The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly II

The last few weeks have produced some wild and wacky events in our wonderful world of sports. We've seen college football changing it's structure before our very eyes, big league baseball have 2 perfect games and 1 other robbed by a blown call, a new Stanley Cup champion crowned, and FIFA World Cup soccer commencing.

I will render my thoughts on three recent events that has given us reason to give a thumbs up, a thumbs down, and something that may make you go “Hmmm”.

So here we go with The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly II

The Good: Daniel Nava – Boston Red Sox

Nava was called up to the Red Sox for Saturday's game versus the Philadelphia Phillies due to the numerous injuries in the Boston outfield. Prior to the game, the 27 year-old rookie was speaking with long-time Boston radio voice Joe Castiglione. Towards the end of that conversation, Castiglione told Nava to swing at the first pitch he sees because he'll never have another first pitch to swing at.

In the bottom of the 2nd inning with the bases loaded, the left-handed hitting Nava was facing Philadelphia starter Joe Blanton. Blanton throws a pitch that was in any lefty's wheelhouse. Nava, taking the cue from Castiglione, takes a perfect swing and deposits Blanton's delivery into the Boston bullpen for a grand slam homer! As the Fenway faithful erupted, a stunned Joe Castiglione said, “I didn't know he (Nava) was listening!” Truly a great beginning to a major league career.

The Bad: The Apparent Restructuring of Major College Football

It appears that major college football is undergoing earth shattering changes, and I'm not sure it's for the betterment of the game. What we do know is that The Big 12 is now down to 10 teams with Colorado bolting for the PAC 10 and Nebraska heads to the Big Ten for the 2011 season. Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech will stay with the Big 12 for the time being, with the Longhorns being involved in a television deal to prevent them from leaving.

It also seems that there will be four “super conferences” which may lead to the playoff system many are clamoring for. But what about non-BCS schools such as Boise State? Sounds like the courts may be involved and the U.S. Congress will stick it's nose in this thing. Stay tuned for the next year or so as this event I termed as bad may become very, very ugly.

The Ugly: University of Southern California Football

The USC football program has been dominant forever it seems, especially under Pete Carroll's reign. However, under Carroll's control, the program was found to have given improper benefits to star running back and Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush. With that finding by the NCAA, the USC football program will lose 30 scholarships over the next three years,vacate 14 wins in which Bush played from December 2004 through the entire 2005 season, Reggie's Heisman year, a ban from bowl games for two years, and a four year probation. One of those victories to be vacated is the BCS title game on January 4, 2005 when the Trojans beat Oklahoma in which the NCAA will probably strip USC of that National Championship, as I understand it.

The question here is how long after the sanctions will USC be able to rise to the top of college football. I believe we are looking at a time frame of five to seven years before the Trojans will be vying for a major bowl bid. I'll bet current head coach Lane Kiffin isn't sleeping very well.

Those are my thoughts...yours are?

Dick

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The Greatest “Play” in Baseball History

The world of Major League Baseball has produced some of sports greatest plays. Willie Mays' over the shoulder basket catch off of a Vic Wertz long drive in the 1954 World Series is considered by many to be the creme-de-la-creme of great plays. Bill Mazeroski's game winning home run versus the New York Yankees in game 7 of the 1960 World Series is another prime example of MLB's masterpiece memories and Don Larsen's perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 Fall Classic is one for baseball history.

But there was one play that those of us old enough to remember have probably forgotten. I was reminded of this “play” in an email I received from my brother Ron this morning. Here is a short version of this as recorded in Wikipedia.

It was April 25th, 1976 when the Chicago Cubs were on the road in Los Angeles to play the Dodgers. With the Dodgers at the plate, two protesters, William Thomas and his 11-year-old son, ran out on the field with a United States of America flag with them with the intent of burning it. Rick Monday, the Cubs center fielder, sees the two protesters place the flag on the ground dousing the Red, White, and Blue with lighter fluid and getting matches ready. Without hesitation, Monday makes a mad dash to retrieve the flag and hands it over to Los Angeles pitcher Doug Rau while ballpark police apprehend the protesters.

Monday came to bat the following half-inning to a thunderous ovation with the message board flashing “RICK MONDAY... YOU MADE A GREAT PLAY..." Years later, Monday said in an interview "If you're going to burn the flag, don't do it around me. I've been to too many veterans' hospitals and seen too many broken bodies of guys who tried to protect it."



In honor of the flag rescue, which Monday still possesses, he was presented with an American flag flown over Valley Forge National Historical Park on August 25, 2008.

If this isn't the greatest play in the history of Major League Baseball or in sports for that matter, then you are not an American citizen or flat out don't care.

Thank you Rick Monday for making the greatest “play” in MLB history.

Dick

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Two Perfect Games In 2010 --- By A Relative Unknown and an Established Veteran

The month of May has truly been terrific for two major league pitchers of very different histories. One, Dallas Braden of the Oakland A's, has been up and down from the majors in relative obscurity for the past 4 seasons, while Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies has been an established All-Star for many of his 13 year career.

