The Weekend in Sports (in Under 600 Words)
by kev on April 30, 2007 

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This past weekend was huge if you are a sports fan. Every single major sport had something major happening. Even lame sports like NHL and NBA had exciting fun eventful weekends. Since this blog is supposed to be about “sports, money and pop culture” and it’s been leaning heavily towards the middle one on that list lately, I am going to recap the weekend in sports (in under 600 words).

NFL Draft

The National Football League held its annual draft this weekend. It is amazing how big of an event this thing has become. On Saturday, it was on ESPN/ESPN2 from 11 AM to 10 PM. And that was only the first half of the draft. Some observations:

ESPN’s draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. is like Santa Claus - his entire year revolves around one day. I think he should be required to wear a red suit and gray beard.

The Coors Light fake news conference commercial with Mike Ditka must have been aired 29 times on Saturday. I know it’s fake because if it was real “Iron Mike” would have body slammed those annoying guys for asking him so many stupid questions.

The Miami Dolphins’ passing of QB Brady Quinn with the 9th overall pick didn’t surprise me nearly as much as the person they chose to select instead. Ohio State’s Ted Ginn Jr. is super fast, but he has an injured ankle. He’s a WR, but he can’t catch. I’m guessing the only way he could have been more appealing to the Dolphins is if he was blind.

NHL and NBA Playoffs

It’s said that you can surmise how much a person likes a topic by how much they talk/write about it.

Baseball

The Yankees are in a free fall. At home in New York, they lost two of three to the hated Boston Red Sox. Things are so bad the New York papers are speculating their future Hall of Fame manager, Joe Torre, could soon be fired. My only question: When is the karma police going to get the New York Mets?

The Braves are off to a solid start this season, but what oh what has happened to closer Bob Wickman? With two blown saves in his past three appearances, the usually solid Wickman has turned a possible 7-2 road trip into a 5 wins, 4 losses road trip. His velocity is normal, but his control is erratic. My guess is he’s injured. For many players (myself included, back in the day), it’s lack of control - not diminished velocity - that tells you a player is injured. Wickman’s loss for any length of time will be difficult, but the Braves are fortunate to have acquired two capable relievers, Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez, during the offseason.

For the second time in five years, the St. Louis Cardinals have lost a member of their family. Relief pitcher Josh Hancock, 29, was killed over the weekend in a traffic accident. Hancock wasn’t rich and he wasn’t a star. He bounced around from team to team for several years - spending the better part of ten seasons in the minor leagues - before reaching the majors for good last season with the Cardinals. On a St. Louis radio station Sunday morning, a story was relayed about how Hancock, after receiving his World Series bonus of over $300k, would repeatedly call his bank’s automated phone service just so he could hear the details of his recent deposit. He just couldn’t believe he had earned that much money. It’s stories like this one that make his passing all the more sadder. We can relate to him.