IT’S NOT THAT TOUGH…..By Bill Rogan (10-6-06)
Hitting a baseball is the toughest thing to do in sports. How many times have we heard that?
Well, let me clue you in on a little secret. Hitting a baseball is not the toughest thing to do in sports.
Anybody can hit a baseball. Stick a 10-year old kid or a 57-year old woman in a batting cage and they can hit a baseball. Maybe they can’t hit very well and perhaps not very often. But if they can swing the bat, eventually they can make contact.
Take those two people and ask them to dunk a basketball. Can’t do it. Take any person off the street, regardless of age and ask them to dunk a basketball. An overwhelming majority won’t be able to do it. But they can probably hit a baseball. With some time and practice they might be able to become proficient at hitting a ball. But they’ll never be able to dunk anything other than a donut.
Here are some other things that are tougher to do than hitting a baseball.
Try slimming down to 115 pounds and riding a racehorse. Riding the horse would probably be the easy part for some of you.
Kicking a 50-yard field goal. Go ahead and try it. Go to a field, put the ball on a tee and see how difficult kicking a ball through goal posts 50-yards away is. How many people can do that in Colorado not named Jason Elam?
Try playing ice hockey sometime. Can you skate, stickhandle and shoot a puck without falling down and getting hurt? Some can, many can’t.
Back to baseball. Do you think many people can throw a 95-mile per hour fastball? Very few humans can and the ones that do are called professionals. By the way, most major league pitchers can’t even throw that hard.
So while hitting a baseball, especially when the ball is coming at you at a high rate of speed, is a difficult chore, it is not the toughest thing to do in sports, as some baseball broadcasters would have you believe. Shoot, I can hit a baseball. And I bet so can you.
GREEDY AND SELFISH….. By Bill Rogan (9-30-06)
I am a college football freak. I can't get enough of it. I won’t brag but I know more about college football than any man alive. Well, I suppose that was bragging. A little bit.
Seriously, I love college football but I refuse to watch it on Friday nights. I won’t do it because Friday night belongs to high school football.
In my football world, Friday night is for the high schools, Saturday for college and Sunday and Monday for the NFL.
It’s not only foolhardy for college football to intrude on their future players; it’s also greedy and selfish.
College coaches and administrators will say it is good exposure for the school and conference. I say it undermines high school football and that’s wrong. It would be refreshing if the NCAA told TV to take their money and stick it but that’s not happening.
Here’s a thought. Do you think college football would squawk if the NFL decided to play half their games on Saturday?
So I’ll continue to boycott viewing college football games on Friday night. Instead, maybe I’ll go catch a few high school football games. I hope you’ll join me.
THE FIGHTING IRISH…….By Bill Rogan (9-21-06)
People who know me, and those who listen to our radio program, know that I am a huge Notre Dame football fan. I can’t help it. I’ve lived and died with the Irish ever since I can remember.
Believe it or not, when I was a kid, not all Notre Dame football games were televised. On those wonderful days when the Irish would be on TV, my dad would blackmail me by threatening to not let me watch the game if I didn’t rake leaves or do other mindless chores. I never missed a game and to this day raking leaves remains my least favorite thing to do in life.
Usually, only the Purdue, Michigan State and Southern Cal games were televised and more often than not, the great Chris Schenkel was at the mike. When the games were not on TV, I would listen to the Irish on the radio. I would always catch the highlights of the game on Sunday morning with Lindsay Nelson narrating. Does the phrase, “after an exchange of punts,” sound familiar?
In my role as a sportscaster, I’d like to think that I am objective in my assessment of Notre Dame’s football program. I’ve been critical when it is warranted. However, I’ll always feel there was no clip on Rocket Ismail’s punt return in the Orange Bowl, that Notre Dame got jobbed out of the 1993 National Championship and that Ty Detmer winning the Heisman Trophy over the Rocket was a sham.
