Posted by Scoops: Tonight in Tampa, Fla., New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera saved his 300th career game. It is hard to compare players from era to era in baseball, or any sport for that matter. But you heard it here: Mariano Rivera is the best relief pitcher in the history of baseball. There is always debate over which pitcher you would want to start the hypothetical game No. 7 of the World Series, and I do not want to broach that topic. But if I were a manager, and you gave me the option of handing the baseball to one pitcher to record one out to win that game No. 7, I would not hesitate to say that my man would be wearing jersey No. 42, and be wearing pinstripes. I guess this is open to debate. Some may say Dennis Eckersley, some may say Tug McGraw. But I want Mo.

Posted by Scoops: Religion - The Roman Catholic church has some nerve. In a land where a separation of church and state is not only encouraged, but required, men on earth who see themselves as gods are forging new requirements for their congregations.



Yesterday, Michael J. Sheridan, the Bishop of Colorado Springs, Colo., wrote a pastoral letter saying that Catholics in the United States should not receive communion if they vote for pro-choice political candidates. When The New York Times reached Mr. Sheridan for comment, he said, "I'm not making a political statement. I'm making a statement about church teaching."



What the bishop is really making a statement about is the derailment of the Roman Catholic church’s ideology and the attempted marriage between it and a religiously free country, the United States. Religion is, by nature, divisive. This is not to say that there are not beautiful aspects of all religions, from Catholicism to Islam to Judaism. But drawing parallels between the secret ballots of U.S. voters and their public worship is exactly what this country’s forefathers saw as unnecessary.



The saga is not over, either, and it does not just spill into the issues of this country. The Vatican yesterday released an official document discouraging Catholics from marrying Muslims, especially Catholic women who wish to marry Muslim men. “We hope there will be, on the part of our Muslim brothers and sisters, a growing awareness that fundamental liberties, the inviolable rights of the person, the equal dignity of man and woman, the democratic principle of government and the healthy lay character of the state are principles that cannot be surrendered,” the document says.



People are free to do as they want, marry who they want, and eat the body of Christ if they have been so blessed. They should keep doing it.

Posted by Scoops: Sports - Last night in Auburn Hills, Mich., the New Jersey Nets won by 127-120 over the Detroit Pistons in an instantly historic, triple overtime National Basketball Association playoff game.



Little known forward Brian Scalabrine was the unexpected star of the game for the Nets, the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions, who overcame a stunning 45-foot, buzzer-beating, three-point jumper by Piston guard Chauncey Billups that sent the game into its initial overtime.



Not surprisingly in sports, the home of unsung heroes making names for themselves, it was Scalabrine, not Jason Kidd or Richard Jefferson, who made the biggest play.



With the Nets holding a 119-118 lead and the shot clock down to three seconds and the game clock down to 43 seconds, Jefferson found an open Scalabrine in the corner. The red-haired graduate of the University of Southern California launched his fourth three-point attempt of the game just before the shot clock expired. As was the case with his previous three attempts, the ball ripped through the net, giving New Jersey a 122-118 lead, a 3-2 lead in the series, and the chance to close out Detroit on Sunday at the Meadowlands.



In the end, the Nets committed too many turnovers, missed too many key free throws, but most importantly, had too much heart, too much experience, and one too many men who could step up and take the decisive shot.

Posted by Scoops: It is important, in these often journalistically murky times, for a newspaper or t.v. station or Web content provider to have a public editor, a man or woman designated to represent the people who read and trust a publication. In making the decision of accepting Ryan McDermott as "The Blog of JoeyScoops's" official ombudsman, the editorial staff has made an invaluable judgment as to which direction it wants its future to travel. Of course, technically, the editorial staff is just one man, the handsome and friendly dictator of democracy, Joseph J. Checkler. Sure, he has named Erin Bruehl as an unofficial co-editor (and her contributions are invaluable), and he has extended blogging invitations to such talented NYU graduate journalism students as Beth Carney and Rick Andrew Harrison, but this is, by and large, a Checkler operation, much in the way Watergate was an H.H. Haldeman operation.



With one of the more important presidential elections in recent memory coming up, and with perhaps one of the more memorable Major League Baseball pennant races not far behind, interesting and compelling words in this space are paramount. Now, the site has some more credibility, with the Okrent-esque McDermott on its side, or should we say, the other side.

