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WARNING!!!

This will be nothing but a sports column

July 22, 2003
     It has been a shocking summer in sports so far. Here are some short takes on some of sport's more interesting stories:

Tour de France
   I meant to write this column three days ago, and at that point, I was ready to predict that Lance Armstrong's best days were behind him. Show's how much I know. Yesterday he goes out and puts forth one of the more impressive showings of his career.

    Wasn't it a nice gesture that Ullrich waited for Armstrong after he fell in yesterday's race? Apparently, Armstrong did the same thing for Ullrich a few years back. Very classy.

    Another impressive story in this year's Tour is that of Tyler Hamilton. Hamilton has been among the leaders the entire race despite breaking his collarbone on the race'sfirst day.

Baseball
   How 'bout them Astros? They are taking care of business by beating up on the lesser teams, while the Cardinals and the Cubs have been floundering. I could write pages about them, but I'll spare you the rambling.

   Jose Lima found his mojo somewhere between Newark and Kansas City. He's a whole lotta fun for fans, but does it seem feasible that he is a number one starter on a team that is likely playoff-bound? It is almost enough to make me want to make the road trip to Vegas to bet against him in Game 1 of the playoffs.

READ MY COLUMNS
7-15-03 - One Long Weekend
6-28-03 - More Thoughts
6-27-03 - NBA Draft
5-20-03 - Thoughts
5-14-03 - Blake, On Googling Oneself
5-8-03 - Fidelity Optional
5-5-03 - Anniversary Thoughts
5-4-03 - Susan's Column
4-29-03 - Movie Reviews
4-26-03 - Blake's Column
Archives

10 Songs
1) "I Hope I Just Didn't Give Away the Ending" - New Radicals
2) "Bohemian Like You" - Dandy Warhols
3) "Get in or Get Out"- Hot Hot Heat
4) "Hopeless Case of a Kid in Denial" - Hellacopters
5) "You and I Both" - Jason Mraz
6) "You Turn Me On" - Ugly Americans
7) "Thirsty" - The Roots
8) "The Slow Descent'" - New Pornographers
9) "Hoochie Mama" - The Datsuns
10) "Got to Get You Off of My Mind"- Solomon Burke

Contact me if you have anything to say .

      I just finished reading Michael Lewis's fascinating book, Moneyball, which Chris had lent me. You do not have to be a baseball fan to enjoy the book, but if you are a baseball fan, it is required reading. Without going into too much detail since few of you have read it, the book follows Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane in an attempt to answer how the A's are one of the most successful franchises in baseball despite the fact that they have one of the lowest payrolls. Beane believes that scouting is overrated, if not obsolete, and that baseball produces measureable stats that come close to accurately measuring a player's on-field value. Since most other teams still view scouting the "old-fashioned way", Beane believes that there are many players whose value is misjudged. He argues that the A's success on a tight budget has been due to discoveriing these market innefficiencies. Anyways, if any of you read this book, I'd love to have a long conversation with you about it.

Paintball
    By reading the heading, you have to know where I am going with this note. For those of you who haven't heard this story, here goes. Las Vegas has created a new "sport" called "Hunting for Bambi". Guys from across the world have been paying thousands of dollars for the chance to shoot unarmed naked women with paintball guns. Ahh, nothing like combining the best elements of the strip club with The Most Dangerous Game. I don't want to deny anyone the chance to make a living and I am the last one to jump on the morality bandwagon, but this one is too much for me. I've never played paintball before, but I have heard that getting shot feels like getting hit with a baseball. This seems one step away from domestic violence to me...what kind of guy pays to participate in this activity? Oh well, at least we have a new bachelor party idea.

Basketball
     What a crazy offseason...with the trade today, the Timberwolves first six are Sam Cassell, Troy Hudson, Latrell Sprewell, Wally Sczerbiak, Kevin Garnett, and Michael Olowokandi. If they find a way to mesh, watch out...they are very good on paper.

    In my mind, the Nets were the big winners this offseason. Sure, the Lakers have a 4/5ths of a Hall of Fame line-up, but they would have at least been competitive if they stood pat. If the Nets lost Jason Kidd, they might not even be a playoff team in the weak East.

    As much as everyone jokes about the Clippers, you have to give them some credit for their efforts over the past week. They matched the offer sheet to Elton Brand, likely will with Maggette and Odom, and even tried to sign an outside free agent in Gilbert Arenas.

    Also in the trade today, the Knicks acquired Keith Van Horn. You have to feel bad for the guy. So far he has played for the difficult fans in New Jersey and Philadelphia, and now he is heading to Madison Square Garden. You know the fans are already well into their offseason vocal training so that they can give him the rousing Bronx cheer that he deserves upon his arrival. Doesn't he deserve to be shipped somewhere out west where no one cares about basketball, like Golden State?

    I can't help but mention the Kobe Bryant situation. I can't presume to know who is telling the truth. I thought that one thing was certain, though...either Kobe is the type of guy who would physically assault a teenage girl in his hotel room or his accuser is the type of woman who would make up a story to try to ruin a man's life. After reading Jon Saraceno's column in Monday's column in the USA Today, I am not even certain of that. Saraceno asks the intriguing question, "What if both Bryant and his accuser honestly believe themselves to be right?" Is it possible, due to age, cultural, and life experience differences that he honestly believes it was consensual and she honestly thinks it was forced? Can a "no" ever be unclear? I'm not arguing that is what happenned, or that it is possible, but his column was intriguing.

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