Here we go again with another edition of Ramblin' Man where I discuss assorted sports topics rattling around in my feeble mind. Let's get started.......
The baseball playoffs are here, and the end of the season was one of the more exciting ones in recent memory. I really like the extra wildcard team that MLB went to this year, but the one game playoff between the two wildcard teams is simply wrong. You don't play 162 games to have your season come down to a one game series. When there is a tie for a playoff spot, the one game playoff makes sense, but when you have made the playoffs, it should be at least 2 out of 3. Plus, how much more money would they make with another game or two? And we all know it always comes down to the almighty dollar.
I'm sure the Atlanta Braves fans would agree. I'm referring to the "infield fly" rule that was called in that game. I thought it was the correct call because that shortstop was underneath and waiting for it until he got called off. Let's say it wasn't called. He could have dropped it on purpose and got a double play at third and second base. What would have the Braves fans said then?? They would have been screaming for an infield fly call. Here's another reason to avoid a one game series: controversial calls. With a 2 out of 3 series, the Braves could have come back.
So yet another major sport has a lockout. When us middle classers look at athletes striking even though they make millions for playing a sport, we have a very hard time relating to it. Most of us are living paycheck to paycheck, but not these spoiled, rich athletes. I still remember one of my favorite Dodgers, Mike Piazza, when he left the Dodgers even though they offered him an 80 million dollar contract. His quote in Sports Illustrated was (and I paraphrase) "If I would have signed that contract, I couldn't have looked myself in the mirror." Another whopper of a statement came from Latrell Spreewell, when he turned down an 18 million dollar offer and never played in the NBA again: "I have a family to feed." Anyone out in idahosports.com land relate to these statements? Didn't think so.......
OK, I gotta give a shout out to the power rankings on idahosports.com. I use it each week to pick the football games in the grid iron game picks. I don't have the time to research every team around the gem state, so I just pick the team with the highest power ranking, and I am doing fairly well. Now, there are a few I pick with my heart, like the Pilgrims, whoever is playing Fruitland, and Borah (a good friend, Darren Corpus, is the head coach). But without your power rankings, Paul, I would really suck at the picks, so THANKS!!!
Finally, I had to say something about the pedophile monster, Jerry Sandusky. Did you see where he blamed the university, the police, and the media for his problems? But far worse that that, he blamed his victims. He claimed they came from sorted background with problems, and implied they lied because of that. Here's a guy that started a foundation for kids with problems, and now he uses that excuse to prove his innocence. That alone shows how much he really cares about these kids. He is one of the lowest forms of life on the Earth, and one can only hope that he finds out in prison what his victims also felt from him. Rot in Hell, Jerry. You deserve it.
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