Actually, there are cheerleaders in American baseball, but it’s a relatively recent development. They first appeared in Southern California during the go-go ’90s, and in recent years, dancers have graced the tops of dugouts for the Angels, Padres, Blue Jays, Expos, and Marlins.

For decades, baseball spurned pompoms. The first American cheerleaders were men who worked the crowds at college football games in the late 19th century; women didn’t get involved until the ’20s and ’30s. In the years that followed, football and basketball players had their feats heralded by organized squads of cheering women, but baseball players had to make do with hollers from the crowd.

Baseball historians aren’t sure why the sport went without for so long. But it was a handful of entertainment executives from the Walt Disney Company who helped initiate the change. When Disney purchased the California Angels in 1996, it added some bells and whistles: a six-piece Dixieland jazz band, zany sound effects for foul balls, and the Angel Wings Cheerleaders. The Angel Wings danced on the top of the visitors’ dugout between innings, attempting to rile the crowd.

The crowd got riled. Apparently the Angel Wings dancers frequently blocked the views of season ticket holders behind the dugout; from the very start they were heckled and booed. Disney management quickly moved the dance team to a platform in the stands out in right field. From there they continued to lead “dance-offs” that tested the crowd’s skills at the macarena and the chicken dance. The Angel Wings Cheerleaders were abandoned the following season.

Despite the shaky start, the Toronto Blue Jays have since brought in the J-Cru Fan Activation Team (now known as the J Force), and the Florida Marlins have introduced the Marlins Mermaids. San Diego has a dance team known as the Pad Squad—pronounced “Pod Squad”—which runs around the field at Padres home games, clapping and tossing T-shirts into the crowd. (Reaction from San Diego fans has been mixed.) The Expos had cheerleaders, too: Indeed, there were those who felt that the Molson EX Girls (who danced to Bananarama on top of the dugout) were an excellent reason to keep baseball in Montreal.

With such a motley record, it’s unclear what the future holds for American baseball cheerleaders. But cheerleading already has a firm foothold in the rest of the baseball-playing world. It’s de rigueur at games in the Dominican Republic, where women in body stockings dance to recorded merengue music on top of the dugouts. In Korean baseball, football-style cheerleaders with whistles, megaphones, and pompoms get the crowd excited, while college games in Japan feature women dancing quietly with pompoms while men dressed in black lead the cheers.  Link post to Cheerleaders4ever.com

Great American Sports Fans, gasf.com, declares itself “Your Online Sports Community.” But it’s got a real old-fashioned look about it and, in the free-for-all section there are posts about a variety of non-sports issues. “447 of 830 Members have made 5508 posts in 5 forums.”

Some self-described online sports communities seem to be mainly designed to sell web design services and websites to sports teams and clubs. Eteamz.com offers a variety of packages to help teams create a presence on the web. “Since 1998, eteamz has been connecting coaches, players, families, friends and fans from teams in over 120 countries. Our resources and customer focus have enabled us to become the Team Sports Web Site Leader. eteamz is home to over 2 million teams and is the official online community of Little League Baseball and NFL Youth Football. This is just the beginning.”

Then there’s gymchat.com: “More than just sports chit chat (but that too!” Gymchat urges you to “Connect with other sport clubs and sport players, coaches, parents, and sport fans here on Gym Chat.” Gymchat offers a variety of options: “Make your own player website, find & rate a sport club/store, look up tv schedule, sports news, view/upload events, videos and photos for your favorite sports, plus lots more! The ALL SPORTS network: from gymnastics and diving to football and soccer, ballet and baseball…any sport you do, this place is for you.” But it seems that this too is mostly about you purchasing website packages ranging from $1200 on up to $2100.

Sportsclix.com has 1504 members who “Make Predictions. Answer Trivia. Write Blogs. Meet Fans!

LINK to Posts All for Sports

I have to say that school coinciding with the start of baseball does cause some hassle. Last minute class changes, people trying to meet eligibility requirements, and just getting situated into school hours all throws everyone off a little the first week.  Add baseball to the equation and things can get a tad bit hairy.  I thought I figured this out, afterall I am in my fourth semester, but I underestimated how much little things like buying your books and a hamstring injury can screw things up.

Finally, getting on the baseball field was my release…just having fun and getting away from the hectic start of the semester.  Even though the first week of practice consisted of conditioning and  light baseball drills (PFPs or pitcher’s fielding practice, bunt coverage and first and third defense) I was in heaven.  The rest of the week consists of long tossing and mental preparation for opening day!

Link

This is a good time to look back at the extraordinary game that ended Memphis’ run for the NCAA title. Many people have written about the incredible fortitude of Kansas and the heart and patience they showed as they climbed their way back in, and eventually win in overtime.

Kansas Wins – Photo: Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters

But I want to write about the other end of sports. I want to talk about losing. You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to figure out that there is a loser for every winner. The joy of Kansas is balanced out by the despair of Memphis. The moment of glory that Mario Chalmer’s take with him throughout life is balanced by the regrets that Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose will carry because they missed those free throws.

