Hey everyone. Thank you for reading Life, Love… Sport (Back from the Dead Edition). This past week, yours truly was battling some serious strep action, so if my writing seems a bit woozy or you’re just not a big fan of sick people writing articles, you’re just gonna have to bear with me. This week shall be all baseball and perhaps just a word or two on the NBA All-Star Game (which I watched while getting pumped with fluids at the ER). There’s so much to discuss with baseball – I might have to break down this LLS into two parts (just kidding!). Let’s get ready to rumble!
Just a few words on the NBA shenanigans, if I may. They were great. Dwight Howard finally took home the Slam Dunk contest. I must say, seeing a seven-foot tall dude in a Superman cape was quite the sight for sore eyes.
The actual All-Star game was also a plus. The defense was minimal, the dunks were fantastic and the overall play was smooth. It’s a blessing for the league to finally have a period where there are so many good players. When Michael Jordan retired from the Bulls, there seemed to be a lull in the talent and interest in the NBA in general, so Stern had to go ahead and institute some crazy rules that would get people to pay attention. Now with Chris Paul, Kevin Garnett et al in the mix, it doesn’t seem like such a big problem.
Baseball! It’s back and it’s here to take up another six months of your life. That’s right, with pitchers, catchers and everyone else due to report by the end of the week, it’s time to dive right back into the world of A-Rod, Schilling, Zito and Jason Bay. We start with the big story of Joe Torre and his move west. Being a Red Sox fan, I have always held Torre among the lowest of the low, called him words that I wouldn’t want my kids to ever know and yet, I have to say, I’m happy for the guy. It’s good for an old man to get away from a stressful environment and go to the warm weather.
Moving on to Johan Santana and the Mets. It seems that the Mets have declared themselves front-runners for the NL spot in the World Series. We here at the LLS say not so fast. After all, was it not the Mets who lost a seven-game lead with 17 to play? Was it not the Mets who still can’t talk about the September collapse without crying?
I have it on good authority that several Mets fans last year bought playoff tickets in August in preparation. If the collapse isn’t the biggest load of good ol’ fashioned karmatic justice ever given out by the gods that rule baseball, it’s gotta be a close second.
Now with the best pitcher in the league on their team, I’m sure the Mets and their fans are thinking that last year can’t happen again this year. All I have to say is don’t count anything out.
My favorite team, the Red Sox, have been rather quiet, but that’s O.K. After all, when you win the World Series, it’s always a good idea to lay low for a while and let people catch their breath. After not thinking about the team for a solid four months, I’m once again ready to take on anything they throw at me this year. You know what I’m most excited about? Sports talk radio in Boston in June. You can’t beat it, with all the arguin’, hollerin’, bitchin’ and moanin’. I can’t wait.
The summer will be a lot better this year, partly because every prediction has the Yankees failing to win 90 games. And we all know what will happen if the Yankees don’t make the playoffs: someone will mysteriously disappear and never be heard from again. My money is on Andy Pettite somehow losing his way after a party. After all, it’s all his fault that the media circus is swirling around the team.
Is anyone else still paying attention to the football news? I consider myself a crazy football junkie and the best I can do is shrug as all the stories of Spygate and cheating and drugs are coming out. On the bright side, spring football for colleges is starting soon and I couldn’t be more excited about seeing the next wave of future stars take the field.
Final Fact:
Sir Barton won the Belmont Stakes in New York in 1919 to become the first horse to capture the Triple Crown.
Maystrovsky’s column appears weekly. Maystrovsky is a member of the class of 2009.
