Showing posts with label nba. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nba. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Sunday, February 20, 2022
Saturday, February 12, 2022
Thursday, February 10, 2022
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Say It Ain't So, Papa Joe; Chevalier Passes
By Micah Roberts
Gaming Today
The sports world lost one of it’s all-stars Friday when sports talk radio host Armand Chevalier passed away at the age of 62. Chevalier, better known as Papa Joe, suffered a stroke in April that had paralyzed his right side. He was originally from Pittsburgh, but it was Las Vegas that he called home and established many lasting relationships.
His Sports Buffet radio show went national, but had a distinct Las Vegas flair to it as he invited callers to give them their picks for the week. His show was unlike any other where the callers were the show and he was the moderator. He despised the Yankees and Cowboys, yet did it a way that fans of those teams still loved him.
For over two decades Las Vegas sports fans were treated to this type of delicious radio. Callers became celebrities like “Bubba” with his lead pipe cinches or “Top Gun” from Florida who had his own intro music. They would give their picks and Papa Joe would grade them. It was next to impossible to get in on the show as the lines were always jammed.
I used to be a regular caller myself during the early 90’s and had a system of trying to get in that worked about half the time. Knowing that there was a five second broadcast delay, I would try to time when the on air call sounded like it was almost over and then make my call trying to beat the hundreds of others trying the same strategy to get on to the show with that open line.
His afternoon daily show was contagious and allowed for myself and thousands of others to vent frustrations with anything in sports with his “Bite Me Wednesday’s” edition. No matter how good or bad any of his caller's takes were, he would find the angle immediately and spin it in an instant to make it sound more interesting.
His show was a lot different from what we have on radio now where the hosts are the stars who rarely take phone calls, opting to talk about what they want to talk about. Papa Joe let the callers set the topics and let them be the stars, chiming in with his two cents in his own clever way usually with a good natured zing at the end of the conversation.
Papa Joe loved all his callers and wanted to meet them so he organized gatherings where all the callers could meet each other and Papa Joe himself. He had a weekly softball team that he invited listeners to show up where they got to see him pitch with his ‘79 striped Pirates box hat.
Chevalier also had a news letter that used to go out to thousands of listeners and in 1994, during the baseball strike, his presence in the sports world was never more acknowledged than a story ran by USA Today on the cover of their sports page. The photo on the cover had him draped with thousands of baseball cards from listeners supporting his grass roots effort of his protest of baseball for what would eventually be a lost season, something that not even world wars could do.
Current ESPN Las Vegas 1100am radio producer Clay Baker was one of those loyal fans who sent his baseball cards in while living in Lansing, Mich., but also had the privelidge of working with Papa Joe in Las Vegas from 2002 throgh 2008 as his producer.
"Rather than interview a player, Papa Joe was more interested in what the fans thought. On his show, the callers were priority," Baker said. "His fans were encouraged to roar and debate his topics, daily, and they never let him down. I'm grateful to have worked with Joe and his friendship was a blessing."
"Joe's first stint in Vegas was dealing dice and 21 at the Slots O'Fun, but working on the floor was short lived," said Baker, who then quotted Joe on the matter, 'After my first day, the Pit Boss told me: If you were ever hanged for being a craps dealer, it would be an injustice to the rope. Eventually, I was assigned to the 'Eye In The Sky' and that afforded me similar work at the Hilton and Four Queens.'
He was genuinely loved by everyone because he actually seemed to care about us. He was one of us. He would have a beer and discuss topics like regular guys do at a bar. It was that same type of comfortable approach that made him such a loved icon on air.
A few years later I ran into him while I was running a sports book and we had a good laugh about his early years on the radio and how I used to get in to the radio shows. When talking about the show and everyone in his radio world family, he glowed with the same pride he did when it was initially happening.
He had quite a few relationships with people all over town, but he especially was fascinated with the job of sports book directors, who he always called “Boss Bookies”. He was intrigued with how the operation worked; how and why numbers were moved along with what the “wise guys” were doing.
When talking about the wise guys on air, he would stretch out the pronunciation in a different hush-hush tone, “Wiiiizzze Guyyzz”, as if he was telling a secret and if it got out, someone might get whacked. I always chuckled every time the voice came out.
I was proud to have been invited as a regular guest on his shows and reflect fondly of my younger years trying to get on his shows as a caller, but I was more honored to have just been his friend.
