The Phantom Grammy.

Today’s mental_floss quiz: Can you name the fifteen departments run by the Secretaries in the US Cabinet?

Anyway, this is kind of stupid but I’m going to mention it anyway because it annoys me. The University of New Mexico has a reliever named Cole White with a big arm and poor command, and he’ll be drafted somewhere in the top 5-6 rounds. When that happens, you will hear something, somewhere, about how he was nominated for a Grammy, because that’s what it says on his bio page on UNM’s athletics site.

It is also false. Cole White was never nominated for a Grammy, which is easy to prove since Grammy nominations are announced publicly every year. I contacted UNM’s media relations department in late April, asking them to clarify, and was told: “As we dug deeper into it, he ended up in the top 100 for Best Rock Song.”

So I called NARAS and asked them if they issue any sort of top 100 rankings for award categories, and was told no. As it turns out, Cole White wrote a song that his former band recorded, and their record label submitted it to NARAS so that it could be considered for the ballot, but it was not nominated or otherwise recognized for anything other than the fact that it was released commercially and met the general requirements for nomination. His song was one of 15,000 entries on the overall ballot from which the nominees are eventually chosen.

I notified UNM’s media relations department that this was all incorrect on April 29th, and did receive a reply, but they haven’t corrected it on the site, which means the inaccuracy will be repeated once White is drafted and/or signed. I was hoping UNM would just fix it and the story would go away, but a month is probably sufficient grace period for them to fix the error, and it annoys me tremendously that they haven’t. ESPN.com wasn’t interested in the story – and I agree with them, as it really is small potatoes – but I feel like a mistake like that, however innocent, should be corrected.

Comments

  1. Maybe he can buy one of Phil Spector’s when they liquidate his estate.

  2. So it was a single but not a very good single?

  3. Off-topic, but I’m heading to Baltimore to catch a few games later this month. Anyone have any suggestions on places to eat?

  4. I haven’t been to Baltimore since ’05, but these were my favorite spots near the ballpark:

    Blue Moon Cafe – awesome breakfasts and smoothies
    La Cazuela – Ecuadorian food, huge portions, very comfort-food-ish
    James Joyce Pub – Irish classics, some with an upscale twist, and the Guinness isn’t too cold

    Never had a great crabcake there, oddly enough. I tried a few of the award-winning places I found, but none impressed.

  5. Your search – “You just drank a whole bottle of vanilla extract.” “Oh, I’m sorry – did you want some?” – did not match any documents.

    Any chance for an explanation of your most recent twit? (tweet?)

  6. Keith, I read in two places that Kyle Gibson’s velocity was WAY down today against Monmouth. Any chance you’ve heard same? And, if true, what might that mean for the draft? The timing seemingly couldn’t be worse for him.

  7. Off topic again, but 25 innings with so few runs? A reliever going 12 scoreless? I love tournament baseball.

  8. There’s nothing to love about that Texas manager allowing a reliever to throw 169 pitches. He should have been fired on the spot for abusing the poor kid that way.

  9. Add in 30 pitches the night before. For a 25 inning game, to was quickly played taking only a little over 7 hours. A Yankees-Red Sox game at that length even with the low scoring would be close to 12.

  10. Augie Garrido,the Texas manager is a college baseball legend with the most D1 wins and 5 titles. No matter how wrong he might have been to use the kid for 169 pitches, there will be no repercussions.

  11. Kevin – it’s from Family Ties, an episode that featured Tom Hanks as the alcoholic Uncle Ned.

    Both the Texas and BC coaches should be fired. Belfiore threw more than a complete game.

  12. Keith, as the draft nears I’ve heard Mike Minor attached to the Padres at #3 more and more. This reeks of a typical Grady Fuson/Bill Gayton “pitchability” reach. I mean, they will actually have their pick of the litter in a draft filled with nice power arms, and yet they are inclined to take a guy who projects somewehere around the sandwich round?!?! How scared should Padres fans be at this moment?

  13. True, the players should not have been allowed to stay in the game with those pitch counts. Their coaches should be in some sort of trouble. My comment was a more excited, I just watched an amazing game reaction, and after seeing 25 inn. of 3-2 baseball, my immediate reaction is “I love tournament baseball.”

  14. G&M Restaurant between BWI Airport and downtown Baltimore is the best crabcake in the area. I think the town is Linthicum but absolutely the spot.

  15. Keith, where does it say the ‘Stros are looking to unload?

  16. Marcel:

    Check out The Wine Market in Federal Hill. Its got a fantastic menu and a wine shop in the front of the house with really low corkage fees.

    Ryan

  17. Thanks for the suggestions guys.

  18. Keith,

    Appreciate you updating my link.

  19. I think I speak for all of his loyal readers when I say: Happy birthday to Klaw.

  20. So Cole White wasn’t really a former Grammy winner. Eh, who cares? What I really want to know is whether or not he was the punter on the football team. That’s where the real story would be.

  21. Grammy or not (we all know those are just as big a sham as Gold Gloves), where does his musical skills rate on a 20-80 scale? Clearly, we would only report on such information if it was actually relevant, right?

  22. Marcel,

    Here are a few more suggestions for Baltimore:

    Attman’s Deli- Their corned beef sandwich is pretty tough to beat. http://attmansdeli.com/

    Bill Bateman’s- Arguably Baltimore’s best wings. http://www.billbateman.com/

    Matthew’s Pizza- I’m not originally from here, but this is the best pizza I’ve found. Est. 1943. http://www.matthewspizza.com/

    If you like seafood, it’s blue crab season, and the steamed crabs are definitely the most popular local fare. You should be able to find them at any seafood restaurant. a little pricey, but worthwhile.

    There are a bunch of restaurants located in Little Italy as well. My favorite restaurant closed, but almost any one you try will be worthy.

    Hope this helps…

  23. I hope they fix the website. Nothing like a little “innocent” misconception to toot your own horn with.