I saw the following on ESPN.com today, and it made me chuckle:
Penguins sign Fleury, agree to contract with Satan
Now, the Penguins didn’t make a deal with the Devil himself. Miroslav Satan’s last name is actually pronounced “Shatan,” but the link did make me chuckle. Hopefully it makes someone else laugh too.
The definition of greed was on display over the last couple of days in the form of the Boston Red Sox players.
A little background on the story for those of you who aren’t sports nuts. Boston is playing their season opening game in Japan, which is a huge deal, due to the popularity of baseball in Japan, etc. etc.
Supposedly a deal was struck that the players, coaches, and staff would receive a $40,000 stipend (more than yours truly makes in an entire year) to make the trip to Japan. I have no complaints with that fact. We live in America. We all enjoy the benefits of capitalism. If someone wanted to pay me $40,000 for a trip to Japan, I would most likely gladly accept.
Apparently MLB reneged on part of their deal, and they were only going to pay the coaches and staff a measly $20,000 for the trip. Now, it wasn’t right of MLB to back out on their part of the deal, but come on people, you’re getting paid $20,000 to go on a trip to another country to take part in a GAME.
But, all is not lost, a deal has been struck, and Boston will be making the trip to Japan, and all is right with the world. Or something like that.
Tiger Woods has taken a fair amount of heat recently for his handling of the noose comment and its ensuing controversy.
I love the way that Woods handles controversies such as these. He usually just lets his game do the talking - which is just fine with me. Woods went out and shot a 5-under today, and he’s currently trailing the leader at the Buick Invitational by a measly 2 shots. Hopefully he’ll go on to win the tournament and this whole controversy can be put to rest.
This isn’t the first time that Tiger has faced a controversy due to racially-related remarks. After he won his first Masters tournament, Fuzz Zoeller made a stupid comment regarding what type of food should be served at the champion’s dinner.
I’m not sure if these episodes motivate Tiger or not, but I suppose his performance since winning that first Masters speaks for itself.
The thing that drives me nutty is that everything needs to be blown up into some huge controversy by the media, when, in this case, the person who should have been offended (Woods) said it was pretty much a non-issue to him.
The media has a delight in stirring up controversy, and I guess that’s what sells for them. It just gets a little much after a while.
Here’s hoping for another phenomenal year for Mr. Woods.
Today Michael Vick received his sentence for his much-publicized involvement in his illegal dog fighting “business.”
If I read correctly Vick was handed down a sentence of 23 months, and according to John Clayton, he could possibly get out on good behavior after approximately 19 1/2 months.
What surprised me was that, due to his plea bargain, Vick cannot appeal this sentence, so it looks, if I’m ready everything correctly, like he will actually serve this jail sentence. This is in stark contrast to other celebrities who spend, oh, a day or so in jail for their DUI or other offense.
I’m glad to see that “justice will be served,” at least in a sense. Although it still bothers me that we are making such a huge fuss about this. Not that what Vick did wasn’t terrible and tragic - it was. But these were dogs, not people. What about the athletes, etc. that commit horrible acts against human beings? Where is the outrage there? What Vick did was wrong, and he should definitely be punished. Should he be given another chance as an NFL player? I suppose that will be up to an NFL owner to decide in the year 2009.
I love dogs. I wrote about the passing of my own dog recently. And though we might say they are like people, they are definitely NOT people.
It seems sometimes in our society that we have our priorities out of line.
I just finished watching the 2007 Little League World Series championship game between Warner Robins, GA and Tokyo, Japan. At the end of the game the players proved that sportsmanship hasn’t died.The game itself was close and ended up going in to extra innings before Warner Robins finished the game with a walk off home run. Not 10 minutes after the emotional ending, the players came together, as they do at the end of each game, to shake hands. However, the Japanese players, who were fighting off tears and disappointment, were actually hugging their American counterparts. In the midst of their sadness, they still showed respect to the other team. How often do we see that in American sports? As I watched several players over the last week hit home runs, I was struck by the fact that they didn’t stand there and gawk for a few moment before slowly plodding along the base path. I wonder where along the way players discover that it’s alright to run their hearts out after every single hit. Perhaps it starts in high school or college, I’m not sure. But it is most often on display in Major League Baseball.The professionals could take a cue from these kids when it comes to sportsmanship and professionalism.
The Canton, PA Little League All Star team was featured in a recent article by Jim Caple on ESPN.com.
It was pretty cool to see a small neighboring (if 30 miles away is neighboring) town featured on ESPN. Apparently their 13-14 year old All Stars finished 4th in the state, so congratulations to them.
Hey even Mansfield got a reference in the store when Caple said, “It has one traffic light, and no McDonald’s (although there is a Wal-Mart 30 miles away).” That 30 miles away would most likely be Mansfield, according to Google Maps.
Again, congratulations to the 13-14 year old Canton Little League All Start team.
When it comes to sports, there are few things better than the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament - more affectionately referred to as March Madness.
I love sports, but there is just something special about March Madness. I think a lot of it has to due with the fact that it’s win or go home, every single game. It’s not like the NBA where you have 5 and 7 game series in order to move on to the next round.
