Usain “Lightning” Bolt Photograph

Posted on August 16, 2013 by admin

Have you seen this photograph from the 1oo meter finals in Moscow on Sunday, August 12th?  It was taken by AFP photographer Olivier Morin at just the right time, to catch the 2008 and 2012 100 meters Olympic Champion Usain Bolt, winning the race as lightning came down from above.  Click on the pic to enlarge it.

ATHLETICS-WORLD-2013-100M

Bolt did win the 100 meters at the World Championships shortly after this picture was taken, in a time of 9.77 seconds.  After seeing the photograph, Bolt said it was amazing.  I would have to agree.  Not only is it a good action picture of Bolt, at the exact time the lightning bolt flashed, but it also includes the name of the meet, IAAF Championships Moscow 2013, just below the lightning bolt.  When Morin took the Usain “Lightning” Bolt photograph, he didn’t even notice the lightning.  He saw it when reviewing his shots later.  He said the shot was “pure luck”.  As Roman philosopher Seneca said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”.

Just in case you hadn’t seen this photograph yet, I thought I would share it with you.  Enjoy.

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Let The Caddies Race!

Posted on August 15, 2013 by admin

I just saw this video for the first time today.  Since I don’t watch golf, I didn’t know that the caddies race each other.  The reason this was in the sports news, was that the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) decided to ban the caddy races, because it is a distraction, and the races are unbecoming to caddies.  That’s typical for golf. I guess the movie Caddyshack wasn’t based on actual caddy behavior.  When I saw the video below, my first reaction was that this was the best thing to come to golf…ever!

Then right after seeing it, I found out the PGA has banned what to me almost makes golf worth watching.  I loved both Caddyshack and Happy Gilmore, but I won’t watch a golf telecast, even though I took golf in college.  The prospect of seeing caddies race during a lull in the action, seems great to me.  Not only should they be allowed to race, but there should be prize money awarded.  You could even have caddy race betting.  If the golfers want to get in on this, they should be able to also.

However, some rules would need to be instituted.  As you can see in the video above, one caddy dropped his bag of clubs, then the other caddy did also.  This should be immediate disqualification.  A caddy carries clubs, so if they race, they should be carrying the clubs until the last step, where the caddies in the video dove for the green.  The PGA is so short-sighted.  The caddy races could be big business.  The caddy race betting income would be taxed like other gambling income, and it could help to decrease the national debt.

Maybe I’m getting a little carried away here, but the PGA should take the chains off the men who carry the clubs, and Let The Caddies Race!

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The Hidden Ball Trick Still Works In The Major Leagues

Posted on August 13, 2013 by admin

The Tampa Bay Rays pulled the old hidden ball trick on the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Juan Uribe on Saturday.  Don’t they teach you to keep your eye on the ball in little league?  The third base umpire knew where the ball was.  Check out the video below:

As Bugs Bunny used to say, “What a maroon!”  It goes to show you that mistakes can be made even among the world’s best, in any business.  You just have to learn from your mistakes, and move on.

Even though Juan Uribe fell for the hidden ball trick, his team still won the game 5-0.  He has already taken plenty of playful ribbing from his teammates, including being presented a shoe taped to a base.   I’m sure he won’t quit because of this, and if you have some setbacks, you shouldn’t quit either.

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Peyton and Eli Manning – Football On Your Phone

Posted on August 10, 2013 by admin

Here is a new DirecTV commercial introducing Football On Your Phone, starring NFL Super Bowl winning quarterbacks, and brothers, Peyton and Eli Manning.  This is proof that the off season for the NFL is way too long.  What’s with the hair on these guys too?  It’s so dorky, that it’s funny.

I’m sure they will face a lot of ribbing from teammates, and they deserve it.  They obviously both have a good sense of humor.  Don’t quit your regular job guys.  Does this video make you want to get Football On Your Phone?

