Tag Archives: twin cities

Love How the Media Screws Up and then Blames Brett Favre … and Visanthe Shiancoe

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune printed an erroneous (fabricated?) story this week that Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre had retired. Immediately, the Associated Press and ESPN ran with it as if it was fact.

Evidently the story started with an alleged (fabricated?) text that Favre had told a friend of a friend of a good friend of a not-so-good friend that he’d said to another friend, “I’m done.” To run with a story in an actual real mainstream media publication with that kind of tweet, or whatever, should be a firing offence if it turns out the story wasn’t true. It wasn’t. Nobody was fired and the mainstream media continues to be a source that is hard to believe.

Favre, as far as anyone knows, didn’t say a word to anyone about retirement, but all week the media blamed Favre for the story. They called him a “diva” again because that’s what they like to do and the Associated Press even ran three days of stories saying Visanthe Shiancoe verified that players had received texts from Favre. Sorry, I heard the Shiancoe interview on ESPN and his exact words were, “Some players told me had texted someone and said he retired, but I he hasn’t told me.” In other words, those players had been informed of the story that was written in the Star-Tribune.

All this (fabricated?) story proved was that the Twin Cities media is under such incredible pressure to get something definitive from Favre FIRST that it has completely lost its mind. Hey, Favre could retire. His ankle could be too bashed up to play. Then again, he could show up in two weeks, ready to play. We all know that. But to say he texted or tweeted somebody with the words, “I’m done,” and then without phoning Vikings head coach Brad Childress or owner Zygi Wilf or even Favre’s brother Scott, some donkey runs with a story and some lunatic editor lets it run, is frightening.

In the meantime, the Star-Tribune continues to run with the “he texted his teammates,” lie and they all continue to blame Favre and Shiancoe for the circus.

There would have been no circus at all if the original writer of the original bit of gerbalism had called Childress or Favre.

As we’ve said here before, you can’t have a dive without a large envoy of enablers ans let’s be certain the American mainstream media is Brett Favre’s enabler.

Listen to Scott Taylor 15 times daily on NCI FM 105.5 in Winnipeg and at Streetz 104.7 in Winnipeg.

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No Wonder Newspapers Are Dying

Posted on September 19, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

MINNEAPOLIS — Friday night, we spent a terrific night at the Metrodome in Minneapolis watching the Minnesota Twins turn the American League Central Division race into a real race.

The Twins got a tremendous pitching performance from Brian Duensing, a two-run bomb from Michael Cuddyer and held on in the ninth to shut out the Detroit Tigers 3-0. Great game, great night at the ballpark. And it was nice to have a brief chat with my old friends Larry Fitzgerald Sr. and Chuck Olsen in the press box.

But then, what happens in the cold light of dawn? The Twin Cities Star-Tribune newspaper arrives at my door (it was part of my hotel stay, I can assure you I wouldn’t pay for it) and I read the column by Jim Souhan.

Nice premise: “On their feet, fans grasp the worth of important baseball.” Souhan defended the American League Central Division, the Division that every baseball fan will agree is the weakest of them all, but he did it with a moronic, backhanded shot at the Division that showed his incredible ignorance. The ignorance only possessed by an unthinking mainstream media newspaper columnist in these days of the dying daily newspaper.

Souhan wrote: “Baseball needs a place to hide its weaker teams and the Northern League is full.”

Whether Souhan failed to have the proper size of cojones to rip the American Association where the Twin Cities’ own St. Paul Saints play or he was just rushing at deadline, is not for me to decide. But the truth is this. The Northern League is NOT full and it would gladly accept the American League Central Division’s Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals.

Check the roster in Cleveland. This year’s September call-up edition of the Cleveland Indians is not as good as the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. And frankly, that lousy Class A team is being passed off as a Major League ball club. That’s nothing short of fraud.

But what the hell? Just as columnists make up phony plans for football stadiums (there is NO Plan B if David Asper fails) and others create hockey trades out of the ether, we’ve grown to accept pure, unadulterated mendacity in the mainstream media. I keep kicking myself every day, saying: “Why do I bother to read that stuff?”

No wonder newspapers are dying.

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A Game of 10 Questions

Posted on September 5, 2009 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

Time Again for our favourite game: 10 Questions.

