Chumpservations, Vol. 13: Bud Selig, Armando Galarraga, Jim Joyce, World Cup Soccer, the NBA Finals, Ken Griffey, Jr., Jose Canseco, Affliction sport coats, Danny Ferry, drunken bosses and broken-down Volkswagens

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I’d like to apologize to my regular readers for not having posted anything lately.

Let’s just say… it’s been a helluva week.

June started out with a bang.  My engine over-heated to the point where I had to park my car, walk a mile in the Florida heat to the nearest Volkswagen dealer, spend $25 for Volks-specific coolant, walk another mile back to my car, only to find sludge leaking from the place um… under my hood… um, where it’s supposed to go.  I’m no mechanic nor do I play one on the internet.

Fortunately a friend and regular reader, let’s call him NZ, briefly quelled his Chick-Fil-A craving, for which he had a free coupon, to pick me up from the dealership, where I was later informed that my car would cost over a thousand dollars to fix.

As if that news wasn’t pleasant enough, I found out later that day that I was relieved of one my numerous, part-time bartending jobs by the new bar manager who was later found passed out on the kitchen floor drunk and covered in flour.

Yes, all this actually happened.

Needless to say, it was quite the day but let’s move on, shall we?

Here’s some brief thoughts on the week that was…

Yes… I think Bud Selig should have rescinded that bad Jim Joyce call and given Armando Galarraga at least an honorary perfect game.  He has the power to do so, so why not do the right thing?  For baseball’s sake?  Please.  We all know it was a perfect game so why not have the record books illustrate that?  Props to Joyce, Galarraga, Jim Leyland and Tigers GM Mark Reuss who all handled the post-game fiasco with class.  Selig was the only one who didn’t, not that anyone’s surprised.  Don’t worry, baseball fans.  There’s only 500 more days until Selig’s retirement.  Let’s just hope he doesn’t anoint his successor.

Ken Griffey, Jr. called it a career this week.  (Selig should too!)  Junior ranks right up there with the greatest athletes to have never won a championship.  My others would have to include Dan Marino, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Barry Sanders, Ernie Banks, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Ted Williams, Allen Iverson, Dominique Wilkins and Elgin Baylor.  In your mind, where does Griffey, who finished his career with 630 HRs and a lifetime .284 batting average, rank among those greats?

Yes… after watching Game One, I think the Lakers-Celtics Finals has the potential to be a real snooze-fest unless the Celtics make adjustments I don’t know they’re capable of making.  The Lakers are too big, too long, too good, have Kobe and oh yeah, Phil Jackson is 47-0 in his career when winning the first game of a playoff series.  Is it football season yet?

Yes… I think Kobe Bryant will win his fifth ring this year, putting him only one behind Michael Jordan and yes, I think he will eventually retire with at least that many.

Yes… I wonder why Jose Canseco wears Affliction blazers to important grand jury meetings.

Yes… I am looking forward to the World Cup and not just because there’s nothing else on television to watch this summer.

Yes…  I think Rays fans are fickle.  The last time I checked the standings, Tampa Bay still holds the best record in baseball and are among the best defensive teams in the league.  They play an exciting brand of baseball, yet for their fans, that’s apparently still not good enough.

Yes… I think men’s tennis will suffer a ratings drop similar to that of a Tiger-less PGA when Roger Federer eventually retires… assuming anyone still watches men’s tennis to begin with.  Who other than Rafael Nadal will carry that torch?

And finally no… I am not surprised to see the shake-up in the Cleveland Cavaliers organization.  First Mike Brown was fired as was expected, then Danny Ferry stepped down as the team’s general manager.  This is arguably the most important off-season for any professional sports franchise in history.  They must tread lightly in the hopes of not only re-signing LeBron James but perhaps another big name as well.  It is clear now that LeBron calls the shots.  He’s not the first athlete to get a coach and/or GM fired nor will he be the last.  I guess it’s good to be the king after all.  Perhaps he can spot me a loan for my car repairs.

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39 Replies to “Chumpservations, Vol. 13: Bud Selig, Armando Galarraga, Jim Joyce, World Cup Soccer, the NBA Finals, Ken Griffey, Jr., Jose Canseco, Affliction sport coats, Danny Ferry, drunken bosses and broken-down Volkswagens”

  2. Lisa Lise…

    Ironically, when I did a Google search for “Volkswagen Overheating,” I found nothing.

