Saturday, January 24, 2009

Sporting Rants and Raves: January 24, 2009

Now that football approaches the pinnacle of it season - and its end - I change the format of these sporting rants and raves. No longer will you see the inaccurate choices for NFL Playoff games. Okay, so once more. But that won't be this week. Instead, you will see a quippy... umm, quippish... quippsical... well, a selection of quips associated with sports.

Happy 41st Mary Lou Retton...

Herm Edwards, your greatest feat in football remains "The Miracle in the Meadowlands" about which Joe Pisarcik still doesn't speak. Because God knows you have done little to nothing with what you've had in the your head coaching positions in the NFL. A combined 54-74 (regular season) and 2-4 (playoffs) in your 8 years as head coach of the Jets and Chiefs is not particularly inspiring. And now, I wonder if KC would rather have their 4th round draft choice back from the 2006 draft, namely, Leon Washington who has rushed for 1451 yards and 13 TDs not to mention 838 receiving yards with 2 TDs in the past three years. And he shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. Have fun at your next coordinator position, Herm.

Congratulations goes to the NBA-worst Oklahoma City Thunder (9-35) from a happily passive-aggressive Seattle community.

Goodbye Mr. Jeff Kent. Retiring from baseball after a 17 year career Kent played for the Blue Jays, Mets, Indians, Giants, Astros, and Dodgers and racked up some pretty good numbers, including a 2B best 377 homeruns. Good enough for the Hall? Time will tell. But if Ryne Sandberg was inducted, then Kent has a shot.

Have you recently seen a harder hitting game than that Pittsburgh - Baltimore game? I mean, it was a blood bath. Did anyone else wonder whether McGahee would even walk again after that hit. Not to mention Limas Sweed's block on Cory Ivy. TANGENT: Doesn't Limas Sweed sound like something out of a satiristic book or movie? Like Barton Fink. Or Silas Marner.

Something you may not care to know... Limas Sweed was born on Christmas in 1984. Who else feels old?

Does anyone care that Roger Clemens might attend the Houston Astros spring training? I don't. I was hoping he might fall off the face of the earth. And I still won't watch his Yankeeography. He's not a Yankee in my book. 'So, are you going to give back all his wins when he was a Yankee,' I get asked when I say such a thing. No, because there would have been another pitcher in his place. So, instead, I take an average pitcher in his stead during the seasons of '99, '00, '01, '02, and '03.
  • If it's '99, the Yanks come in second and win the Wild Card. They play the Red Sox in the Championship series and still beat the Braves in the WS.
  • If it's '00, they come in 2nd and don't make the playoffs. No subway series. No WS win.
  • If it's '01 they still come in first in the East. They beat Oakland (Clemens lost both games he started). And then New York still beats Seattle (Clemens only pitched 5 innings in that series). They get to the WS and lose in 7.
  • If it's '02 they still come in first in the East. But that would have pitted them against the Twins and the A's against the Angels. Maybe the Angles don't win that WS since the A's played them pretty evenly that year. But the Yanks wouldn't have won either.
  • If it's '03, the Yanks still win the East. But there's a question about whether they would have beaten the Red Sox. If not they don't got to the WS and the Sox might have gotten their first WS victory a year earlier. Or the Marlins would have beat them like they did the Yanks. No matter, the Yanks don't win.
I will therefore take the Subway Series away from the Yanks. And perhaps the WS appearance in '03 because of Clemens. And though that last WS win against the Mets was nice, I'm willing to sacrifice in order not to have Clemens on the Yankeeography DVDs I own. Now, don't get me started on A-Rod.

Jeff Shumway resigned as chairman and CEO of the NHL Phoenix Coyotes yesterday. This removes a layer of management that really wasn't needed in the first place. In other news, his long lost cousin, Gordon, has finally escaped a maximum security facility in Nevada to return to his home planet of Melmac.

The state of Washington can finally boast about something in the sports arena as the 'other' Huskies try to take the #1 spot in the Pac-10 when they meet No. 13 UCLA on their home court.

As for the 'real' Huskies, they meet No. 19 Notre Dame in South Bend this evening. At 17-1 and No. 3 in the nation, the heavily favored UCONN Huskies play a Notre Dame team that hasn't lost at home in nearly three years. We'll see tonight what happens when the unstoppable force meets the immovable object.

Softball practice begins this weekend. Today, I will be venturing to an indoor batting cage where the Buzz will take their first few swings. And tomorrow, the Thrusters meet for the first time on the field. I have to pull my bat bag from the wreckage of the garage and massage the black glove that has served me well since my days in high school. I am told it isn't a softball mitt. But it seems to have worked well enough these past three years.

Can someone tell me why New York Football Giants receivers have this tendency of being shot, lately. Most recently, Mr. Taye Biddle of the Giants was outside a residence in Decatur, AL when he was shot in the hand and leg. Though it doesn't seem he did anything to provoke the shooting, I still gotta ask, what's the deal?

A final question... Does that coach deserve to be prosecuted for the high school player who dropped dead in the 94 degree heat last August in Kentucky? I've read the story as well as some editorials. And I can't say that I lean one way more than another in the case. I have to think about it more. But there was one part of that story that strikes me. The kid who dropped dead was taking medication for ADHD. And that medication most likely dehydrated him enough that it affected the eventual outcome. My question, then, is... why are so many kids taking medication in the United States for the likes of ADD and ADHD? Is it really necessary or does it make the drug companies and doctors all the more rich?

I leave you with that. Until next time, happy sporting...

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