The Day Tommy Lasorda Said Mass

Once in his baseball career, a Tommy Lasorda argument with an umpire landed him in jail. More than 35 years ago, Lasorda was managing in the Dominican Republic’s Winter League, showcasing his managerial skills for any MLB team that might be interested.
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In one particular game, an umpire ruled that Lasorda’s centerfielder pulled a ball out of his pants pocket as a ruse on a deep fly ball that had gone over his head. The outfielder’s quick-throw prevented a loss in the last half of the 9th inning.
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Lasorda lost his cool and was later incarcerated with a few local weirdos, spending the entire night with a death-grip on the cell's bars away from the crazies, saying the Roman Catholic Mass, over and over and over again.
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Lasorda found out later that a politician had a wager on the game and, the umpire who had made the ridiculous call, had been threatened with jail time him

This story was taken from http://www.doubledribblebob.com/ - Here you can find hundreds of short sports related stories. I encourage my readers to check it out.

Victoria Azarenka - WTA Tennis Interview

Tennis' Fabulous Phenom - Victoria Azarenka

You might not know who Victoria Azarenka is yet, but if she has anything to say about it, you soon will. The 19 year old "Vika" from Belarus is looking to emerge in 2009. Victoria has already taken her place in the world’s top 10, and with tennis looking for a new star, this summer could be her time to shine.

1. You’ve started out 2009 very strong, how would your rate your performances this year?
Yeah my performances this year been really good I think. Winning Brisbane was a really big step for me and I just started believing in myself that I could win the tournaments and the big matches. Beating Serena at the Sony Ericsson was the biggest win on my career, and I am just so happy that I finished that match.

2. What improvements to your game would you like to make in 2009?

Well there are always things to work on and improve in your game, and I want to keep working hard and improve my serve and just my game overall.

3. Tennis brings you to so many places across the world, do you have a favorite?

Yeah I love going to Australia, it is one of my favorite places to travel to.

4. What is the one tournament you would like to win the most?

Of course my goal is to win a Grand Slam, and my favorite ones are the US Open and Australian Open so I would really like to win one of these.

5. There are a lot of people who think you could become the next great tennis champion how are you handling you’re rise to fame and pressure.

You know, right now I'm just thinking about playing and the next match. If I'm going to get too excited, I won't be able to play.

6. How do you celebrate winning a tournament?

Well after winning in Miami the Tour made a reservation for me, my coach and trainer, mom and friends and we all went to Nobu and celebrated. I usually do something fun after winning a big tournament.

7. Since so many young men are becoming fans of yours. I feel obliged to ask; what would your ideal date consist of?

Haha, yeah I like to go out to nice restaurants and have dinner, and then afterwards go out somewhere in the city I am in and do something fun or go somewhere that plays good music.

8. Outside of tennis, is there something you enjoy doing, or do you have any hobbies?

Yeah I love shopping, I am just crazy about it. I love buying Gucci clothes and Diro shoes, and every city I go to I usually do some shopping there. Also, something most people don’t know about me is that I really like cars a lot and driving fast. I want to get a new Mercedes.

9. Looking ahead to what is your goal and expectations for the year?

Well I really want to win a Grand Slam. That’s the whole reason I'm playing, you know. I think everybody's goal is to try to be #1. I'm not going to say, yeah, I'm going to be there, but I'll try to do my best.

**Images used with permission from:via BEST Tennis - Top Image credit: (RON C. ANGLE) bottom image: (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Follow up: After this interview I can say two things for certain. Vika is determined to reach the top echelon of tennis players. The other is if your city, needs a jolt to its retail sector, host a tennis tournament, because Azarenka is a shopper! The WTA is having a hard time keeping its stars on the court. Sharapova seemly hasn’t been healthy for a year, and Jankovic and Ivanovic also have been struggling with injuries. The Williams sister are into their late twenties, and the WTA could really use a fresh young face. It’s going to be a very important summer for Victoria, we’ll see if she can capitalize.

If you would like to link to this story, please link to the achieved interview on RizzoSports.com

Major Changes at RizzoSports.com

In an effort to clarify the website and blog, we’re making the following changes. We hope the changes will lead to an even better visitor experience and increase input from our readers.

RizzoSports.com – Will be for Pittsburgh / WPIAL sports related content. (Pirates, Pens, Steelers, Riverhounds, etc.) Including all of Mike’s columns for the Kittanning Paper. RizzoSports.com will now have a large news section which will be the center point for most new content.

RizzoSports Blog – Any thing non Western PA Sports related.

There will now be two RSS feeds one for the blog and one for the website news (Pgh Sports News)

If you’re currently linking to the site, you may want to revisit your links. No old content will be erased, so links to individual stories will remain. However moving forward the blog will only be non Pittsburgh sports. If you’re a Pittsburgh sports site you’ll probably want to link to RizzoSports.com or the RizzoSports.com News Section

All our links to Pittsburgh sports sites will originate from RizzoSports.com. If you want to write a commentary or story for RizzoSports.com or the RSW Blog, please feel free to send your writings to rizzosports [@] gmail.com. Also if you would like us to link to your site, please send your to us inquiries.

The RizzoSports YouTube will remain the same. The RizzoSports Twitter page will also remained the same, and general updates and annoucements for both sites will be on the Twitter page. If you’re not following us, we encourage you do so.

