TMZ exposes itself with George Carlin posting

The crass simpleton headline about the death of genius comedian George Carlin on the corporate porn-pushing gossip site TMZ.com is not the same headline that the mental deficient pinheads had posted originally. That one demonstrated that they'd been admonished by their corporate overlords and AOL and Time Warner for making fun of the passings of accomplished Hollywood stars, as well as their utter lack of pop culture knowledge or any sense of the true celebrity chain of command:

George Carlin headlining in Heaven.

Anyone who's ever cracked a People magazine would know that Carlin was one of the world's leading misanthropic atheists, so "Heaven" would not be the likely place for him to be appearing with a celestial microphone.

In any case, the regular weekday web team, their banana hammocks tucked away til next weekend, obviously saw many news reports highlighting his routine on the "The Seven Words You Can't Say On Television" (on the screens at the gym), realized it was safe to slip into the vulgarity mode that Harvey Levin's sewage site is well known for ("Prince William Pitches A Tent" or "Former Celtic Has No Pot of Gold to Pee In," anyone?).

But though they changed the headline, they did not change the URL of the story, which still reads

http://www.tmz.com/2008/06/23/
GEORGE-CARLIN-HEADLINING-IN-HEAVEN/

Exclusive! Team that beat Judge Judy at the Emmys

Senior producer Lisa Brennan and executive producer Peter Brennan flank star Cristina Perez and Emmy, after picking up the award for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom program at the 35th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood Friday night. The win was a surprise, since some believed the new category had been created so Judge Judy could win an award after years of going up against talk shows. The catch is that peter Brennan was Judge Judy's original executive producer, and credited with Judy's initial success before doing the same for a new generation with Cristina.

Hollywood wakes up to The Seventh Python

The Neil Innes biopic from our pals at Frozen Pictures has its world premiere this Thursday, June 26th at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. It's the opening selection in Martin Lewis' ninth Mods & Rockers Film Festival (a division of American Cinematheque). Showtime is at 7:30 pm. Neil Innes himself will be there; a Bonzo Dog Dooh Dah Band concert film follows, and on Friday, June 27th, Neil is performing an unprecedented solo show at the Egyptian!

Tickets at ModsandRockers.com.

One Israel Baseball League vet won't be returning

Earlier this month, we gave a sports columnist from the Portsmouth, New Hampshire Herald in some stick for falling for the Israel Baseball League's "Clock to Nowhere" and reporting gullibly that there would be a second IBL season this summer after all. Well, waddaya know? With word that IBL Mach 2 is promising a four-team, three-week, 20 game momentum-keeping "season" starting July 27, it looks like Mike Sullivan had the inside track.

And now we know why a sportswriter from New Hampshire cared about the IBL. Local Ari Alexenberg was a savvy southpaw pitcher for the Petach Tikva Pioneers last season. But is he returning for the big season two?

This morning, Mike Sullivan has the scoop-- and gets in a few well-placed digs as well:

Despite recent reports to the contrary, the Israel Baseball League is moving forward with its second season, albeit an abbreviated one. Portsmouth's own Ari Alexenberg, who at 45 years old played and coached during the IBL's inaugural season last summer, is not making the trip.

"From an experiential standpoint I would have loved to play," Alexenberg wrote via e-mail. "From a financial standpoint it would have been difficult. Minor league wages work fine for 23-year-olds ...; tougher for 46-year-olds with a family to support."

Not playing in Israel this summer really does come down to the money for Alexenberg, so don't think for a second his age is playing a role in his decision to not return to the Petach Tikva Pioneers.

"As a pitcher I believe I can do it, as a regular position player I could not," he wrote. "It is a bit frustrating because I learned so much last year and would love the chance to start fresh-armed with last year's experience. I started out last season miserably but got better and better as the season progressed."

...Whether the league was to play a second season had become somewhat of a lesson in Internet contradiction recently, with conflicting reports on the status of the league appearing all over cyberspace.

Most reports contended that the league would not play this summer. To borrow the infamous line from Mark Twain: "The report of my death has been exaggerated." So despite reports to the contrary, the IBL is alive and at least breathing.

Carlin's death was announced by Jeff Abraham

The New York Times:

George Carlin, the Grammy-Award winning standup comedian and actor who was hailed for his irreverent social commentary, poignant observations of the absurdities of everyday life and language, and groundbreaking routines like 'Seven Words You Can Never Use on Television,' died in Los Angeles on Sunday, according to his publicist, Jeff Abraham. He was 71.

The cause of death was heart failure, according to Mr. Abraham.


Reuters:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 71. Carlin, who had a history of heart and drug-dependency problems, died at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica about 6 p.m. PDT (2 a.m. British time) after being admitted earlier in the afternoon for chest pains, spokesman Jeff Abraham told Reuters.

George Carlin

Hollywood to wake up to The Seventh Python

The Neil Innes biopic from our pals at Frozen Pictures has its world premiere this Thursday, June 26th at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. It's the opening selection in Martin Lewis' ninth Mods & Rockers Film Festival (a division of American Cinematheque). Showtime is at 7:30 pm. Neil Innes himself will be there; a Bonzo Dog Dooh Dah Band concert film follows, and on Friday, June 27th, Neil is performing an unprecedented solo show at the Egyptian!

