All Sport Report

I’m sure this Philadelphia area horse is thankful the days of shooting horses with bum legs are over.

The winner of last years Kentucky Derby who was considered by many a strong candidate for the triple crown succumbed to tragedy, shattering three bones in his right rear leg at the start of the preakness.

Barbaro underwent surgery to repair the leg, only to develop laminitis in the hoof early in July. Laminitis is a condition often fatal to horses, but the Derby winner hung on. His condition has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride since the summer.

Doctors performed surgery on Barbaro again last Saturday removing nearly eighty percent of the infected hoof, in an attempt to rid him of the laminitis, and he is now recovering.

The outlook seems hopeful, the horse is improving steadily, his vital signs remain stable and his appetite is good. Pending his recovery Barabaro, I’m sure, will be put out to stud, not too bad a way to end a career.

I’ll be the first to admit, I though the notion of voting a write in candidate to the NHL All Star game was a bit silly, but team Rory had their stuff together. Okay, so he’s not going to start in the game, he finished third in the voting for Western Conference defensemen behind Scott Niedermayer and Nicklas Lidstrom, two perennial powerhouses among hockey defensemen. My first inclination was “told you so” in the direction of the Rory Fitzpatrick faithful, until I examined the results of the voting.

Journeyman defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick, the man of a meager one point thus far in the season recieved 550,174 write in votes for the NHL all-star game, making him by far the highest write in vote recipient in the history of write in voting for an NHL All Star spot. In fact Rory received more votes than seven of the players who will start on January 24th.

Sidney Crosby was the top vote getter overall, which comes as no shock, but only four other starters got more votes than Fitzpatrick: Bill Campbell of Buffalo, Joe Thornton of San Jose and Niedermayer and Lidstrom. This means three of the top six vote getters were Western Conference defensemen, I don’t have all of the voting history directly in front of me, but I’d venture to say it would be a safe bet that this has never occured before.

Fitzpatrick got more votes than Eastern Conference captain Bredan Shanahan, he also got more votes than Teemu Selanne and Joe Sakic and he didn’t earn a starting spot, correct me if I’m wrong but something certainly doesn’t seem right here.

I’m not saying that something underhanded definitely happened, but I would like to suggest that Team Rory start getting everything together early next season for their second effort, Let’s get Fitzpatrick one million votes next season, just to make sure there’s nothing rotten in Denmark(or Canada)

Sammy Sosa is considering going full circle, nearly twenty years ago he began his professional baseball career with the Texas Rangers’ minor league affiliate and he’s close to reaching an agreement that could land him there again. If the two sides can come to terms Sosa, who has already met with some of the Rangers’ people, would report to spring training in a few weeks under a minor league contract with a chance for making the major league club.

The question burning in my mind is why, after spending twelve plus very productive seasons with the Chicago Cubs followed by one dismal season in Baltimore, then missing last season entirely, would Sammy Sosa want to play for a minor league team. In 102 games in 2005 with Baltimore Sosa only hit .221 with 14 home runs and only 45 runs batted in.

Even if Sosa has some baseball life left in him and manages a stint with the major league club, the rumors of steroid abuse will surely overshadow whatever positive contributions he makes to the team. As I see it nothing good can come of this for Sosa and I truely hope he reconsiders. I as a baseball fan can forget about the season in Baltimore and still see Sammy as having a great career in Chicago packed with over 500 home runs, but if this Rangers deal ends up like I only imagine it can, that is how I’ll be forced to remember him and I’m sure a lot of his fans feel the same. Please Sammy, for the sake of your fans, let it go while you still have your dignity!

Muhammad Ali is sixty-five years old today and I just wanted to give him a small tribute. I’m sure there are plenty of bigger things going on in the world today honoring this incredible, larger than life man. But I feel, being the sports fan that I am and being fortunate enough to have this venue I owe him a little shout.

From the time he won gold in the Rome Olympics in 1960 he was capable of captivating the world with his words, his talent in the ring and his mere presence. In this day and age where the most visual professional athletes are spoken of mostly in regards to their personal troubles and contract disputes it just makes me value the fact that we ever had a sports personality the caliber of Muhammad Ali.

