With November staring us in the face, I thought it a good time to point out that this time of year is one of the best for sports fans.
Baseball just wrapped up with the Red Sox sweeping the Rockies Sunday night. Boston was just so impressive on so many levels. Pitching, clutch hitting, good defense. The Red Sox are the trendy pick to repeat next year even though they will probably lose Curt Schilling and Mike Lowell to free agency. Don't be surprised to see Lowell joining former Sox (and Royal) Johnny Damon on the Yankees next season since A-Rod decided to opt out of his contract.
Speaking of A-Rod, nice job by his agent, Scott Boras, of announcing that Rodriguez was opting out of his contract during the final game of the series. Nothing says class like trying to upstage baseball's grandest event by calling a Fox sports columnist and giving him the go-ahead to tell the world that your meal ticket decided he has had enough playing in New York.
The best part of the story came out Monday, when Boras was quoted as saying that A-Rod chose to opt-out because he was unsure if "his" catcher (Jorge Posada), "his" best reliever (Mariana Rivera), and "his" front line pitcher (Andy Pettitte) would re-sign with the Yanks. EXCUSE ME?!?!?!... When did he take part ownership in the team?? And where was George Steinbrenner when all this went down? The more I read about A-Rod, the more I realize that he is always going to be a stat-stuffer during the regular season, but an under-achiever when it comes to postseason pressure, and it all revolves around the money and the huge contract that he will most likely get from some idiot owner looking to put butts in the seats. A-Rod is everything that is wrong with the game today, with the exception of the steroid and HGH problems.
College football has been thrilling this year with parity shifting the axis of power in the game. It's nice to have KU and K-State showing signs of success this season after some lean years. Both schools are solid defensively and if the coaching staffs stay consistent at both, maybe the Big XII North will reverse the fortunes or misfortunes of the past few years in it's struggle to be competitive with the south teams.
Would sure love to see the Jayhawks undefeated going into the final weekend against Mizzou, but they have some tough games ahead before that clash. This weekend at home against Nebraska will be a test, even though the Huskers are in a free-fall over the past month. Like a wounded dog, I wouldn't want to take Nebraska lightly at this point. The following week is a road game against Oklahoma State that won't be a cake-walk either. Iowa State, at home, on the 17th should be a nice tune-up for the Missouri game, which hopefully will decide who gets to play Oklahoma for the Big XII championship.
College hoops begins tomorrow night with KU hosting Pitt State in an exhibition game at Allen Fieldhouse. KU is going on the 20th anniversary of the last National Championship. This could be the year if everything falls in place as the Hawks are preseason top five.
I would encourage high school football fans to head over to South Haven this Saturday if you want to see football the way it's suppose to be played. It's 8-man, it's fast-paced and exciting, and in a lot of ways, it's a step back in time. It almost has a "Hoosiers" feel to it. Hard to explain unless you've experienced it. The Cardinals are 10-0 and ranked #2 in the Wichita Eagle football poll.
Like the South Haven girls basketball team that won the State title last spring, this Cardinal football team has a special feel about it. Coaches Hughes and Gressel have the kids focused and if they can get through this regional round, who knows what might be in store for that little village 19 miles to the west.
Good Luck Cardinals!!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Sports Heaven---Beantown
Two games into the World Series and everything is coming up (red) roses for the Red Sox. First, there was the dismantling 13-1 blowout in game one in which the Sox reduced the Rockies to pebbles. Then last night, Colorado was ground into sand as Boston slipped past the Rocks 2-1 behind stellar pitching by Curt Schilling, Hideki Okajima, and Riverdance king, Jonathan Papelbon.
That's not to take away from the gem that Boston ace Josh Beckett threw in game one. Beckett was dominating from the start with a consistent 95-97 mph fastball and a sick breaking ball that had the Rockies shaking their heads all evening.
With the scene shifting to Denver for the weekend, you really get the feeling that Boston could close this series out in four straight, but it remains to be seen. Maybe Colorado will be able to break through against Dice-K in game three.
There has to be a euphoric feeling in New England these days with the Red Sox gunning for their second championship in four years, not to mention the Patriots putting together their own little dynasty over the past several seasons and undefeated so far this year in a very weak AFC East.
And then you have the Boston College Eagles, ranked #2 in the college football BCS polls and cementing that position with a 14-10 win at #8 Virginia Tech last night.
Not to be outdone, the Celtics made some moves over the summer to bring themselves back into post season consideration. The C's traded for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to compliment their star forward and former KU alum Paul Pierce. Most experts pick Boston to at least make the conference finals with a chance to go to the NBA finals next June.
They say nothing beats the fall foliage in New England and, at least these days, nobody is beating the Boston sports scene either.
