Shoeless Sports Blog

08.21.02

I'm not so sure I'm ready for football season yet, but Gene Whatshisname at ESPN is helping me get hyped for college football. I'm still sour over last season's BCS fiasco. Maybe this year someone from the Big 10 will make the championship game. Ohio State, maybe.

NFL Playoff teams this year:

AFC: Steelers, Browns, Colts, Patriots, Chiefs, Dolphins
NFC: Rams, Redskins, Bears, Bucs, 49ers, Eagles

07.07.02

Ted Williams had a lifetime .482 on base percentage -- the best in MLB history. And that was without steroids...He passed on to the Field of Dreams this week, and there will apparently be no funeral.

We are less than a month away from the American Bowl, which takes place in Japan and signals the beginning of the NFL preseason and the NFL coaching debut of Steve Spurrier.

They're already talking Fantasy Football at the major sports websites. ESPN.com has released its draft kit. Another good place for info is The Sporting News Fantasy Source.

Big ups to ClevelandBrowns.com for being named the #1 website for a pro sports team.

05.23.02

Hey, look, Ken Griffey, Jr. is coming back this weekend. Not that the Reds need him -- they've hit grand slams in their last two games.

There's no crying in baseball. And apparently no homos either. (Note how this Mike Piazza gay controversy is taking place as they're playing Philadelphia.)

04.29.02

Barry Bonds didn't hit enough home runs on this road trip, so some pitcher for the Giants decided to retaliate by throwing at the Reds' Sean Casey, who is recovering from a recent concussion (from being hit in the head by a pitch)... The Giants claimed they were trying to protect Bonds, even though he wasn't hit in the game and wasn't going to be batting anymore in the series.

Casey, who has been hit in the head twice this year: "If you're going to make a purpose pitch as a big league pitcher and you're going to back somebody off the plate, you have enough control that you can hit somebody from the waist down. If you want to drop me down, drop me down! Take my feet out! But ... you start messing around up (around the head), you start messing around with people's lives, and that's the bottom line. I'm not going to put up with it anymore. That's that. Enough's enough."

Of Casey's reaction, the San Francisco pitcher who hit him said, "He can do whatever he wants. When somebody wants to cry, you gotta let them cry."

Atlanta Falcons linebacker Chris Draft pulled an senseless fellow out of a burning car.

Tracy McGrady guaranteed his Orlando Magic will beat the Charlotte Hornets in game four of their playoff series. He called the Hornets "little bees." It seems as if that series started about a month ago. What's up with this new playoff schedule?

Running back Ben Gay, aka "The Legend," was released by the Cleveland Browns the other day. The team's official statement read, "Don't let the door hit you in the backside on your way out." No. Speaking of the Browns, Butch Davis drafted both Andre Davis and Andra Davis last weekend.

04.17.02

Is there a better baseball reporter than Peter Gammons?

The NFL Draft, which is becoming a year-round carnival of testosterone-laden conjecture, is only three days away. As a Browns fan, I'm hoping for either Roy Williams, Jabar Gaffney, or Lito Sheppard in the first round. I'd settle for Ashley Lelie or William Green. Or Toniu Fonoti. Or even T.J. Duckett. But Butch Davis will probably pick Jeremy Shockey or something, just to be a total Hurricane-sucking bastard.

Some cool mixtures of player and team that I would like to see: Ashley Lelie and the Rams. Joey Harrington and the Seahawks. Alex Brown and the Browns. The "other" Ricky Williams and the Texans. Rocky Calmus and the Eagles.

04.07.02

Ken Griffey, Jr. injured his knee trying to score in a run-down between third base and home. This symbolizes his plight as a Cincinnati Red. He tried to go home, but all he got was hurt.

Hurricanes RB Clinton Portis listens to Phil Collins before games.

04.06.02

Baseball season has started. Barry Bonds has five home runs already. The unceasing hype of "home run races" has gotten downright annoying over the past few years. Maybe this year we can have a "double switch race." Managers could use the attention, and fans would have another reason to watch the game.

An interesting-looking NBA lineup would be John Stockton, Allen Iverson, Mike Miller, Ben Wallace, and Shawn Bradley. They'd also win a lot of games.

The Philadelphia Eagles totally screwed Jeremiah Trotter.

03.20.02

Former University of Florida shooting guard Teddy Dupay's life no longer involves driving by me with his fancy, university-issued scooter and having sexual relations with Sarah's former roommate. Now it's all about trying to learn the Spanish phrase for "air ball" and hoping his shower will function correctly. Some call it an exile. Others call it karma.

Speaking of basketball, I actually watched a NBA game yesterday. Tracy McGrady single-handedly beat the Bucks to break Orlando's ten-game losing streak to Milwaukee. It was actually quite impressive, but I don't think I'll go back to watching the NBA anytime soon.

03.12.02

Most popular sports websites, like ESPN.com and SportingNews.com, are charging for NFL Draft coverage this year. Which means people are actually paying to read Mel Kiper's slobbery player rankings, which change every week for some inexplicable reason and are nowhere close to accurate. At any rate, CNNSI.com isn't charging money, and they put their first "mock draft" up yesterday (the actual draft is April 20th).

I haven't been following college basketball much this year, but it's time for March Madness again. Actually, CBS is calling it March Mayhem this year. Very innovative.

Having not watched any college basketball this year, I'm picking this Final Four: Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and Florida.

03.05.02

My Browns signed defensive end Kenard Lang today. Now, three of the four starting defensive linemen for the Browns are former first-round picks: Courtney Brown (#1, 2000), Gerard Warren (#3, 2001), and Lang (#17, 1997).

Speaking of the Browns, they are fighting with the Dolphins over Ricky Williams.

The Red Sox fired their manager, though he was really only a leftover interim manager from last year, and they hired another interim manager, certain to be disposed of at a later date. Johnny Damon deserves better.

The Sports Illustrated swimsuit images for 2002 are up.

03.03.02

Negotiations broke down between Elvis Grbac and the Bengals when they realized neither side had anything of value to offer.

Trent Dilfer was named the starting quarterback for the Seahawks, proving Matt Hasselbeck is really, really terrible after all.

Kentucky beat Florida for the second time this year, but Matt Bonner is still Kayla's hero.

Steve Spurrier is turning the Redskins into the 1996 Florida Gators.