Posted by Ryan, the future NYU Journalism drunkard/genius: I am posting in Joe's blog because frankly its boring and needs a wordsmith such as myself to bring it to life. I will be Joe's official ombudsman, the Daniel Okrent of his blog. My handle (posted by...) will be Ryan, Joe's Ombudsman. Fuck you. Stop laughing. I think that it is catchy. First I would like to address the immense sports content in this blog. It is wholly unnecessary that a Yankee fan comment on anything about the true nature of sports, being that all of the Yankee World Series Rings were bought. As a Red Sox fan, however, I do feel obliged to write about whatever the hell I want, because we work for what we get dammit, even if we lose. Second, I would like to applaud Mr. Scoops's powerful use of poetry, especially the first limerick, to convey what a dig Rummy is. And for that matter what a bunch of dick's the Bush administration are. Especially Dick Cheyney. He's a double dick. Anyway, thank you, Joe, for letting my be your ombudsman (you can't spell ombudsman without "bud"). I will serve your public with the respect and integrity that they deserve.

Posted By King Scoops



A series of short poems about Donald Rumsfeld, our Secretary of War (yes, I still call it that when we’re referring to good ‘ol rummington)





There once was a prick named Rummy

He worked for a Prez. who was a dumby

They fucked up Iraq

Now there’s no turning back

And public opinion is crumby



We had a Rumsfeld

He went to Washington

We had a Washington Rumsfeld yeah

He went to the Mideast

He was a barbarian

We had a Mideast barbarian yeah

He left his home in sweet Washington

Left Washington for Baghdad yeah

Okay this one is stupid I’ll stop writing this one now. If someone can finish this one, I’ll give you a-dollar-three-eighty, and if you can figure out what a-dollar-three-eighty is, I’ll trade you two dimes for your nickel.



Back to Rummybashing...



There once was a show on t.v.

Donald Trump was the emcee

If Someone got tired

Don would say “you’re fired”

Rummy is next believe me



There once was this real bad dichotomy

Iraq was free from Hussein but not sodomy

And Rummington stayed away

As our soldiers played like they were gay

It’s time for a Rummington lobotomy

Posted by Joe: Please allow me to add something to Erin's posting for a moment here. Oh wait, I do not need any permission. After all, this is THE BLOG OF JOEYSCOOPS. In a New York Times article today, Lee Jenkins wrote that Piazza's mighty swat reminded people of one huge thing: whose house Shea Stadium really is. It does not belong to Barry Bonds, the man who visits once a year and does not play because of a runny nose. It belongs to No. 31, the pulse of the New York Mets, the man who led them when people were flocking to Queens, and watching their team play in a Subway World Series. As Mr. Jenkins' lede says, "The fans flocked to see one superstar at Shea Stadium last night and wound up celebrating another." As he says one graf later, "Piazza reminded Mets fans why they used to go to Shea regularly, no other inducements necessary." Maybe this team will get to .500, and those inducements will once again be unnecessary.

Posted by Erin: I just wanted to add a note to let everyone know about the historic moment in baseball that I witnessed at Shea Stadium last night. While in line to buy beer, my friend Greg suggested we walk out to watch my Mike's first at-bat. I was skeptical that he was going to hit an HR right then and said we could just watch on TV. But at Greg's insistence, we walked back through the tunnel into the seats. A few minutes later, on a 3-1 pitch, Mike Piazza hit a low-outside pitch over the opposite field fence, an estimated 405 ft for the 363rd HR of his career and most importantly, his 352nd as a catcher - the most by a catcher in Major League history. As he rounded the bases, the theme from "Chariots of Fire" played and the public address announcer said what the 20,000 in the stand already knew: that it was his record-breaking HR. He was saluted with a standing ovation from the crowd, no one there more excited or going more crazy than yours truly. All fans remained on their feet, calling and applauding the new record-holder and calling him out for a proper curtian call. He re-emerged from the dugout and waved to the crowd. The applause only got louder for a curtain call that all baseball heroes should give, especially ones destined for Cooperstown.

The question remains, are blogs journalism? I think a blog is journalism if the blogger is a journalist, and I, my friends, am a journalist. Therefore, what you are reading now is journalism. On that note, I have decided to place links to some Checkleristic pieces of journalism here. That way, you can click and have fun. When my creative starches return, I will post some original stuff. But until then...



The best piece of college sportswriting in New Jersey, 2001



A piece about the Beggars Canyon Band from the Asbury Park Press



A piece about fans' favorite courts at the United States Tennis Center