All Apologies

I am writing this with the thought that I wanted to write more this month. My Mom has been in the hospital, so I ask the readers out there (who probably isn't anyone) to forgive me for not writing.

I'm writing this as the Patriots and the Giants take on a game of epic proportions. Seriously, do you think that the Patriots might be a little tight and a little nervous? They are currently down by 4 with the Giants offense taking the field.

I cannot believe the orgy of football on the television this evening. Why would the NFL network cave? Oh yeah, the threat of anti-trust lawsuits! Personally, I didn't hear that whining when the Colts played on a Thursday night! I seriously believe if the Colts were unbeaten two years ago, or last year, no one would have cared if the NFL network was bringing the game.

But the East Coast and it's power over the US, with the threat of anti-trust, everyone gets to see this game. And now, the rest of us are complaining. I'm not, I don't mind seeing the game. I just don't believe the ridiculousness of the whole thing. I should be watching Joe Paterno's Penn State squad take on Texas A & M. Strangely enough, I'm for JoPa's team.

Thankfully, there's some basketball on. And at this moment, the Flyers are up 45 to 33. I'm actively rooting for Dayton, as Pitt is in the Big East. Go Dayton! Go Giants! Go Penn State! And now, I rest my fingers and watch more football and basketball.

BCS Mess Part II

Okay, Ohio State made it in. Just like I thought. And now, I can only hope that they get kicked right out of New Orleans, on their ear, much like last year when they lost to the previously underrated Florida. This year, LSU has had it's moments in the sun and lost two very close games. At least both the teams that they lost to will also be in bowls, Arkansas in the Cotton, Kentucky in the Music City. And Illinois gets recognition for beating Ohio State by being in the Rose Bowl.

Missouri, do you remember them, they are playing against Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. They aren't good enough to be in the BCS bowls, are they? The Big 12 and the SEC were so much stronger this year than the Big 10. And the SEC has more teams playing in the 'post season' than the Big 10. I just can't get over the ridiculousness of Ohio State being in the National Championship. ESPN's Sportsnation says that Ohio State will win, but goodness, in that same poll they said that LSU is the stronger team on offense and defense. Give me a break.

I was worried Hawaii would get shafted. They didn't. So, if LSU were beaten by Ohio State, but Ohio State played a crappy game, could Hawaii, if they beat Georgia, be National Champion? Oh wait, that's gone by the wayside. We know who will be national champion... the winner of the game in New Orleans.

I am excited, but seriously wonder... When will we get a playoff?

BCS Mess

The title is something I have seen on almost every sports show since yesterday. The possibility of so many teams vying for the spot against Ohio (which I have already written about) leaves many people frustrated and sometimes speechless. Here's how I see the picture: Ohio will be in there even if I think that's a ludicrous thing. I thoroughly believe it will be a travesty if the SEC doesn't have a team in the national championship. I believe that if Hawaii doesn't get a BCS bid, the computers need to be shot and the people need to have their voting privileges revoked. Oklahoma deserves a bid. Virginia Tech (in my mind) almost deserves a spot in the National Championship. In fact, if the BCS folks were smart (which I haven't ever given them credit for that) it should be LSU versus VaTech. Ohio could play in the Rose Bowl against USC or something like that. Hawaii goes to the Fiesta against Oklahoma (and proves that the WAC is underrated). And Georgia in the Sugar Bowl against Kansas. Okay, so that makes sense to me. And I have left out a bowl game, but since the BCS is a mess, I may as well be too.

Wait, two wrongs don't make a right. In the Orange Bowl, in Miami, they should have some team versus West Virginia. At this point, who knows? I surely don't. But my decisions are based on what I have seen, and I am not paid to watch football, I just watch what I can.

And I bet that what I think will not happen. And that's fine. But what the BCS does, no doubt, will be a travesty to many.

Sadness

I think we live in a world where reality dominates television, politics are nothing but dirty with a chance of positive change only once in a while.

And senseless violence is something we often ignore. We don't pay attention to the stabbing death of an innocent cabbie in Indianapolis. We don't see that an innocent Oakland man was killed by a mob who apparently wanted to shoot at the vehicle, riddled with bullets. But the world, we are allowed into the life of one man who died at home, while in bed with his love and with his child sleeping nearby.

It's so sad. It's sad to see 24-year-old Sean Taylor is no longer part of this world. I read someone somewhere who was saying that Sean Taylor mattered just as much as everyone else who died on the same day. I agree. But Sean Taylor is the public face of an American institution. And he is the public face of something sad. Senseless crime is never right.

And I am a little sad for a lot of reasons. But one of them is that there is one less Washington Redskin tonight.

