Tony Gwynn

Always the bridesmaid and never the bride. Always really good, but never good enough. For example, on Sunday, Dale Jr. lost for the 99th time in a row. Sure, he won that 100th race before that, but that race on June 15, 2008, was a rain shortened event, and while a win is a win, it's not a true win. That said... he came close - leading down to the near end when Kevin Harvick passed him and then Kyle Busch, who he had passed for the lead, almost passed him for 2nd. In the end, Jr. nudged him out for second, but a loss is a loss, and second place is the first loser. On Monday night, in a battle of who wants to lose the least of the "great" men's basketball teams, and let's say - it was close, Connecticut pulled a rabbit out of their butts and got the win against Butler. How bad was it? Two teams haven't scored this few of points since 1949. Back then, Truman was in office, Korea wasn't a war, and my mom wasn't born. Butler shot 18.8%, which sucks so badly that they couldn't even get into the paint in the time I watched the game (up until the last 8 minutes or so when I couldn't justify any more time on it and for the fact that I still had to drive home from my parents' house). To this, there came a point where they literally stopped trying to drive in. They couldn't get offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds. When their defense held off UConn, they still gave up 2nd and 3rd chance points. In all honesty, UConn wasn't that good either with a 34.5% shooting rate. And tonight, Notre Dame women came close but no cigar as they lost to Texas A+M, ruining my first cousin, once removed's chance to be national champion for a second time. That said, whooping on TN and UConn means something - just not the trophy. Better luck next year, Moffet. In football, the Buffalo Bills were playing well enough to be in the Superbowl 4 years running, but they lost every year. Eventually, the run and the opportunity ended, and they haven't been back since. And baseball is no different. Sometimes, we go our whole lives and wait for the chance to get in there, and when it happens, we lose 4 straight (Houston) or get beat both times we get in there (San Diego). And what happens for the great players who gave their all to make it happen (Tony Gwynn), but can't get the ring? Do we see them as less, remember them a little duller in the spotlight? Tony Gwynn is in the hall of fame, but he's not wearing the jewelry. To this, there's something about getting the job done... and if we can't seal the deal, no matter what famous pedigree we have or investment there is in the team, eventually we become Kyle Petty or see the team broken up into aging parts for resale. It happens... just ask the Cleveland Indians.

Alex Rodriguez

How 'bout them Butler Bulldogs?!!
But alas, since this isn't an NCAA basketball blog, we'll stick with the world of baseball and get right back to that.
There's pretty much not anything nice that we can say about Alex Rodriguez here, so if we have to say that we avoided him in YET ANOTHER fantasy draft, that's really not news, but to actually see him doing something nice - invite a 12-year old girl named Julianne Ramirez to a Yankee game because she rescued a 3-year old family friend by using CPR chest compressions - we have to look at the good things that a baseball player can do. Of course, there are other things a baseball player can do - get pissy when he and his movie star girlfriend are on camera in their Super Bowl sky booth or to come up positive for steroids and try to deny it and pass the blame - but alas, Rodriguez and his team killing salary (at least in the Rangers years) did something right this time, and since it's the only time we'll say it all year....
We'll say it.
And we'll take a look at who I did draft in the second of my fantasy drafts. I did draft Yankees, which as I said before is about the nature of this game - not my support for the Evil Empire. I ended up with Mariano Rivera, Robinson Cano, and Brett Gardner. Then again, I also got Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee again. They'll play alongside Nelson Cruz, Ichiro, and Buster Posey as well as Ryan Zimmerman, Jose Bautista, Dan Haren, and Andrew McCutchen (I've got him on both teams as I figure that he'll try to play his way out of Pittsburgh this July). Josh Johnson and Joakim Soria are also on the team, so we're primed and ready for action.
As is Colby Rasmus, who I had another trade request from the same guy who must either worship Rasmus as a god, or he must really know something.
All the same... I'm ready for Thursday and the start of the season.
Let the games begin!

Bob Stanley

Watching Butler kick Pitt's ass... OK... maybe that's a little bit extreme, but watching the defending NCAA men's runner up beat the heavily favored Pitt team (an 8 seed beating on a 1 seed) was beautiful, and roughly 10 times in the last 2 minutes, I realized that basketball isn't football when it comes to winding down the clock.
Sure, there's all of those stupid fouls that put the team that is ahead on the line to EARN their shots (whatever that means), but there's a sense that a team has to do something and can't just play handball until their shot clock ends in the same way that a football team can loaf around for a minute or so when they want to spike a ball on the field and walk off in an uncontested win (provided there are no time outs by the losing team to stop the clock). In this, football may be to some people the greatest sport in America, but to me, it's nothing.
Look at the last seconds of the Pitt / Butler game (and mind you, I'm in no way a basketball fan - I watched NO GAMES this year until watching them all day on Saturday with my in laws).
Shelvin Mack was the hero all game, but he made a foul with 1.4 seconds left. He put Gilbert Brown on the line for 2 shots. Brown made his first, but he blew the second after Mack's post foul display of intimidation got all up in his grill. Still, Pitt had a chance to win in over time, but Brown couldn't collect himself and make it count when he had to, but all the same, he did enough to send the game to over time with the first shot. But in the aftermath of the missed second shot, all hell broke loose, and Nasir Robinson fouled Butler on a rebound and put Matt Howard, Butler's other star, on the line for 2, and he nailed both of them with .8 seconds left in the game. It was all over but the crying.
But the point was that it was a game and it was a nail biter down to the last at play after the game was tied 6 times in the last 14 minutes - this after Butler was up by 8 at the half.
And that's what's great about competitive sports... it's not over until it's over.
Flash back to 1986... Calvin Schiraldi gets 2 fly outs from Backman and Hernandez in the bottom of the 9th. Up steps Gary Carter... single. Up steps Kevin Mitchell... single. Up steps Ray Knight... single. Three hits... The Mets are down by 1 now. In comes Bob Stanley with a wild pitch. The game is tied, and Mookie Wilson hits the ball that goes through Buckner's legs and the Mets win and survive and thrive to go on to game 7 for the series victory and 18 more years of the Curse of Babe Ruth.
That's a game... even if it sends a man to Idaho in shame.
That's what's great about sports that let teams fight it out until the end.
That was Butler and Pitt in a duel to the death.
Oh, hell yeah.
I know I've said it before, and I'm going to say it again.
WOW.