Claritin?

My last post concerned drug use and how professional sports, most notably baseball, are dealing with the trend, and around the same time NASCAR suspended veteran Jeremy Mayfield for failing a random drug test administered to him right before the Richmond race.  Mayfield contends that the failed test came as a result of his taking of an unnamed, legal prescription drug and Claritin-D to treat his allergies.

I find this story notable because without my Claritin, I would die.  Looks to me that I’m on steroids due to taking Claritin daily, but hey, it’s keeping me alive.

This is, I think, our fourth attempt

Well it’s summertime in Lexington, and there’s absolutely nothing to do.  So with the sports world, per usual, producing storyline after storyline, I thought it prudent to fire the WIRE back up and see where it takes us.  Perhaps we will, a time or two, venture outside the sports realm to discuss profound matters of science, philosophy, and (popular) culture, but I would say we will keep our respected opinions in the world of athletics.  And even from time to time, you may see a guest author share their thoughts about nothing in particular.

I want to talk about drugs.  It’s a topic that’s never far from my mind.  This week, news broke that Manny Ramirez, the future hall of famer and what some consider to be the best right-handed hitter of his generation, had been suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball by testing positive for an illegal substance, one apparently useful for restoring testosterone which is drained after using performance-enhancing steroids.  Not only does Ramirez’s suspension wreck the Dodgers’ fantastic start, but it taints the name of one the most productive, and mercurial, sluggers of this generation.  Palmeiro, McGwire, Bonds, Rodriguez, and now Ramirez…it seems none are safe from the evil black cloud of steroids.  I remember Ramirez’s rise to prominence with the Cleveland Indians during the mid-1990s; he combined with Jim Thome, Albert Belle (remember him?), Omar Vizquel, and Kenny Lofton among others to help Cleveland challenge for two World Series during the decade.  I also remember Ramirez teaming with David Ortiz and the rest of the 2004 Boston Red Sox to storm back from a 3-0 deficit to the Yankees to win the 2004 ALCS, in my opinion the best postseason series I’ve ever seen in any sport, on their way to breaking the Curse and winning the World Series.  Thank God I’m not a Red Sox fan, or I would have to be answering questions about the legitimacy of that world championship, and the one in 2006 as well.

Now Ramirez is yet another name to be stained by the scourge of steroids.  I will never understand the pressures that professional athletes face (unless I go pro in killer pong), but to potentially compromise your name and reputation for a little extra muscle and a little better hand-eye coordination is preposterous to me.  I hope all professional athletes understand how much of a role model they are to millions of kids in this country, but I feel sometimes they take the sentiment of Natalie Portman when considering this topic.

Baseball has a lot of problems (salary inequalities, the Pirates’ struggles, etc.), but I don’t think there’s one problem plaguing any sport out there more than steroids are plaguing baseball.  It’s only a matter of time until another major slugger falls prey to the ills of performance-enhancing drugs.

I am ten years old again

Back when I first got into watching golf on TV, Greg Norman was the best player in the world and the golfer that everyone wanted to be.  Even though the Shark wasn’t a dominating force on tour–especially in major tournament play–the Aussie was always in the mix with his showmanship on the course and business presence on the market.  Then, in late 1996, Tiger Woods showed up.  With his arrival, the Shark all but disappeared from the world golf scene. 

Twelve years passes, I get old and graduate high school and find myself at the University of Kentucky, and Tiger is still Tiger.  But as everyone knows, Tigers struggle to hunt with torn ACLs, so for the first time since I began to watch golf, a major championship field isn’t shadowed by the presence of Woods.  So it makes perfect sense then that the man who dominated the tour before Tiger would dominate the championship in which Tiger’s presence is conspiculously absent.

Greg Norman leads the British Open by two strokes with 18 holes to play.  This would be the greatest upset in a major golf championship in, well, maybe ever.  Yes, you could argue for Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton in the British in consecutive years, or John Daly in the PGA back in 1991, or Jack Fleck in the U.S. Open back in 1955.  But all those men won tournaments in the prime of their careers, or at least with their prime ahead of them (Daly, for instance).  Norman was done.  The man most known for choking in majors won his last British Open (also his last major) in the early days of the Clinton Administration, and Rick Pitino was patrolling the sidelines at Rupp Arena the last time Norman held the lead after 54 holes in a major.  He last contended at the Masters in 1999, falling to Jose Maria Olazabal.  This guy was yesterday’s news, but he is today’s big story and perhaps tomorrow’s champion.

Norman still has 18 wind-swept holes to navigate before reaching the prize, so I’m not crowning him champion yet…not by a long shot.  I believe Padraig Harrington will be the man to beat tomorrow if his wrist holds up, but there’s no reason to believe Norman won’t be a factor for the entire day.  He will have to play extremely well to win, but a final round comprable to his first three will get the job done.  And if it happens, I’ll be ten years old again.