Ricky Williams isn't Back

Oh well, I was wrong. He's got a pulled chest muscle.... Out for the season.

BCS - So Many People Know It's Not The Best Way

And I am one of those people. But I can't figure out a simple solution. I can't figure out how a Ohio team with the battle wear of Kent State, Youngstown State and Akron and with a strength of schedule that looks weaker than Hawaii's is somehow 'vying' for the national championship.

West Virginia has a better schedule than Hawaii, but what about the onslaught of the SEC? Why is it that the SEC teams beat each other up and beat each other out of the national championship run? West Virginia's Big East isn't that strong yet. I have yet to see a team this year that excels like teams in past years have done. If Kansas were to win the game tonight, I would almost think that Hawaii and Kansas belong in the national championship.

I can't help but think that the Big 12 might be a bit overrated but not nearly as much as the Big 10 is overrated. Just take a look at last year's national championship... A yet again, underrated SEC team beat up, slaughtered a Big Ten team. Oh, would that be the vaunted Ohio State? I might mention that I don't dislike Ohio State. A grandfather who has passed away, but I have great pride in, he was a Buckeye through and through. I just think they're highly overrated as is their conference... currently.

But I don't know of a better way. Each way seems to shut someone out. But I just can't see it working the way it does now.

And that Heisman race, that just confounds me.

Ricky Williams is Back

I can't help but hope he steps out on the field and does what he used to do well.

I can't help but think that he'll not be so great. The guy never seemed to really enjoy the game of football. If he enjoyed it like everyone else seems to enjoy the sport (especially folks like Tony Romo and Brett Favre).

I hope that Ricky Williams brings the Dolphins a victory, because in this year while it might be likely that the Patriots could be the next undefeated team, I don't want to see the Dolphins be the exact opposite.

So, go Ricky Williams.

Despite everything that happens, I hope that everything works out.

Writers' Strike and Sports

Here's a thought. Maybe the NHL should seriously market themselves right now. There will be people who really miss late night television who may just enjoy watching Sid the Kid.

Maybe the NBA could work on cleaning up its bad boy image by emphasizing the positive. And they could seriously work on their image as well by putting up new advertisements to air in January.

At least Fox has the Superbowl.

Simply put, if the NBA, NHL and other 'less than famous' sports really need a positive spin. And with the writers' strike, they could possibly work towards doing something positive during this time frame.

Or maybe this is pie in the sky....

Ridiculous Boos

I was talking with my Mom today. That's not shocking within itself, but we were talking about sports. I have a serious opinion on booing. And it came out today.

I didn't actually watch the Kentucky game versus Gardner-Webb. I was watching something with my husband and I was convinced that Kentucky would probably polish the floor with little ole Gardner-Webb. But I didn't pay attention even after I turned the channel and noticed that the Cats were losing to the Bulldogs.

But here's what got me. My mom told me that the fans were booing. What the hell? It was the second game of the season, with a new coach, with players who were recruited to play for a different coach, and I can't believe just how much Kentucky fans are turning into the fans I hate.

I can't stand fans that whine and complain about everything and everyone unless their team makes it to the national championship, World Series or Superbowl. And I'm not kidding, Kentucky fans are there. You don't see UCLA fans whining that there hasn't been back-to-back championships, do you? Heck, even North Carolina's fans aren't all wonky because they didn't win the National Championship last year, are they?

Maybe it's because I wasn't really part of the 'fire Tubby' chain. I was, in fact, one of the people who told the rest of my Kentucky friends (and family), get over it! Tubby wasn't a bad coach. He wasn't even an average coach. He just needed a really good recruiter. He lost the recruiters he needed. And when that happened and Kentucky lost the sheen to Billy-Ball in Florida, there has been some serious issues.

Come on... if you are a 17 1/2 year old kid and you get to choose between Lexington and Gainesville... Well, I'm just sayin'. I lived in Lexington. I lived in Lexington in 1996 for their national championship, and that was exciting.

But it is absolutely beyond me how anyone can boo this early in the season. How uptight and arrogant are Kentucky fans? That's all I really am asking. I am beginning to think, I love the team, but the fans, I could do without.

Thanks for reading.

Colts, Patriots and the 4th Quarter

Colts versus Patriots, Patriots versus Colts. It's three minutes left in the game. Indianapolis is down 24-20. And there just was a missed pass. The Colts are dealing with injuries, and I'm not copping any excuses (as a Colts fan). The Patriots have had some seriously bad calls against them. I'm a fan of any sport before I am a fan of the team. If the Colts don't win this game, they have no excuse. They've been given the breaks and not exactly taken them.