Which brings me to a question I’ve long pondered. Why, when Notre Dame loses, do people have to fill my answering machine ripping on the Irish and gloating over the loss? Why do they take such glee in sending me e-mails reminding me of the loss? Even people I don’t even know will go out of their way to come up to me if I’m wearing my Notre Dame baseball cap and heckle me about a recent Irish loss? When Notre Dame loses I can be sure every co-worker will rub it in. Look, I can take good natured barbs but sometimes it gets downright vicious and malicious. Why are they so happy when the Irish lose and why must they throw salt on my wounds? Do I mock them and make fun of their teams when they lose? No. Do I send them dunning phone messages and e-mails when their teams lose? No. Do I seek them out when Notre Dame wins and throw it in their faces? No.
Notre Dame is the greatest, most tradition-laden college football program ever. So, I can understand not liking Notre Dame but I don’t know why people celebrate every loss as if it’s the best thing that has ever happened. In truth, I don’t let these people bother me. They sort of amuse me. Even though most of them are my friends, I think they’re morons. The fact that Notre Dame wins more than they lose makes me feel good knowing that most of the time ND haters are anguishing over every Irish win. Anguishing. I hope they enjoy that.
GO IRISH!
LITTLE PAPI…..(9-15-06)
Red Sox Designated Hitter David Ortiz wants the American League MVP award. He wants it so badly that he has been campaigning for it, even going so far as to slam Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter who is also an MVP candidate.
Big Papi, who shall be referred to by me from now on as Little Papi, complained that Jeter’s not a 40-home run, 100-rbi guy like he is and that Jeter is surrounded by great players. Little Papi also slammed his own team when he said, “Come hit in this lineup and see how good you can be.” He conveniently failed to mention that he is a designated hitter who sits on his fat butt all game except when he has to waddle up to the plate.
Of course, when the ink hit the papers, Little Papi backtracked, saying his words were misunderstood. Typical of the athlete who puts his foot in his mouth and then says he was misconstrued. Or his words were taken out of context.
There is something very distasteful when athletes in team sports seek individual awards. While I’m sure most every athlete covets the MVP, there are ways to go about it and ways not to. Ortiz is going about it the wrong way and showing his selfish side. Jeter, in his 11-full seasons in pinstripes has never discussed individual awards. He only talks about team goals and winning. Heading down the stretch, the classy Jeter will not be drawn into discussions about the MVP or winning the batting title. All he wants to do is help his team win a World Series. Even Little Papi’s teammate Manny Ramirez has never campaigned for the MVP award. Although, that might be because Ramirez likely can’t spell MVP.
True, Ortiz is having another monster year at the plate but he’s not the MVP, even though he thinks he is. While Little Papi will be counting MVP votes come the post-season, Jeter will be trying to win his fifth World Series ring. And if the baseball writers have any sense at all, Jeter will also win his first AL MVP award. He deserves it and he didn’t campaign for it either.
HELTON FINISHED? (9-5-06)
It has been painful to watch Todd Helton at times this year. One of my favorite players ever, he’s just not Todd Helton. Or, I should say, he has not been the Todd Helton we have seen throughout his Rockies career.
It is hard to explain why he has gone from a power hitting run producer with a .340 average to an average player at best, hovering around the .300 mark.
Former Rockies broadcaster Wayne Hagin insinuated last year that Helton may have used steroids. The word Hagin used was “juice” which implies steroid use. I don’t think that is the case with Helton but because Commissioner Bud Selig and union leader Donald Fehr had their heads in the sand when steroid use first became prominent in baseball, everybody is under suspicion that has played the last 15-20 years. Again, I don’t think Helton used any illegal drugs but who knows?
Perhaps his desire and work ethic has waned. Once more, I don’t believe this to be the case. I have not seen too many athletes, in any sport, who work as hard as Helton does or who wants his team to win as badly as Helton does.
He was sick earlier this year with intestinal problems and spent time on the disabled list. That robbed him of strength and maybe he hasn’t fully recovered. I don’t know how long it takes to return to form after acute ileitis.
I believe Helton’s loss of power relates to his back problems over the years. Helton reminds me a lot of Don Mattingly and I’ll use Donnie Baseball as an example. A 30-home run guy with the Yankees in the mid-80’s Mattingly started having back troubles related to the violent act of swinging a bat. In his final six seasons, Mattingly only hit double figures in home runs twice. Although always a productive player, his back problems prevented him from putting up the monster numbers he did earlier in his career and that likely will keep him out of the Hall of Fame.
