With the season winding down and the next to last moment I wanted to see played out on baseball's grand stage, it's time to enter a few random thoughts on the season. The season was a hard one on my beloved M's, made harder by the fact that "wait 'til next year" will have to be a motto that doesn't include Edgar Martinez in a playing capacity for the first time since 1986 (I am dearly hoping to see him suit up as a first, third base, or hitting coach, most likely the latter). Edgar's humility...
Steve Williams went to the ballpark on September 17, and seated himself in the left center field bleachers. Little did he dream that 11 days later he would be the subject of a suit by one of his fellow bleacher bums, Timothy Murphy. At issue: the 700th homerun of one Barry Bonds, which was in Williams' possession following a melee, but which Murphy claims is rightfully his. The first thing that comes to mind here is the thought that the attitudes of the multimillionaire ballplayers seem to...
Now, I'm not one to rub someone's face in it, but... Here I am, sitting on a dialup connection, first in line for the news that the Dolphins acquired Lamar Gordon. Since the Dolphins have been without a running back ever since Ricky Williams chose pot over pigskin (those dreads shoulda been the tipoff), and since Gordon was a more than capable backup to Marshall Faulk last year (and even earned a promotion to starting FB), I am very happy with this selection, and will enjoy the wailing and...
Well, folks, it's a glorious day and the sun is shining over the city of Boston. The Bosox now stand 2 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees and the Yanks are minus one stellar pitcher in Kevin Brown who hit the clubhouse with his hand in disgust following their loss. Now, I'm not one to revel in others' misfortune, but...it's the YANKEES. Even if I were a fan (which I am, most decidedly, NOT), they have won more than their share of titles, so for them to stay home in October would not be ...
It all came down to one goal. Iraq lost their bronze medal in a 1-0 game to Italy, but in the end gained something that can't be bought: respect. For these games, we have seen them as athletes, competing nobly on a world stage against the best of the best in their field, and we have cheered them, not for their politic, but for their prowess. They embodied everything about the Olympic ideal, as they played every game with passion and intensity, despite having limited ability to practice ...
Argentina 89. USA 81. That's all that needs to be said about the end of dominance of men's basketball in the Olympics. That's all that needs to be said about the end of my viewing of the NBA. Team USA has become a dismal failure, because they would not become a team. The excellent movie "Miracle" is one sports movie that documents the making of a TEAM, albeit in a different sport, in one of the greatest games in sports history. To the basketball minded, I would suggest the movie "...
Jeremy Wariner is the new Olympic champion in the men's 400 meters. Jeremy Wariner is also white. That last statement shouldn't matter. But to the media, to competing athletes, to many observers of the Olympics, it does. Let's not look at the hours of training that this man has put in, the sacrifices he has put in his time, his talent, and his money...the things that really matter. What irritates me about the attention given to Wariner's accomplishments is not what it does to the ...
This just in from the royal palace. There seems to be a delay in the striking of the clock, and Cinderella's slipper is still on. Iraq continues to amaze and inspire us with a story that is bigger than this stupid war. With grim determination and resolve, they've accomplished the improbable. Just one more win, and they will return to Bagdad with a shining piece of Olympic hardware around their necks. Two more wins and it should bear the luster that has driven men mad for centuries. Eith...
They're the alchemist's dream in reverse. In a turnabout on the old pseudoscience that revolved around turning base medals into gold, the US Olympic Team has worked very hard to turn gold into tin. These guys get paid more money for one year than the total of most of their opponents combined. And yet, they still refuse to inspire. They have not won convincingly in the Olympics, and at two losses, stand poised on the brink of elimination pending a game against Angola, hardly the sure thi...
OK, guys, I'm gonna toss this blog out to try to promote chiprj's yahoo! Fantasy football league. It's free, and it's fun. See, the deal here is this: just chip and I have signed up. And, see, there's no way chip can stand his ego being handed to him on a platter for the 17 consecutive weeks of the NFL season, as would happen if the league stands as it is. So, here's where I need some help. I need some more people to thrash soundly on my way to yahoo fantasy football dominance and...
I was reading another article basically justifying Team USA's subpar play in Olympic basketball, and it led me back to a blog I wanted to write the other day, but didn't get around to. I have decided that the thing that really irritates me the most about this year's Team USA has less to do with the unmotivated performance of the stars that are there, but really, about the stars who didn't come (Kobe Bryant is the one exception to this; he has bigger fish to fry, like petitioning the Califo...
Cheers to: Michael Phelps -- It doesn't matter that you won't catch Spitz. You've shown in every event and are definitely golden. Iraqi soccer team -- even if this is as far as you go, you will still go home winners. Our hearts are with you! US Men's Gymnastics -- Excellent showing; great success story. We love you guys. US Women's Gymnastics -- In one of the sports where we are not consistently dominant, you have shown yourselves to be champions The land of Oz -- This will tru...
Well, of course, the big news right now is Iraq's soccer team making it to the Olympic quarterfinals. I have decided that, even if it DOES help Bush in November, I want this team to win. We are fortunate as Americans in not knowing what it is like to live in a war torn country. When the casualties of war roll in, they come in on C-130's, from another place, not from next door. When our children walk outside, we don't have to worry about them getting blown up by unexploded ordinance or a...
Edgar Martinez, arguably one of the game's greatest designated hitter, has announced that he will retire at the end of this season, his 18th. Edgar is the last member of the "Lefebvre's beliebvres" club that began the turnaround of a team that was once the laughingstock of baseball into one that is well respected. For the purists, 'Gar was actually a decent third baseman, and could have remained so had the DH option not been around. But the way he hits can only draw comparisons to some of ...
The NFL Hall of Fame inducted its four newest members today, among them, former Denver Broncos QB John Elway and Former Detroit Lions RB Barry Sanders. It seems to me interesting that the two are of a seemingly forgotten era; both played for one team their entire NFL career. While I'm not a huge Elway fan (though there's something compelling about a man who throws for almost 30 miles in his career), Elway WAS Denver for his tenure there. Much maligned until his final years for "failing to ...