As always, it comes with appropriate comments, quips and corollaries.

1. Why do Winnipeg Blue Bomber fans get their shorts in a knot over the signing of a nutbag like Pacman Jones, when the same fans have, ijn the past, fallen head-over-heels in love with (a) a guy who assaulted his wife (Kyries Hebert), (b) a guy who stole a car (Juran Bolden) and (c) a guy who robbed his own teammates (Kelly Rush)? Well, in fairness, stealing cars kind of makes you an honourary Winnipegger.

2. Why does the mainstream media in the Twin Cities essentially chase Tarvaris Jackson out of his job as the quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings and then when the same media gets a veteran like Brett Favre to come to town, wonders why Tarvaris Jackson ever lost his job in the first place? Come on dudes, one or the other.

3. Why does the goofy Yankee media (which means all the baseball writers in America) continue to tout Mark Teixeira as the American League MVP when Teixeira is hitting just .279 with 32 homers and 101 RBI while their own Derek Jeter, hitting out of the leadoff spot, is batting .330 with 17 homers, 61 RBI with 95 runs scored? Sorry, but  Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera has better MVP numbers (.339/28 homers/84 RBI/.567 slugging percentage with a lot less help in the lineup) than Teixeira.

4. How can a bankruptcy judge accept an offer of $140 million for a bankrupt hockey team when another offer of $212.5 million is on the table? I thought a bankruptcy judge was supposed to be on the creditors’ side.

5. Then again, how does Gary Bettman keep his job as commissioner of the NHL when he runs around bad-mouthing current owners and prospective owners, who all pay their bills, while singing the praises of owners and former owners who stole money and went to jail? Is this the Bernie Madoff League?

6. Why do people still want to believe that professional athletes are role models?

7. Why is it that Butch Goring, John Ferguson, Lorne Chabot, Billy Reay and Murray Murdoch are NOT in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but Clark Gillies, Steve Shutt, Cam Neely, Bernie Federko and Jim Gregory  are? That’s a freakin’ joke.

8. Why do referees and umpires still believe that instant replay is the enemy when, in fact, it’s the best friend they have?

9. Why does the mainstream media keep saying that steroid and HgH users are “cheaters” and are “taking shortcuts” when, as anyone who has ever been in a gym knows, the second you decide that performance enhancers are for you, you have to be prepared to work three times harder than you were working before? Those drugs create more work, they don’t make anything easier.

And finally…

10. Why do the NHL owners STILL believe that Phoenix is a good idea?

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Koskie on Team Canada. Now has offers from two big league teams.

Posted on February 27, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

It has been February’s good news story. After more than 2 1/2 years away from baseball because of the effects of post-concussion syndrome, Anola, Manitoba’s Corey Koskie, once a third baseman for the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers, had returned to the game.

But he did more than just return to the game. He went out and won a spot on Canada’s national team, the one that will compete in the World Baseball Classic that begins next week. He’ll wear his old No. 47 and while he’s listed as a backup third baseman right now, he still believes that if he’s given a chance, he could give Mark Teahen a run for the starting job.

 

He also as two offers to play professionally this summer.

 

But first, to his chances with Team Canada. 

 

“I really believe that I’m given a chance to win the job in the exhibition games, then I’ll win the job,” Koskie said, via telephone from Fort Myers, Fla., on Friday afternoon.

 

“I feel really good. No more concussion problems, no more nausea. I’m about 10 pounds heavier than I was when I played in Milwaukee so I find that I’m sore every day. I haven’t played 2 1/2 years and while I feel like I’m shape, I’m going very hard every day. Two years ago, if I was sore in the spring, I would take a day off, say, from infield practice or running or whatever. But right now, I can’t do that. I’m trying to come back in order to be ready for the tournament. I can’t afford to take a day off.

 

“And it’s great to be playing again. I’m just happy being out there again.”

 

Koskie, now 35, played nine years in the majors, but he hasn’t played a game since July 5, 2006. That’s the day Koskie, then with the Brewers, was involved in a terrific play with Milwaukee shortstop Bill Hall. The two combined to make a miraculous catch of a flare to short leftfield off the bat of the Reds’ Felipe Lopez – a play that made the highlight reels all over North America.

