Taken from the Cameron Citizen-Observer
Published on July 24, 2001
THIS JUST IN: I had forgotten how much fun football practice could be. As long as you’re not the one running the drills, wearing oversized pads in humidity. Summer camps and two-a-days are great for a laugh, if you find looks of exhaustion funny.
In four years of football, I never went through two-a-days. Freshman weren’t required to run in the August heat, so I spent those two weeks doing what I do best: waking up around midday and goofing around the rest of the time. When the season started, I was 5’3 and over 170 pounds. I looked more like a half-keg than a halfback and I can understand why the coaching staff put me on the line.
All through Peewee football, I played center and nose guard. But that was against kids our age and our size. My high school was in Group 4, 4A around here. Our league was full of small cities and Catholic schools that recruited blue-chip talent from around the tri-state area. I realized very fast that I was too small for the line and asked to be moved to inside linebacker.
I’ve always had a quick first step and for three glorious days, I proved just that with the other linebackers. But after three days, they moved me back to the line. At the end of that season, I quit playing football.
Well, let me rephrase that. I quit playing football with pads and helmets. I’m still the best tight end I’ve ever seen run the square out to the first down marker. I know the Run-n-Shoot and can run the two-minute drill like John Elway in a playoff game. So if anyone is looking for another body for a pickup game, don’t hesitate to call…
Some of your children are average. Some of everybody’s children are average. It’s the law of averages. But just because they’re average doesn’t mean they should be told so. I believe one of the main goals of youth sports is to build confidence. If I were to blast young players in print, I would be destroying confidence.
The averageness of others should not be spotlighted in one’s youth. There’s ample time when one is highly paid for averageness and in the public spotlight. That last part is important because you’ll never see an average teacher on Sportscenter, but the brief on Clarence Weatherspoon getting $27 million over five years is.
As the NBA Summer League plays out on ESPN, ask yourself this: How many of these guys could start at Duke University? During a Wizards-Celtics game, I counted three. Joe Forte, Kwame Brown and Kalid El-Amin. Yes, that was just a passing glance, but there wasn’t much better on the bench.
The averageness of the NBA is on full view because there are only 12 men on a roster. In football, the average pros are called special teams. In baseball, they’re called bullpen catchers and middle relievers. In the NBA, there’s no helmet or bullpen to hide averageness.
In fact, they have the audacity to give their average players contracts for outrageous amounts of money. Examples include, but aren’t excluded to:
Avery Johnson – three years, $15 million from Denver
Corliss Williamson – six years, $32.5 million from Detroit
Jerome Williams – seven years, $40.8 million from Toronto
Christian Laettner – four years, $21 million from Washington
Todd MacCulloch – six years, 33.75 million from New Jersey
Ladies and gentleman, I present the All-Average All-Stars.
The averageness of professional sports is an epidemic that can’t be helped, partially because youth strive to be superstars. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that, however, 12 chiefs can’t cook a soup or win in the playoffs.
Before my time, there was no ESPN and no cable television. Fans followed their favorite players on the radio and in the daily paper. You only saw your team when they were at home and that’s if you could get into the building. Fans loved everyone on the team, from superstar to scrub. Maybe because they knew the players would be back next year, not bolt for the no-tax sanctity of Florida.
When I was young, my favorite player was Wally Backman and he still is today. Backman was a scrappy, small-ball hitter who’s stance I would imitate to my friends. My first year in Little League, I played second base and wore number six, just like Backman.
In 1986, Backman batted .320 in 124 games, batting second for the New York Mets. He was on second base in the ninth inning of Game 3 of the NLCS when Lenny Dykstra hit his game winning home run off Dave Smith of the Houston Astros.
Backman played 14 years with 5 teams. His career batting average was .275 with a .975 fielding percentage. This just in, folks: he was average.
So what’s the moral to the story? If you asked Wally Backman about his professional career, he’d probably flash his World Series ring. But I’m 99.84 percent sure he would tell you he was an average major leaguer. He wouldn’t have asked for $27 million over five years because he wouldn’t have got it and that’s the truth.
Here’s the link to my latest and likely last story on Bradford Blackmon, one of the best all-purpose backs I’ve seen at the high school level.
