Today Hideo Nomo announced his retirement.
I think I can safely speak for all of you when I say…
“Hideo Nomo was still pitching?!”
(The answer is no, not really. He was released by the “pitching rich” Kansas City Royals in April. It just took Nomo this long to figure out that being released by the Royals pretty much is the end of your career.)
ESPN is reporting that Princeton alum Jason Garrett has been offered the head coaching job for the Baltimore Ravens.
It’s about time the Ivy League started branching out to other avenues that they could dominate. I guess Wall Street just isn’t enough.
Roman philosopher Seneca, once opined, “You are your choices.”
On March 21, 2007 the Atlanta Falcons made a choice that will define them, good or bad, for years to come. And in light of recent events, may define them as early as this season.
On this day, long before they knew anything about tortured dogs and federal indictments, they traded away highly regarded backup QB Matt Schaub to the Houston Texans for a couple of second round picks and flip flopping 1st round picks this year.
Suddenly, the underperforming Joey Harrington is getting his game face on in anticipation of considerable playing time and the Falcons are left wondering what might have been.
Should Schaub shine in Texas (and that’s a big if unless the Texans do something about that O-line) and Vick ends up auditioning for a role in the The Longest Yard, then the Falcons will look back on this choice and lament what could have been.
Oh and speaking of what could have been, you can bet the San Diego Chargers, who traded the #1 pick in the draft to Atlanta in 2001 and received the #5 pick that same year are counting their lucky stars they shied away from the siren song of Michael Vick.
What choice did they make that draft? Well, they picked a guy from TCU named LaDainian Tomlinson with that #5 pick. He’s done okay. Although would you believe that Tim Dwight had more to do with that trade than he had anyone could imagine?
Forget choices, sometimes it’s just as good to be lucky.
How’s this for a blown save?
Armando Benitez of the very forgiving San Francisco Giants came on in an extra-inning save situation for against the New York Mets tonight. One walk, two balks and a walk-off homerun later, Benitez and the Giants lose faster than a New York minute.
I’ll bet Bruce Bochy is wishing he was still sitting in the San Diego Padres dugout as Trevor Hoffman is about to notch his 500th save. I don’t know the numbers off the top of my head but I’d be willing to bet Benitez has nearly as many blown saves.
In case all of you forgot, this is what it’s like being a Giants fan.
Tonight in a game featuring the Milwaukee Brewers and the San Diego Padres, outfielder Geoff Jenkins was ejected from the game after “arguing” a called third strike.
The replays clearly show Jenkins upset on the call. He turns to the umpire and appears to say, “That ball was definitely down.” He then walks away shaking his head and clearly says, without looking at the umpire, “That’s bullshit. That was down.”
And he got rung up. With his back to the umpire. While he was walking away.
That, to quote the upset Jenkins, is “bullshit.”
I understand why umpires have the right to eject a player who stands at home plate and argues a called strike. What I don’t understand is why Major League Baseball allows these ego driven umpires so much latitude that they feel like they’re bigger than the game. As a fan, I did not come to the park to see a key player in a close contest get ejected because the umpire had his panties in a bunch.
Major League Baseball has to do something to reign in the men in blue. Much like Jerry Crawford in the NBA suffered the consequences for thinking he was bigger than a player, so too do these umpires need to feel the consequences of their poor actions.
And soon.
norm: I am so happy the Giants won the big one because that makes the 49ers ...
Heather B.: The flight attendants totally knew what we were all doing. As they did...
GoonSquadSarah: I love this so much, Heather. I think there is something wrong with me...
VeggieTart: I'm going to politely disagree with you on one point: Yes, Ovie's hit...
flutter: Exactly what Trix said....