The off season stinks.
At this point in the year there’s little news of any value. All that’s left us is speculation, and the upcoming season has already been speculated to death several times over.
So as any obsessive NFL fan might, I’ve begun picking open old scabs, just to see if there’s still any puss left to squeeze out.
When you think of Denver sports, you think of Mile High stadium. You think of John Elway finally winning the Super Bowl, and then doing it again. But lately the sports world has been looking at Denver in a whole new light. Denver now makes you think of Kobe’s life changing mistake. It makes you wonder how much we really now our favorite sports heroes. But does all this media coverage give Denver a certain Sex Appeal for free-agent superstars?
I am going completely off topic today but that’s what happens when training camp is a month away. You know what kills me? Shitty “products”. If you think about it, television is exactly like the four major sports. The constant expansion (800 channels anyone?) has eroded the talent pool and we’re left with programming like “Cooking with Adonal Foyle on $8M a year” or “Animal Rage: Sharks vs Kangaroos!” Which is why I can’t rave enough about Arrested Development. Aside from sports, I watch only a handful of television and Arrested Development is currently tops on my list.
Tyson takes a bite out of crime or maybe just sanity.
From Lance Armstrong’s triumph over cancer to Cal Ripken’s streak, the landscape of sports is carved with moments of purity. Whether it’s Ripken taking laps around Camden Yards, shaking every hand in his path, or it’s the U.S. Army carrying Pat Tillman’s coffin to his grave, sports figures can sometimes, momentarily, ascend above their athletic exploits and become culturally relevant.
I found myself in the most American of settings this past Fourth of July, the bleachers of a major league baseball game. Here are some of my random observations as I enjoyed the country’s favorite pastime on the birthday of our nation.
Sometimes, you take a vacation and find yourself immeasurably removed from the pertinent events of your everyday world. Other times, you take a trip and end up right into the belly of the biggest story in sports. Or, as it turned out, the biggest non-story of the summer (at least until Shaq isn’t traded).
Who ever said July was a slow month for sports?
And now, starting for the American League All-Star team as voted on by the baseball fans out there… with a stellar 11 home runs, 31 RBI and a .238 batting average, former MVP Jason Giambi! Every year the fans make a mistake or two with their selections for All-Star game starters, often voting on reputation or recognizable names instead of on how a player has performed in the current season, and that’s not always a bad thing. It brings more star power to the game, which is supposed to be more of an event than a competitive game anyways. Cal Ripken Jr. was a constant presence in the starting lineup over the years, despite a career that was on a noticeable downward plunge. But the fans loved him because of the streak that kept him in the public eye, and even more importantly, because they knew who he was. One year Jose Canseco was voted as a starter despite missing virtually the whole first half of the season due to injury, but he was still the most exciting player in the sport at the time, so he still deserved to be there at a showcase for the sport. Jason Giambi has no business being at the All-Star Game in 2004.
The NFL offseason may be the most political and nerve racking few months in sports. But it’s fun to watch. Teams and agents casually make deals that change people’s lives with the click of a pen. Millions are thrown around, All-Stars put on the chopping block. So with all the drama and cash being thrown around, here’s a breakdown on the winners and losers of the 2004 offseason so far.
Every off-season at least one team decides to overpay for a free agent. This years lucky losers…The Phoenix Suns. Or should we call them the Nash-ville Suns?
Phoenix jumped the gun after they realized that their offer wasn’t gunna match the opposing contracts being thrown at Kobe Bryant. They panicked and decided to go after a point gaurd, a good move since they were looking at throwing Leandro Barbosa into the spotlight too quick, but they picked the wrong one at the wrong price.
This morning Coach Mike Krzyzewski might have made the biggest decision of his life. Coach K turned down a 5 year, $41 million cotract to be head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.In his doing so, he also might have given the final blow to an already reeling Lakers organization.