// July 12th, 2006 // No Comments » // Life
The Rangers‘ Michael Young was crowned the All-Star Game MVP after hitting a go-ahead triple in the top of the 9th inning, ultimately giving the AL their 10th consecutive All-Star Game victory. Congratulations Michael and go Rangers!
// June 24th, 2006 // No Comments » // Life
The Dallas Maverick’s ended their season the other day, losing four games in a row after going up 2-0 to the Miami Heat. It was a disappointing end to a stellar season and start to the finals.
I’m not going to rehash the gory details — the lack of an inside game, the refs vs. Cuban, the missed opportunities. That’s already been done ad infinitum. I will say that they have a lot to be proud of. Having lived in Dallas, I can tell you that until a few years ago, there was no pride in being a Maverick’s fan. That has all changed. Mavs fans can finally hold their heads high and know their team can go up against, and beat, anybody in the league. That feeling has never existed before in this history of the franchise, but it does now. Thank you Mavs.
I will touch on the question of whether having Mark Cuban as the owner of the Mavs is a good or bad thing. The public seems to be split on this about 50-50. I definitely fall on the side of “it’s a good thing.” Sure, he’s a little immature now and then, but he’s a fan in-the-raw. He’s in the fortunate position to be able to act on the raw fan impulse. He’s literally a living conduit of fan expression about the team and the game. This always has the potential to go too far, and sometimes does. But the end result is that even in those times where it goes too far, Mavs fans, by-and-large, appreciate the catharsis of seeing a “piece of their mind” actually finding it’s recipient through the person of Mark Cuban.
Mavs fans laugh at the fines and know that it doesn’t matter to a billionaire, and that the message will continue to be sent. Mark is defending his team, with all the subjectivity of a major stakeholder. At the least, it’s great theater and makes people tune-in and gets them excited. At best, as Mark wants, it helps bring attention to league idiosynchracies and weaknesses and “let the light shine in” on areas that need improvement.
Mavs basketball is fun now, and it never has been before. All said, my family watches a LOT more baseball than basketball, and I know more than a few Texas Rangers fans who wish the Rangers’ owner was a little more like Mark Cuban….
// March 20th, 2006 // No Comments » // Life
The Texas A&M mens basketball team capped a stellar year with their first trip to the NCAA tournament since 1987. They beat Syracuse in the first round and earned their first trip to the second round in 26 years only to fall to LSU after a long 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left elevated LSU over the Aggies with a 58-57 victory.
The Aggie football team has fallen on hard times of late, so it’s pretty nice having something to cheer about again and watch on TV, even if we do have to submit to a photo of us wearing LSU garb on our next trip to Lafayette to vist family. It was worth it after a season of thrills, the pinnacle of which was the buzzer-beater win over the highly-ranked University of Texas on March 1st.
Congatulations to the Aggie basketball team and Coach Gillispie on an amazing year to remember.
// March 8th, 2006 // 1 Comment » // Life
The latest revelation – if it can be so called at this point – regarding Barry Bonds’ use of steroids for the past 8 years, should be another bellwether event heralding the end of steroid abuse in professional sports, and further marginalize the fakers and phonies. But it won’t. I know better.
It’s been said that fans fall into two camps regarding steroid use in professional sports – those who are disgusted by it and yearn for it to be expunged altogether; and those who see it somehow as a natural outgrowth of modern competitive sports and the only way athletes can keep a competitive advantage with other cheaters is to cheat themselves.
I can’t see how anyone but the most jaded can argue the latter position. Banned substances need to be eliminated from professional sports, period. Having glimpsed firsthand the rigor of the USADA testing of Olympic hopefuls, there’s no good reason those same standards can’t be applied to professional sports, none.
Olympic hopefuls are tested randomly, and often. The list of banned substances is very broad and often includes the most effective medicines for treating common injuries and diseases (i.e. high blood pressure, muscle strains, heart conditions), which are regularly prescribed for non-athletes. The punishment for cheating is typically severe — being banned from the sport for extended periods of time, hefty fines, and stripping of past awards.
Pete Rose has been vilified for betting on baseball and banned from entry into the hall of fame. It’s arguable that although the culture of major league baseball didn’t exactly discourage steroid use until recently, juicers of any era enjoy no moral advantage over Pete Rose, and every statistic they hold should have an asterisk beside it.
If we’re going to give a de-facto nod-and-wink to the juicers, then let the pre-steroid era stand apart from the current one. If we praise their achievement, let’s also recognize the artificiality of it.
My family lives for baseball. My kids love going to the games, even though it’s a 94-mile drive roundtrip to our teams’ stadium. My wife and I have a certain winter-melancholy that comes not only from the grey skies, but from the absence of baseball in our lives between November and April. If there’s a game on, the TV is tuned to it for seven solid months. We love this game.
Some will argue that sports figures aren’t role models. This is disingenuous at best. They only have to look at their own role models to know that peppered among perhaps their parents, relatives, friends, and civic or church leaders were, I bet, more than a few professional athletes.
My hope, however naive, is that the people whose actions chart the course of professional sports see with the clarity of a child the need to set high standards for both athletic and personal achievement, and in the process create an environment that produces role models worth emulating.
// December 13th, 2005 // No Comments » // Shooting Sports
USA Shooting released the latest national rankings for each Olympic discipline. The list hadn’t been updated in over a year.
I notice one top shooter missing from the list but that aside, I’ve climbed from 21st to 10th in Air Pistol!!
I’m not ranked in Free Pistol as I only competed in one free pistol match this year.
I haven’t competed since March and have only been to the range a handful of times this year due to business and personal commitments. Seeing your name near the top of such a distinguished list is pretty motivating though.
I may try to get back into the swing of things. I have missed it.
Read more at: USA Shooting.
