superdad

Last night the Twins moved a half game behind the White Sox and many out there may be concerned. Why? Even if the Sox win one game in this series they are still in first. Minnesota is a team that we just do not play well and it has been a trend for years now.

Especially when we play in the Metrodome, it is like playing in a shoe box with no holes to breathe. Every game in Minnesota seems to be close one and somehow the Twins find a way to win. I have got used to it as a Sox fan and learned to deal with the loses when they occur.

Now my main point is this the Sox have a winning record against the other opponents in this division. The Twins just got swept by the New York Yankees prior to us playing them. What! What I mean is the Sox only have to take care of the games they play and the rest will take care of itself. I am not discounting the Twins by this remark but I just do not see them winning this division. If it does then we really should be thinking of new plans for the White Sox next year.

If you compare these two teams on paper you would laugh at the disparity in the veteran leadership and overall talent. I understand the Twins work like an army under Gardennheir but even this Twins team is not as good as year’s past. The inexperience and scouting of other teams will break this team down and once that occurs the Sox will benefit. This might seem a little boastful that I am so confident but that is the mind frame you have to be in at this stage of the year.

There are still two months left in this season and a lot can happen from now till September 31st. The Sox are also a little banged up which also has shown in this series. Joe Crede is out, Scott Linebrink is out and both are key parts to this team in the later innings. The wounded will be returning before long and that will be enough come September and into October. We just have to weather the storm of the Twins by winning even just one from these guys and the Sox have proved this already this year they are capable of beating this Twins team.

Families and loved ones have been taking their children to baseball games for years. For generations fathers have taken their sons and daughters to their first baseball game and for the most part we remember those moments and cherish them. Well, last night in Dayton Ohio a baseball game between two minor league teams affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago Cubs was the last place your family wanted to be as a bench clearing brawl occurred.

According to early reports there was a lot of tension between these two teams and a bad game of bean ball began in the first inning. Most people have probably not even found their seat and the late comers missed one of the uglies display of unsportsmanlike conduct. A pitcher from the PeoriaChiefs a minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs was in the middle of angry discussion started by the two managers and the pitcher decided to throw a baseball in the direction of the dugout at a opposing player. He horribly missed his target with the 90+ mph baseball and hit an innocent fan in the stands. According to news reports from that area the fan was with his or her family at the game. They were taken to the hospital and released but that was not the point that could have been a kid hit. What an ugly mess that two angry baseball teams actually caused this mess however, the real blame goes on the player who never thought of his actions prior to throwing the ball. Julio Castillo, the pitcher was thankfully arrested on the spot and taken out by auhorites. He was charged with a felony charge and may not be playing baseball for a long time. Unfortanetly the coach of the Peoria Chiefs is old time great and Hall of Famer Ryan Sandberg who was away attending a celebration in Cooperstown. 17 total players and coacher were ejected and Sandberg was not one of them as he was not present as this mess occurred. He might of picked a bad night to miss as his team was involved with this brawl.

We can not put all the blame on the players and coaches as well! What were the umpires thinking? They did nothing to dissolve this as three different players were being hit during play with no warnings to either team before the brawl began. The umpires should also be called out as an instigator in this fight as they had no control over what was happening in front of their eyes. Tensions were high enough that they could have perhaps prevented this fight in the first place.

I just wanted to report this because I felt bad for the people involved and I send out a blessing to the victim and his or her family of this ugly night. I hope both of these baseball organizations and the umpire association take accountability and do everything in their power to help the victim.

Even thou we are only a few games past the All star game both Chicago baseball teams have seen their first place leads shrink. The White Sox have dropped three in a row and the Cubs are seeing two teams in their rear view mirror. This time of year or what I like to call the dog days of summer are here and they are showing their ugly face in the windy city.

