April 2007 Archive
Watercooler Chat: Brady broke my heart
If you happened to watch the first round of the NFL draft on ESPN on Saturday you will know my pain. Brady Quinn, the quarterback from Notre Dame, appeared on sports shows all week discussing his NFL prospects. Popular opinion was that he’d get picked in the top three, but no one predicted how tough his day would actually become.
The first pick went to the Oakland Raiders who picked quarterback JaMarcus Russell. Then the Detroit Lions chose wide receiver Calvin Johnson. After the Cleveland Browns who had the number three pick, chose offensive tackle Joe Thomas, Quinn’s nightmare began. But it wasn’t all hopeless. The Miami Dolphins had the number nine pick and we all assumed they’d pick Quinn. When they passed, Quinn looked downtrodden. The draft is aired live on ESPN and all eyes were on Quinn. Team after team passed and every few minutes the cameras showed Quinn (and his beautiful girlfriend). At times, it looked like she would cry. I couldn’t take it. Finally, with the 22nd pick the Cleveland Browns traded up for another first round pick and chose Quinn. Aside from pure pride, you might be asking why it’s such a big deal that he went number 22 vs. number 3? Oh, only about 20 million dollars.
Jeff Gordon wins Talledega and gets bombarded with beer cans.
Dale Earnhardt, the late great stock car driver, was revered at Talledega and fans were not too pleased that Gordon won the race this weekend (on what would have been Earnhardt’s 56th birthday) and surpassed Earnhardt on the all-time cup victory list.
The Chicago Bulls beat the Miami Heat in the NBA Playoffs
The Bulls embarrassed the Miami Heat by winning in just 4 games. This is the first playoff series the Bulls have won since 1998.
Watercooler Chat: Hockey Playoffs, NBA playoffs, A-rod on fire and the NFL draft
Playoff News
You might not realize it or even be talking about it, but we’re in the midst of the NHL and NBA playoffs right now.
In the NHL, here are the teams that are still in it to win it:
Buffalo Sabres vs. NY Rangers
New Jersey Devils vs. Ottawa Senators
Detroit Red Wings vs. San Jose Sharks
Anaheim Ducks vs. Vancouver Canucks
And, as the NBA is busy winding down the season, the playff buzz so far is that the defending champs, the Miami Heat and their big boy Shaquille O’Neal are down 0-2 against the Chicago Bulls.
A-Rod on fire
Sports fans are funny. Last year, everyday I heard what a horrible player Alex Rodriguez (3B, NY Yankees) was and how he should get his derriere out of New York as fast as possible. What a difference a year makes. A-Rod (as he’s widely known) is the only shining light on a pretty pathetic Yankee team right now and is on his way to breaking Barry Bond’s 2001 season home-run record of 73. As can be expected, fans are now ready to elect him mayor.
The NFL Draft
The hottest discussion of the week is whether Brady Quinn (QB, Notre Dame) or JaMarcus Russell (QB, LSU) will be the first pick in the NFL draft this weekend. The Oakland Raiders get to choose first. What I don’t understand is why the first pick (other than the prestige of saying, I’m #1) is so newsworthy. Many of the best players in the history of football did not go number one. And, of course, the flip side of that is that many #1 picks became duds in the NFL. In just two examples, the Giants picked Eli Manning over Philip Rivers (who went to San Diego) in the 2004 draft and popular opinion would say that Rivers is head and shoulders better than Manning. And, if you look back to 1991, Todd Marinovich and Dan McGwire (who are they you ask?...exactly my point) were taken over Brett Favre (whom we all know as the future hall of fame QB of the Green Bay Packers) and yes, the same Favre who was immortalized in the film “Something about Mary”.
With that said, are you a Quinn fan or Russell fan? And, it's ok to vote based on looks.....
Watercooler Chat: Rainy days and Mondays
Soggy Sports
In only two weeks since baseball season began, there have been 18 postponed games due to rain and cold. Granted this is an unusual nor’easter, but this is just one more reason why football is one of my favorite sports. Football never gets rained or snowed out. Players would have to be facing a tornado or some other potentially deathly scenario for football to cancel or postpone a game.