Tickets at ModsandRockers.com

"Weird Al" meets The Seventh Python

Ha! Check out this press release from our pals at Frozen Pictures, whose new movie, The Seventh Python, premieres Thursday as the opening selection of the American Cinematheque's Mods & Rockers Film Festival at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood:

"Weird Al" Yankovic raves about The Seventh Python:
"WITHOUT QUESTION, ONE OF THE FINEST DOCUMENTARIES I'VE SEEN!
(about Neil Innes) (so far this year)!"

HOLLYWOOD (JONAS PR) - Grammy-winning, million-selling, Top 10 recording artist, parodist, singer and accordionist 'Weird Al' Yancovic has stunned the show business world and brought the art of the 'movie quote' to a sublime new level of greatness in his outrageous praise of The Seventh Python, Frozen Pictures' nonfiction film about fellow satirist, Rutle and Monty Python collaborator Neil Innes, which premieres June 26th at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, opening the ninth Mods & Rockers Film Festival.

"Weird Al" was among a select group-- including Innes, festival organizer Martin Lewis and comic Emo Philips-- to attend an early advance screening of the film on the Sunset Strip. As he prepares to embark on his Summer 2008 Straight Outta Lynwood concert tour that opens Friday June 27 in Henderson, Nevada, he took time to send producers a quote that sums up his feelings about the film:

"The Seventh Python is without question one of the finest documentaries I've seen about Neil Innes so far this year."

Blue Smoke & Mirrors Inc., the design firm that created The Seventh Python graphics and ad campaign, slapped the quote on the premiere poster that's showing up across Hollywood this weekend.

By the time the film's producers read the quote, it was too late.

"It sounded right," says BS&M's creative director Joaquin Blanco, whose native language is Portuguese. "In my business, you don't always have time to read the fine print."

Innes, who's traveling from London to Los Angeles for the promotion leading to the premiere and his June 27th solo show at the Egyptian, said he thought 'Weird Al' captured the spirit perfectly.

Tickets for The Seventh Python on July 26th at 7:30 pm and the Neil Innes concert on July 26th at 7:30 pm are available at www.modsandrockers.com

Tickets for "Weird Al"'s Straight Outta Lynwood Summer Tour can be found at www.weirdal.com/touring.htm

IBL: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Get the joke with picture? Good.

No? Then go to our archive site and figure it out.

So here we go again: a group of American businessmen with dollar signs in their eyes rush into a season of baseball in a country thousands of miles away, and they do it secretly, ducking questions, refusing to step into the sunshine and simply brush the dirt off home plate.

Secrecy. Arrogance. Nastiness. Something so simple, so refreshing, so steeped in tradition-- baseball, for G-dsake—brings those words to mind because of the manner in which the business men behind the Israel Baseball League chose to make their return: restarting the countdown clock on the IBL website, leaking anonymous, teasing comments on this website, sliming Our Man Elli in Israel and then timing an announcement to the premiere of a feelgood documentary about the leagues’s 2007 start-up.

The undercover operatives of the IBL even sullied their greatest marketing tool, that acclaimed Holy Land Hardball documentary, by insinuating that the film was edited to further discredit the reporter who's covered the historic story singlehandedly:

“When you get to see the movie, watch the utter joy in Elli's face as he asks a typical leading question forshadowing the failure of the IBL before the season even starts. Don't tell me he is an unbiased reporter... now it's forever on film for everyone to see and a picture is worth 10,000 Elli Wanabergers words!!!”

How different the reception to the new bright and shiny Israel Baseball League would have been, had new “president” Dan Rootenberg and his older, experienced colleagues announced the return with a news conference, or an interview with Our Man Elli, and answered-- or at least addressed the questions on everyone’s minds.

But they didn't. And a poke through the comments section of this site shows that while there's pride and excitement over the news that Israel may indeed host a four-team, twenty-game, three-week, momentum-keeping “season” next month, the smirking secrecy of the league management has also caused confusion and anger:

When are the debts being paid? Has anybody been paid yet?
Who is still owed money???
T his might be the last time you can come forward and make a claim.
 Dan what are your plans?

I would want to be paid for last season and this season BEFORE I got on the plane to go anywhere with the IBL!!!

Dan is also a fool because he now exposes himself to the possibility of being party to the fraud which is the IBL.

 Before you agree to be president of a league you better make sure the books are clean.

You better make sure you know who Larry took money from and who is owed money. 

Larry took money from many people and had many side and individual deals with people.

There is a long trail of emails to support this. 

Larry has ruined himself and the people who go into business with him will either be taken by Larry or subject themselves to covering the fraud.

It's great to see how the players have manifested their selfish motives. How can they dream of playing if their teammates have not been paid?