Seriously, right now, they would be down by 1, if it weren't for the nearly perfect Adam Vinatieri being 'blocked' by Richard Seymour. And the Colts (Peyton Manning in a rare fumble) just turned the ball over.

You know, I saw a bunch of people try to say that the score of this game would be high. And then they were counteracted by those who would say that the game score would be held down. But I seriously doubt anyone would have said that this game would have been 24-20 at the two minute warning.

And the Colts lose. On the one bright side, that's what I picked for my pick'em game. I just wanted to lose that. Patriots are 9-0. I can't help but hope (for the sake of the sport) that a team like the Patriots would not get the perfect season.

And I get to watch the last 10 laps at the Texas Motor Speedway. Gosh, isn't this country great?!

Colts and that other Really Good Team

It's a strange world that I live in. I'm a huge Colts fan. And I was, and always will be a Colts fan. I used to cheer for the Colts when they were in Baltimore. And when they pulled their stakes out in the middle of the night, I had my stomach turn for a few more minutes, and then I was thankful that they were closer to where I lived. I was only 13 when it happened, and I wasn't all that big a sports fan back then, but I would cheer for the Colts back then and continued to do so when I was in Japan.

In 1998, Jim Mora was the coach of the 3-13 Colts, Peyton was the starting quarterback for most of the season, and I would wear a Colts t-shirt to bed every night. 1999 (13-3), 2000 (10-6), 2001 (6-10), 2002 (10-6), I was seriously wavering on my Colt's fanship, not because of their QB (who I loved) but because I was living (for the most part) in Japan. It's tough to root for a team you never saw on televsion. By November 2002, I returned back here (that spot in Kentucky, painfully close to Indiana) and went to college. It was amazing, seeing all the Colts fans all over the place. Around here, it's Colts, Titans and Rams (in that order for favorites) and the occasional Cowboys, Patriots, and other teams. As of late, because of Jay Cutler, who's nearly a local boy, the Denver Broncos have been getting some pub, therefore more t-shirts, therefore more fans.

But I have to say, I shook my head in 2002 when they hired Tony Dungy. I can be stupid sometimes. I realized in early 2004, just as I was getting ready to graduate from college, that Tony Dungy was a mild mannered genious. And I was happy for that.

So, we come to this weekend, one of the most anticipated games (especially around here), where the New England Patriots march into the RCA Dome (its last year in existance) and I am simply afraid to say that my Colts will beat the Patriots.

I've seen them play, on television (I was going to pay 600 dollars for tickets, but I had no one to go with, how about them apples?). I understand the best offense versus the best defense mentality. I wonder who really has the best of either, offense or defense.

There are a lot of people who are thinking that the Patriots will win. I am not sure of this. There are quite a few people who think that the Colts just might pull out a win. I'm not sure of this either.

But I am sure of one thing: Go Colts!

Uh, what?

Okay, here I sit, closer to Louisville than to Lexington. Here I live, in the part of the State that claims to bleed blue, but this time of year, there's more than it's fair share of red. That's because the Cardinals have a good football team. And Kentucky doesn't.

At least, that's the conventional wisdom. Kentucky beat it's I-64 rival last week, and followed up by beating the Hogs in Fayetteville. This doesn't mean that they are a 'real' SEC team yet, but there's something satisfying in seeing them second behind Florida in the SEC East.

I'll keep my blue in reserve for basketball season... But trust me, if I need to, I'll drag it out for football season.

Freak Injuries

It's a shame. It really is.

As I write this, Kevin Everett is either getting out of, or undergoing, emergency surgery for the spinal injury he received in a freak accident during the Bills/Broncos game today. I was watching tennis, golf and baseball today, so I didn't watch much football until the Giants/Cowboys game tonight. I heard about the injury during the game, and wondered how bad it was.

It's one of those things that I don't think would happen while I was at work. He's just doing his job and all of a sudden, reality kicks in that even though playing football is supposed to be a fun job, it's also a dangerous one. My prayers are with him.

And I feel I would be remiss if I didn't mention Juan Encarnacion and his injury which may have ended his career. It's been a rough year for the Cardinals and this last particular injury is too odd to have anything but the 'why us' attitude start to reappear. The Cardinals have been the hard luck baseball team this year.... But seriously, who would have thought a baseball injury would have happened before the player was actually within the white lines? And Encarnacion may never play the sport again.

It's a weird world we live in. The folks who we watch so that we can have fun are playing a game, but it's their job and their job is dangerous.

This week has reminded me of that more than once.

