playing hurt is good when the player in question is dragging his team down because of the injury?
• Reliance on the pitch track/whining about the umpires — If you are basing all of your strikezone conclusions on the pitch track that I can see for myself, what are you adding to the telecast? Also, the umpires set the strikezone, not the pitch track.
• Over-the-top homerism — I don’t mind someone being a homer in the booth necessarily, but from the beginning he overdid it, especially considering that he had no ties to the team or Washington.

In short, instead using is experience or access to the team to tell me something I don’t know, Dibble just offered opinions with little or no thought. He never earned (or even to establish, it would seem) credibility. He came off as arrogant and lazy which doesn’t make me want to watch the game with the sound on. To suggest, as some had, that Dibble got fired for going against the Nats dominant ideology simply ignores Dibble’s complete history.

I will be turning the sound back on again.

DID YOU KNOW? Dibble was a candidate for the analyst position in 2005 and 2006.

P.S. My offer to take in an Orioles game if MASN fired Dibble expired over 2 months ago.

P.P.S He must have been devastated that he couldn’t be their for the brawl last night.

Nyjer Morgan charges mound, benches clear as Washington Nationals fall to Florida, 16-10 – The Post
Nyjer Morgan charges the mound – DC Sports Bog, The Post
A sad and predictable turn of events – Nats Insider
CF Nyjer Morgan continues to be the story when it comes to the Washington Nationals. After taking out Florida Marlins catcher Brett Hayes the previous night, Morgan had to face the music in the 4th inning. After being plunked, he took first base and then proceeded to steal second and third. The Nats were down 14-3 at the time. I agree with manager Jim Riggleman who said “the Florida Marlins will not decide when we run. We will decide when we run. Nobody will decide when we run.” However, taunting the crowd after scoring was another poor decision by Morgan given his recent run-ins with fans (Nationals Journal) and pending 7 game suspension for throwing a ball into the crowd in Philadelphia.

The Marlins took exception to the running and taunting, so in the sixth when Morgan came up again, Chris Volstad threw behind Morgan. Morgan looked over to the Nats dugout and then charged the mound.

Recently fired Rob Dibble must be heartbroken he was not doing the game.

Morgan isn’t much of a fighter when his opposition is 6-8. Both dugouts emptied and when it was over, Morgan beat his chest and raised his arms as he walked off the field as public enemy #1. He was ejected. In the following inning Doug Slaten threw at Gaby Sanchez, earning an ejection. Riggleman also got tossed.

The Nats have a real problem with Morgan. the centerfielder’s instability is hurting himself and his team. Morgan really needs to sit, perhaps for the rest of the season, and is certainly going to be suspended for his actions last night. While there is a question about how bad the Philadelphia incident was he probably won’t get a reduction in the suspension now. I don’t have a problem with that necessarily because Morgan is too volatile right now. Also, Riggleman’s handling of the situation has been poor. Apparently, neither Morgan or Riggleman has lost he clubhouse, but maybe they should have — the team doesn’t need to deal with any of this nonsense. I don’t think I have a problem with Morgan never playing for the Nats again.

You know who is probably really happy about the brawl? Scott Olsen — he gave up 9 runs in 1 2/3 innings last night. He probably won’t be around much longer.

Wil Nieves hit an upper deck home run. Who knew?

Big Ten Announces Football Division Alignments And 2011 and 2012 Conference Schedules – Intercollegiate Athletics
The Big Ten Conference will have a pair of six team divisions starting in 2011. The alignments are as follows:

No names have been given for the divisions, but I half expect them to be called the Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler divisions.

As for Penn State, I find it agreeable enough. Playing Ohio State and Wisconsin annually is attractive, though I’d happily have traded Indiana, Purdue or Illinois for Northwestern. Why? I’d like going to see the Nittany Lions at Northwestern due to the proximity of Chicago.

The Nebraska game is “protected” so the Cornhuskers will be on the schedule every season. I am thrilled about this because due to past history/antipathy, I think both sides will treat this as the biggest conference rivalry.

Here are the revised schedules for the next two seasons:

Wisconsin as the final game of the season? Sounds cold. I’m on board with it though, I’ll be curious to hear what the Badgers I know think about it.

Ohio State gets to host Penn State this year and next. This is probably a “correction” for Penn State hosting Ohio State in 1994 and 1995.

At least initially, the 8-game conference schedule will be the norm, though a 9-game schedule may appear in 2015. Oh and Michigan-Ohio State will still be the last game of the season. All conference games will have a bearing on the standings as well, there was some concern only divisional games would count in the standings.

Paterno Tabs Bolden To Start Opener Vs. Youngstown State Saturday – Intercollegiate Athletics
I did not think we’d ever see a time when Joe Paterno named a true freshman starting quarterback to begin a season, but the old man still has some surprises in him.

Robert Bolden gets the nod as starting quarterback. Throughout the fall, Bolden has been praised inside and outside the program. The conventional thinking was Bolden would be the starter eventually, but not until the trips to Alabama, Iowa and Ohio State had been made. The anticipation headed into the summer was that Kevin Newsome would likely win the job, though former walk-on Matt McGloin was thought to have a shot. While Paterno lists Bolden as 1A, McGloin as 1B and Newsome as 1C, I have to think that the latter two, especially Newsome really underachieved. That being said, Bolden must have been very impressive to get the nod. I don’t think Paterno would start a true frosh to make a point — he must really believe that Bolden provides the best chance to win this season.

Coach Paterno Press Conference Quotes – Intercollegiate Athletics
Interestingly, this is longer called a transcript like in year’s past. Judging by the length of it, I suspect it is the same we have always gotten, but since their tended to be content edited out, the title is more accurate.

