This year, sports fans are witnessing (or if they aren’t, they should be…) the most exciting playoff season that the National Hockey League has seen since the 2001 season that saw Ray Bourque finally win Lord Stanley’s Cup. This is the time that all fans, be they the traditional fan base of the original six and of ageless wonders such as Chris Chelios or fans of the “next generation” and superstars such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Alexander Ovechkin should rejoice and unite as this is the year that their beloved sport can wake up from its long hibernation and win the hearts of millions of sports fans. The post-lockout era of the NHL has much to look forward to, and this post-season has seen every storyline that both the owners and the NHLPA have longed to see. This is the time to be proud to be a hockey fan.
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The True Villain
Eight Belles wasn’t the only sign of death on Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Horse racing will die too, at least in the United States. It must. I don’t want to say it and it hurts, but there seems to be no other alternative right now.
Sure, there are solutions, fixes if you will, but nobody is going to listen; nobody, that is, with the power to listen.
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From Penn State to State Penn
If there’s anyone with bigger problems in the world of college sports than Penn State’s Joe Paterno, then we’d like him or her to put their hand up.
The story of Jamiel Shaw, Jr., as reported, is not that of sensation but rather that of the war between our communities and our federal, state and local governments. For they have dropped the ball, not Jamiel, not his family, not his neighborhood.
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The Guru’s 2008 Mock NFL Draft
It’s that time once again, time for teams to either rebuild or destroy their franchise’s future. Though the true meddle and talent of a draft class needs about five years to truly be measured, I think I can pick out about ten players that I believe won’t measure up to what they’re expected to be. But who knows…
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Welcome Back Old Friend
by Trevor Freeman
I believe in signs. I do. I firmly believe in karma as well. I am one of those nutjobs who honestly thinks that if I screw somebody over it will come back to not only haunt me but quite possibly my beloved Oakland A’s. Well yesterday morning, I held the door open in an elevator so that somebody who was beaded with sweat could run in. Not only that, but I chipped in three dollars to my co-worker’s March of Dimes fundraiser. You do little things like that not thinking there is going to be a payoff and then it happens. As I was eating lunch at my desk with the radio quietly blaring “Tonight” by the Smashing Pumpkins, I logged onto yahoo.com. And there it was. Staring me right in the eye.
“Thomas agrees to contract with the Oakland A’s”
Giddy, I turned up the radio just in time for Billy Corgan to sing the verse “Do you believe there’s not a chance tonight?” Fellow A’s fans, there is a chance and that is because Frank Thomas returned home for the major league minimum. “The Big Hurt” is back in Oakland and the A’s blossoming postseason hopes got a shot in the arm that only a legend could provide.
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The Reality of the Pretend
I have been a die-hard sports fan for years. But contrary to one’s normal beliefs, growing up, my favorite sport wasn’t football, basketball, or baseball. My favorite sport in my early years was one that some argue is more of a soap opera than a sport; professional wrestling.
I grew up in what was known as the “Attitude Era,” where the Undertaker buried people alive, Austin 3:16 raised hell throughout the WWF, Degeneration-X had just two words for us, and we all smelled what the Rock was cookin’.
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Should We Even Consider It…
By Trevor Freeman
I am pretty sure that I approached this baseball season the same way every Oakland A’s fan did. Hopeful that our youngsters would be better than expected and that we would avoid the AL West cellar. Maybe it was because I approached the season with low expectations that I have all of the sudden been jolted by a 5-1 road trip and an 8-5 start to the season. If somebody had told me before the season that we would be 8-5 after playing Boston, Toronto and Cleveland twice, I would have told that person they need to dial back the amount of herbs they have been purchasing in the Humboldt County area.
It was after Saturday’s game against Cleveland that I got an energetic phone call from a friend who asked a million dollar question that I never even thought of. The question was, “Do you think we would sign Barry Bonds if we are in the mix in June?”
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Jose Canseco Has Gone Too Far
Jose Canseco’s latest desperate attempt to sell books has gone too far. Fans and media alike must stop taking the allegations of individuals such as Canseco as absolute truth.
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Joba To ‘Pen Is Right Move
by Matt Wells
When Joba Chamberlain was called up from Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre last year to pitch for the New York Yankees, he took the baseball world by storm. A pitcher in his early twenties who could make hitters look foolish with 100 MPH fastballs and then freeze them with wicked sliders was surely a diamond in the rough. A pitching prospect like Chamberlain certainly doesn’t come around all that often.