My prayers are with the families, friends and others who have dealt with these sort of serious injuries.

At Least A Thought On hGH

Okay. Human Growth Harmone....

It's not illegal to take the stuff. It's illegal to take the stuff, much like steroids, without a prescription. It is, however, currently banned by baseball. And we all (I hope) understand why. But here is my problem: much like any other 'performance enhancing substance', hGH has been a banned substance in baseball for a while. A short while.

Before then, it wasn't a banned substance. Therefore, if before 2005, when it became a banned substance by major league baseball, even if prescribed, if a person had a legal prescription for hGH, and used it for a relatively short period of time, that would mean that they did something within the legal and professional parameters.

I'm utterly sick of the complete bastardization of the 'sports news' when it comes to this particular substance as well as steroids. While neither are currently allowed in any sport, both have a place in this world as a prescription substance that people have taken to recover from injury. If you ask your doctor to give you a prescription for a medication to improve your life, then you're doing something that many, many Americans do. They watch the television, they listen to their friends and they find out what will make them feel better. What some athletes did was the very same thing. I'm rather certain that if you were an athlete and were told: this can help you recover from injury faster, and it's legal (with prescription), you would take the medication. Seriously, it's your career you are concerned about. And if you discovered it was bad for you, or you realized that taking something would be bad for your career... you would stop taking it. Some athletes did that.

I'm just saying, if what a person did was legal, why the hell does it matter now? If a person did what was not banned by their workplace (baseball, football, etc) then who gives a damn about the fact that they took a legal substance to aid in recovery from an injury?

Now, I'm not a Pollyanna who believes that all of the players accused of taking hGH and steroids were trying to get over an injury (not the intended use of hGH) or that they did it legally, but a few players in the last few months have been highlighted as taking an illegal substance. But in the stories, after the hyperbole and the accusations, I have begun to realize that they aren't taking an illegal substance, they took a substance by a legal prescription from a legal doctor prior to it being banned. I'm not proclaiming their innocence, since I don't know the whole story, but I am saying we are rushing, way too fast, to castigate these people and then discover that there is nothing there. So, the next time you wish a few people would 'just go away' because they are linked to an illegal, banned substance, do me the favor of trying to learn the whole story before you throw around accusations.

ESPN Radio doesn't belong to the NFL Network

Despite what you might think, if you are a regular listener like I am, ESPN Radio isn't part of the NFL network.

I love almost all sports. I scream at the television when there is a bad call (or at least acknowledge it, if it's in favor of my teams). Give me football of any variety on most days, and I would watch it. I also have a love for many other sports. And it distresses me, during this time of year, that the only sports on talk radio are 15 minutes of baseball to every hour of football.

It doesn't matter that most of the divisional races are not even close to being decided. It doesn't matter that the 'Greatest Road Trip in Sports' is drawing to a close (it's what is playing on my television right now, go Sybille!) I can hear Al Michaels talking about Football Night in America and all I want to say is.... It's not October yet, and we haven't had yet another surprise finish in the World Series, so hush!

Besides, haven't we all decided that pre-season football is pointless? It's the same people who say that who also prattle on incessantly about the sport. I don't get it.

And I love football. Give me my Indianapolis Colts any day! But let me watch my Cardinals try to make it to the post season, then I'll worry about how many yards Peyton has thrown for the week!

"System Ready.... Launch!" Gosh I love tennis!

This MLB doesn't quite belong to me, thank you!

What the heck is up with Major League Baseball?

Terry Francona can't wear a sweatshirt? Let's see, health problems aside, no self-respecting manager should ever wear a sweatshirt. Yeah, right. And the reason why they wear uniforms is that they could play again? Or is it tradition? If it's tradition, then why not respect the idea of a guy who just can't feasibly wear the uniform properly but can still coach?

I also must add, hot young pitchers can't pitch anymore. I understand that the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is a heated one, and you have to keep the players in check, but Joba Chamberlain is a fairly young pitcher in a major league game that he has barely played. Even if he's spot on, he wasn't aiming at Youkilis' head. Seriously. I don't like the Yankees. I'm not a fan of the Red Sox. I just don't like it when the game seems to be corrupted in opposite directions.

The deal with Terry Francona was ridiculous. I haven't seen a single sports column out there (and if there is one, please tell me) that says that MLB was right for inspecting Terry Francona's uniform while his pitcher was on the mound. Yes, in the middle of the bottom half of the inning.... It's ridiculous. I wouldn't even shed a tear if he were to sue the MLB for something like "harassment" because that was all that 'uniform inspection' was: unequivocal harassment. This smells of the same marketing that guides what the NFL coaches will wear. I long for the days of 'what the coaches wanted to wear. And to me, it still smacks of pure harassment in more senses than one.