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NFL Players Race A Cheetah

Posted on July 25, 2013 by admin

Two of the fastest players in the National Football League have raced a cheetah on the National Geographic Wild‘s Big Cat Week, which will air in November.  Chris Johnson, who has run the 40 yard dash in 4.24 seconds, is a running back for the Tennessee Titans, and is one of the racers.  The other one is Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears.  Hester is a wide receiver, but better known for his punt/kickoff returning prowess.

No specifics have been released about how long the race is, or if the cheetah is put at some type of disadvantage.  This can’t possibly be an even race, over the same distance for each racer.  A cheetah, which is the fastest animal on earth, can attain speeds of up to 75 miles per hour.  No human being has ever run half of that speed, for even a short period.

cheetah running 2

I’m sure this is just a publicity stunt for ratings on the Nat Geo Wild channel, but it is interesting.  Former wide receiver Chad Johnson beat a horse in a race in 2007, but he had a huge head start, and the horse didn’t seem very fast.  Johnson actually won the race easily.  However, racing a cheetah is a much different story.  There has to be some type of head start, or other handicap to the cheetah, to even make the race close.  My father Bill Thomas built his own race car back in 1964 (which is shown below) and he named it the Cheetah, naming it after the fastest animal.

Bill_Thomas_Cheetah_History_17

Anyway, I will be interested in the races between Chris Johnson, Devin Hester and the cheetah.  If the race is even close to being a straight-up race of sheer speed, then I’ll take the cheetah.  The longer the race, the bigger distance the cheetah will win by.  I hope it’s at least interesting to watch.

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Chris Davis Has 37 Home Runs At The All Star Break

Posted on July 15, 2013 by admin

The Baltimore Orioles‘ first baseman Chris Davis homered today, to finish with 37 home runs at the All Star break.  He has hit a home run in each of the last 4 games.  Last year Davis only had 33 home runs for the entire season.

No one in American League history has ever had more home runs at the All Star break.  Reggie Jackson, also had 37 home runs at the break, in 1969.  Jackson only hit 10 more home runs the rest of the year, to finish with 47.  In major league history, the only other players to have as many as 37 home runs at the All Star break, were Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals, who had 37 in 1998, and Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants, who had 39 at the break in 2001.  McGwire set the single season record in 1998 with 70 home runs, and Bonds broke the record with 73 in 2001.  However, the suspected use of steroids taints both of those records.

Davis has said that he considers Roger Maris‘ 61 home runs in 1961, as the single season record.  Since steroids were not used in baseball back in 1961, this seems like a reasonable statement by Davis.  But if you really want to decide who had the best non-steroid home run hitting season, you can’t forget about Babe Ruth.  In 1927 when Ruth hit 60 home runs, 154 games were played in a baseball season, while Maris had 8 more games to break Ruth’s record.  Maris had 58 home runs after 154 games in the 1961 season.

In the last 6 years, the only league leader in home runs that even had 50, was Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2010, who had 54.  I can confidently predict that no one will ever hit more than 73 home runs in a 162 game season, without the use of steroids.  I am a little biased, since Babe Ruth is my favorite baseball player of all time.  But to me, he is still the season season leader, until someone hits more than 60 home runs in 154 games.

Davis is having a great season though.  Not only has he hit 37 home runs already, but he has 93 runs batted in, and is batting .315 in 95 games.  If he keeps up the same home run pace for the rest of the season, he will finish the year with 63 home runs, and 60 after 154 games.  63 would be the single season steroid-free home run record.  However, as Jackson fizzled after the All Star break in 1961, only hitting 10 more home runs, it will be increasingly difficult to maintain Davis’ pace as the season continues.

Davis will be hitting in the Home Run Derby on Monday.  History has shown that home run production by participants in the derby has decreased, sometimes very dramatically for the remainder of the season.  I hope that doesn’t happen to Davis.  I admit I never heard of him before about a month ago, but home runs bring more attention to baseball.  Remember when McGwire and the Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa were battling for the home run title in 1998?  I don’t ever remember baseball receiving more attention than that year, in my lifetime.  With the miserable television ratings for the World Series last year, Davis chasing the home run record is just what baseball needs.