Las Vegans, and everyone else who had the chance to know him, or hear him are going to miss him, but his legacy will not be forgotten. Not only did he have one of the most unique relationships with his callers, but he was also somewhat of a pioneer with syndicated sports radio shows. He set the pace and tempo of an industry that we know as common place today.
"Joe Chevalier fell in love with radio by chance and it changed the world forever," Baker said. "Joe eventually quits the casino business, does radio full time in Las Vegas, then took the nickname Papa, from the Bourbon street bar and soon he was a Vegas legend. Papa Joe never had to make a demo tape. Papa never typed up a resume for a radio gig, he was just the genuine article. The fans knew it and Papa Joe Chevalier became the first star of an industry that had no stars."
Very well said Clay Baker.
Thanks for all the memories Papa Joe, rest in peace!
Gaming Today
 |
| Papa Joe's 'Sports Buffet' was a syndicated hit |
His Sports Buffet radio show went national, but had a distinct Las Vegas flair to it as he invited callers to give them their picks for the week. His show was unlike any other where the callers were the show and he was the moderator. He despised the Yankees and Cowboys, yet did it a way that fans of those teams still loved him.
For over two decades Las Vegas sports fans were treated to this type of delicious radio. Callers became celebrities like “Bubba” with his lead pipe cinches or “Top Gun” from Florida who had his own intro music. They would give their picks and Papa Joe would grade them. It was next to impossible to get in on the show as the lines were always jammed.
I used to be a regular caller myself during the early 90’s and had a system of trying to get in that worked about half the time. Knowing that there was a five second broadcast delay, I would try to time when the on air call sounded like it was almost over and then make my call trying to beat the hundreds of others trying the same strategy to get on to the show with that open line.
His afternoon daily show was contagious and allowed for myself and thousands of others to vent frustrations with anything in sports with his “Bite Me Wednesday’s” edition. No matter how good or bad any of his caller's takes were, he would find the angle immediately and spin it in an instant to make it sound more interesting.
His show was a lot different from what we have on radio now where the hosts are the stars who rarely take phone calls, opting to talk about what they want to talk about. Papa Joe let the callers set the topics and let them be the stars, chiming in with his two cents in his own clever way usually with a good natured zing at the end of the conversation.
Papa Joe loved all his callers and wanted to meet them so he organized gatherings where all the callers could meet each other and Papa Joe himself. He had a weekly softball team that he invited listeners to show up where they got to see him pitch with his ‘79 striped Pirates box hat.
Chevalier also had a news letter that used to go out to thousands of listeners and in 1994, during the baseball strike, his presence in the sports world was never more acknowledged than a story ran by USA Today on the cover of their sports page. The photo on the cover had him draped with thousands of baseball cards from listeners supporting his grass roots effort of his protest of baseball for what would eventually be a lost season, something that not even world wars could do.
Current ESPN Las Vegas 1100am radio producer Clay Baker was one of those loyal fans who sent his baseball cards in while living in Lansing, Mich., but also had the privelidge of working with Papa Joe in Las Vegas from 2002 throgh 2008 as his producer.
"Rather than interview a player, Papa Joe was more interested in what the fans thought. On his show, the callers were priority," Baker said. "His fans were encouraged to roar and debate his topics, daily, and they never let him down. I'm grateful to have worked with Joe and his friendship was a blessing."
"Joe's first stint in Vegas was dealing dice and 21 at the Slots O'Fun, but working on the floor was short lived," said Baker, who then quotted Joe on the matter, 'After my first day, the Pit Boss told me: If you were ever hanged for being a craps dealer, it would be an injustice to the rope. Eventually, I was assigned to the 'Eye In The Sky' and that afforded me similar work at the Hilton and Four Queens.'
He was genuinely loved by everyone because he actually seemed to care about us. He was one of us. He would have a beer and discuss topics like regular guys do at a bar. It was that same type of comfortable approach that made him such a loved icon on air.
A few years later I ran into him while I was running a sports book and we had a good laugh about his early years on the radio and how I used to get in to the radio shows. When talking about the show and everyone in his radio world family, he glowed with the same pride he did when it was initially happening.
He had quite a few relationships with people all over town, but he especially was fascinated with the job of sports book directors, who he always called “Boss Bookies”. He was intrigued with how the operation worked; how and why numbers were moved along with what the “wise guys” were doing.
When talking about the wise guys on air, he would stretch out the pronunciation in a different hush-hush tone, “Wiiiizzze Guyyzz”, as if he was telling a secret and if it got out, someone might get whacked. I always chuckled every time the voice came out.
