* While the Rays’ weekend, three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins in their new, half-billion-dollar digs was the focus of most sports observers, there was also some buzz about the crowds at Marlins Park. Reporters described them as noticeably pro-Tampa Bay. Indeed, “Let’s go Rays” cheers were audible on television. How ironic. Now the Marlins know how the Rays feel when the Red Sox and Yankees come to the Trop.
But the question is begged. Who exactly were all those folks cheering on the Rays? Tampa Bay fans who combined the “Citrus Series” with a mini getaway to Miami? Or maybe a bunch of vengeful Batistianos who still haven’t forgiven Ozzie Guillen for his pro-Castro remarks earlier in the season?
* Watching a televised Rays-Marlins game also affords the opportunity to watch the game on either Sun Sports (Rays) or Fox Sports Florida (Marlins). It’s worth sampling both broadcasts. The Rays’ tandem of Dewayne Staats and Brian Anderson are among the best; the Marlins’ pairing of Rich Walz and Tommy Hutton are not. Staats and Anderson are knowledgeable, personable, fair and funny. The Marlins’ Waltz and Hutton are knowledgeable and fair. It makes a difference in the entertainment business.
* Lions’ den: Has there ever been a trial with a better case for venue change than the one involving Jerry Sandusky and child sex abuse charges in Bellefonte, Pa., right down the road from the Penn State University campus? Penn State is surrounded by de facto company towns where extended-family members, in effect, identify with PSU. It’s not just alums, faculty members and employees. The Penn State connection is ubiquitous in Centre County.
And, no, locals aren’t just familiar with the case details and the defendant. And, no, they aren’t just opinionated about it. They’re almost assuredly obsessed by it. This case is that transcendent, that horrific and that personal.
I’m an alum who’s 1,500 miles away, and it is still consuming me.