Random Thoughts on Random things

If you haven't figured out, I'm a black man (For those that didn't figure that out, you got issues) and very proud of who I am and sm proud of my heritage. I read that in the world the people who make the difference are either the Tree Shakers or Jelly Makers. My folks weren't tree shakers. Rather they were jelly makers who instilled in me the ethic of hard work and discipline an ethic that they got from their parents. My maternal grandfather (I call him Grampy) worked at Ford for 47 years and has been retired for 8 years. I think Grampy still would rather get up and go to work, rather than putter around the house even at 83. My mom is a supervisor of a mail room and my dad is a retired Marine, who has various business enterprises.
That said, it bothers me often and sometimes shames me to see the way that some of these brothas act. Don't ask me why but everytime I see Adam "Pacman" Jones and that relaxed "well cus" look on his face even as he's facing (and now dodging) serious jail time for his various transgressions. Of course then theres OJ Simpson, who now cuts a tragic, sad pathetic figure as he faces charges for robbery. I dunno, I guess I wish that these and other "thugged out brothas" would take a look at how they are screwing up the legacy that the tree shakers and jelly makers left. Its also sad to see that the media focuses so much on these idiots and waves off the ones that handle their business and do the right thing. I hate also that as a black man I get lumped into this.
I get to return to my beloved University of Cincinnati campus to audit a class (I'm trying to get back into grad school)and to fit in (a little) I wore a UC hoody, jeans and gym shoes. My youthful face doesn't let on that I haunted this campus over a decade ago, but it annoys me that I've seen a few of the older profs and officals give me the once over like I'm a thug. I've seen a few of the football and basketball players on campus and I'm glad to hear that they carry and comport themselves with class and dignity. I know college and pro athletes are more often than not different animals, but I just hate seeing and hearing about athletes more often than not folks of color getting into trouble and the pros seem to do so with more frequency as of late. Ok, I'm off the soapbox.
My man Sully was a bit bent to see CC Sabathia win the Cy Young, but like I told him. I think that if the choice came down to the ring or the golden hand that the Cy Young trophy is the choice is pretty obvious. Sabathia had the better regular season, had they included postseason well...go ask Carsten Charles if he had a good postseason. Dustin Pedroia was the duh choice for AL Rookie of The Year, there were a lot of people that thought the voters got it wrong for picking Ryan Braun over Troy Tulowitzki for NL ROY, including your humble scribe at first but I looked at the numbers and Brauns numbers are better across the board. More triples, HR, SB and better batting average and slugging percentage and all in fewer games. Not three or four try 42 fewer (113 for Braun vs 155 for Tulo) Both had great seasons and Tulo was the sparkplug for the Rockies awe inspring late season dash to the postseason and their run to the World Series but Braun was the better rookie. I doubt that either will go the way of Super Joe Charboneau or Bob Hamelin who were hot rookies for forgettable teams and faded fast.

And Now for the weeekly award everyone in the TSN community is talking about: anticipated, often controversial, Phat Dap/Head Slap of the Week

Phat Dap
I dont chronicle hockey often, but I do keep up with it (Oooh I hate that the Wings dropped a 4-3 decision to the Blues. Don't get too happy Blues fan, that loss was your one fluke this season) But I have to give Phat Dap To Mike Modano and Jeremy Roenick who both set important milestones recently. Modano became the most prolific American born scorer in NHL history passing Phil Housley. Roenick, who I swore had retired and was on NBC, scored his 500th goal on a crazy rebound against the Phoenix Coyotes. Both Modano and Roenick are NHL legends and are no doubt hall of famers. Speaking of which the NHL named their latest induction class. The names read like a whos who of hockey that I watched growing up Ron Francis, Al MacInnis, Mark Messier, Scott Stevens now if there was a defintion of hockey legends short of Gretzky you've got four right there. Ron Francis, the cool leader of Carolina Hurricanes and whose veteran leadership helped the Penguins win two cups. MacInnis who had the most feared slapshot (over 110 mph) in the game. Stevens who as the Devils Captain was a great two player and one of the most feared open ice hitters and the incomparable Messier who defined grit, toughness and leadership. I dare say that the Rangers would still be under the 1940 curse if not for Messier. Daps and hugs for all!

Head Slap
Maybe a hard check from Stevens or Messier or a slap shot by MacInnis upside the head would get these knuckleheads attention. The slap goes to two coaches who as leaders of men should act better.
First one goes to Wyoming head coach Joe Glenn who made an obscene gesture to the Utah bench after they recovered an onside kick. Now keep in mind that Glenn guaranteed a win by his Cowboys over the Utes of whom they were heavy underdogs. The Utes got wind of his guarantee and used it as motivation to thrash the Cowboys to the tune of 50-0. Glenn tried to explain away his actions during an apology by saying that hes a people guy. Nothing wrong with fireing up your fans, and nothing wrong with making wild predictions. But instead of taking his whipping, he acted like a whiny brat. Real classy.
The other head slap goes to Texas Tech coach Mike Leach whom the Big 12 finesd 10 large after he ripped the officials after the Red Raiders lost a 59-43 shootout to Texas. Claiming ref bias, Leach called out refs that were from Austin and said they favored the Longhorns. Leach overlooked the fact that one of the calls he was steamed about was actually the right call, though it didn't favor him. He conveniently forgets that he was the beneficiary of a favorable yet suspect last second call that netted the Red Raiders a win over Oklahoma. Coach, you didn't think that you could rip the refs and not get your wallet lightened?
I've bent your ear enough for today College Hot list tomorrow as well as dream and nightmare scenarios for the college conferences. Until Next Post Fellow Sports Fans!