The End of De La Hoya?

In the world of boxing, Oscar De La Hoya has been a huge draw over his career. He has made hundreds of millions of dollars. Last night, in his non-title bout against Manny Pacquiao, his career could have come to a crashing halt.

It was dubbed as "The Dream Match", pitting perhaps the best pound-for-pound fighter in Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36KOs) against the Golden Boy, De La Hoya (39-6, 30KOs). It was a huge pay day for both. Pacquiao receiving a guaranteed $11 million (could go higher w/gate & PPV) and De La Hoya getting upwards of at least $22 million plus. The most intriguing question about the fight would be how would the fighters adjust to their major weight changes. Would it affect their speed and stamina?

Pacquiao who normally fights at the Featherweight division (126lbs) had to gain 20 pounds to move up to the Welterweight class (147lbs). Meanwhile, De La Hoya had to lose about 20lbs to move down in class. At the official weigh-in on Friday, Pacquiao came in at 142lbs and De La Hoya weighed in at 145lbs. They were weighed unofficially just before the fight and Pacquiao hit the scales at 148 1/2 to De La Hoya's 147. How would these drastic weight changes affect these fighters? The answer looked evident after the first round.

In front of a crowd of 15,001, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and a World-Wide Pay-Per-View audience, the normally smaller Pacquiao came out as the more dominant fighter. His speed and power in his punches seemed to surprise the more naturally larger De La Hoya. Pacquiao would throw a few quick punches and back out of there quickly to avoid a powerful De La Hoya hook. This strategy seemed to upset the Golden Boy, as he repeatedly would shake his head in frustration. The Pacman would dance around the ring and not give Oscar a chance to land anything effective. This dominance by Pacquiao would continue through out the fight as he just pummeled De La Hoya with punch after punch, causing his left eye to swell shut. De La Hoya had nothing. He had no legs, he had no power behind his punches. He looked like an aged fighter, far past his prime. At the end of the 8th round, De La Hoya sat on his stool in his corner as the ring side doctor and his trainers talked about what to do. Behind on virtually every official scorecard, they decided to throw in the towel. Just like that, the fight was over. De La Hoya's career...possibly over. The man who's career took off after winning the Gold Medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, who was boxing's biggest draw over his career, it looks like it's all over.

I know boxers are not the smartest people out there. They retire and unretire as regularly as they change their underwear. I truly hope though that De La Hoya, who has become a very successful promoter in recent years, decides to hang the gloves up and call it a career before something bad happens. This performance last night just shows he has nothing left. He has nothing left to prove to the world anymore. Hang up your gloves Golden Boy, it's over.

The New President

With the election having taken place last week, it's time to reflect on what a historical event it was. Regardless of your party affiliation, regardless of your race, regardless of if you voted for him or not, the election of Barack Obama was something we will never forget. He is the first president-elect to be African-American in the history of this country. Can you imagine that? It's absolutely amazing that this country, one that claims to be so diverse and free, has never elected a minority president. Sure we are barely 40 years or so out from the Civil Rights movement, but our country has come a long ways. It could be argued, by some (including me) that people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have hurt the cause of minorities advancing due to them making everything, no matter how small, a matter of race. It's also amazing to me that Jackson, who was present at Grant Park in Chicago for the brilliant acceptance speech Obama gave, cried like a baby after saying in 2007, that he wanted to "cut his nuts off" for talking down to black people, among other things. It's those kind of remarks and divisiveness that, in my opinion, has slowed things down for minorities. They need a new voice, and hopefully they have it now. I do understand though why African-Americans all over the country broke down in tears over the election of Obama.

As a white American male, I will never understand the suppression and racism black people went through. I won't completely understand what it means for them to have "one of their own" elected to the most powerful office in the world. When I see Obama, I don't see black or white, I see a very articulate, and smart individual. Whether you agree with his policies or not, I hope he can turn this country around to restore it as the super power it once was. I pray that he can unite all Americans no matter what race, color, or creed, no matter what sexual orientation, no matter what level of income or education. Whether you voted for him or not, we have to accept him and stand behind him and hope he can lead us back to the promise land once again. Let's hope he can do this. He is not only the hope of African-Americans and minorities...he is the hope of ALL Americans.