And I can't get past the fact that no longer can pitchers use the ball to intimidate the batter. A batter can hit a ball back to the pitcher and he would never get fined. I'm just saying. This is a ridiculous baseball world we live in.

On the bright side, both things happened in the most over-hyped rivalry in the United States.

Barry, What Will We Do When You Are Gone?

So, since I don't like to mention death and anyone who's obviously alive in the same breath, I had a difficult time thinking about this one. Not really, but that's the world I live in. That's the way I feel like I am supposed to think. But philosophy aside, I was walking through my office the other day and tripped into a conversation. I rarely walk through the sales portion of my office. They don't need me, and they can't really chat, as they are on the phone, seemingly all on the phone.

But it was a Friday afternoon, they were about to have a meeting and they were not on the phones. And I stumbled, tripped and nearly fell forward into a conversation. Barry Bonds. "Barry Bonds needs to have his arm broken...." interrupted with, "Almost no one would miss him if he died next week." And the person sitting in the cubicle next to him said, "Almost? Don't you mean no one?"

And I didn't say anything because I had a task list a mile and a half long and I was only a quarter mile into the thing. As I was working on a nearby computer, I listened to the conversation. After the heightened hyperbole of the wish for Barry's death, the conversation turned to the relatively reasonable conversation. The woman who wanted Bonds' arm broken didn't step away from her wish. But the conversation about his death went to the side.

What is it about this man that makes us so convinced that he's guilty of something? Game of Shadows? Or is it that you helped him shoot himself full of steroids? I'm not professing Barry Bonds' innocence, by any stretch of the imagination, because I don't know he didn't do steroids or any other performance enhancing drugs. Simply put, baseball is full of cheaters. We don't know why they cheat, but if you have watched baseball, then you know that cheating is a part of the game (Black Sox and Spit Balls anyone?)

I've read tons of commentary about the idea of cheating in baseball (just put Black, Sox, Spit and Balls into your search engine and you'll find some of it) and at the worst, we seriously think that Barry Bonds cheated. He's smaller now, and he's still hitting home runs. But the average sports fan doesn't take that into account.

Do I want Barry Bonds to hit 756? Not really. Do I want him to bypass the man who's character helped him hit his baseballs when no one else would support him? No, not really.

Do I want Alex Rodriguez or Albert Pujols or any other guy to more quickly pass by whatever number Barry puts up? Sure. But that's mainly my dislike for the person. Do I wish him ill? No. I dislike the person that Barry puts forward in the media.

Through it all, many people still seem to like the guy. Okay, a few people, most of them living in the Bay Area, but still people seem to like the guy.

I personally think, no matter how many people like or dislike the man, it's a weird world that we live in, where we put people like the Babe on a pedestal, but Barry, we want him in the sewer.

A very strange world. Now, I step off my soapbox of moral relativism.

Wimbledon.... What's Up With American Tennis?

Okay, that's all I wanted to say about American tennis. I just want to know what's up with American tennis? I don't have an answer to the question, I just wonder why we don't have a real Pete, Andre, Jimmy or John. We have Andy, a guy who's evolving and might turn into what we thought he would be before. And we have a whole league of second-to-first rate players who just can't beat the people of Europe or South America.

And Roger, while he's an excellent tennis player, phenomenal to watch, just doesn't have the 'it' factor like his buddy Tiger. And he's not American. Normally I'm quite a bit more inclusive (I love the fact that there are tons of interesting people in the NBA and the NHL, as well as the MLB, and I get tickled when there are non-Americans in the NFL). I just think that tennis, being a less-important sport in the US (if Wimbledon were cancelled this week due to the attempted terrorist acts, very few Americans would really care) is in desperate need of American players.

And I know I have heard the Mary Carillos and Johnny Macs of the world ask the same question (and try to answer it).

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In the world of baseball, I think my family has hit an interesting point.

We get consistent free tickets to our local minor league (Frontier League) games, and we go. And we keep track of the St. Louis Cardinals with my cell phone. So, my Dad just loves going to the game... and keeping up with his St. Louis Cardinals.

Isn't technology wonderful?!

NBA, NHL, French Open and the US Open

Forgive me readers (not that I have any) for I have not written since many important sporting events have occurred.

I must congratulate my favorite team for winning the NBA finals. I can't help but gloat a bit, even if I think it would be good for the NBA to have a talented LeBron leading a talented Cleveland team to a classy win. Seriously, we don't worry about the media share with any other sport as much as we do the NBA finals.