The RizzoSports.com News Section – The most recent articles will partially appear on the homepage of RizzoSports.com. This section will encompass all things Pittsburgh sports related, including a lot of Kittanning/Ford City coverage. However we're hoping to have a lot of input on all major wPA sports stories.

Once again,

RizzoSports.com – Pgh Sports News, Kittanning Paper Columns, WPIAL Rankings, Interviews, & the World Soccer Rankings.

RizzoSports Blog – Everything else.

Please understand there will be many minor changes over the next month. Once again thanks for your continued support, and we hope to welcome you back soon.

Incredible Run for Ford City Boys

In the three major boys’ high school sports; Football, Basketball, Baseball, the Sabers have reached six straight WPIAL playoffs. The 06-07 basketball team missed the playoffs with a 10-14 record. If you look at the senior class, since their sophomore year, they’ve reached 7 of 8 playoffs, and own 3 section titles. The baseball team looks to make it 8 of 9 playoffs, and 4 section titles. Okay Ford City historians; has there been a better period for boys’ athletics? Certainly the increases in classifications have helped, and this senior class is still looking to make it to a WPIAL title game in boys’ sports. However it’s very impressive run which could continue for a few more seasons.

Pirates to call Neil Walker?

Neil Walker could be only days away from his MLB debut. Easily the most heralded Pirate in more than a decade Walker has started the season strong in “AAA” Indianapolis. He also creates an added interest and marketability since he grew up in close by in Pine-Richland. Since the Pirates moved him from catcher to third base, he has improved his defense dramatically. The current third base situation is less then ideal. Andy LaRoche has yet to get a hit in 14 at bats, and Ramon Vazquez is a career .257 hitter as a utility player. Walker currently leads his triple-A team in hitting. Walker has been in the minor leagues since 2004, including over a full year in at the triple-A level. His defense is solid enough that the Pirates should bring him to Pittsburgh now, they have nothing to lose.

Searching For the Next Great American Golfer

The first major of golf year starts today with the Masters. The media seems solely focused on three players, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Padraig Harrington. Harrington of course is going for his third straight major title. If you watched the tournament build up on the Golf Channel you might be surprised to learn there another 90 plus guys in the field. An interesting question over the first two days is will a young American be able to make a name for himself.

Here are three young Americans who could emerge:



Nick Watney (27) - 4 pro wins, best major result 11 in 08' Masters.


Sean O'Hair (26) - 2 pro wins, best major result: 12th 06' PGA



Dustin Johnson (24) - 2 pro wins, best major result: 48th 08' US Open

All three are under the age of thirty and are currently in the top 10 of 2009 FedEx Cup. Since 2000 only Phil and Tiger have won two or more majors. Will this be the year the wave of young American talent finally arrive and stays on the scene?

2009 Pittsburgh Pirates Season Preview.

2008: W-L (67-95)
2008 Attendance: 1,609,076

Acquisitions:
Eric Hinske (TB) - IF/OF
Ramon Vasquez (Tex) - IF
Craig Monroe (Min) - OF

Gone from 2008
Jason Michaels - OF
Doug Mientkiewicz - 1B
Luis Rivas - IF
Chris Gomez - IF

The Pirates have finished 67-95 in three out of the the four seasons. With no free agent acquisitions of note, the 2009 Pirates are clearly looking to build with in. Here is what the Bucco Experts predict for the 2009 Season.

Matt - Pittsburgh Lumber Co. - 72-90
Jim - Sportocacy - 70-92, not a game better
Brian - Raise the Jolly Roger - 71-91
Nick - Pgh Sports & Mini Ponies - 82-80
Pat - WHYGAS - 65-97
Sean - Sean's Ramblings - 76-86
Jesse Behr - TheBurghBlues - 81-81

RizzoSports.com - 70-92 - I just don't think they have right people in place to do anything better.

Here are 5 questions for the season:

1. The Losing Record - The Pirates have a chance to set professional sports history with a 17 consecutive losing season.

2. Encore - Will Ryan Doumit, Nate McLouth, and Paul Maholm improve on last year's season? Recent Bucco History says no. Don't forget the Pirates reinvested their Bay/Nady/Marte money in contract extensions for this group.

3. Where are the Young Guys? - How long until we see Neil Walker, and Andrew McCutchen.

4. Coaching / Front Office - Joe Kerrigan is the new pitching coach, but John Russell and Neal Huntington have been here long enough that they can't blame anyone but themselves. I like to point out that Huntington was demoted in Cleveland and John Russell was fired by the Pirates as Third Base Coach. The simple point is if Pittsburgh is going to be a wining team, they'll need an above average front office and manager.

5. We'll they come - The biggest star the Pirates have is the stadium tax payers in Western PA built for them. However given the down economy and team that could lose 100 games, attendance could be a lot lower than last year's 1,609,076.

Interesting April for Local Sports Fans.

It figures to be an interesting April for sports fans through out Western Pa. The Pens will wrap up their season on the 10th, but so much is left to be decided between now and then. Before the end of the month we could see them in the second round of the NHL playoffs. The Pirates, open the season on April 6th against St. Louis. It has been 7 years since the Bucs finished an April above .500. The NFL Draft takes places on final weekend of the month, and the Super Bowl Champion Steelers have nine selections. Two in the fifth and seventh rounds if you’re wondering. Trout fishers have April 18th circled as the first day of trout. Also most local softball and baseball teams are scheduled to around dozen games this month.