In the never ending story of the Steroid Era in baseball, we seem to be hitting the fictional part. Charlie Sheen, the actor who was fired from "Two and a Half Men," recently admitted to steroid use while filming the movie "Major League" back in the 1980's. Sheen said he took steroids for 6-8 weeks while filming and that his fastball went from 79 to 85 MPH. Okay, this is just crap. Baseball has already been bashed enough for this era in real life and now it's fictional players are juicing up? What's next? Benny the Jet from "The Sandlot" was really on Amphetamines? This is ridiculous that Charlie Sheen had to actually bulk up in order to play a part.
P.S. Counterpoint: He might have been researching for the role and found that many players were secretly taking steroids and decided to try it himself wanting to get the full experience of a baseball player. Then again, he's not that smart.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Paul Kariya Retires
A sad reality of sports is that athletes eventually have to retire and hang up the gloves. Well, I guess skates in this case. Gloves too. Anyway, one of my personal favorite hockey players, Paul Kariya, announced his retirement yesterday due to post-concussion symptoms. Sad to see any player forced to quit because of injury, especially one related to concussions sustained during a career. A lesson the NHL needs to remember (except for fighting).
Kariya played 15 seasons in the NHL with most of that with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. He and the team reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 2003 but would lose to the New Jersey Devils in 7 games despite a valiant game 6 performance from Kariya. Kariya would never get his name on the Cup but still had a fine career. He finishes with 402 goals and 587 assists combining for 989 career points. Not bad for any player.
It's sad to see you go, Paul, but thanks for the memories. May you enjoy retirement.
Kariya played 15 seasons in the NHL with most of that with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. He and the team reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 2003 but would lose to the New Jersey Devils in 7 games despite a valiant game 6 performance from Kariya. Kariya would never get his name on the Cup but still had a fine career. He finishes with 402 goals and 587 assists combining for 989 career points. Not bad for any player.
It's sad to see you go, Paul, but thanks for the memories. May you enjoy retirement.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
US Wins Opening Match in 2011 Women's World Cup
That's right. Some Women's World Cup Coverage.
The US Women's Soccer team played their first game of the tournament earlier today in Germany. They faced North Korea who were actually pretty good. Eventually they broke them down as Lauren Cheney scored a goal in the 54th minute and then Rachel Buehler scored in the 76th minute. The US would win their opening match, 2-0. The US Women's next game is Saturday against Colombia. A great start for the US Women though I guess North Korea will just blame that and their eventual elimination on the weather. Good luck on your next match, USA, and remember there is no crying in Soccer except if you're Cristiano Ronaldo.
The US Women's Soccer team played their first game of the tournament earlier today in Germany. They faced North Korea who were actually pretty good. Eventually they broke them down as Lauren Cheney scored a goal in the 54th minute and then Rachel Buehler scored in the 76th minute. The US would win their opening match, 2-0. The US Women's next game is Saturday against Colombia. A great start for the US Women though I guess North Korea will just blame that and their eventual elimination on the weather. Good luck on your next match, USA, and remember there is no crying in Soccer except if you're Cristiano Ronaldo.
Gamecocks win College World Series... Again
I've commented on College Basketball which I'm not much a fan of and I have commented on the BCS Bowl games and the BCS Title game which is totally ludicrous. So I guess I have to comment on the College World Series.
My interest in this year's College World Series was actually centered around Cal for the most part what with losing their program and then getting it back. It's a pity, though, that they didn't get to the semifinals this year. Anyway, the two teams that made it to the Finals were South Carolina, last year's champions, and Florida. I guess the SEC also has prime talent for baseball as well as football. Anyway, South Carolina took game 1 yesterday thanks to some throwing errors, 2-1, and were looking to seal the deal today. Despite the short rest, Mike Roth comes in and pitches well with 7 2/3 innings pitched, striking out 6, and allowing 2 earned runs. Mike Pryce then comes in and finishes the job. Gamecocks win, 5-2, and claim their second straight national championship.
South Carolina seems to have the baseball program down. On top of this, the Gamecocks also have 16 straight NCAA tournament wins and 11 straight wins in the College World Series, both of which are records. Feel a bit sorry for Florida but then I remembered it was just College Baseball. Anyway, congrats to South Carolina on repeating. Better you than the Lakers.
My interest in this year's College World Series was actually centered around Cal for the most part what with losing their program and then getting it back. It's a pity, though, that they didn't get to the semifinals this year. Anyway, the two teams that made it to the Finals were South Carolina, last year's champions, and Florida. I guess the SEC also has prime talent for baseball as well as football. Anyway, South Carolina took game 1 yesterday thanks to some throwing errors, 2-1, and were looking to seal the deal today. Despite the short rest, Mike Roth comes in and pitches well with 7 2/3 innings pitched, striking out 6, and allowing 2 earned runs. Mike Pryce then comes in and finishes the job. Gamecocks win, 5-2, and claim their second straight national championship.