1. The IBL has not paid its debts for last year.
 2. There are claims that they will take care of their debts but these claims should be looked at with a great deal of doubt.
 3. Investors in the new entity should no that they are in danger of investing in a scam and they may incur liability in doing such.
 4. I hope that the ibl management knows that if they come to Israel there is a good chance that they might not get to leave the country and return to the states until their debts are cleaned up.

I look forward to going to the games and booing Berger and Baras for the scam artists they are.

So let the questions begin:

Is Larry Baras the Paul Winchell to Rootenberg’s Knucklehead Smith?

Is Baras, the Wizard hiding behind the curtain?

Why did they wait so long to announce their plans (thirty-eight days before Opening Day? Was it because they didn't know if they would have a league, or because they didn't want the media—especially Our Man Elli-- asking questions?

Why did the IBL 10 quit? Why were they wrong to do so?

Even if all debts are paid tomorrow, why has there has been no disclosure of how much money was raised last summer and how much was spent?

With 35 days to go, and no announcement of how to buy tickets, where the games will take place, who’s playing and managing, who are the games being played for? Certainly not the native Israelis who ignored the league last year.

Is this mini-“season” being jerryrigged in order to fulfill a contract with the IAB?

The anonymous boobirds and IBL operatives can slam us they want. We want professional baseball in Israel as much as anyone else. But we'll continue doing our job, which is to ask questions. And find the answers.

And seriously, why's everything so hush-hush?

By the way, the “clock to nothing” on the IBL site has been reset, and now the Opening Day game is scheduled for 6:03 pm on July 27.

Exclusive! The top dog behind Cristina's stunning, in-your-face Emmy upset over old Judge Judy

The stunning Emmy upset night as the upstart syndicated Fox show Cristina’s Court beat old standby Judge Judy for the first-ever Daytime Emmy award for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program is made all the more tasty because Cristina’s executive producer Peter Brennan basically created Judge Judy as a show and a character as Judy's first EP, guiding her in the new arena while his staff, headed up by Cristina Emmy winner Lisa Brennan, found the cases that put the show a class above the rest— until they moved on.

Weeks before the debut of Cristina’s Court in September 2006, we told you that “Judge Judy’s genius has a new star,” and pointed out that

“…Brennan tells stories like no other, and his team knows the key to a successful court find cases that may not be earth-shattering but are crucially important to the people who are pressing them. They also know to find litigants who don’t look like they were scraped off the floor of Jerry Springer’s waiting room.”

Well, that team, including senior producer Dean Manibog— Katy, Texas’ first Emmy winner (we want to be there for the parade), are polishing Emmys this morning, and must be chuckling that Judge Judy sat stewing at the next table at the Kodak Theatre last night.

As we told you last night, the episode that clinched Cristina’s Court’s prize concerned the shooting of a pit bull.

An animal story. Odd, no?

Not at all. This excerpt from Tabloid Baby, describing the early years (1987-90) of tabloid television, shows how Peter Brennan used the same tried-and-true formula to great success nearly twenty years ago:

Animal stories and tabloid TV go back to the genre’s roots in Australian and British tabloid newspapers... Animal stories attracted calls and letters. They made up for the other sins you put on the screen.

Our most memorable animal story at A Current Affair was about an old dog named Smoke in a town somewhere down south. One day, Smoke ran down the railroad tracks, smack into the path of an oncoming train. When Smoke’s distraught owner went out to see if there was anything left of his old hound, he found an ear, a leg another leg, the tail, a scrap of fur—that was about it.

That would have been the end of the story, except that a week or so later, Smoke picked himself up from wherever he was carried several miles up the track and came hobbling home, minus that the ear, tail, fur and those two legs. It was inspirational, all right. Brennan wanted to run it just so he could write in the promo:

“It was the day the train kept a rollin'… ON TOP OF OLD SMOKIE.”

Israel Baseball Poll: Hero... or Puppet?

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

Celebration for A Pit Bull: Cristina's Court's dog story beats Judge Judy for first court show Emmy

Cristina's Court, the syndicated daytime courtroom series starring blonde Telemundo crossover Cristina Perez, beat Judge Judy, Judge Hatchett, the People's Court and gay judge David Young tonight for the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences' first Emmy for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program.

In a nice twist, Cristina's executive producer is Peter Brennan, the godfather of tabloid television and the original producer of Judge Judy (who was widely credited for guiding the court show queen to her initial success).

The episode that was judged and which won the Daytime Emmy award was Requiem for A Pit Bull, the story of the life and death of the two-year-old family dog that demonstrated Brennan's unique gifts for finding and telling stories that strike a personal and universal nerve. The power of the story ws such that influential animal rights groups like PETA and Last Chance for Animals joined the Hollywood crusade to see the segment, the producers behind it, the courtroom TV star who fronted it and the show that featured it, get the award they deserved.

It was "a hair-trigger episode that divided much the nation and pitted two of the country's most intense lobby groups head to head on the case --the gun lobby versus animal rights.

"It stemmed from an incident that took place on an average street in Austin, Texas one day last summer....and a dog named Capone...