I just wanted to express my thanks for all the memories, in my mind and I’m sure in many others you’ll always be “the greatest”

Long gone are the glory days of professional boxing, where the heavyweight champion’s name was well known in most households. Today we have no Ali, no Joe Frazier, no Liston, no Patterson, no Rocky’s and certainly no Sugar Ray’s.

Today’s boxing is being carried by Floyd Mayweather JR, Winky Wright and Manny Pacquiao.

“Pac-man”’s next fight, if it’s allowed to happen, is slated for late April against a very tough Korean opponent, Injin Chi. The fight is not written in stone, but is likely if Manny’s contract can get straightened out. There is an impending legal dispute between Top Rank Promotions and Golden Boy, both of whom claim to have a valid contract on the talented fighter. This dispute could potentially keep “pac-man” out of the ring for a while, which could do further damage to boxing’s current condition.

My advice to the US boxing world - go over to Denmark and bring Mikkel Kessler back with you, offer him a big contract to fight in the US. The Viking Warrior is 37-0 with 28 of his wins coming by way of knockout. Will he single handedly bring boxing back to life? I’m not sure, but Manny is a little guy, his shoulders aren’t big enough to carry the whole sport, especially if he’s sidelined while the contract dispute gets rectified.

In New Jersey we’ve been experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures all winter, but this week in Aroso Switzerland the snow is more than ready for the seventh annual Snowboard World Championships which got underway yesterday.

Monday brought the finals of of Snowboardcross where Americans Seth Wescott and Nate Holland finished second and third respectively behind Frenchman Xavier Delerue.

Tuesdays finals were in the parallel giant slalom where, in a tight race containing a very talented field Rok Flander placed first edging out one of the favorites - local Swiss rider Phillip Schoch. Schoch’s fellow Swiss countryman Heinz Inniger placed third. The first American finisher was Tyler Jewell finishing sixth.

Wednesday the final for the parallel slalom will be held. Friday and Saturday will showcase the crowd favorite events - the Big Air and halfpipe.

I’ll post results for the remaining disciplines as soon as they’re in, and don’t forget the 11th Annual Winter X-Games begin in Aspen on Monday.

The Professional Darts Corporation held their inaugural awards gala last week in London and Phil Taylor pulled down the top honor of Player of the Year.

Taylor started off the year in good fashion winning a record thirteenth World Championship title, that was just the beginning. Phil went on to take the top spots through 2006 in each of the following: the Holsten Premier League, the Stan James World Matchplay, the World Series of Darts and the SkyBet World Grand Prix.

Taylor placed second in the Ladbrokes.com World Championship, losing in the final to Raymond van Barneveld. At the awards ceremony Taylor expressed disappoinment in the loss but aknowledged the fact that Barneveld would be a worthy champion that would put up a good fight before being dethroned.

Van Barneveld captured two awards of his own, taking home the award for the best newcomer, and a “fan favorite” player of the year, but the night and the year belonged to Phil Taylor

This weekend at the Sony Open in Hawaii a little guy played his big heart out.

Tadd Fujikawa is sixteen years old, I’ll repeat that for those of you who didn’t hear he’s SIXTEEN and not only did he make the cut, he placed top twenty at a PGA tournament. Fujikawa played like a seasoned pro, he was calm, cool and collected and he shot five under par. While most sixteen year olds were worried about wether they’d be getting a date or a pimple this weekend, this kid was out rubbing elbows and competing with some of the finest professional golfers in the world.

Tadd doesn’t belong to a country club, and he hasn’t had much in the way of a professional golf “education” , he’s had a few lessons but picked up most of it on his own. He’s the youngest player in fifty years to make the cut for a PGA tournament. By the level of professionalism and the sheer joy he expressed for the game I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see him in another PGA tourney in the not too distant future.

We’ve talked basketball, now lets discuss some hockey. The two conferences are a lot more closely match on the ice than they are the hardwood, but my pick is still coming from the West.

Lets talk about the beasts from the East first and the three it’s gonna come down to:

First - the Buffalo Sabres, at present time they have the best record in the conference. Chris Drury is having an excellent years with twenty-two goals and Daniel Briere leads the team with fifty-two points. Gone is the team that used to be nothing but a boring trap defense, this team is for real on both sides of the puck.

Second - Carolina Hurricaines, led by former Flyers(ugh!) Rod Brind’Amour and Justin Williams and don’t forget about Eric Staal, this team is hungry to drink from Lord Stanley’s Cup again, and they have all the pieces in place to do it again too.

