Columbus Crew Fans Are Lame

I know what you’re thinking….yes, the MLS teams in the US do have fans. The Columbus Crew fans apparently don’t want to cross the border for their match against Toronto FC on May 17th.

It’s understandable, you have to have a passport and everything. Some of these guys have families to take care of and schedule conflicts. Oh yeah, and the Crew have the lowest attendance in the MLS on average.

But you mean to tell me you could not find 55 Crew fans to go to Toronto to support their team? Via Crewture:

Attention all Crew fans, I recently received an e-mail from the Crew Union that stated the bus trip to Toronto was cancelled due to lack of interest! What the heck is my only response! Those Canadians come all the way to OUR HOUSE and we don’t even have the guts to return the favor! Only 18 seats out of 55 were sold!!

Which is weird, because here are the Toronto fans in Columbus.

That’s 2,500 TFC fans for ya….what’s the problem Columbus?

Rejected NBA Slogans

I’m really annoyed by the NBA slogans they keep giving out. I’m talking about the ones like “The NBA, where caring happens.” All it is is sticking a random word in between where and happens. Well I’ve dug deep, found a crumpled up piece of paper with the Where (Word) Happens slogans that did not make the cut.

1. The NBA, where a certain commissioner wants to badly to move a team away from a city happens.
2. The NBA, where snooze-inducing playoff games happens.
3. The NBA, where the Spurs and Pistons happens.
4. The NBA, where Craig Sager’s outfits happens.
5. The NBA, where Doug Collins stuttering all over the place and confusing himself happens.
6. The NBA, where Mike Tirico’s never ending Soulja Boy bashing happens.
7. The NBA, where seniors like Greg Oden can play happens.
8. The NBA, where Kobe Bryant lighting the Utah Jazz on fire happens.
9. The NBA, where Ira Newble happens.
10. The NBA, where WWE, featuring Marvin Williams and Rajon Rondo happens.
11. The NBA, where Reggie Miller disregarding the English language happens.
12. The NBA, where George Karl can stay after another failed season while Mike D’Antoni and Avery Johnson are fired happens.
13. The NBA, where T-Mac’s imminent surgery during the offseason happens.
14. THE NBA, WHERE STEPHEN A. SMITH HAPPENS!!!!!!!!
15. And finally…..The NBA, where Larry Brown can get a coaching job whenever and wherever the heck he wants to happens.

Chuck Swirsky to the Bulls; Wayne Larrivee Out

It’s a bit of a surprising move, as the Chicago Bulls have let go of play-by-play man Wayne Larrivee and analyst Tom Dore. Larrivee’s replacement has been announced already (Neil Funk), and it’s Chuck Swirsky of the Toronto Raptors doing the radio commentary. It seemed to be an easy call to hire Swirsky because he is a Chicago native, and he is willing to take a pay cut.

Via the Globe and Mail:

Swirsky said he is taking a pay cut to accept the Chicago job – “leaving money on the table.”

Sources say Swirsky was making more than $300,000 a year with the Raptors. When income from his job as host of The Fan 590 afternoon radio show is included, he was earning more than $400,000 a year.

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the company that owns the Raptors, received a call last Thursday from the Bulls asking permission to talk to Swirsky about an opening that had come up.

In a shakeup, the Bulls TV voices Wayne Larrivee and Tom Dore were let go, and Neil Funk promoted from radio to take over the TV job. That left a vacancy in radio.

“One thing led to another,” Swirsky said. “And then it became official [on Monday]. The Bulls are a great franchise, but his was all about getting back into a situation and I need to listen to my family.”

MLSE chief operating officer Tom Anselmi called Swirsky’s departure a “shocker” and huge loss for the NBA club and the fans.

“Aside from being a great play-by-play guy, he was a great ambassador,” Anselmi said.

The 10 year veteran of Raptors broadcasting is over for Swirsky. I’ve heard him on the CBC before and I think the Bulls have got a very good, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable guy in their hand.

Larrivee leaving the Bulls will probably make it much easier to him to work on Packers games on the radio as well as basketball and football games on the Big Ten Network.
I’m thinking of some possible candidates for the Raptors job that work for ESPN since TSN broadcasts most of their games.

Mark Jones, he is Canadian after all and is a good basketball announcer.

John Saunders, another Canadian who presents and announces NBA and college basketball games.

Pretty sad to see Swirsky go, he is like a staple of Toronto sports and now they are looking for a new guy to come in.

Red Sox Simply Amazed With Wang

ESPN U Announcer Talks About What is Gay

ESPN U announcer….actually, I have no idea who is announcing here but it’s funny. A Northern Illinois receiver dropped a pass, so the analyst is going on and on about catching the ball with your hands. He says that the hands are tender, and can caress the ball. The next comment by the pbp man gets him a suspension.

I love the silence that ensues before he says “4th and 9″. The producer must have fainted.