The View From Wisconsin
Just a random set of rants from a Sports Fan from Wisconsin.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Memorial Day
A big "thank you" to all of those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the United States today. Without your sacrifices, none of us could sit here and complain about the weather.
And for today's rants:
And for today's rants:
- Ms. Patrick had a pretty good run at Indy, but (predictably) she didn't win. However, her fourth place finish means she has momentum for 2006 - and hopefully by then the IRL/Champ Car mess will have been sorted out.
- So Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte is now "a bigger Bristol"? Does that mean we'll see the winning car of a future race there sliding across the finish line sideways, like Terry Labonte did a few years back (courtesy of Dale Earnhardt)? I actually forgot what a NASCAR race telecast looked like - boy, do I miss ESPN's coverage of the sport.
- The Brewers played down to the competition again. The pathetic 'Stros won two out of three at Miller Park - and we didn't even see Roger Clemens. It's a matter of being consistent on offense for these guys; six runs one night, one the next, two the next.
- Don't you just love it that the Yanks/BoSox game was a battle... for second place in the AL East? Oh wait, that's right - it's the Orioles in first. Never mind - it's a travesty that MLB is kowtowing to Angelos, and basically drowning the Nats because Comcast is ticked at them. Of course, it would be some sort of poetic justice if the Nats and O's faced each other in the World Series... something that's never happened in baseball history.
- Unfortunately, I was unable to attend my sister's annual family picnic. My wife attended in my place, taking a friend's daughter along with for company. My current sets of body aches and pains (mostly due to my decision to try to count my card sets) have made sleeping during my "normal" times an adventure.
- "Italian Loose Meat Sandwiches." Yeah right. My wife's just trying to be "sensitive" about one of my least-favorite meals - and it's not just because they're more commonly known as "Sloppy Joes."
- Irony: Next week, on the one-year anniversary of the last NHL hockey game played, junior-age players and college kids will be working out at a rink in the T.O. area - not as part of some huge scouting combine, but as a "test facility" for NHL rule changes. Larger nets, smaller pads, no center red line... it'll be laboratory hockey. Let's hope it's not Frankenstein's lab, though.
- Idiocy: A New Jersey state assemblyman, who (coincidentally) is a Baptist deacon, has brought forth legislation requesting that, as a stipulation for accepting public funding for the new Newark Arena, the Devils change their name from their "satanic-sounding" moniker to something less evil-sounding. Now, let's get something straight: I am a Christian. I believe in God and the Bible and that. However, even I know that the reason for the nickname is the fictitious creature that supposedly roamed the swamps of Northern New Jersey that terrorized the citizenry in Revolutionary times. To suggest that a name change to something "less Satanic sounding" because they're accepting public money is moving a bit over the line between church and state. Thankfully, Lou Lamiorello's response was, essentially, "don't they have something better to do?"
- Everyone's upbeat about the NHL talks, figuring that they're a lot closer to the end than the beginning. There's still a whole bunch of ways they can mess it up, though - and this is the NHL we're talking about here. The ESPN decision didn't help - but do you get the feeling that there's something waiting in the wings when it comes to national TV in the US?
Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, Joseph Houk. All rights reserved.