"The 911 call told a story":

911: "What's your emergency?" Caller: "A pit bull for about the fifth time just chased me and my dog inside my house...he's very vicious. He growls his teeth and he charges you."

911: "Is anybody hurt?"

Caller: "No but I just killed the dog."

He was a young pit bull named Capone. Was he a playful, friendly pup, motherless and hand fed from the day he was born, as his owner described? Or a vicious, aggressive potential killer on the loose, as described by the man who shot him.

The decision was up to Judge Cristina Perez in TV's Cristina's Court.

Allen Saadeh, 20, and his mother were suing neighbor Louis Cross for killing their family pet with a .22 rifle. Cross, 40, who told Judge Cristina one of his hobbies was hunting, admitted he pumped five .22 caliber bullets into Capone the day he caught him in the yard of his Austin, TX. home.

"It was aggressive, showing it's teeth." Cross said.

"Are you scared," asked the judge.

"I am scared."

Cross said he had previously warned Saadeh about the dog being loose. "I said listen, this is the last time I am coming to you about your pit bull in my yard. I am going to shoot it."

Saadeh said he never took the threats seriously. "He was a very good dog. He was like a little boy to me."

The judge asked Cross to describe the shooting.

Cross said he found Capone in his side yard and the dog growled at him and his weiner dog. He then went back inside the house and took a .22 rifle from his gun cabinet.

"I shot him twice in the head and he stood there and looked at me," said Cross.

"What did you do next?"

"I shot him three times right there (pointing to his ribcage), and he died."

"You shot him five times?"

Saadeh said he searched for his dog for three days before Cross admitted to him that he had shot Capone and thrown the body in a dumpster.

"You murdered that dog," said Judge Cristina.

The winners:

Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program

CRISTINA'S COURT
SYNDICATED

PETER BRENNAN, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
LISA BRENNAN, SUPERVISING PRODUCER
ROBIN CRAIG, COORDINATING PRODUCER
DEAN MANIBOG, SENIOR PRODUCER
WANDA HENLEY, PRODUCER
LESLIE BROWN, PRODUCER
LISA WILSON, PRODUCER
MICHELLE FITZGERALD, PRODUCER
GYLLIAN CARTER, PRODUCER
JUDSON TOUBY, PRODUCER
SANDRA GIN, PRODUCER
CRISTINA PEREZ, HOST

New logo for The Israel Baseball League?

Someone suggests:

"Use a pic of a vampire, because no matter how many times we count the IBL down, no silver bullet or stake in the heart does it. It keeps rising from the dead..."

That or Richard Nixon...

Exclusive: Israel Baseball League star Nate Fish says he'd "consider" returning for second "season"!

Nate Fish, one of the standout players and personalities of the Israel baseball League's inaugural season (and a star of the Holy Land Hardball documentary about the IBL's startup), says he'd consider returning to Israel for its four-team, three week, 20-game season supposedly opening on July 27th. Fish, 28, who hit .347 with 32 runs and 24 RBI in 40 games for the Tel Aviv Lightning- and shared the IBL's best infielder award-- is now playing for the Haar Disciples of German's Baseball-Bundesliga.

Our Man Elli in Israel: When does your season end, and would you come play here?

Nate Fish: "Depending on if we make the playoffs - our season is done at the end of July at earliest or end of September at latest. Not sure if I could play in Israel - pretty beat up right now, but I'd consider it if the timing was right."

IBL vs. IAB: Baseball battle looming in Israel?

5:45 am, Los Angeles. A revived Israel Baseball League has re-emerged with a new executive line-up, announcing a four-team, 20 game, three-week, momentum-keeping" second season starting July 27th; The Israel Association of Baseball has not approved the plan; as usual, the lazy mainstream media bit and gave the IBL worldwide attention and great publicity for the IBL-related documentary film that premiered yesterday. Something's hinky. Our Man Elli is on the phone from Israel:

"I hear today that the opening and championship games for the new Israel Baseball League will be at Baptist Village, and the regular season games at Kibbutz Gezer, which still has no night lights-- which means they'll play doubleheaders starting at 3 pm?

"Gezer heard nothing about this until yesterday, and are awaiting answers themselves. It seems the IBL is intending to show up with cash to pay all outstanding debts-- fields, players, vendors-- and pay forward this season. Which begs the question: is the IAB forced to sanction them if they have paid up all their debts? Because as of yesterday, they hadn't. There appears to be a battle looming between them, or some kind of hostile takeover attempt of the IAB by the IBL. Crazy, crazy crazy.

"But, as usual, no one is talking. The IBL is keeping things very close to the vest, and instructing others to do the same. I spoke to a vendor from last season-- who's not owed money-- and he said he couldn't tell me if he'd be back this season. Now, why not?"

"The whole thing looks like an end-around run: announce the league is happening, and then line up the things you need to play, like players, managers, fields, a schedule, merchandise. and where to buy tickets. It's all a little bizarre."

Israel Baseball Notebook-- LITERALLY! We post the leftover notes we've gathered today so the "mainstream" media can claim them as their own!