I was proud to have been invited as a regular guest on his shows and reflect fondly of my younger years trying to get on his shows as a caller, but I was more honored to have just been his friend.
Las Vegans, and everyone else who had the chance to know him, or hear him are going to miss him, but his legacy will not be forgotten. Not only did he have one of the most unique relationships with his callers, but he was also somewhat of a pioneer with syndicated sports radio shows. He set the pace and tempo of an industry that we know as common place today.
"Joe Chevalier fell in love with radio by chance and it changed the world forever," Baker said. "Joe eventually quits the casino business, does radio full time in Las Vegas, then took the nickname Papa, from the Bourbon street bar and soon he was a Vegas legend. Papa Joe never had to make a demo tape. Papa never typed up a resume for a radio gig, he was just the genuine article. The fans knew it and Papa Joe Chevalier became the first star of an industry that had no stars."
Very well said Clay Baker.
Thanks for all the memories Papa Joe, rest in peace!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
3 Things Certain: Lakers, Ohio State and Edwards Will All Win Championships in 2011
By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com
After the past weekend of events, I came to the realization that the Championships are all but decided in the NBA, College Basketball and NASCAR. I’ve been believing the sentiment for some time now, but it wasn’t until Sunday that it all clicked together and had me thinking, “Yes, this is going to happen”. The Lakers will win their third straight title, the Buckeyes will be cutting down the nets next month and Carl Edwards will dethrone defending five-time champ Jimmie Johnson as NASCAR’s 2011 champion.
It’s not exactly going out on a limb considering that the Las Vegas Hilton Super Book have the Lakers as 5-to-2 co-favorites with the Celtics, Ohio State 3-to-1 favorites to win and Edwards the second choice behind Johnson to win at 5-to-1. But still, who goes on record with a trio of sports like that and how does it just come upon as a thought process in just one day like happened to me Sunday?
For the Lakers, it’s been them all along, but they’ve had to hurdle a lot questions about their drive and togetherness along the way while a team like the Spurs have rolled to the best record with consistent play without taking any nights off. The Lakers look flat at times and do take the occasional night off against bad teams like the Cavaliers or Bobcats. In fact it was just three weeks ago when the Lakers lost to those teams in the middle of a three game losing streak that had the media, and fans, both seriously questioning whether this was the end of Lakers run.
I don’t normally root for the favorites, and especially not the Lakers, but I find myself drawn to them this season. I marvel at Kobe Bryant like I would as a kid. Even though Phil Jackson appears to say nothing all of the time, I still am in awe of his coaching style and how he gets the most out of all of his players somehow.
Most of all, I have the Lakers as the team to root for in the anti-Heat movement. I can’t think of any team, or player, that I have rooted so passionately against than this years Miami Heat. During the Heat’s four game losing streak, I have popped open bottles champagne like the ’72 Dolphins, celebrating their losses. All their hype and the naïve arrogance of Lebron James telling his home state on national television that he’s taking his talents to South Beach immediately had me hoping for their demise and also had me looking for someone to knock them off.
The Heat look as though they’ll have a tough time just getting out of the east, let alone making the Finals. Since watching all the teams very closely, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Lakers can turn on the switch whenever they want. They are that good, and during their current seven game winning streak, they have shown that they are now getting prepped and serious for the money season that soon approaches.
As we head into March Madness, there is one team I see that looks the most polished and that’s Ohio State. No one is heading into the tournament with more steam than the Buckeyes. Since losing at Purdue a couple weeks ago, Ohio State has destroyed their last four opponents by 19 points or more.
Sunday’s 28 point win against Wisconsin, one of only two teams to beat Ohio State this season, showed just how dangerous they are. The knock against Ohio State has been their inconsistent outside shooting, but on Sunday, they put on a show where they made 14 of 15 three-point baskets.
They have the Superstar in Jared Sullinger, great coaching with Thad Matta and are hitting on all cylinders at the right time. Taking 3-to-1 in the tournament is a gamble with so many crazy things that are bound to happen along the way, but the consistent nature of the Buckeyes make them hard to bet against.
Carl Edwards won the Las Vegas NASCAR race over the weekend which is a prelude of what is about to come. The Vegas tracks represents one of 10 races on 1.5-mile tracks and there are also three others on two-mile tracks that can be lumped in which form the largest group a similar style tracks on the circuit. The driver who does the best of these tracks usually win the Championship. This has been Johnson’s bread and butter the last five seasons, but it looks as though it Edward’s turn this year.