Since that day, however, Koskie has been a mess. As the former Twins third baseman tried to make that spectacular over-the-shoulder catch, his legs slipped out from under him and he slammed his shoulders against the outfield grass. He didn’t hit his head (despite what a number of lazy newspaper reporters and news services wrote), but he did suffer the same symptoms a car accident victim would get from a severe case of whiplash.

 

Brewers’ doctors confirmed he had post-concussion syndrome and he hasn’t played a game since. However, in early January he started feeling better and said he’d like to end his career with Team Canada at the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

 

Well, he might not be ending his career at all.

“I have offers on the table from two teams,” he said. “As you know, I’ve been working out at the Twins complex in Fort Myers so because they were good to me, I went to them first and asked if they wanted me. They weren’t interested, but my agent talked to a number of teams and there are two offers out there. I will agree to terms soon, maybe even this weekend. They’re minor league deals, but they are deals and I will play baseball this summer.”

Granted, the comeback of Corey Koskie pales beside the comeback of Tiger Woods, but it’s still a wonderful story. At age 35, after two and a half years out of the game, Manitoba’s greatest baseball player is getting a chance to play again.

Call me a homer. Call me whatever you like. I’m going to spend the summer cheering for him.  

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Renney gone, Koskie on Team Canada, New CFL Rules… the banging in my head goes on unabated…

Posted on February 24, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

What’s that clanging around in my noggin? 

 

Must admit, can’t think that anyone was surprised when Tom Renney was fired as head coach of the New York Rangers. Great guy, excellent coach, wrong team, wrong time.

 

At the start of the season it appeared as if the Rangers were going to run away and hide, but as the playoffs approach and the Blueshirts have lost 10 of 12 and fallen to within two points of ninth place in the East. Losing to the Leafs on Sunday night was the end of the road for Renney.

 

It’s been clear for awhile that Glen Sather was going to make a change and the move to John Tortorella, a hard-ass, native New Yorker, was so painfully obvious, it bordered on cliche.

 

Tortorella won a Cup in Tampa and also finished last. Of course, he won the Cup with Nikolai Khabibulin in goal and finished last without his Russian netminder, In the end, it always comes down to goaltending and if the Rangers intend to turn this swoon around, Henri Lundqvist had better be ready to carry the load.  

 

2) On the baseball front, Team Canada manager Ernie Whitt confirmed yesterday that Anola, Manitoba’s Corey Koskie, who hasn’t played a game in anger since July 5, 2006, would indeed be one of the 28 players named Tuesday to Team Canada’s preliminary roster for the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Team Canada opens camp March 2 in Dunedin.

 

We first reported this story here at rivercitysportsblog.com at 10:03 a.m. CDT on Sunday, Feb. 22. Later in the day, a story on Koskie’s good fortune appeared on the St. Paul Pioneer Press’s website and the next day the story appeared at cbc.ca. Of course, cbc.ca — which only occasionally gets things right — wouldn’t credit rivercitysportsblog.com. 

 

The mainstream media continues to act despicably. One can only hope the Harper government one day shuts down the CBC, a $1 billion-plus waste of taxpayers money. We live in a time when private broadcasters — the people in this country who pay their own way — are struggling to survive and yet we toss public money down that big CBC toilet.

 

That has to stop. And soon.

 

3) Meanwhile, in the CFL, for the first time, Canadian Football League fans are being asked to propose rule changes that can “make our great game even better,” according to commissioner Mark Cohon’s comments on cfl.ca. 

 

Fans are asked to send their ideas by visiting CFL.ca/rules or by e-mailing rules@cfl.ca by this coming Friday.

 

My suggestion was simple. If a CFL team employs a Canadian as its No. 3 quarterback, then that team should get to use an import starter at another position. It’s time CIS quarterbacks got some training at the pro level in their own country.

 

Interestingly, I’ve heard from a number of 92-CITI-FM listeners who suggested we simply play NFL football in Canada. “One game on one continent,” said our friend Fort Rouge Ted.

 

It’s certainly not patriotic, but it does make sense. 

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Koskie could be going to the World Baseball Classic.

