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By Janet Evans
Monday, Sep 22 2008, 07:13 AM
 Julia Ruth Stevens, the daughter of former New York
Yankee Babe Ruth, throws out the ceremonial first pitch
before the final regular season MLB American League
baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York, September 21, 2008.
REUTERS/Mike Segar
Last night, September 21, 2008, was the final game at Yankee Stadium…
"They will never forget the time the Yankees opened the gates seven hours before first pitch and let fans walk around the field. They will never forget a 7-3 Yankees victory over the Orioles, a stadium retired on a five-game winning streak. They will never forget the time when the whole Yankees team did a lap around the field, waving their caps at fans who didn't want it to end. "
Stadium Leaves Night To Remember
But, I said this was about the Babe, so I’ll move on. Babe Ruth’s daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens, threw out the first pitch, well, barely. But that’s okay. It meant something to her and to the fans and players. And it would have meant something to Babe Ruth, but not what you think…
"While it was fitting for the daughter of the greatest player in franchise history, Babe Ruth, to open the final game in the house her father "built," Ruth Stevens knew the Babe would have been amused by the sight.
"He knew I didn't throw very well," Ruth Stevens said with a laugh. "But I taught him how to bowl."
Taking the field, out of her wheelchair for a brief moment, Ruth Stevens felt a tremble throughout her body. She accepted the invitation to throw out the first pitch only a day before, and when the moment arrived, it brought upon her three predominant responses.
"Thrilling, exciting and scared to death," Ruth said.
Ruth Stevens still has memories of her father slamming long home runs, starting with 1927 in Yankee Stadium. And even though it's terrible to think the ballpark has reached its final days, she understands that this moment had to come at some point. "
Babe's Daughter Tosses Out First Pitch
Babe Ruth hit 665 of his 714 career home runs as a
member of the Yankees. (Harry Harris/AP)
Babe Ruth 1918 - the 1st year Ruth led the league in home runs.
Because I said this is about Babe Ruth (and not the Yankees), I’ve just got to throw this photo in because I think it’s interesting for those who may not have seen it…
George H. W. Bush, captain of the Yale baseball team, receives Babe Ruth's
manuscript of his autobiography which he was donating to Yale, 1948
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By Janet Evans
Tuesday, Jun 10 2008, 06:57 AM
 Cincinnati Reds' Ken Griffey Jr., waves to the
crowd after he hit his 600th home run during the
first inning of a baseball game against the Florida
Marlins Monday, June 9, 2008 at Dolphin Stadium
in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
“Griffey's name never has appeared on a police blotter, has never been listed among those who cheated to gain an unfair advantage, has never been listed on any delinquent tax lists or bankruptcy lists for flushing his money away on drugs.”
I just think Ken Griffey, Jr. has class, and he always has. And he says he doesn’t remember touching the bases as he went around…just like a kid in all his glory….loving every moment of it. I've always enjoyed watching Ken Griffey, Jr. play baseball.
One of our autographed baseballs includes one signed by both Ken Griffey, Jr. and his father.
Read about the 600th home run from the Associated Press ç here
And another take on Griffey, about what might have been….he's been plagued with injuries and could have had so much more......
MVN.com ç here
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By Janet Evans
Saturday, Mar 29 2008, 08:14 PM
 The first Opening Day game at the Los Angeles Coliseum, Dodgers-Giants April 18, 1958,
drew a crowd of 78,682. (File/Associated Press)
Tonight, the Dodgers return to their first Los Angeles home. They are coming back to the Coliseum one more time to play the Red Sox in an exhibition game, and officials are hoping for a world-record baseball crowd of over 115,000.
"I remember the Coliseum all too well," said commissioner Bud Selig, who watched the Sox in Japan and plans to be at tonight's game. "My team, the Milwaukee Braves, lost the 1959 pennant there. I remember those Wally Moon shots. There's a lot of history here. We're recreating something from 47, 48 years ago, and it's just amazing."
Read about it from the Boston Globe
Gladiators return to Coliseum í here
| EXHIBITION EXPECTED TO BE A SIX-FIGURE AFFAIR |
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Facts and figures about the exhibition game to be played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday (7:10 p.m. PT) between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox:
Expected attendance: More than 115,000
The ballpark: The Coliseum, built for football, was an oddity for baseball. The Dodgers played four seasons there, from 1958 to 1961. The left-field foul pole was 251 feet away from the plate, with a 42-foot screen in left. Because of changes to the stadium since then (removal of the track, added seats), the configuration for Saturday's game are even stranger -- 201 feet down the line in left, with a 60-foot screen.
Memories: The Dodgers won the World Series in 1959. The three Series games in the Coliseum drew more than 92,000 fans each. In May 1959, the Dodgers played the New York Yankees in an exhibition game to honor Roy Campanella, the great Dodgers catcher who had been paralyzed in a car accident. The crowd was 93,103, the largest ever to attend a game between major league teams.