The Israel Baseball League has gotten itself back into the news with a curveball press release picked up by the Associated Press and copied by the Jerusalem Post that spread the news around the world that the disgraced, debt-ridden league was resurrected like Lazarus and back for a miraculous second season with embattled founder hiding in a bunker and a fresh young IBL player stuffed into a suit and paying president.

The news spread, the fans rejoiced, the anonymous commenters said "Nyah nyah!" to us-- before we even had our coffee and had a chance to sort a few things out: like the fact that this spurious announcement came on the morning of the premiere of the lauded IBL documentary film, Holy Land Hardball, the second "season" is more like a barnstorming exhibition of 21 days, and the league does not have permission to set up shop in Israel. We gathered all those details by midmorning, and a few hours later the Jerusalem Post printed a clarification article-- again failing to give credit where we feel it's due: to Our Man Elli in Israel.

We're calling it day, but have a notebook full of information we will spill out so all the paid mainstream journalists can take it and call the work their own:

...the original contract with the IAB from last June 21st stipulated from the beginning that there would be a second season. Although the agreement was nullified by the IAB's January 9 termination letter, Larry Baras might be protecting himself by attempting some kind of season,
a) in order to show he tried to abide by the contract, and/or
b) then turn around if need be and sue the IAB for not allowing him to fulfill the contract...

...sources on the new lineup of IBL executives: they've marginalized Baras, because he became the No. 1 liability. Is he getting paid by the league?

...Rootenberg invested $25,000 in the IBL last year. (REDACTED) and (REDACTED) say his involvement is an attempt to recoup some of his money. One former IBL official said called him an "asshole, because for him to align himself with Larry, and being an ex-player and knowing that ex-players have not been paid-- that's more than just being an asshole."

...Non-involved fan quote: "Nothing like a drawn-out spring training season"...

...Another ex-IBL official: "I suspect the announcement may be more show than substance, as I can't imagine how they can afford to operate a professional league. Perhaps this is more about a group of players trying to do their own thing."

Same official: "Just heard that Berger is claiming that a group of 'Boston bankers' will rescue the IBL and pay off its debts, but I'll believe it when I see it."

...IBL insider: "We've heard the IBL has not been licensed by the IAB, which I doubt would license them without assurances of debt payment and a requirement that the league post a bond to assure that future Israeli obligations would be paid. That's not to say it couldn't happen, but the IBL's reputation precedes itself and there is considerable skepticism all around. The Boston 'bankers" or 'businessmen-- we've heard both terminologies-- haven't yet been identified to others, and if Larry in fact has been successful in persuading others to invest, it may be that he doesn't want people able to contact them with information that might not have been disclosed to them. Speculation, but it's quite difficult to understand how savvy bankers or businessmen would invest, given the history and circumstances of the IBL."

... Political pundit: "The whole thing is so bizarre-- the website announces a new season, but has no schedule, no place to buy tickets, no announced venues to play, no names of players or managers, no merchandise to purchase - what the hell are they doing? and what kind of season is 20 games? and what kind of league is four teams?"

... IBL website had been updated today
a) the items in the front are out of order...
E-Rod signing from April 29 is on top
b) below it is:
“Holyland Hardball” Has World Premiere -- self promotion
New IBL Store Makes Its First Appearance -- only selling stuff from last season
2008 IBL Season Announced! -- second time the season is announced (we had it before).

This gives us the details on who is playing...

...that last one is very interesting, might want to post with this graph: "By working with such organizations as the Jewish National Fund, the Jerusalem Foundation, Maccabiah, the Israel Association of Baseball and the Israel Softball Association, along with local community groups, the IBL hopes to support the programs in Israel that already exist and to generate excitement throughout the country as only baseball can..."

Where have we heard that before?

..."Announcements will appear soon as to the exact schedule and how to purchase tickets"... a month away, and no schedule, and no place to purchase tickets and fans will suddenly swarm to the park?

"In particular, we would like to note the fact that last year, over 4,000 fans showed up for opening game"-- figure has jumped to 4,000. Until now it's been 3,000...

By the way, the Israel Baseball League's "clock to nothing" is back and running-- though it's off by a few hours and has game in middle of the night

Once debt-ridden and disgraced, the new Israel Baseball League is bullish on its future and has in fact reactivated the running "clock to nothing" countdown on its website. The league now claims its four-team, 20-game, three-week, momentum-keeping "second season" will begin on July 27th, with an Opening Day game between the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox vs. Modi'in Miracle. Unfortunately, as Our Man Elli in Israel points out,

"Once again, it's set for a game to be played at 1:02 A.M. on Sunday, July 27. And the logo above the clock says 'inaugural season.'"

Will E-Rod return to Israel as the star of the four-team, 20-game, three-week, momentum-keeping second "season" of the IBL?

Amidst the hoopla over the resurrection of the Israel Baseball League as a four-team, 20-game, three-week show (or is it one game held over at the Orpheum?), there's new E-Rod news from the New York Yankees' AA farm club, the Trenton, NJ Thunder, that's bad news for the Dominican mystery man-- but possibly good news for the new and improved management of the Israel Baseball League.

