Category Archives: Sports

When all the wheels fall off

It’s happened to us all, I’m sure, at one point or another. Several personal instances come to mind:

  • Two weeks before a show, one of my leads comes down with a serious illness.
  • Blizzard-like weather cancels important rehearsals.
  • Both of our cars die in the same week.
  • Last night’s NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals game.

And did I mention last night’s NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals game? Shoulda seen it coming, when LeBron had like 11 points in the entire first half. Was it his elbow injury? Was the MVP pregame ceremony a jinx? Regardless, the nagging, sinking feeling returned:

The Cavs can’t win without him. Or at least they can’t win it all.

When’s the last Cleveland win with LeBron on the bench? March 2010, when they beat San Antonio. But their record this season without James: 1-9. The numbers tell the tale, as they will at the game Friday night in Boston, some of which I hope to see on TV in my Missouri hotel room.

I know that one day, Cleveland sports might bring home a championship. I’m just not sure it’ll be this year.

Blarg.

Photo credit: Gregory Shamus/NBAE/Getty Images

Yabbut

What about 2008?

The Chinese women’s gymnastics team from the 2000 Olympic Games was stripped of their bronze medal yesterday, after the IOC confirmed that Dong Fangxiao, pictured here, was not the minimum age of 16 when she competed (she was only 14). The bronze instead went to the USA team.

Yabbut…what about 2008? I yammered on about this very issue, after I watched the Chinese “women” take the gold medal, with the USA coming in second. Click over to that post and look closely at the photo of the Chinese team. If all those girls are 16, I am Mary on a donkey.

This is not to say that the US hasn’t had its share of cheaters in the Olympics. Rather, it is to ponder why the IOC would swiftly rule on a happenstance case (the error wasn’t realized until Fangxiao recently applied to be a team official and listed her birthdate on the paperwork, and someone put two and two together and got 14), and not the more obvious violation of just two years ago? Who knows…maybe they are, and maybe they will act — it’ll just likely take another ten years.

Image credit: Shanghaiist.com

Carp.

It was beautiful to watch — the comeback, I mean. Twenty-some points down, and they end up losing by only two. Still painful.

As fantastic as LeBron is, and as many times as he’s saved the day in the past, it wasn’t enough. But I have to admit, although I’m not a hardcore basketball fan, he is awfully fun to watch.

I thought they might actually pull off a last-second miracle, like they did in the Orlando game a year ago. Remember that? But it wasn’t to be. Carp.

I’ll never get those two hours back.

FO

BTTH X

“I was trying to help her up and she fell on her leg.”

~

Of course she did, dear.

And so it goes: another pro athlete arrested for stupid behavior that threatens an otherwise entitled and charmed life. Some people can’t see how fortunate they are. The man is blessed with tackling talent that eventually gives him an embarrassment of riches. After retirement from the NFL, he is paid handsomely to hang around the sidelines and give his opinion on stuff. Difficult job.

It’s a cruel statement, “You can take the boy out of the ghetto, but you can’t take the ghetto out of the boy.” Yet it’s been proven over and over again in pro sports — especially the NBA and NFL. Fortunately, these jokers seem to be in the minority; most pro athletes make it through their careers without spending a single night in jail. Imagine that.

And then there’s the ubiquitous shirking of any blame whatsoever. Why do they do this so consistently? Because they get away with it so frequently. Why take the blame when you can successfully point the finger at someone or something else? Sapp will plead innocent, even if they send him to jail (which they won’t). It’s *always* somebody else’s fault. And even though the truth — either hard or circumstantial — will stare the judges right in the face, they will slap little Warren with an earth-shattering punishment by fining him and sending him back to his “job” on the NFL network for seven figures, so, you know, we can repeat this scenario in five years or so and go through the same process with the same result.

And the sad part is, it’s not limited to pro sports. But don’t get me started on that. I’m actually in a good mood today.

:-)

B. Zar

After I got home at 7:00 last night, I did not feel like working. The Thriller and I watched some TV instead — I think it was the NFL Network. We watched a special on Jim “King” Corcoran.

One word describes my reaction: speechless.

It was one of the more bizarre (yet completely entertaining) bio programs I’ve ever seen. It was produced by NFL Films. You have to watch it. No, really, I mean it. You have to.

As a 30-some-year football fan, I was surprised that I’d never heard of him. I’d seen the name “Corcoran” now and again, but apparently never thought anything of it or bothered to inquire. The Thriller’s first comment upon seeing footage of Corcoran later in life: “He’s a dead ringer for Gene Simmons!” Imagine my delight at finding out in later research that one of Jim’s famous escapades in Las Vegas involved his impersonating the KISS singer. Heh.

Honestly. You just have to read it to believe it. Then catch the NFL Network TV show. If you thought Joe Namath was a boisterous, self-absorbed, womanizing self-promoter, this guy will change your perspective forever. Like someone said in the TV special: “Jim was the ‘off-Broadway’ version of Joe Namath.” Very good assessment. Corcoran, for me, redefined “bizarre.” He was indeed Joe Namath — but with a raging personality disorder thrown in. Amazing. Truly, you have to read his story to get the gist. I’m shocked that even YouTube has nothing on him — no wonder many people hadn’t heard of him. But he is worth checking out, believe it. Wow.

FO