RIP James Gammon

You may know him as manager Lou Brown of the fictional 1989 Cleveland Indians in Major League.

You may run like Mays, but you hit like shit.

Perfect, just perfect. I think I'll add this to my Netflix list for a memorial viewing.

Sending for reinforcements

Manny Acta is no more at the Washington Nationals. Apparently, balking in a run during an intentional walk is enough to get your manager fired. But you can't win a whole lot of games with two decent hitters and... well, nothing much else.

Jim Riggleman is the poor sap who inherits this mess. First in war, first in peace, last in the National League East. Have fun.

Speaking of people called to rescue lost causes, Aaron Sorkin of Sports Night fame is now in charge of the Moneyball movie. Best of luck, Aaron, and stay off the juice this time, ok?

RIP Paul Newman

I'm forgoing my usual fix of college football for a couple of hours, to watch The Sting once again. It's best remembered as a caper movie, but let's not forget the sporting element is strong, too. And I am very grateful for The Hustler, Slap Shot, The Color of Money, and even Cars.

Paul Newman: actor, racing team owner, larger than life personality.

More on drugs

Last night we saw the excellent documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster. I'd recommend this to anyone with an interest in the issue of drugs in sports. A very balanced, fair, and personal movie.

And while I am on the subject, the great Michael Johnson has made plain his feelings about the present rash of revelations, most notably with this statement about the 4x400 event in Sydney 2000:

As for the gold medal I won with Antonio, and Alvin and Calvin Harrison, who have all admitted to or have tested positive for drugs since 2000 when we won the medal, I'm sure that there will be calls for us to give it back. I'm not sure what will happen with that effort, but I know that the medal was not fairly won and that it is dirty, and so I have moved it from the location where I have always kept my medals because it doesn't belong there. And it doesn't belong to me.

So, as difficult as it is, I will be returning it to the IOC because I don't want it. I feel cheated, betrayed and let down.

Leatherheads

Promises to be far better than this Super Bowl. And coming right next to Semi Pro. It's dumb sports movie heaven. Live it up, folks, it doesn't get any better than this.

Knowing when to retire

And the 2007 award for Most Ill Advised Sports Movie Sequel goes to Bring It On: In It to Win It, the fourth and no doubt far from last of the Bring It On franchise. In this one, we see a reprisal of West Side Story with cheerleaders.

No, really.

Previous winners of this prestigious award (which I just made up) include Bring It On Again, Bring It On: All or Nothing, Major League: Back to the Minors, Rocky IV, Rocky V, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training, The Bad News Bears Go to Japan, D3: The Mighty Ducks, The Karate Kid Part II, The Karate Kid Part III, The Next Karate Kid, and the all time classic The Cutting Edge: Going for the Gold. This last gets extra kudos for being a sequel to a film that was already a serious contender for worst sports movie ever made.

But never mind- Semi-Pro is coming soon. Bring it on.