Yet 20 days apart, each hurler was spotless for one game...a perfect game. Twenty-seven batter to the plate, zero batters reaching base --- truly the art of perfection.

Also, these are two of the most different styles of pitchers in the game. Braden, who's claim to fame was criticizing Alex Rodriguez for running over the mound while he was pitching, has one of the slowest fastballs in baseball topping out at around 87 mph. To offset the lack of velocity, Dallas throws a changeup at about 72 mph to keep hitters of balance. Halladay, on the other hand, throws a varied arsenal of pitches that include a heater in the low 90's mph range, a back straightening curveball, an above average changeup, a cut fastball, and a marvelous sinker. Truly a master at his craft.

Even the perfect games were a bit different. Dallas' perfect gem came against the Tampa Bay Rays, baseball's best at the time and a great hitting team. Braden had a mere 6 strikeouts but kept the Rays off balance the entire game with his changeup. 'Doc' used his array of pitches against a free swinging Florida Marlins squad to whiff 11 batters.

The final difference I will note is that this was Braden's first brush with either a no-hitter or perfect game while Halladay nearly threw a no-hitter in his second big league start as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. In that game, Roy went 8 2/3 hitless innings against the Detroit Tigers on Sept. 27, 1998 before Bobby Higginson hit a pinch-hit home run.

Two pitchers, two different styles, one result...a perfect game, done only twenty times in major league history. That is what memories are made of.

Thank you Dallas and Roy.

Dick

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Ubaldo Jimenez – Rocky Mountain Ace

The Colorado Rockies have had a slow start to the 2010 season. Hovering around .500, The team has actually done quite well considering they have no closer to speak of and hitting that hasn't been Rockie like. But one thing is certain --- Colorado has perhaps the best young starting pitcher in the game, who is still honing his craft.

I speak of 26 year old Ubaldo Jimenez.

The Dominican born and bred right-hander has had an unbelievable start to the current campaign. At 8 wins to 1 loss and a ridiculously minuscule 0.99 ERA, Jimenez already has a no-hitter to his credit versus Atlanta on April 17th. Thanks to a near 100-mph fastball, a 90-mph split finger pitch, and a knee buckling curve, Ubaldo has only allowed 36 hits and 23 walks in 63.1 innings. While his walk rate is a little high (3.4 per 9 innings), that has improved from his rookie season of 2008 (4.7 per 9 innings) and strikeout rate has remained at a tad over 8 over 9 innings. On top of that, hitters are hitting a measly .184 against him.

To put into perspective of how Jimenez has made himself a dominating big league pitcher, he has gone at least 6 innings per start in 37 of his last 38 games and since since August 1st of last season, sports a 16-4 record with an ERA of just over 2.00 --- truly remarkable in today's game.

With the season at the quarter pole, Jimenez has put himself in the company of Philadelphia ace Roy Halladay and San Francisco treat Tim Lincecum as an early favorite in the National League Cy Young race. With his current start to the year, Ubaldo has put himself in rare company as being one of only three pitchers in the modern era to have won eight of their first nine starts and post a sub-1.00 ERA.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, The others were Juan Marichal with the San Francisco Giants in 1966 (8-0, 0.69) and Fernando Valenzuela with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981 (8-1, 0.91).

Barring injury, Ubaldo Jimenez should dominate hitters for many years to come.

Dick

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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

As we all know, athletes have a way of bringing out different emotions in other athletes, management, and fans alike. Many make us cheer, some make us groan, and there are those that make us disgusted. Often times, we the fans feel these three emotions faster than we can blink our eyes.

This post will focus on three players who in their performances form the basis of what has gone down recently in the world of sports. Here, I will present The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of athletes in recent days.

The Good: Simon Gagne – Philadelphia Flyers

Gagne has been gold for the Flyers as they march towards the Eastern Conference Championship of the NHL playoffs. Since his return from a broken right big toe in Game 4 versus the Boston Bruins, Simon has potted 6 goals in 6 games. His first was the overtime game winner in that Game 4 which the Flyers could have been eliminated. Then Gagne scored the series winning goal on the power play as the Flyers pulled off the improbable beating the Bruins in Game 7. He has since scored in the first 2 games of the conference finals against Montreal, with Philly winning both. No doubt that Simon has been the catalyst in the Flyers attack.

The Bad: Mariano Rivera – New York Yankees

Mariano Rivera ... bad? In a rare show of vulnerability, Rivera's last 2 appearances have been just that. On Sunday versus the Minnesota Twins, Rivera was charged with a rare blown save as he gave up a walk an surrendered a grand slam to Jason Kubel in a stunning 6-3 loss. Then two nights later Mariano gave up 2 runs, although unearned, and 2 hits in another stunning loss, 7-6 to arch rival Boston Red Sox in which he was tagged with the loss. Although I clearly believe that these are just blips on the radar screen, it's just so unlike the future Hall of Fame closer, perhaps the greatest of all time, to have consecutive subpar performances.