An Entry Sure To Rise The Ire Of Ben

There are a few sports and games so pervasive that nearly everyone plays them.  In these games, there is inevitably an occurrence so rare that nearly no one you know has ever experienced them.  For instance, the Royal Flush in Poker.

Another example is the Hole In One.  Golf is a game near and dear to a good majority of the men in the United States, and yet I would say that a good 99% of golfers have never hit a hole in one.  That is why events like this are so frustrating.

I don’t play golf, but it doesn’t look too hard.  I mean, if a 9 year old and an 11 year old can hit back to back aces, why can’t the rest of America?  What’s wrong with you people?

We have journalistic credibility

I sometimes ask myself if me and Roberto have the journalistic skills to cover sports and things the way we do on this blog. We both know that this is hardcore journalism, so it’s a tough game for us sometimes and we feel the heat of getting few to no readers. But to assure you of our cred, I repost this article written about ME back in the day…

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Kentucky student gives fans their football fix

By MICHAEL DANN
Sports Writer

Although we’re two weeks into the prep football season, do you find yourself with a bad case of football fever?

I know I’ve really caught it now that my dear Chicago Cubs seem to have folded in yet ANOTHER baseball season.

If you’re like me, Ben Osborne may have the cure for what ails you. His remedy is in the form of a Kentucky High School Web site, aptly named http://www.khsf2k6.blogspot.com.

Osborne, a 19-year-old journalism and social studies education sophomore at the University of Kentucky, designed the site with a purpose in mind: Providing an up-to-date resource for Kentucky high school football fans.

It covers all teams in all classes, from the smallest mountain schools to the titans in the cities, according to his blog.

An Allen County-Scottsville graduate, Osborne never played football, but he got “hooked” on Kentucky high school sports after watching his Patriots play two playoff games at Paducah Tilghman in 2001 and 2002.

Prior to his football blog, Osborne did a softball blog last season. The response was overwhelming, and he couldn’t help but do one for football.

“I had so much fun with it. The fans and coaches enjoyed it so much, I decided to start one this year for football,” he said. “I also think that overall state-wide coverage of Kentucky high school athletics lacks a little bit, and I wanted to give the fans another resource to get information about teams that they don’t hear about too often.”

Osborne said that his coverage will change as the season goes along. But he’s already previewed the first three weeks of games, given tidbits from the first two weeks and produced a feature titled “Sunday Morning Quarterback,” in which he lists teams that were impressive and those that weren’t, as well as surprising results and games of the night.

“I’m going to make charting the district races an emphasis,” Osborne noted. “What games this week may determine who’s going to make the playoffs and who’s staying home? Who cannot afford a district loss this weekend? Those are probably some of the questions I’ll answer every week as the season goes along.”

Now, given some commitments at UK, Osborne won’t be traveling the state – at least not as much as he’d like.

“I’ll be reading a lot of newspaper articles and Internet message boards to keep me up-to-speed,” he admits.

However, Osborne does want to put to rest the rumors that just because he’s in Lexington, that doesn’t mean that he’ll leave out those “smaller schools,” especially the ones in western Kentucky.

“This is something I pride myself on. I make a conscious effort to get everyone involved on my blog,” he promises. “If you’re good, you’ll be talked about, whether you’re from Louisville or Lancaster.

“I’m going to focus on all four classes from start to finish. So if there’s a .500 team in Louisville and an undefeated team in far western Kentucky, that undefeated team will be on the blog first. I assure you, this won’t be an all-Lexington or all-Louisville football blog.”

As for Osborne, the success of his blog won’t be based on who stands tall at Papa John’s Stadium in November. He’s leaving the perception up to the people who he says really matters: The fans.

“I really can’t set any expectations for the blog; it’s a first-time thing, and I can’t promise what I will or won’t do on it,” he said. “But the fans will decide whether or not it’s a true success or not. Some of the comment threads on the softball blog were spectacular, and I’m hoping that this football blog will enjoy similar success.”

And as for the sport that really matters to most Kentuckians – basketball – Osborne says plans are already in the works to do a boys’ basketball blog in November.

Good thing – and something else that will surely help ease the pain.

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This actually appeared in Murray’s newspaper. This is also the most shameless self-promotion that I’ve ever engaged in. But it’s a cool walk down memory lane.

Here’s a fun story

Basically, the president of a major European racing league was accused by a tabloid of attending a Nazi-themed orgy. I mean really, how do you even think of that?