E, aka Eladio Rodriguez, the most prominent veteran of the IBL, has been placed on the disabled list-- retroactive to June 17th, to make room for right-handed pitcher Oneli Perez, who's been claimed off waivers by the Yankees from the Cleveland Indians and assigned to Trenton.

E-Rod has gotten bupkis when it comes to playing time, and in the past couple of months has gone from the AAA Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees to the Single A Staten Island Baby Bombers, back to Scranton, a step from Yankee Stadium, and down a step to the AA Trenton Thunder, all in the space of a month, before being kicked back down to the Single A NY-Penn League farm team in Staten Island and back up to Trenton at the beginning of June.

And since his signing was seen to be a publicity stunt cooked up by the Yankee-connected members that used to be on the IBL advisory board in the first place-- why not give him back?!

Will he return to Israel in triumph as the star of the new four-team, 20-game three week league!

¡Viva Eladio! ¡VIVA E-ROD!

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? JERUSALEM POST ON VERGE OF RETRACTING ISRAEL BASEBALL LEAGUE STORY! AGAIN, THEY SEEM TO COPY OUR REPORTING WITHOUT ATTRIBUTION!

The Jerusalem Post, which sparked a worldwide sports frenzy this morning when it copied an Associated Press press release claiming that the Israel Baseball League was promising a second, truncated mini-season beginning July 27th, is now backtracking after doing some reporting to back up its story.

We were the first to question the story.

And Our Man Elli was the first to get confirmation that the nation's sports governing body had not given the league certification to allow it to do business in Israel.

Now, once again, The Jerusalem Post appears to follow our lead:




IBL still not granted permission to return

BY ALEX BRITELL

Sources at the Israel Association of Baseball said Thursday that no permission has been granted for a second season of the Israel Baseball League, despite the emergence of reports that the IBL has been resurrected by a new management team.

In a story carried by the Associated Press on Thursday it was announced that the IBL "would begin play on July 27, about a month behind its original schedule and in abbreviated form."

The AP report stated that the abridged season would run for three weeks rather than last year's inaugural 10-week season and would feature four teams in place of last year's six.

Former Netanya Tigers player Dan Rootenberg was reported to be the new president of the IBL, apparently replacing Martin Berger.

However, the IAB, which is authorized by the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sports to grant licenses for professional baseball in Israel, said there has been no change in the situation reported in The Jerusalem Post last month.

On May 29 IAB president Haim Katz told the Post "There will be no league in 2008," adding, "2008 is not happening, 2009 we're working on."

According to Katz, the league's problems stemmed largely from a number of Israeli creditors who, he said, had not been paid by the IBL.

Thursday's news coincided with the premiere of a documentary, "Holy Land Hardball," chronicling the IBL's first year, in the US.

Read the full story here.

Then go back and read ours.

More to come.

Exclusive: IBL player Jacob Levy comments on the announced return of the Israel Baseball League

Jacob Levy, who played infield for the Tel Aviv Lightning of the Israel Baseball League, gives Our Man Elli in Israel his reasoned analysis of the announcement that the Israel Baseball League is back for a second "season" in 2008 after, all with a four-team, 20-game, three week schedule.

Ultimately, Levy has hope:

"I hope. The sagacity of the decision to execute an abbreviated second season will be borne by the quality of the third season. I hope that the league's executives are thinking about the components of a stable foundation for the league and year over year increases in the fan base as opposed to pulling off individual seasons.

"If this second season is executed at a cost that is absorbable without injury to the effort to execute a proper third season it is the right decision. If the effort to execute a full schedule, properly executed third season is damaged beyond the value of the contiguous presence the second season represents then it is the wrong decision.

"Per the caliber of play, I imagine that last year's level can be nearly matched or surpassed even depending on the resources available for scouting and salaries. Baseball is an amazing game full of unpredictable individual stories. For some older (26-32) year old players having hung up their spikes recently, a month-long season in Israel would be perfect. Remember, as good as almost all of the guys from last year were as people, the bottom half were not the baseball peers of the top half.

"I hope. I do think baseball in Israel is a successful proposition. Like any end, a process must be designed to achieve it, that process must be designed properly and that process must be executed properly."

Exclusive: IBL's oldest player comments on the announced return of the Israel Baseball League

Scott Cantor, who, as a 51-year-old pitcher with the Petach Tikva Pioneers was the oldest player in the Israel Baseball League, reacts to the IBL’s announcement that it will launch a four-team, 20-game, three week season on July 27th to “keep the momentum going," and to the surprise news that 36-year-old former IBL player Dan Rootenberg has been thrust into the limelight as president of the league:

“I feel so excited to finally hear the news. Dan makes a great president for the league. My experience of him is that he is a man of honesty and integrity. Other then that I don't know any details to share with you. I'm sure the quality will be good enough and serve as a bridge to 2009. Hopefully this news combined with the movie opening will swing some positive energy toward baseball in Israel! Play ball!"