South Carolina seems to have the baseball program down. On top of this, the Gamecocks also have 16 straight NCAA tournament wins and 11 straight wins in the College World Series, both of which are records. Feel a bit sorry for Florida but then I remembered it was just College Baseball. Anyway, congrats to South Carolina on repeating. Better you than the Lakers.
Dodgers File for Bankruptcy Protection
If this was a game of Monopoly, Frank McCourt would be trashing the game board out of spite right about now. The Dodgers pitiful season of financial troubles seems to be coming to an frightful end as the team has filed for bankruptcy protection. McCourt now hopes that he can get $150 million so he can continue to search for a better media contract. The one he was ready to get was rejected by Bud Selig last week. McCourt will be heard today to see if he can get the money and be able to meet payroll. The team is bad and their off field woes seems to never end. Meanwhile, Selig seems to be going in for the kill on McCourt's ownership giving him no quarter. How does the commissioner overturn a divorce settlement? I don't see how McCourt can survive this much longer.
Monday, June 27, 2011
T.O. Had Sugrery?
Sort of a shocker was revealed yesterday. While the lockout is in place, players are having workouts run by themselves and the one thing they don't want to have happen as a result is injury. That seemed to happen to a prominent player in the NFL but not in a team workout. Terrell Owens seems to have torn his ACL at sometime and has apparently had a surgery to fix it. What's weird about this is that there is conflicting reports as to how he could've done this. One source says it happened during a personal workout while another said he sustained it during a taping of a reality show. Either way, he seems to be out for most if not all of the 2011 NFL season, provided there is a 2011 NFL season.
I really wish he injured it during a reality show taping. That would be so funny. Anyway, the best case scenario for TO seems to be about 6 months which means he could come back late mid season when a team is looking for a player to hire for a playoff push. As much as I dislike TO, he is still a great player when healthy and a team needing a WR for the postseason will take a look at him. If I'm TO, however, I'm sorting wishing for a complete lockout season. I know things are seemingly going well in discussions but hypothetically TO would be better off. He would get healed properly and people wouldn't necessarily forget about him. A season played without TO means less of a chance of him coming back. Just a thought.
P.S. The reason I waited for a while to report on this was because I thought he was going to retire and I didn't want to write two posts. I see that was wrong (unfortunately) and I had to speculate on his future instead.
I really wish he injured it during a reality show taping. That would be so funny. Anyway, the best case scenario for TO seems to be about 6 months which means he could come back late mid season when a team is looking for a player to hire for a playoff push. As much as I dislike TO, he is still a great player when healthy and a team needing a WR for the postseason will take a look at him. If I'm TO, however, I'm sorting wishing for a complete lockout season. I know things are seemingly going well in discussions but hypothetically TO would be better off. He would get healed properly and people wouldn't necessarily forget about him. A season played without TO means less of a chance of him coming back. Just a thought.
P.S. The reason I waited for a while to report on this was because I thought he was going to retire and I didn't want to write two posts. I see that was wrong (unfortunately) and I had to speculate on his future instead.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Mexico Wins Gold at the Rose Bowl
The Gold Cup final was yesterday and over 93,000 fans showed up in attendance with the majority rooting for Mexico. The Mexican Soccer team has had an interesting tournament to say the least as they immediately lost 5 of their guys due to failed blood tests which they blamed on bad meat. That didn't stop them at all as they have blazed by their opponents so far. This final would be a bit different. The US started the match off on the right foot with 2 consecutive goals. Mexico would seemingly be unfazed by it as they scored 2 goals by half time to tie things up. The second half came and Mexico picked up right where they left off. A second goal was scored by Pablo Barrera and later a spectacular goal was shot in by Giovani Dos Santos. Mexico put the US out of their misery, 4-2, and claim the Gold Cup.
A magnificent tournament for Mexico as they claim a spot in the Confederations Cup in 2013 thanks to this victory. Chicharito was a huge boost for the team even though he didn't score in the final itself. The US should still be proud of their effort even though they lost. Perhaps it would've been different if Steve Cherundolo wasn't injured so soon but you have to learn to deal with bad luck. Congrats to Mexico on the win and your second straight Gold Cup title.
P.S. Does this mean they can smell the roses?
P.P.S. Oh and Tim Howard, shut up.
A magnificent tournament for Mexico as they claim a spot in the Confederations Cup in 2013 thanks to this victory. Chicharito was a huge boost for the team even though he didn't score in the final itself. The US should still be proud of their effort even though they lost. Perhaps it would've been different if Steve Cherundolo wasn't injured so soon but you have to learn to deal with bad luck. Congrats to Mexico on the win and your second straight Gold Cup title.
P.S. Does this mean they can smell the roses?
P.P.S. Oh and Tim Howard, shut up.
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