The Olympics
I really don't have much interest in the Olympics but since I was in Dublin on Friday night I watched the opening ceremonies. I was bored. Turned it off after the American team enter the stadium. Wanted to make sure they showed up. The global warning section was typical NBC and all I can say is that 'they don't have a clue'. As far as I am concerned the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics is tops for creativity at the opening ceremonies. Who can ever forget all those white pianos in the Coliseum. Have to admit I never heard of some of the countries that strolled in the parade. Some of the countries weren't as big as the state of Delaware. Perhaps to make it fare and balanced which is the battle cry today, the USA team should be broken into fifty smaller states. Hey, come to think of it, that's not a bad idea!
Sunday night I was in my motel room in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley on my way home and turned on the games. NBC wanted to draw a big audience so it was easy to understand why they featured Women Diving Springboard Synchronized as the lead in sport. What was shocking to me is that the USA could not qualify a team for the sport. I thought it over for a moment and everything became clearer. Many of you are probably not old enough to remember motels with pools had diving boards. Diving boards were also common in many back yard pools. The cost of insurance eliminated them and it also destroyed diving and you wonder why the USA could not qualify a team. So you can blame insurance if the USA doesn't win the medal count.
Congratulations to the women's gymnastics team for winning the gold. It takes years of hard work and the honor is well deserved. Could only observe that the competition looked very weak. What ever happen to those great Eastern European gymnasts? Guess Muslins girls aren't that interested.
Michael Phelps keeps winning the gold one Olympics after another. Great achievement. When you can make millions swimming the Olympics every four why go to work. He is a prime example of why I lost interest in the games. Back many decades it was fun to see all new amateurs appear on the scene which I though made the games interesting and exciting. . . The USA basketball team is having it harder then one might expect. I saw the other day that they were tied after the first quarter. Things are really tough. . . My wife Barbara can hardly wait until golf starts.
NFL
I read while I was on the road that the NFL had to cancel the Hall of Fame Game because they used the wrong paint on the field. I pointed out last year the many mistakes the NFL made only proving you don't have to be smart to make it in this world. The NFL is proof that many dummies do!
To appease the people who get too hot at the 49er games that this Sundays opening pre season game will start at 4 o'clock probably the hottest part of the day. But it will cool off if they are lucky. I am assuming that the bathrooms at Levi will be open to either sex to appease York. Jed better be careful he is not caught going into a women's marked restroom. The security cameras will be watching.
I see that the 49ers practiced at Kezar Stadium on Wednesday. I remember in 1946 attending the first 49er game at Kezar a pre-season game against the Chicago Rockets who were led by the great Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch who later became an NFL star. Kezar was a unique stadium because Mary Kezar donated the property to the city but insisted that the field run east and west instead of north and south which because of the wind direction led to many record punts. The 49ers played there until 1970 when they were forced out because of safety reasons caused by the hippies who took over the Height Ashbury District of San Francisco forcing the team to move to a baseball stadium at Candlestick Point
The Giants
Now they are tied! What ever happen to that 8 game lead? Listen and everybody has an opinion which includes, pitching, fielding and hitting. It's that simple!
For a long period this year the relief pitching was the culprit. Now it has come around with Law gaining more confidence and Strickland pitching well. Even Lopez is starting to get a few people out. They have to keep it up. Casilla continues to get criticized but he gets the job done most of the time. Remember a guy named Brian Wilson who took the Dodgers for 10 million made Giant fans sweat plenty!
Starting pitching has faltered a little. Bumgarner gives up one run and they keep losing The new lefthander Moore looks like he will help. Samardzija pitched well today for a change and lets hope it continues. Cueto always gives it everything and Cain has been looking much better. Give the starters a few runs and they will be okay. That's easier said then done!
Some experts on the Giants keep repeating that the Giants score enough runs. I don't buy it. Earlier in the season the team won 8 out of 9 and the batting average during those games was .190. That luck could not continue. Here is my thoughts on the players:
Sans - Have you ever seen a leadoff man ground to second to start a game so often
Pagan - Good season but lacks pop in his bat
Belt - it will be hard to reach 20 homeruns for the season
Posey - Has his little slumps but still hits but lacks the power he once had.
Crawford - best clutch hitter on the team
Pence - Currently looks horrible at the plate. If it continues the Giants have no chance
Panic - solid in the field but a big disappointment at the plate.
Duffy - traded for a pitcher. Injury hurt plus his .240 batting average. Great fielder gone.
Gillaspie - good potential hitter at the plate but a poor fielder.
Nunez - Great potential at the plate but currently a stupid hitter and poor fielder.
Blanco - He has gone 0 for the summer before but in those years he did the job in the World Series
Brown - a good solid backup catcher
Mac Williamson - improving with lots of potential but makes too many mistakes.
Parker - blew his chance.
The Giants promote good pitching and solid defense for their success. Is this still true?
A Gift win. Remember last week the Yankee manager gave us a game well in my opinion my old friend Mattingly now manager of the Marlins gave us a game. With two outs in the 14th inning Crawford was at the plate having already 6 hits in the game. He pitched to him and he gets his 7th hit of the game driving in the winning run. Why didn't he walk him with slump ridden Pence coming up. He had one hit on an inside pitch but anything over the plate or outside he missed by a mile. Sometimes I wonder if managers even watch the game. Maybe he was being interviewed for television which I think is bush league. But anyway Thank you!
Will the Giants make the playoffs? The odds are against them unless somebody like Pence picks up a bat.
Latest update: The Dodgers lost so the Giants are back on top by 1 game!
No comments:
Post a Comment