New face for Israel Baseball League as attorney Berger is traded for player Rootenberg; Baras hides

The Israel Baseball League that announced a four-team, 20-game three-week season to begin July 27th is cosmetically different than the one that fled the country with more than a million dollars in debts and bounced payer checks left behind. Its website displays a new executive lineup:

Israel Baseball League player Dan Rootenberg (outfielder for the Netanya Tigers) has replaced controversial Miami attorney Martin L. Berger as league president. Rootenberg's IBL player bio says the New Yorker "had a stellar college career at Binghamton University where he led the team in many offensive stats and was a perennial Conference All-Star... was named to the College Baseball Jewish All-American Team in 1994... played baseball in Europe for seven years for the Zurich Barracudas... was a member of Switzerland’s entry into the European Cup in 1999 and 2004... has also developed a very successful physical therapy and state of the art training center in New York City... his father served in the six day war... his aunt currently writes a popular column in Haifa called “Rinunim”.

Berger is now "director of operations," under "director" Gary Woolf. The Boston consultant who formerly headed the sports management agency founded by his late father, "superagent Bob Woolf" is at the head of the executive list, out to attract sponsors, media partners, and make nice with with US Major League Baseball and Israeli officials.

Former Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette is the league's "director of baseball operations."

Ami Baran, head coach of Israel's Men’s and Women’s National Softball Teams, is the new "director of Israeli operations."

League founder Larry Baras remains in hiding from the media.

New England-based Geller Sport, Inc. is in charge of "field engineering."

BREAKING NEWS: Israel Association of Baseball has NOT certified the Israel Baseball League to play a season this summer

The Israel Association of Baseball has not certified or entered into a contract to allow the Israel Baseball League to resume operations in the country, Our Man Elli in Israel has learned.

The IAB, Israel's governing board for the sport, cancelled the Israel Baseball League's contract in January because of its inability or refusal to pay its debts from the 2007 season. IAB President Haim Katz is the one who announced that there wil be no professional baseball in Israel in 2008.

And since IBL's new frontman, former IBL player-turned-president Dan Rootenberg, has said in effect that the four-team, 20-game three-week schedule is being rushed into place to maintain "momentum," there is already debate over whether the short sked can actually be considered a baseball "season," or whetherit's just a fancy name for the exhibition dates they were batting around as we reported in April: "Word is that IBL President Martin Berger has been phoning former players and inviting them to come to Israel this summer to help conduct baseball clinics. And if enough players show up, why not put on some exhibition games of their own?"

The full AP story on the Israel Baseball League's announcement that it plans to stage a four-team, three-week, 20-game "season" this summer

"'The goal of having a
three-week season this summer
is to keep the momentum going'..."

"League officials said they were already
in the process of paying the bills..."

"An official at Channel 5 TV,
which broadcast the games last year,
said the station still had not been paid
its sizable debt owed by the league
and has not been contacted
by the new management..."

"The league said its long-term goal is
to sell its teams to individual owners..."

"The league... has added... Gary Woolf,
a Boston businessman who formerly
headed the sports management agency
founded by his late father, superagent Bob Woolf..."

"Baras, the league founder, is not expected
to be involved in day to day operations..."

Israel baseball league
says it will return
after tumultuous
first season

By JOSEF FEDERMAN (Associated Press Writer)

JERUSALEM - Israel's professional baseball league on Thursday announced that it is coming back for a second season after a tumultuous inaugural campaign that left it on the brink of collapse.

The Israel Baseball League said it would begin play on July 27, about a month behind its original schedule and in abbreviated form. The league will consist of four teams, down from six last year, and the length of the season is being cut in half to 20 games.

Still, simply returning to the ball field is an accomplishment for the fledgling league, which suffered from low attendance, financial difficulties and a mass defection of executive board members last year.

"While it is important to acknowledge, correct and learn from the mistakes that happened in year one, at the same time, we cannot lose sight of the incredible accomplishments that were attained in a short period of time," said Dan Rootenberg, a former player who is the league's new president.

"The goal of having a three-week season this summer is to keep the momentum going, build on the fan base that was created last summer ... and bring back the high level of talent," he said. "We hope that all of this will lay the groundwork for a 45-game-season in 2009 and beyond."

In a statement, the league said it has received financial backing from a group of Boston businessman to pay off its remaining debts, including some unpaid player salaries, and provide funds for future play.

The league was founded by Larry Baras, a Boston bagel maker with a love for baseball and Israel.

His dream was to introduce the great American pastime to the Holy Land, attract youngsters to the sport and eventually develop a stable of high-level local players. He gathered a high-powered lineup of U.S. businessmen, baseball executives and Jewish former major leaguers to help.

The biggest challenge to the league was generating fan interest. With its slow pace and complicated rules, baseball is little more than a curiosity to most Israelis, who prefer soccer and basketball.

After its Opening Day game attracted several thousand fans, attendance quickly dropped. Most fans were American expatriates, and despite a family-friendly atmosphere modeled on U.S. minor league baseball, turnout at some games was only a few dozen people.