The Spurs bored us because none of them are bad boys or cocky. Heck, Tony Parker's fiance couldn't even get us to pay attention. There's a problem with that if you're a sports fan.

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Oh, what are we to do about the NHL? NBC tried and not even I, someone who knows what the crease is (and have screamed at the television about the player preceding the puck) couldn't keep watching it for all that long. But, so I mention it, congratulations Anaheim Ducks. I don't know why, but unless my Blues are playing, I can't watch hockey on television. And as many people know, the Blues were and are the biggest disappointment in my 'fan girl' world.

Every year, around this time, I prattle on about my favorite Hockey Trophy, and that is the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, earned for the second year in a row by Pavel Datsyuk. And I prattled, just last year, in my other blog, just a bit about Sidney Crosby and the fact that the world is missing one of the greatest hockey players, ever. What the heck? We call Gretsky "The Great One" and this kid is doing exactly what Gretsky did. I'm almost rooting for him to play on the Canadian team in the next Olympics so that maybe, just maybe he can win the Stanley Cup, all of the other awards and the Gold Medal in the same year. That would be pretty cool.

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Roger Federer, why the heck can't you take a year off and play clay only for that year with the goal of the career Grand Slam? It's the only chink in your 'greatest tennis player ever' armour. On the bright side, it brings about a rivalry for those of us who are tennis fans that is pretty cool to watch. Congrats Rafael Nadal on yet another (where's your greatness ribbon?) French Open.

And who among us doesn't like seeing the prize fighter win in the dirt?

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Having been at the Player's Championship for our honeymoon, I can speak from personal experience... Tiger's so big, much bigger than the game. It is a good thing he's in the final group at a major, otherwise, non-serious golf fans wouldn't watch. My hubby and I, we would watch even if Tiger wasn't there. You may not know this, but I like a lot of the new young players and just want them to do well. Strangely though, Zach Johnson wasn't one of those that I knew about all that much before the Masters.

To get back to the point: I watched the US Open start to finish, sometimes sneaking into the boss' office at work, he does have the only television in the whole building. Still makes me wonder what happened on the 'big news' days. Did no one find out? Nonetheless, it proved to be quite exciting and fun to watch from start to end. I knew Tiger wasn't going to make that last putt. In my own mind, I couldn't compare what Tiger's impending fatherhood to anything I have been through, but I know I played some of the worst tennis of my life just before our wedding. Sure Tiger's got a lot more skill and ability than I do (at his sport, according to his buddy Roger, he isn't that good of a tennis player, or so I have read), but for a man who's usually such a clutch putter.... what the heck caused him to miss so many putts? I think that was a lack of concentration. And I think that was because his baby girl was due in less than a month.

Oh, and if you didn't know, apparently Sam Alexis was born June 18, 2007. And I congratulate the new Dad.

Enough About Sports

Not Really, but...

I'm sure that someone might be curious. Someone, anyone, the air out there, someone might be curious. So, I thought I would tell. If you aren't curious, there will be a blog entry after this and there are a few before this.

Yes, I love many things besides sports. I'm a gardening nut. This year, due to financial issues completely unforeseen, I don't have much to spend on the yard, so the new and exciting, the stuff I would love to buy, I definitely can't. I quibbled just the other day about buying two books I was looking forward to reading.

I don't normally quibble about such things. So, gardening this year is simply weeding, cutting and plant tending. And most definitely enjoying what blooms. The roses endured a lot last year. They aren't quite content. My hostas (the great variety I have) are abundant and exuberant this year. And the phlox and the butterfly bushes are going quite crazy, something that has made my yard smell quite divine (especially since the honeysuckle quit blooming). It's rather restful and enjoyable.

My irises bloomed this year and I didn't even really notice. Damn the garden, full speed ahead for the wedding. They'll be around again next year, I just feel guilty.
I do, very much, enjoy my garden. It's been around since I came back to the United States in 2002. It's been one of the few constants in my life. My dear husband could not care any less about the garden. The only thing he cares about is that it makes me happy.

It, like sports, and reading, are the 'things' that make me happy. There... I've shared.

Golf is Golf

I adore watching golf. I fear playing the sport. Strangely, I only play one sport: tennis. I watch and have an opinion on almost every sport, including tennis. But golf, golf is good.

About a month ago, I was on the way, with my husband, on our honeymoon, to The Players. And that has taught me more about golf than I had already known. A few years ago, I was in 'military protocol' and was, at least twice, somewhat in charge of a golf tournament. Years before that, I 'worked' at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. I had a 'contact' in the golfing world due to an instructor I had in military tech school. Her husband was Grounds Keeper (or something of that ilk) for Pebble Beach. So, she got whoever wanted to work the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. I had an incident the week prior with a famous person, someone who I will always admire, and I saw him play at the Pro-Am. It was exciting and fun.

