August 2007 Archive
Watercooler Chat: Street Sense wins Travers and the Falcons on MNF
Saratoga Springs, NY is one of the all-time best places to watch horse racing. The month of August is dedicated to Thoroughbred horse racing in Saratoga. Swarms of fans descend on this quant, beautiful town that lives and breathes horses. The most famous race during this month is the Travers Stakes, which was run this past Saturday and attracted 38,909 people. Street Sense, winner of this year’s Kentucky Derby, took the prize by only half a length. Street Sense barely edged out Grasshopper who was racing in his first stakes (the highest level of racing) competition. Look for Street Sense to try and win the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Monmouth Park October 27th. If he wins the Classic, there should be no doubt he will crowned horse of the year.
Watercooler Discussion: Where’s your favorite place to watch a thoroughbred horse race?
I wanted to avoid mentioning Michael Vick this week, but unfortunately that’s not possible. Vick is expected to formally plead guilty Monday (on the same day that his Falcons will play the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football). With pre-season games not getting the attention of the regular season (for obvious reasons), you can bet that MNF will have high ratings this week. People will tune in for the Vick banter and more importantly for observing whether the Falcons’ new quarterback, Joey Harrington, will lead the team to a few wins.
Watercooler Discussion: How many games will the Falcons win this year? Will we ever stop talking about the Falcons and Vick in the same sentence?
On a happier note, congrats to Georgia for winning the Little League World Series Championship over Japan. These boys could be the future of Major League Baseball. And, what touched me was that before the game, the Japanese coach gave the team a listing of players’ names and addresses in case the boys wanted stay in touch. Now that’s sportsmanship!
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Watercooler Chat: Michael Vick Guilty
As if this is any real surprise, Michael Vick agreed to plead guilty to federal dogfighting conspiracy charges. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know that Michael Vick who was a star quarterback (known for his amazing running and passing abilities) for the Atlanta Falcons was accused of participating in illegal dogfighting and, from what has come out so far in this case, of extreme cruelty to the dogs (drowning, electrocuting, strangling etc).
Vick’s plea hearing will take place Monday Aug. 27th where we’ll find out what kind of punishment he’ll receive. It could be up to 3 years in prison and a hefty fine.
The big question on many football fans minds right now is will he return to the game after his prison term. I can’t imagine how the football world and particularly the fans will allow him back, but there are those who feel adamant that he’ll be back. As reported by the US Presswire, one NFL Manager said the following:
“If he goes to prison, time will pass,” said the general manager, who spoke before news of a potential Vick plea agreement and asked not to be identified, claiming the NFL has asked current team officials not to publicly comment on the Vick case. “Months or years will pass, if he does go to jail. If he went to jail, and then left prison down the road, he’d still be relatively young, and there’d be a line of 15 to 20 teams waiting to sign him. Trust me on that. Teams are going to say, ‘F— PETA. F— the bad pub. This guy is one of the most talented players of the last 10 years. I’ll take my chances.’
“Teams may say one thing publicly. But if he gets out of jail, we’ll all be looking at Vick hard. We’re all whores in football. You know the saying. We’d sign an ax murderer if he has ability. He’ll be back. He won’t be back in Atlanta probably but he’ll be back in professional football. You can count on it.”
Watercooler Discussion: If Vick reforms after his prison term (and still has the ability to play) should he be allowed back in the League?
Watercooler Chat: Santana strikes out, Federer at 50, Beckham back, Football injuries
Baseball
Johan Santana made history with 17 strikeouts in 8 innings this weekend against the Texas Rangers. Got to love this time of year….it seems almost every week some baseball player is putting himself in the history books. Congrats Johan.
Watercooler Discussion: Which teams do you think will make the playoffs?
Tennis
Speaking of history books, Roger Federer just keeps getting better and better. At only 26 years old, he just won his 50th tournament title (5th youngest player ever to do this).
Watercooler Discussion: Is there anyone playing today that can rival Federer?
Soccer
Beckham seems to be on his way to earning his exorbitant salary. Saturday night at Giants stadium against the Red Bull New York, Beckham played a full 90 minutes and attracted a crowd of 66,237 people. Even though he didn’t play all that spectacularly (apparently he’s still getting used to artificial turf), he did manage to make some good plays and the game (by soccer standards) was unusually high scoring. With a total of 9 goals (5 for Red Bulls and 4 for the Galaxy), this game marks the first major league soccer match this year and the 10th in League history to record this number of goals.
Watercooler Discussion: Is Beckham changing how soccer is viewed in this country yet?
Football
Pre-season games are here and we can’t help but join the hype in who’s hot and who’s not (and I do mean their performance on the field and not who’s currently dating Paris Hilton). I’m loving the hype, but really more concerned right now with pre-season injuries. I can’t even watch my favorite players take the field in fear that they’ll twist their ankle (which happened a lot around the League this weekend) or worse. With that said, September 6th is the first game of the year and you can be sure I’ll be glued to the TV then!
Watercooler Discussion: Is the Pre-season too long? Does it unnecessarily create more injuries?
Watercooler Chat: Tiger and Wrestling
Golf
The biggest news of the weekend (not that we were surprised) was Tiger Woods winning the 13th Major Title of his career. (Golf has four professional majors.) Tiger might lose a tournament here or there just to prove his human, but he has never lost a Major when he’s been in the lead or shared the lead. This is one true sign of greatness. There are certainly other “great” golfers out there, but very few have the mental toughness of Tiger. Only Jack Nicklaus (with 18) has more Major Titles than Tiger.