The league ran up a six-figure deficit, a manager quit during the season, players nearly went on strike when they weren't paid on time and a TV deal collapsed due to financial difficulties. After the season, a string of board members, including the commissioner, resigned amid questions about league finances. The troubles fueled persistent rumors that the league would fold.

But the league also enjoyed many successes on the field. The quality of play was high, thanks to the large number of U.S. and Latin American players with college and minor-league experience. There was a loyal fan base, and 14 athletes went on to sign professional contracts, several with affiliates of big league clubs.

Almost all of the 120 players were foreigners who lived in dormitory-style accommodations. About a dozen players were Israeli.

Dan Duquette, the former Red Sox general manager who is the league's director of player development, said the 2008 rosters would include many players from last year and others picked up from tryout camps held in the U.S. during the off season.

He said the league plans to work "on a grass roots level, which if properly cultivated should help us become a viable international professional league."

Duquette has said he hoped to help Israel field a team for the 2009 World Baseball Classic. In an e-mail interview, he said the classic remains a goal, though Israel may not be ready for next year's tournament.

While the league has lost many key executives, it also has added some new faces. They include Gary Woolf, a Boston businessman who formerly headed the sports management agency founded by his late father, superagent Bob Woolf.

Woolf, who now runs a consulting firm, said he hoped to help the league grow by attracting sponsors, seeking media partners, and strengthening ties with U.S. Major League Baseball and local Israeli officials.

"We have to figure out how to go beyond the initial seed, how to bring attention from around the world to this league," he said.

League officials said they were already in the process of paying the bills.

An official at Channel 5 TV, which broadcast the games last year, said the station still had not been paid its sizable debt owed by the league and has not been contacted by the new management. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he expects negotiations to begin soon, said he hoped to settle the debt and be involved with Israeli baseball again.

The league said its long-term goal is to sell its teams to individual owners. Baras, the league founder, is not expected to be involved in day to day operations.

BREAKING NEWS: Is the announcement of the Israel Baseball League's return a scheme to cook up interest in IBL movie that premieres today?

The Associated Press this ran with the press release stating the Israel Baseball League has pulled itself out from under its mountain of debts and bad will to somehow return to the Holy Land for a smaller, shorter second season next month, and The Jerusalem Post copied the story with no investigation, sending it across the globe to be met with surprise, joy, and skepticism this morning. Now let the real reporting begin...

Already, sources tell us that the press release is part of scheme cooked up by the reclusive IBL founder, Boston bagel baron Larry Baras to raise money on the back of the rousing documentary film about the IBL's startup that premieres today at the Independent Film Channel's film festival outside Washington DC.

"The announcement on the morning of the world premiere of Holy Land Hardball is not coincidental," an insider in Israel tells Our Man Elli. "It's part of the plan to generate more interest, and bring in more investors, especially since Variety just gave it a rave review.

"But the bottom line remains: How much money did Baras take in last summer, and how much was spent? Was it $3 million? $4 million? How can this so-called league operate with such massive debts? Will the players be paid, or are the coming to play for free?

"And if they're being paid, how about paying all the players from last summer? Will Baras be coming to Israel? Will he be arrested upon arrival for his outstanding debts?

"And what level of play will there be? If players couldn't make the cut in any of the standing minor and professional leagues around the world, then the level of play will probably be no higher then junior college level-- at best. And who will the games be marketed to, the few dozen immigrants who came out last summer? The IBL certainly is not about to launch a marketing campaign geared towards Israelis, and isn't that the mistake-- well, one of a few hundred-- that the league committed last summer?

"The Associated Press took a press release and turned it around as news, when the real story is the back story to the whole affair. Where are the credible journalists in the world??"

You found them. Our Man Elli is on the story.

And oy, such a story!

Exclusive: Nate Fish comments on the announced return of the Israel Baseball League

Israel Baseball League star Nate Fish, one of the few IBL players to go public about his bounced paychecks from the league, is the first IBL veteran to comment on the announcement today that the American businessmen behind the league have emerged from behind their wall of silence to announce a truncated, four-team, 20 game "season" second season, starting July 27.

Our Man Elli in Israel contacted Nate in Germany, where hes playing in the Baseball Bundesliga:

"That's great. I didn't think there would be baseball in Israel this summer. I'm happy for all the fans in Israel. Regardless of the level of play or the short schedule, this is a good thing. The IBL playing a second season and continuing baseball in Israel is awesome. I hope it's a good season for everyone there."

Did Israel's sports governing body certify the Israel Baseball League despite its debts?

This morning's announcment that the Israel Baseball League is returning for a 2008 season after all, albeit in a shrunken form-- four teams and 20 games-- has led to many questions, including whether Israel's sports governing body has recertified the league to allow it to play in Israel.

IAB president Haim Katz withdrew the certification and canceled the IBL contract in January because of more than a million dollars in unpaid debts.

On May 29th, Katz told the Jerusalem Post flatly: "There will be no league in 2008."

Questions:

Did the IAB re-certify the IBL despite the remaining debts?

Is the IBL getting around the issue?

Was there a backroom deal?

Is the IBL announcement for real?

Details to follow....