Derek's Bio
Born in Baltimore, MD, and raised and currently residing in the oasis of Pasadena, Derek has been a lifelong fan of Charm City sports. Before he could walk, he was propping himself up against the television set with one hand, tiny bat in the other, trying to emulate the swing of Eddie Murray. Despite their best efforts to rip the love from his heart, Derek still dreams of the day when the Orioles are no longer the laughing stock of the American League East, and the MLB in general. Growing up a fan of football, but with an allegiance to no team in particular, Derek had no problem latching onto the Ravens from the day he heard they were on the way. He spends his days as an environmental scientist, but by night, Derek shares his thoughts at his website, B'More Birds' Nest (www.bmorebirdsnest.com), and now here at WNST.net.
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We’re all very familiar by now with the “it’s not a low blow, just a fact,” catch phrase of Drew Forrester. Drew borrowed it from Ian Eagle (I believe?) of CBS, who, while covering a Ravens game a few seasons back, made a pointed remark when the cameras were showing an overhead shot of Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
That remark went something like this (paraphrasing): “There’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards, but they don’t play baseball there in October any more. That’s not a low blow…just a fact.”
Well, last night on ESPN, I saw Jeremy Schaap get in on the act.
The topic at hand was this week’s game between the Indianapolis Mannings/Irsays/Whatevers and the New York Jets, a “rematch,” if you will, of Super Bowl III. Schaap talked about how the rivalry between the two cities was much more fierce last time around, when it was Baltimore rather than Indianapolis lining up against the team from the “Big Apple.” As evidence, he mentioned the other Baltimore-New York sports rivalries from 1969. In addition to the football team being upset by New York in the Super Bowl:
The Baltimore Bullets would lose to the New York Knicks in the 1968-1969 NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
The Baltimore Orioles would lose to the New York Mets in the 1969 World Series.
In contrasting 1969 with 2009-10, Schaap pointed out how Baltimore no longer claims the Colts nor the Bullets.
Those are obviously facts, not low blows.
Then, though, the “low blow” came into play.
Schaap said (and I’m again paraphrasing), “Baltimore no longer has the Colts or Bullets, and, some would say, it no longer has a baseball team.”
OOF!
Sure felt like a low blow to me. One of the “SportsCenter” anchors, after Schaap’s piece was finished, asked the listening audience if they had caught the “cheap shot” that he threw in against the Orioles.
Yes, we caught it (at least in Baltimore).
The sad part is, we can hardly argue with it.
Drew Forrester, Ian Eagle, Jeremy Schaap, Low Blows, Orioles
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January 20th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
The truth hurts.
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January 20th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
What’s even sadder? Not only can we hardly argue with it, most of us COMPLETELY AGREE.
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January 20th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
i had the chance to meet jeremy’s father, dick, during the early 90s, when he came to my grad school for an event. we ate breakfast together and i told him i was a disenfranchised baltimore colt fan waiting for the expansion derby (ugh! remember that awful time!) . he was interested, and when one of his cronies came down to the table, he introduced me and said w/a laugh, “we’re just figuring out how to get the colts back to baltimore.” i certainly didn’t get the impression that schaap senior had anything against baltimore. so jeremy was probably just taking the cheap shot because it was open, not because he was hating on the patapsco crab flats.
(Derek says: Good story. Yes, I agree that he only took it because it was the “easy” joke. No harm intended. Doesn’t mean the truth doesn’t hurt though.)
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January 21st, 2010 at 9:05 am
I caught it too - and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
But looking at the O’s win / loss record over the last decade, and watching one PR blunder after another - how can you argue that Schap was wrong?
(Derek says: Like I said, we can’t argue.)
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January 22nd, 2010 at 10:24 am
As a HABIT I try NOT to watch ESPN everyday because sometimes you gotta balance gotta balance your sports news( just like politics/news sometimes MSNBC sometimes Fox News) ESPN is a entertainment/sports network owned by a corporation who’s ubiquitous symbol is set of mouse ears. NUFF said.