Longtime SNY personality, Chris Carlin, best known for being one of the co-hosts of the popular late afternoon sports debate show, “Loudmouths,” will be leaving the station on Friday. Carlin will be taking his talents to Philadelphia sports talk radio station, WIP, where he will be co-hosting their afternoon drivetime show with former Eagles player Ike Reese.
My guess is that Chris won’t be investing in real estate in the Philly area as this will be just a tour of duty for him. WIP is owned by CBS Radio as is WFAN where Carlin worked for many years before joining SNY. Mike Francesa has made it clear that he will be leaving his afternoon show on the FAN on December 15, 2017. If you connect the dots, it would seem that CBS Radio executives are sending Carlin down the NJ Turnpike to do battle with those rabid Delaware Valley sports fans as preparation for succeeding Francesa.
John “The Bird” Crowe has returned to hosting a Tuesday night radio sports show on WICC (600 on the AM dial) from 7 to 9 PM and it can be heard in many parts of Queens and Long Island. You can also listen on the web at WICC600.com. John runs a freewheeling show and he engages callers with respect and humor.
Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson was the recipient of the 2016 Roberto Clemente Award, the highest honor that Major League Baseball bestows upon a player for community service. Granderson has always been known as a great guy who is always accessible to the media before and after games. He is also very generous when it comes to giving his time and energy to helping kids. It was fitting that he received the Clemente Award just before the start of Game 3 of the World Series that was being played in his hometown of Chicago.
It is rare that an athlete who wasn’t a superstar in his sport pens a memoir but that is the case with Ralph Terry who has written Right Down The Middle (Mullerhaus Legacy). Terry was a star relief pitcher for the Yankees in the early 1960s and he gives lots of Billy Martin and Casey Stengel stories as well as many about his fabled teammates as Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Whitey Ford.
Ralph Terry holds the distinction of being one of the first players to have worn both a Yankees and Mets uniform. A little-known fact is that it was Terry who taught the late Tug McGraw his bread-and-butter pitch, the screwball. The Mets pitching coach at the time, Sheriff Robinson, did not care for unauthorized instructors and had Mets GM Big Devine release him at the end of the 1967 season.
Many baseball players fancy themselves as great golfers including Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes ,but few really test themselves against the best on the planet. After Ralph’s baseball career ended following his release from the Mets he joined the PGA Tour, and later, the Senior Tour, where he was very successful. Jack Nicklaus remains a close friend of his.
The Brooklyn Nets, under the aegis of new coach and Huntington native Kenny Atkinson, opened their season in Boston last Wednesday. In the fourth quarter they found themselves not unexpectedly down by 24 points,118-94. In past years, the white flag would have been up at that point if not sooner. Instead of rolling over the Nets started to play and cut the deficit to three points in the final moments of the game before succumbing 122-117. The Nets sent a message to the NBA that they will fight to the end in spite of their paucity of talent.
Two nights later the hard work of both Kenny Atkinson and his team paid off as the Nets beat the Indiana Pacers at the Barclays Center. It’s no secret that the Nets’ roster isn’t going to scare anyone best but at least Kenny and his guys don’t have to worry now about starting the season at 0-18 the way that his counterpart, Lawrence Frank, and those God-awful 2009-10 New Jersey Nets did.
Congratulations to Herb Turetzky who begins his 50th season as the official scorer for the Nets. Herb has been with the Nets from their start in Teaneck in 1967.
Islanders captain John Tavares is one of the few players in his sport to land an endorsement deal. Expect to see cutouts of #91 in local supermarkets as he is now a spokesman for Vita Coco beverages. Vita Coco probably sees the clean-cut Tavares as a less costly and younger version of Giants QB Eli Manning, who like his brother Peyton, has amassed an impressive endorsements portfolio.
There is a new company in the very competitive packaged water biz called HFACTOR that purports to provide more hydrogen to consumers. The benefits of that is better circulation and a reduced risk of inflammation. HFACTOR doesn’t come in a bottle, can, or box, but rather in a squeezable tube which makes it easier to carry if you are jogging outdoors or working out in the gym.
The folks at Dove Men+Care Shampoo tout that their product is designed to protect the damage to hair that comes from the extreme hot and cold temperatures that occur here in the Northeast. Another Dove product, Men+Care Body Wash, is proving more popular with millennials than bar soap. As a proud baby boomer I have to admit that I still like using the traditional bar of Dove soap in the shower.