Piazza Slam Dunks 290-yard Hole-In-One

I've had the fortune of making a hole-in-one during my golfing career, and I've also driven numerous par-4's, but to do both on the same hole is flat out showing off.

Aventura, FLA – November 29, 2007 – Mike Piazza fared remarkably well during his recent visit to the The Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club Soffer Course.

During a private Audemars Piguet golf outing on November 19, 2007, the all-star Major League Baseball player sank a hole-in-one on the par four 1st hole.

The spectacular shot was made on a hole that typically plays nearly 350 yards. On this particular day Piazza struck a tee shot that traveled just over 290 yards and flew right into the cup for a slam-dunk double-eagle hole-in-one.

Piazza appreciates the odds of his shot and though he’s been playing the sport since his youth, he says this was “pretty special.”


(Photo by Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Audemars Piguet)

Looking For A Sports Internship?

If you or anyone you know is interested in a sports-related internship, you should check out this press release from the PGA Tour. You do not have to be a golfer to qualify.


http://www.pgatour.com/company/internships.html

COLLEGE STUDENTS – JUNIORS AND ABOVE: The PGA Tour's Diversity Internship Program for summer of 2008 application is available.

The PGA Tour's objective is to find the best student applicants and place them in challenging internship opportunities to prepare them for a position within the PGA Tour or the golf industry. The ability to play golf or knowledge of the game is not required for most positions.

All undergraduate and graduate majors are considered but mainly Business Administration, Communications/ Journalism/ TV, Sports Management, Information Systems, Legal and Hospitality.

Requirements: Students must have completed their sophomore year prior to starting an internship minimum GPA of 2.8 (on a 4.0 scale), be currently attending an accredited college or university and in good standing when applying, and eligible to work in the United States. International students must obtain all required work visas prior to beginning an internship.

The application and additional information is available at www.pgatour.com/careers.

The deadline date is February 18, 2008. If you have questions please contact Mike Cooney, Director, Human Resources-PGA Tour at 1-800-556-5400 ext 3520 or email him at http://us.f555.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=mcooney%40pgatourhq.com

A Person's Past Is No Reason To Speculate

By now, I’m sure most of you heard about the tragic death of Sean Taylor. The Washington Redskins player was shot in his house by an intruder. He later died from the wounds.

The reporting of and reaction to Taylor’s passing has been as swift as it has been speculative. The following article by Washington Post Columnist Leonard Shapiro is a prime example.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/27/AR2007112701111.html

This column bothers me deeply because Shapiro contradicts himself in his own column by stating, "At the moment, it is far too soon to draw any conclusions as to how or why this tragedy occurred, why another young black man is now dead from a gunshot wound in his own home... Certainly it would be terribly easy to rush toward some sort of instant judgment based on what we think we all knew about Taylor and the sort of life he once, and for all we know, still led. But really, we know nothing at the moment, and until we do, 'may he rest in peace' ought to be the operative phrase for this day."

But yet in the very next paragraph, Shapiro writes, "Still, could anyone honestly say they never saw this coming?"

That's like saying to someone, "I don't want to say you are stupid, but that was really a stupid thing to do."

To preface his statement with such remarks doesn't make the subsequent remarks any less biting or off-base. And to honestly answer Shapiro's question: I NEVER SAW THIS COMING!

I've never met Sean Taylor although I was aware of some his former transgressions. But to say I believed that one day a man (or men) would break into his house and shoot and kill him was inevitable is simply ridiculous.

Shapiro should follow his own advice and not rush to judgment.

These Are The Real Heroes

As all of you have seen over the past several days, Southern California has been torched by raging wildfires fueled by the infamous Santa Ana winds. The devastation is nothing short of heart-wrenching.

For those of you concerned (or at least wondering), my house is completely safe. I live really close to the beach. Half of LA would have to burn down in order for my house to be threatened.



However, as safe as I felt, it was still an eerie feeling walking outside to see the midday sky as orange as a sunset, to smell the fresh scent of burning wood when you knew it was not your neighbor’s fireplace but possibly a family’s home, or to feel ash falling from the sky as if they were snowflakes realizing full well that those tiny little pieces could be the remnants of someone’s lifelong dream. How could you not feel guilty about your good fortune when so many others were wondering, “Why me?”

