Tag: hall of fame

Categories
General Sports

Finally, somebody besides Skip Bayless says something outlandish

As sports junkies, we get inundated with crazy opinions every single day. Mostly from the moronic panels of First Take and Around the Horn, but even those guys aren’t whacky enough to say what’s on most Americans minds. Nope, if you want to hear the real dirt from the world of sports then you need to turn to Epic Carnival because they’re willing to say the things nobody on TV has the balls to say. Like No. 5, for example.

10. Aaron Rodgers is better than Brett Favre

9. The fact that a WNBA team has hired a 50-year-old player does not say good things about the competitive level of the league

8. If some employer offered you ridiculous money to go to Europe, you’d go too

7. Unless a minor league team is having a brawl, manager meltdown, or topical publicity gag, no one gives a damn about anything they do

6. Mark Cuban has never won anything of consequence, whines like a spoiled child over any loss, and would in no way be perfect for the Cubs

5. Many people in the United States would be happier if Team USA lost in basketball, because they just hate the NBA and/or black people

4. The Baseball Hall of Fame’s posthumous induction of Buck O’Neill just underscores how much the Hall of Fame sucks

3. If Barry Bonds ever plays baseball again, he won’t be very good

2. 99% of the people who are watching footage of people running with the bulls are rooting for the bulls to crush as many people as possible

1. New stadium projects are almost always unnecessary at best, and rank corporate theft at worst… and they are aided and abetted by coddling the media in swankier rooms

Links:

[Epic Carnival]: Top 10 Sports Opinions That You Will Not Hear On Television

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Class of 2008


1. Hall of Fame time
While the NCAA national championship game might have been the most exciting event in San Antonio on Monday, it wasn’t the only ticket in town. Long before Mario Chalmers became truly Super, seven basketball legends were selected to grace the Hall of Fame. Of NBA note, Adrian Dantley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and Pat Riley got the nod. However, nobody was more overcome by the moment than the voice of college basketball Dick Vitale. Dicky V was all choked up all afternoon as he savored the honor.

I can’t run, can’t jump, can’t shoot, but just have had a tremendous — I’d like to think — passion about the game,” said Vitale.

The fellas officially take their places amongst the other legends of the game on Sept. 5 in Springfield, Mass.

2. LeBron takes it easy for a change

The last thing the Cavaliers need right now is to drop out of the top four in the Eastern Conference and lose home court advantage in the opening round. And that’s exactly why LeBron James didn’t practice on Monday. King James has been dealing with a bad back for a while now and in order to make sure the superstar is ready to finish the season strong, the Cavs gave him the day off. It’s not like he needs to practice anyway, he’s a triple-double waiting to happen for cryin’ out loud. The kid should have been shut down two weeks ago when this problem first started. Now Cleveland is dealing with an injury-laden James, a losing skid of five losses in seven games and it owns a measly two-game lead over Washington in the standings. Luckily, its next game is against New Jersey.

3. Eric Gordon follows Kelvin Sampson outta Indiana
Eric Gordon has confirmed he’ll be entering the NBA draft, meaning the Heat and the Sonics can finally start to get a glimpse of what their future’s could hold. The six-foot-four guard led the Big Ten in scoring with 20.9 points per game while setting the school and conference record for freshman scoring with 669 points. Unfortunately, all that glitz was somewhat negated when he injured his wrist back in January and his game went downhill. And with guys like Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo, D.J. Augustin and Kevin Love possibly in the mix, Gordon could slide to a tail end top 10 pick.

Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Utah (51-26) @ New Orleans (54-22)
On paper the Jazz look pretty darn good with a 50-win season wrapped up and a current grip on the fourth seed in the West. But looks can be deceiving. While owning the league’s best home record, Utah is a pathetic 16-22 on the road. In fact, the only reason they even have homecourt advantage at the moment is because the three division leaders are guaranteed one of the top four seeds. But it should still be a compelling matchup, especially at the point guard position where Chris Paul and Deron Williams will go head to head.

