TED SOBEL SPORTS AUDIO VAULT: Your Inside Access to TOUCHING GREATNESS

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim went into the real city of Los Angeles on Sunday looking for a sweep of their up the freeway rivals the Dodgers. Before the game of aces on the mound (Clayton Kershaw and Jered Weaver) I got a few minutes with one of the best managers in baseball Mike Scioscia, as I wanted to get his impression of coming back to Dodger Stadium where he once starred behind the plate for the guys in the blue uni’s.

Mike Scioscia pregame with Ted Sobel:

And then the Angels went out and blew a one run lead in the bottom of the 9th (after a great pitcher’s duel) when Tony Gwynn, Jr. delivered the knockout blow. With two outs and the winning run at second base. Gwynn ripped a Jordan Walden fastball to right field for an rbi single and his 3rd hit of the game that completed the Dodgers’ 3-2 come-from-behind win.

And that was after a very controversial play at the plate with the game on the line. Dodger pinch hitter Aaron Miles hit a one-out fly ball to fairly shallow center field that looked like it might not be deep enough to score pinch runner Dee Gordon who tagged up from third base. Peter Bourjos made the catch and threw a perfect one hopper to catcher Jeff Mathis as Gordon slid feet first towards home plate.

Even though Mathis impeded Gordon’s path with a Scioscia-like block of the plate, umpire Tom Hallion called him safe and the replay showed it so close that it was a rare ‘either safe or out call that would’ve been fine for my taste’.

Scioscia briefly argued the call and then after the game… he told me his feelings on the play and how his team let this one get away…

Mike Scioscia postgame with Ted Sobel:

Tony Gwynn, Jr. with Ted Sobel:

Dee Gordon with Ted Sobel:

And then there’s the one and only Torii Hunter who had to sit out another game with sore ribs after crashing into the Dodger Stadium right field wall in the series opener. I always grab the opportunity to speak with Torii when I can, so I got the latest on his health and thoughts on the Washington Nat’s series starting on Monday night in Anaheim…

Torii Hunter with Ted Sobel:

The L.A. hockey Kings made a big trade yesterday acquiring Philadelphia Flyers captain Mike Richards for forwards Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn and a 2012 second-round draft pick. Kings G.M. Dean Lombardi (a Massachusetts native) compared this off-season deal to the Boston Red Sox trading for Adrian Gonzalez this past year and Gonzalez is currently leading the American league in batting and rbi’s so Lombardi can only hope and pray for a similar outcome even close to that from Richards who’s averaged 28 goals and 42 assists over the past 4 seasons in Philly.

Mike was kind enough to give me a call this morning from his home in Kenora, Ontario Canada which I learned today is close to Winnipeg and not much else. As you’ll hear from his voice, he’s a nice down to earth guy who just happens to have 9 years remaining on his annual $5.7 million dollar contract (which should afford him to buy huge chunks of Kenora if he ever chooses to?).

Mike Richards with Ted Sobel:

Personally, I will miss what Wayne Simmonds had brought to the ice for the Kings with his pinball machine-like hitting and agressive style of play. But for the past few years the ‘Crowned-ones’ have had less scoring than the 40 year old Virgin so it’s high time they add some proven names on the front line and Richards is a great start! If only Mario Lemieux would consider a comeback…that problem would be solved!;) Actually today is ex-King Bernie Nicholls’ 50th birthday and when wishing him a happy day on his facebook page, I mentioned that he could still help the Kings’ anemic power play. Bernie responded with “I think with all the 5 on 3–I could still do it”. And you know what, I believe him!

PUCK NOTES…
To think that it’s been exactly 30 years since I began interviewing Nicholls as a 4th round pick of the Kings is more than my little brain can fathom! Does anyone remember Bernie’s 70 goal season alongside ‘The Great One’ on the power play? It was like watching a video game.

Did the same person who chose ‘Winnipeg Jets’ as the new name of the long gone Atlanta Thrashers name my blog ‘tedsobel.com’.
F’n BRILLIANT! 🙂

Please remember that comments are always appreciated!
(Photo courtesy of Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The NFL lockout has caused some lifestyle changes for some players who would normally be thinking about packing for training camps during this time of year. And for one Pro Bowl tight end, he’s just doing what he does best…give back to his community of Long Beach, California and enjoy every second of it!

Marcedes Lewis is coming off of his best season with the Jacksonville Jaguars with 58 catches, 10 touchdowns and his first Pro Bowl appearance. But that pales in comparison to his third straight year of hosting his football camp at the place that first put him on the map-Long Beach Poly High School.

