As he approached career home run number 500, the coverage surrounding Ken Griffey Jr. intensified. Since arriving in Cincinnati he has been plagued with a well-documented injury bug that put his career into a deep freeze and kept him off the baseball fan’s radar. Maybe there was the occasional “What if?” and “What ever happened to?”, but as far as the prettiest swing in the game, the brightest smile with the swagger to match, and the impossible running, jumping, gravity defying centerfield show stopping, Junior was a forgotten man. So far, in 2004 he has shaken the curse of the injury, rediscovered his power stroke, and is the heart of one of the most surprising teams in all of baseball. Then he did it. Number 500.
Tom Brady has it all, movie star good-looks, rocket-launcher right arm, $50,000 worth of diamonds on his fingers, 2 Super Bowl MVPs, and if the rumors are true, a very attractive young lady with whom he is now engaged. Okay, let me start this article by stating that I have nothing against the sacrament of marriage. I’m “Pro-Marriage” and I love weddings. Open bar, the “chicken dance”, Aunt Sue and Uncle Frank doing the limbo, the whole shebang. I hope in the near-future that I get married. But now I’m speaking as a Patriots’ fan… Tom, please tell me WHY?
Categories
The Collapsing Lake
After overcoming injuries to everyone except Payton, the ominous presence of the Kobe trial, Phil Jackson’s wait-and-see approach to the season, constant bickering between their two biggest stars, and a tougher Western Conference than they had ever gone up against, Los Angeles was still alive.
That miraculous shot by Fisher was indicative of how the Lakers overcame obstacles all year long. Were they overconfident heading into the Finals?
Of course they were! And because of that smug arrogance and cockiness, the Laker experiment failed miserably.
Is that being too harsh?
Can a team that reached the Finals be considered a total failure?
Categories
Let’s Make A Deal
With the trade deadline roughly a month-and-a-half away, the rumor floodgates will soon open up. As contenders scramble for starting pitchers, left-handed relievers, and another bat, basement-dwellers become sellers, pawning off their more expensive talent to the highest bidder. It’s a fun time of year.
As a lifelong Red Sox fan, I’ve been fortunate enough to see them in contention most years and July 31st is an important day. Jeff Suppan, Scott Sauerbeck (or “Sauer-suck” as he was known as in these parts), Byung-hyun Kim, Cliff Floyd, Ed Sprague, and Larry Anderson have all donned the Sox uniform through mid-season deals. Boy, we have a lot to show for it too.
So, with the deadline fast approaching, here are five deals that I would love to see happen over the next month-and-a-half…
Now that the Pistons have finished off the Lakers, I figure now is as good a time as any to make my big announcement. I would like to inform all of the NBA General Managers that I’m declaring myself eligible for the NBA Draft. Sure, I might not be a lottery pick, but judging by this draft class that is not a good enough reason not to go for it.
Categories
Let the Rioting Begin!
Forget the final score. Forget the MVP. The real intrigue as I’m typing this at the start of the fourth quarter is the over/under on the number of arrests (120), the number of burnt out cars (15), and the number of bowls `Sheed will be smoking (3) tonight as Detroit celebrates the Pistons championship.
Categories
Fantasy Sports Weekly (Vol 3)
Welcome back to Fantasy Sports Weekly. I have now surpassed Quentin Tarantino with my Volume 3 Installment of the weekly column, of which point I am extremely proud.
Let’s start things off the way we always do, with this week’s installment of…
Salute to Sports Video Games that Changed our Lives
I had a special request this week from a dear old friend. A close friend of mine who mentioned that BASEBALL STARS didn’t really change his life as much as the following game did…
RBI BASEBALL – TENGEN
Categories
What’s there to complain about?
Tuning into sports talk radio and hearing all of the complaints, you would think that the Sox are a 2nd rate team owned by Bud Selig’s daughter. The 11 or 12 fans in Milwaukee or Montreal would give up their first born to watch a team like the Sox night-in and night-out. Believe me, it’s true. Nobody there cares. I have a friend who’s a Brewers’ “fan” and I asked him the other day how his team looks this year. He answered with, “I like the Packers chances in the NFC North.”
Categories
The Anti-Conspiracy Conspiracy
Imagine you’re David Stern. You trot out superstar after superstar trying to fill the shoes of Michael Jordan. Still, all of them fail for one reason or another. Vince Carter – no killer instinct; T-Mac – no heart; Kobe – too arrogant, flawed; Tim Duncan – too boring. So how do you fix the NBA? You make a team worthy of winning the championship.
Despite the claims that Detroit is boring and numerous experts bemoaning of the death of the NBA, these Finals are giving the league back some of its credibility. So here’s the conspiracy. You make it look like the league is doing everything possible to give LA another championship. Then you let the good guys win. You smile for the camera and say, “see, the NBA is a level playing field.” If this is the latest NBA conspiracy, I’m all for it.
Categories
My Ode to Junior
With Ken Griffey, Jr. having hit his 499th career home run on Sunday, I have no choice but to remember the Junior I knew. As a thirteen-year-old Yankees fan I was beginning my obsession for the game at the same time that Griffey was at the pinnacle of his career. He was dominant, fan-friendly, and most of all Yankees fans hated him. That wasn’t just caused by his aptitude for breaking the Yankees (or in that case any team’s) back, but a childhood incident when he was asked to leave the field by the Boss George Steinbrenner himself during his father’s tenure with the club. Despite all this, however, I today found myself being as much a supporter of Griffey as one of the players on my favorite club.