This time of year is the busiest of the sports calendar – baseball is nearing its postseason, the NFL is in full swing, basketball and hockey are almost in season, and high school sports are well underway. In the weeks to come we have MLB playoff previews, NHL previews, local stories, and more to cover – but let’s take this week and cover a few odds and ends.
- Michael Jordan was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last week – and promptly showed that while he had world-class hoops talent, he carries a grudge a long time. I’ve seen a lot of different reviews of the speech, some positive but mostly very negative. I’ve watched the speech (it’s widely available on YouTube if you haven’t seen it), and my main reaction is sadness – it was truly sad to see him handle this enshrinement with such little class. He still remembers slights and motivations from 25 years ago or more, and he called out many people by name – his high school coach, his old GM with the Bulls, teammates, fellow All-Stars, the list was long.
Look, I get it – Jordan is a competitor to the nth degree, and he used every slight, whether imagined or real, to motivate himself. Lots of athletes do that – the difference is, most of them leave them behind once the game/season/career is over. A truly great person would go all-out on the court but be truly gracious off the court. Jordan was anything but gracious during his speech, and I lost a lot of respect for him as a result. Hopefully he eventually learns how to let that bitterness, anger, and over-the-top competitiveness go, and appreciate the career he had without the need to take other people down.
- Week One of the NFL season is over, and footballoutsiders.com calls this ‘National Jump to Conclusions Week’ because of the tendency to massively overreact to one game. Truth is, we really don’t know much of anything yet. Take the last three games of the weekend – Green Bay won and Jay Cutler looked horrible, which conveniently fits with my preseason analysis…however, I’m far from ready to proclaim the Bears dead or the Pack division champs. Buffalo once again found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in primetime, but we don’t know yet if the Patriots are lucky or good, or if the Bills really can compete all season (I AM prepared to state unequivocally that Dick Jauron is a lousy head coach. He’s made absolutely no improvement since he came to Buffalo, and these excruciating losses have become all too common on his watch). San Diego’s defense looked pathetic in the first half against Oakland, and extended their underperforming ways from ’08 – but I’m not yet convinced that the Chargers are THAT vulnerable.
- Also in week one, the Steelers struggled to win an ugly 13-10 game at home, which has fans up in arms. How spoiled Steeler fans can be, and how quickly they forget – Tennessee was a 13-3 team last season and soundly beat the Steelers late in the year. A win, ANY win of ANY kind against a quality opponent is just fine. Yes, the running game was pitiful, yes they have to improve…but how do you suppose the Titans and their fans feel? Appreciate the win.
- A detailed MLB review is coming, but September is downright boring this season. No major record chases, no pennant races of note, lots of mediocre teams. This happens from time to time, and while it’s disappointing, it’s also easy to forget that before divisional play, this sort of ending was the rule rather than the exception. Baseball-reference.com has the standings from every season, go take a look at the 1950’s sometime – it doesn’t get much more boring or predictable than it was then. I dislike Bud Selig and much of what he stands for, but instituting the wild-card has made September more exciting almost every season.
- I’d like to end by urging all local sports fans to check out some different sports this fall. I LOVE football – I write about it, I ref it, it’s one of my favorite sports – but there are a lot of local youths participating in fall sports this year that don’t get much attention. Soccer, women’s tennis, women’s volleyball, and golf are on right now and worth a look if you get a few minutes. High school schedules are available for whatever school you follow by looking at the district website, google-search the school if you aren’t sure what the address is.
Also, when it comes to football I highly recommend checking out either junior high football on Thursdays or pee-wee football on the weekends. I love watching the younger set play – they don’t care about arguing or making a spectacle, they just want to run the ball and tackle people. It’s a good time on a sunny weekend afternoon, I highly recommend it!
Dave Glass can be reached at buggyracer@verizon.net.
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