Venus and Serena Williams Have Better Things to Do
May 31, 2008
It must be nice when talent you were born with isn’t even your favorite thing in the world to do. That’s the case with Venus and Serena Williams, two of the most physically talented tennis players the sport has ever seen, with the least amount of concern for what the sport could ever think about them.
Their ouster at the French Open on the same day is just the latest
installment for the Williams’ sisters ongoing morality play, "I Really
Don’t Feel Like Doing This." Blame it on their father, blame it on endorsements, blame it on ESPN, but Venus and Serena are fully aware of what they are capable of, and have no problem turning it on and off at their pleasure.
You could make the case that because they were forced into this life, their maturity is yielding a new perspective on what is important to them as individuals. They value their outside professional ventures, they value celebrity standing, and their ability to manipulate both. They don’t need tennis unhinging that in any way, so you can understand why sometimes they would rather mail it in than pander to our expectations as fans.
Maybe they’ve made enough money shilling for endorsements that they’ve learned the value in being their own brand. They realize that professional tennis won’t be their permanent bank deposit slip, and would rather focus on more sustainable investments than world travel and physically exhausting competitions.
Maybe they are just enjoying being two young, attractive women with worldwide appeal, and would rather not be troubled with the bland pressure of being the best tennis players in the world. Maybe they want to be starlets living as care-free a life as money can buy.
Either way, we’re kind of obligated to criticize them for that. We didn’t ask for them to be the best, but they owe it to us to keep up our expectations. That’s the trade off between fans and athletic stars. You entertain us, we’ll make you rich and famous. Fans usually don’t renege on that deal that easy.
But maybe we should make the exception for Venus and Serena Williams that we didn’t make for Michael Jackson, Tiger Woods and countless other stars who shined before they were legally allowed to drive. Maybe we should hand the keys to their professional and personal happiness back to them, and hope that they drive their lives anywhere else but into a ditch. Sure, we’ll miss having them around in the sports arena, but we’ve got enough memories to last us for a while.
Look Who’s Sports Tech Now!
May 30, 2008
Thanks to the good folks at SportsTechNow.com, you can read about the genesis of the Stets Sports Blog and the 39 other blogs I write. If you’re new to reading or writing blogs, Sports Tech Now is an invaluable resource.
So aside from the egregious grammar and punctuation on my part, please enjoy my profile over there. You’ll discover that I’m the David Cook of sports blogging.
Baptisizing, Then a Firing in Detroit High School Wrestling Program
May 30, 2008
A tenured high school wrestling coach was recently fired under allegations that his assistant was trying to convert Muslim students to Christianity.
Jerry Marszalek spent 35 years as the head wrestling coach at Fordson High School outside of Detroit. 10 of those years were spent in tandem with Rev. Trey Hancock, the individual allegedly involved with the attempted conversions. School principal Imad Fadlallah dismissed the coach after the confirmation of rumors by Hancock, and amid allegations that he baptized a 15-year-old Muslim student in Port Huron several years ago.
Sure, there’s plenty room for Rev. Lovejoy jokes in this story, and I’m sure a commenter will bless us with such. On the other hand, there’s a soapbox to be pulled out on this issue, and the Rev. Hancock deserves to get beat about the domepiece with it.
Baltimore Names Yet Another Street After Cal Ripken Jr.
May 30, 2008
Not to hate on the guy or anything, but the City of Baltimore might as well make Baltimore Oriole legend Cal Ripken Jr. the head of public works. At least that way, we’ll be able to genuinely be displeased for the town naming all of its streets after him.
Nothing personal against the Iron Man, it’s just that they should go all in if every seven years the city is going to erect, name or emblazon something in his honor. In 2001, Lee St. near Camden Yards was renamed Ripken Way. Now, its a highway sign coming off of I-395 near the stadium that reads Ripken Way. Just dye the Harbor orange and replace the Domino Sugar plant sign with a number 8 jersey, for crying out loud.
Okay. We got it. We should all be living the Ripken Way. Double entendres shouldn’t be so heavy.
NBA Puts A Stop to Flops
May 29, 2008
In a move that is sure to stem European swag across the NBA, the league will begin imposing fines on players who flop in games beginning next year.
"…in-game arena observers and video reviewers will be instructed to
report instances of theatrical flopping for potential punishment as
part of postgame reports on officiating and other matters."
The thing is, if you’re going to stop flopping, and you’ve already stopped outbursts aimed at referees, go all the way and get rid of the stupid shoulder shrug. You know, the "what who me?" look that 98 percent of the league uses after they’ve clearly hacked someone? The look that makes Tim Duncan look like he’s just had to pay each player on the court a dividend of $50?
Yeah. That one.
Get it out.
It’s basketball. Shrugs of wonder get you nothing but another ticky-tack foul at the beginning of the second half. It’s almost as bad as player who injure an arm or hand, and lay on the court writhing in pain. As long as the NBA is taking the theatrics out of the sport, they might as well take the opportunity to get rid of the crying as well.
The Hazard of Elijah Dukes
May 28, 2008
Let’s make it real simple. With the Tampa Bay Rays, Elijah Dukes was a super-talented player with a wack team. Currently, Elijah Dukes is a super-talented player with a wack Washington Nationals club.
Now the truth of the matter is that Dukes was a genuine clubhouse cancer in his tenure with the Rays. He was more than just a divisive personality with explosive tendencies, but its not a good look for the arrests of your star player he was a lightening rod for supplemental coverage of how much the Rays sucked. In Washington, Dukes has been more Marlboro Lights than cancer; definitely not good for you, but damn if it ain’t cool.
