With all the world's attention rightfully pointed toward yesterday's anniversary of Sept. 11, a lot of interesting tidbits from the sports world might have escaped your attention. Thankfully, I'm here to point out the absurdities that persist in the sports world. In the past two weeks ...
-- In one inning, Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood struck out four (count 'em, four!) batters AND had a groundball out. Then, of course for an encore, he bats in the bottom of the inning and belts a home run. Now having three strikeouts in any one inning is impressive, but recording four, even after the first batter grounded out? Perhaps they should invest in a catcher's mitt with some Stick 'em in the pocket.
-- Minnesota Vikings first-round draft choice and holdout Bryant McKinnie contributed this spoken gem: "To offer $8.1 million, that's a slap in the face." Oh, oh, pick me! I volunteer to be slapped in the face next! C'mon, McKinnie, why don't you just to cry to Mommy about it? Oh, he already did. Dear ol' Mama McKinnie already has gotten in the act, defending her son as such: "Bryant is a team player." Would this be the unemployed team?
-- I would be remiss not to lament some recent difficulty with my beloved Boston Red Sox. And where better to start than Manny Ramirez? I love my Manny -- the quiet clubhouse guy with more money than he knows what to with. This is a man who volunteers to pay all of his teammates' fines (and there have been many after multiple brawls with the Orioles and Devil Rays), and a man who has been found not to cash all of his checks because he hasn't needed the money. But recently he's been stirring trouble. First his request for entrance music at a recent home game was the profanity-laced "I Get High" by Styles. So much for a family day at Fenway on a Sunday afternoon. The next day, he hits a groundball back to the pitcher and instead of running to first base, immediately turns to the dugout -- an incident for which he was promptly fined. So why do I love Manny? Later that same game, he hit a game-winning home run. Bueno.
-- The University of Pittsburgh has someone new to blame for their football futility: the equipment manager. Walk-on long snapper Jonathan Sitter was inadvertently given a jersey bearing the number 91, an eligible number. Under football rules, only one lineman can have an eligible number at a time and No. 45, Eric Gill, was also in the line. The Panthers incurred two penalties as a result and eventually missed a 30-yard extra point. Down 14-12 later in the game against Texas A&M, the Panthers had to go for two, failed, and ultimately lost. Football no longer is a game of X's and O's, but also of ones and nines.
-- Actual Associated Press headline about the NHL this week: "NHL plans crackdown on clutching and grabbing." The obvious questions are how personally this rule change will be imposed, who first noticed this to be a problem, and will it also be enforced off the ice? Because I thought Sergei Fedorov and Pavel Bure had both finally gotten over Anna Kournikova ...
-- Anyone else been following the Columbus Crew's path to the finals of the Major League Soccer tournament? Yeah, me neither.
-- What makes Serena Williams' U.S. Open tournament victory even more impressive was the way she handled winning in spite of ongoing concerns about a stalker. Thankfully, Albrecht Stromeyer has been arrested and since pleaded guilty to fourth-degree stalking. Stromeyer apologized for the incident, claiming it was nothing more than a romantic love story. Richard Williams, Serena's protective father, who earlier had vowed to kill his daughter's stalker, chose to accept Stromeyer's apology. Am I the only missing something here?
-- It has been a somber week with appropriate reflection on the anniversary of Sept. 11, but we need not forget what is so great about sports -- and the fun-loving characters who play them.
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