Fan Festival: The Dodgers are putting on an all-day festival of baseball activities outside the Coliseum, including attractions for kids, autograph booths with former Dodger players and live music from the 1950s and 1960s.
Take me out: When the more than 115,000 stand and sing Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the seventh-inning stretch, it will be the largest sing-along of the third most-popular song in U.S. history. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the baseball anthem written by Albert Von Tilzer and Jack Norworth. The tune ranks as the third most-sung song in the USA, trailing only Happy Birthday to You and The Star Spangled Banner, according to the recently released book Baseball's Greatest Hit, The Story of Take Me Out to the Ball Game. by Seth Livingstone, David Leon Moore | |
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Coliseum under construction in 1922 Wikipedia
Model proposed renovation Wikipedia |
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Feb 28 2008, 06:15 AM
from the Wisconsin Historical Society
 __________________________________________
In 1885, Wisconsinites must have been a little bit tougher than we are.
These La Crosse men formed a Toboggan Club and braved temperatures that dipped to over 25 degrees below zero while enjoying the sport. They didn’t let a little bit of cold weather or fear of hypothermia slow them down a bit. This club built a giant slide for toboggans next to a skating rink and included lighting.
I suppose any of us from the Franklin area interested in tobogganing will probably just stick to the toboggan run in Whitnall Park. And, wouldn’t you know, we’ve got a little snow…so looks like it’s closed (what would those La Crosse men think)?:
Toboggan Slide Hours:
(To build the iced track, we require several weeks of temperatures below 20F. We build the track as soon as conditions allow.)
2007-08 Hours
Feb. 19, 2008 - The track is temporarily closed
Thurs.–Fri 4–8pm
Saturday noon–8pm
Sunday noon–6pm
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By Janet Evans
Saturday, Jan 12 2008, 08:15 AM
In UrbanGrounds :
If Hillary is qualified to be President, then I guess Deanna Favre is qulalified to play QB for the Green Bay Packers. From Blackfive: In a news conference earlier this week, Deanna Favre announced she will be the starting QB for the Packers next season. Deanna asserts that she is qualified to be starting QB because she has spent the past 16 years married to Brett while he played.
Read about it
Here?
Deanna Favre — New QB for the Green Bay Packers
Who's more qualifed?
Deanna or Hillary?
  sport.com
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Nov 29 2007, 01:30 PM
Growing up, I had always had an interest in running, and in Phy. Ed. classes I was pretty fast, beating all the girls, and sometimes even one or two of the guys when I was really young.
In the early 70’s I went to high school in southern Florida. At that time, almost all Varsity sports where boys sports. Any girl’s sports were those such as Cheerleading, Field Hockey, and I don’t know, maybe dodge ball . . . There were no girl’s competitive track and field sports.
When I was in 10th grade I approached the Varsity Cross Country Coach and said I wanted to be on the team, even if it meant just to practice with them. I received a flat “No.” So, I lost interest in running. The following year, I approached him again. He seemed more interested, but again, “No.”
Finally, when I was a Senior, Title IX was passed. It was the first time I had actually realized I had been discriminated against for being a female. I know I had been angry that I couldn’t do a simple thing - I just wanted to run in a sport. It wasn’t a contact sport. Finally we could have a Girls Cross Country and Track Team! The coach approached me! Sure two years of doing nothing but riding a bike about five miles a day, and tanning on the beach while I could have been in great shape by now. But I said yes.
There were few Girls Cross Country teams formed in southern Florida that first year. My team consisted of me, a 17 year old, and one other girl, a freshman, who was a great runner and would have been bumped up to Varsity even if she hadn’t been. You couldn’t have only one girl on a team!
My school wasn’t happy about Title IX, and did not push for any new girls sports. We trained with the boys after school and on weekends (we couldn't keep up at first and we were a distraction running in our bikini tops - hey, it was hot). Our school was so not accepting of a girls program that it wouldn’t give us official uniforms and we sat outside the locker room, angry, while the boys had team meetings inside. We ran against teams of 8-12 girls, usually all African American teams. And we beat them. In the following years, our team gained girls, and real uniforms.
At meets, it was HOT. We didn’t carry around water bottles back then. Never heard of them. Most of the home teams would make giant “vats” of Gatorade. Most of them looked like pig feeding troths, filled with lime green liquid. It was just gross. I’m glad the girls usually ran first, because by the time the guys got to the vat, usually they were scooping that Gatorade into their mouths with their sweat-dripping hands! YUK.
Why am I telling you my back-story? This past week the creator of Gatorade passed away, and that picture of those green vats popped right into my head.
Dr. Robert Cade, who invented the sports drink Gatorade and launched a multibillion-dollar industry that the beverage continues to dominate, died Tuesday of kidney failure. He was 80. He created Gatorade in 1965, at the University of Florida, along with other researchers. He had been trying to find something to help the schools football players replace the carbohydrates and electrolytes they lost through sweat while playing in the swamp-like heat in Florida...