So while Helton will probably not be a 35 home run and 120 RBI guy anymore, I still think he can and will be a productive player down the road. Most every player has a substandard season in their careers at some point. Consider this Helton’s transformation season. I fully expect him to be a solid and productive player next year if he can stay healthy. This is one player you should not count out. Just don’t expect the young slugging version of Todd Helton. Expect the post back trouble Mattingly-type Helton. And if I were a Rockies fan, that would be fine by me.
ESSAYMANIA! (By Bill Rogan 8-22-06)
I have a strong feeling I’m in the minority here but it wouldn’t be the first time. I’ll fess up. I truly enjoyed Dennis Miller when he was one of the Monday Night Football announcers for two seasons. It seems every article that mentions new Monday night announcer Tony Kornheiser has to bring up Miller in negative fashion. I found Miller to be funny, clever and different even if half the stuff he said went over my head. I’d much rather listen to him drop an obscure reference or a witticism than some “real” color commentator telling me it is important for the Cowboys to stay away from penalties and turnovers. As for Tony Kornheiser, I have always found him to be a complete bore and not nearly as funny as he thinks he is. The first two Monday night exhibition games confirm my belief. They should have brought Dennis Miller back.
Don’t you just love when people get what they deserve? In the eyes of track athlete Marion Jones, we are all fools. Her ex-husband, shot-putter C.J. Hunter was popped for steroid use. Her boyfriend, sprinter Tim Montgomery was banned for using illegal performance enhancing drugs. Her coach, Trevor Graham was front and center in a major drug scandal in 2005. Slimy Victor Conte, of the BALCO lab that provided illegal drugs to athletes, said he gave Jones several different illegal drugs before the 2000 Sydney Olympic games. Jones however remained steadfast that she never took illegal drugs. Despite being surrounded by cheaters Jones wanted us to believe she was clean. She threatened lawsuits and was constantly saying she wasn’t a cheater. Last month, she ran her fastest 100m time in four years at the age of 31. Guess what? Miss “I’ve Never Used Performance Enhancing Drugs” Jones had a dirty test from the USA Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis in June and now faces a two-year ban. The female version of Rafael Palmiero still feels the need to lie, mistaking everyone for idiots. Of her current failed test, Jones says she is, “shocked.” Probably shocked she got caught. Or, maybe she’s shocked that we don’t believe her. Not then. Not now. Not ever.
As a Yankees fan, it was awfully sweet to see the Yanks dismantle the Red Sox the past five games at Fenway Park. Do you think Boston fans are jumping off the ship? Jeff Andrews sent me an e-mail that simply said, “Go Pats.” After 2004, Sawx fans were pretty chipper and quite chirpy as well they should have been. But now, the baseball Gods have restored the proper pecking order in the American League East. Yankees first. Red Sox second. The way it should be. I’m glad I won’t be around in 84 years when the Red Sox get around to winning their next World Series title.
I admire the never say die attitude of some baseball fans. There are some people here in Colorado who still hold out hope that the Rockies can capture the Wild Card in the National League. My advice to them would be to hope that they can get to .500 before dreaming of post-season play. If you are 6 games below the .500 mark in late August, the only place you are going at the end of the regular season is home.
THE LEGEND OF ROSCOE ROUNDABOUT…..(By Bill Rogan 8-17-06)
When speaking of the greatest athletes of all-time, names such as Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Jim Brown, Wayne Gretzky, Muhammad Ali and Joe Montana are among those thrown into the discussion.
Some might include Secretariat, the Triple Crown winning horse of 1973. But if you allow animals to enter into the greatest athletes of all-time discourse, then you must submit the name of Roscoe Roundabout. Get ready for a little history here.
Roscoe Roundabout was not a horse or some wimpy show dog. No, Roscoe Roundabout was a swift and sleek greyhound that raced during the halcyon days of dog racing in the 1930’s. Known as “The Babe Ruth of Greyhound Racing,” Roscoe Roundabout dominated his sport like no other athlete has, then or since. Other than former heavyweight champeen Rocky Marciano (49-0), I can’t think of another professional athlete that has never experienced the bitter taste of defeat.