LINK to The Full Post of BasketBall 180

You don’t tug at Superman’s cape, and you don’t ignite a fire under LeBron James. With some careless trash-talk, the Wizards have given LeBron and the Cavaliers more to win for this post season. “He’s overrated…and you can say I said that,” Deshawn Stevenson said of MVP candidate, LeBron James. First of all, Who the hell is DeShawn Stevenson? Stevenson is a nobody. LeBron showed that he’s a nobody by owning him in the first game of the playoff series, winning 93-86. In the game, LeBron scored ten times as many points as Stevenson. Stevenson put up a total of 3 points, compared to LeBron’s 30. Stevenson needs to shut his mouth very quick because already he’s been proven wrong. If you’re going to talk trash about some one, make sure they’re a worse player than you. Here are LeBron’s season stats next to DeShawn’s. LINK to BasketBall 180 full Post

With Ronaldinho headed to AC Milan in the best defensive league in the world, he will surely struggle again next season to find his form. His whole career has been offensive-minded, whether it be in Brazil or Spain, and changing his entire style of play to a defensive-minded atmosphere will be a total shock to the two-time FIFA World Player of the Year. His game will be slowed down not only by his own team but by others as the defensive patterns stress slowing down opponents’ midfield attack.

Ronaldinho, who up until this year has been considered the best player worldwide, will be headed to Italy when the season ends, as rules state that the season must complete for the transfer to be completed. AC Milan and Barcelona only have to agree on a few things and the deal should be done and Ronaldinho will be as Italian as spaghetti. OK, maybe not, but he will play in Italy nevertheless. Ronaldhino has had a tough season as he is out injured for the rest of the season, and before the injury that set Barcelona back to mediocrity, he struggled to find the fantastic form we are accustomed to. LINK

“If we continue not to win any trophies next year, then I will go somewhere else. I’ve done it all in Spain, I’ve reached the heights here and so if I do leave I will go to another league.”

Samuel Eto’o, (striker from Cameroon, adding to Barcelona’s growing problems.)

Barcelona has done fairly well in the Champion’s League despite its poor play in Spain. They had a close call last round with Turkish squad, Fenerbahce, but overcame a first leg loss to win in the second leg and advancing to the next round. Barcelona find themselves in the final four of Europe’s most prestigious league matched up with a surging Manchester United team, who unfortunately for Barcelona fans, are playing their best soccer of the year. A loss for Barcelona could send fans into a deep stage of depression as nothing seems to be going right for Barca at the moment. The Eto’o situation is not helping coming into the first leg of the semi-final round and could hurt team morale.   Link to Sean Connolly’s Soccer USA 1 site

Silvio Berlusconi, President of AC Milan, has now admitted that the cost of Ronaldinho may be too high. This has led to Manchester City and AC Milan rival, Inter Milan, to get into the mix. With the cost of the 28 year old superstar is too high because there is a lot of doubt surrounding the star. The Ronaldinho trade to AC Milan has caused quite a stir, but now it seems he may be open to more clubs who are willing to spend a great deal of cash. Here’s what SIlvio Berlusconi had to say about the transfer of Ronaldinho…  Link to Post on Soccer USA 1

To mix a sports metaphor here’s where the rubber meets the road. If you’re like me, you know the clock is running. Tomorrow’s the day. The 2008 NFL Draft.

Haven’t you been checking the mock drafts, hoping to figure out who’s picking the players you’ve watched in college. Trying to get some inside dope on what your favorite team is thinking. Who they’re hoping to get?

Let’s take a short look at the mock drafts. And let’s check back after the picking is done and see who got it right and who fumbled.

First off, let’s make it a bit easier this year. Everybody gets two picks right. The Dolphins go with Jake Long, the tackle from Michigan. And crafty mock-drafters know that the Patriot get zip with pick #31, forfeiting the pick for that sneaky thing they did with video.

Jake LongNow here’s where when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Link to Full Blog Post

For #2, Don Banks over at SI.com has Chris Long, DE from Virginia going to the Rams, figuring him to make their pass rush better on the outside, and passing on Glenn Dorsey. Bob Glauber, Newsday.com, acknowledging that Chris Long is possibility, goes with the DT from LSU arguing that Dorsey‘s “superb inside force can help a Rams’ defense that has been brutal against the run for years.”

It’s Saturday afternoon and it’s me and ESPN. No Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall in New York, NY. It’s football time and the place is rocking with Jets and Giants fans.

So the time for mock drafts has come and gone. Rip’em up. Jake Long did indeed get picked by the Dolphins.

Kudos to Don Banks for giving the Rams Chris Long, the 272 lb DE from Virginia. Several folks who had him going first to Miami made the quick switch. But some had Glenn Dorsey headed to St. Louis. Long is a great player and made 79 tackles last year.

Excerpted from Mickey Friedman’s 2008 NFL Draft Trilogy found Here LinK

Check your local paper and fill in the gaps.

For all the fun and the speculation of mock-drafts, there’s nothing like the unpredictability of trades and the gambling that is the real deal. Next time, we’ll do some analysis of how the teams did. At least, how they did on paper.

Because don’t forget, a few weeks into last season people were saying that Eli Manning was an over-rated bust and the Giants gave up much too much to draft him. Sometimes it just takes some time to fully learn the pro game and become the kind of player the scouts predicted.

Who is this year’s Eli Manning?