The Starting Five: Week of June 25, 2007
Posted by Jason Goodman on 06.25.2007
MLB milestones, NFL woes, and NBA questions abound, in WEEK 2 of the Starting 5!
My Yankees are in desperate times right now. After making a great run sto start the month, they have meandered back to a sub-.500 record. I can deal with them losing, lord knows I grew up in the 80's, but this "careless baseball" thing has GOT to stop! Thankfully, the Mets have resumed their winning ways, because I don't know if I can remember or handle New York without meaningful baseball in the fall. But enough of my whining, there's ranting to be done, so on with the show!
Welcome to Week 2 of The Starting 5, where we take a look at 5 stories that may have some sort of impact on the coming week in sports. I give my take on them, and do my best to mold all you loyal readers to come around to my way of thinking. While the latter may not be certain, I hope to at least entertain and inform you a bit. And, with that bit of exposition out of the way, let's get to it:
Repeats are better than nice, they're F'N SPECTACULAR!:
Congratulations to the Oregon State Beavers, the first team to repeat as college baseball champions since LSU exactly one decade ago. Even more impressive than the repeat was the manner in which the Beavers accomplished their goal. Going into Game 2, Oregon hadn't trailed in its last 61 Innings, since playing Virginia for the regional championship back on June 5. They made things much easier than the previous year, during which they had to continually stave off elimination just to get to the final. They also managed to clinch against a Tar Heels squad who was 4-0 in elimination games. Title defenses are always a big deal, and there are now only 5 teams in the College World Series who can lay claim to that particular feat.
This is getting (to quote Mr. Csonka) RI-GODDAM-DICULOUS:
Let me get this across to you all right now: I don't CARE if Adam "Pacman" Jones gets these charges dropped, or is found "not guilty," he's been arrested AGAIN. I want to put this in perspective for you: I have been at my current job a few months longer than he has been in the NFL(Jones was drafted in 2005). There is NO WAY IN HELL I could've been arrested SIX TIMES since my first day of work, and still have a job! In history, there are cases of vocal civil rights leaders being repeatedly arrested just to be discouraged from making noise; HE is not one of them!
There is a culture in the NFL right now, and it is sad to see because it overshadows some of the great players who have emerged in the last couple of years. I honestly don't know what options I can offer to help stop it, I mean we're talking about people who went to COLLEGE, here. Remember when the mere thought of being able to go to college was enough to make people straighten up? Well, what in the world are these kids learning there nowadays? Dog fighting, strip club altercations, SPEEDING?? Are you kidding me??? Tank Johnson, you can't hire a driver, or a TAXI??? Oh, I guess not, thanks to Fred Evans, who got tasered in Miami after an argument with a driver grew into a violent altercation with police! Roger Goodell and the Players Union, you have a LOT of work to do, starting with this week's Rookie Symposium. I'm also looking to a lot of the veteran players to keep their locker rooms in check.
The NBA Chess Game Begins:
Kevin Garnett has made the first real move in this NBA offseason, vetoing a trade that would have sent the 12-year veteran forward to the Boston Celtics. Minnesota would have also sent guard Troy Hudson in return for Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Wally Szczerbiak, Sebastian Telfair AND the Celtic's #5 overall pick in the coming Draft. For right now, you can expect to see the biggest games played by Garnett and Kobe Bryant, as they will not go anywhere they don't see the chance to win.
Along with the onslaught of trade possibilities, soon to come, is the mystery of the Draft itself. Who will go #1? We all know it's a toss-up between Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, but what comes after that? The added variable of the international players gives this, and every Drafy really, an added depth that could truly affect the coming season. The Raptors' picks of Andrea Bargnani and Jorge Garbajosa helped rocket the team into the playoffs last season. Will the Knicks, Celtics, or Sixers go that route, and attempt to build around new player cores? Will the East manage to gain some sort of parity? All these questions will begin to be answered this coming week.
Junior… Makes Fans Happy:
Congratulations to Cincinnatti Reds now-right fielder Ken Griffey Jr., for two things; 1) Passing Mark McGuire for 7th on the all-time home-run list, and inching closer to the elusive 600-club, and 2) Giving the Seattle faithful, who showed something more than just class by welcoming the perennial All-Star back with such open arms, something to enjoy in his last game at that stadium for – well, who knows how long. Griffey, now at 584 home runs, is one of a number of people making headlines for their statistical accomplishments this season.
Sammy Sosa hit home run #600 last week against his former team, the Cubs, and is showing that he has plenty more left in the tank. Craig Biggio edged closer to the VERY elusive 3000-hit plateau in clutch fashion, against Sosa's Texas Rangers, giving the Astros the lead and the win in the 10th inning this past Sunday. Roger Clemens is one win away from 350, and continues to pile up strikeouts like nobody's business, and Tom Glavine is only 4 wins away from his 300th. Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez are all seemingly moments away from hitting their 500th home runs this season, Frank Thomas quite literally at 499. Griffey, Ivan Rodriguez, Luis Gonzalez and Gary Sheffield will all reach the 2500-hit mark soon. Oh, and let's not forget the Braves' John Smoltz, who this season became the ONLY pitcher to amass 200+ wins and 150+ saves. At this point, do I even NEED to mention the big man playing in San Francisco?
Baseball statisticians will be euphoric as this season chugs along. Which reminds me, another milestone is the subject of the June 25th Manager's Rant of the week:
Seeing as a certain Braves manager is on the cusp of breaking a streak nobody's ever thought about until this season, I will give you his Minor League counterpart doing his best to open for the Legendary… Bobby Cox. Mr, Phillip Wellman, take it away!
Title IX Turns 35:
We are upon the 35th anniversary of Title IX, a piece of legislation that changed American sports forever by ensuring that women's sports would receive equal – or, at least, proportionate – funding. It is amazing to me that there was ever controversy about giving women's sports their equal due, although such wonder may only belie my age. Thanks to title IX, we had a women's national soccer team captivate the nation a few years back, the birth of the WNBA, the much-respected Women's College World Series, and the pretty much household-name status of athletes such as Mia Hamm, Flo-Jo(Florence Griffith-Joyner, for those of you not in the know), Lisa Leslie, the Williams Sisters(because who's to say that without proper funding for any tennis programs, they would've ever had a sustained interest in the sport), and others. The fact that any legislation passed which calls for equality on ANY level still causes a stir is repulsive, and ALL athletes, not-just-but-especially women, need to look back at that law and understand exactly what it means to the sports world.
Walkin' Off
I'll see you again next week, with results and repercussions from the NBA draft. Thanks for reading, as always, and make sure to check out the rest of 411!