The kid can do it all. He runs to space, reads and follows blocks well and I’ve never seen him get caught from behind, regardless of what his 40-yard time is.
From The Cameron Citizen-Observer
Taken from July 16, 2001
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I’m not concerned about that at all. I just want to play basketball.”
- DeShawn Stevenson, who faces a statutory rape charge in California. Stevenson, 20, is accused of having consensual sex with a 14-year-old girl. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison.
THIS JUST IN: The Bowl Championship Series has adjusted their formula for selecting the national championship game, once again. After last year’s ‘controversy’ with Florida State playing Oklahoma instead of Miami, there was going to be changes, but until there is a tournament, there will always be controversy.
Here’s the funny thing, with everything I’ve read about the changes, no one mentions the University of Washington. Last year, they had the same record as Miami and Florida State. The Huskies won the Pac-10 title and their one loss was to Oregon State, who was selected to a BCS game. Oh yeah, they also beat Miami, but everyone seems to forget that, especially now…
Two words: mechanical bull. My legs are still sore from this past weekend, but I can definitely say it was worth it and I can take that off the list of things to do. Next up, in no particular order: watch the Running of the Bulls in Spain, get a part in a movie or radio show, learn to dance salsa and meringue and walk the Great Wall of China, which leads me to…
I graduated from college with a minor in history, which is so important; they don’t put it on your diploma. But I do consider myself somewhat of a buff. I try to watch Jeopardy and occasionally I even read a book, but I digress…
The Greeks came up with the Olympics way back when they thought they were the dominant civilization in the world. It was a competition between men from all over to determine who was the best. I say from all over because it included everyone.
NO one boycotted the games because the Americans or Russians were going to be there as well. In fact, the Greeks would put wars on hold for the Games. Armies would sign papers of truce and then send off soldiers to compete in the games. They also didn’t’ fight during the winter, but once again, I digress…
With Beijing, China winning the right to host the 2008 Olympic games, a bevy of controversy from groups all over the world will commence. Some groups in Taiwan and Hong Kong are already crying. I heard one U.S. politician make a rather vague comment, denouncing the Olympic Selection Committee for its selection. Then again, I could have heard somebody’s supermarket shopping list. You never can tell with politicians…
The point is, after the recent ‘snafu’ between the US and China, the Olympics are the perfect symbol to show diplomacy between nations. But why do I feel as the date comes closer, the voices will grow louder?
I really hope I’m wrong. They’ve done TV specials on the sport complexes the Chinese are talking about building. It would be a shame if American athletes didn’t get to use them. They look amazing and why not. That’s the job of the Olympics now. To force structural change to a city, induce commerce and increase population. Just look at Atlanta, they’re still feeling the boom from 1996. I drove through Salt Lake City last year and there is construction everywhere. I think they were making a new highway system around the city in anticipation of 2002. And the same goes for Athens, Greece and Beijing in the future.
Commercial money, new constructions and tons of temporary jobs. At least the kids will have a great complex once all the ‘amateurs’ are finished…
The NCAA has tweaked the tournament so teams no longer have to travel as far in the first and second rounds, which makes sense. An East coast team getting a 2-seed out West deserves something and there’s usually a willing arena closer. That way, you also get area crowds with vested interests in the games. But the idea that shorting the distance will give student-athletes more time for their studies is just ridiculous.
They have more than enough time in study hall, and what do you think the plane ride is for? Also, most major Division I athletic programs charter planes and fly the team. Sometimes they fly fans, mostly rich, booster club alumni of the university and high-level staff, but they do get their own plane. Once again, I digress…
When the NCAA is talking about shorter distances, they’re not talking about the Division II schools that bus their teams to all their games. They’re talking about the rich, obnoxious universities that plaster their logo on everything and sell it at the mall to unsuspecting teenagers. This way, more people wearing school stuff can show up at the games, making the school look that much better. Meanwhile, the percentage of students trying to get a degree and play a sport goes down and the percentage of athletes taking two years to showcase their skills for future employers goes up.
All the time, university presidents and network executives light up cigars with $20 bills. But that’s just my misguided take on the sports world I cover and that’s the truth.