But this tragic and devastating week has reminded me of something we all should remember: Heroes aren’t the sports figures we emulate, the politicians we elect, or the movie stars we idolize.

A real hero is a person who comes to the aid of his fellow man--often a complete stranger-- when they need it the most. As much as these colossal fires have claimed, firefighters and other emergency personnel have saved 100 times more.

Even as I write these words, I know the men and women who have sacrificed their time, energy and even their lives the past several days will never receive the adulation, appreciation or compensation they deserve. Once the fires have been doused, we will go back to our daily routines of imitating Tiger, stumping for Barack, and reading People. Meanwhile, these real-life heroes will continue to be underappreciated and underpaid.

But heroes have never been worried about such slights. They have much more pressing concerns-- such as rescuing someone else’s future.

I Am In Love With Jill Scott

I recently had the pleasure of attending a Jill Scott concert at the House of Blues in West Hollywood. And to put it mildly, I think I’m in love.

Now don’t get it twisted. I’m not talking about love in the general sense. I’m not ready to propose or anything. We’ve never met.

Nor am I talking about “stalk-her-across-the-country” type love either. My love for Jill is a love built on both appreciation and awe-- for both her ability and her persona.

Her voice talent is as gifted as anyone who’s whispered or wailed into a microphone in the past 15 years. Not to sound as if I’m a singer myself or even a voice coach for that matter, but her vocal range seems as wide and far-reaching as a galaxy. It knows no bounds. For example, towards the end of her recent set at the House of Blues, Ms. Thang broke out some opera on the crowd. That’s right. I said OPERA! What mainstream singer do you know today who could break out some opera? A cappella? And do it so well, that Leontyne Price and Luciano Pavarotti both would have stood and applauded? Go 'head, I'll wait!

But what I really appreciate about Jill Scott’s music are the stories behind and within the music. She sings with such passion that you know the lyrics aren’t just real, but they are real to her. She seems to put her entire soul into to each and every note, thus claiming them as her own. She’s not just singing. She’s sharing her life with you.

As Jill says, she’s a storyteller. The music is just a vehicle. And she can take me for a ride anytime!

Lakers & Clippers Media Day

I checked out both the Lakers and the Clippers annual Media Day festivities today. For those of you not familiar with media day events, it's the first time a team is fully assembled in one place for the media to grill the coaches and players on the upcoming season.

Various teams and sports handle their respective media days differently, but the most common sights are countless interviews and promo shoots for the team's broadcast partners. So be sure to be on the lookout for the latest Lakers and Clippers promotional spots on FSN West and Prime Ticket very soon.

Here are some of my observations from both sessions.

• Thirty minutes into the Lakers proceedings, there was still no sign of Kobe Bryant. Despite reassurances from the team's PR mastermind, Jon Black, some were beginning to think Kobe would not show. And then suddenly, #24 emerged from the training room in full uniform only to be surrounded by a swarm of reporters, cameras and microphones. Better late than never.

(Courtesy: LA Times)

• After making the rounds of promotional shoots, Kobe finally answered questions from the assembled media. Despite a tumultous summer where he demanded a trade and called out the front office and some of his teammates, Kobe put on the good face and toed the company line saying, "I'm a soldier, man. It's not a soldier's job to question whether or not he should fight the war. You've got to go over there and fight. It's not my place."

• On Lakers owner, Jerry Buss, Kobe said, "What I understand about Jerry is that he has kind of been out of the loop for the last two years. My understanding is that he's kind of going to be back in the mix now."

• As for his future with the organization, Kobe said, "I think the important thing for everybody to understand is that I want to bring a title back to L.A. That's priority No. 1 for me, is to bring a title back here. I just have to trust that we're all on the same page in terms of getting that done."

