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 Sports Chick
June 5, 2004 AROUND THE SPORTING HORNE...........By: Marty Coultas Welcome back again Milwaukeeworlders. Hope your holiday weekend was as exciting and relaxing as mine. After three days of sun bathing and beer drinking, we begin what is now considered the down days of summer. With only one holiday left before we pack away our tanks and unload the sweats, we still have a few great sporting events of summer left to enjoy. And one of those my friends is the All-Star game in Houston next Tuesday night! Normally, I would not mention this event, as many of us know and consider it to be one of the MOST BORING AND OVER RATED All-Star games in all of Major League Sports......But this year is different my fellow Baseball fans. Why?? BECAUSE FINALLY, I MEAN FINALLY, the coaches have recognized how FREAKIN good Ben Sheets is and are honoring his talent by sending him to the big game next week!!! Congrats to you Bennie, you deserve it. You too Dougie......Have a BLAST boys! On that note, we must RECAP what an exciting week of Professional Sports we have had in the good ole USA.................. Monday was the day that the fun really started. That is correct, the match up of the Cubs and the Brew Crew. Who would have believed before the season began that the Brewers would be three games over 500 and only five back of the vaunted Cubbies? Well, I guess I would have. With 17 contests in the next two months, these teams will get to know one each other really well and I predict that the distance between them will be far more favorable to our boys than it will be for the Cubs. Oh, I know, I know. The Cubs are a better team on paper than we are. Much bigger payroll, more talent and supposedly great pitching (I doubt the Cubs would agree after Ben shut them off on Monday afternoon) but I think maybe, just maybe, we have a little more heart. I guess we will know more come Wednesday night. Okay, so I may have been a little premature in my prediction of the demise of the Lakers. Even though Coach K decided not to go west, who knew that Mitch would exercise a lot of common sense and go to his former rival and arch enemy looking for help? It may be that Mitch and Dr. Buss have a better handle on things than I thought, but I am hoping I am wrong. When Mr. Rudy T. takes that job, lets see where Kobe will end up. I can tell you one thing; he ain’t staying in Hollywood. Not with MR. T coaching that team. Too much arrogance and ego to fit in that arena, even when it is the massive Staples Center. After watching the NBA draft and seeing a lot of money go to the “Youth Movement”, one might assume that the NBA is the only place where the money is being thrown at high school kids. Oh no Milwaukeeworlders. Baseball is also known for giving big signing bonuses to 18 year olds. We are reminded of this whenever we see a headline about one of that sports bonus babies getting into a fight with a bouncer at a bar in Arizona. The San Diego Padres gave that kid $3.5 million up front and sent him off to live on his own. What the hell do they expect? When I was 18, if I would have been handed that kind of cash, my ass would have been partying it up the same way this immature brat did. Good God people, some people work their entire lives to earn a quarter of that and never see happiness, this kid was just doing what he thought he should be doing.....Boozing it up and partying with his buds. At least the NBA provides some semblance of advice for their newly minted millionaires. The new kids may not always follow the advice, but at least it is given. Baseball has now had it’s last two number one picks get busted for booze and rowdiness. Think it might be time to get these juveniles under control? Speaking of the youth movement, over the weekend we saw Maria Sharapova, age 17, win Wimbledon. We saw Paula Creamer, 17, and Michelle Wie, 14, finish tied for 14th in the US Open for women, and a nineteen year old named to the women’s national soccer team. The youth movement is not just limited to the basketball and baseball playing field. We have all become accustomed to seeing youngsters in these sports but the level of ability displayed by young women in sports is growing much more quickly than most people would have thought possible. When Robin Yount came to the majors at the age of nineteen it was a true rarity. Today there are many sports where we see teenagers perform at the highest level. They have always had the physical ability; mostly what held them back was the mental toughness. That doesn’t seem to be the case any more. If you want to see a sport where youth has typically dominated, watch this weekend's USA swimming Olympic trials. We are loaded in this country and this year's trials will be a real dogfight. And finally Milwaukeeworlders, a couple of random thoughts.... Meg Mallon winning the US Open for women was a testament to perseverance and shows that the good guy or gal does sometimes win. How has she managed to continue to play and remain positive and competitive when she can’t even find a sponsor? Did you notice that she had no names on her hat, shirt, bag, or anywhere else? Pretty damn sure that is about to change!!! With her renewed celebrity and her overwhelming ability to stand up in the face of that kind of pressure at the age of 41, and do so without financial aid requires a certain degree of courage. Way to go Meg. And I would be remiss if I didn’t give props to Annika Sorenstam. After the 13th hole it was pretty obvious Meg was going to win but Annika just continued to attack and birdied the last two holes to make it somewhat close. You wanna talk about a role model for the never give up crowd, Annika Sorenstam is as good as you will find. With all of the off of my chest, lets enjoy the week to come and KICK THE CRAP OUT OF THE CUBBIES!! Until we chat again my friends, keep your ears open and your noses clean! Marty the Sports Chick
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