From 1935 through 1938, the incredible Roscoe Roundabout won 143 races and lost none. That’s right, 143-0. Most of those wins, according to the book, “The Definitive History of Greyhound Racing,” by Thomas Mattison, were in convincing fashion, where the only race was for place.
After beginning at small greyhound racetracks in the New England region, Roscoe Roundabout started touring other tracks around the country. Owner Raul Romero sought the best competition for his prized greyhound but no dog could come close to beating Roscoe Roundabout. His records still stand at some of the older greyhound tracks still in operation. On more than one occasion, the freakishly fast greyhound actually caught the lure much to the delight and amazement of the patrons.
Greyhound racing historian and film maker Dick Themura said in a 1985 documentary on the sport that famed race horse Seabiscuit and Roscoe Roundabout were, arguably, the most popular athletes of the 1930’s, drawing enormous crowds whenever and wherever they raced.
The end of Roscoe Roundabout’s career was dramatic and emotional. The famed greyhound was hitting the California circuit and a greyhound track was built inside the Los Angeles Coliseum for a one-time appearance by Roscoe Roundabout. A throng of more than 83-thousand people, still a greyhound racing record, turned out to see Roscoe Roundabout run. What they saw that July 11th day in 1938 was perhaps the greatest greyhound race in the history of the sport.
Grainy film footage shows that, as expected, Roscoe Roundabout dominated the race, but down the stretch with about 30-yards to go, the amazing greyhound broke his right front ankle. He pulled up briefly in pain but with the other greyhounds closing fast, Roscoe Roundabout sprinted across the wire first despite the injury. It would turn out to be his final race. Roscoe Roundabout was taken away by ambulance with the crowd watching in stunned disbelief at what they has just witnessed.
Roscoe Roundabout recovered just fine but his racing career was over. He was adopted by Patricia O’Keeley and lived out his life on a farm in Newport, Rhode Island.
As a matter of fact, you can visit Lincoln Greyhound Park outside of Providence and view the bronze statue of Hall of Fame Greyhound Roscoe Roundabout, maybe the greatest athlete of all-time and, unfortunately, perhaps the most forgotten athlete ever.
WHITEY……. (8-9-06)
Have you ever held a check for 3.4 million dollars in your hands? I have. Unfortunately, it was not made out to me.
The check belonged to an 18-year old named Matt White.
Matt White was a flame-throwing right-hander out of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. The San Francisco Giants selected him with the 7th overall pick in the 1996 draft. However, by not offering White a contract within a certain time frame, they lost his rights and White became a free agent. The expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays, yet to play a major league game, signed White to a still-record bonus of 10.2 million dollars.
Some people scoffed at giving that kind of money to a high school pitcher, even if he did throw 95-miles per hour plus and was named Baseball America’s High School Player of the Year. Others, like then-Devil Rays owner Vince Naimoli, compared him to Roger Clemens. General Manager Chuck LaMar claimed that White could become one of the greatest pitchers ever.
It just so happened the 6’5, 230 pound White began his professional career in 1997 with the Hudson Valley Renegades of the NY-Penn League, the team I was broadcasting for. While he didn’t dominate, it was clear he was supremely talented with a big league future. He was also a nice, friendly and polite kid with his head screwed on straight.
I was in the team office one day when Whitey was called in to pick up one of his three bonus installments sent to him from the Devil Rays. We both were walking out the door at the same time and I asked him if that was his bonus check. He said it was. It may have been unprofessional and it may have been completely out of line, but I asked Matt if I could take a look. He opened the envelope and handed me the check. I looked at it and sure enough, there was his name and 3.4 million dollars written on it.
The following spring, Whitey started in the first ever game for the Devil Rays, a spring training meeting against Florida State.
Then the injuries started to creep in. Three shoulder surgeries and a knee operation. He missed three seasons completely and parts of others. He kept trying to come back only to face setback after setback, roadblock after roadblock.
White won his last minor league game in 2002. He had stints in AAA. His last game was in 2003 for AA Orlando. He gave everything he had to overcome his injuries.