The Ugly: Hanley Ramirez – Florida Marlins

Clearly the Marlins best player, Ramirez was benched by manager Fredi Gonzalez after the 2nd inning when he committed a costly error and then failed to run hard after he kicked the ball nearly 100 feet allowing 2 runs to score. Then on Tuesday, Hanley ripped his manager by saying "It's his team. He can do whatever," … "There's nothing I can do about it." (There were expletives included.)

Ramirez also said about Gonzalez, "That's OK. He doesn't understand that. He never played in the big leagues," while talking to reporters on why he thought he was treated unfairly.

Okay, this superstar is clearly a knucklehead by flapping his yap in such a manner. And it appears that Florida players are squarely behind manager Gonzalez. I suggest that Hanley either shape up or he may be dealt with harshly and I hope his teammates ride his butt hard.

Those are my thoughts...what are yours?

Dick

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More Rants, Raves, and Opinions

I had brain lock trying to come up with a subject for this particular post. I have been paying attention to many noteworthy events in our wonderful world of sports. While not one event overly consumed me (not even Tiger Woods) but many captured that short attention span of mine.

Therefore, I am just going to serve a second helping of Rants, Raves, and Opinions. Here we go!

I'm sure we have all noticed Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James seemed disinterested in an embarrassing Game 5 loss to the Boston Celtics at home Tuesday night. He shot a dismal 3 for 14 from the field and had no life whatsoever. A bad game? More than likely so, however if the Cavs want to continue playing ball, James must come up huge in Boston or the Cavs season ends. I think LeBron will play well, but Boston will find a way to bounce Cleveland from championship contention.

Quick, name the New York Yankees best starting pitcher for the first 6 weeks this season. If you said Phil Hughes, treat yourself to a hot fudge sundae. In his 6 starts, Hughes sports a spiffy 5-0 mark with a minuscule 1.38 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 39 innings pitched while allowing only 22 hits and much improved control. I watched a portion of his last 2 starts versus Boston and Detroit and saw that plus fastball everyone knew he had along with a much better idea of how to pitch. Maybe the question I should have proposed was name the best pitcher in the American League after the first 6 weeks this season.

How about those Montreal Canadiens?(!) The #8 seed in the Eastern Conference of the NHL playoffs have pulled off highly improbable feats by defeating Presidents' Trophy winners Washington Capitals and the defending Stanley Cup champions Pittsburgh Penguins each in 7 games series. How have the Canadiens done this? First, the play of opportunistic forwards Michael Cammarelli and Brian Gionta have been nothing short of spectacular. The unheralded Cammarelli has 12 goals in the playoffs while Gionta has 7 and both have given maximum effort every shift. Second and more importantly, net minder Jaroslav Halak has been far and away the premier goalie in the playoffs.

Finally, staying in the NHL, can the Philadelphia Flyers complete the stunning comeback against the Boston Bruins? Boston thoroughly outplayed Philly winning the first 3 games. But somehow, the Flyers have willed 3 victories in succession to force Game 7 in Boston. The Flyers have simply out hustled the Bruins to even the series and appear to have the upper hand. Coincidentally, the return of Philadelphia forward Simon Gagne and the loss of Boston center David Krejci has turned the tide as well. All bets are off in this one!

I hope you enjoyed this segment. What are your thoughts?

Dick

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Mother's Day 1970 --- A Very Special Day in Sports

With Mother's Day upon us, we should give thanks to our moms for allowing us to be who we are … men, women, and children who love sports. But do we remember any sporting events that were so historic that it has been and will be passed on for generations to come?

There was such an event on Mother's Day, May 10th, 1970 when the Boston Bruins completed a 4-game sweep of the St. Louis Blues to capture the Stanley Cup for the 1st time since 1941 --- a 29 year drought.

One may ask,”Why is this event special”? The answer is that the game winning goal came from arguably the greatest player in the rich history of the National Hockey League (apologies to Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and their supporters) and made the legend that is one Robert Gordon Orr.

My memory of this particular game is actually vague as a mere 10 year old, exactly a week shy of my 11th birthday. But what I do remember was I was home in front of the television watching intently as I sensed the crowd of old Boston Garden was anxious for a winner. The Blues had played their best game of the series that Sunday afternoon, desperate for a win after being hammered by “The Big Bad Bruins” the 1st three games.

Next thing I knew, the overtime period had started, then ended quickly and suddenly. To be honest, I only remember the great Bobby Orr being pitchforked into the air by St. Louis defenseman Noel Picard. As Orr was airborne, parallel to the ice, he raised his arms above his head as if he was flying like Superman. Then again, Bobby WAS Superman. An amazing moment for an almost 11 year old to witness.



To commemorate the 40th anniversary of that event, a statue of Orr will be unveiled at the TD Garden on Monday May 10th. And yes, the statue is of Bobby flying through the air after the Cup winning goal. It's also fitting the the Bruins will be playing the Philadelphia Flyers that evening as they try to move on to the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Dick

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