FanHouse Thebird

In 1976, Mark Fidrych pitched his rookie season in the major leagues. He threw 250.1 innings. He led the league in ERA at 2.34. He only struck out 97 batters, but he threw 24 complete games.

He was nicknamed "The Bird." He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with Sesame Street's Big Bird. He would crouch down, as shown above, and perform the groundskeepers' job by covering over his own cleat marks. He held conversations with the baseball he held in his hand. He pitched his last game before I was born. He died yesterday.

This morning's Dugout is after the jump.

The scene: Wyoming coach Joe Glenn has guaranteed victory over Utah, but things aren't going so well. Wyoming trails 43-0 midway through the third quarter. Utah, apparently incensed by the guarantee, attempts an onside kick and recovers. Glenn's reaction:



Hey-o! Not polite, but understandable. In the aftermath Glenn is questioned by a ravenous horde of reporters and claims that he never did such a thing:

"Honest to God, I can't even respond to it," Glenn said. "Maybe, I don't know.

"I don't remember that. Honestly I don't. It's what it was."

The Mountain West, unconvinced that the CSTV image above is a phantom, plans a "public reprimand."

(HT: Fanblogs.)

You may or may not know that Jon Bon Jovi is part owner of the Arena Football League's Philadelphia Soul, assuming you know of the Soul's existence. But even if some part of your brain has dedicated itself to recalling that useless little factoid, you probably didn't expect this:

After Georgia scored a controversial touchdown that took the starch out of a Soul comeback, Bon Jovi gave the ESPN2 crew much more than it bargained for when looking for a reaction shot in the owners' box. Unaware of the camera, Bon Jovi raised both middle fingers toward the officials.

Awesome. It's hard to imagine anyone being that pissed off about an Arena League game, let alone the man who owned the 1980s with his hair-fueled pop rock. I wonder if Debbie Gibson curses out curling officials during the Tim Horton's Brier.

To his credit, Bon Jovi apologized in the aftermath:

"I didn't understand the ruling," he said. Bergeron "did have possession on the play. He fumbled in the end zone. He recovered the ball. I reacted to something I didn't know the rule on."

Bon Jovi said he obviously didn't realize that the camera was pointed at him.

"I apologize for the middle-finger thing," he said. "I didn't understand the rule. It's simple as that. We will be back next week."

Don't get me wrong here: while this sort of behavior is not endorsed for birthday party clowns, teachers, Ohio State coaches, or anyone who works with young and possibly malformed minds, Jon Bon Jovi flipping off referees at an Arena League game is hilarious and strangely charming.

(Via Ben Maller.)