Friday, July 13, 2007

Beckham

On ESPN today there was a poll asking whether or not people were excited about Beckham coming to the USA. I answered that I wasn't interested, and was pleasantly surprised to find that over 50% of the 100 thousand people that have voted so far agree with me.

Beckenbauer and Pele both have tried to make soccer relevant. They failed, and Beckham will fail as well. Beckham's arrival today will be the high point of the interest here in America. People here just don't care about soccer. NASCAR is even more popular than soccer. Sorry Beckham, but not even you will be able to make soccer relevant here. At least you'll get paid...

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Bad Vlad

I watched the homerun derby last night. Although I am not a huge fan of the homerun derby, mostly because of how loooooooonnnngggg it is, I found this one to be very intriguing. I wasn't familiar with some of the contestants (Alex Rios or that Matt Holladay), but I don't know whether it was the ambiance of AT&T park, classic Chris Berman, or my barbecued steak, but I loved every minute of the derby. Let's start with the park.

Is there a more beautiful sporting venue in all the country than that of the San Francisco Giants? It is nestled right against McCovey Cove, and the Golden Gate Bridge can be seen off to the distance. Although nobody hit a homerun into the cove, the kayakers provided some good entertainment.

Something that surprised me was Barry Bonds's interview with Peter Gammons. Barry was very polite, and surprisingly good-natured. With all the disgust that I have for him, I couldn't help but realize that I was watching the man who was going to surpass one of my idols and become the homerun champion. During the interview, Barry was smiling, having fun, and seemed like a kind person. I was shocked.

As for the derby itself, if I were a betting man, I would have put all my money on Vladimir Guerrero. Anybody who has ever watched this guy take batting practice would know that he hits the crap out of the ball. It also helped that I am an Angel fan and was sporting my Vladimir Guerrero jersey. Seriously, who hits the ball 503 feet? That was one of the most amazing homeruns I have ever seen.

The homerun derby is the best All-Star event in all of sports. The dunk contest has gotten old, and football doesn't have anything to compare. I'm glad I watched, and I can't wait for the second half.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

The Lifetime Channel

While as was at my parent's house a couple of days ago, I stumbled across the Lifetime channel. It was playing some show about what seemed to be a happy marriage between two people. I flipped past the channel, and about 20 minutes later I flipped past it again, and it showed the wife getting beat down by her terrible husband. I then saw the schedule for movies coming up on lifetime, and it all seemed to be about men doing terrible things to women, so that got me thinking....

What would happen if men had a channel that talked about all the things that women do to men? What would be the titles of the shows on that channel? A couple came to mind.

1. My Bank Account is empty: The Story of the Woman who couldn't stop spending
2. The Diary of Tom Jane: A man who was nagged to death
3. My Mother-in-law hates me

I know that I would be interested in watching those shows, at least from a comedy standpoint. I wonder what needs to be done to make it happen.


Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Derek Fisher

Is there a better person in sports right now than Derek Fisher? With the likes of the PacMan making it rain, the Tank breaking his contract after stating he was going to be man of the year, Stephen Jackson shooting a gun at a strip club, Ron Artest beating his wife, and Michael Vick fighting his dogs, it's refreshing to have a feel-good story in sports for once.

The Jazz agreed to release Derek Fisher from the team yesterday due to Fisher's daughter's condition. He wants to live in a city where he can be close with his daughter who is battling a rare form of eye cancer. A man that puts family first in the professional sports world is very refreshing, and is the kind of player that we should all be looking up to.

The Utah Jazz organization should also be applauded for its willingness to release Fisher from his contract. Fisher could possibly end up on a Western Conference team competing against Utah next year, but Utah realized that family comes first. Compassion is very underrated these days, especially in the sports world, but the Jazz understood that Fisher is more than just an athlete. He is a man who needed to be in a better situation for his daughter.