Monday, July 16, 2007

While I Was Gone


I did not get much sports news while I was away so I spent a fair amount of time today catching up on things. Work is a bit slow at the moment so I was able to get away with it. There were a few things that happened that caught my eye.

1. Home Run Derby - Vlad won the Derby, which made me very happy. It appears there weren't very many home runs hit. In particular, no one had a fair ball land in McCovey Cove. For whatever reason this gave people reason to marvel at the greatness of Barry Bonds. Personally, I saw it more as a reason to marvel at the greatness of BALCO.

2. All-Star Game - How in the hell does Albert Pujols have as many ABs at this year's All-Star Game as (insert name of your favorite 6-year old cousin)? If Tony LaRussa thinks managing to lose the game is going to keep the Dodgers from winning the World Series he is gravely mistaken.

3. Greg Oden - Check out this YouTube clip and explain to me why the NBA is using 8 ft. hoops for summer league. Everyone wants to look at the fact that Oden had 19 fouls in 2 games and say he was terrible. I contend that number is more of an indictment on the high school refs they had at the games. Oden will dominate. The Blazers will win championships.

4. Tour de France - This thing started and nobody cares. I remember a few years ago it was a big deal for me to wake up at 6:00 am to catch the end of each stage to see where Lance was. Now that he has retired and everyone else has been busted for drugs people are more excited about eating contests and I wake up later. Only the NHL has any idea what the Tour is feeling these days.

5. David Beckham - The Beckhams arrived in LA and it was a big deal. I'll give the guy credit and admit he probably is good-looking but I'm not sure that is going to make Americans watch football. My unhealthy sports addiction is well-documented but I am certainly not going to watch MLS games because he is playing. I vow to only care about the World Cup and no male model is going to change that.

6. Yankees Still Suck - It is mid-July and people still haven't figured this out. The Yankees play some horrendous teams with one-fourth their payroll and folks think they are new and improved. That simply is not the case. They still have the most overrated player at nearly every position, embarrassingly poor pitching and a racist manager (so says Gary Sheffield and Kenny Lofton). That trifecta tells me they may finish above .500 but miles away from a playoff berth.

(Photo from Kimberly White/Reuters.)

2 comments:

Micah said...

Yes, Bonds probably did juice. However, it is still amazing to watch him do what he has done these last couple years in a pitchers park under all the steroids scrutiny. He has obviously been clean during this period.

J Smith said...

He was busted last year for using amphetamines. If you believe he is still clean I have some oceanfront property in Arizona I want to sell to you.