That's not to take away from the gem that Boston ace Josh Beckett threw in game one. Beckett was dominating from the start with a consistent 95-97 mph fastball and a sick breaking ball that had the Rockies shaking their heads all evening.
With the scene shifting to Denver for the weekend, you really get the feeling that Boston could close this series out in four straight, but it remains to be seen. Maybe Colorado will be able to break through against Dice-K in game three.
There has to be a euphoric feeling in New England these days with the Red Sox gunning for their second championship in four years, not to mention the Patriots putting together their own little dynasty over the past several seasons and undefeated so far this year in a very weak AFC East.
And then you have the Boston College Eagles, ranked #2 in the college football BCS polls and cementing that position with a 14-10 win at #8 Virginia Tech last night.
Not to be outdone, the Celtics made some moves over the summer to bring themselves back into post season consideration. The C's traded for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to compliment their star forward and former KU alum Paul Pierce. Most experts pick Boston to at least make the conference finals with a chance to go to the NBA finals next June.
They say nothing beats the fall foliage in New England and, at least these days, nobody is beating the Boston sports scene either.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Sports-A-Plenty
WOW!!
You gotta love it anytime there is a game 7. Regardless of the sport, game sevens are the pinnacle of excitement. Win and move on. Lose and go home. Everything you did previous is out the window and it all culminates with this one game.
As a baseball fan, I was super-glued to the ALCS the entire way. I had a feeling that Boston would come back from the 3-1 deficit against Cleveland. There was something, a feeling if you will, that you can't really describe, but you just knew that the Red Sox were on the verge of doing something special in this series. Maybe it's the swagger and confidence the Red Sox players seem to have. Maybe the fact that they came back from a 3-0 against the Yankees in 2004, they knew what it would take to rally back.
On to the World Series.
Both teams are riding serious waves of confidence. Colorado, winners of 20 of their last 21 and 7-0 in the playoffs thus far, have been referred to as "Destiny's Darlings" and are a formidable opponent for the Red Sox.
I hope this series is as exciting as the ALCS and predict that it will also go seven games with ??? being crowned World Champions.
Just a brief comment about college football. KU sporting the sparkling 7-0 record and getting a sniff of the BCS rankings has been pretty exciting. I will hold to my comments earlier in the year about the Jayhawks loading their schedule with cremepuffs, but they have been impressive so far in Big XII play, especially against K-State and Colorado. Texas A & M looms as the biggest test so far for KU this Saturday and then it only gets tougher with Nebraska (I know, the Huskers are down) OSU, who slipped past the Wildcats, Iowa State, who gave the Sooners all they wanted, and Missouri, who have been extremely impressive this year.
Hope it all comes down to KU vs Mizzou in KC for the right to play OU in the Big XII championship with a BCS bowl on the line.
Closer to home, the South Haven Cardinals are still undefeated (8-0) and ranked #2 in Class 8-man II with Argonia next on the schedule this Thursday night at South Haven. David Hughes has assembled yet another special team this season on the heels of South Haven's girls basketball champions of last year. Coach Hughes is a great motivator and gets the best out of every one of the kids on his roster. The Argonia game will decide the SCBL champion and determine pairings for the Bi-Districts coming up next week. Good luck Cardinals and coaches Hughes and Gressel and staff.
You gotta love it anytime there is a game 7. Regardless of the sport, game sevens are the pinnacle of excitement. Win and move on. Lose and go home. Everything you did previous is out the window and it all culminates with this one game.
As a baseball fan, I was super-glued to the ALCS the entire way. I had a feeling that Boston would come back from the 3-1 deficit against Cleveland. There was something, a feeling if you will, that you can't really describe, but you just knew that the Red Sox were on the verge of doing something special in this series. Maybe it's the swagger and confidence the Red Sox players seem to have. Maybe the fact that they came back from a 3-0 against the Yankees in 2004, they knew what it would take to rally back.
On to the World Series.
Both teams are riding serious waves of confidence. Colorado, winners of 20 of their last 21 and 7-0 in the playoffs thus far, have been referred to as "Destiny's Darlings" and are a formidable opponent for the Red Sox.
I hope this series is as exciting as the ALCS and predict that it will also go seven games with ??? being crowned World Champions.
Just a brief comment about college football. KU sporting the sparkling 7-0 record and getting a sniff of the BCS rankings has been pretty exciting. I will hold to my comments earlier in the year about the Jayhawks loading their schedule with cremepuffs, but they have been impressive so far in Big XII play, especially against K-State and Colorado. Texas A & M looms as the biggest test so far for KU this Saturday and then it only gets tougher with Nebraska (I know, the Huskers are down) OSU, who slipped past the Wildcats, Iowa State, who gave the Sooners all they wanted, and Missouri, who have been extremely impressive this year.
