Astros

I'm so glad that I didn't jump off the Astros bandwagon. They really have a team this year. If they can get past their bull pen problems they are going to be a solid team. Bourne is solid in the lead off spot, Berkman is playing like the player of old, Tejada is a nice surprise and his defense isn't to bad, lee has picked up where he left off last season and there is no where to go but up for Pence. Once the starters right the ship and the bull pen gets going beware of the astros. for all you ney sayers out there...You will be eating your words. 

What's in an Age

Miguel Tejada, shortstop for the Houston Astros revealed this week that he is actually two years older then he told the MLB that he is. It all stemmed from growing up in the Dominican Republic. Being a baseball player down there, he said, there is big difference from a 17 year old to a 19 year old. The Astros stance on this is that they really don't care because he is "playing like a 25 year old." I personally don't have a problem with anything that he did. We put these athletes in Latin America in such a position that they feel they have to do these things. We forced Miguel Tejada to do this, we should not blame him. 

Champions

What a game!! It wasn't UNC vs. UCLA. It was just a mid-major and a team from the big 12. This years NCAA championship probably wasn't what the network was hoping for but it was a sports fans dream. How much more could Memphis and Kansas be more alike. They are both big teams that like to play a lot of defense. These two teams were so similar that they even had the same score at the end of regulation. What a game it was and it couldn't of happened to a better team. Congratulations to Bill Self and his entire team. 

Celebrity Weekend

Well I guess I'm big on athletes doing good these days and this post is not any different. Michael Huff is coming back to Austin to give back to the community by hosting the inaugural celebrity basketball game  which will raise money for the dell children's hospital. The game will consist of two teams filled with former Longhorn Football Players that now play in the NFL. The only problem I have with this is that it took so long. With as much as we give to these athletes in the 3 to 4 years they are here in Austin it is finally nice to see them giving back. With the numerous athletes we have in the pro's making insane amounts of money it is finally time they gave back. Thanks Michael Huff!

Family Guy

D. J. Augustin looks like a good guy. He seems like one of those guys that has had to work hard to get where he is. Well...in an article by Pat Forde about D. J. we learned that he is more then that.  Augustin is a family man who calls his parents every night to talk about...well to talk about his day. What else have we learned about Augustin? He was in New Orleans when hurricane Katrina hit. His family was displaced to Houston where they have stayed. The stories about the Augustin family are more then heartwarming, they are insightful. Now we get to see a little bit in to the character that allows  a short man in a tall world be the nations only player to be an academic all american as well as a first team all american. D. J., my hat is off to you. 

Shut-Up and Play

Ok...Maybe I'm biased but I think teams should just shut up and play. What am I talking about you may be asking yourself? Well...I'm talking about the Final Four and all the crap that UT is getting for playing their regional semis and finals just two and a half hours from Austin in the great city of Houston. This past week on ESPN every analyst made sure to point it out.  The only sane on on ESPN is probably the one that gets the most flack from fans...and that is former Texas Tech coach Bobby Knight. Knight said that no matter where you play, if you want to be a champion you're going to have to win. When you start allowing for excuses like location that is when your team can find a pit fall. To be a champion I feel that you have to be the best not only on your home court but on any home court. It's time we stop looking for scandals in sports and just play ball. 

HeartWarming

We always hear about the bad guys in sports. We hear about DWI's and arrests and how athletes at the professional and college level are always getting in to trouble. But every once in a while an athlete will do something to restore your faith in  man kind. The story I'm getting at here involves The University of Texas Softball team.  Just last week I recently went to dinner with four UT softball players with my 12 year old sister. Working everyday with these players I have come to see them as friends. It wasn't until I walked in to the locker room with my little sister that made me realize that they were more then that. Seeing a girl that I tower over, tower over my sister made me see how these girls play such a huge role in the lives of little girls who come to watch them play. That isn't even the half of it. It was great to see how willing these girls interacted with my sister and her friends at dinner. To see her face light up as she sat at a dinner table with her heros as equals was really something to see. The best part was that it wasn't even my idea. It was the idea of the players when I told them I had family coming in to town. It was really great to see that there are some good guys or girls in sports today. 

Mo' Money Mo' Money

What is it about our sports culture that is all about money. You read about A-Rod's 25 plus million a year. Big Ben just signed a 100 plus million dollar contracts. If there is one thing about the athletes in pro sports it's that they love money. I'm not arguing against money cause I love it too; I just don't see the difference from 5 million to 7 million. What ever happened to team? The New England Patriots have already lost a receiver and a DB with more players expected to leave to free agency. A team that went 18-1, a team that was being compared with the greats, a team that was nearly perfect is now losing all its players to big contracts. But this is what free agency and the salary cap is all about isn't it? Well as a person who longs for the days of T-E-A-M...I hope not.

Clemens

Things just keep getting worse for Roger Clemens. Now the Houston Astros are going to "wait and see" what happens with his case before the make any decisions about his contract with them according to an ESPN article. What a mess Clemens has gotten himself in to. Not that I am claiming that he is using steroids, but if he did, he should of just admitted it. The public has already forgotten about Pettite, Giambi and Canseco; why would Clemens be any different? I get the feeling that he is just doin' the ol' deny till you die routine because he doesn't think that anyone has any hard evidence. For his sake I hope they don't because when they do...It will be a sad, sad day for baseball.