We saw the momentum building towards the end of last season with Edwards winning the final two races and it has carried over into 2011. Edwards finished runner-up in the Daytona 500 and then had some trouble with Kyle Busch in Phoenix resulting in a poor finish. But the good news from that Phoenix race was that Edwards probably had the best car meaning that he can be expected to be equally good on the other five races that are similar with two each at Richmond and New Hampshire and then Phoenix again.
That’s 17 total races where we should expect the type of performance we saw out Edwards on Sunday. With the horsepower being as good as its ever been out of the new FR-9 engines, we should expect solid performances on other tracks like Dover and Pocono as well and then hope for the best in the three other plate races, the short tracks of Martinsville and Bristol and the two road courses.
Edwards currently sits third in points, just 7-point behind co-leaders Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. If you feel like tying money up for a few months, getting 5-to-1 on Edwards right now is probably the best investment you could make in Las Vegas.
VegasInsider.com
 |
| Lebron James makes it so easy to root against him |
It’s not exactly going out on a limb considering that the Las Vegas Hilton Super Book have the Lakers as 5-to-2 co-favorites with the Celtics, Ohio State 3-to-1 favorites to win and Edwards the second choice behind Johnson to win at 5-to-1. But still, who goes on record with a trio of sports like that and how does it just come upon as a thought process in just one day like happened to me Sunday?
For the Lakers, it’s been them all along, but they’ve had to hurdle a lot questions about their drive and togetherness along the way while a team like the Spurs have rolled to the best record with consistent play without taking any nights off. The Lakers look flat at times and do take the occasional night off against bad teams like the Cavaliers or Bobcats. In fact it was just three weeks ago when the Lakers lost to those teams in the middle of a three game losing streak that had the media, and fans, both seriously questioning whether this was the end of Lakers run.
I don’t normally root for the favorites, and especially not the Lakers, but I find myself drawn to them this season. I marvel at Kobe Bryant like I would as a kid. Even though Phil Jackson appears to say nothing all of the time, I still am in awe of his coaching style and how he gets the most out of all of his players somehow.
Most of all, I have the Lakers as the team to root for in the anti-Heat movement. I can’t think of any team, or player, that I have rooted so passionately against than this years Miami Heat. During the Heat’s four game losing streak, I have popped open bottles champagne like the ’72 Dolphins, celebrating their losses. All their hype and the naïve arrogance of Lebron James telling his home state on national television that he’s taking his talents to South Beach immediately had me hoping for their demise and also had me looking for someone to knock them off.
The Heat look as though they’ll have a tough time just getting out of the east, let alone making the Finals. Since watching all the teams very closely, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Lakers can turn on the switch whenever they want. They are that good, and during their current seven game winning streak, they have shown that they are now getting prepped and serious for the money season that soon approaches.
 |
| Sullinger should lead Ohio State to Final Four |
Sunday’s 28 point win against Wisconsin, one of only two teams to beat Ohio State this season, showed just how dangerous they are. The knock against Ohio State has been their inconsistent outside shooting, but on Sunday, they put on a show where they made 14 of 15 three-point baskets.
They have the Superstar in Jared Sullinger, great coaching with Thad Matta and are hitting on all cylinders at the right time. Taking 3-to-1 in the tournament is a gamble with so many crazy things that are bound to happen along the way, but the consistent nature of the Buckeyes make them hard to bet against.
Carl Edwards won the Las Vegas NASCAR race over the weekend which is a prelude of what is about to come. The Vegas tracks represents one of 10 races on 1.5-mile tracks and there are also three others on two-mile tracks that can be lumped in which form the largest group a similar style tracks on the circuit. The driver who does the best of these tracks usually win the Championship. This has been Johnson’s bread and butter the last five seasons, but it looks as though it Edward’s turn this year.
 |
| Edwards has the best chance of knocking off Johnson |
That’s 17 total races where we should expect the type of performance we saw out Edwards on Sunday. With the horsepower being as good as its ever been out of the new FR-9 engines, we should expect solid performances on other tracks like Dover and Pocono as well and then hope for the best in the three other plate races, the short tracks of Martinsville and Bristol and the two road courses.
Edwards currently sits third in points, just 7-point behind co-leaders Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. If you feel like tying money up for a few months, getting 5-to-1 on Edwards right now is probably the best investment you could make in Las Vegas.
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