All of us will be watching very closely. As of now, Obama is our one hope of bringing this nation back to what it once was.

Replay in Baseball...Good or Bad?

For everyone who knows me, they know I'm a traditionalist when it comes to baseball. Most changes make me cringe. I wasn't a fan when Major League Baseball realigned the divisions and added the Wild Card in 1994. I learned to live with it and eventually like it. With replay though, I will have to wait and see...

Serious talk of implementing replay began around June or July of this year after a week where several homerun calls were botched by umpires. At first they were going to put replay in the Arizona Fall League, Spring Training, and maybe the World Baseball Classic, to test it. As the weeks passed, talk began to install replay in July, then August of this year so they could work it out and have it in place for this year's playoffs. My question is, what's the rush?

While I'm not a huge fan of the idea of replay in baseball, I do understand the reasons why MLB wants to put it in. What I disagree with the most though is the fact they want to implement something so significant in the final month of a season. Why can't they wait until next year? That's the part I don't like and don't understand. I think it looks like a desperate act by MLB. Another concern of mine is what kind of plays will be replayed.

As of now, the only thing that will be replayed is boundary calls. Boundary calls to me mean anything around the field, including foul balls behind the plate that could be caught, or down the lines, etc. What I think MLB is focusing on the most is homerun calls and fair/foul balls around the foul pole area. Now, if MLB only has replay for these calls, I can live with it. If they start reviewing plays at first base or plays at the plate, then I will have a big problem.

There are still a lot of questions on how this will work and how it will affect the flow of the game. How will pitchers react after a prolonged delay to replay a call? As of now, there is no real time limit for a review. This could pose many problems.

The first test of replay came last night in the New York Yankees-Tampa Bay Rays game. Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez, in the 9th inning, hit a long, high fly ball down the left field line that appeared to go over the foul pole and hit a catwalk in fair territory at Tropicana Field. The ball was called fair which sparked a small arguement from Rays' manager Joe Maddon. Maddon asked home plate umpire Greg Gibson to discuss the call with third base umpire Brian Runge. After a discussion by all four umpires, crew chief Charlie Reliford decided to take a look at the play on replay. After disappearing down in the tunnel where the replay equipment was installed, all the umpires emerged after 2 minutes and 15 seconds, and the call was upheld.

Some people are critizing how long it took to decide the play. I personally think 2 minutes and 15 seconds is pretty fast, for the first time. I just hope any of the replays in the future won't take much more time than that.

The jury is still out on how well replay will work. I think it won't be used as much as some people may think. The bottom line is to get the call right. I just hope that getting the call right won't take long and won't affect the game in any other way. We shall see...

One Last Run for the Shark

In a Tiger-less field at The Open Championship in Southport, England, I was wondering what would be the draw to this Major? The last thing on my mind was 53-year-old newlywed (he just married former tennis great Chris Evert on June 28) Greg Norman being in contention all the way through the final Sunday. The Shark, who doesn't play very much competitively anymore, played as good a golf as you could in really tough conditions at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club. With the wind whipping around all weekend, affecting shots and even balls sitting on the green, it was amazing to watch Norman stay in contention. He played steady golf and was leading after 3 rounds with a +2, two shots ahead of defending champion Padraig Harrington and K.J. Choi. The final round, however, was a different story.

I wouldn't call it a collapse by Norman, who has been known to do that over the years. In more tough conditions at Birkdale, he shot +7 while Harrington shot a -1 69 to win his second straight Claret Jug. Norman finished in a tie for third at +9. Choi shot a +9 79, to finish in a tie for 16th. It was a great run for Norman. It could be his final run in any Major Championship. What a great weekend he provided all of us.