Watercooler Discussion: Would you consider Tiger one of the greatest athletes of all time or just one of the greatest golfers?
Nascar
Race car drivers and their fans are normally pretty well behaved…not like other sports (ie hockey), but this weekend was a bit unusual. At Watkins Glen, NY, Juan Pablo Montoya and Kevin Harvick got into a huge fight toward the end of the race when another driver, Martin Truex Jr, hit Montoya who then hit Harvick sending both of them in a spin with 15 laps to go. Harvick thought Montoya hit him (not Truex) so he climbed out of his car and started up a fight. And then, oddly enough, a fan jumped the fence during this red flag delay and rushed over to Matt Kenseth with a hat and sharpie and asked for an autograph. By the way, Tony Stewart won the race (third win in four weeks) and is looking like he could be the one to beat when the Chase for the coveted Nextel Cup begins in five weeks.
Watercooler Discussion: Should Drivers be fined for getting into fights during a race?
Football
Did anyone see Pacman Jones’ wrestling debut. I saw a clip then read the story and am still confused. Apparently Pacman, who is suspended from the Tennessee Titans for the season for violating personal conduct rules which includes 6 arrests. The most recent of these arrests occurred in February in Las Vegas where he is under indictment for coercion in a fight that caused the bouncer of the club to become paralyzed. Ok, so by all accounts, this man has some “issues”. Why then did he agree to go on a wrestling show when his team, the Tennessee Titans, got a court order prohibiting him from wrestling. Apparently he did not fight on screen but had policmen who were actors tackling him off stage.
Watercolor Discussion: Obviously the Pacman wrestling thing was some kind of publicity stunt, but is it just me or is this kind of a strange thing for someone who is already under a lot of scrutiny for being a “hoodlum”?
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Watercooler Chat: Historic Baseball Weekend
Wow, this has been some weekend for baseball. If you’re just waking up and haven’t seen the news all weekend, before you do another thing, you have to be aware that 3 major milestones were achieved in baseball this weekend.
1) Barry Bonds (SF Giants) ties the all-time home run record set by the legendary Hank Aaron by hitting 755 home runs. Bonds has been close to tying this record for weeks, leaving everyone wondering just when it was going to happen. Now, we’re just waiting for him to officially break the record (which could happen any day now as well). I just happened to be in San Francisco this weekend when it happened and whatever you think about Bonds, it was pretty exciting being in his hometown reading up on the news.
2) Alex Rodriguez (NY Yankees) became the youngest major league player (32 years old) to hit 500 home runs. Taking the field to the theme from the movie “The Natural”, ARod became only the 22nd player ever to reach this milestone. ARod’s had somewhat of a controversial year (although in New York, it’s kind of par for the course). In case you’ve forgotten, ARod and some mystery woman’s picture were splashed all over gossip columns coming and going from various “hot spots”. Not to be outdone, his wife Cynthia became the object of ridicule when she attended a Yankee game (accompanied by their 2 year old daughter) while donning a profanity laced t-shirt). Even with all of his domestic difficulties, he blew a kiss into the crowd (supposedly aimed at his wife and daughter) although his wife was running late and wasn’t in her seat (and the 2 year old wasn’t there because her Mom thought it would be too hot to be at the Park all afternoon). You can’t blame them though….who knew this game against the Kansas City Royals would put him in the record books?
3) And last but certainly not least, Tom Glavine (New York Mets Pitcher) became only the 23rd player in MLB history to win 300 games. This is one of the most prestigious records in baseball. It looks like we’ll be celebrating this milestone for a long time as there doesn’t appear to be anyone else who will hit this milestone for a very long time. The 41 year old Glavine was very gracious after the game and thanked his family for letting him focus on baseball.
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Watercooler Chat: What's Ugly in Sports
Cycling
Not sure anyone even cares at this point, but Alberto Contador won the grueling Tour de France. He’s 24 years old and the youngest athlete to win in a decade. The problem is no one is talking about Contador. We’re all talking about how the leader, Michael Rasmusen who was disqualified due to suspicion of doping charges and lying about where he was during training. Last year the Tour Champion, Floyd Landis also tested positive for an illegal substance.
Watercooler discussion: Will the Tour de France ever regain its credibility or will the race and cycling in general suffer?
Football
The Falcons quarterback, Michael Vick continues to slide deeper and deeper into trouble (and now it’s financial). In case you haven’t been following, Michael Vick was indicted on charges that he participated in illegal dog fighting. Nike suspended his contract (which he’s had ever since he became the first draft pick in 2001), and Reebok pulled his jersey from the shelves in its stores.
Watercooler discussion: If you owned a Vick jersey, would you still wear it or burn it?
Baseball
The San Francisco Giants’ Barry Bonds is just one homerun away from tying Hank Aarons’ hallowed home run record and two away from breaking it. Bonds is generally unpopular due to suspicion of taking illegal substances during his career and because of his surly personality.
Watercooler discussion: Will Bonds break the record this week and do you care?
You’ve got to love sports, every time it brings you down, something happens to cheer you up. After all the talk of the tainted Tour de France, the disgust over Michael Vick, the reluctant Bonds watch and the Donaghy referee scandal, we finally have something to cheer about. Two of the most revered baseball players were inducted in to the Hall of Fame, Cal Ripken Jr. (Baltimore Orioles) and Tony Gwynn (San Dieog Padres).
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