Monday, August 28, 2006

Shimmy Shimmy Ya!

Since I've had a really busy week....I haven't been able to properly keep up with all the haps in the sports world.  So this will hopefully rectify it...

49 DIE IN KENTUCKY PLANE CRASH:  A plane crashed just after taking off in Lexington, KY on Sunday morning.  It happened about an hour away from where I sit now.  Only one person has survived, a co-pilot, and he is still in critical condition.  Speculation is that the plane used the wrong runway.....one that was too short.  Of the 49 dead is Jon Hooker....a former pitcher for the Kentucky Wildcats [a teammate of D-backs' pitcher Brandon Webb] who had a stint in the minor leagues.  He was married on Saturday night and was on his way to his honeymoon this morning.  He was 27. 

PANTHERS STEROID TROUBLE:  Go to AOL SPORTS: PANTHERS to check out the story written by David Warner on the recent breaking story on the Carolina Panthers and the steroid scandal.  It really begs the question.....is baseball set to a higher standard??  I mean, if something like this broke in the MLB....it would be a firestorm.  Imagine if the 2004 St Louis Cardinals had a ton of guys taking roids that year....and that it was a well known thing.  All hell would break loose.  But, in the NFL...it is a mildly buzz worthy story. 

TIGER WOODS WINS AGAIN:  Let's see.  Tiger wins his 52nd event.  He won his fourth straight event he's entered....and on the 10th anniversary of him turning pro.  In the 13 events he's entered this year....he has won 6 of them.  Yikes!

REDS FALLING:  When the weekend began, the Reds and Cardinals were tied atop the NL Central.  Then the Reds got ripped in three straight with the Giants....while the Cardinals won three straight over the Cubs.  Now Cincy's lead in the wildcard is just 1/2 a game over the Padres....who the Reds will visit next weekend. 

OWENS SAGA:  Now the Cowboys have fined T.O. $9,500 for being, well, T.O.  Couldn't happen to a better franchise!

TEAM USA:  Our hoops team dismantled Australia to advance to the World Championships quarterfinal round.  Now, we get Dirk Nowitki and the German team.  Most likely the Americans should cruise to the gold medal game where they get to face off against either Argentina or Spain....the two teams that could topple them. 

HEISMAN WATCH:  Um, why is there one??  Oh, because the Heisman is the most ridiculously overhyped award in sports.  I mean, does the NBA put out a list of MVP candidates before the season starts??  How about the NFL or MLB???  And it is a bullcrap voting system anyways that bases everything on exposure.  That's why they should just ship the award to Brady Quinn since you know every Notre Dame game will be on national TV.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that Greece will give the USA a good game if they can get past France like they're expected to. They're 12 deep and play very good full court D, but with USA's size they should still win. Greece is 12 deep with solid role players, USA is 12 deep with NBA all stars.

Anonymous said...

Not necessarily baseball itself, but the records are held to a higher standard.  We are so fascinated with the Home Run record in baseball that anyone approching it must have been cheating, or if there is a hint of it it becomes an emergency Congressional Hearing.

When it is faceless, nameless offensive lineman then we tend to turn our head.  

As most casual sports fans who holds the single season home run record and they'll probably know.  Ask the same person who holds the NFL single season rushing mark, and the number of right answers drops significantly....

The NFL has done a "good" job growing teh game while keeping most of it's players nameless and faceless.

Anonymous said...

The NFL has had a steroid program in place for years designed to catch the cheaters. While it is unclear how effective this has been, it is portrayed as a good faith effort, opposed to baseball, which has turned a blind eye to steroid use, acting like it has not been a problem. Even this current system that baseball has is severely flawed since it doesn't even test for HGH, but that does not seem to matter to Bud Selig, Don Fehr and company. Baseball only acts when pressured by Congress or when the winds of public opinion are fierce. Selig doesn't act in the best interests of the game, only by what he thinks the fans want. The NFL has instituted measures to try and stop steroid use on some level on its own. That's why football gets more of a pass Imo.