Brett Favre

I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of hearing about Brett Favre. I'm sick of ESPN devoting hours upon hours on TV and Radio about this. When Favre announced his retirement back in March, did we think he wouldn't comeback? I don't know if it was the Green Bay Packers forcing him out or what, but I had a feeling this "retirement" wouldn't last long.

Retiring and coming back has been such a trend in athletics the past decade or more. From Michael Jordan to numerous boxers, "retiring" means nothing nowadays. When someone says they are going to retire, you always have in the back of your mind, so when are they coming back?

This whole Favre situation has become so unfortunate. You have one of the greatest statistical Quarterbacks ever and a sure Hall of Famer, pitted against his former team in this battle over what to do with him. Favre wants to be traded or released. The Packers, and rightfully so, don't want to release him for fear he will go to another NFC North team. They definitely don't want to trade him to a team that they will play either. This whole situation is sad. Until something happens, whether he is traded, released, stays with the Packers or stays retired, I don't want to hear about it.

Josh Hamilton's Power Display

I think every sports fan knows the story of the Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton. For those who don't, let's recap...

Hamilton was a number 1 overall pick by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999. He played a couple of years in the Rays' Minor League system before being suspended several times for violating baseball's drug policy. From 2002-2006 he played virtually no baseball while his drug addiction was spiraling out of control. Homeless, hungry, and hopeless, he showed up on his grandmother's door step promising her that he would never do drugs again. The Rays didn't protect Hamilton for the Rule 5 draft and he was selected by the Chicago Cubs in 2006. He was then sold to the Cincinnati Reds. Rule 5 picks are required to be on the Major League roster the entire season in order for the team to retain a players rights. He made the team and didn't disappoint.

He finished his first big league season hitting .292 with 19 HRs and 47 RBIs in 90 games. During the winter the Reds traded him to the Rangers for pitchers Edinson Volquez (2008 NL All-Star) and Danny Herrera. That brings us to this season.

Hamilton had a monster first half of 2008, as he is among the leaders in homeruns and RBIs at the All-Star break, earning him a starting spot on the American League team (as voted by the fans). He was also selected to participate in the first and last Homerun Derby at Yankee Stadium. He put on a show, hitting 28 homeruns in the first round alone, bringing players from both All-Star teams to their feet. It was a tremendous display and a great moment for a former cocaine addict who was at the low of lows in his life just a few years back. You couldn't help but root for the guy. It was a moment that will go down as one of the greatest in the history of Yankee Stadium.

Hamilton's comeback has been a tremendous one and a great story. He has gotten such praise and admiration for kicking his drug addiction, which is well deserved. He admits he still has a hard time. He doesn't eat with his teammates, doesn't go out with them. He carries less than $10 with him at all times. He has said temptation is always there. I hate to be cynical, but his story is not over yet. He is still a recovering addict, and as a lot of people will tell you, you will always be a recovering addict for the rest of your life. What will be impressive is, that as time passes, he remains sober. He has so much to live for...a beautiful wife and kids, his faith, a promising baseball career, and that promise to his grandmother. I think as long as relies on all those factors, he will succeed. He has become a very humble and likable guy and has so much support from fellow players and fans. Let's cheer not only Josh Hamilton the player, but Josh Hamilton the person. He needs everyone's support to remain clean and sober. Let's hope and pray this story continues to write itself in a positive way.

Tigers' First Half

As the first half of the 2008 Major League Baseball season winds down, the Detroit Tigers have come a long way since their dismal 0-7 start. As of today, they are back at .500 (46-46), 7 games behind the Central Division leading Chicago White Sox (53-39), with a lot of work left to do. With the Wild Card not being a real possibilty since the surging Tampa Bay Rays (yes, I almost said Devil Rays) are leading the East Division, with the Boston Red Sox close behind, it looks like it will likely come from there. I think they can, however, catch the White Sox and the Minnesota Twins.