    I guess I should have taken a picture and put it up. I could have been the first.

  5. Could have been worse. Try shattering your iphone & losing all contacts (whats your # again? LOL), appointments, notes & way of life!
    Took it in to Best Buy (Sorry-shameless plug), & got a loaner for 5 days while they sent it to Apple. Real fun trying to use an alien phone & not able to do much other than answer (“Who the F is this?”)
    Well my piece of fruit is back at home with life restored. (got your # so be calling you soon for a Tampa weekend)

  6. Chris

    So this new found relationship ‘tween Canseco and Clemens is it a “bro-mance” ? And if so will it take a Brokeback type of scenario ?

    AP

  14. Chris

    Syringes ? I think that they’d inject each other with their own bodily fluids. God knows there’s got to be ‘nough steroids ‘tween the both of ’em to knock an elephant flat on its ass !

    As for the Rays like I said is it perception or reality once they come back to the fray. I think you’ll be singing a different tune then but hopefully not in a falsetto voice ?

    Gearing up for the World Cup match between England and the US. Star players are dropping like flies from pre-tournament injuries. Now had this even been taking place in somewhere like Malawi then I’d have blamed it on the drinking water.

    AP

  15. Chris

    The sad thing about the loss of Wooden is that there aren’t any coaches around of his type around today who actually take time out to actually care about the athletes under their supervision. To hear him speak about what he and his wife would do for some of his players was unbelievable. It were as if many of these guys were surrogates of Wooden’s immediate family.

    The only guy that I can think of who comes the closest to fitting that bill nowadays is Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski !

    AP

  17. It could be worse. Like Han, he dropped his laptop in the airport and it shattered all to pieces. All that work is in cyberland now!lol

  18. Al…

    I’m not sure that we’ll ever know what truly happened with Ferry… or do we?

    To me, it seems clear the organization is willing to let LeBron make the calls.

    Can you blame them?

  20. I think Izzo probably fits into that class, Al. And I’m sure there are plenty of coaches at smaller schools that we don’t know about.

    One thing is for certain. There’s not a coach in the profession today that doesn’t consider Wooden one of the best ever.

    Rightfully so.

  24. Chris

    The World Cup will still have the viewers but the worrying thing is the security issues as several Al Qaeda followers and devotees have threatened to launch an attack at the event.

    As for Ferry when you’ve had two bites at the apple and failed miserably then the outcome as such had to happen.

    AP

  25. Chris

    Izzo may well fit it into that category but his body of work and the graduation rates can’t match that of either Krzyzewski or Wooden’s .

    AP

  26. If you throw out the trash, Ken Griffey Jr. ranks up there with the top 5 hitters of all time. I think you know what I mean by trash.
    Glad to see you back. I’ll keep my eye out for broken down VWs.

  27. Al… do you honestly think that terrorists want to mess with rabid, international soccer fans?

    That could be the end of terrorism as we know it.

    One can only hope.

  28. Al… I agree with the pundits. Despite Izzo’s record in the NCAA’s, why would he, or any other NBA superstar, go with an unproven NBA commodity?

    Furthermore, why would Izzo sign with Cleveland if there’s no guarantee they’ll re-sign LeBron?

  30. I tell you what… as sad as the whole situation is with the perfect game…. Galarraga nothing but class… and same with Joyce too, who manned up and admitted a mistake and apologized immediately. It’s refreshing to see that, even in that situation… so many other people in sports would have likely turned this into a bad thing.

  32. Chris

    If the terrorists can blow up the Kobal Building killing several hundred people . What do you think that they won’t be prepared to do to get their point across ? Do you remember the ’72 Olympics in Munich ?

    The World Cup is a perfect target for them . It wouldn’t surprise me if the CIA and FBI are working in conjunction with the South African security forces to have that extra shield of security covering the US team !

    AP

  33. Chris

    Izzo is talking with the Cavs and it appears it’s now about the contract and the buyout clause with the Spartans . $500,000 is the actual figure concerning his buyout. Dan Gilbert is prepared to offer him an initial contract paying $6million per year for 5 years.

    AP

  37. That wouldn’t surprise me one bit.

    Hank Steinbrenner’s already drooling at the thought. Or maybe he just can’t help himself.

    Speanking of Hanky Panky, he hasn’t been in the news much lately. Wonder what’s going on there.

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