Rays try to flush it away
Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria is taking a cue from his manager, Joe Maddon, as far as unconventional tactics go.
Longoria has arranged for the Rays to have a miniature toilet put in the bat rack inside of the Rays’ dugout at Tropicana Field, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
The toilet makes a flushing sound when you jiggle the handle. Once they get another toilet, they’ll take it on the road with them.
The metaphor is simple: Have a bad at-bat, a disappointing moment in the field or even an unhappy thought, you can flush it away.
“You can make that assumption,” Longoria said. “It’s just kind of a get-rid-of-it-tool, a fun way to just kind of say, ‘That’s in the past.’ “
The Rays entered Monday in last place in the American League East with an 11-14 record after losing to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
Longoria said he got the idea from a sports psychologist from his days at Long Beach State. The psychologist had “a stash” of the tiny toilets before handing them all out. Also, similar to Maddon, Longoria’s father was a plumber.
“And the Rays have another way to deal with their latest mess,” wrote Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
Feeling blue
St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Joe Strauss on the St.
Louis Blues being eliminated in the first round of the NHL Western Conference playoffs by the Chicago Blackhawks:
“This one hurt. And it should,” Strauss wrote.
“The end of a postseason is always painful. But to these Blues and their camp followers, this isn’t a shot to the ribs or even a stick to the eye. It’s an amputation of belief.
“The Blues played the defending Stanley Cup champion on even terms for much of a six-game series that crash-landed Sunday afternoon at United Center.
“They played their best 20 minutes in weeks, perhaps months, and all it produced was a second period draw. Ultimately, the stand became part of a grotesque 5-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks and dismissal from a first-round series the Blues once threatened to control. A power play that dominated early in the season fellflat. The Olympic goalie [Ryan Miller] acquired to guarantee postseason legitimacy let in four third-period goals before [hopefully] making an awkward post-game stab at humor.
“Indeed, the same thing that could be said about Sunday afternoon’s game can apply to this season: The Blues took their shot and missed.”
“[Chicago Coach Joel] Quenneville’s team moves on. At 5:41 p.m. the Blues charter pulled out of an arena loading dock dragging another summer’s worth of familiar questions.”Headlines
From the satirical sports website sportspickle.com:
“Donald Sterling says his voice and brain were hacked”
“The most Portland fan sign rips Houston for not recycling”
“Scouts concerned over reports Jadeveon Clowney spends nearly a third of every day just laying in bed”
“Report: You’re going to get fired if the Pacers don’t make the NBA Finals”
“Lakers owner Jim Buss releases recording of him saying complimentary things about black people, top free agents”Quote of the day
“It felt like the priest’s round of golf in Caddyshack. Only, thank
goodness, we didn’t get struck by lightning at the end of it.” Trainer Steve Asmussen on Tapiture’s workout Monday for the Kentucky Derby
Sports, Pages 18 on 04/29/2014