The key to a Tigers surge back to the top of the Central will be health, continued solid starting pitching, middle relief, and big contributions from the kids they are bringing up from the Minors. Matt Joyce, Clete Thomas, Mike Hollimon, Dane Sardinha, Jeff Larish, among others, who have made big contributions in one way or another, upon being called up. If Magglio Ordonez comes back healthy, if Edgar Renteria can get out of his hitting funk, and if Gary Sheffield can just give them something, they will be well on their way.

Miguel Cabrera has finally started hitting like everyone was expecting (.291, 16, 56) and what about Marcus Thames? He is "Country Strong!" as Tigers' TV Color Analyst, Rod Allen, likes to say. Thames had one of the most remarkable homerun streaks in Baseball History, by having 8 straight hits all be homeruns (tied for second in history only to Mark McGwire's 11 straight in 2001). If he can continue on his tear in the second half, it will be a big lift to the team, as well.

The starting pitching has finally picked it up over the last month to 6 weeks. Armando Galarraga has been a huge surprise, leading the team with a 7-3 record and a 3.27 ERA. Justin Verlander is finally showing what an ace he really is, along with lefties Kenny Rogers and Nate Robertson, who have had some solid pitching performances as well. With Dontrelle Willis down in Lakeland for the forseeable future working on his control, it looks like it will be up to rookie Eddie Bonine. He had a few good starts early on, but has struggled in his last couple.

The relief core, led by veteran closer Todd Jones, has been bolstered by the return of flame thrower Joel Zumaya and change-up artist Fernando Rodney. Both are throwing at a high velocity and have been better of late. If they both can improve on their control, they have three bonafide solid relievers at the back end of their bullpen. Both Freddy Dolsi and Aquilino Lopez have been impressive. Lefty Bobby Seay has been effective and fellow lefty Casey Fossum has improved dramatically over his last few appearances.

Magglio Ordonez should come off of the Disabled List soon after the All-Star break, which will give the team a huge boost offensively, especially if he can return to his Batting Cchampionship form of 2007.

Yes, there is a lot of "ifs" out there. What club doesn't have a lot of "ifs" though? I believe if (yes, there is another one) the Tigers can end up at .500 or above by the All-Star break, I think that will put them in good position to have a monster second half and over take the White Sox and Twins.

As the weather heats up, let's hope the Tigers do. The dog days of Summer are just around the corner.

Nadal Defeats Federer in Match for the Ages

The question was, what would happen first? Would Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon or would Federer beat Nadal at the French Open? Sunday, we got our answer...

In one of the greatest matches tennis has ever seen, Nadal ends Federer's reign as a 5-straight Wimbledon champion, with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7 win. It was one of those matches that rivaled Bjorn Borg-John McEnroe, McEnroe-Jimmy Connors, Martina Navratilova-Chris Everet.

I admit, I'm not a huge tennis fan, but anytime Nadal and Federer are playing, I will watch. They have had so many good matches over the past couple of years, that you can't help be drawn in. The Wimbledon Final on Sunday was one of those matches.

With Federer dropping the first two sets, and after a rain delay, he comes out and takes the next two sets. The 5th set was so back and forth that at one moment you thought Nadal was going to win, the next you thought Federer would win. It was simply amazing tennis and an amazing sporting event. Even if you don't like the sport, you have to appreciate the competitiveness of these two athletes.

Tennis has lost a lot of its' luster over the past decade, but it certainly took center stage on Sunday. With the hard court season beginning and the U.S. Open coming up in August, could we see another epic Nadal-Federer battle in the finals? The chances are good, and if so, I hope everyone gets a chance to watch, because if you we weren't watching Sunday, you missed something that may never be topped.