Third - New York Rangers

Jaromir Jagr is one of the greatest hockey players of all time and he’s playing with the active leader in goals scored in Brendan Shanahan. When I heard the Rangers had signed Shanahan I thought “so what he’s like forty years old, he can’t make much of an impact” well his twenty-four goals at the halfway point of the season prove me wrong.

What about the West. I’ll tell ya, I see it being all Pacific.

First - Anaheim, Teemu Selanne is tied for the league lead in goals and seems to be able to score at will, throw in the rock solid play of veteran Scott Niedermayer and you’ve got yourselves a serious contender.

Second - Right behind the Ducks sit The San Jose Sharks. The Sharks made a smart move trading for Joe Thornton last year, he leads the team in points and Patrick Marleau is having a standout year with twenty goals.

Third, the Dark Horse - Phoenix Coyotes, I know their record isn’t showing it right now, but they’ve won seven of their last ten. Their defense is showing a marked improvement and the recent pick up of Mikael Tellquist gives them two very good net minders (Curtis Joseph). The Coyotes also have a not-so-secret weapon.

Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player of all time, if he can pass just a little of his knowledge onto his young team they are going to be very scary.

So how does it all come down - Jagr and Shanahan’s talent and experience push them through to the finals from the East and a Shark can eat a Duck so San Jose sneaks into the finals from the West.

The blockbuster trade to land Thornton in San Jose pays off big time this year, in the form of the Stanley Cup. Sharks over the Rangers in six.

The basketball season is about at its halfway point, so I’m going to be so bold as to make my post season predictions right now. There is something to be said for my knowledge of the sport, but I have been wrong in predicting before(if I hadn’t I’d be rolling around naked in my gambling winnings right now), so you can feel free to return to this post in a few months and ridicule any and all errors you find.

That being said lets get on with the picks: one thing in my mind is certain the winner will come from the Western Conference. Why - the West has depth, just look at the current standings, the sixth place Houston Rockets of the West have a better record than first place Cleveland in the East and to top it off, the New Jersey Nets who are leading the Atlantic division have a sub .500 record of 16-19.

Shaquille O’Neil is almost ready to make his return, which will make the Heat contenders, and in my opinion repeat winners of the East.

Now who will they face? The possibilities are endless, well there are eight anyway which is about six or seven more than the East has to offer.

It’s going to come down to three, the first two are simple - the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns. Both of these teams have bonafied stars in Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki and both these stars have rock solid supporting casts to help them along the way. The third possible and dark horse of my picks is:

that’s right the Denver Nuggets, mark my words, when Carmelo Anthony comes back from his 15 game suspension due to his involvement in “slapfest ‘06″ he and the Answer are going to light up the court.

Okay so what happens in the end: Dallas beats Miami in five avenging last season, Dirk and the Mavs get their rings, but Steve Nash walks away with the MVP.

Shaquile O’Neal hasn’t played a game in two months, he’s missed twenty-eight straight and only played in four of the Miami Heat’s 34 games. Despite Miami’s struggles and a sub par record of 15-19, they are in third place in the southeast and only one spot out of a playoff contention with a lot of basketball still to be played.

The Heat have had their share of dismal games in Shaq’s absense, which is understandable - Dwayne Wade’s shoulders are only so big, but all that is about to change.

Big Shaq has laced up his shoes and practiced for the first time in almost sixty days, and he could very well be bringing his team mates the gift of a playoff berth. The Heat have won two out of three on their current road trip and have managed to get themselves a little closer to .500 at about the mid-way point of the season.

If you add Shaq to this team right now, even if he’s only playing at sixty percent the Heat will finish out the season strong and make the playoffs, if he stays healthy and is playing at ninety percent or above they stand an awfully good chance of winning the Eastern Conference and going on to face Dallas or the Jazz in the finals.

The world of American soccer just got a whole lot more interesting. An investment of two-hundred and fifty million dollars over the course of the next five years has added not only the world’s most recognized soccer player, but also a bit of credibilty to MLS.

The Los Angeles Galaxy have landed David Beckham, the face of the sport of soccer. Not since Pele has there been a person so associated with the other “football” as Beckham, and now the midfielder has migrated to US soil.

