There’s a ten-year-old boy out there right now, hitting ball after ball after ball off a tee in his backyard. As the sun goes down, he imagines himself at Yankees Stadium on a brisk October night, stepping up to the plate, a full count, bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded, the Yanks down by one. He launches the game winning homerun and as he runs around the imaginary bases, with the imaginary crowd screaming in his ear, he wishes that one day his dream of playing in the major league, along side his heroes will come true.
Usually in the NBA, it is quite obvious as to who will win the MVP at this point of the season, or at least the race is narrowed down to two or three top contenders. This year, however, that is not the case. In fact, there are eight different players in contention for the basketball’s top individual prize: Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, LeBron James, Chauncey Billups, Dwyane Wade, Allen Iverson, and Shawn Marion. Here are their rankings as of now:
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A Plethora of Pitching
With so many questions regarding position players this off season, many have overlooked just how strong the Red Sox pitching staff has become.
It seems only fitting to start with the starting rotation. The Red Sox begin the 2006 season with seven eligible candidates to fill a five man rotation. With an ideal mix of veteran leadership and strong young arms this group seems poised to cause match up problems for opposing teams.
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AFC North is a Two Team Marathon
The Ravens and Browns would be well advised to propose a voluntary divisional realignment. As it stands, neither team will be sniffing the postseason for the foreseeable future. With no disrespect to Romeo Crennel or Brian Billick(ok, a little to Billick, wasn’t this guy once considered an offensive guru?) the AFC North will be decided by the outcome of two games for each of the next 5 seasons, with one at Heinz Field and the other at Paul Brown Stadium.
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Why Bonds Deserves a Hall Call
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance William’s new book Game of Shadows has seemingly put to rest any debate of whether baseball superstar Barry Bonds ever knowingly took steroids. If only half of the details in the book are absolute fact, it is still some very damning stuff. Even the late, great attorney Johnnie Cochran would have a futile time building a defense for Bonds; no failed test, he’s naturally the best! The truth is now out, no matter how many denials we hear from Barry, and the aftermath remains. Does Barry Bonds belong in the baseball Hall of Fame? I’m here to tell you why he does.
By David J. Cohen
It’s that time of year again. It’s the time of year where the true passion of basketball takes center stage. It’s a time where buzzer beaters, big plays, and upsets captivate us all.
It’s also that time of year where millions of Americans try to create the perfect bracket and take home the cash from various tournament pools. And as the tournament tips off everyone feels that they have the winning combination of teams to get a little richer. Then Valparaiso hits a half-court shot and, well, better luck next year.
Picking the upsets in the big dance is tough enough as it is, but this year promises to be especially difficult. It is truly wide open for the first time since 2000. After UConn, Villanova, Memphis, and Duke there is a noticeable decline of dominance. It seems as if anyone can win, and thus, there should be upsets all over the place in this year’s big dance. Oh yeah, and all four #1 seeds won’t make the final four. That never happens. As a matter of fact, usually one of them is bounced in the second round (last year was an exception).
One of the keys to picking a good bracket is knowing the teams before Selection Sunday. Here’s a little description of six teams that may wreck your bracket if you’re not careful.
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The Goon
Every team needs a goon. You know, that guy who skates as well as a five year old figure skater and scores only when a far more talented player makes a nice deflection in front of the net. The goon’s job is not to score goals, his job is to annoy the other team and take stupid penalties (i.e. Donald Brashear). The goon is as much a part of hockey as the ice they skate on.
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RJ’s Junk Drawer
Thank God it’s Monday, huh? Another week has passed in this never-ending sports merry-go-round. Who wants to get off now? Maybe Gene Upshaw. Not me, though. Not with all the fun stuff coming up. Baseball is about to dive head first into real international competition on this side of the globe after dipping it’s toe in the Far East. Hockey and pro basketball are still a few months away from a meaningful game, but hey, at least they’re not showing Hawks highlights (Chicago or Atlanta) on Sportscenter anymore.
Oh, and there’s that tournament that those college kids are going to play next week. Get your vacation days approved, yet?
So to celebrate, here’s another fresh batch of sports nuggets for your reading pleasure. Inside, you’ll read the dirtiest thing ever written on Sportscolumn (you should’ve already read one), but that won’t keep the cheerleader with the broken neck from Southern Illinois from reading them. And of course, I will honor the two “Major League” quote limit for the year.
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Just 40 Minutes
40 minutes. That’s all they have to play out their dreams. Just 40 minutes.
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Fan Interference
by Matt Wells
Stealing homeruns. Fighting. Changing the outcomes of games. No, this isn’t the future of sports as we know it. Well, it shouldn’t be, anyway.
This is sports in the past decade. This is fans, paying money to enter a stadium to see a professional sporting event, acting like idiots. These are the fans that ruin the game, whether they change the outcome of a contest or they make a professional athlete fear for his life.
These outrageous behaviors are part of sports history….a very negative part of sports history.