Roc and Manuch

Roc's Sports Turkeys of the Year

2020 SPORTS TURKEYS IS MY COLLECTION OF DUMBASSES OVER THE YEAR.
NO PARTICULAR ORDER...

IT'S UP TO YOU TO CROWN THE WINNER. HOWEVER, I'M LEANING TOWARD JIM CRANE or BILL O'BRIEN. Let me know at @sportsradioroc or mike@onairsportsmarketing.com. I am sure I am missing a bunch!

Houston Astros Owner Jim Crane – A month after the league set the penalties for the Astros cheating scandal, Crane said this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdX7BfOjN0w

You will see and hear that Crane never really apologized. Crane told reporters that he was “sorry” his team was that this happened. He never took the blame or but looked forward to upcoming season. Fans needed to hear that the Astros cheated and that the ownership showed some remorse. Hundreds of times over months and games at least in 2017, the Astros signaled to hitters when off-speed pitches were coming. Not to mention, garbage can bangs signs.

The idea that this didn’t help the Astros win games (plural) is a joke!

Some of my favorite quotes from the presser:
“Our opinion is this didn’t impact the game. We had a good team. We won the World Series and we’ll leave it at that.” Less than a minute later, Crane was asked what he meant by that. “I didn’t say it didn’t impact the game,” he said.

On idea that he is partially responsible for cheating because he hired Jeff Luhnow and A.J. Hinch: “I don’t think I should be held accountable. I’m here to correct it. It won’t happen again on my watch.”

In regards to the players: “I also agree that our players should not be punished for these actions,” Crane said. “These are a great group of guys who did not receive proper guidance from their leaders.”

Asked if his team cheated, Crane replied, “We broke the rules. You can phrase that any way you want.
“We’re apologizing because we broke the rules,” he said.

Another ridiculous storyline from the Astros press conference was Astros’ Jose Altuve not taking off his shirt after hitting a home run to send his team to the World Series. Many felt he was wearing a buzzer. However his excuse was that he got an embarrassing tattoo. Oh really?

Bill O’Brien – Former Texans Head Coach and GM. No brainer! How do you only get a banged up AZ Cardinals running back David Johnson, a 2020 second round pick and 2021 fourth round pick for the best wide receiver in football, DeAndre Hopkins. Oh and throw in a 2020 fourth round pick. Are you kidding me? What a dumbass! And, lets not let the owner Cal McNair off the hook, he defended it! “It just wasn’t possible” to re-do Hopkins contract, courtesy of Sports Radio 610 Houston.

How can make this deal? Johnson was never going to be in the Cardinals future plans and hasn’t been healthy for years. How do you not get at least a first round pick? The Vikings let Stefon Diggs and a 2020 seventh round pick go to the Bills for 2020 first round, fifth round, six round and 2021 four round picks. Diggs is having an incredible season. Cardinal fans should be sending Bill a Christmas card and maybe a gift card!

Tom Brady – Hmm, where do I start…It didn’t take long for the GOAT to fit in Tampa Bay. I have few things here: 1. With a global pandemic, TB12 felt it was necessary to workout on a park field that was closed. He got kicked off. 2. Tompa Brady invaded, well walked into someone’s home without knocking. He thought it was Bucs OC Byron Leftwich’s home. Lucky for Brady, the owner did not press charges. 3. TB12 broke the CBA rules for players and coaches meeting or going over the playbook during the offseason - a no no!. Again, he was not punished for breaking rules. He’s the GOAT and that affords him a lot privileges.

Novak Djokovic – This dumbass is on here for two reasons – 1. Hosted a tennis tournament with no social distance with full fan capacity. Numerous people ended up testing positive, including his wife and Djokovic. Additionally, he was out with others dancing it up at a night club. 2. Novak, out of frustration accidentally hit the throat of a lineswoman with a tennis ball during the US Open. He was ejected from the tournament.

Justin Turner - The Dodgers third baseman was pulled in the 7th inning of the Game 6 of World Series (clinching game) after his test for COVID-19 came back positive. He was sent into isolation, however, after LA won, he was out celebrating on the field with his team. Not good!

Los Angeles Clippers – Clippers blew yet another 3-1 lead in the playoffs. This after trading their entire future (Danilo Gallinari, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and LA’s’ first-round draft picks in 2022, 2024 and 2026, two first-round choices via Miami in 2021 and 2023, and the right to swap first-round picks in 2023 and 2025). Also ended up firing Doc Rivers, who is now in Philly.

MLB – I need to put them on this list for the lack of leadership to start their season as well as bubble their teams after they started. They couldn’t figure out how to test players and get test results. They're a billion dollar business that couldn’t figure it out!