And between the PB Pro-Am, the Golf Scrambles that I was 'in charge of' (there should be an asterisk, as I didn't even know what mulligan meant) and various other things, including a grandmother who thought Fuzzy was dreamy and that the Golden Bear was a god (she was right on one part), I have learned that golf is the perfect sport.

It's the great equalizer. No matter how great an athlete you are, golf is a game of patience and sometimes controlling and not reveling in your athleticism. Just ask MJ, the greatest basketball player ever. Just ask the recently humbled New England Patriots QB. And ask the duffers and people out there who just adore the sport, and play at it.

Golf is a sport that is unlike any other. Golf is a sport that no one is afraid to say that they play, if they own the clubs (or at least rent them) and yet no one will admit just how bad their handicap is....

But back to The Players, since I started there. The Players... the 17th. I've seen it now, and I swear, it looks smaller than it does on television. My husband and I spent the Final Sunday propped on the hill beside the 17th watching the golfers hit their dimpled spheres onto the island green. Strangely, few missed. And none missed more spectacularly than Sean Ohair. You should have felt the collective gasp and release when his first shot went into the water. You should have felt the audience sag when he missed the third shot (second shot taken, third because he had lost a stroke). Hubby and I were duly impressed by Phil that afternoon. He was such a gentleman. We had believed the hype and the back stories about Phil being rude. He wasn't. Maybe he has finally grown up.

And maybe it's just Butch.

But golf is golf, and on that final Sunday in Ponte Vedra, everyone knew what Sean Ohair felt. And that is, golf is golf. It's not conquerable, it's not beatable, it's just golf.

And that's why I am afraid to pick up the clubs, but I will do it soon.

Baseball (something) Like It Once Was

You've probably seen the field before. It was in "A League of Their Own" and still has the "Support Your Racine Belles" on the walls above the exits. The signage is vintage 1940's. It was built in 1915, three years post Fenway and one year post Wrigley. And it's a place that has hosted many players and many games. It's Bosse Field. Google it, you'll find the facts that have been ingrained in my mind for years.

The evening was warm, beautiful and clear. The Evansville Otters were playing the Southern Illinois Miners. And it was a wonderful game. We were all rooting for the Evansville Otters, all the while using modern technology (my cell phone) to keep up with the Cardinals game and the first game of the NBA championship. So maybe not like 'it once was', but the seats were slatted wood with backs, the stadium was full (over 7,000 fans) and we were all cheering for the Otters.

The game was a little slower that we were accustomed to. The music was, in my mind, unnecessary, but a part of modern baseball that is inevitable. Scott Rolen (who is from southern Indiana) will inevitably walk onto the field with strains of Metallica playing in the background.

But the hot dogs were good and the pop (soda or carbonated beverage) was cold. The beer was inexpensive and the fans were all happy.

And the Otters won the game, 7-2. The crack of the bat, the throw of the ball, all musical with the chatter of the crowd. It was, and will remain, one of my favorite games I've ever been to.

And besides, at one point in my life, Jim Leyland lived in Evansville and coached at Bosse Field.

It's a wonderful place to watch a game.

Perfect Baseball?

Tonight, I am going with my family, in this case my husband and my parents, to a Frontier League baseball game. We are heading to a storied field that has been in movies (real ones, with famous people and all).

We got the tickets as part of a promotional event. The tickets, while normally eight dollars, were quite free. And this lead me to the thought of what is perfect baseball?

I live within hours of several baseball teams, some of them MLB, some of them various forms of MiLB, and of course, several Frontier League teams. And what is it about Chillicothe, Ohio and Florence, Kentucky that make them so good for baseball?

And why do people go to the games? It's not the free tickets, as I was saying to my parents the morning they stumbled across the promotional, "We should go to a game sometime..." It's close and it's only eight bucks.

Well, I'll make the determination tonight if it's perfect baseball... The weather is right, and we'll see.

Er, Maybe I Meant Daniel Gibson...

Cleveland is a young team. When a 22-year-old phenom calls a 21-year-old "kid" then we all know that Cleveland is a young team. But it's a team with character, so far as I can see.

And I admire that.

I'll be rooting for my fundamental San Antonio Spurs, but if they lose to these young and wonderful Cleveland Cavaliers, I won't be kicking and screaming.