60th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s Major League Debut
After the much heated discussions regarding Imus last week, it is refreshing that we’re all talking about celebrating the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s major league debut. All over the League, players are wearing number 42 in honor of Robinson. I was moved all weekend long hearing the many stories of Robinson’s opening day in the Brooklyn Dodgers clubhouse. One story that I read in the New York Times told of a death threat in 1951 when the Dodgers came to Cincinnati to play. The Players were so supportive of Robinson that they joked that they should all wear number 42 on the field that day so the potential shooter wouldn’t know which one was Robinson. Hearing stories like this makes Jackie Robinson day even more meaningful.
Steffi Graf gets hit
Two of the best tennis superstars that just happen to be married to each other, need to be a little more careful playing tennis with each other. Graf needed three stitches after Agassi accidentally hit her in the face with his racquet during a fund-raiser following the U.S. Clay Court Championships. There’s a lesson in how to prevent this from happening again. Don’t hold hands while trying to rally. It’s the truth (even though it’s kind of cute) they were holding hands while rallying with a couple of young Kids when Agassi’s racket hit Graf.
Do you want to fight?
That was what the official, Joey Crawford, apparently kept saying to Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs last night in an emotional game against the Dallas Mavericks for seeding in the Western Conference Championship. Duncan received two technical fouls in the third quarter, one of which was given to him as he was sitting on the bench laughing. After the second technical, Duncan was immediately ejected from the game. Should Crawford be punished for this “unlawful ejection”? Or, did Crawford do the right thing and should Duncan have been more respectful?
Watercooler Chat: Imus in the Morning in trouble
In case you missed it, the big story of the weekend was Don Imus’ rant on his MSNBC show Thursday morning. Imus described the Rutgers University women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed hos” as a retort to the show’s producer calling the team “hardcore hos”. The women’s team is made up of two white women and eight African-American women. I didn’t listen to the show, but apparently there was even more racist and sexist rants.
I don’t know if Imus is sexist or racist or just wants to “stir things up” and get ratings, but the one thing I can say is he’s not too bright. Why after all these years of having a successful radio/tv program would he jeopardize his career?
So, the big question on all the news shows all weekend and probably all week is “should Imus be fired?” And, should he be fired because he’s racist, sexist or just plain stupid? Any opinions?
Speaking of racist and sexist and someone we all love, Tony Soprano is back. Not that this has much to do with sports (although they did have a storyline involving horses and horse racing last year) but the Sopranos are finally back and fill a much needed void in Sunday nights (now that football season is over).
Watercooler Chat: March Madness is over and Florida wins again!
If you’re a fan of the Florida Gators, you couldn’t ask for a better year. You established yourself in January as the best college football team in the nation when you beat the Ohio State Buckeyes 41-14. And as of last night’s 84-75 win (over Ohio State again) you became the only athletic program in history to hold both championships (football and basketball) in the same year. And, if that wasn’t enough, you will go down in college basketball history as a repeat champion (something a team hasn’t done since Duke won back to back in 1991 and 1992).
As exciting as the Florida/Ohio State game was for Florida Gator fans, it was kind of a letdown for me. As of Saturday evening’s UCLA loss to Florida, I was officially out of the tournament and couldn’t muster up the energy to care about last night’s game. Thanks to JetBlue airlines and the individual TV screens on each seat; I was able to watch both final four games on Saturday on my way to California. Unfortunately for my fellow passengers, I kept forgetting that when you wear ear phones you have to tone down how loud you speak (ironically, my Kids had to remind me). I was so upset during UCLA’s loss, that after a few loud outbursts (and not so gentle reminders from my Kids to quiet down) I flipped the channel and watched the movie Grease. There’s nothing like a little “summer lovin” duet to change your mood.
Now that the NCAA tournament is over, what other sport will capture our imagination? No need to worry, there’s always WRESTLEMANIA. This weekend featured Donald Trump vs Vince McMahon. This pay per view event captured world wide attention when The Donald and McMahon went mano a mano (not really, they had stand-in wrestlers representing them) with the loser getting his head shaved by the winner. Fortunately for the Donald, his wrestler won and he was able to keep his famous do.
Major League Baseball season began this past weekend and I’m particularly excited because my friend Jacqueline and I drafted our first fantasy baseball team. If the season ended today, we’d be in great shape, but it’s a long time till October.