Apparently he has invested his money wisely and is set financially for life. He’s married now and is working on his degree. He’s also interested in coaching.
Matt White retired from baseball last month at the age of 27 without ever throwing a big league pitch.
NFL TRAINING CAMPS.….(8-3-06)
High up on the things that bore me is NFL Training Camps. The only thing I like about training camps opening is that it reminds me the NFL season is approaching.
I’ve actually attended a few training camps, as a fan or media member, not as a player or coach. Every single time I’ve been at a training camp practice I’ve been bored out of my mind.
I used to go to at least one Giants training camp session each year, thinking it was my duty as a fan to check out the team. It usually resulted in getting sunburned and into arguments with fellow obnoxious Giants fans.
I’ve been to Steelers training camp and have also taken in Broncos training camp from time to time and the same theme prevails….boredom. And, I’m not one who easily gets bored.
I was listening to a “Broncos Training Camp Update” the other day on the radio. It was the lead story in the sportscast. The reporter was mentioning that a Broncos offensive lineman looked good in the early practice. Oh really. How would you know? When I view practices I haven’t a clue who is looking good and who is looking bad. Maybe a guy gets an earful from a coach. Perhaps a guy makes a nice catch. Maybe next time the reporter can tell us that so and so had a nice stretching session before practice. Mostly, that’s just what it is. Practice. That’s all. Practice. Rinse. Repeat.
The exhibition games, um, excuse me; the PRE-SEASON games are next on the NFL boredom list. I’ve been to these games and viewed parts of some games on TV. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an NFL pre-season game start to finish. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen an entire half of exhibition football before zonking out, and I don’t mean Larry Csonka.
The games are horrible to watch and mean zilch. When I was a growing boy, the Giants went 6-0 one year in exhibition play. Visions of the Super Bowl danced in my empty head only to come crashing back to the reality of a 2-12 season. Since that year, I have never cared one bit about exhibition football games. Actually, if I had my druthers, I would rather have the Giants lose every exhibition game. Why waste wins on games that don’t count?
The only thing I am concerned about regarding training camp and exhibition games is injuries. I just hope the Giants enter the season healthy. I also check for injuries to other teams. While I don’t actively root for injuries to the Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins, if they happen, I must admit it doesn’t ruin my day. Call me a bad human being if you must, but let me ask you this, when your division rivals suffer injuries, how upset are you?
So take training camp for what its worth and that is very little. Wake me up when the season starts. Then I won’t be able to get enough football.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL…..(By Bill Rogan 7-27-06)
People ask me all the time why I love college football so much. Well, I’ll tell you why. Here are just a few reasons why I can’t get enough of the great sport and spectacle that is college football………
Traditions, On-campus stadiums, Linebacker U, The Rocket, Keith Jackson, Pre-Season polls, The Red River Shootout, Traveler, Dotting the I, The Wishbone, The Little Brown Jug, Flyovers, The Worlds Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, Belue to Scott, The Swamp, The Big House, The Horseshoe, The Yale Bowl, The Coliseum, The Rose Bowl, The Orange Bowl, Uga, Tony Roberts, The Grove, Walk-ons, Rudy, student body right, tailgating, road trips, marching bands, fight songs, The Big Ten, The SEC, The Pac 10, The Big 12, bowl games, win one for The Gipper, Army-Navy, Notre Dame-Southern Cal, Alabama-Auburn, Michigan-Ohio State, Harvard-Yale, Lafayette-Lehigh, Cal-Stanford, Hook ‘em Horns, Games of the century, Texas-Arkansas 1969, Rutgers-Princeton 1869, Osborne going for two, Johnny Rodgers punt return, The Heisman Trophy, Death Valley, touching the rock, Play Like A Champion Today, Paul Bunyan’s axe, The Four Horsemen, Grantland Rice, Boomer Sooner, Lee Corso, Tigers, Yellow Jackets, Bulldogs, Crimson Tide, Trojans, Wolverines, Buckeyes, Boilermakers, Cornhuskers, Fighting Irish, Sparty, Chris Schenkel, Beano Cook, The Leprechaun, War Eagle, Ralphie, Cam The Ram, The Flaming Spear, Renegade, Touchdown Jesus, Tailback U, Barry Sanders, Billy Sims, Earl Campbell, Bo Jackson, Archie Griffin, The Galloping Ghost, bowl games, mid-season polls, The Iron Bowl, The Backyard Brawl, Saturday mornings, afternoons and nights, tear away jerseys, gold helmets, winged helmets, numbers on helmets, night games in Baton Rouge, Flutie to Phelan, Thanksgiving weekend, The 12th man, Brutus Buckeye, Kirk Herbstreit, checkerboard end zones, Rocky Top, The Bear, Knute, Ara, Bo, Woody, Bobby B and Joe Pa, song girls, after an exchange of punts we pick up action in the 3rd quarter, Lindsay Nelson, The Cotton Bowl, The Victory Bell, wide right, Quarterback U, The Civil war, spring football, five star recruits, New Year’s Day, The National Championship, and of course….cheer cheer for old Notre Dame.