All Star Weekend

I don't know why, but I am not a fan of all star games. Either the pro-bowl, NBA or MLB all star games are just boring to me. The only worth while thing to me is all the pageantry before the game even begins. For example, the slam dunk contest was pretty entertaining and the skills competition is all was interesting to see, but the game to me is just boring. Similar to my dislike for Tom Brady, I can't give you a reason why. Maybe I am from the old school and like a little defense. 91 points in the middle of the third quarter is ridiculous to me. Maybe I don't like it because of the fan voting. But you know what, it is a game for the fans; and it doesn't matter how much journalists hate it as long as the fans keep on lovin' it. 

Bad Times in Sports

It seems the sports world is just getting worse and worse. After last summer's NBA Ref's, NFL Bad boys like Pac Man Jones and the Cincinnati Bengal's and Baseball's steroid issues I thought that the sports world could go no where but up in terms of appearance. Then the joke that is the Clemens McNamee hearing get broadcasted all over ESPN and now Kelvin Sampson gets accused of lying to University officials and NCAA enforcement staff. What has happened to our society that we have to cheat to get ahead. What happened to good ol' fashion hard work? I can't help but weep for the future if the last 12 months in the sports arena is any indication of what is in store for us ahead. Be sure to check out a great article by Phil Taylor of SI that talks about the Liars Club.

Clemens

I am a fan of Roger Clemens. I loved this guy in Boston, Toronto, New York and especially Houston. He is Longhorn and one of my favorite all time favorite pitchers. So he might of used HGH or steroids. It's a big deal to me but not as big a deal as these hearings or the whole Mitchell report in general. If you saw the live hearings today hopefully you were just as disgusted as I was with the waste of time and money by our Congress. I have not the first clue about Government and how it works but I figure that they should have better things to talk about then a he said she said report that says people did things as much as 8 or 9 years ago. Is there a better venue that we could be using? I mean one of these guys is going to jail, couldn't we just use a court room. Guilty or innocent I don't think we'll ever know the truth. Until then... Rocket I'm with you. Check out Howard Bryant's Column on the recent Roger Clemens hearings. He offers a different perspective.

Off in to the Knight

Play Jeopardy with me for a minute. Here's the answer. Three National Basketball titles, an Olympic Gold Medal and a winningest male D-I basketball coach of all time with 902. The question? What are three things Coach Bob Knight wont be remembered for. So he chocked a kid at Indiana and slapped another one at Texas Tech. There is no denying this guy isn't first on your list of most diplomatic coaches in Mens Basketball, but he never pretended to be. When he dies and is buried he wants to be buried face down "so his critics can kiss his ass." That's the type of statement that describes Bob Knight. But you know what. I want to play for him and I would love my son to play for him. Those kids he hit probably deserved it. I'm not trying to be mean but that is what I believe. For example, the kid at Tech had his head down while Knight was talking to him. I would do the same to my kid if he wasn't paying attention. I'm not trying to justify what Knight did. It's just his style and the media loved to hate on him for it. This guy did a lot of things for the game of basketball and I hope that his legacy is more the a choke hold of a thrown chair.

Bigger then the Game

Legendary coach Vince Lombardi always said, "Winning isn't the everything...It's the only thing." That's great. I'm not knocking his philosophy, but i'd like to think that there is something bigger then the game. You always hear about how athletes are selfish and only care about one thing. I was one of those people until I saw the Super Bowl yesterday. It was refreshing for once to see that a sense of family and love for a brother is bigger then a game. (Photo Courtsey of the Washington Post)For those of you who don't follow, I'm talking about Peyton Manning watching his baby bro' play in the biggest game of his life. These are two guys who just love to win. If you ask Peyton I'd be willing to bet that 10 out of 10 times he'd tell you that he wished it was him in that game rather then Eli. There is nothing wrong with a little competitive edge; but it's that edge that Peyton doesn't let get in the way of what is bigger then the game...his family. Throughout the entire game Big brother was up watching little Eli play and didn't enjoy a minute of it. Not because he was jealous but rather cause he was nervous. As silly as it sounds, Peyton was probably more nervous then Eli was. But thats what i'm talking about. Peyton nervous when Eli's out there and fired up when he makes a good play and upset when he makes a bad one. You know there are a lot of bad guys out there but not in the Manning family. Class acts all the way.

Super Bowl

It was the big game. The 18-0 Patriots versus the 5 seeded Giants. It was a game the Giants weren't suppose to win... but they did and now the Patriots perfect season is a waste. Winning your first 18 games means absolutely nothing since they last 2 hours ago and no doubt people are celebrating that the patriots didn't go undefeated. But Why? Why do people love to hate the Patriots. Before you accuse this Texan of liking the Patriots, I'll be the first to admit that I am guilty of the hating as well. I'll admit it. I hate Brady and Bellicheck and the Patriots!! I hate them... but like everyone else, I don't have a valid reason. Lets look at Brady first. Other then having a child out of wedlock, he's not a bad guy. He's a winner. That's it. If any thing we should love him. He's the american dream. He is a sixth round draft pick, listed fourth on the depth chart and after a few years of work and a little bit of luck the guy becomes the starting quarterback and leads the team to 3 superbowls in 5 years. Other might look to his lack of class after the superbowl but how would you feel. You go 18-0 and being talked about as possibly being the greatest team ever, then you go out and lose the only game that matters. The first thing your going to want to do is talk to the media right?? All I'm saying is that I understand if they are not as cordial with media types as we would like them to be. Now, what about Brady compared to other winners. Growing up in an era of MJ, I would classify him as a winner too but he doesn't have the same distain that Brady carries among non-Pats fans. I don't know, I have no reason only feelings. As for the Patriots as a team the only thing they are guilty of is winning also. They're not a team you hear about as playing dirty of that have off the field issues yet we still love to hate them. I'm not trying to argue for liking the Pats. I haven't even convinced myself much less expected to convince you. All I'm saying is to just think about it.