sportzbuzz

I’m not a fan of the Chicago Bears.  I rooted hard for the Dolphins in 1985, the only team to defeat the Super Bowl Shuffling Bears.  I thought Jim McMahon was a creep.  Fridge was an overgrown, over-hyped doofus.  The only saving graces to that team - the DEFENSE and Sweetness Payton (God rest his loving soul).

Saying that about the defense - let’s fast forward to 2008.  Mike Singletary - the linebacker with the cold, hard, “I’m gonna kill that quarterback” stare.  He is now the “interim” coach of a team I loathe, the 49ers, but my contempt for them I will save for another time.  Let’s talk about Mike.

I gained a lot of respect over the years for linebackers who have that look about them.  You know the one I mean - the one that says that he is going to eat your face off once he sacks your sorry butt ten yards behind the line of scrimmage.  Singletary has that look to this very day.  And it was that look that I saw in the news conference after this past Sunday’s 49ers game, the one where he sent Vernon Davis to the locker room.   Davis had thrown a bit of a tirade after being called for personal foul.  Singletary’s reaction?  Go to the locker room, Vern, you’re done for the day.  Come back when you know how to spell “TEAM” and “SPORTSMANSHIP.”  It chaps my butt when guys act like that, especialy Davis, who Singletary himself described as typically not a problem guy.

Bravisimo, Mike!  You have done what few coaches in major sports will do these days - you sent one of your prima donna players to an early shower for not putting the team first.   You have shown your team who the boss is - you.  You showed them that you don’t give a rat’s booty about their big contract or their endorsements.  You showed them that no one is above the sport.  You showed them that the thing they should have learned in sandlot, a little thing called sportsmanship, still holds true today despite their inflated egos and their overstuffed wallets.  Bravo to you - it’s obvious you were paying attention when Ditka was schooling you during your NFL career.

It doesn’t make me like the Niners any more than I did prior to Sunday, but it makes me feel better to know that at least one coach on the sidelines still gives a damn about team pride.  It makes me feel better to know that the players and their agents aren’t intimidating every coach, GM and/or owner of major sports franchises.  Mike - would you like to take on Scott Boras next?  Help the Yanks to tell A-Rod (or as I call  him, “A-Tool”) where to stick things?  Tell Barry Bonds we know he did it and to quit acting like he is the victim and to start acting like the one who helped contribute to the latest round of the “Downfall of Professsional Sports”?

Someday I hope to have kids and I hope they have the talents I never had, one being to be good at sports. And I hope they have a coach that is able to preach the gospel of sportsmanship and team play.  I hope they have someone like Mike Singletary as a mentor.  Heck, I hope they can be as scary looking as Singletary too - Lord knows I’m a wuss and couldn’t look scary unless I’ve had the flu for five straight days.

Way to go Mike - but sorry, I still hate the Niners.  Damned Dwight Clark….

I do love baseball. I really do. It has been a passion of mine for years. I was born and bred in the heart of Redbird Nation and I bleed Cardinal Red. With that said, of course I am disappointed in the outcome of the 2008 baseball season. The Cardinals finished out of the money and the Cubs – the CUBS – won their second division in a row! YIKES! Good thing there is a team in LA that had the Cubs’ number. Good for them. Then came the Phillies.

I’m not a Phillies fan at all. I hate them. I have for a long time. And I know why I hate them. It isn’t the team. They have had some great players in the past. Mike Schmidt was a tremendous ballplayer and had amazing power. I enjoyed watching him play.

I like this group they have now. How could you not – they seem like a tight knit group of guys. Ryan Howard is a St. Louis guy – if we didn’t have some guy named Pujols playing for the Cardinals, I think Howard would be great to have. Jimmy Rollins is great at shortstop, Jayson Werth is a Springfield, IL native and the grandson of Ducky Schofield, a former Cardinal. Oh, and he can hit pretty well, too. Shane Victorino is a gamer, the kind of guy who isn’t afraid to get his uni dirty. My kind of guy. Their pitching is so-so, but Cole Hamels should be a force for years barring major injury.

No – it isn’t the team. If they played somewhere else, I’d love them. I love the Tampa team and I really hope they win. But not so much because I think they are a better group of guys than the Phils. They just don’t play in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia fans make Yankee fans look sweet. Philadelphia fans make Chicago fans seem sober. Philadelphia fans are just plain mean. I don’t like Phillies fans. They are rude and obnoxious. They not only get down on former players when they visit (ask Scott Rolen what he thinks of Phillie fans). They get down on players who refuse to sign with them (ask JD Drew). They get down on opposing players. Heck – they get down on their own players. YIKES – can you say “hard to please?”

So to the good guys who play for the Phillies – I wish you well. But remember - anything short of winning the Series and you guys will be considered scumbags. I would wish you better luck if you played in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Miami, Denver (OK – maybe not New York or Chicago). Just anywhere but Philadelphia. I wish you played for a city that would enjoy your talents and pat you on the back even if you lose. Ah heck – Go Tampa Bay!