The White Sox have dropped three in a row at home and they have not done that since early in the season. With most teams struggling mightily on the road this year all over baseball it is even more important to take advantage of home field advantage. Especially against teams that you should beat. With the Cubs this also has been the case as well if they are not successful at home then it carries over on the road. The road has been ugly for the Cubs this year as their offense has looked like polar opposites from when playing at home. What is the deal, it maybe that this is the trend in baseball right now and it may take a team with a strong road trip to take advantage of this trend.

The Cubs are currently in Arizona where they dropped their thirteenth straight to Randy Johnson. Which is quite amazing if you think about it. While the Sox who are finishing up a lack luster home stand and are about to go on the road where they will play eleven straight divisional games. Luckily for the Sox they have played their division extremely well and that will need to hold if they want to find themselves in first place after the road trip.

We all in Chicago would just love to fast forward to the end of September and just get this thing going as far as both teams winning their division. However there is a lot to play for yet, and these two teams better get it going if they want there teams to meet each other in the World Series. Last time I checked you need to win on the road in the post-season if you want to go all the way and both of these teams need to win on the road now if they want to prove they are true contenders. Both of these teams have the talent to win on the road they have just not executed yet and we all hope in Chicago that this trend will stop and we will see both teams in the playoffs. All it takes is a couple games to change this pattern and we will feel a little better about are chances for a red-line World Series.

Today in case you missed it, ESPN is doing a radiothone for the Jimmy V Foundation. The Jimmy V Foundation is was created by Jimmy Valvano who passed away from the same disease that his foundation is trying to find a cure. Nearly everyone in this country either knows or knew someone that was affected by cancer and this is a great way to help find a cure.

Right now on ESPN radio you can take part of many different live auctions in which 100% of the money raised by these auctions are going directly to the V Foundation. The winners of these auctions have been winning awards such as hanging out on the set of Sportcenter for a day. Who knows how much that one auction will bring in but there are countless other auctions you can participate in if you wish. Or you can just give a dollar or two in which it will go to a great cause. As stated earlier 100% of the money raised will go towards the V Foundation.

Jimmy Valvano was an ex college basketball coach and ESPN analyst in which he gave his heart, mind and soul to the love of his life. Now he is remembered for this great foundation that he helped put together and his legacy will continue to build. If a cure to cancer is ever found this V foundation will be one of the reasons it happened. God bless Jimmy V and all of his family because he was a great guy and his passion will live on in this foundation.  For more details go to espn.com or espnradio.com for a great cause.

This year’s offseason had its share of retirement including Super Bowl champions Michael Strahan and Warren Sapp. However one particular player seems to be back and forth on this topic. Brett Favre might of put himself in a mess with all of his back in forth attitude about retirement but does he deserve what the Packers are dishing out? How are the Packer faithful responding, most are upset about the situation all together.

The Packers were one win away form the Super Bowl with Favre and maybe without him they can return to the Super Bowl. However most first year starters, no offense Aaron Rogers, in the NFL become superstars overnight like Favre was last season. The NFC, despite the analysis of being the inferior conference to the AFC, is still getting better. Which makes you think how much room for error is there with Dallas still being a strong contender, The Giants the super bowl champion, and all of the NFC north looking a bit better this year.

There may not be a big room for error and the Packers still might struggle no matter who is their starting quarterback. You got to believe that there may be some finger pointing if Favre gets let go, traded or demoted and the Packers start off 0-4. Then the pressure will be back on this organization more than ever.

I do not speak for everyone but most of Chicago wanted Michael Jordan back after his six titles but Jerry Krause wanted a change for a better future. Last time I checked Jerry Krause is no longer the GM of the Bulls and no titles have been won since we let go our own version of Favre. When Montana another recent great got demoted for Steve Young with the Sanf Francisco Forty Niners, Young had proved that he was a quality replacement. With Arron Rogers we still can not determine that with such a small resume to work with, that this team is a smart lock for the playoffs all together.