(Courtesy: LA Times)

• I ran into Andrew Bynum and almost didn't recognize him. That might be an understatement since he is 7 feet tall and wearing a uniform with his name on the back of it. But his body has changed so much over the summer that he did not appear to be the same Andrew Bynum I last saw in April. He hired a personal trainer to work with him in the off-season and completely changed his diet. And the results are obvious. If he gets enough minutes on the court, this could be a coming out season for the Lakers future cornerstone.

• There was a moment when Kobe, Phil Jackson and newly re-acquired Derek Fisher posed for a photo. The trio comprising the last link to the Lakers last championship in 2002. Five years never seemed so long ago.

(Courtesy: LA Times)

• Speaking of Phil Jackson, he was using a cane to get around to all of his required stops. Remember, he's still recovering from his second hip-replacement surgery within the past year. He also seemed to be in a much better mood than previous media days. Maybe he was putting on the good face for the franchise and Kobe tried to do. Or perhaps, he's still in the afterglow of his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame this past summer. Say what you will about his "learn-on-your-own" tactics or his Zen-like way of life, but you have to give it up to the man. He is one of the best coaches to ever man a sideline. Congrats again, Phil!

• The Clippers version of Media Day was not nearly as heavily attended as their Staples Center roommates, and the reasons are obvious. 1) Kobe and the Lakers made way more noise in the off-season.. and 2) the injury to Elton Brand has already placed a dark cloud over the Clippers season, although that might be a bit premature.

(Courtesy: LA Times)

• Speaking of injuries, both Brand and Shaun Livingston were getting around pretty well considering how much time has passed since their respective injuries. Livingston told me that he feels great and plans to beat his prescribed goal of being back on the court in February or March. He wants to start playing again in January, which would be less than a year since suffering one of the most devastating in-game sports injuries ever witnessed live or on television.

• Back to Brand for a moment. I actually visited Elton at his house a week before Media Day. We shot a long interview which will be used for an upcoming edition of "In My Own Words." In addition to updating me on the rehab of his ruptured achilles tendon (it's an all-day affair starting at 6 am which includes stationary bike work), he also told me why the fans should not jump off the bandwagon just yet (read: newly acquired free agents Brevin Knight and Ruben Patterson) and when he plans to be back on the court (not long after Livingston). I'll post some excerpts from that interview soon.

Grillz Candy.. What The.. ?!?!

In the words of Rakim, "It's been a long time. I shouldn't have left you without a strong post to read to!" Well, that's not exactly what he said, but you get the point. I'm sorry for not having posted anything in a while. However, sometimes work calls, and lately it's been calling quite often.

Now that I have that apology out of the way, I want to share a disturbing moment with you from a recent trip to Blockbuster. If you've ever been to the video rental superstore, you know that one of the ways they entice you to spend more money before exiting is to surround the line to the counter with candy, popcorn, ice cream and other goodies. Makes sense I guess. If you are going to do the movie thing, you might as well go all out.

I usually look right past all the goodies because I've never been a big candy person. Even as a kid, I didn't really like Halloween. I was the first of my friends to stop dressing up because I didn't think it was worth the trouble if I wasn't going to eat the candy, anyway. So tempting me with candy won't get you anywhere, but cookies are something entirely different!

Anyway, back to the story. So as I am approaching the counter, a flickering of light caught my eye. Was I really seeing what I thought I was seeing? Is that.. it can't be.. but is it really? Oh my God, it's BLING!! Yes, you heard me, BLING!

(Now before you try to take away some of my cool points, I know "bling" is a bit of a played out term right now. I mean once Bill O'Reilly or your grandmother starts using hip terms, it's time for you to stop! However, I just can't think of another word that truly sums up what I saw because it was so trifling!)



Right there on the counter, in see-through plastic wrapping was "Grillz Candy." Yes, you heard me right again. There's no way I could make that up. It's called, "Grillz Candy!"

Basically, it's a piece of hard candy attached to an apparatus that, when inserted in your mouth correctly, makes it appear as if you have a mouth full of fake diamonds set in platinum. Get it? Grillz Candy!



Just the concept of this candy disturbed me in ways you could not understand. What has this world come to that companies will manufacture a treat for kids that will make them look like self-absorbed rappers or common street thugs? I mean, what in the name of spinning rims is going on these days?

Hey, don't get me wrong. I can find a good laugh in just about anything. And if you had been in line that night in Blockbuster, you would have heard me do just that. But some people just take some stuff too damn far. I mean, seriously.. Grillz Candy? Really?

By the way, I forgot to share one other important piece of information. The flavor I picked up? Watermelon!

Los Angeles Dodgers On FSN Prime Ticket Earns LA Emmy For Best Live Sports Coverage

One of the coolest things about my career is that I get the chance to cover some of my favorite boyhood teams and work with some of the best sportscasters in the business. It's an honor and a privilege to be on the same telecasts as Vin Scully. I would also like to point out that our latest award could not have been achieved without the work of the countless people behind-the-scenes, especially producer Brad Zager and director Doug Freeman. Great job, everyone!!

Los Angeles – FSN PRIME TICKET, the destination for the most comprehensive Los Angeles Dodgers coverage, was recognized with the best Live Sports Coverage Emmy for its Dodgers game telecasts. The Live Sports Coverage Emmy was one of five 2007 Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards given to FSN PRIME TICKET and its sister network, FSN WEST, by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at the 59th Los Angeles Area Emmy® Awards.

Said Steve Simpson, senior vice president and general manager of FSN WEST and FSN PRIME TICKET: “FSN PRIME TICKET could not provide viewers with the level of quality Dodgers access and information without a close partnership with the team. This honor is as much the Dodgers as it is ours.”

“We are committed to providing the best fan experience in all of sports and that includes a quality telecast for the millions of fans who watch at home,” said Marty Greenspun, COO, Los Angeles Dodgers. “We appreciate all of the hard work that the team at FSN PRIME TICKET does on our behalf and salute them for this important achievement.”

In addition to best Live Sports Coverage for “Dodgers Baseball: Padres at Dodgers”, FSN PRIME TICKET and FSN WEST received L.A. Area Emmys for best Sports Feature, best Sports Tease, best Sports Series and best Graphics.

Throughout a decade of recognition by the Academy, FSN WEST and FSN PRIME TICKET have received 109 nominations and netted 39 wins. The 2007 Awards were presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences on Saturday, August 25, 2007 at the Academy's Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre.

About the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences was founded in 1946 just one month after network television was born. It is a non-profit organization devoted to the advancement of telecommunications arts and sciences and to fostering creative leadership in the telecommunications industry. In addition to recognizing outstanding programming through its Emmy® Award, the Television Academy publishes Emmy® Magazine and stages many industry-related programs, services and year-round events for the television community.

About FSN WEST and FSN PRIME TICKET
Together, FSN WEST and sister network FSN PRIME TICKET present more live, local sports programming than any other network or broadcast system in the market. Serving sports fans in Southern California, Nevada and Hawaii, FSN WEST and FSN PRIME TICKET produce over 700 live sporting events and telecast 5,000 hours of original programming every year. For complete national and regional sports news, provocative opinions, telecast schedules and updated statistics, log-on to www.foxsports.com.

Weekend Leftovers

Random thoughts from this past weekend in no particular order...

1) Justin Timberlake concert Sunday at Staples Center.

Now that he has finally put the "boy band" days behind him, JT should really be appreciated for what he is: one of the greatest all-around entertainers in the last 20 years. Yes, you read that right. He's that good. He sings with range, plays multiple instruments, and dances like a choreographer. I didn't even mention his production skills. His partnership with Timbaland (who is also extremely talented and under appreciated publicly) could become the most powerful combo in popular music, if it's not already. In fact, they may be the only people capable of saving Britney Spears from complete career disaster, or did that happen at the VMA's?