And the grounds were packed with more than 700 local registered kids (ages 7-17) who got a free day to learn more than just football from Marcedes and his known volunteer friends from the NFL and his days at UCLA where he was a John Mackey Award winner as the best tight end in the nation.

The following is our chat about the Marcedes Lewis foundation yearly camp, his thoughts on his alma mater UCLA and of course the NFL lockout! His way of looking at it all is very refreshing-if only many more were like him-just a real class act!…

Marcedes Lewis with Ted Sobel:

After receiving some wide spread attention for simply doing my job and passing sports interviewing 101 in Miami by asking Lebron and company if they ‘Choked’ the NBA Finals this past Sunday night…I got a call from Tomm Looney an old colleague of mine at KFWB Radio several years back, and he asked me to come on his national Fox Sports Radio show with Host JT The Brick to discuss that and other sports stuff.

It’s not often that I meet up with someone as passionate as I am about sports and how it works, so it was fun to chat with JT for the few minutes that we had and hopefully we can do it more often as I enjoy his work…and I don’t give cudos out easily.

The following is our entire on-the-air phoner …

Ted Sobel on Fox Sports Radio Network with JT The Brick:

And you can catch JT The Brick and his sidekick Tomm Looney Sunday-Thursday 10pm-3am Pacific Time on Fox Sports Radio…and I should at least plug my own gig too now and then! 1 minute sports updates on KFWB 980AM in L.A. usually on Thursdays and Fridays from 10am-2pm at about 2 mins. past the top of the hour in each hour’s newscast right after traffic (that’s when I’m not covering some sporting event during the rest of the week from anywhere on this planet?) . You can also hear many soundbytes from my personal interviews on KNX 1070AM Newsradio’s sportscasts at :20/:50 minutes past each hour.

Wait a minute…how many times must I use the word CHOKE in one week? And I’m not even in Vancouver to ask their goalie if that was the appropriate term to use tonight? Sound familiar??? LOL

I’m currently flying back from my trip to Florida and just got online to find out that the Boston Bruins spoiled an enormous party in the entire province of British Columbia with a 4-0 bagel over the stunned Vancouver Canucks who’s fans now must be thinking a Stanley Cup is an impossibility after another game 7 finals loss! I’m not surprised that the B’s won it but it’s how they won it that is phenominal. Once again proving my longtime theory (along with many others) that home ice is only as good as winning the battles on the ice-and it doesn’t matter which frozen pond you’re on. And that’s after each club was a home ice winner in this series, too. Really a game 7 road shutout win is all you need to know about that!

And the other thing you need to know is that old goalies can be clutch goalies as 37 year old Tim Thomas appropriately made 37 more saves to become the first NHLer to ever record a road game 7 shutout and after dealing with him these past few weeks-it really couldn’t have happened to a better guy! He’s your deservedly runaway winner of the Conn Smythe (Finals MVP) trophy and really NOBODY else comes close!

Once again, for a 7th straight time in these finals, the winning team scored the first goal of the game. And once again it was an up and down Roberto Luongo in goal for VanCity as he picked a hell of a bad night to be down again! So ‘LOU’ goes from King of Canada with an Olympic gold medal in Vancouver to goat cheese…on an awful way to start the golfing season for the proud Nucks. And I personally feel bad for 2 longtime friends, Canucks assistant coaches Darryl Williams and Newell Brown who must feel sick right now. At least Newell won a cup in Anaheim but ‘Willie’ was after his first in only his 2nd year as an NHL assistant-you talk about heart-breakers!!

Certainly congrats to the Bruins fans who’ve waited 39 verrrry long years since the grand old days of Bobby Orr (as in the famous 1970 Cup winning picture above) to enjoy another Stanley Cup, while Canucks fans were one game shy of getting a first cup in their 40th NHL season. And to think about the celebrating that would’ve gone on in all of B.C. and many other parts of OH Canada? But instead, the Canadian drought has stretched to 17 years since Montreal beat my L.A. Kings and ‘The Great One’ thanks to some clutch overtime goals, Patrick Roy standing on his crown, and a McSorley curved stick for the ages.

Oh how I would’ve loved to have been there in person tonight but I can’t make every damned finals games on the planet-can I? (I am returning from the NBA finals in Miami you know?). Bui It just would’ve been so amazing to witness a city celebration like few others but instead…maybe it’s better afterall that I’m still on a plane writing this. What a downer it must be to see all those Canucks jerseys and paraphernalia be worn in vain.

