Thursday Take-Twos

Here’s a glimpse at what happened in sports this today:
The New York Yankees established themselves as the best team in baseball. At least they are the team with the league’s best record. Manager, Joe Girardi and his turnaround team lead the majors in comeback wins and continue to tear through their AL East opponents one by one. Winners of nine of their last ten, the Yankees lead the Boston Red Sox by six games in the division. Look for more of the same from the Bomber bats and pinstriped pitchers down the stretch.
Tiger Woods shot 5 under 67 at Hazeltine and leads the first round of the PGA Championship. For a man who has made a career out of doing the impossible, this is no surprise.
Dante Stallworth is suspended for the 2009 NFL season without pay. The belittled Browns receiver pleaded guilty to killing a pedestrian while driving drunk. Commissioner Roger Goodell came down hard on Stallworth, sending a message to the entire NFL careless misconduct won’t be tolerated. The league’s personal conduct and drug abuse policies were violated and Goodell made the right decision in punishing the Cleveland star for one year. The Stallworth decision comes just a few weeks after Goodell conditionally reinstated Michael Vick after the quarterback served 18 months jail time for dogfighting charges.
Woodstock is celebrating it’s anniversary this week and it just makes me think of the 1969 Mets and Jets. How distant that wonder year seems now to fans of both New York franchise. The Mets did salvage the final game of their series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, winning 6-4 on the road. Corey Sullivan tripled twice and Gary Sheffield provided two hits in his return to the Mets wrinkled lineup.
The Yankees weren’t the only team who won in walkoff fashion Wednesday night, and the Red Sox and Tigers weren’t the only clubs to brawl this week. The San Francisco Giants accomplished both. They beat their in-state rivals, the L.A. Dodgers, on a game winning Juan Uribe homerun. Uribe’s drill in the 10th made San Francisco the 4-2 winner over L.A.. Both the Giants’ manager and acting manager, and the bench coach were ejected during the wild day. There was also a benches clearing scuffle. It hardly compared to the one that took place between AL East foes, Boston and Detroit, however.
The Gator Bowl could be headed to New Years Day, which would land the Big 10 football conference its third bowl on January 1st. Bowl reshuffling is always fun, so stay tuned. It’s all about sponsorships and partnerships with mega companies anyway. I am more focused on the football field when I watch college games.
The United States soccer team leads Mexico in points in the World Cup qualifying standings. That wasn’t enough to amount to a win for the United States at Azteca last night. The 2-1 Mexico victory was a critical one but not unexpected. The United States has fallen to Mexico 23 out of the 24 times they’ve kicked against them. Landon Donovan has his team on course to qualify, as long as they win their next two games.
Finally, can we just go back to talking about the awesome Big East basketball program in Louisville? Rick Pitino made a mistake but it shouldn’t cost him his job. I am not condoning extra-marital affairs or pardoning Pitino’s performance off the court, but get real. The public should not have to hear about the man’s personal life because it hasn’t affected his coaching. The affair occurred six years ago and Pitino has gone on to lead and recruit some of the most talented players and teams in the nation. It’s time to drop the subject and move on.
Parting points: Sad news about skateboarding pioneer, Andy Kessler dying after a wasp bite reaction. While we’re on the subject of death, today is the anniversary of the Mick’s passing.