Posted on February 22, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Our old friend Corey Koskie might just have taken a very big step toward returning to Major League Baseball. Saturday night, Koskie — who was not listed on Canada’s provisional roster for the World Baseball Classic roster — was told he will be named to Team Canada’s roster for the 2009 WBC. 

Koskie, now 35, played nine years in the majors with Minnesota, Toronto and Milwaukee, but he hasn’t played a game since July 5, 2006. That’s the day Koskie, then with the Brewers,, was involved in a terrific play with Milwaukee shortstop Bill Hall. The two combined to make a miraculous catch of a flare to short leftfield off the bat of the Reds’ Felipe Lopez – a play that made the highlight reels all over North America.

Since that day, however, Koskie has been a mess. As the former Twins third baseman tried to make that spectacular over-the-shoulder catch, his legs slipped out from under him and he slammed his shoulders against the outfield grass. He didn’t hit his head, but he did suffer the same symptoms a car accident victim would get from a severe case of whiplash.

 

Brewers’ doctors confirmed he had post-concussion syndrome and he hasn’t played a game since. In fact, for more than two years, Koskie couldn’t watch much TV without getting sick. He couldn’t sit at  his computer without getting dizzy. Walking into a big venue like Rogers Centre or the Metrodome in Minneapolis would leave him disoriented and prone to panic attacks.

 

However, in early January he started feeling better and told me he’d like to end his career with Team Canada at the 2009 World Baseball Classic. 

“I still don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’d like to play for Canada. It would be a great way to end my career,” Koskie said, from the living room of his home in the suburbs of the Twin Cities last month. “I’ve talked with the Twins and they said they’d let me use the facilities in Fort Myers in early February. Nobody has given me any indication they’d look at me in terms of a contract or anything like that and I haven’t asked. I just want to see if I can still play. I mean, I’ve been out of the game for 2 ½ years. That’s a long time. I’ve just been hanging out with my kids for two years. I might not even want to play again. But I want to see how it feels.” 

 

It must be feeling pretty damn good. 

 

Koskie, who lives year round just outside Minneapolis, did ask the Twins if he could work out with the club at its spring training facility in Fort Myers and it looks like the best ask he ever made. On Saturday, during a workout with the big club, he faced live pitching for the first time in more than two years and looked comfortable. Doctors had already given him the green light to play again and he now believes Team Canada GM Greg Hamilton will put him on the club’s final roster, a roster that must be submitted this Tuesday. 

 

Team Canada will begin its formal training camp at the Toronto Blue Jays’ facility in Dunedin, Fla., on March 2.

 

If the dream does come true tomorrow, what a wonderful, wonderful story. 

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Manitoba’s Koskie thinking about a comeback.

Posted on January 4, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Corey Koskie has been roughhousing with his kids again. He no longer becomes nauseated when he sends out an e-mail. He can now watch entire movies on his giant HD TV without getting a splitting headache.

In fact, Koskie feels so good, he’s starting to get the itch. He’s going back into the gym this month and maybe, just maybe, he’s going to go to Fort Myers and work out with the Minnesota Twins. 

 

“I still don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’d like to play for Canada in the World Baseball Classic,” Koskie said, from the living room of his home in the suburbs of the Twin Cities last week. “I’m going back into the gym next week to see if I can go through a full workout. If, by the end of the month, I’m comfortable there, I’ll go to Florida just to see if I still have my bat speed, can still throw.

 

“I’ve talked with the Twins and they said they’d let me use the facilities in Fort Myers in early February. Nobody has given me any indication they’d look at me in terms of a contract or anything like that and I haven’t asked. I just want to see if I can still play. I mean, I’ve been out of the game for 2 ½ years. That’s a long time. I’ve just been hanging out with my kids for two years. I might not even want to play again. But I want to see how it feels.” 

 

Manitoba’s greatest baseball player, the young hockey goalie from Anola who grew up and made it to baseball’s big leagues, has not played a game with his last team, the Milwaukee Brewers, since way back on July 5, 2006. That’s the day Koskie, now 35, was involved in a terrific play with Brewers shortstop Bill Hall. The two combined to make a miraculous catch of a flare to short leftfield off the bat of the Reds’ Felipe Lopez – a play that made the highlight reels all over North America.

