MattKing

It’s the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium’s last All-Star Game. The American League is clinging to a one-run lead with the National League hitters due to bat. You’re Boston manager Terry Francona. Who’s pitching the ninth? Or, better question, who just pitched the eighth?

There’s no athlete I admire more than Colorado Avalanche captain Joe Sakic. In nineteen NHL seasons, all with the same franchise, Sakic has etched his name in the record books. Today, he stands as eighth all-time in scoring, with two Stanley Cup rings, a Hart Trophy (regular season MVP) and a Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) to his name.

There’s this kind of big sporting event going on right now. Bikes, the French countryside, lots and lots of doping… anyone?
The Tour de France is what I consider to be the most grueling event in all of sports. The Tour is twenty-three days and 2,200 miles of a man and his bike. There have been broken hearts, broken bones and even rider deaths. The race is nothing short of the ultimate test.

For those who don’t follow hockey, the Toronto Maple Leafs are the NHL’s New York Yankees. But it’s not because Toronto always has the most expensive players or a tradition of winning; it’s mainly the media pressure that surrounds the city’s beloved hockey team. Wait ‘til the Toronto media gets a hold of this one.

You know what always makes me think? The Life of Reilly.
For the uninitiated, Rick Reilly was the last thing you read in Sports Illustrated every week. Reilly made us laugh, made us cry and made us angry when athletes were greedy or disloyal.
Then he left for a mega-deal at ESPN.
The irony aside, Reilly is the pulse of sports but rarely does he cover the big stories. He finds the small ones that wow us, and Reilly’s latest column certainly wowed me.

(FORWARD: On the morning of July 1st, reports started surfacing saying that the Hall of Fame would not be accepting Barry Bonds’ 756th home run ball. The disagreement was over whether the ball was a permanent donation or a temporary loan. I read that and wrote this column. Later in the day, things changed, and Cooperstown accepted the ball. D’oh!)
Try as it might, baseball can’t get rid of Barry Bonds.
Though Bonds’ name is currently more relevant in discussions of legal defense than Major League Baseball, Barry’s right back where he secretly loves to be: the headlines.

As a card-carrying member of Red Sox Nation, I have nothing but love for Manny Ramirez. But, boy, Manny better thank his lucky stars that he’s an enormously talented hitter. Try pulling this “Manny Being Manny” crap anywhere else, and there would be major problems.
The latest incident? Ramirez is alleged to have shoved a Red Sox employee to the ground over a request for tickets. Looks like Shawn Chacon is having more of an impact on immature, undeveloped minds than we had expected.

Far too often, we’re reminded of the ills in professional sports. Sure we watch, but how many of us are disgusted with the Tim Donaghy scandal in basketball, frustrated by the rap sheet of Pacman (excuse me, Adam) Jones, or infuriated with how Michael Vick treats his dogs? It’s enough to make a sports nut want to flip away from SportsCenter in search of happier programming. Hallmark Channel anyone?