A Summer of Spectacular Sports Scenes

After what I watched today in London, I realized that this 2008 summer, only about half over and with many other events (including most notably the Olympics) still to come, has produced some wicked awesome moments in the wide world of sports that will always be remembered…or never be forgotten. Not only are these moments filled with wild amounts of drama, but they’ve taken place during the highest levels of competition and grandeur in each respective sports. And for your reading pleasure, I’ll take you through the big four moments, in my opinion, of the summer so far…

–Champions League Final (Manchester United vs. Chelsea)
Soccer has never been my favorite sport to watch on television (with the exception of the World Cup), but the Champions League Tournament of 2008 definitely caught my eye. The final pitted Manchester United against Chelsea, two of the titans from the English Premier League. I found myself cheering for Chelsea for no particular reason, perhaps though because of my dislike for pretty boy Cristiano Ronaldo. In any case, the match went scoreless despite numerous attempts from both teams going just wide during the 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time. During penalty shots, Chelsea had a chance to win but the striker (his name escapes me at this point) slipped slightly on the grass and shot it wide. Man U capitalized and won the shootout soon after, causing a raucous celebration from the team in red. Soccer, however, remains well down the list in my watchable sports meter, as it failed to capture my rapt attention throughout the Euro 2008 Championships like it did during Champions.

–Game 5 Stanley Cup (Pittsburgh vs. Detroit)
I have always said that playoff hockey is the most exciting thing in sports, and this year’s Stanley Cup gave further evidence to that fact. With their backs against the wall, Pittsburgh evened Game 5 at 3 apiece with only 30 seconds remaining, sending the game into overtime. And there the game stayed for the next two-and-a-half hours. Countless saves were made by the young Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, as Detroit clearly held the advantage on the ice. If the Red Wings scored, they would clinch the Cup, which Pittsburgh needed a goal to send the series back to the Steel City for Game 6. As the game neared the end of the 2nd overtime, Penguins forward Petr Sykora leaned in to the NBC sideice reporter Pierre McGuire and promised he would be the one to end the game. And in the 3rd overtime, Sykora delivered on his promise and sent the series back to Pittsburgh, leaving the Red Wings faithful in sorrow. Even though, Detroit ended the series the next game, drama and excitement was alive and well in the land of hockey.

–US Open (Tiger Woods)
There are dominant athletes in history, and then there’s Tiger Woods. The greatest golfer of all time (it’s about time we admit this) had not played a tournament since the Masters due to knee surgery, but he was still the prohibitive favorite to win the 2008 US Open in Torrey Pines. After a round-and-a-half of so-so golf, Tiger turned it on during his back nine on Friday, shooting a 30 to crash the front page of the leaderboard. His Saturday back nine charge was slightly more epic: a 60-foot eagle putt on 13 that brought back memories of the 17th at Sawgrass; a slam dunk chip-in for birdie at 17 that brought back memories of the 16th at Augusta; a 30-foot eagle putt to close the round and take the lead at 18, which followed my claim that there was no way he’d make the putt. All this with searing pain in his knee, which became more and more evident as the round progressed. Then Sunday, which can be remembered with this…

A Monday playoff to defeat Rocco Mediate took 19 holes, but Eldrick survived with yet another major and his first US Open title since 2002. He then promptly announced he had played with a torn ACL and would miss the remainder of the season. Simply the best.

–Wimbledon (Federer vs. Nadal)
And then what we saw today, as Rafa Nadal assumed the throne as the top player in the world, in essence, and became the King of both the Grass and the Clay. Roger Federer had not lost a match on grass since 2002 and had won each Wimbledon since that year. However, the first two sets of the match made it appear that Federer would not be fighting to retain his crown, as he fell in consecutive sets 6-4. After a rain delay, the Swiss champion fired back by winning the next two sets in exciting tiebreakers, fighting off two Nadal match points in the process. As expected, the 5th set contained everything a sports fan could dream about. With no tiebreaker system for the final set, the match could have gone for days as each player looked totally dominant on his serve. Eventually, Nadal broke Federer to take an 8-7 lead in the set, and then he pulled it out the next game and captured his first Wimbledon title. John McEnroe called the match for NBC, and the great champion himself has already proclaimed it to be the best tennis match he’s ever seen. I would have to agree.