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Andy Murray Wins Wimbledon

Posted on July 8, 2013 by admin

Andy Murray beat Novak Djokovic to become the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years.  Fred Perry was the last Brit to accomplish the feat, back in 1936.  Murray came close last year, losing in the finals to Roger Federer in 4 sets.  With the home crowd decisively behind him, Murray took down the #1 player in the world in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.

This was not the first time Murray had won a tournament at the All England Club.  He also defeated Djokovic, who is from Serbia, in the finals of the Olympics last year.  Wimbledon is Murray’s second Grand Slam Title.  He won the 2012 U.S. Open, beating guess who.  Yes, that was the first time he beat Djokovic in a Grand Slam Final.  They have now each won 2 Grand Slam Finals against each other, with Djokovic winning at the Australian Open in 2011 and earlier this year.  As the #2 player in the world, Murray is making a strong push to take that #1 ranking from Djokovic, who won his only Wimbledon in 2011.

By the end of the second round, things were looking very good for Murray to make it to the finals again.  Two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal of Spain was upset in the first round, and Roger Federer from Switzerland, a seven-time and defending Wimbledon champion, was bounced in the second round.  No one remained in the tournament that had won a Wimbledon title in the last 10 years, except for Djokovic, and he was in the other bracket.

While the door was wide open for Murray, he didn’t exactly cruise through his matches.  In the quarterfinals, he went five sets against Fernando Verdasco of Spain.   Murray had to win the last 3 sets to even make it to the semifinals.  He also lost the first set in the semifinals against Jerzy Janowicz of Poland, but won the match in four sets.  Does it take Murray a while to get warmed up?  Clearly stamina is not a problem for him, as he won the last 3 sets in each match against Verdasco, Janowicz, and  Djokovic to win the championship.

The Women’s Wimbledon Champion is Marion Bartoli of France.  She won her first Wimbledon Championship, as well as her first Grand Slam title.  She defeated Sabine Lisicki from Germany in the finals in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4.  All four of the women in the semifinals, had never won a Grand Slam tournament before.  Upsets were rampant on the women’s side of Wimbledon this year.  The 3 top seeds were out by the quarterfinals, including Lisicki taking down #1 ranked Serena Williams in the 4th round.

Bartoli will surely move up from her #15 ranking after winning the title.  Lisicki was ranked #23, and cried a few times as she took the straight set beating in the finals.  Bartoli eliminated the final American at Wimbledon, Sloane Stephens, in the quarterfinals.  In fact, Bartoli never had to go to a third set against anyone.  She had quite a dominant tournament for a #15 ranked player.

This was a miserable showing for the Americans.  Serena Williams has been basically carrying tennis for the United States lately.  When she was upset, Stephens was the only one left, and she went out in the quarterfinals.  The American men were an embarrassment.  For the first time in 101 years, an American man didn’t even make it to the third round at Wimbledon.  Hopefully, it will be another 101 years, before that happens again.  Have you ever noticed that American tennis players are in England on the 4th of July, which celebrates are independence from them?  Who picked this time of the year for their tournament anyway?

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Homer Bailey Throws His Second No-Hitter

Posted on July 3, 2013 by admin

Cincinnati Reds‘ pitcher Homer Bailey pitched the second no-hitter of his career on Tuesday, shutting out the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants 3-0.  This was the first no-hitter thrown in the 2013 season.  Five no-hitters had occurred by this point last season.

Bailey pitched his no-hitter on Tuesday, in front of the home fans at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, but only in front of 27, 509 spectators.  His last no-hitter was a 1-0 win in Pittsburgh against the Pirates, on September 28 of last year.  Since no one has pitched a no-hitter since that game in Pittsburgh, Bailey is said to be the first player to pitch consecutive no-hitters since Nolan Ryan in 1975.  Only in baseball, can a player have over 9 months, and 16 starts in between games, and have them considered to being consecutive.  What happens if he pitches another no-hitter before anyone else does?  Is that a three-peat, or a trifecta?

