RSSSports wrapup
April 14, 2009
kosmo - See all 763 of my articles
Sadness
The saddest sports story of the week was the death of 22 year old Angels pitch Nick Adenhart at the hands of a repeat offender drunk driver who had a blood alcohol level nearly triple the legal limit, was driving 65 mph in a 35 mph zone, and ran a red light. Courtney Stewart, driver of the car Adenhart was riding in, and Henry Pearson, a passenger in that car, also died in the accident. Another passenger in that car, John Wilhite, remains hospitalized.
Announcer Harry Kalas and former pitcher Mark “The Bird” Fidrych also died this week.
Oddness
The strangest sports story was probably the truck driver who stole $43,000 worth of ketchup that was supposed to go to Fenway Park for opening day. The driver was upset at his employer, and intentionally drove the load to the wrong location. It turns out that he was on probation, so this little stunt is not going to have a happy ending for him.
NCAAs
Tyler Hansbrough struck a blow for the kids who decided to stay in college four years, bring home a title to North Carolina. Like him or dislike him, you have to respect his decision to stay in school. A lot of people are questioning his ability to succeed at the next level. Only time will tell. One thing for certain, though, is that he will not fail for lack of effort.
Rockies
Troy Tulowitzki , determined to shake off the negative memory of 2007, belted homers in each of the first two games for the Rockies (and added a third on Saturday). Tulo is my favorite active player. Rookie Dexter Fowler hit a lead off homer on Wednesday, the first in a long march toward Rickey Henderson’s record for leadoff home runs.
Baseball
CC Sabathia got shelled in his Yankees debut, reminding many people of his rough start to the 2008 season, allowing 6 runs in 4 1/3 innings. Sabathia promptly rebounded in his second start, hurling 7 2/3 innings of scoreless ball. Sabathia has all the talent in the world, but a late season slump would not surprised me. He has piled up a ton of innings over he last few years, and his body frame can best be described as “Ruthian”.
NFL
The Detroit Lions are on the clock for the NFL draft. Some experts are saying that they are locked on Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford, but others aren’t sure. Some believe that there is not a consensus in the Lions front office that Stafford in even the best quarterback in the draft. This would reflect the thinking around the NFL, where observers are split between Stafford and USC quarterback Mark Sanchez. I even heard one person suggest that the Lions could let their time run out, which would allow the Rams to jump ahead of them and make their pick. At that point, the Lions would then make their own pick, which they could then argue was the #2 pick. Why would they do this? For financial reason. #1 picks make substantially more money than #2 picks, and if the Lions are confident that the Rams won’t snap up the guy they way, this could make sense. It’s a risky move, though, and I don’t see it happening.