2) Kanye West's surprise appearance at The FUTURESEX/LOVESHOW.
Without question, the highlight of the Justin Timberlake concert was the guest performance by Kanye West, just hours after he appeared on the Emmy Awards across town. To say Kanye killed the crowd with his performance of "Stronger" would be an understatement. The last performance at Staples Center on par with this one was Kobe Bryant's 81-point barrage laid on the Toronto Raptors in 2006.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid353549946/bctid1184738956

Kanye's ability to continue to create a new sound of hip-hop with each new album is beyond impressive. You can't help but dig his music. Not only is it innovative enough for the critics, it's also catchy enough for the popular music set. A mix that leads to platinum record sales and millions of dollars in revenue. However, what it seemingly doesn't lead to-- at least not frequently enough in the mind of Kanye West-- is awards. After feeling dissed yet again by MTV at the Video Music Awards, Kanye spent the immediate few hours after the show and the next several days bitching about his failure yet again to claim a coveted MTV Spaceman. In the words of JT, "cry me a river," Kanye. Awards don't measure your success, record sales do. Just ask your record company.

But I think I'm finally hip to Kanye's game. I believe he's somewhat like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods in the sense that despite being one of the greatest in their sports, they still needed and sought out extra motivation. That motivation usually came in the form of criticisms or perceived slights by the media and/or fellow competitors. Kanye uses disrespect to keep pushing the envelope with his music and his career, and it definitely seems to be working. However, it's worth pointing out, MJ and Tiger keep those slights to themselves for the most part, where Kanye seemingly goes out of his way to tell the world that he got dissed. Just let it go, Kanye. You can't win everything all the time. And remember you're smart enough, you're good enough, and doggonit people like you!

3) Utah throttles UCLA 44-6.

(Courtesy: LA Times)

Wow, talk about the shock of the weekend. Even if you thought the Utes were good enough to compete with or even beat the Bruins at home, there's no way you thought the margin would have been 38 points. The question now is, how will UCLA respond? Karl Dorrell said recently that even though the loss to Utah was embarrassing, it's no time to panic. Bruins fans probably don't want to hear that, but it's true. They are still undefeated in the PAC-10, and if they want to remain that way, they need to focus on Saturday's match up with Washington. If you spend too much time looking back, you're likely to get runover by what is in front of you.

4) USC dropkicks Nebraska in Lincoln 49-31.

I'm still not sure who would win a match up between the Trojans and LSU, but I do know this: USC has as much claim to the #1 ranking as anybody. Pete Carroll's team was a victim of its schedule the first two weeks of the season. An uninspired blowout of Idaho and a bye week gave pundits and fans plenty of time to hypothesize that the Trojans were not as good as first believed. Prompting Tommy Trojan to say Saturday night after the game, "I've got your hypothesis right here!"

USC thoroughly dominated Bill Callahan's team in every facet of the game. And don't let the score fool you, the Trojans led 49-17 before putting in the last players on the depth chart and giving up two touchdowns in the final 5:00. This game was over at halftime, something every one of the 81,000 fans at Memorial Stadium can attest to.

Here's my current top 5 teams, even if I don't have a vote in the AP or Harris Polls.

1) USC (probably not as good as Leinart & Bush's teams, but they can still win it all)
1) LSU (speed, speed and more speed.. and as we all know in football, speed kills)
3) Florida (quietly looking as dominant as anyone in the country)
4) Oklahoma (the Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State has the Sooners booming in '07)
5) West Virginia (White & Slaton: enough said)

5) Kentucky stuns Louisville 40-34.

(Courtesy: Lexington Herald-Leader)

Let me start by stating this fact: I am a proud graduate of the University of Kentucky. So, with that being said, I'm sure you can appreciate the joy I felt Saturday night as my Wildcats rallied to knock off the 9th-ranked Cardinals in the final minute. Not only did that victory snap a 4-game losing streak against Louisville, it also relieved some of the frustration built up through countless near misses and unbelievable defeats at Commonwealth Stadium for the UK faithful.

Two of the biggest collapses came against Florida in 1993 and LSU in 2002. Each time UK fans were ready to finally celebrate an upset of a top-ranked team, only to see the impossible become yet another reality of Kentucky football. I'm especially happy for the players and the coaching staff since they are the ones who put in the long hours of preparation for games each week. But my heart goes out to all the UK fans--myself included-- who felt as if they deserved a win such as this one as payback for decades of unrewarded faith in their team. Despite zero wins over a top-10 team and only two bowl game wins in 30 years, fans still poured into Commonwealth Stadium by the tens of thousands just hoping that this game would be the game. Thankfully, Saturday finally gave us That Game!

