By Sean Quinn
Gerry McNamara hit six threes in the first half of the 2003 National Championship game against Kansas. He was a freshman. Saturday against Connecticut, the junior guard looked like he couldn’t throw a ball into the ocean, let alone the basket, shooting 2-10 from beyond the arc. McNamara should have played better, but it’s not entirely his fault.
NL Central Projected Standings
| Team | Win | Loss | GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| y-Houston | 98 | 64 | — |
| St Louis | 91 | 71 | 7 |
| Chi Cubs | 90 | 72 | 8 |
| Pittsburgh | 76 | 86 | 22 |
| Cincinnati | 61 | 101 | 37 |
| Milwaukee | 58 | 104 | 40 |
by Trevor Freeman
The AL West should be a season long roller coaster ride. It would not surprise me if all four teams in this division finish with between 79 and 94 wins. There were a lot of comings and goings with this group. We said “So long” to Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Troy Glaus and Troy Percival while waiving “hello” to Adrian Beltre, Jason Kendall, and Steve Finley. How will it all shake out? Here is a summary of each team with our projected order of finish at the bottom of the page.
NL East Projected Standings
| Team | Win | Loss | GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| z-Atlanta | 100 | 62 | — |
| x-Florida | 98 | 64 | 2 |
| NY Mets | 85 | 77 | 15 |
| Philadelphia | 79 | 83 | 21 |
| Washington | 74 | 88 | 26 |
By now, we all realize that athletes aren’t always the most intelligent people. In part, this is what scares me about Governor Jesse the Body Ventura. But that’s another matter. More than often, athletes say the most ridiculous things, making the rest of us ask each other, “Did they really just say that?”. I feel like this has been one of those weeks where the stuff coming out of the mouths of professional athletes is nothing short of ludicrous. Maybe it’s happening because Randy Moss is bored and doesn’t have anybody to offend during the off-season. Maybe it’s because Kobe’s lawsuit is coming to an end and he’s worried he’ll lose all the positive publicity he’s been getting lately. Well you tell me then?
In my state of mind I shouldn’t be doing anything but trying to get some rest. In my state of mind I shouldn’t be writing. God knows, what comes out might be straight gibberish, but I am going to give it a shot.
Tuesday I got a head cold. Head colds are the worst for me. I hate the runny noses, the drowsiness, and most of all I get incredibly delirious. I say things like, “I wonder who would win in a fight between Lindsay Lohan and Kelly Clarkson?” I take Lohan simply because Clarkson seems like way too much of a sweetheart. In an email with one of my friends I said “Squints Paladoris from ‘The Sandlot’ is one of the greatest characters ever to grace the silver screen” People in a good state of mind don’t say these things. See I am still delirious
With the first game of Spring Training in the books, I am here to offer my completely useless, yet hopefully thought-provoking predictions for the 2005 season. Because I am lazy to say the least (and long-winded), these will be brought to you by the wonderful people in my head through various installments during the next week or so. Deal with it. For now, let’s start with the AL East.
I think about sports too much. This is not the first time I’ve concluded this, for my entire life has been molded around the world of sports. I suppose it will come as no surprise, then, when I tell you that I am a sportswriter.
For just a short time take a break, and look at professional sports, namely professional hockey, in a more innocent and relaxed way without politics and television rating prerequisites. Let go of focus on sports market stipulations and the ratios of supply and demand. Instead focus on the required skills of each professional sport and what the fair salary average for each sport would then be. In this we might all realize just how much more professional hockey players should be paid. Or perhaps see how outrageous player salaries are in other professional sports or all professional sports. The bottom line then is no matter what the salaries of professional sports players are, professional hockey players should be paid the most on the basis of skill.
Last July I mocked my crazy friend Neal in a column for suggesting that Danny Ainge would be interested in re-acquiring Antoine Walker. Last Thursday Neal called me and instructed me to promptly give him “mad props.” Here, I’m doing it, but I just have to say that in Neal’s five or so years as an imaginary NBA general manager, he has traded every player in the league at least twice. Poor guys like Jason Williams, Mark Blount and Brent Barry have been moved so much in his bizarro world that none of them have any idea where they were originally born. Not that Neal has any idea where he is most of the time, either, but that’s an issue for the good people at the Betty Ford Clinic, not me.
Back at the ranch, my point is that Walker’s return to the Fleet or the Golden Palace or, god forbid, the Derek Jeter center, was simply the most ridiculous concept one could ever dream up. Until it happened, that is.