There ya go. Those are some of the reasons why I love college football.
ENOUGH ALREADY…..(By Bill Rogan 7-20-06)
On Tuesday night, 51-years after his last professional baseball game, Buck O’Neil batted twice during the Northern League All-Star game. At 94, O’Neil became the oldest professional baseball player ever. One person who was probably upset was Jim Eriotes. Just a week before, the salty 83-year old Eriotes became the oldest pro baseball player when he struck out in an independent minor league game.
What is next? Finding a 97-year old guy to suit up and get in a game. Maybe a 99-year old geezer? What about on the other side of the coin, telling a 3-year old to grab a bat and get in there, thus becoming the youngest pro baseball player ever? By the way, would that eliminate his eligibility for little league and high school?
How about a pregnant woman stepping in to take a few hacks off a pro pitcher? That would kill two records at once. Those records being the first pregnant woman to play in a professional game along with the youngest player, that being the fetus.
Maybe one of these idiot minor league general managers can find the first transsexual professional baseball player. You get the idea.
It’s time these ridiculous stunts stop. There is no purpose to this nonsense other than getting some cheap publicity out of it. I don’t think Buck O’Neil, or anybody, should be used as a publicity tool in such a clownish manner.
Trotting seniors out there to set oldest player records is not only stupid, its dangerous. O’Neil was intentionally walked twice but he did take a swing and nearly fell. Eriotes was actually pitched to and he fouled off an offering before striking out. He took it seriously whereas O’Neil was dressed in dungarees and sneakers, on a day in which temperatures in Kansas City reached 100-degrees. Did anybody with half a brain think that maybe people that age could get injured by falling down or having a heart attack in an environment that likely raises the heart rate?
What is wrong with simply having O’Neil show up, sign some autographs, wave to the crowd, throw out the first pitch and then enjoy the game?
I know firsthand that minor league baseball is all about promotions and having fun at the park. But making spectacles out of old men and jeopardizing their well-being is not what I call having fun at the park. Yep, its all fun and games until the old guy gets taken out on a stretcher.
A PRO’S PRO……(By Bill Rogan 7-16-06)
When you are a free-agent wide receiver out of a Division II school, you better have a strong work ethic. When you are that same free agent not blessed with the biggest size or speed, you better have a big heart.
There is no player I admire or respect more in the NFL than Broncos Wide Receiver Rod Smith who was a long shot to even be in the league when he was signed out of Missouri Southern in 1994. He certainly shouldn’t be getting ready for his 12th NFL campaign. He went from the practice squad to the Pro Bowl.
Smith is not flashy. He’s not Hollywood. He doesn’t complain when things don’t go right. He just works harder. The guy never misses practices, plays hurt and is the ultimate team player.
Watch closely when Smith is interviewed after a Broncos loss. You can see the hurt, and sometimes anger, in his eyes. The guy cares. A true professional. When the Broncos win, Smith is quick to credit his teammates and coaches.
It is unfortunate that Broncos holdout receiver Ashley Lelie hasn’t learned a thing or two about comportment from Smith. If he had, he wouldn’t be moaning about not being the number one receiver and he would compete for the job. Like Broncos Head Coach Mike Shanahan says, “Talk is cheap.”
