Pablo Sandoval announced that the Giants suck, and that the only people in the organization he misses are manager Bruce Bochy and outfielder Hunter Pence. This, in an interview with Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller, who got Sandoval to say what he’s been saying, only more stridently.
“If you want me around, you make the effort to push and get me back,” he said, saying that it all started when general manager Brian Sabean got snippy with his agent. By the time offers were actually done, he said, “The Giants made a good offer, but I didn't want to take it. I got five years from Boston. I left money on the table in San Francisco. It is not about money. It is about how you treat the player.”
Jeez, he makes it sound like he was a 49er.
[RELATED: Sandoval misses 'Boch and Pence; just those guys']
X X X
And now your choice of NBA MVP candidates is apparently a window into your soul, according to Grantland’s Jason Concepcion (http://es.pn/1ELckJ1). He evaluates Stephen Curry, James Harden and Russell Westbrook, while omitting LeBron James and Anthony Davis, presumably for space reasons. Read at your leisure, though his conclusion on Curry pretty much sucks the fun out of basketball, to wit:
“Steph Curry is your MVP if: You unironically listened to more than five hours of Latino Mix 105.7’s three-day-long loop of Nelly’s “Hot in Herre,” or know what the top five performing mutual funds of 2014 were.”
My MVP, in case you must know, is Miroslav Raduljica of Minnesota, and even though he has played only 23 minutes, what it says about me is that I like to get liquored up and run my elbow over the keyboard until I fall off the chair.
[RELATED: NBA MVP Watch: Westbrook owns the week]
X X X
Reggie Jackson bought the giant letters outside Yankee Stadium that read “YANKEE STADIUM,” and now he wants to sell them at auction because, well, what the hell do you do with 10-foot-high neon letters can usefully spell only a few things, including “A Unmasked Yeti” or “Nauseate My Kid?”
It does, however, beg the question, “Which Giant bought the letters “PACIFIC BELL” and “SBC,” and why he needed to spell out “Scab Lib Clef Pic” in his back yard?
X X X
This will surely stun you, but the massive new stadium built in Brasilia for World Cup matches at a cost of $530 million, the second most expensive soccer stadium ever after the new Wembley, is being used as a makeshift bus maintenance depot.
Estadio Mane Garrincha in Brasilia seats 72,000, but since there is no big club there and the local teams have been averaging barely 10,000 per match, the stadium is a monumental drain.
But that won’t be a problem in Russia in 2018, because the buses that break down just won’t ever be repaired, and in Qatar in 2022, they’ll just buy new buses all the time.
Or they’ll just make the poor people carry the fans from game to game in that time-honored FIFA way.
X X X
The Pittsburgh Steelers have released defensive end Brett Keisel. In an unrelated development, they signed his beard to a three-year extension.
X X X
From those noted raconteur/provocateurs Michael Davies and Roger Bennett, this in the wake of Manchester United’s 2-1 FA Cup loss to Arsenal:
“Van Gaal can now concentrate all his energies on not getting back into Champions League.”
That would be Louis Van Gaal, the Man U manager who looks essentially like this: http://bit.ly/1wmaugl.
X X X
And finally, Colin Kaepernick has not been traded yet. There is a sign atop the loading dock entrance to 49er Intergalactic Headquarters that reads:
“1 DAYS WITHOUT A FIB, PREVARICATION, PUBLIC RELATIONS GAFFE OR ANNOYING NO-COMMENT. OH WAIT, DAMN IT, WHAT HAPPENED, NOW THE COUNTER IS BACK TO ZERO! I HATE THIS PLACE! I SERIOUSLY HATE IT!”
Nominate your favorite All-Star Teacher today!