I have not yet seen a full video up of the conference, but Paterno sounded better than he had last month. Also, Evan Royster is too fat for Paterno’s liking.

For the second time in a week, Washington Nationals centerfielder Nyjer Morgan made contact with a catcher instead of home plate. The first time, it was in a 14-5 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals, so that extra run did not matter too much. However, last night Morgan’s to eschew a slide in the top of the 10th in favor of a hockey check on Florida Marlins catcher Brett Hayes may have cost the Nats the game. Hayes made the out, but was injured. The Marlins felt it was deliberate and after the stunt against the Cardinals, I can’t blame them. Every one in the Nats clubhouse defended Morgan (Mark Zuckerman on Twitter), but keep in mind, they defended Elijah Dukes for two years too. Obviously, that is perhaps an unfair comparison, but clubhouses tend to stick up for their own. Had Morgan not had his incident against the Cardinals, I have a feeling this wouldn’t be a good idea, but he has gotten a rep.

Arbitration probably isn’t going to be a lot of fun for Morgan this offseason, he’d be wise to avoid it. I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s non-tendered. Gunning for catchers, getting picked off on the bases, allowing deep fly balls to turn into inside-the-park home runs and having a .309 OBP make the nicknames, silver Elvis wig and so on at lot less fun.

I’m still glad they traded Lastings Milledge to get him though. At least Morgan’s six weeks of exceptional play last year was fun.

I’m bringing back Music Tuesday for football season with a theme — each week’s edition will be tangentially related Penn State’s opponent. This week is easy — Bruce Springsteen’s “Youngstown” since the Nittany Lions are playing Youngstown State.

Next week’s won’t be so depressing.

#19 Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Youngstown State Penguins — can you feel it?!

Ya, me neither. I have never been this unenthusiastic about the kickoff of a Penn State football season. Ugh,these FCS games are terrible, but they are not going away even as the Big Ten looks to expand to 9 conference games (Patriot-News). As for Saturday’s game, the way I look at it — beating the Penguins is always a good thing. We don’t know who the quarterback(s) will be (CDT), but it shouldn’t matter. I think there will be a rotation between Kevin Newsome and Matt McGloin with Robert Bolden getting a look in the second half.

Here is what being a sacrificial lamb means to Youngstown State – The Vindicator

Bob Flounders of the Patriot-News is chatting at 2 p.m. He wants Nebraska and Penn State to be rivals (Patriot-News). I’m on board, though Flounders probably should have mentioned he is an alumnus of Nebraska.

Speaking of the Cornhuskers, there is a great story on how Nebraska joined the Big Ten in the Omaha World-Herald today. Graham Spanier, a former Nebraska administrator, played a role.

Look for the transcript and hopefully video of Joe Paterno’s press conference later this evening.

After lengthy delay, Nationals beat Marlins, 9-3 –
Sloppy conditions, clean performance –
When I saw the twitpics of the standing water at Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphin/Dolphins/Land Shark/SunLife Stadium last night, I went to bed assured that the Washington Nationals would be playing in a doubleheader today against the Florida Marlins. I was kind of looking forward to it actually.

It did not work out that way.

But it did work out.

Playing in conditions better fit for water-skiing than baseball, the Nats pounded the Marlins 9-3. Ryan Zimmerman hit a 3-run homer that broke the scoreboard Nationals Enquirer. The “m” in SunLife Stadium was a casualty, so from this point on, we’re calling it SunLife Stadiu. Adam Dunn homered for the 33rd time as well, 3 run shot to left-center.

Jason Marquis continued his climb to mediocrity, winning his first game for D.C. in eight decisions. His ERA has plummeted to 8.13.

The Nats have won 4 out of 5.

Orlando Hernandez abruptly leaves the Harrisburg Senators, Washington Nationals –
El Duque” walks away [updated] – Nats Insider
Orlando Hernandez aka El Duque has left the Nats organization. When he found out he would not be a September call-up, he left the Harrisburg Senators. The half-brother of LIVAN!, El Dugue was expected by some to mentor another Cuban defector, Yunesky Maya.

That’s No Rest Stop, It’s A ‘Travel Plaza’ – NPR
The second weekend of I-95: The Road Most Traveled features a look at the Delaware Welcome Center Travel Plaza that was recently reopened. The old service plaza was pretty bad and I only went to it a few times over the years. Typically, if I need to stop on that part of the journey I do so off Interstate 95 in either Newark, Del. or Elkton, Md. (wink wink). If I did stop at a service area, it would usually be the Maryland ones, Maryland House and Chesapeake House. Those, especially Maryland House, were better than the Delaware one. I blogged about upgrades to them in 2006.

The new travel plaza is operated by HMS Host. Liane Hansen was very disappointed there isn’t a penny crushing machine because HMS Host wanted the features to include human interactions. That may mean the arcade is gone too — I remember one of my cousins saying they always stopped there when they came down to visit us. I’ll see what I can find out Tom.

Rest areas with restaurants and gasoline stations have been banned since the 1960s because they discourage local business. They only appeared on toll roads like the turnpikes in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, etc.

The report mentions that the stretch of I-95 in Delaware is the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway. Kennedy attended the dedication of the Delaware Turnpike and Maryland’s Northeast Expressway just a week before he was assassinated in 1963. In 1964 the roadway in both states was named after him, but Delaware has stuck to using “Delaware Turnpike” on signs. Also, the roads were toll roads because the Eisenhower administration got into a disagreement with the states over that part of I-95. In the long-run, I think both states are probably thrilled that the highway is tolled.

Northernmost Maine? I-95 Won’t Get You There
The original plans for what became I-95 in Maine had a highway running to the northern part of the state. However, when the interstate highway system showed up, that plan got truncated and I-95 ends at the Canadian border about 10 miles from the Trans-Canada Highway.