It's been a surprisingly interesting week in the sports world. You'd think with the NBA Finals winding down, hockey's over, most of the spring college sports are finally over, that MLB is the only ticket, right? Of course not, or I wouldn't be writing today (I really should still be in bed).
Before I recap the week, I found this tidbit via PSU's blackshoe diaries (see my extra reading if you want to see more) and espn. It's about Michael Robinson, former QB at PSU and now with the NFL's SanFrancisco 49'ers.
Sure, I'm biased about anything PSU. I was really impressed with Robinson's leadership skills during his senior season at Penn State. I had wondered why he wasn't used before. But I was more impressed with his assignment with the softball game. He didn't take things for granted, he did not quit and was very professional. Here's hoping when his playing career is finished, the networks look for this guy. Emmitt Smith, you could learn things from Robinson.
On a lot of levels, this week was truly an interesting one. You had epic comebacks, players trying to introduce themselves to announcers, and sadly, deaths of legends. We also had one sports superstar blog about another and that created a war of words.
-Sadly, this past week we lost two legendary announcers in Jim McKay and Charlie Jones. I have already commented on McKay, but Jones passed away yesterday. I remember growing up when NBC had the NFL the first time and I really liked Charlie Jones. The one college football game or so NBC would do, Jones was there. He will be missed. Shadowing over most anything yesterday was the shocking news that Tim Russert passed away. Obviously best know for his popular "Meet The Press", Russert was also a huge sports fan (particularly for his love of the Buffalo Bills). He will be missed by many big time.
-I consistently rag on the NBA and I think mostly for good reason. Quality is not usually job one, especially in light of the possibility that NBA referees were fixing games. However, even this naysayer had to be impressed by the epic comeback by Boston a couple of nights ago and they seemed destined to finally win an NBA title after 20+ years.
But, I think karma had to have some play here. I mentioned this week about Curt Schilling's comments about Kobe Bryant (the sports world's biggest sh*t) and Bryant's reaction. One thing that slipped by me that I read in a newspaper was the fact that Kobe said "Go Yankees". Which makes sense considering that Schilling is employed by the Red Sox. However, as a LA Laker (emphasis on Los Angeles), this is sacrilege considering the whole Yankees vs. Dodgers thing. Or the karma thing is in play because, despite his talents, Kobe is still a sh*t.
-Baseball of course is in full swing and I will do my usual recap on Sunday. But it was interesting when Milton Bradley tried to introduce himself to an announcer after a game because he didn't agree with some comments made about him. Shouldn't Bradley have a thicker skin and let this roll of his back? Apparently not.
-The NFL always gets the spotlight during the so called organized team activities. It's been interesting this past week. Marshawn Lynch's car was involved in a hit and run accident; was Lynch involved? Cedric Benson was cut by the Bears for another DUI. TO was put in the NFL's drug testing program because of a phone issue. Is the NFL not one of TO's faves?? Plexi Burress reported to his team's activities, but did participate because he's unhappy with his contract. Could we have an interesting late summer? Stay tuned....
-Olympic Trials should be getting into full force since we are now 2 months away (a bit less than that actually) from the Games. Wrestling trials are this weekend in Las Vegas.
-And the US Open is going on and the only time I will be reasonably interested is if Tiger is in contention. I know he wanted to make his comeback so he could not miss a major, but was/is he truly ready?
Anyway...you have choices this weekend. Use them and view them wisely
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