In no way is Dukes solely responsible for the slumping Nats, but its a wacky coincidence that the Rays have elevated their game to the top of the American League in his absence.
Just saying, dawg.
Joba Chamberlain is in Roger Clemens’ Fave Five
May 28, 2008
To be filed in the "completely-odd-but-not-surprising" drawer, Joba "Fists of Fury" Chamberlain tells USA Today that he regularly texts national buffoon Roger Clemens for advice.
Chamberlain says he’s taking pieces of Clemens’ workout routine and
incorporating them. One piece of advice Clemens gave him: "The easiest
day should be the day you pitch," Chamberlain says. "Then, I beat
myself up in between starts. I run, lift, eat right and take care of
myself between starts."
Given Clemens’ troubles surrounding his workout regiment, perhaps Cecil Fielder would’ve been a better choice for cell phone BFF. Now if he’s trying to get pointers on hollering at Miley Cyrus…
You Don’t Mess With the Joey Crawford
May 28, 2008
It was his call to make, and you just knew that he wouldn’t.
Not after the laughing Tim Duncan fiasco, not after the shouting match with Greg Popovich in the Western Conference semi-finals earlier this month. No, Joey Crawford was going to let the play determine the game’s outcome, and the San Antonio Spurs were going to like it.
Both sides vehemently denied that Crawford’s presence in the game would have any effect. Pretty soon, Stu Jackson is going to give the language on why Derek Fisher’s bump on Brent Barry in the waning second of the Los Angeles Lakers 93-91 road victory over the Spurs went uncalled. While the NBA will probably make this the last chapter in the Crawford-Spurs saga, the book’s author couldn’t have penned a more climatic ending.
For all intents and purposes, the series is not over. We’ve seen the Lakers blow a 3-1 lead before, and it would be just like the Spurs to come back and do it with a hobbled Manu Ginobili and a stifled Tony Parker. Still, the 2008 San Antonio Spurs don’t look like the kind of team built for the impossible, they specialize in making the probable look good.
Unfortunately, so does Joey Crawford.
Major League Baseball - Classically Behind the Times
May 27, 2008
For all of the traditional nuances that make Major League Baseball great, there are far more that impede its efforts to once again be America’s past time. The latest league-wide fiasco is bad calls on home run balls, something that seems to be an issue now that the lack of steroids in Major League Baseball has balls barely clearing the fence.
But there’s no reason to stop there. Baseball’s ‘human element’ allure has long lost its luster, and if the sport hopes to polish its tarnished image, it has to do more than clean off the HGH residue and defog the glasses of its umpires. It should be compelled to do something about inconsistent strike zones, and game etiquette.
One their worst day, offensive fouls in the NBA and pass interference in the NFL don’t come close to balls and strikes in the Major Leagues. Every ref has a strike that is a diverse as their punch out histrionics, and it severely takes away from the game. Perhaps its more fun for fans and umps alike to be kept guessing about which way umpires will judge pitches, but no other sport has as much room for bad calls as those of the MLB. And with all of the motion-sensor technology, you would think it would be the first sport to fully ensure consistent calls, and less room for interpretation.
Which leads to the next point. Fighting in Major League Baseball is viewed by many as a time-honored tradition reserved for a beaning or retaliatory beaning. But the truth is that no other sports aside from hockey could last a SportsCenter minute if fighting was a part of its culture. The NBA used to be cool with fighting, but the last time a decent brawl broke out, Carmelo Anthony was made to look like Sonny Corleone.
Same thing for managers and players openly berating umpires. No other sport employs such a democracy when it comes to the mistreatment of game officials. Sure, the umps have the final say on any given matter, but its more of a rallying cry to get tossed for making an umpire look like a sucker.
Some may decry these elements of the game being taken away, but they probably are the same racist hypocrites that believe the NBA and NFL are full of thugs, while Major League Baseball happened to get the best of the genetic pool. And if you present the lame excuse that baseball is not as close to the fans as the NBA or NFL, you tell me when is the last time a fan impacted the outcome of a playoff game in either of those sports.
There’s a lot of things wrong with Major League Baseball, so as long as the sport is genuinely attempting to get things right, it needs to root out the stale aspects of its historic existence.
Why Not a Pistons-Lakers NBA Finals?
May 27, 2008
Everybody keeps talking about whether or not the NBA Playoffs are being fixed to feature a Lakers-Celtics 2008 NBA Finals match-up. I have no doubt that the NBA is vested in a bi-coastal, major market face-off between two of the league’s storied franchises.
And while some are advocating for a boring chess match to determine the basketball champions of the world, why not go a step up and consider Detroit Pistons-Los Angeles Lakers in the deciding series?
Why not upload Bad Boys v. Showtime 2.0? It worked out for Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas pretty well, and it would have just as many compelling story lines. Can Kobe do it without Shaq against the last squad that relishes team defense? With another championship, will we have to regard Rasheed Wallace as one of the best forwards to play in the last 25 years?
Can the Lakers avenge the 2004 NBA Finals upset?
Obviously, Kobe is too much of a douche to have the nation rooting for his success, but the casual fan will be interested in a timeless match-up such as this. Both teams have been there and done that in recent memory, and this match-up has the best potential to go six or seven games.
Tonight will reveal if the Western Conference Finals is as much of a push as the Eastern Conference Finals, but if for no other reason then sentimentality, you should root for the Pistons-Lakers to have the first Robert Horry-free championship in quite sometime.