From the Cameron Citizen-Observer
Taken from July 10, 2001
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“You know my favorite play in baseball? The bean ball. It’s great, isn’t it? It’s dramatic, especially if the guy is really hurt. Sometimes the ball hits the helmet and you feel kind of disappointed. Even though it makes a good loud noise.”
- George Carlin, Napalm & Silly Putty
THIS JUST IN: Once America is done watching well-lit game shows and ‘reality-based TV’, the next step will be putting celebrities on distant islands with little to eat. They’re already doing it with the game shows. Then again, if you watch old game shows, they used to do it all the time, so it’s no big deal. But when the oldest son from ‘Home Improvement’ is arguing with the new cover-model from Maxim, that’s a Nielson rating dream just waiting to happen…
I heard David Stern tell the media at the NBA State of Address that sports are the first reality TV. The sad thing is, he’s right. I’m mad at Stern because he graduated from my high school and our gym is tacky, but the truth is the truth. That’s why sports fans watch, because anything can happen and usually does.
I’ve noticed that I’ve been talking a lot of baseball in the past weeks, and that’s because I love the sport. Watching the Mets and the Cubs on July 4, with Bobby Valentine and Don Baylor trying to out-manage the other. In my opinion, that’s baseball at it’s best. The Mets won 2-1 on a suicide squeeze in the second inning; how much more can a true baseball fan ask for. Nevertheless, I feel I should take a break from the game I love. I’m alienating other sports and the Mets are in last place, so what can you do? You win some, you lose some, and sometimes, it rains…
As I see it, baseball is dying slowing, not only locally, but also across the nation. There is no blame to be placed on anyone or anything, although the strike in 1994 was an albatross. Whether it’s the expanding technological advances that continue to make life faster and faster or the emergence of other sports, baseball is slowly dying. A sport to be watched and admired only by those that understand it, like chess or auto racing…
I grew up playing video games, from Atari to N64. There was a time when all of my friends had finished ‘King’s Quest’ and ‘Leisure Suit Larry’, but now I feel out of place with my hands on a Playstation controller. To this day, all I play are sports games. ‘Madden 2001’ has a franchise feature, which allows you to play GM for 30 years. I’m surprised the game still works, the amount of time me and my roommate played it last year. But that never stopped us from watching the real thing, paying attention to every team in every league because, hey, you never know when that kind of useless information might be necessary. Someone might want to know the all time career leaders in triples. It’s a great icebreaker…
But that is my sad and pathetic life and times have clearly changed. I used to listen to AM radio late at night to hear the score; today, kids can find updated sports tickers on their favorite Web browser. It’s a different time, and maybe, baseball is for an older generation. Not that I’m old, but an older way of thinking, perhaps. All I can do is attempt to stimulate and encourage the ‘national past time’ as dearly as I hold it in my heart. Believe me, some of you are missing a beautiful thing…
For the ladies: After watching ‘Bull Durham’, how lucky is Susan Sarandon, fooling around with Kevin Costner and then marrying Tim Robbins?
How good is Ichiro?
Doesn’t the field where the CHS soccer team will practice need a name?
Am I the only one that thinks Donavan McNabb will win the NFL MVP this year?
How many people in this country know who Tiffeny Milbrett and Kasey Keller are?
When their team is out of the playoff picture, do baseball fans become football fans?
Why do teachers make 30 thousand a year and the 12th man on an NBA bench make 125 thousand?
Is our society spoiled or pampered?
Why should the Cardinals get a new stadium and not the Royals?
Speaking of which, do you think Kansas City could support an NBA team?
Will John Stockton and Karl Malone really retire without a ring?
Why is a ring so important anyway?
Is it just me, or has music gone downhill slowly since the 60’s, hitting rock bottom with what MTV plays today?
Is it too early to start talking NFL?
When exactly does a novelty wear off?
Does anyone care about the Beanpot outside of Boston?
What happened to the heavyweight boxing division anyway?
And am I the only one routing for a Roy Jones Jr. – Felix Trinidad fight and against Oscar De La Hoya?
Won’t the Rose Bowl be tarnished this year with Nebraska playing Florida for the national championship?
Is Phil Jackson a really good coach or a coach with the best players in the world?
And where was I when a traffic violation became a $175 charge?
Finally, by the time Allen Iverson is done, he will go down in history as one of the greatest players in basketball history and that’s the truth.
