Sporting Rants and Raves: April 4, 2009

Happy 26th birthday to Mr. Benjamin Gordon, a shooting and point guard for the Chicago Bulls. Formerly of the University of Connecticut Huskies, he was an integral part of their 2004 NCAA National Championship team. On December 27th of last year, he surpassed Scotty Pippen as the Chicago Bulls’ leader in made three pointers.

Speaking of the University of Connecticut, their run at the 2009 national title has ended. Kalin Lucas and Raymar Morgan of the Michigan State Spartoons lead a second half charge that sunk the Dyson-less Huskies. We shall now see if this marked Calhoun’s last stand.

Tangentially, I must ask anyone out there if they’ve ever heard the names Kalin and Raymar used. What first came to mind was C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia only because I could imagine the character Prince Kalin of the land of Raymar.

Next up, we have the Villanova Wildcats up against the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. The Tar Heels took it to ‘em as I feared they would. And thus the Big East has faltered in one fell swoop. Does anyone think that Michigan State has a chance? Perhaps not the way UNC has been playing. But they do have home court.

Other sports? Ah yes, there are other happenings in the sporting world. And they are…

Welcome to the Windy City Mr. Jay Christopher Cutler. After much ado about something, the Denver ‘Great, We Got Kyle Orton’ Broncos parted ways with their Pro-Bowl quarterback. Will this make da Bears a prime time contender? Perhaps. And what of the Orange Crush. Time for the return of him who made ‘The Drive’ a reality?

In other NFL news, the New York Football Giants finally offloaded the troubled Plaxico Burress. I sincerely hope that he can straighten himself out. In the meantime, anyone have a premiere down-field threat lying around?

New York has now debuted its updated baseball venues.

CITI Field hearkens back to the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Ebbets Field in its look and feel. Although we are doomed to see everything in our midst reduced to a corporate logo, the edifice itself is a keen reminder of old New York national league baseball.

Trivia of the Week: There was another National League team in New York as well; name the team. Finally, there was a famous game between these two New York national league franchises in 1951 – and for those who love baseball, that’s all I need to say. In that game, a player hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the 9th to propel his team to victory. Name the man and the ‘hit’ for which he is known.

Did I say we’re doomed to see everything reduced to a corporate logo? I suppose there are exceptions, among them Yankee Stadium. Don’t get me wrong; I still think it’s a travesty that the original – or updated, as it were – Yankee Stadium is becoming a parking lot. But, for a new stadium, I don’t think they did half bad.

For a look at both, I give you a link to the New York Times. Click on the Multimedia Interactive Graphic on the left.

The NBA and NHL are rounding out their respective playoff contenders. Let’s see how the cities fare. The NBA will thus far send Boston, Cleveland, Orlando, Atlanta, Miami, San Antonio, Houston, Denver, and Los Angeles. The NHL will thus far send New Jersey, Boston, Washington, Carolina, Detroit, Chicago, Vancouver, Calgary, and San Jose. This proves one thing, and one thing only. Boston has bartered its soul to the devil for winning franchises. Where’s Daniel Webster when you need him?

The Steve Sarkisian era has begun in the Seattle area. Dawgs fans have something to bark happily about it by the looks of it. Well, the Huskies have nowhere to go but up.

Speaking of Huskies yet again, there still exists a team in Connecticut that can win the national championship. And not just a title, but perhaps a perfect season. Good luck to them as they take on Stanford next. And congratulations to player of the year Ms. Maya Moore and coach of the year Mr. Geno Auriemma. Both well deserved.

I can’t say that I root for Tiger Woods any more than I rooted for the likes of Michael Jordan. But when Tiger steps out on Augusta National, I’ll hold my breath to see if he is, in fact, back.

I’ll never ‘get’ boxing. I love watching movies about it. But in real life, it just doesn’t makes sense to me.

The Seattle Sounders sit at 3-0 and have allowed no goals against them as of their 2-0 win over Toronto earlier today. I can’t claim to be a soccer – sorry, futbol – fan, but I’m curious. Perhaps I’ll attend a game or two to see about the hype.

Instead of a question about questionable decisions and the like this year, I would like to recognize and applaud an NFL player. Though there exist the Plaxicos and Dontes of football, there also exists a class act like Brian Dawkins. When Dawkins was traded to the Denver Broncos earlier this year, there was an urban outcry from Philly. And Philly’s not a place that generally loves a player. One man – who happened to work the Philly home games each year – made a rather public denouncement of the Eagles. Nothing in bad taste, mind you, but public nonetheless. He was subsequently fired. Now, Dawkins has given to the man the two tickets Dawkins was allotted for their 2009 contest. I suppose I do have a question after all: What were the Eagles thinking?

Trivia of the Week: There was another National League team in New York as well; name the team. Finally, there was a famous game between these two New York national league franchises in 1951 – and for those who love baseball, that’s all I need to say. In that game, a player hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the 9th to propel his team to victory. Name the man and the ‘hit’ for which he is known.

Bobby Thompson. The Shot Heard Round the World.