Monday, 8-Jul-2002
Spurious
thoughts and idle musings from the sports week just past ...
Contraction
threats. Steroid accusations. Untimely deaths. Labor storm clouds. Gay
catcher rumors. Six managers axed. Latin players aging overnight. Dugout fights. Fans staying away in droves.
Questionable trades. Bubble gum
and bone chips on eBay. Go ahead,
baseball, take three days off. I think
we can all use the rest.
Will
anyone remember or for that matter will anyone care that some dude named
Lleyton Hewitt won Wimbledon ??? Not
when the Williams sisters are playing the family feud like this they
won't. And with her Saturday Centre
Court win, little sister Serena brickhoused big sister Venus back into
runner-up land and swiped her No. 1 spot in the computer rankings to boot. Might be time for daddy Richard to build a
new trophy room cause his daughters are just getting started on their plateware
collections.
How come
the Tour de France goes through Luxembourg and Germany too ??? Did France run out of bicycle room ???
Methinks
Rafael Palmeiro might rethink his Viagra endorsement one of these days. Especially after the reception he got in
Pittsburgh recently when his Strangers were in town for an interleague
three-gamer against the Pirates. At
first the stadium PA jokers just played the cartoon "Boing!" sound
whenever Raffy came up to bat. But then
they moved on to "Pop Goes The Weasel" and the Woody Woodpecker
song. Not to mention playing a video of
a gushing city fountain on the big screen during his time up. Schwing, batter.
Brazil 2,
Germany 0 ... Just like the NCAA Tournament, the upsets were more fun than
watching the Bungles negotiate with their draft picks ... But in the end the
big boys almost always leave town with the hardware. And so the Samba Kings iced their fifth Jules Rimet trophy thus
ending a giddy month of Far East Soccermania.
For me, I make no secret of the fact that I don't live and die with this
sport. But I'll take the World Cup over
the pre-packaged, ultra-saccharine Olympics every time. Because it's real. Simple as that.
Sammy,
Rick. Rick, Sammy.
If you
don't mind, I'd like to leave the sports world for a second and pay tribute to
a recent loss I felt. As each year goes
by, I can see for miles and miles that the bands I fell in love with during
those long-ago formative years will be my touchstones forever. For me, it's been Bruce, The Clash, U2 and
The Who. I've windmilled my air guitar
with Pete Townshend in "Baba O'Riley", pounded my invisible drum kit
with Keith Moon on "Slip Kid" and primal screamed with Roger Daltrey
in "Won't Get Fooled Again" until my throat hurt. And every time I hear "My
Generation", my fingers fly across my air bass right alongside John Entwistle. Rest in peace, Ox.
From the
official baseball "It Sounded Like A Good Idea At The Time" list ...
After voting for the All-Star Game's starting lineups, fans got to vote again
to pick the 30th player on each team.
The Senior Circuit choices were Brian Giles, Larry Walker, Andruw Jones,
Albert Pujols and Ryan Klesko while AL fans selected from Eric Chavez, Magglio
Ordonez, Jim Thome, Johnny Damon and Darin Erstad. Jones and Damon won and now get to go visit Laverne and Shirley
for three days while the other eight guys can now take comfort knowing they've
been passed over twice. Yeah, that
oughta make them and their incentive clauses feel better.
Do you
think they'll be serving fondue at the Jagwires training camp ??? Yeah, me neither. At least not after K Jaret Holmes and P Chris Hanson had
themselves a little fumble with a hot pot of oil at Hanson's home late last
month. Hanson's wife, Kasey, was also
burned in the mishap but she's all better now.
The two special teamers are both expected to be fully recovered in time
for camp but I suspect the pot's already been put on irrevocable waivers.
Let it
go, Tatum. Just let it go. Your career peaked when you were 10. Leave Johnny Mac alone. You didn't want him so he's ours now.
Nice
hair, Ronaldo. For that matter, the
entire World Cup was one hideous hair day after another. From David Beckham's spiky yellow
"Never Mind The Cowlicks, Here's The Walking Heads" mat to Clint
Mathis's "Chingachcook Meets Mark Messier" mohawk to Ronaldinho's
"Cool Runnings" dreads, we had no shortage of crazy coifs. And 25 years from now when the 2002 FIFA
World Cup Anniversary DVD comes out, their wives will all ask them the same
question ... "Just what the hell were you thinking?"
There
goes the greatest hitter who ever lived.
Rest in peace, Teddy Ballgame.
And so now that Ted Williams has gone to The Great Batter's Box In The
Sky, we need to anoint a new Greatest Living Ballplayer. Take your pick ... Either Hammerin' Hank or
The Say Hey Kid would be worthy kings.
I saw them both play and we can't go wrong either way. Sigh, I saw them both play. Talking bout my g-g-g-generation.
See ya
nexted week ...
Robert E Hunt Jr
Copyright ã 2002 by Robert E Hunt Jr. All rights reserved.