Happy 59th birthday to Mr. Franco Harris and happy 57th birthday to Mr. Lynn Swann. Harris and Swann proved to be 2 significant contributors to the Steelers dynasty of the late 1970s. In fact, Harris and Swann both achieved the distinction of Super Bowl MVP in consecutive years (Super Bowl IX - 1974, Super Bowl X - 1975).
Trivia of the week: Can you name the team with which Franco Harris ended his career? The year in which he did so?
Staying on the Pittsburgh theme, I have some sad news to report to all those Huskies fans of the Northeastern variety. Cats proved better than dogs in this one. And it seems that Pittsburgh deserves the #1 spot in the country as well as the #1 overall spot in the tourney. How many of the UCONN faithful miss Mr. Jerome Dyson right about now?
Not all cats prevailed over their doggy rivals on this day. Approximately 3000 miles away the other Huskies defeated the WSU Cougars to become the first University of Washington basketball team to win a championship in 56 years. Congratulations to the only college / professional team in the Seattle area to do anything in the last 2 years.
'But Junior's back' I hear from a few random voices convinced that Griffey will somehow lift the M's from the obscurity of its condition since Sweet Lou departed for greener pastures.
Umm, okay...
Speaking of old M's players, what do you think about Mr. Alex Rodriguez and his torn labrum? Do you think it's from a lack of steroids? I don't. Don't misunderstand me. I still wish he were not a Yankee. But this torn labrum seems an issue unrelated to his involvement with steroids.
In other news, The Rod - there really is only one of him, right? - will miss the World Baseball Classic. Ever heard of it? I'm certain some of you have. Any idea what the difference between this and, say, the Baseball World Cup is? No, I didn't know there was a Baseball World Cup either before looking it up. To clear things up a bit... The World Baseball Classic includes approximately 24 teams, began in March 2006, includes national teams that contain only natives of those countries with teams, and will be played every 4 years after this year. There has only been 1 winner thus far (since there's only been 1 thus far) - the Japanese.
The Baseball World Cup includes approximately 36 teams, began in 1938 (between the United States and Great Britain), includes national teams that contain only natives of those countries with teams, and is played every 2 years.
The difference? The World Baseball Classic includes professional players. The Baseball World Cup does not. Make sense?
Doesn't to me either...
Moving on to another prima donna. You all know to whom I refer. The cancerous to. Okay, TO. Better? This morning, I had decided to write a great deal more about Mr. Owens and the ridiculousness of his situation. But then I return from the movies and find that he has signed with the Buffalo Bills. First of all, wha? Second of all, I'm glad to get him out of the NFC altogether. Maybe the AFC will better suit his shenanigans. Third of all, I'd like to see what Ryan, Sparano, and Belichick do with him. Fourth of all, wha?
A tangential point... I do not like the Dallas Cowboys. I can't foresee a time when I will like the Dallas Cowboys. I figure if I rooted against them with Parcells at the helm, I'll root against them no matter what. But, with their release of TO, Pacman, Tank, and the Horsecollarer, I can honestly consider respecting them again. Not liking, mind you. Just respecting...
I will stay on the NFL theme for a moment and remember Mr. Marquis Cooper and Mr. Corey Smith. The searches - both official by the Coast Guard and private by the families - have ceased. And thus, we celebrate their lives and hope for their entry into heaven.
Moving on to lighter news. Mr. Charles Barkley checked into jail today to serve his 3-day sentence for DUI. Hopefully, he and others will learn from the mistake. But I don't bring this up because of his DUI. Nor for his basketball prowess. Instead, I would like to share with you a video of Barkley swinging a golf club. My thanks go out to Steve for the introduction to this video:
Another video? Okay, here you go. Mr. Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets makes a risky decision and gets away with it...
Moving on to college football. You have heard of Bobby Bowden, methinks. If not, he's the head football coach for the Florida State Seminoles. At 382 wins, he trails Penn State's Joe Paterno by only 1 and is therefore the second winningest coach in history. The point? Because of an academic cheating scandal at Florida State from fall 2006 through summer 2007, Bowden may lose 14 victories if the NCAA decides to make every team associated with the 61 guilty parties during that time forfeit every one of the winning contests with which they were involved. A travesty.
The question of the week. Why is cheating such a travesty? No, this isn't a difficult one. I have no trick answer for this question. The answer is obvious. Cheating gets you immediate pleasure and extended pain. In this specific instance, cheating might have helped some of these athletes - who think that athletics is the end all, be all - stay eligible to help win a few games. In the case of football - at least - the eligibility of these students directly impacted Florida State's bottom line as well. But, it didn't encourage the students to think or to challenge themselves.
How many of those students are playing sports professionally at this moment? I'd guess not many. Then, where are they? Some are out in the world. And they believe in cheating. Cheating on the creation of some software application that has a major flaw and allows for a hacker to infiltrate the system, thus stealing your SSN and credit card numbers. Cheating on the manufacturing of a carseat that accidentally kills an infant. The old man often told me, 'How you practice is how you play.' If that's how those athletes - and even those that helped them to cheat - play after practicing this behavior in college, then this world's just a little worse off because of them.
Diatribe over. Soap box scooted back beneath the desk...
Trivia of the week: Can you name the team with which Franco Harris ended his career? The year in which he did so? - Seattle Seahawks, 1984
No comments:
Post a Comment