There are five events, match-ups or occurrences in sports that I know I'd like to see but am confident will never happen!
I encourage you sports fans to provide me with feedback and we can compare. The most enjoyable part of this short list to keep is to see whether I'm relating to the baby boomers or the older generation.
1) I've mentioned it in other blogs and I'll talk about it again. Since I'm from Hockeytown (Detroit), I wish Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe and Wayne "The Great One" Gretzky played in the same era as members of the Original Six NHL teams. I wonder how many goals Gretzky would have scored if his competition knew him inside and out. Would he have his NHL record 894 goals? I highly doubt it. Howe had 801 goals and he compiled his numbers against tons of Hall of Fame Players. Speaking of the Original Six, it would be neat if they were all in the same conference, but like the Howe vs Gretzky, all of this will never happen.
2) Washington Nationals pitching sensation Stephen Strasburg just underwent Tommy John Surgery today and is expected to miss between 12-18 months. The Nationals have millions of dollars invested in this 22-year old youngster. They even limited his innings and pitch count and tried to take things cautiously so he wouldn't get hurt. Unfortunately, the cornerstone of the revitalized franchise will be without their biggest draw until what figures to be 2012. So the question remains, will we ever see another starting pitcher ever complete 20 games in a season? No way!
Teams will continue to protect their pitchers. Baseball is so specialized with long and middle relievers, set-up guys and one inning closers. The only three pitchers that come to my mind that could have performed in my era of yesteryear are Roy Halladay & Roy Oswalt of the Philadelphia Phillies and Cliff Lee of the Texas Rangers. Growing up, pitchers used to work on three and four days rest. Now it's mainly five days.
3) It's time for me to pick on college football. It's the biggest revenue sport without a true playoff system to determine an actual champion. With all of the politics going on with the bowl system, these clowns know what the right thing is to do, but it will never get done!
Heck, we can't even get the "Plus One" scenario where the top team faces the fourth rated, and two would meet three with the winners playing that extra contest to decide a champion. With multiple unbeaten teams every year, just adding the one contest would somewhat quiet the debate.
When these clowns get it right, then we'll "See A Mule Win The Kentucky Derby." I've always been taught to never say never. I'm saying never and I'm sure there will be many people that would agree in this case.
4) I'd like to see the Super Bowl played at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. If they're going to play one in New York at the $1.7 Billion home of the New York Jets and Giants, why not up in Wisconsin? Like New York, it's a cold climate, so we'll see football played in the natural elements. I know there aren't any beaches or golf courses in Green Bay, but you still have the Packers Hall of Fame. There is ice fishing. The history in Green Bay would make the Super Bowl a memorable experience. Critics could argue that hotel accommodations there wouldn't be enough.
But when I was in Jacksonville, Florida they had cruise ships and that still wasn't enough to get the job done. I slept in a Rest Area for two days in My Jeep and in the Media Center on a Lazy Boy Chair the third night. I did bring a couple pillows and a comforter and the jeep was big enough to get the job done. Then I used truck stops to get cleaned up.
I understand that New York should be awarded for building their new stadium, is the largest city in the USA, but Green Bay's football tradition still tops New York. I also have no problem with a Super Bowl in New York as the city still does recover from the terrorist acts of September 11. I still remember my days watching the Detroit Lions when they played their home games at Tiger Stadium. It was neat taking blankets to the game and drinking hot chocolate in the stands.
The warm weather sites are OK 90% of the time, but it would be great to slip in a historic cold weather climate once in awhile. I'm still optimistic that the Big Ten Conference will play their championship game on the "Frozen Tundra."
5) Can you imagine the day if former Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson steps into the Octagon and gets involved in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)? Tyson was a great pay-per-view draw even past his prime in boxing. I'd love to see Tyson fight Brock Lesnar. I've heard that Lesnar is one of the craziest fighters in MMA. With that said, the promoters should jump on this one. When you hear Tyson want to eat Lennox Lewis children, get disqualified from his heavyweight championship fight with Evander Holyfield because he bit his ear off, go to jail in Indiana for a few years because of rape, plus have a tattoo on his face, the entire civilized world would like to see him get pummeled by Lesnar.
For what little I know about MMA, when these guys go after your feet first, slam you to the ground, whatever punching they do shows they're incredible athletes. I give James "Lights Out" Toney credit for trying this sport. But to see Tyson get his rear end blasted quickly would be heavy duty entertainment. He wouldn't have time to bite any one's ear off, especially Lesnar, who is an animal in his own right.
During his prime, Tyson was known for quick knockouts and had a chance to be one of the greatest fighters of all-time until he self destructed in and outside the ring. I was dumb enough to spend $50 on the pay per view event during the ear biting incident. I figured since I saw Tyson and Holyfield's first fight in Las Vegas lasted deep into the bout it was worth the investment for the sequel.
But I'd host a party at my place in Deerfield Beach, Florida if Tyson and Lesnar ever faced each other. Who would be the promoter, Don King or Dana White? We'll never know!
Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment