Random Monday Musings

No lengthy intro here, just a few random thoughts and observations on a Monday…

Timmy Gets Tossed – If Joey Crawford thinks folks are paying their hard earned dough to come see his bald head run up and down the court jockeying a whistle, someone needs to slap the stupid out of him. The long time NBA ref hit Tim Duncan with 2 technical fouls within 1:16 of each other, marking only the second time in TD’s career he’s gotten the boot. Duncan insists he said nothing. Crawford says the mild-mannered Spur called him a “piece of [rhymes with ‘spit’].” Joey C. then apparently challenged Duncan to a fight. Smart guy. Too bad Timmy didn’t take him up on it. I hope the league takes action against Crawford. Totally unacceptable.

Break Up The Bombers – Derek Jeter can’t field (six errors already this year?!?). Mariano Rivera is very hittable (just ask Marco Scutaro). And Alex Rodriguez is suddenly Mr. Clutch. No punchline here. It’s real. It’s weird. And it’s kind of freaking me out. Throw in the minor league staff temporarily toting the rubber for the Bombers, and you've got a nation full of Yankee fans looking for the full moon hovering over the Boogie Down.

Welcome To The Windy City Sweet Lou – If you had the under in the “When will Lou Piniella have his first major meltdown as Cubs manager” pool, congratulations – you’re a winner. It took Lou all of 10 games before he lost it in a post-game press conference. After Carlos Zambrano turned a 5-0 lead into a 6-5 deficit in one inning against the Reds (with the 8th and 9th hitters leading off), a reporter asked Lou what went wrong with Big Z. “What the hell do you think isn't working?'' Piniella shouted. "You see the damn game.'' Welcome to Wrigleyville Lou. Get used to it.

***side note*** – as I write this, I see the following words scroll right to left across my TV on ESPN Bottom Line: “Alfonso Soriano 1-2, R; Strained Hamstring (day-to-day).” Then the highlight comes on. He hurt himself diving for a ball in center. Love the hustle but can someone tell him we’re not paying him $160 million to dive for balls in a 5-1 ballgame in April!?!?! If this is serious, the Cubs and my fantasy teams’ seasons just ended in Week 3. Ugggggggggh.

Must See TV – Monday’s SportsCenter showcased two of the most brilliant clips of the young season, if not any season ever.

Clip #1 -- The first comes courtesy of the Padres-Dodgers Sunday night game in LA. Foul ball ripped down first base line. Ball boy positions himself to field the ball once it bounces off the wall. Ball takes a high hop and catches the kid in the face. He spins and slowly goes down like he just caught a left hook from Mike Tyson. I hope he’s OK, but couldn’t help but laugh. Where’s George Michael’s Sports Machine when you need it?

Clip #2 – From the “friendly” confines of Fenway Park during Monday morning’s game against the Halos. Another foul ball. This time a pop up down the left field line. Garret Anderson comes over to make a play in the first row of the stands, knocks into a fan who then spills his beer all over himself. Good stuff. But the comedy comes just moments later, when for no apparent reason the man sitting behind the beer-soaked sucker promptly picks up a slice of pizza and hurls it at the guy’s head, hitting his buddy in the shoulder. I’ve seen this clip about 7 or 8 times and it’s not getting old. As Craig of Johnny Wishbone (a die hard Yanks fan) tells me "Fenway is a great place to see a game... when it's empty."

I promise not to sleep until I can find these clips online and bring them to you here. Check back later to share the laughs.

One final note completely non-sports related…. If you haven’t caught NBC’s new unscripted comedy “Thank God You’re Here,” check it out. Thank me later.

And in what can’t be anything but an awkward transition, no matter what the preceeding subject matter was…

Without exaggeration, what happened today on the campus of Virginia Tech was the worst shooting in the history of the United States. This was more than a tragedy – it was a massacre. At least 32 dead and at least 29 wounded. That’s more than 60 individuals or families whose flesh and souls and memories have been scarred for life by one maniac’s bullets. Take a moment to put the families of all those involved into your heart, your thoughts and your prayers. They deserve it.