The research on Gatorade all started because the former Gators Coach, Dwayne Douglas, asked the doctor why the players weren’t peeing after the games. And this changed everything.
“Using their research and about $43 in supplies, they concocted a brew for players to drink while playing football. The first batch was not exactly a hit."
"It sort of tasted like toilet bowl cleaner," said Dana Shires, one of the researchers. "I guzzled it and I vomited," Cade said. "
"The researchers added some sugar and some lemon juice to improve the taste. It was first tested on freshmen because Coach Ray Graves didn't want to hurt the varsity team. "
"Eventually, however, the use of the sports beverage spread to the Gators, who enjoyed a winning record and were known as a "second-half team" by outlasting opponents. "
"After the Gators beat Georgia Tech 27-12 in the Orange Bowl in 1967, Tech coach Bobby Dodd told reporters his team lost because, "We didn't have Gatorade ... that made the difference."
Read the story of Gatorade and the University of Florida's football team
Gatorade, the Idea that Launched an Industry
Instead of the original four flavors, Gatorade now comes in over 30, and is sold in 80 countries.
Born James Robert Cade in San Antonio on Sept. 26, 1927, Cade, a Navy veteran, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. Cade was appointed an assistant professor in internal medicine at UF in 1961. He worked until he was 76, retiring in November 2004 from the university, where he taught medicine, saw patients and conducted research.
James Cade 1927-2007
I know it bothered me back in the 70's that I was not allowed to participate on a simple running sports team.
I'm more upset about it today than I was back then. It felt more like a “bump” then.
You see, when you are being discriminated against, you tend to accept what is going on as everyday life; you don’t like it, and you keep trying to change it, but until someone gets in your face and says to you "YOU ARE BEING DISCRIMINATED AGAINST," you don't tend to REALIZE IT.
What happened in sports back then in the 60s, and early 70s was WRONG.
Now we have girls who, the past few years, want to wrestle in a contact sport with boys because there are no girl’s teams. The boys do not go along with this. I am on the side of the boys in this one.
I don’t believe Title IX was meant to pit boys and girls together in a contact sport such as wrestling. I know a girl is allowed, and should be able to make a football, baseball, soccer, or whatever team if she is as good as or better than her fellow teammates of boys. But if I were a boy in high school, I too would not want to be wrestling a female in a competition. I guess, if I were the boy, I would take her out, but most of the girls are in different weight classes, too . . . Instead, the boys are forfeiting their matches. It's a pity.
Read an article from the New York Times on this topic:
More Girls Take Part in High School Wrestling
What do you think about the invention of Gatorade?
Did you realize there was discrimination against women
in sports in the 60’s and 70’s?
What about Title IX now?
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By Janet Evans
Saturday, Nov 24 2007, 06:45 AM
Marion Jones' Results Annulled on Doping
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been infatuated with Marion Jones and her fresh-faced, all-American talent ever since I first saw her run back in 1997, in the World Championships, in Athens, winning the 100 meters. But it was in the 2000 Olympics, in Sydney, that she totally won me over. What a star. No doubt about it.
Jones won gold medals in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and the 1600 meter relay in Sydney, and bronzes in the 400 relay and long jump. At the 2001 world championships, she won the 200 and the silver in the 100.
Now the star has fallen, and Marion Jones' career has ended in disgrace.
DOPING.
Performance Enhancing Drugs.
Steroids.
It's just hard to believe. Why?
All I remember in Sydney is her husband, Track Coach C.J. Hunter, pressuring her, pushing her, prodding her. I haven't heard it said, but I will say it, could he have been the influence that started it all?
I know that's no excuse. Not unless he held her down everyday and forced the drugs into her body. But I just find it hard to believe she would have done it on her own.
What a waste.
Jones has now returned her five Olympic medals and agreed to forfeit all results dating to Sept. 1, 2000. But it's still up to the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) and International Olympic Committee to change the record books and revise the medals.
The IAAF said Jones was disqualified from all competitions since Sept. 1, 2000, with all results erased. That includes all relays, not just individual events.
The IAAF said Marion Jones must return all awards, medals, money from that period, and that she can't compete again unless she pays back approximately $700,000.
Athletes who are eventually upgraded will receive a share of Jones' prize money. It isn't clear if they will get the money since Jones says she is broke.
Even tough Jones is retired, she is officially suspended until Oct. 7, 2009. Jones would have to give the IAAF 12 months notice if she was going to return to competition after the ban.
Click here to read an MSNBC Article on Marion Jones ◄
It just makes me "Unglued" that athletes feel the need to use these drugs. I understand Olympic athletes have a small window to get into the competition. But there used to be such pride in the fact that the U.S. Athletes in the Olympics were "clean."
What are your feelings on Marion Jones and her fall from use of PED and Steroids?
The possibility that she may go to prison?
Marion Jones, who won five medals at the Sydney Olympics, says she took the steroid known as "the clear" for two years beginning in 1999, according to a letter Jones sent to close family and friends. (Arne Dedert - AFP)
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