And now, maybe there won't be talk of trading LeBron. He belongs in Cleveland like Jordon belonged in Chicago, Magic belonged in LA and Larry belonged in Boston. Sometimes a wonderful team player is the one who leads his team by inspiration. LeBron inspired on Thursday, and Daniel Gibson won the game for the Cavaliers tonight!

Congratulations to the Eastern Conference Champions.

Why I Think the King Will Reign

Let me say clearly that I'm a San Antonio Spurs fan. I love the Spurs for the reasons that most hate them. I love the fundamental basketball. And I fell in love with the Spurs when I was living in San Angelo, Texas for four months (not during the basketball season) and met some of the Spurs organization. I fell in love with the Spurs when I was in basic training in the Air Force.

I love the Spurs.

But, if anyone knows anything about my love of sports, one of the things I always say is that if it's "good for the game", I'll usually be for it. Let me cite a non-NBA example.

If the Yankees are doing well, then everyone pays attention to baseball. I'm not a huge Yankees fan, and as a part of my standard protocol, I will say I don't like George Steinbrenner and what he's doing for his team. I don't like the Yankees. But, if they're doing well, people watch. People will still watch the Yankees-BoSox games because they're gluttons for punishment (and they live in the East), but the national pull isn't is great (is it? It isn't here in Don Mattingly country). Just trust me when I say that the Yankees being good is good for the game.

And I think a young 22-year-old is, so far, very good for the game in the NBA. My San Antonio Spurs aren't bad for the game, but their fundemental basketball doesn't play well on national television.

Taking over a game, playing it like it were your last, that's good for the game. We all know Jordan, Kobe, even Byrd or Walton, could and can do it. We've seen others do it. But LeBron James is different. He had the hype to end all hypes (thank our media crazed world for that), and he finally, for at least one game, lived up to it.

I wonder, and I feel that I can postulate, he will continue in this vein. I think that with the strong background, the good behavior and his downright ability, LeBron James will be one of the greats of the NBA.

And for the short-term, I bet more than one person will be watching tonight as Game 6 is played. And in that, I mean that LeBron is good for the ratings.

So, LeBron is good for the NBA.

And I seriously do believe that this isn't the first excellent game, and it won't be the last.

Post-Game Blues

Well, my step-son wore blue to the game. He should have worn red. Maybe that's why when I go to a game, my team always seems to lose. I'm not sure if I am a bad luck charm, but if my team looses all five games I am scheduled to see this year (they're zero for two as of right now), I may not buy those tickets for my Dad next year.

Then, maybe, I'll save my moolah for some football games.

Football? A woman who likes football and baseball? Oh yes, and basketball, and golf, and curling, and bowling, and NASCAR, and... yes, I'm a sports nut. I love sports. That means most of the sports that are out there. I sometimes root for teams because it's good for the sport, not because I really want them to win.

Of course, I have favorites. I will always root for the Colts, the Blues, the Cardinals, the Spurs and the Kentucky Wildcats. I will root for the Cubs if they don't play the Cardinals. I will root for Cleveland (and that's in football, baseball and basketball) if they aren't playing my favorite teams. I don't know why I have this lack of serious loyalty. But I just do.

My husband and I were at the Players a few weeks ago, perched on the 17th hole, watching the shots (rather just a few shots) head right into the water, and I was reminded again what kind of woman I am.

I'm the one who put in for the lottery for the Ryder Cup, because it would make the hubby happy and because it's yet another sport I love.

I'm blue, by the way, because my team lost. That would be the Cardinals. They lost to the Nationals. Oh and my Spurs lost to the most ineptly named Utah Jazz (thank you ESPN the Magazine for that particular thought).

I'm ready for a new dawn and a new day tomorrow. Heck, at least Cleveland beat the Pistons.

Rain Delays and Sporting Sex Appeal

Rain Delays. I hate rain delays on Saturday nights before Sunday day games. I truly think that rain delays, bottom of the ninth, two out, my favorite team two runs ahead, should have something done about them.

Seriously though. As a fan of the sport, as a fan of a lot of sports, I am certain that this can't be good for the day game tomorrow. That is, if the rain doesn't continue until well after the 1:05 central time start tomorrow.

Sex appeal? That's what Fox Sports is talking about. Is it Mark Philippoussis, and his greater irrelevance to the tennis world? Or is that Maria Sharapova isn't irrelevant to the tennis world, no matter how uninteresting her Canon commercials are to everyone who isn't attracted to her.

And by the way, I discovered something recently (very recently, as I was visiting Maria's website) I have something in common with Ms. Sharapova. Can't be too bad that both of us have the hots for Orlando Bloom.

"Isn't irrelevant" almost sounds like a double negative.