Hope it all comes down to KU vs Mizzou in KC for the right to play OU in the Big XII championship with a BCS bowl on the line.
Closer to home, the South Haven Cardinals are still undefeated (8-0) and ranked #2 in Class 8-man II with Argonia next on the schedule this Thursday night at South Haven. David Hughes has assembled yet another special team this season on the heels of South Haven's girls basketball champions of last year. Coach Hughes is a great motivator and gets the best out of every one of the kids on his roster. The Argonia game will decide the SCBL champion and determine pairings for the Bi-Districts coming up next week. Good luck Cardinals and coaches Hughes and Gressel and staff.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Ignorance was Bliss
I love technology and the fact that a person can retrieve information immediately via the internet.
Remember when you had to wait for the Traveler to show up late in the afternoon to see who won the baseball game the night before? Televised games were only available on Saturday afternoons on NBC with Curt Gowdy and Tony Kubek making the call.
I remember tuning my transistor radio at night and magically finding KMOX in St Louis if the sky was clear, listening to the Cardinals play as I drifted off to sleep. (Of course my 9-volt was dead the next morning)
I love technology but in a way I really miss the old days. I think there was a deeper appreciation and anticipation for information 30 years ago.
Now we are so spoiled in that we can fetch game scores as they happen via the internet. We have possible access to EVERY game, regardless of sport, via cable television. All of that technology is great and promises to get even better in the next few years.
One thing we didn't have back in the old days (if 30-35 years ago are the "old days") is the constant barrage of negative information in sports. All you have to do is pull up ESPN.com and almost every headline along the right hand of the page is some sort of negative news regarding an athlete, coach, or team.
I guess if I don't want to hear or read about all this negativity, I should avoid ESPN and their website, but I appreciate all the other features they offer. I suppose in our thirst for information we deserve what we get. I can't believe that athletes have worse character issues than they have had throughout the generations, it is just that they are under more of a microscope these days with cameras anywhere and everywhere.
It's hard not to lump all professional and collegiate athletes together when we read about the ridiculous things a few of them do. I am sure it's a very minute percentage, which would be easier to accept if the media would report on all the good things professional and collegiate athletes do as well and as prominently.
A little closer to home and not really sports related, I have been very interested in the groundswell regarding this "Beer Garden" subject lately. Personally, I am not against drinking beer and I hope that everyone that attends Arkalalah behaves maturely so as not to ruin it for anyone else. I will make my decision to have a cold one based on how cold or warm it is on Arkalalah Saturday. As we all know, hot chocolate might be the more popular beverage that day!!
I certainly welcome any and all comments you might have.
Remember when you had to wait for the Traveler to show up late in the afternoon to see who won the baseball game the night before? Televised games were only available on Saturday afternoons on NBC with Curt Gowdy and Tony Kubek making the call.
I remember tuning my transistor radio at night and magically finding KMOX in St Louis if the sky was clear, listening to the Cardinals play as I drifted off to sleep. (Of course my 9-volt was dead the next morning)
I love technology but in a way I really miss the old days. I think there was a deeper appreciation and anticipation for information 30 years ago.
Now we are so spoiled in that we can fetch game scores as they happen via the internet. We have possible access to EVERY game, regardless of sport, via cable television. All of that technology is great and promises to get even better in the next few years.
One thing we didn't have back in the old days (if 30-35 years ago are the "old days") is the constant barrage of negative information in sports. All you have to do is pull up ESPN.com and almost every headline along the right hand of the page is some sort of negative news regarding an athlete, coach, or team.
I guess if I don't want to hear or read about all this negativity, I should avoid ESPN and their website, but I appreciate all the other features they offer. I suppose in our thirst for information we deserve what we get. I can't believe that athletes have worse character issues than they have had throughout the generations, it is just that they are under more of a microscope these days with cameras anywhere and everywhere.
It's hard not to lump all professional and collegiate athletes together when we read about the ridiculous things a few of them do. I am sure it's a very minute percentage, which would be easier to accept if the media would report on all the good things professional and collegiate athletes do as well and as prominently.
A little closer to home and not really sports related, I have been very interested in the groundswell regarding this "Beer Garden" subject lately. Personally, I am not against drinking beer and I hope that everyone that attends Arkalalah behaves maturely so as not to ruin it for anyone else. I will make my decision to have a cold one based on how cold or warm it is on Arkalalah Saturday. As we all know, hot chocolate might be the more popular beverage that day!!
I certainly welcome any and all comments you might have.
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