Sports

I like sports. I like playing them. I like watching them. I like coaching them. Sports have a beginning and an end. ESPN is doing this whole who is the greatest athlete of all time. You cannot compare a golfer to a hockey player. Hockey is a team sport. It is also a contact sport. How those guys move around on the ice, get knocked and get up - they keep on going. Gretzky may be the greatest hockey player of this era. You can't compare him to Gordie Howe. Howe played when they didn't wear helmets. When the ice was like slush. It was a different game during Howe's time than it is today. Comparing the accomplishments of a golfer to a hockey player is ludicrous! Golf is an individual sport. It is a mental sport. Yes, it takes physical fitness and ability. I do not believe a pro golfer could play hockey. A pro hockey player can play golf. The greatest hitter of all time? Come on...In the days of Stan The Man (RIP) the lights were terrible, the fields were huge, the travel conditions shabby, the equipment weak, the training and conditioning non-existent, treatment for injuries was a shot of bourbon not PEDS. Hank Aaron became the home run king while enduring hate mail, death threats, and bigotry. He played on fields where the fences were 400 feet away. Bonds, he played on fields where the fences were 325 or maybe 350 feet away. The bats of the modern era are better. The lights for night games are better. And of course there is the controversy surrounding his use of PEDS. You cannot compare the two. Walter Payton vs. Emmit Thomas - come on, seriously? The game is different. The rules are different. The equipment is different. Michael Phelps is in the race for greatest athlete. His Olympic accomplishments are impressive. He is an athlete. Still swimming is an individual sport. The Olympics happen once every four years. He can take two years off, then start training and still be in peak physical condition. You can't compare that to a 162 game season. Watching the NFC Championship game yesterday - SF vs. ATL. Kapernack had started in 9 games. Matt Ryan has been playing 5 seasons. Who had the better game? Football isn't so much about one quarterback against another - SF defense did not allow a point in the second half. SF offensive line created holes I could have run through. Halftime adjustments by the twenty or so coordinators teams employ today combined with execution of those adjustments that was the difference in the game. And the AFC game. Tom Brady, Bill Bellicheck - unbeatable at home in Championship games - WRONG. Baltimore's defense frustrated Brady. It wasn't Ray Lewis either. It was the DB's, the coordinator remaining solid in his decision making. It was the offensive coordinator changing the game plan - switching to a passing attack which New England could not stop. Flacco our played Brady. Harbaugh out coached Bellechick. Boldin is a beast of a receiver. I bet there is not a NE receiver who can move today. That poor kid Ridley, he was out cold! Kudos's to Welker for getting up. He was hit so hard so many times he could not catch the ball anymore. Some of those hits were just vicious. How can you compare a QB who in today's game is protected like the Mona Lisa to a QB who played when hitting the QB was just fine. In today's game if you look wrong at a receiver they call PI - back in the day DB's straight up knocked receivers down. What about Babe Neuwirth (I know I am spelling her name wrong) She excelled at golf, swimming, running - she played against men and beat them. She did this in an era when women were not supposed to play sports. Her golf clubs over sized pieces of wood with a bit of metal on the end. No graphite, customized, driver heads the size of a car! I don't think ESPN has any woman on their board. Was Annika Sorenstan a better golfer than Tiger Woods? Is it fair to compare men against women? It is in swimming, two hundred meters is two hundred meters - whether you are running or swimming or riding a bike. Ice skating, gymnastics - these are sports where the winners are chosen by judges. It is subjective. You know the Chinese and Russian judge is going to give the United States skater or gymnasts a lower score. There have been controversies regarding judges for as long as I can remember - so, unfortunately the best athlete does not always win. Aren't sports wonderful? We could debate any number of issues; Everyone knew that Gaylord Perry doctored the ball. He admitted to it - Still he is considered one of the best pitchers of all time. It is only cheating if you get caught. Remember George Brett and the pine tar bat? That was priceless. Bo Jackson is up there a two sport athlete who excelled in both sports - Deon Sanders isn't up there, didn't he do the same thing? What about the Houston pitcher Jim Deshaise (spelled wrong again)? He pitched with one hand? He was amazing! Oh we could go on and on - don't you just love it? We could talk about the cheaters, the liars, the womanizers, the boozers, the PEDS, the era, the difficulty of the sport, is NASCAR a sport? There are no definitive answers. Is bowling a sport? Coaches and broadcasters make it into the Hall of Fame - do they put bat boys or trainers in the Hall of Fame? Isn't the equipment guy as important? Does a driver win a NASCAR race because he is a better driver or because a team of engineers and grease monkeys built him a better car? Apollo Ono made news as a ice racer? What are they called? Ya know though one thing I like. I like the athlete who plays his time, retires, and goes on to live his life. Bernie Williams, where is he now? He played at a high level in the NY market. Was on several World Series winning teams - then he retired. I think he has put out a few records but he isn't in my face. I respect that. ESPN has already signed Ray Lewis to a broadcasting contract. I do not want to hear what Ray Lewis has to say! Former athletes who broadcast - there are very few of them. Tim McCarver is a good one. Shoot I can't think of his name, the guy who use to do Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN , Joe Morgan I remembered, he played secod base for the Cardinals - he was good. I get so sick of hearing; "Well when I played in this situation I would do this and I would do that and this guy is wrong because I would do it differently." Don't care what you would do. Call the game and let me think about and analyze what should or should not be done. Sports fans are not casual - we love our teams, we have played the game, or coached the game, or watched a hundred games - we don't need  you explaining how you would hit the A gap and then pointing it out on a telestrator. Don't tell me, after a dude hits a home run off our best pitcher that the pitcher should not have thrown a fastball. No kidding? Did you figure that out all by yourself? Ah, sports - how beautiful. They truly do give us a brief respite from the grind of life. We believe we can effect the outcome of the game by what we wear, or where we sit - we talk about how "We really played solid defense last night." As if "we" were actually on a basketball court. It is fun. It is finite - "There's always next year." How many times have I said that? The joy of victory and the agony of defeat - we feel it more than the players do. Yeah, I enjoy sports, a lot!