Meanderings

Eddddddddgaaaarrrrrrrrr.........

Today retired Seattle Mariner Edgar Martinez earned about 50 percent of the votes necessary to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Not bad for a first ballot nominee whose primary claim to fame was playing Designated Hitter on a perennially mediocre team. Some argue that he shouldn't have been nominated because he wasn't a position player. To that I would reply that DH's deserve as much recognition and opportunity for enshrinement as pitchers who are primarily closers. Sure they are in the game for less time than their teammates, but I would argue that their impact is disproportionate to their innings played. Denying Edgar the Hall of Fame would be analogous to refusing admission to Mariano Rivera when he is eligible. They were among the best at their positions and deserve their spots in Cooperstown.

My Favorite Moments in Sports (5 of 5)

Orange Bowl - 1984

University of Nebraska v. University of Miami

This has to be one of the most exciting football games that I've ever watched in my life. Nebraska had the explosive backfield of Turner Gill, Mike Rozier, and Irving Fryar, and averaged about 60 pts. per game. They were simply an offensive steamroller.

Miami was coming into their own during that period, profiling aggressive defenses and a wide open West Coast offense - led in 1984 by Bernie Kosar.

Here is the link to the final moments of that ridiculously exciting game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoNs0mdK

My Favorite Moments in Sports (4 of 5)

Roberto Carlos' free kick goal v. France (1997).

Though the French ended up defeating an overconfident and lackluster Brasil team in the World Cup finals, this free kick goal is nothing short of amazing. Please excuse the Japanese narration, this video was the highest resolution that I could find.

My Favorite Moments in Sports (3 of 5)

The Kirk Gibson homer to defeat the A's in game 1 of the 1988 World Series. This is classic baseball. The head games Tommy Lasorda played against La Russa in setting up Gibson's at bat, star reliever Dennis Eckersley's over cautious pitching to Mike Davis, the inimitable call by Vin Scully and of course the game ending homerun by Kirk Gibson.

My Favorite Moments in Sports (2 of 5)

USC v. Notre Dame (1974).

The Irish jumped out to a solid 24-6 halftime lead. Then.... the Trojans came to play. Great slow motion video in this clip of Trojan greats Pat Haden, Anthony Davis, and J.K. McKay.

Fight On!

My Favorite Moments in Sports (1 of 5)

Here are five of my favorite moments in sports. I'm including only events that I saw live.

The 1980 U.S. Hockey Victory over the USSR

Griffey Gushing, Gag Me!

Big deal, Griffey's returning to the Mariners. He is a decade removed from being the petulant superstar whose departure led the exodus of talent so many years ago. Now, as an oft-injured, semi-brokendown, 30 something, means that he will neither play every day nor make a meaningful contribution to the team's efforts. So why the ululating from the Mariner faithful?

Because they have nothing else to cheer about.

Sugar is so sweet!

There are several college football programs that I enjoy disliking and Alabama is one of them. Watching Utah absolutely crush them in yesterday's Sugar Bowl was almost as gratifying as SC's win in the Rose Bowl. Congratulations to the undefeated Utes, a quality team with a politically incorrect mascot. What could be better than that?

Vindication

Though the Trojans will probably end up number 3 in both polls, it's not a bad way to wrap up what could have been a very disappointing year. Dawn and I went to see them at Husky Stadium while they were still undefeated, and they did everything they could to give the game to a very poor Washington team. I remain convinced that if the game had been two minutes longer, the Trojans' first loss would have been that day and not a week later against an equally pathetic Stanford team. Each week from then on I squinched my eyes, gritted my teeth, and prayed that 'SC wouldn't play down to their opponent's level, whatever that may be. Fortunately, they had only one more bump in the road in their loss later in the season to Oregon at Autzen Stadium.

 

Their convincing wins against perennial rivals ucla and notre dame, set the tone for a powerful finish in the Rose Bowl, and that is exactly what they provided. By stomping Illinois 49-17, they showed the college football media and the rest of the country that this program deserves to be considered one of the best in the nation.

 

FIGHT ON!

USC 32 Michigan 18 Announcers 0

Before this afternoon's Rose Bowl game, all three on field announcers picked Michigan to defeat the Trojans as they did not believe that 'SC had fully recovered from their disappointing loss to ucla at the end of the season. Additionally, they believed that Michigan's high powered offense and stingy defense would be too much for the Trojans to overcome. Au contraire mes freres. The Trojans were more than up to the task. The domination began in the first half with the Trojan defense denying Michigan's all-world tailback Mike Hart any meaningful real estate, and completely closing down Quarterback Chad Henne's passing game by maintaining suffocating pressure and sacking him five times. In the second half, John David Booty, Dwayne Jarrett and the rest of the talented Trojan receiving corps took apart the Michigan secondary. Commentator Brent Musberger correctly assessed the game when he said, "When Jarrett is on his game, he is a man among boys."

While I don't know if this game merits a number one pre-season ranking for next year, it certainly should put the Trojans in the top three and help them to lock in some of their top recruits. A definite plus for the ongoing success of the program.