Worst Ever/Best Ever?
In the words of the Simpson's Comic Book Story Guy ...
"Worst Championship Ever."
Seriously, can you remember a lousier conclusion to a college football season? Yeah, I remember that Nebraska's blowout of Florida was about as bad as last night's 55-19 rout. But surely it's halftime show couldn't have matched the Tuesday nigh debacle. First, you couldn't hear Kelly Clarkson (actually, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing). Second, who put Trace Adkins in this act? Did his agent lose a bet or something? What a bad fit.
Finally, Ashlee Simpson. Words fail me ... almost. The FCC should have required ABC to run a disclaimer after her performance reading "No cats were actually strangled during the singing of this song. It only sounded that way." Kudos to the Orange Bowl crowd for making their displeasure quite vocal.
By happenstance, the Orange Bowl was played on the same day as the baseball hall of fame voting. Now, I know you young whippersnappers are all wondering, "What's the baseball hall of fame?" Well, once upon a time, before Phil Rizzuto got voted in, it used to mean something. This was a shrine honoring the best ever to play the game. Folks from my generation (30 and above, although I may be one of the few Gen Xers who still cares) still debate the merits of each candidate.
I'm pretty sure that Ryne Sandberg and Wade Boggs deserved induction. I'm just not overwhelmed. And I think it's me, not them. The game has changed so much in favor of hitters that it's hard for stats generated before the mid 90's to mean anything. Sandberg hit 282 career home runs (yawn), he drove in 100 runs twice (wow), and had a career average of .285 (zoiks). Yet I remember most of the 80's, and I can recall when Sandberg was a no-brainer All-Star every year, a special guy at his position, second base, and when Boggs was the greatest hitter this side of Ty Cobb. Now, it seems all so hard to guage. Which is why we need reminders from folks like Jimmy Kimmel, of all people, who takes up the case for Steve "Who's Your Daddy?" Garvey. And count me as a supporter of the Bill Simmons hall of fame pyramid scheme.
Comments (2)
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I think the baseball hall of fame has fallen prey to the mindset that, these days, makes every kid an honors student. We all know that everyone is special ... blah blah blah ... but do we really need to honor everyone who stepped on the field and swung at a pitch?
Posted on January 6, 2005 9:36 AM
Ryno was one of my all-time favorite players. I spent many a summer afternoon as a college student watching him ply his trade on WGN, with a barely coherent Harry Caray mangling every other name (he once called Dodger pitcher Chan Ho Park "Ho Chi Mihn.")
But there's no way he is a Hall of Famer; the numbers just aren't there. This strikes me as a "Good Guy Career Achievement Award." Sandberg never was the most quotable player, but he was polite and respectful.
Boggs, on the other hand, is a no-brainer for the Hall. He has that magic number of 3,000+ hits, plus he won five AL batting titles. His career averages (.328 hitting, .415 on-base) certainly are HOF-worthy.
The Hall also could use a few more relief pitchers. Yeah, Eckersley got in last year, but Bruce Sutter and Goose Gossage should be in, too.
Posted on January 12, 2005 4:41 PM