KCRW's The Score

Rivera a Wonder

podmaster@kcrw.org (Diana Nyad) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:44:00 EST

As of last night, on a clear, chilly fall night in the Bronx, the Yankees became World Series champs for the 27th time in their storied history. How grand it was to see Mr. November, Derek Jeter, win his fifth ring. To stop worrying about Alex Rodriguez as he smashed his past of fading post-season. To admire the entirely likeable Andy Pettitte who commands the mound like a dependable, quiet giant. Matsui, Posada, Texeira, Damon. They're bursting with talent, brimming with heart, driven with focus. They're a heck of a team and it was a heck of a Series...

New York City Marathon for the Masses

podmaster@kcrw.org (Diana Nyad) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:22:13 EST

New Yorkers are abuzz with their Yankees back in the thick of the World Series here at the end of October. The annual first of November New York City Marathon is also running its 40th edition on Sunday and New York is as crazy for the event as it was in its early frenzy days of the 1970's. For the second year, more than 100,000 applied and 40,000 will step up to the starting line at the Verazzano Narrows Bridge...

Baseball Replay

podmaster@kcrw.org (Diana Nyad) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:44:00 EST

I'm joining the chorus that has long been begging for instant replay in baseball. There are examples of blown calls at crucial moments that made the difference in a team's winning or losing. For me, it was Tuesday night's Yankees/Angels American League Championship Series game that pushed me over the edge...a game that nobody could claim should have gone the other way...

Billie Jean's Night

podmaster@kcrw.org (Diana Nyad) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:00:51 EST

There are dozens upon dozens of black-tie fundraiser dinners throughout each year, usually backing worthwhile causes while offering special guests and entertainment. Tuesday night was the annual night for Billie Jean King's Women's Sports Foundation and it has been reported consistently throughout the 30 years of this dinner that it is the lively night that stands out among all the others. Veteran newswoman Cokie Roberts began her remarks on Tuesday by recounting just how many dreadfully dreary political evenings she had suffered through in that very Waldorf Astoria Ballroom...

Ironman Memory

podmaster@kcrw.org (Diana Nyad) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:44:00 EST

The sports world is awash with rich storylines this week. The baseball playoff season has kicked off with the Minnesota Twins willing their way out of their Metrodome and into Yankee Stadium with the nail-biting drama of perhaps the greatest regular season-ending game in baseball history...

Football a Danger Work Zone

podmaster@kcrw.org (Diana Nyad) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:44:00 EST

Mothers across America are either mandating or pleading that their sons don't play football, and if you read the weekly gridiron injury reports, moms' fears are well-founded. The NFL season is a mere three weeks old, yet the list of players already lost for the whole year is long...

Cowboys Stadium a Wonder

podmaster@kcrw.org (Diana Nyad) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:34:01 EST

Architects, journalists, and fans have toured various sports stadia to compare and comment on their myriad cozy charms and spectacular vistas. One of my favorites is Camden Yards, technically called Oriole Park, home of the Baltimore Orioles. Fairly new, finished in 1992, its intimacy, nestled within its urban surroundings, its eye-pleasing asymmetrical field pay homage to the magnificent urban ballparks built in the early 1900's...

Serena, Classless

podmaster@kcrw.org (Diana Nyad) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:11:35 EST

Serena Williams' outburst of angry obscenities has been cause for comment and debate all week, but I feel one major point has been missing from the discussion...

Jeter, Center of New York

podmaster@kcrw.org (Diana Nyad) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:28:49 EST

The U.S. Open Tennis Championships are nearing the end of their two-week run in New York at the moment and, off-hand, I can?t think of another sporting event whereby the gravitas of the event is so huge in so many measurable ways and yet the television audience is so minimal. Thanks to the 17-year-old Cinderella story out of Marietta, Georgia, the irrepressible fighter Melanie Oudin, the ratings this year have actually been elevated over recent, post-Andre Agassi years...

Home Run Stats

podmaster@kcrw.org (Diana Nyad) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:37:17 EST

Any sport played outdoors presents variables. Snow on a football field, strong wind on a golf course, late afternoon shadows creeping across a tennis court. Weather and varying conditions are usually equal for two opponents on any given day, but there are athletes whose entire careers can fall under the influence of home field conditions. You'll hear football players make the point that they played, for instance, their entire careers in Green Bay, or Buffalo, and thus their rushing average wouldn't be fair to compare to the stats of players who had long careers in warm-weather locations...