In summary if I were Favre I would look for any way out and prove that you are still a starter. The problem with this is the Packers can pretty much determine where he may go and it most likely will not be a NFC team. It is up to Favre whether he is truly ready to play especially if it is with another team with lesser talent. However, superstars are always looking for other ways to motivate themselves to challenge themselves and prove doubters wrong and in Favre case this may be what he needs for a definite return. One last thing we could use a quarterback in Chicago and I am sure Bears fans wouldn’t mind even for Favre playing for us with the track record we have with quarterbacks in our town. Why not?

I caught an interview of legendary linebacker for the Chicago Bears Dick Butkus’s stance on steroids in sports. He stated that “he has no comment on current professional athletes and players that dab into steroids.” “However he believes the real source of the problem continues to be at the youth and amateur level.”

Butkus is in a program created for high schools around the country that will hand out in the form of fliers and pamphlets more information will be handed out about the affects of steroids. As he researched the topic he saw that there is still not a lot of information out there for teenagers to observe and learn. Butkus even stated that many teens across the country no nothing of steroids and that he and his program “Play Clean” will help spread the word. Butkus stressed that youth coaches, parents and teenagers are the start of where the fight on steroids should be happening.

In response to this, Dick Butkus is right about the current players. You can punish all you want and criticize that steroids are ruining the state of sports but as long as the minor leagues, high schools, colleges, allow the growth then we need to be criticizing them and making them change their policies regarding steroids. There are strong programs out there that test for steroids but no one ever sits down and tells these young athletes that steroids can kill them and there are countless stories out there that back them up. Check out “Play Clean” and see if your local high schools are an active member in the fight against steroids in youth sports.

These days NFL rookies are breaking records at enormous rates and it is before they even take the field for their first game. Is this right or wrong or just a system that allows for this to happen. In the NFL the system allows rookies to demand high salaries at top drafted spots, but it is not the same for those players who are drafted later. Of course, owners and the current commissioner are also saying that this trend is ridiculous and needs to change but they are saying it because they would rather not pay someone 30 million guaranteed. The system is obviously flawed when Tom Brady a three time super bowl winner is getting paid less in guaranteed money, not including endorsement, than rookie Matt Ryan.

Look at Baseball or Basketball professionally and in their respected leagues, rookies have to earn their money instead of just showing up after draft day. In the MLB Draft players are drafted in high spots but are not even likely to play in the majors for a few years on average. Unless it some phenom player which happens rarely like hall of fame player Dave Winfield who was just too darn good to stay out of any professional sport.

Then in the NBA there is even a salary cap for rookies so that veterans are not getting overlooked at negotiation time. However with the NBA you are dealing with smaller teams than in the the other sports mentioned and it makes sense that veterans should be paid more because there are less rookies per team and more veteran players. A rookie is only a rookie for a year right!

The real problem is that millions of dollars is being put into the hands of young adults that have never seen or touched this much money. Now I am not saying that out of jealously because believe me if I were in Jake Long’s shoes the number one draft pick in the NFL this year I would be signing that huge deal as well but the principle is not right. People in the real world have to prove themselves worthy to be worthy and that is not just atteding college for a few years. That means putting in five or more good years of something and then getting paid what you are worth. All of these players signing huge rookie contracts in any sport are at a more risk more than ever because now with money they feel more invincible than before. I mean think about it just like actors and actresses sports figures have big egos and those egos are much bigger once dollar signs are backing it up. In return some of those players with big egos and big paychecks are also coming into trouble they never foreseen because of their belief of being invincible. For example Adam Jones or Chris Henry who were worth their money on the field but once off it they broke rules and laws because of their so called invincibleness. Money will make you different than you ever were before and people need to think about that more than just a owner worrying that he will have to pay more money. Owners will be okay, trust me they make a huge amount of money, it is the players that are at risk of becoming something worse. I know there are contradicting stories out there that will go against me and that is alright I am just saying the principles of the issue is what bugs me.