ESPN Commentators Criticize Harkleroad for Playboy Shoot

I am watching the Wimbledon match between Amelie Mauresmo and Ashley Harkleroad. ESPN Commentators Mary Carillo and Mary Joe Fernandez brought up the fact that Harkleroad posed for the August issue of Playboy Magazine. What I really take issue with is how Carillo brought it up, snickered about it, and criticized her for posing for the magazine. While bringing up the fact that Harkleroad posed for Playboy is fine, but I think criticizing and almost making fun of the fact, that she did it, is way off base. Carillo proceeded to go on and on about it. To her broadcast partner, Fernandez's credit, she brought up a comment that Harkleroad made about other athletes like swimmer Amanda Beard, and former volleyball player, Gabrielle Reece, have both posed and it's more of a celebration of the female athletic form than anything.

Carillo has been a tennis commentator for a long time and she should know better than to let her personal opinions of get in the way of her tennis commentary. I think she needs to apologize to Ashley Harkleroad for the comments and be reprimanded by ESPN.

Note: Other female athletes who have posed for Playboy...Figure Skater - Katarina Witt, Boxer - Mia St. John, Track and Field Athlete - Amy Acuff, among others.

The Great George Carlin

George Carlin, the first ever host of Saturday Night Live and the author of the "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television", has died at the age of 71. He checked into a Santa Monica, CA, hospital on Sunday complaining of chest pains and subsequently died later that evening. He had a history of heart trouble.

Carlin is probably best known for his "Seven Words" routine that actually led to a Supreme Court ruling that said the government has oversight to fine broadcasters that broadcast offensive material during hours when children could be listening.

He was the first host of Saturday Night Live which debuted in 1975. He produced almost two dozen comedy albums, was on the Tonight Show over a hundred times, had several HBO specials and acted in numerous movies as well.

Carlin was born May 12, 1937. He is survived by his second wife, a daughter, son-in-law, brother, and sister-in-law.

Here are a couple of clips of George Carlin's stand-up material. Predictably it contains explicit language. Enjoy. RIP George Carlin...


Seven Words...




Baseball and Football

Tim Russert of NBC News Dies Suddenly

Meet the Press Moderator and NBC News Washington Bureau Chief, Tim Russert, died suddenly this afternoon, while working in the NBC Washington Bureau. He was 58. He was conscious on the way to the hospital, but later passed away. Cause is unknown at this time.

Here is the video from the Breaking News that interrupted NBC programming. Nobody can say it better than Tom Brokaw...

Junior Griffey 600

Last night in Miami, Florida, against the Florida Marlins, Ken Griffey Jr. of the Cincinnati Reds, hit career homerun number 600. The milestone homerun came off of Marlins' pitcher, Mark Hendrickson. Junior is the 6th player in the history of the game to reach the 600 career homerun milestone (can you name the other 5? answer below...).

For 12 of the first 13 years of his career, Griffey was putting together, perhaps, the greatest career anyone has ever had in the history of the game. Excluding 1995 (where he only played 72 games), he hit 443 homeruns, knocked in 1293 runs, scored over 100 runs 6 times, had an On Base Percentage (OBP) of around .375, slugged (SLG) around .580, was a 11-time All-Star, 1-time MVP, 7-time Silver Slugger winner, and 10-time Gold Glover (every year of the '90s). He was named player of the decade for the 1990s and was also named to the All-Century team. To put it simply, Junior was well on his way to being the greatest player of my generation....

Injuries started to mount up on Griffey after his trade from Seattle to Cincinnati. He had a couple of injuries in 1994 and 95 with the Mariners, limiting him to 111 and 72 games respectively. After one fairly healthy season with the Reds, the next 7 have been close to a nightmare. Between 2002-2004, he never played more than 83 games. His last few years, while playing over 100 games, have still ended with various leg injuries. Just think, if Griffey was healthy, he would probably have been the one chasing Hank Aaron first, not Barry Bonds.