The UK Athletic Thoughts, as of late…

We are in the dead zone of UK athletics, at least until August 31st when the Gridiron Cats travel to Papa John’s to attempt to take down the Cardinals for the second consecutive year.  But this doesn’t mean nothing is going down in the world of Wildcat…

Hartline edging Pulley at QB
Recent reports have said Michael Hartline is the emerging leader to replace Andre Woodson at quarterback.  Most people, including myself, figured Pulley would win the race after seeing much more action two years ago at quarterback and wide receiver (he redshirted during 2007).  Hartline saw limited action last year as backup, but the differential in past experience can be attributed to the development of Woodson, who himself beat out Pulley for the starting QB job in 2006.  According to offensive coordinator/future head coach Joker Phillips, Hartline has outstripped Pulley in terms of showing overall leadership, something that Woodson seized when he took control of the program in 2006.  Now, in terms of talent, I still believe Pulley has the higher ceiling.  But at this point, I like the player which shows the higher levels of leadership on a team that will clearly have a leadership void due to the loss of the seniors, so Hartline seems to be the choice for now.  But of course, now does not matter at all.

First game of second Gillispie year could start in Chapel Hill
Matt May reports that the ESPN college basketball season could tip off on Tobacco Road, where the North Carolina Tar Heels return everyone and their mother to a team that, I believe, should have won the national championship last year.  Along with the return of top talents Lawson, Ellington, and (God’s gift to Earth) Hansbrough, the Tar Heels add three McDonald’s All-Americans which will supply quality depth.  It is obvious that UNC will begin the year as #1, and ESPN will be all over their march to the title from the beginning.  It only makes sense that the season of the Tar Heel should start in Chapel Hill, and who is the sacrificial lamb that will be the first offering to the Carolina monster?  Why, the Kentucky Wildcats, of course.  Should be fun.

UK Basketball Museum closes
In rather unfortunate news, the Kentucky Basketball Museum, located in the Lexington Center which stands adjacent to Rupp Arena, has closed its doors due to falling attendence and economic troubles.  In my opinion, and apparently others opinion as well, any sort of replacement museum needs to be located on campus, ideally in the new Craft Center.  Not only will the museum be located across the road from the players’ dorm Wildcat Lodge and next to Memorial Coliseum (pre-Rupp Arena home of the Wildcats), but it will also further showcase the Craft Center, which I must say everyone needs to go see.  Any high school recruit who doesn’t salivate when seeing that beauty is fairly crazy.

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Well it’s now under two months until football season begins, and we’ll see if the Cats can go to a third straight bowl game…I have money it will be in Nashville again, haha.  Also, the basketball Cats’ schedule will be appearing soon, and we will offer full analysis.  But most importantly, the eligibility of DeAndre Liggins will be sorted out soon, which might be the most important game the Cats play all year.  Without him, we can welcome Michael Porter (or perhaps JUCO Kevin Galloway) as our starting point guard.  That’ll make that Chapel Hill trip a whole lotta fun.

Lexington Legendary Bad

So I went to a Lexington Legends game for the first time the other day, and it was pretty bad.  The Legends suck…for the year they are 22-54.  Not too good.  The highlight of the night was obviously Quarter Hot Dog Night.  As I discovered, there were usually more people in line for the concessions than were seated in the stands at any point during the game.  But hey, quarter hot dogs!  The only people not pleased about this were the pizza vendors.  Another promotion for the game was it happened to be FIfth Third Bank Latino Night!  Always good to embrace diversity, the Legends struck gold on this promotion I’m sure.  We did get a stirring rendition of the National Anthem from a Latino; it was unlike anything I’ve ever heard before.  The highlight of the night was tracking the Legends’ female mascot Elle.

Quite a sexy beast, as you can tell.

Anyway, it was a good night at the ballpark, but when the highlight of the game itself was my friend Gabe wondering if he should run down onto the field naked, you know the baseball itself is struggling a bit.  The Legends lost 12-7, I ate two hot dogs, and Gabe had a pot going that approached $500 to complete his stunt before deciding the fine would be much greater than what we had going for him.

Another pitiful attempt to get this started again

I really have nothing to do in Lexington this summer but I somehow find no time to post on this thing. Perhaps when sports is relevant again (see beginning of the college football season, no, the Olympics!) there will be more regular posts.

But in any case, I think I will post here to say I am going to a Class A minor league baseball game tonight featuring the Kannapolis Intimidators and the Lexington Legends. The Intimidators suck almost as badly as the Legends do, so it should be a tight contest. The real reason I am excited about tonight’s game at Applebee’s Park is that it’s Quarter Hot Dog Night AND (the best part) Latino Night! I am sure I will have many stories to tell from this one.

In an absurd move, I move here to establish some features that you will most definitely see on this blog over the coming months…

–Country by country look at the Olympic games…which nations will roll up the medals and which nations are there for a nice video essay by NBC

–College football game breakdowns, both real and NCAA Football 2009 (that’s right, the only video game that I buy every year for the sake of it)

–UK Hockey game diaries…there will be nothing better out there

I’m sure you will see all of this and more over the coming year…of course, that is without the Rapture occurring. We still have to play to our Baptist crowd.