(Editor's note: 1993 was especially painful for me, because I had scheduled the party of all UK parties for after the game immediately across the street from the stadium--only to have the energy sucked right out of the night by Danny Wuerffel and Chris Doering. Heck, even the expected blowout would have been better than the last-second loss. We had 10 kegs waiting on ice, people!!)


One other note from the UK/Louisville game: Andre Woodson outplayed Brian Brohm. The two state-born quarterbacks are a great story within themselves having grown up about 30 miles apart and competing against one another in both high school and college. But in the state's biggest game, it was Woodson who got the best of his more publicized counterpart. Brohm already owns a couple of wins in the Governor's Cup and he will likely still be the first QB chosen in next year's draft, but at least for one night in the commonwealth, Woodson's star shined the brightest.

Conversation with Angels Outfielder Garret Anderson

From the time I first arrived in LA, I was told by just about everybody that Garret Anderson hated the media and didn't seem to care too much about what happened on the field since he never showed any emotion. But I have found quite the contrary. He won't go out of his way to give you an interview, but he doesn't exactly run from the media either. And although, he's not as emotional as some other players on the field, no one cares more about winning and losing than Garret Anderson.

Garret, you put together the best single game performance in baseball this year when you drove in 10 runs against the Yankees. You have had some time now to think about it. Do you think that moment will define your career with the Angels?

No. I think being here for 13 years, the World Series, playing everyday and showing up, and being in this organization will probably define me a little bit more than one night. Playing here all these years is something that really sticks with me.

You could make a strong argument that you are “Mr. Angel.” You’ve played more games, you’ve got more hits, rbi, doubles, total bases, the longest hit streak, more grand slams. You own pretty much every record in the books with the Angels.

Yeah, I do, but I think my former teammate Tim Salmon probably has that title because he was the first one. He was the first guy to come through the system. I have respect for that. They can call him Mr. Angel, but they will know what I did on the field as well.

You talk about Tim and you look at yourself as well. It’s very rare nowadays in Major League Baseball for a player to be drafted by a team, come up through the minor leagues and play his entire career for that team. You are on path to do that with the Angels. That is a rarity to say the least.

Yeah, it is a rarity. It takes an effort on both sides. They made it possible for me to stay here. I have nothing but thanks for the people in the front office.

There’s a common misconception that Garret Anderson is very serious and he doesn’t laugh. But talking to some of your teammates, they say you are one of the funniest guys on the team. Are you just sly with the humor or is it just for certain people?

You know what? People only see me on the field. I had a talk with some reporters about it. What it boils down to is that win or lose, I never want the other team to know what I feel on the inside. Meaning that I don’t want to let them know if they got the best of me. And if I do something well-- like I did a while ago against the Yankees-- I don’t ever want them to think I’m showing them up. So, I’m going to be a professional. And what you see on the field is my interpretation of a professional. I have fun playing like everybody else. I enjoy coming out to the park, and I enjoy being silly with my teammates. They are true when they say that. I have a good time. You have to laugh in this game. We have so much failure, but on the field it’s going to be business.

(Courtesy: LA Times)

One thing you’ve definitely been in your career is a professional. There’s no question about that. Let’s play a little “What’s In.” What’s in the Ipod?

Carl Thomas. He has new cd out. I’ve been listening to it quite a bit.

What’s in the DVD player?

The last movie I watched was “Breach.”

What’s in your travel bag when you hit the road?

Ipod. Portable dvd player. A couple of books.

Is it the same for every trip?

It pretty much stays the same. I keep the same things in there. I have a PSP in there. I’m playing Tiger Woods golf right now. And whatever book I may be reading at the time.

What’s in the garage?

I have a 1968 Pontiac Firebird that I restored. My mother-in-law gave it to me. I’ve run the gamut with cars. I get a free car from Toyota of Orange, and I just drive that right now.

What’s in your wildest dreams?

I can’t wait to see my 3 kids grow up and see what they get into with their lives. Something that’s a part of me living in this world. I’m hoping I can just mold them in the direction to go out and do something positive in their lives.