From the Cameron Citizen-Observer
Taken from July 2, 2001
THIS JUST IN: Independence, freedom and the pursuit of happiness. When I think of the Fourth of July, these aren’t the things that enter my mind. Maybe it’s because I think about these things everyday, therefore I don’t use the yearly reminder to reminisce.
I’m not a big fan of holidays. My sister was born on Halloween and I was born on Christmas Eve, so holidays have always had a different significance for me. I see them more as an opportunity for people to relax and take the day off. Some people use holidays as an excuse to drink, like St. Patrick’s Day, but I’m sure Patrick didn’t want people to throw up green in his name. Well, I don’t need an excuse to drink and I relax every day. So exactly what is the Fourth of July to me?
The last couple of years, it’s been a television treat, with baseball games from Philadelphia to Phoenix. They play in the afternoon, just like they used to before I was born; when baseball was like shooting fireworks on the Fourth. In my neighborhood, kids would fight with bottle rockets and M-80’s, then play on the same team the next day.
Maybe baseball was beaten into our heads. Maybe there were too many fathers/coaches in my town. Guys that made sure their son would win by teaching the other kids in the neighborhood, kids like me who’s father wasn’t there. But we would have played anyway, regardless of outside influences. Similar to the Dominican Republic, we didn’t need organized leagues to play in; the street was good enough.
When I think of the Fourth of July, I first think of baseball. Other thoughts might squeak in, but it’s only temporary…
The first five picks in the NBA Draft couldn’t celebrate their newfound wealth with champagne, but I’m sure they did. Nevertheless, that wasn’t the cool thing. Someone opened the floodgates and point guards with nicknames like J-Will, ason Kidd (he used to have no J) and Starbury suddenly had new teams. Don’t forget: fishing season for free agents opens July 18. Unfortunately, there are mostly guppies out there, only a few worth pulling out and taking a picture of. Chris Webber and Michael Finley are about it. Allan Houston has a player option, but he doesn’t take over games. Mutombo and Aaron ‘6th Man of the Year’ McKie are out there, but they’re not dropping 25 a night. Maybe that’s why everyone went young in the draft…
The 2001 MLB All Star game in Seattle is coming up and the Mariners might have seven starters. Granted, they are 58-21 as of Monday, but is Mike Cameron one of the three best outfielders in the AL? I can think of five off the top of my head that are better…
Did anybody watch the NFL Europe World Bowl last Saturday? Wait, here’s a better question, did anyone know it was even going on? I thought the XFL would last a little longer and become the NFL minor league, eliminating Europe. But with the shot-in-the-dark success of Kurt Warner, quarterbacks like Jonathan Quinn and Jarious Jackson will continue to take European summer vacations in Berlin, Barcelona and Amsterdam…
Speaking of the NFL, does anyone remember who’s supposed to be the favorite going into this season? The Ravens has Elvis now, but all Chiefs fans will tell you that doesn’t mean that much. The Giants won the NFC last year, but I’m sure experts will have them winning eight games next year. The Raiders won’t match last year’s win total, but then again, Green Bay won’t either. Tampa Bay and Tennessee have amazing defenses, but they both have problems moving the ball. Minnesota and St. Louis can score on anybody, but they can’t stop anyone. And the AFC East is the biggest tossup in the league. The only reason I bring it up is training camp starts this month…
In the next couple of weeks, the most important activity in sports will take place. Negotiations for television broadcast rights for the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, the PGA Tour and the NBA begin this week. Back in 1993, Fox shocked the sports world by outbidding CBS for the NFC/NFL package. Since then, NASCAR got a $300 million dollar increase to move from ESPN to NBC and Turner Sports and CBS paid $545 million to keep the NCAA men’s tourney. This year, the rumor is ESPN will make a push at the NBA cable contract, currently owned by Turner. This doesn’t mean that much to any of us, but this is where all the money comes from. The networks give the leagues millions and the leagues give their players millions and the advertisers give the networks millions to give to the leagues. It’s a money cycle that your three dollars for a dog at the game doesn’t effect and that’s the truth.
Take the best movie trilogy ever (Sorry, Star Wars is out due to the other three films and really does anything else have a chance) and the best primetime animated series ever (Flinstones are the only one in the same breathe) and what do you get?