Sportin' some thoughts

It's been a minute since I've weighed in on the happenings of the sporting world. There has been a flurry of interesting topics recently and I thought I should give you my take...

This past summer, one man stole the heart of America. He had us all glued to our television sets ( I like to use old school terms like: television sets but that's neither here nor there) and made the Olympics relevant again. He achieved the daunting and nearly impossible task of winning 8 gold medals in a single games. Some of his races were so exciting that I literally jumped and screamed on more than one occasion...fingertips people! He had some calling him, "the greatest athlete of all time." We all loved him. If you say that you didn't...I don't believe you. Michael Phelps etched his name in sports history but after an unfortunate incident, people are quickly forgetting. The following photo was taken of our hero a few weeks ago...
When I first heard about this, I thought..."that sucks" but it didn't really change my opinion of the man. First of all, everyone makes mistakes...it's true...we do. And the guy is 24 years old and was just doing what any "regular" kid would do. Now, I'm not condoning his actions or saying that smoking anything is good, because it's not. but Phelps is getting a completely raw deal. A number of his sponsorship deals have been pulled and people are throwing him to the wolves. We have forgiven athletes for far worse offenses than this. Ray Lewis was accused of murder, Jason Kidd beat his wife, more players than I can count have been arrested for DUI's and cocaine seems to flow like sugar in professional sports. The point is...give the kid a break.

I love the NBA! Basketball is my sport, always has been, always will be. We are currently in a time with some absolutely amazing teams & players! The league is more competitive now than it has been, maybe ever. There has been a recent debate about who is the best player, currently in the league. Of course, 2 names come to everybody's mind....Kobe & LeBron.
Both players have legitimate arguments and you can't go wrong with either. Kobe is considered the ultimate offense player with a repertoire unlike any other. He can take you off the dribble, post-up, step back and nail the 3 and the statement that most people make is: "would you want anybody else taking a game winning shot?" LeBron is quickly becoming the most unstoppable force the game has ever seen. Most people don't realize that he is the size of Karl Malone with the quickness and finesse of Michael Jordan. His jump shot is getting better and better every game and his passing ability is unmatched. I dare say that LeBron is the best passer in the game, all point guards included. This past week, both players made visits to New York City and Madison Square Garden, the "mecca" of basketball. Kobe put up 61 points, 3 assists and 0 rebounds. An amazing offensive explosion and the most points ever scored in the garden. Two days later, LeBron visited NYC and dropped 52 points, dished out 11 assists and had 9 rebounds. It's safe to say that both players are special and will be considered top 5 talents when it's all said and done. If I had my choice....LeBron.

Speaking of basketball...you all know that I am the biggest Jazz fan in the entire world. I love them and have watched 95% of their games over the past 15 years. This was supposed to be our year to make some noise in the playoffs. Then injury caught up with us. D-Will started it all by spraining his ankle in the preseason and the team seemed to be cursed from there. Since, we have missed more than 150 man-games due to injury and haven't had our starting lineup or entire team healthy for a single game. I'm not gonna lie...it's very frustrating. We have so much talent and nobody out there knows it. BUT, there is still hope. We are still in the hunt for a playoff spot and as of right now, Boozer and Kirilenko should be back soon. IF we can be completely healthy come playoff time...watch out.

Question. Why is it that each and every time I hear about baseball, it's about steroids? This is coming from a person that watches a lot of ESPN. This sport is doomed. It seems as if every player, at some point, juiced themselves. I know that's not true but "reports" always seem to pop up about somebody else doping. Mark McGuire, the "savior" of baseball in the late 90's, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, Jason Giambi and now...Alex Rodriguez. Apparently, he tested positive back in 2003 when he was still with the Texas Rangers. Another question. Why are we just hearing about this now?! Whoever had this knowledge decided to hang on to it for the past 6 years?
It looks like baseball will never get away from steroids. It's a shame too because it's a great sport with an amazing history. But now, the history books will have asterisks (*) all over it from here on out. Maybe they should just make steroids legal so nobody else will have an "advantage" and frankly, I'm tired of hearing about it. What I've been saying all along really is getting truer and truer, Ken Griffey Jr. is the best player in baseball history...

Til next time...