No new comics today. Apparently UPS's truck broke down. What can Brown do for me? Deliver my gosh darned comics, that's what!
It has occurred to me that it's been forever and a day since I wrote anything about sports. Since the NFL season ended, I just haven't had as much enthusiasm, I guess, for the sports that are going on now.
I do follow college basketball, just not as avidly as I do the NFL...the University of Kentucky's men's team is doing great– much better than anybody dreamed they'd do just a few months ago. My alma mater Western Kentucky is also doing well, even though they lost, yet again, star center and one-time potential NBA lottery pick Chris Marcus. His constant foot injuries have sidelined him yet again, and this time his college career is over. His NBA future is very much in doubt as well. The rest of the team, though, has rallied and eventually won the Sun Belt conference, and is favored in the tournament, which takes place here in Bowling Green.
The NBA? Nah. I follow a couple of teams in the standings and through ESPN, but watching an NBA game on TV is, to me, like watching dust settle. I'm sure there's more strategy and effort than meets the eye, but I can't see it; they just appear to be going through the motions. I'm in a freebie fantasy league at Yahoo (I'm in first place!), but that's about the extent of my interest in the Association.
NHL? Well, I like it more than I do pro basketball but I just can't watch games on TV. Give me a beer and put me in the arena, and I'm good for the next four hours...but I just can't sit through an entire televised contest. Again, I follow certain teams in the paper and on ESPN, but I don't consider myself a hardcore hockey fan. I also participate in another Yahoo fantasy hockey league-fourth place, but making a late run.
I like Major League Baseball a lot, but it's just getting started...and I don't like it as much now as I did several years ago, especially when growing up. The last strike really dampened my enthusiasm. It's not that I'm pro-player or pro-owner; my curse is that I usually always see both sides of an argument and wind up being non-commital. Both sides had grievances. It just irritated me that these men, with all the money they already have, couldn't have compromised more and prevented that strike from dragging out like it did. In the succeeding years, though, I've warmed back up to it a bit, and this year looks like it could be a good one for my White Sox, who seem to have made some good player moves. We'll see– I've been optimistic about them before. I'm in fantasy leagues here, too...another freebie Yahoo league and a more expensive one with some friends. I've got a good keeper nucleus (we keep seven players from year to year) including Pat Burrell, Albert Pujols, Mike Mussina, and Torii Hunter. I'm cautiously optimistic, and much of my fortunes depend on how my draft goes this Sunday.
OK, what else...Pete Rose. They should make him eligible for the Hall of Fame, where he most certainly belongs...but I'm not so sure that they should let him back into MLB because he just hasn't shown any signs of being sorry for what he (allegedly) did, and has given no reassurance that it wouldn't happen again.
Toni Smith. While I think she could have chosen her battles a bit more judiciously, I see nothing wrong with what she is doing, which is a non-violent protest against Dubya's little anti-Saddam jihad. She's not disrespecting the US, she's actually living up to one of its many ideals. Anybody who's not blinded by Dubya's smoke and mirrors should know that she is not intending to disrespect anybody's friends or family members in the service, she doesn't want anybody, including those friends and family members, to go over there and die so George can save his father's face. I've read a lot about how she's being perceived as divisive on her team; what about her teammates' responsibility to back her up?
I'm glad to see that Emmitt Smith isn't hanging them up; while it will be strange to see him in another uniform besides the Cowboys, I have a feeling, and he does too, that he has a few more carries left. I've never been a Cowboys fan, but I've always had the utmost respect for Smith.
After watching Georgia coach Jim Harrick's tete-a-tete with Dick Vitale on ESPN News on my lunch break, I have come to the conclusion that the man is an audacious lying sack of shit.
And that's about all I have sports-wise. Maybe now Gambling Gringo will visit again!
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