I’ll just throw in the fact that your’s truly, in one of my brackets on ESPN, picked 30 out of the first 32 games correctly. This is probably due more to sheer luck than it is any skill on my part.
For instance, I just thought Ohio State (the #1 team in the country) was going to lose to Xavier, but an Ohio State player hit a deep 3 point shot with only 2 seconds left in regualtion. The game is currently in overtime as I write this post.
Even though my perennial favorite, Duke, is absent from the tournament following a first round loss, I’m loving this year’s March Madness!
There are only a few times in my life when I’ve felt like I’ve been watching history. Michael Jordan and the Bulls winning all their championships in the 1990’s, September 11, 2001, and the various wars I’ve lived through.
Today I’m watching Tiger Woods make history by winning his 12th major championship. To those of you reading who don’t follow golf - that’s a HUGE deal. There are only 4 major championships played each year - The Masters, The US Open, The British Open, and The PGA Championship. The record all time is held by Jack Nicklaus at 18 total. Barring a major disaster, Tiger should have no problem getting there.
I’ve been watching Tiger since he was an amateur, and I saw him dominated a match play event on ESPN. So I hopped on the bandwagon early.
To watch him play when he’s on his game is simply amazing. It’s funny to listen to the commentators say, “he’ll have a hard shot here, ” “he can’t make that shot,”, etc. etc. And it seems like every time, he simply silences them with one fascinating shot after another.
I believe one day Tiger will prove that he is the greatest golfer of all time. He is so focused, so fine-tuned, that he’s almost like a machine. In fact, he’s never lost a major championship when leading or tied for the lead after the third round. Other players seem to fade away while he charges ahead.
Has Tiger gone through down times in his game? Sure. Has he slumped as much as some people make it out to be? I think not. Some people would sell their soul to play the game the way he does and to have had the success that he has had.
I am glad that I get to watch history in the making. It’s nice to watch a fun piece of history being made, what with all the wars, terrorism, and every other crazy and evil thing going on in this messed up world of ours.
I have been fortunate to have watched almost all of the major championships that Tiger has won, and I have seen some amazing golf in those 11 (soon to be 12) wins.
Mr. Woods, keep amazing us. Keep chasing history, and keep making history.
Well, the 2006 FIFA World Cup has come and gone. This year I have followed the tournament closer than ever.
It definitely was not any fun watching the U.S. get trounced. This was supposed to be the year that they played better and went deep into the tournament, but they failed to even make it out of the first round. It’s really not terribly surprising when you realize how much apathy there is regarding soccer in the US. When I go to a sports store and there is literally one small section of World Cup gear, that’s kind of sad. Understandable I suppose, but you would think that the world’s largest sporting even would get better treatment than that. But I digress…
I was definitely pulling for Brazil, mostly because I recognize many of their players and I know what a great level of talent they have, but even they didn’t perform they way I thought they would. France beat them pretty handily in the quarterfinals, and that was that.
For political reasons, I’m not a huge fan of France. I’m sure they’re great people and all, but it’s not my favorite country. However, I was pulling for them in the final yesterday, mostly due to Zinedine Zidane, one of the world’s greatest players, who was retiring after the game. I didn’t see much of the game, but I did get to see Zidane pull a really bone-headed move. In the second over time period, with not much time left until penalty kicks, something must have happened, because Zidane did a 180 and threw a vicious head butt into one of Italy’s players. The main ref didn’t see the play, but the sideline ref did, and Zidane received the red card - automatic dismissal from the match. Had Zidane made it to penalty kicks, we might have seen a different end result, but the world will never know.
It’s a little sad to know that this international event won’t be around for another 4 years, but now that I know some more players, hopefully I’ll be able to catch some of the Euro club games while I wait for 2010 in South Africa.
I just finished watching Portugal defeat England on penalty kicks. We really have nothing like penalty kicks (I guess except for a shootout in hockey) like them in American sports, at least that I can think of.
There is an incredible amount of pressure on players in the World Cup. Although we Americans might not realize it, soccer is THE most popular sport in the entire world. These players carry the hopes and dreams of the fans in their respective countries on their shoulders.
I feel bad that a game has to end in penalty kicks. The players have played their hearts out for 2 hours. That’s right - 2 hours! And they have to settle for 5 kicks to determine the fate of the match. What a way to lose, but on the other hand I imagine it would be a pretty exhilirating way to win a match.
I always laugh when people say soccer isn’t a real sport, or is a sissy sport. Please. Soccer matches are 90 minutes. You won’t find a regulation game that long, save for baseball, in all of the major American sports (NBA, MLB, NHL, NFL, etc.) Plus there is constant movement. No starting and stopping all the time, like football. And here’s the kicker. You only get 3 subs, that’s right 3, for the entire game. When they’re used up, then you’re out. It’s pretty insane when you think about in the context of American sports. Shaq gets tired - rest him a couple minutes. Your running back just makes a long run - rest him for a few plays. Line changes in hockey. There is no such thing in soccer.
I wish there was an easier way to watch the matches of this year’s World Cup, but at least I’m catching the match between France and Brazil at the moment, and the championship match will be next Sunday, so that’s a definite plus. Until then….GGGGGOOOOOAAAALLLLL!