If you were to ask a casual football fan, preferably one not based in Denver, who the top 10 wide receivers are in the NFL, I’m willing to bet that Smith would be left off many lists.
Perhaps it is because he plays a position dominated by “look at me” types. Terrell Owens, Keyshawn Johnson, Randy Moss, Chad Johnson are just some of the receivers who clamor attention, either through their end zone celebrations or their big mouths.
Rod Smith? He’ll leave the dancing and outrageous quotes to others. He’s too busy working his tail off in hopes of getting that elusive third Super Bowl ring.
WHERE’S MARK AND SAMMY?…..(By Bill Rogan 7-11-06)
In 1998 they dominated the sports news. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were everywhere. People arrived at ballparks early just to watch them hit monster home runs in batting practice. They were chasing the ghost of Roger Maris, trying to surpass his home run record of 61 in a single season. McGwire was the first to pass Maris on his way to 70 home runs. Sosa also flew by Maris with 66.
Sosa and McGwire, McGwire and Sosa. They were inseparable in the summer of 1998. Many credit the home run chase waged by the duo for saving baseball, although I think that is overly dramatic. Saving baseball? No. Returning much of its popularity after the bitterness of the 1994 strike? Yes.
So there was the excitable Sosa, blowing kisses to the fans and the boyishly shy McGwire, coming out of his shell thanks to Sammy’s exuberance. The most popular sluggers in the game, one a Cub and one a Cardinal.
Fast forward just eight years later. It’s time for the All-Star game and where is Mark McGwire? Where is Sammy Sosa? They have become ghosts.
McGwire retired after the 2001 season and has kept a low profile. His embarrassing appearance before congress in March of 2005 may have something to do with that.
When questioned on Capitol Hill if he took steroids, all Big Mac could utter was, “I’m not here to talk about the past.” He looked pathetic.
Sosa, suddenly forgot how to speak English when sitting before congress that very day. His translator did the talking and didn’t say much either.
Sosa is out of the game and is no longer the lovable character that he was in 1998. His exit from the Cubs was anything but smooth and his lone season in Baltimore in 2005 was forgettable. Washed up at 37.
So while McGwire and Sosa should be taking bows and posing for pictures at baseball’s biggest events as stars from baseball’s tradition rich past, they are hidden from view. Why? Have they been shamed into a life of privacy? Has baseball purposely avoided inviting them to the All Star game and other marquee celebrations?
Paul Simon sang, “Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio.” Now, he could sing the same thing about McGwire and Sosa but without the reverent tone.
The home run chase between Sammy and Big Mac is forever over. Sosa ends up with 588 career homers to McGwire’s 583. It also appears as if the spotlight will never again shine brightly on these two steroid-linked ex-baseball stars.
SICKENING………(7-5-06)
At first it was an amusing story. Then it got to be old. Now it must just go away. I’m talking about competitive eating competitions.
Yesterday, in what has become a July 4th tradition, Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi downed a world record 53 ¾ hot dogs in 12-minutes to win his 6th consecutive Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. Thousands of people gathered on the Coney Island boardwalk to watch this 160-pound human pig win 25-thousand dollars and hold on to the Yellow Mustard Belt.
The United States had their hopes pinned on a disgusting 220-pound human trash compacter named Joey Chestnut who ate 52 hot dogs during the event which was broadcast by ESPN. Enough already. Why are we watching competitive eating? When will this madness end? When somebody chokes and dies on a hot dog? When somebody explodes…literally? Why are we rewarding people for being eating machines?
It is beyond my belief that we have stooped so low as a society to be entertained by such repulsive behavior. Are we that bored that we have to watch folks ruin their digestive systems for our amusement?
Sends a nice message to the kids too. So Tommy, you can’t run, throw or jump worth a darn. You are as athletic as a cinder block. Have you thought about a career as a competitive eater?
The Nathan’s competition isn’t the only competitive eating event either. There are competitions for eating jalapenos, matzo balls, pies, hard boiled eggs and all sorts of things. There are people in this world who are starving yet in the United States we sponsor unadulterated gluttony.
What about a follow up vomiting competition? Competitive Hurling. That I would watch.