Next time send a limo and private jet for me Canucks…I got you a 2-0 finals start but you couldn’t finish the job without me! It’s still one of my favorites cities on the planet-just still Cup-less…that’s all! And to think that another American team with an American goalie (Thomas) took the Cup away from an entire nation of Puckheads! Maybe a little payback for the ‘Red, White, and Blue’ after a Vancouver Olympics loss to Mr. Luongo?

And now to find out that some rioting has begun in that beautiful city with so much passion that was suddenly burst out of their balloons? Those drunken hooligans need to be caught and serve time behind bars–and not the ones they just left drinking in! It’s a total disgrace to the city, province and entire country of Canada and another example of negative publicity to the sport of hockey that usually only gets national coverage down under in the U.S. when a big fight breaks out–unfortunately this is a brawl for the ages and something so barbaric that it’s an unthinkable act! And in this new era of cellphone cameras and as I call it (the anti-social media), every loser involved in that riot is likely on camera somewhere so lock them up and throw the key under a tree in Stanley Park so they’ll never find it again!!!

So let’s praise the Boston Bruins as the new Stanley Cup Champs while the previously favored Canuckleheads (after blowing a 2-0 series lead) are the chumps of Canada (not as much as their local rioters of course)…and what a waste of all that Molson’s!!! 😦

Yes, that was little ‘ol me who asked both Lebron James and Dwayne Wade after losing to the Dallas Mavericks in game 6 on Sunday night if their Heat had choked away the NBA championship as heavy favorites? I had to do it or else I’d be like many of the so-called reporters there and sit on their hands waiting for another soft generic question to be asked! And even after just doing my job, Lebron did what he did best during the entire finals—and that’s defer (even though I asked them both) to D-Wade who then gave a soft answer tippy-toeing nicely around the obvious question that was on most people’s minds? If he moved that well in the last game the Heat might still be playing?

Take nothing away from the fiesty and hungry Mavs who earned the championship by trekking through the hardest road to get there. But when it came down to crunch time the Heat melted down while the Mavs got even hungrier. The defining point of the series (and a true storyteller)was Miami blowing that late 15 point lead at home in game 2-just a killer for a team that again showed how they could wilt under pressure. And then again letting another one get away late in Dallas before returning home to try and repeat what the Lakers did just last season-take the final 2 home games and walk off with their rings. Which was NEVER to be and the rest is just history now.

I want to preface the fact that I’m not one of those Lebron haters out there and only giving my honest thoughts and opinions on what I’ve seen and read. And as for game 6 (the only finals game I’ve seen in person this year) Mr. James needs to drop his nickname ‘King’ until he wins something. If you’re a self-professed King and don’t back it up with more than great stats and not when it’s ‘winning time’…then you’re only a wanna-be in my book. If James goes out and wins a few titles later, I’ll be happy to give him his due. But until then, he’s Prince James with a whole lot of ‘splainin’ to do! I wish I was the surgeon who needs to keep removing LBJ’s foot from his mouth (because of immature statements and actions) because I’d already be planning my next trip to Tahiti!

The following audio is from my journey through both locker rooms after the Mavs won it and I hope this will give you a full sense of the moods on both sides. Including also asking Heat guard Eddie House his feelings on if his team choked? And while holding back a few tears from being disappointed over the loss…he lost it a little bit with me too as you’ll hear below. It was a great series with a disappointing final game that Miami seemed to have little or no answer for the Mavericks energy and determination to get it done! And congrats to Dallas owner Mark Cuban who I briefly with on the floor before the game (while he was shooting some hoops) and I asked him his feelings about possibly winning his first title? And he said “I’m not talking right now”… so I responded with, I’m not recording this I’m just curious. And he replied with…it’s just another game. And I said…It’s just another game my ass!!!!! And I added, you won’t sleep for 2 nights if you don’t win this one! And then he winked and finally admitted…”Yeah, it’s a pretty big game”!. His postgame response to me is also below.
Enjoy…

Dwayne Wade and Lebron James (only a stare) with Ted Sobel (asking the ‘Choke’ question):

Miami guard Eddie House with Ted Sobel (not happy to answer ‘Choke’ question):

Miami guard Mario Chalmers with Ted Sobel:

Miami forward Juwan Howard with Ted Sobel:

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle with Ted Sobel:

Dallas guards Jason Terry and Jason Kidd with Ted Sobel:

Dallas center Tyson Chandler with Ted Sobel:

Dallas backup center Brendon Haywood with Ted Sobel (starts by praising Dirk Nowitsky):

Dallas owner Mark Cuban with Ted Sobel:

(Pictures to follow asap)