Random Sports Thoughts III
May 10, 2009 by mindpinball
Filed under: MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, baseball, basketball, blogs, following the locals, football, random sports thoughts, sports
Filed under: MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, baseball, basketball, blogs, following the locals, football, random sports thoughts, sports
Around the world of sports in the last week:
- The Brett Favre soap opera: Lord knows I’m tired of this one! Once again, another NFL offseason, another round of speculation as to whether or not Brett Favre will come back to play for someone. Again, the Minnesota Vikings have been mentioned as his most likely suitor. And once again I say. Don’t do it! If comments from some of the New York Jets from last season are to be believed, Favre doesn’t appear to want to put the work in during the week to get ready for the games; he just wants to play the games. I suppose when you’ve been around as long as Favre has, you can figure where corners can be cut. But in the NFL, cutting corners isn’t necessarily a strong strategy. These are year-round athletes, even if the season only lasts a few months. In my opinion, he needs to be just as committed to the work that leads to the games, as he is to the games themselves. In just the last week he has gone from definitely retired to meeting with the Vikings to discuss coming back, to being committed to retiring (again), to listing conditions which will allow him to play again. The story has been getting non-stop play on ESPN, being mentioned on SportsCenter every quarter hour or less just to make sure the audience is paying attention. Basically, he needs to decide if he wants to go through another season and remain committed to doing so, or just give up the game he loves. I understand he has an itch to play, but maybe it’s time to look in another direction. I also left my opinion on this issue at a blog post at MKRob’s Sports Blog.
- Manny Ramirez’s 50 game suspension: what more can I say? The game of baseball gets yet another black eye on this one. Now that it seems that the substance he was accused of taking has been suggested to be something players take when cycling down from steroid use raises all kinds of questions, maybe even more than answers. I don’t know where the end is with the drug tests. In the NFL, when players fail drug tests, it doesn’t seem to rock the game the way it does in baseball. I guess this all goes back to the Mitchell report and the over 100 players on the semi-protected list of failed drug tests. Baseball, it appears, has a long way to go to get past this.
- The NBA playoffs have seen some great games and some great individual performances. They’ve also seen some chippy play, in both the Boston-Orlando and Houston-LA Lakers series. Rafer Alston smacks Eddie House on the head; Derek Fisher cross-checks Luis Scola. Alston and Fisher get one-game suspensions, which, after watching the plays hardly seems fair. Fisher should have gotten more than one game for his pre-meditated hit. Then other players, who commit egregious offenses, don’t get suspended at all-Kendrick Perkins comes to mind for his foul on Mikael Pietrus in the Celtics-Magic series. I know they have a scale for flagrant fouls and suspensions. It’s just that the discipline for obvious offenses should be fair.
- After just watching the Orioles drop the final game of a three game series to the Yankees by a 5-3 score, it looks as though the bullpen, which going into the season was thought to be a strength, is going to be a problem. Koji Uehara left after six innings with a 3-1 lead, only to see the bullpen give up four runs in the top of the seventh on two home runs by Robinson Cano and Johnny Damon. Uehara pitched well enough to get a win, which seems to be a theme when he starts. Yankee pitching shut down the Oriole offense after the first inning, where Aubrey Huff hit his second three-run homer in as many games. If the bats aren’t working, then the O’s have to rely on pitching and defense all the more, and if they aren’t getting good pitching from both starters and relievers, you will see the results that they have been getting over the last couple of weeks.
- The Ravens held their first minicamp of the offseason this weekend, and every player expected to attend was present. Terrell Suggs was absent, and was expected to be absent, as he has not signed his franchise tag tender, and as such is not officially under contract. Both sides are still negotiating a long-term deal that will keep Suggs on the Ravens defense for years to come. The big news from the non-contact camp from a fan’s perspective is the list of injured players. Most, if not all should be ready for the start of training camp, though Derrick Mason sounds an ominous note, only guaranteeing he’ll be ready for the first game of the season as he recovers from shoulder surgery. Also of note is that the team held a three-man tryout at wide receiver between Kelly Washington, Jerry Porter and Tab Perry, with observers giving the edge to Washington, based on making more plays and his versatility allowing him to be used on special teams. News about the minicamp can be found at the Baltimore Sun’s Ravens Insider blog and James Walker’s AFC North blog at ESPN.com.
- I don’t usually watch much hockey, but after hearing the hype for Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeny Malkin and Sidney Crosby, I tuned in to watch a good portion of game 3 of the Penguins-Capitals series. I watched it at the expense of game 2 of the Boston-Orlando series in the NBA playoffs. And while I don’t follow the game much, it was easy to see the electric atmosphere in the crowd in Pittsburgh and the talented players on both sides going at it for all they were worth. With the Penguins victory, and wins in the next two games, they have taken a 3-2 series lead on the Caps. If history is any indicator, the Penguins will find a way to beat the Caps in the playoffs again.
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3 Comments on Random Sports Thoughts III
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The NFL Chick on
Sun, 10th May 2009 9:29 pm
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on
Sun, 10th May 2009 9:42 pm
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on
Sun, 10th May 2009 10:16 pm
You already know how I feel about Brett. Manny doesn’t shock me at all, he blew up when he left Cleveland. I’m starting to actually get into the NBA playoffs, and I’m shocked LOL. Orioles bullpen stinks. And even a few of their starters. Mason is just saying that because he wants money… But hey I can’t knock him. Hockey… sorry I dunno much. If there isn’t a fight then I’m not interested LOL
If you ever have the chance you MUST go to a hockey game live. It’s the best sport to watch live. Anyone I know that has seen a game live has loved it. Plus, since you are in the DMV you have the chance to see one of the 3 best players in the game.
Growing up in Pittsburgh while Mario Lemieux was playing made it hard to become a hockey fan. It’s like being from Chicago and not having an appreciation for Jordan. If you ever go to a Caps game especially while you have Ovechkin, you will not regret it.
The best seats to sit in are up high above the action so you can see plays develop.
Poor Koji. Welcome to Baltimore, pitch 6 innings of 1 run baseball and get 3 runs in return. Then watch as two of our best relievers serve it up. It sucks. The O’s have to capitalize on good starting pitching and their NOT doing so when Koji gets the start. He’s had a few quality starts that go as no decisions.
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