 

Since then, however, Koskie has been a mess. As the former Blue Jays third baseman tried to make that spectacular over-the-shoulder catch, his legs slipped out from under him and he slammed his shoulders against the outfield grass. He didn’t hit his head, but he did suffer the same symptoms a car accident victim would get from a severe case of whiplash.

 

Brewers’ doctors confirmed he had post-concussion syndrome and he hasn’t played a game since. In fact, for more than two years, Koskie couldn’t watch much TV without getting sick. He couldn’t sit at  his computer without getting dizzy. Walking into a big venue like Rogers Centre or the Metrodome in Minneapolis would leave him disoriented and prone to panic attacks.

 

“It was so frustrating,” Koskie said. “I’d feel good and then my head would start to spin. There was no explanation.”

 

It was kind of a sad, unfortunate way to end a career. Especially when one considers that at the time, his eighth season in the majors, he was playing his best baseball in two years. The Brewers formally released in 2007. It appeared as if he was done.

 

But in the last couple of months Koskie seems to have staggered out of the fog. The nausea doesn’t dog him. There are no more anxiety attacks.

 

“I’m going to find out if I can play again,” he said. “But if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. 

 

“And I’m not even sure I want to play again. I’m not sure I’m ready for the pressure of two-out, two-on bottom of the ninth. But I’m going into this giving everything I have, but expecting nothing in return.”

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Could the Vikings be the best team in the NFC? Probably not, but they should be around in January.

Posted on August 20, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

When your quarterback is Tarvaris Jackson and you’re thin at half-a-dozen important positions, it’s unlikely you’ll be the team to beat in any league. Even if you happen to reside in the less-than-frightening NFC North.

 

However, all things being equal, the Minnesota Vikings should make some noise this coming National Football League season. After all…

 

The Vikings made an outstanding off-season acquisition by getting defensive end Jared Allen, the league’s sack king, from the Kansas City Chiefs for a couple of first-round picks. It was a good deal for the Vikings, a team that believes it can win right now. First round picks are obviously important, but if a team can acquire a player who can help it win right now, it’s a deal that has to be done. As most NFL coaches know, there might not be a next year, at least if you don’t win now.

 

The Vikings also acquired unrestricted free agents Bernard Berrian from the Chicago Bears and  unrestricted free agent Madieu Williams from the Cincinnati Bengals. Throw Berrian into the mix with Sidney Rice and Bobby Wade and the Vikings receiving corps is solid. Toss in Chester Taylor and Adrian Peterson at runningback and there might not be enough footballs in the Twin Cities to make everyone happy. 

 

The offensive line of Jim Kleinsasser or Visanthe Shiancoe at tight end, Ryan Cook at right tackle, Anthony Herrera at right guard, Matt Birk at centre, Steve Hutchinson at left guard and Bryant McKinnie at left tackle is well above average and the kick and punt return teams are passable.

 

On defence, the front seven is very good with Jared Allen at left end, Pat Williams at left tackle, Kevin Williams at right tackle, and Ray Edwards at right end. The linebackers are Ben Leber at WILL, E.J. Henderson at MAC and Chad Greenway at SAM. However, lose one starter and the whole thing could come apart. The Vikings defensive front seven — healthy — is very, very good. It’s so thin and unproven, however, that injuries could rip it apart 

 

The defensive secondary is led by Darren Sharper at strong safety, with Madieu Williams at free safety and Antoine Winfield and Cedric Griffin on the corners. Marcus McCauley will see a lot of time in nickel and dime packages.

 

On the surface, and on paper, this team is pretty good. The key to the Vikings’ 2008 season, however, is health. If Tarvaris Jackson is healthy (he was 8-4 when he started last year), if Adrian Peterson stays healthy and if the defence stays healthy, the Vikings will challenge the Giants, Bucs, Seahawks and Redskins in the NFC.

 

If injuries strike down the important players on this team, the Vikings will find themselves battling Detroit for .500 and a trip to Giants Stadium to get smoked in the opening round of the playoffs.

 

Thousands of Winnipeggers head to the Twin Cities for Vikings football every year and I must admit, it’s been a few years since I liked my regional team at the start of a season.  

 

But I do like a healthy Minnesota Vikings team. In fact, I like them to challenge in the NFC.

 

Injuries? Well, then it could get ugly.

 

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