So what does this mean for the sport? Well it certainly means that the LA Galaxy will sell out all of their games this year, and it also means that over the course of the next year or two, soccer will experience a bit of a boost in popularity. More kids will go out for the team, more attendance at events, more jerseys and other merchandise sold, but beyond that it doesn’t mean a whole lot.

Soccer is, by far, the most popular sport in the world, but it can’t manage to break into the top five in the old US of A. Personally I’m a little excited, MLS will get a little more TV coverage and Beckham certainly is fun to watch but the majority of Americans are gonna stick with the major four.

Maybe if the DC United can talk Zidane out of retirement and MLS legalizes the headbutt soccer will get some ratings in the States, but failing that, when the “big picture” is considered Beckham will bring much more worldwide credibility to MLS than stateside popularity.

There’s a lot to be said for someone who can leave their work problems at work and their private problems at home. As a sports fan I’ve heard time and time again how this pitcher threw meatballs all day, or that quarteback went 4 for fifteen with 3 interceptions because of a personal dilemma, because their head wasn’t in the game.

Enter Jason Kidd

Kidd and the Nets played a game against the very tough Chicago Bulls hours after he filed divorce from his wife of ten years and the mother of his children, and his head was nowhere but in the game.

Kidd scored ten points, had fourteen assist and eight rebounds to help his team overcome the Bulls by fifteen. I just think it’s admirable in this day and age when a player really goes out and steps up his game, when his personal life has given him a golden opportunity to take the night off.

I wish Jason the best of luck in getting through this off-court matter and I hope his play on the court remains uneffected.

I just wanted to throw out a quick congratulations to the newest members of the baseball hall of fame Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn. Both legendary players slid easily past the required 75% of votes, Gwynn netted more than 97% and Ripken Jr had the third highest number of votes ever at almost 99%.

Both of these men compiled over three thousand hits in their illustrious careers. Tony Gwynn, in my opinion, had one of the best swings in baseball history, in a twenty plus year carreer he hit with a batting average of over .338, on a team where he got very little offensive support from others a good portion of those years.

Ripken - baseball’s true iron-man, could play on both sides of the ball as good as anyone, during his career he broke the all-time home run record for shortstops, then he hit nearly a hundred more as a third baseman.

Looking at Cal here, in careful consideration of his own book, has caused me to want to ponder, and what better topic than hall of fame inductions.

Big Mac did not get the nod, and I’m happy about that. Not that I have anything personal against him, I used to enjoy watching the bash brothers in Oakland, but Cooperstown is about talent and being an ambassador for the game. Steroids are not only illegal, but give those that use them an unfair edge over the competition when it comes to strength and power. If you take away McGuire’s power, you take away his home runs, if you take away his home runs he barely belongs in professional baseball let alone the hall of fame. I’m actually disappointed that he got as many votes as he did.

Let’s start this blog off with a little entry I like to call good day/bad day. We’ll cover a few of the hottest recent sporting events, and see who came out on top and who got the short end of the stick.

First we’ll take a look at boxing, where a good day for Samuel Peter leads to a bad day for former champ James Toney.

Ouch, Samuel Peter pops James Toney on his way to a convincing victory in the heavyweight elimination match. Sam came in slim and trim compared to his last fight and used Toney as a proverbial punching bag for the duration. Another victory over Toney will lead to a probable title match for Peter in the near future, which means a very good day(and payday) indeed.

Next we’ll venture to the world of college football where a good day for Florida State leads to a bad day for the Buckeyes and the entire state of Ohio.

The Gators held the number one rated offense in college football to under 100 total yards on their way to a 41-14 route, and the national title.

Alright now that we’re warmed up we’ll take a look at the NFL playoffs, where Tony Romo had a really bad day.

The Dallas QB couldn’t put down the snap for the game winning field goal on Saturday costing his team the win. Romo began his starting job with the Cowboys like a ball of fire earning himself a spot in the pro-bowl, his performence howver has fizzled over the past three weeks and finally been snuffed out with the dropped snap on Saturday. This leads to a fantastic day for the Seahawks, who advance passed wildcard weekend to play the bears next week, when the really should have been polishing their golf shoes.

Last but not least, well we’ll just call this one good day - bad season.

The good day is for any team playing my beloved Philadelphia Flyers. This Flyers season thus far is the worst I can remember as a fan. The teams eleven wins at this points in the season cements their place as the worst team in hockey.