Just because it’s an obvious idea doesn’t mean it’s not a good one: “Remembering Harry Kalas - Wonderful Stories from Friends Celebrating a Great Life” is a new book I’d recommend even if Friend of BPR Gordie Jones wasn’t involved in the project. It includes remembrances from everyone from Harry’s kids to a frat brother from college to Lancaster Barnstormers’ braintrust Van Hayes and Tom Herr. Best chapter title: “Cultural Learning of the Bullpen for Make Benefit of Glorious Kalas Nation.”
It’s available at Amazon, but can also be had for just 10 bucks where literary types hang out. I’m referring, of course, to Wawa convenience stores.
Ryne Sandberg is right. Sammy Sosa is not a Hall of Famer. He’s the one Steroid-Era candidate I’m most sure I wouldn’t vote for. There may not be enough evidence to convict Sammy is a court of law, but there’s more than enough for the court of common sense. Unlike Bonds, McGwire, Palmiero, Clemens, etc., before Sosa’s body changed, he simply wasn’t a good player. Sosa hit 33 homers in 1993, and then hit that many or more in each of his next 11 full seasons. Before 1993, he had 41 homers in his career, nearly 500 major-league games over five seasons. And the same is essentially true for his overall numbers (’93 seems to be a line of demarcation; check Bonds’ stats that year and before).
There’s also his ridiculous explanation of the corked-bat incident; pretending to be unable to speak English to Congress; and vowing to be tested for juice anytime, then backpedaling like an NFL cornerback when SI’s Rick Reilly called him on it. I don’t enjoy saying this. Sosa’s agent is a good guy who happens to be an old friend of mine. Sosa was once the kind of guy you wanted to root for, and not only because Dubya traded him. But the guy’s a fraud, pure and simple.
Yesterday’s horrific event in Iowa shows something I’ve been struck with again and again over my career- the incredible impact coaches have on adolescent lives. High school coaches have no choice but to make decisions about kids - whether to play them, whether to cut them, how hard to push them - that have huge and long-lasting impact on the way those kids are perceived by their peers, their families and themselves.
Please don’t misunderstand. I am in no way, shape or form defending or justifying the actions of the obviously disturbed kid who killed Ed Thomas, and I’m not suggesting coaches ought to walk around in bulletproof vests. This is of course an isolated, crazy, indefensible incident. But I wonder how often longtime coaches hear from ex-players who never fully recovered from, in their mind, being wronged.
So Shaq is apparently a Cavalier, meaning NBA draft-day fun has already begun in earnest. This can’t be a bad thing for the Lebrons, especially since they gave up so little, and Shaq has just next season left on his contract. He is at very minimum a body to lean on Dwight Howard and a personality to crawl inside Howard’s head.
The suspicion here is it’s not a great thing, though. I thought Lebron could have been used more creatively by his team, as a back-to-the-basket guy once in a while, and/or as a run-off-screens-and-catch small forward, etc., instesad of just handing him the ball and letting him go over and over and over.
None of that’s likely to happen now, though, with Shaq monopolizing the paint. It’s clear that Cav management is in full keep Bron-Bron-happy mode, and the idea that he could be further developed as a player isn’t occuring to anybody. That’s likely to continue even if they win it all next year, with all the free-agency possibilities going forward.
Anyway, the draft is an annual live-blog staple, so we’ll be doing that tonight. It’s not a strong draft but could be an interesting night, with tons of player-movement potential, teams in position to remake themselves and Jay Bilas undoubtedly trotting out new euphenisms for “wingspan”. T-Mac, Sixers’ Elton Brand and perhaps even Rajon Rondo are allegedy being shopped, for example. To get you in the mood, here’s a pretty good draft preview by the Newark Star-Ledger’s Dave D’Alessendro, a mock draft by the Sporting News’ Sean Deveney, and one man’s list of the best draft picks of all time.