Utah Jazz Rudy Gobert – How about this guy, the first in professional sports to test positive for the coronavirus. I will never forget how he tried to be funny by touching all the microphones during a press conference. I really doubt that was the reason for the spread, but it ended up stopping the NBA.

James Dolan - After another loss in March, Knicks owner Dolan snapped at a fan who suggested he should sell the team. In a video released by TMZ, Dolan is seen leaving the courtside area late in the Knicks’ loss to the Sacramento Kings. A fan yells from off camera, “Sell the team.” Dolan stops quickly and responds, “You think I should sell the team?” and beckons the fan to come nearer. “You want to not come to any more games?” “Why?” the fan asks. “That’s rude,” Dolan says. “It’s an opinion,” the fan contends. “No, it’s not an opinion, and you know what? Enjoy watching them on TV,” Dolan says. He walks away and seems to signal with his eyes to guards, and then some assistants call out, “Hold him,” apparently in reference to the fan. Poor Knicks fans having to deal with this ownership!

HONORABLE MENTION

Jayson Tatum - I think it should read: “God’s Will.”
Antonio Brown - 2019 Winner Antonio Brown – a staple every year! I don't have the time to put it all down.
Esteban Loaiza - The former pitcher gets three years in jail after being caught with 44 pounds of cocaine. He made over $43 million over his MLB career.
Greg Robinson - Arrested for having 157 pound of pot after crossing the Mexico boarder! A Border Patrol drug-sniffing dog alerted patrol that the rear cargo door of their Chevy Tahoe had the goods. According to the docs, Robinson and two others were not reentering the country from Mexico – rather they were trying to get from Los Angeles to Louisiana and hit the checkpoint on the way. Robinson are facing up to 20 years in prison, if convicted.
Ed Oliver – Bills first round pick in 2019 - Arrested for DWI and gun charges (unregistered) in Houston, Texas. He was driving reckless while drinking with a can of beer.
Chris Johnson- Accused of paying a suspected gang member for allegedly killing two men who shot him and killed his friend in 2015, according to court documents obtained by TMZ Sports. He has not been charged with a crime but prosecutors believe he paid a “noted Florida gang member” named Dominic Bolden to kill the suspected gunmen in a March 2015 drive-by shooting in Orlando.
Mark Walton - The former Bengals and Dolphins running back was arrested for the fifth time in the last two years. This time was another domestic violence incident with the mother of his child, who has a restraining order against Walton. The woman called the police around 3:00 a.m. complaining about a man yelling at her and when the police arrived, Walton was yelling at the woman and was arrested for violating his restraining order. This man just doesn’t get it.
Morris Berger - Former offensive coordinator of D-2 Grand Valley State football team only worked at GV State for three days. In an interview for the local paper, he was asked if he could have dinner with three historical figures, who would they be. He listed Hitler, President John F. Kennedy and Christopher Columbus. "This is probably not going to get a good review, but I’m going to say Adolf Hitler," Berger, who has a history degree from Drury University, said, according to The Lanthorn. "It was obviously very sad and he had bad motives, but the way he was able to lead was second-to-none. How he rallied a group and a following, I want to know how he did that. Bad intentions of course, but you can’t deny he wasn’t a great leader." No idea if he has been hired anywhere. Not good!
Odell Beckham Jr. - After his alma mater LSU Tigers beat the Clemson Tigers in the NCAA National Championship game, he is on video handing out LSU players cash. He broke a bunch of rules, but nothing ever came out of it. Additionally, he slapped a security guard in the ass. An arrest warrant was originally issued, but rescinded after the security guard dropped the charges.
Phillies – I grew up a Phillies fan and 2020 was very disappointing: After hiring Joe Girardi, I thought things were going in the right direction - I was so wrong! Here it is: 9th straight losing season and longest postseason drought in NL- 9 years; Worst defensive team in baseball (.642 defensive efficiency); Bullpen had the highest ERA in baseball history (7.06) except for that of the 1930 Phillies (8.01). Entire staff had second worst ERA in NL (5.14), worst Philly team since 1939. Heading for their fifth pitching coach in the past five season. Thanks Tom Verducci for the stats!
A.J. Green – Bengals star wide receiver has been a huge disappointment – through 9 games he has caught 35 passes for 357 yards and one touchdown. This is on him! He''ll enter the free agency market with those numbers.
Carson Wentz – Eagles QB is having an awful season, along with the team. Through nine games, he is posting career-worst numbers in completion percentage (58.4) and passer rating (78.6) with 14 touchdowns and 14 interceptions (leads the league). He has been sacked 40 times!