Buzzer Beater: Without saying he was going to pick Michael Beasley in the draft, Pat Riley said he was going to pick Michael Beasley in the draft. Of course, this is assuming Beasley goes pro and the Heat grab the top pick. But assuming all goes according to plan, Riley expects his recent scouting trip to the opening round of the NCAA tournament in Omaha to pay off. In case you don’t remember, Kansas State just so happened to open and close its March Madness in Omaha.

If the ping-pong ball falls right, I think one of the players I saw will be in a Miami Heat uniform,” Riley said. “That was why I was in Omaha.

Categories
NFL General

The Hall of Fame finally welcomes in a hankieless Michael Irvin

We know that getting inducted into the Hall of Fame is the pinnacle of any professional athlete’s career, so we can completely understand why players get a little emotional at times.  Well, to say that Michael Irvin got a tad teary eyed during his induction speech would be an understatement.  

Many people are saying that it was one of the most inspirational, touching, motivational acceptance speeches in the history of the Hall.  We’re not going to go that far because, frankly, we couldn’t even pay attention to the words coming out of his mouth with all the snot coming out of his nose!  Damn, couldn’t someone hand Irvin a Kleenex?  This is one of those rare times when ESPN HD is a bad thing.

Categories
MLB General

Jan 23 in Sports History: Jackie Robinson elected to HOF


In 1962: Dodgers second baseman Jackie Robinson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. In an ironic twist, Cleveland pitcher Bob Feller was also elected. Feller, who is an outspoken critic of baseball’s controversies to this day, openly questioned that Robinson even belonged in the major leagues. When Robinson was breaking in, Feller said, “He’s all tied up in the shoulders and can’t hit an inside pitch to save his neck. If he were a white man, I doubt if they would even consider him big league material.” Feller was, however, very much in favor of integrating baseball. He was just dead wrong on Robinson, who obviously showed that he belonged in baseball. Feller is spouting off even today. As the oldest living hall of famer, he is still railing against the likes of Pete Rose and Barry Bonds getting into the hall, once called Jim Thome a “journeyman first baseman” and said that Latin players “don’t know the rules of the game.”

In 2000: The St. Louis Rams defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 11-6 in the NFC Championship game. In a matchup of contrasting styles, Tampa’s defense shut down St. Louis’ “Greatest Show on Turf” for much of the day. Trailing 6-5 in the fourth quarter (still sounds weird), Rams’ quarterback Kurt Warner hit seldom-used wideout Ricky Proehl for a 30-yard touchdown. It was the Rams first Super Bowl appearance since 1979, as they were set to play the Tennessee Titans, who defeated Jacksonville earlier in the day. It was the first Super Bowl matchup of two franchises that had relocated.

Categories
MLB General

Dec 7 in Sports History: Lou Gehrig inducted in the Hall of Fame


In 1939: Because of his failing health, the Baseball Hall of Fame waived its standard rule that a player must be retired two years before they can be elected to the hall for Lou Gehrig. Gehrig, who once held the record for playing in 2,130 consecutive games, suffered an incurable fatal neuromuscular disease called ALS (which became known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease). He played his final game in May of 1939, and gave his famous “luckiest man on the face of the earth” speech on July 4, in which his number four was retired by the Yankees. It was the first number ever to be retired by a sports team. Only when Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash in 1972 was the waiting period (which is now five years) waived. (lougehrig.com)

Also in 1939: On the same day Gehrig was enshrined, a brash, cocky nineteen-year-old who was killing American Association pitching was signed by the Boston Red Sox. Ted Williams went on to tear up American League pitching that year, hitting .327 with 31 HR and 145 RBI. During his Hall of Fame career, he hit .344 with 521 homers. He was the last player to hit over .400 when he hit .406 in the 1941 season. He also served in two wars (flying 39 missions in Korea) and won two triple crowns (although he didn’t win MVP either year). He was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1966 and named the greatest hitter of all-time during baseball’s 1969 centennial celebration. (baseballlibrary.com)

Also, happy birthday to Larry Bird, who turns 50 today and let’s not forget that today is the day the German’s bombed Pearl Harbor.