The only pitcher that did in-fact pitch consecutive no-hitters was another Cincinnati Red, Johnny Vander Meer, back in 1938, and he was a rookie.  Vander Meer did it in consecutive starts.  I don’t want to take anything away from Bailey’s accomplishment, I just wanted to point out what baseball considers consecutive.  Bailey only walked one batter in each of those starts, so he was just one walk away from pitching perfect games.

The strange thing about Bailey, besides that he goes by Homer, and his goal is to prevent batters from hitting them, is that after this game, he is only 5-6 this year.  In fact, his career earned run average of 4.36 is the worst for any pitcher ever to throw multiple no-hitters.  Bailey is now 43-39 for his career.  Talk about a player being hot and cold.

Imagine if you were a Pittsburgh Pirates fan at that game on September 28, 2012.  Not only did your team lose, but they went hitless.  That’s the essence of a dull day at the ballpark.  Sure it’s better when a pitcher has a no-hitter at home, but it still means that there was no hits by one of the teams.  I’m not a big fan of a pitcher’s duel.  I like to see hitting, and runs scored.  If that it isn’t happening, you might as well go watch one of the many extremely boring scoreless ties in soccer.  However, congratulations are in order for Homer Bailey on his accomplishment.  He has pitched 2 no-hitters since anyone else has done it even once.

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Has Aaron Hernandez Killed 3 People In The Last Year?

Posted on June 30, 2013 by admin

Aaron Hernandez, the former tight end of the New England Patriots, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, along with 5 gun charges, on Wednesday, June 26th.  Hernandez, and two others were accused of shooting semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd, early in the morning on June 17th.

This is an ongoing investigation, but here is what the police believed happened so far.  Lloyd who is dating the sister of Hernandez’s long time girlfriend, Shayanna Jenkins, was at a nightclub in Boston on June 14th with Hernandez, when Hernandez got upset that Lloyd was talking to some people that he didn’t like.  Nothing major happened that night, but 2 nights later, Hernandez texted two people and urged them to come quickly from Connecticut to Massachusetts to see him.  Hernandez then texted Lloyd a few minutes later, telling him that he wanted to get together.

Hernandez, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz drove together and picked-up Lloyd at around 2:30 a.m. on June 17th.  They all drove to an industrial park, where Lloyd was shot 5 times.  Once in the forearm, twice in the back, and twice in the chest.  It is not known at this time, who did the shooting.  Nearby surveillance cameras show all 4 men together shortly before the shooting.  An ammunition clip was found in Hernandez’s hummer that matched the caliber of the casings found in the industrial park where Lloyd was shot.  Wallace and Ortiz were also arrested within a few days of the Hernandez arrest.

While this execution type of murder is shocking enough, Hernandez is also now being investigated for the drive-by shooting of two men, that lived in the neighborhood where Lloyd resided.  This shooting happened on July 16th of last year.  Apparently, Hernandez was in a group of men involved in a fight with Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado, the two victims.  These men were shot at a red light, from a grey SUV with Rhode Island license plates.  It has been reported that Hernandez was renting that vehicle at the time of the shooting.  Lloyd may have known about this incident, which eventually led to his death.

I know that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but this looks very bad for the former tight end of the Patriots.  Apparently the Patriots think so too.  They released him about 90 minutes after his arrest.  The team has even said that they don’t intend to pay him any of the remaining $5.91 million that is guaranteed in his five year, $40 million contract that he signed 3 years ago.  The Patriots have even offered to exchange any #81 Hernandez jerseys returned, for a jersey of another player for free.

Ironically, the Patriots recently signed quarterback Tim Tebow, who was teammates with Hernandez on their 2008 National championship team at the University of Florida.  Tebow even tried to help Hernandez get off drugs, which he turned to, after the sudden death of his father.  Tebow was instrumental in the recruiting of Hernandez to Florida also.  Tebow, who may have been moved to the tight end position, even before Hernandez’s arrest, looks like an even smarter acquisition now.  The other Patriots’ tight end, Rob Gronkowski, has had 5 surgeries in the last year, so a back-up tight end was needed.  Tebow, a devout Christian, should be getting plenty of playing time, while his former college teammate is in jail, possibly for the rest of his life, accused of murder.

