My South Georgia/North Florida correspondent checked in yesterday with some news. [He's not really a correspondent; he is a former colleague who has been reading this stuff since it began in 1996/97 and who retired to that part of the world.] He wondered if I might have missed this tidbit during my isolation from the Internet during the power outage here. A wide receiver for Florida State had 8 catches for 206 yards in the FSU rout of Colorado and his name is Craphonso Thorpe. I checked the FSU website to see if my friend was pulling my leg and he was not. There was a time beck in the lineage of the “Thorpes” of the world where they named male offspring “Jim”. Later, they got a bit more daring and named some of the male offspring “Otis”. Now, I think that the Thorpe clan needs to rein itself in.
My friend also called to my attention that FSU QB Chris Rix is in some hot water for parking in a handicapped/patients only spot near the campus rehab center. This comes on the tail of another parking violation on the campus for which Rix had just paid a fine. Assuming that he can read the signs that govern parking areas, he can use these events as a springboard to getting a few more parking tickets on campus. Then, he can transfer to UCLA and jump right into their starting lineup. He will already have mastered the prerequisite anti-social behaviors expected there.
When the BCS ranking system began, the NY Times computer rankings of the teams was one of the components of the composite score that led to the BCS standings. I wonder if that is the case today. The reason that is interesting is that the NY Times ratings had Auburn as the pre-season #1 ranked team and we've seen how accurate that projection was. Now if that same precision and accuracy will be brought to bear on the rankings that will determine the BCS schools for this season, who knows what to expect?
Arizona football coach, John Macovic, is under a lot of pressure and the call-in radio shows in Arizona have been less than kind to him. The AD at Arizona probably thought he was doing Macovic a favor when he told the Tucson Citizen, “There are a lot of people who like to run their mouth when they really shouldn't.” Let's just say that this has not taken Coach Macovic out of the crosshairs of lots of disgruntled Arizona football fans.
David Boston has been suspended by the Chargers for a game. While with Arizona, Boston did not enjoy a great reputation as a team leader or a person whose “presence” matched his physical skills. Now he has a fat contract and has been exhibiting less than fully social team building skills. Boston may succeed in getting Marty Schottenheimer fired in San Diego, but he and his agent need to worry about how many more stops he has in the league under the cloud of being a coach-killer and a slackard and a “me-first” person.
With the baseball season only a week from being over, I have to give out my awards before everyone else jumps into the act.
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AL MVP: Everyone says this is the most difficult award to give out this year. For me it's easy. The Twins were mediocre at best up till the All-Star Game. They traded for Shannon Stewart and had one of the best records in MLB after the All Star Game. The Twins will be in the playoffs because of that “run”. No one else in the AL has that kind of entry on his résumé for 2003. Shannon Stewart gets my AL MVP Award.
NL MVP: Barry Bonds is the best player in the NL. Albert Pujols has had a monstrously good year and has chased [unsuccessfully] the Triple Crown all year. Jim Thome is the literal definition of the most valuable player because the Phillies would not be anywhere near contention for the wild card slot in the NL without his efforts this year. My NL MVP award goes to Albert Pujols.
AL Cy Young Award: I hear lots of reasons why various pitchers should win this award and I don't believe any of them. Pedro Martinez is the best pitcher in the AL and has meant the most to his team – one that will be in the playoffs. Forget all the nonsense, Pedro Martinez deserves the AL Cy Young Award.
NL Cy Young Award: Eric Gagne has 55 saves as of this writing; Mark Prior has gone 10-1 in his last eleven decisions. If either pitcher is removed from his team, the team is in the tank by August 1. I don't like giving this award to relief pitchers unless there is no starting pitcher that is remotely worthy. In this case, Prior is more than “remotely worthy” and so the NL Cy Young Award should go to Mark Prior.
AL Manager of the Year: I don't want to hear any names other than Tony Pena or Ron Gardenhire. Now that I have heard those two names, I will observe that Pena kept his team in contention until after Labor Day without the benefit of the talent available to Gardenhire. Tony Pena should win this award in a walk.
NL Manager of the Year: I don't want to hear any names other than Jack McKeon or Felipé Alou. Having heard these names, look at the talent on these teams and you will give the award to McKeon in a heartbeat – unless your heart has stopped beating and you are suffering from cerebral anoxia.
AL Rookie of the Year: Hideki Matsui was the best player in the AL to meet the MLB definition of a rookie. Rocco Baldelli was the best player in the AL who met the definition of “rookie” as understood by most fans. I really think Baldelli has a great future and so I'll award the AL RoY Award to Rocco Baldelli.
NL Rookie of the Year: On 1 August, Dontrelle Willis would have won this award in a walk. His performance in the last 4-6 weeks has not been sterling, but I don't see anyone else whose stats are so compelling as to deny him the award with the possible exception of Brandon Webb. I'll give the award to Willis.
Finally, here is a college match-up that should happen all the time. Why not have the Xavier Musketeers play the Gettysburg Bullets. How could you not get fired up for that game?
But don't get me wrong, I love sports...
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