Those are the "what if's" though...The question is now, where do you put Griffey among the greatest to ever play the game? There is no doubt, he is a first ballot Hall-of-Famer. In his prime, was he better than Bonds? Better than Mays? Better than Mantle? That's the real debate right now. I find it hard to compare players of different eras. I find it almost more difficult to compare players from this era, due to the rampant use of Performance Enhancing Drugs. We will probably never know (unless they confess), how many players truly used these drugs. One thing is for sure, there has never been any rumors tying Griffey with any drug use. That's what makes this debate intriguing. Bonds was a comparable player to Griffey, both offensively and defensively. If you look at Bonds' numbers, just in the 90s, he hit 361 homeruns, compared to Junior's 382. Bonds drove in 1076 runs to Junior's 1011. The most interesting stats are the OBP and SLG averages. Bonds OBP is well over .400 and his SLG is well over .600. Griffey's OBP is around .370 and SLG around .575. Bonds' also stole a lot more bases as well.

So who was the most complete player during that period? Just going by numbers, you'd have to say Bonds' has a slight edge. Bonds' numbers in the 2000s are up for debate with steroid allegations hanging heavy over his head. It is believed, he didn't use any during his time with Pittsburgh and his first couple of years in San Francisco. A lot of people would probably choose Griffey though as the better player, simply because, he never had any questions surrounding how he compiled his numbers. What is a shame is, that injuries took such a toll on this great player. We will never know hat his numbers could have amounted to. One thing I will always remember though, is that he was as complete a player as the game has ever seen. His homeruns were sometimes outshined by his amazing plays defensively. If you ask me, he is the greatest defensive outfielder I have ever seen.

Congratulations Junior on number 600. Enjoy the moment. I certainly have enjoyed your career.


Trivia question answer: Sosa (609), Mays (660), Ruth (714), Aaron (755), Bonds (762).

Jim McKay

Not too many people from our generation may know Jim McKay. He was a legend in the world of Sports broadcasting and most known for hosting the Olympics and Wide World of Sports for ABC. McKay, 86, passed away this morning, from natural causes.

For 60 years, McKay WAS the face of ABC Sports. He hosted Wide World of Sports for since it's inception in 1961, until it was discontinued in 1997. The series took him around the globe. He was the first sports network reporter to visit mainland China. He even interviewed Fidel Castro, in Cuba, in 1991. The opening of Wide World contained the great line of "The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat."

McKay hosted 12 Olympics for ABC, and was "loaned" to NBC for their Winter Olympic coverage in 2002. Perhaps his defining moment came at the XX Summer Olympic games, in Munich, Germany, in 1972. Palestinian terrorists took 11 Israeli athletes and coaches hostage in the Olympic village. After a long standoff, and a dramatic shootout at an air base, the hostages were all shot dead. After 16 straight hours on the air, and getting confirmation from the German government, McKay said, perhaps, the words that defined his career:

"When I was a kid my father used to say our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized. Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They have now said there were eleven hostages; two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning, nine were killed at the airport tonight. They're all gone."

He covered many other events during his career besides the Olympics and the numerous sports Wide World took him to. He covered the Indianapolis 500, golf events such as the British Open (which he loved), and horse racing's Kentucky Derby, another event in which he enjoyed.

McKay WAS the face of ABC Sports for more than 40 years. He was a master writer and story teller, that helped paint the picture to many historical moments.

This morning on ESPN's SportsCenter, McKay colleagues, Brent Musberger, Keith Jackson, and Don Ohlmeyer has remembered him. I think Musberger said it best though when he said (paraphrasing), "I just wish he could have seen one more Triple Crown winner (horse racing) today. He would have really gotten a kick out of that."

Jim McKay, a titan of Sports Broadcasting, and Broadcasting in general, gone at the age of 86...

Introduction

I have started this blog to basically express my opinions on several things. Could be sports, politics, or anything really. Rarely will it be about myself on a personal level. This will be a forum for me to express my opinions on current events and anything else of my choosing. It could be controversial, could be funny, could be anything, that's why I have called it, "Uncensored". Although I don't usually use expletives too much, depending on the subject, I may.

Whatever I may blog about, I hope it catches some people's interest. Feel free to post responses, questions, opinions, on anything I may write about.

I hope this is enjoyable to the people who may read it.

Thanks and enjoy...