This whole Hernandez situation, is both grisly and fascinating at the same time.  If he did shoot those two men last July, and had gotten away with it, maybe he thought he could get away with anything.  It kind of reminds me of O.J. Simpson, another former football star.  He was acquitted the first time, of a double homicide, which many believe he clearly committed, but has been in jail since 2007, for an armed robbery, and won’t be up for parole until 2016.  Maybe they both thought they could get away with murder, literally, and decided to commit other crimes, but the second time, they made it to the big house.

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The Chicago Blackhawks Win The Stanley Cup

Posted on June 25, 2013 by admin

The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Boston Bruins in shocking fashion, to win Game 6, and the Stanley Cup 3-2, on Monday night in Boston.  As the third period was winding down, the Bruins were holding a 2-1 lead.  It looked as if they would force a Game 7, back in Chicago on Wednesday.  However, the Blackhawks had other plans.  They scored 2 goals in the last 1:16 to tie then win Game 6.

Boston scored the first goal of the game, with Chris Kelly scoring his 2nd goal of the playoffs, in the first period.  The Bruins dominated the first period, but only held a 1-0 lead at the end of the period.  The Blackhawks started to come on in the second period, especially when Jonathan Toews scored his 3rd goal of the playoffs, to tie the score at 1.  When Boston’s Milan Lucic scored his 4th goal of the Finals, and 7th of the playoffs at 12:11 of the 3rd period, it started to look as if we might be headed for a Game 7.

The Blackhawks outshot the Bruins 16-7 in the 3rd period, as they tried desperately to tie the game, and force the 4th overtime of this Stanley Cup Finals.  Chicago put on the normal furious rush, as they pulled their goalie at the end of the third period.  Bryan Bickell tied the score at 2, with 1:16 remaining in regulation.  It was Bickell’s 9th goal of the playoffs.  Now it really looked like overtime.  But 17 seconds later, Dave Bolland knocked in a rebound, to give the Blackhawks their first lead of the game.

Chicago held on to win their 2nd Stanley Cup in the last 4 years, and 5th championship overall.  Patrick Kane won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  Kane is the 4th American-born player to win the award, but the 3rd consecutive.  Defenseman Bryan Leetch of the New York Rangers was the first American to win, in 1994, the 30th year the trophy was awarded.  Then it took another 17 years until goalie Tim Thomas won it for the Bruins 2 years ago.  Last year, the Los Angeles Kings’ goalie Jonathan Quick won the Conn Smythe, and right winger Kane made it 3 in a row for the Americans tonight.  That must piss off Canadians, in addition to 20 years since a Canadian team won an NHL Championship, the Montreal Canadiens, back in 1993.

While Kane winning the award made sense, especially with his 3 goals in Games 4 and 5, to get the Blackhawks back in the series offensively, a few of his teammates could have also won the award.  Bickell was tied with Kane for the team lead, with 19 points in the playoffs, and Patrick Sharp led the team with 10 goals.  You can’t forget goalie Corey Crawford either.  He finished with all 16 wins in goal, had a 1.84 goals against average, and a .932 save percentage.  His goals against average was the lowest in the playoffs in Chicago Blackhawks history.

I remember 3 years ago when the Blackhawks won their last Stanley Cup, it was imminent that they had to dump many of their players because of high salaries.  I haven’t heard any of that talk this time.  With Crawford in goal, and the offense they have, the Blackhawks should be very good for years to come.

Now starts the long gap between basketball and hockey, and preseason football.  Yes, I know there is baseball, auto racing, golf, tennis and other sports, and I will continue to write about them, but it gets tougher for me this time of year.  I won’t let you down though.

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