Here we are. The Dog Days of summer are upon us. It is when everyone takes notice of the weather as if it changed from this time last year.
The Cardinals are playing more consistently as they now battle Cincinnati for first place in the National League Central. The Rams are not that far from training camp as they hope that this will be the year that the turnaround begins.
In other words, there’s not much shaking, right?
Not so fast. I have a few random thoughts that if you play along at home, you will at least say, “Ok, I get it.”
First off, this LeBron James thing is making more people look bad than LeBron. Let’s take Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan for a case study.
Each has intimated that they were not on board with how LeBron handled things when it came to how and why he made the move to Miami. Barkley went as far to question why a guy would have to go play elsewhere when he
is the reigning two-time MVP.
Well, Charles has not spent much time in Cleveland lately. We have a city that has not won anything since 1964, and you want LeBron to be the latest sacrificial lamb? There are a lot of ways to get to heaven, and thankfully staying in a no-win situation in Cleveland will not give an exclusive spot in heaven.
Barkley failed to mention that Cleveland had messed up the cap situation where they were not in a position to bring in legitimate help like Miami or Chicago. Cleveland was stuck in the mud and they could not do much.
The other thing that Charles must have forgotten was why did he continue to chase a championship? He didn’t get anyone to come to Philadelphia when he was there. Instead, he headed for Pheonix and Houston to play with others in order to have a chance to win.
While I would be the first to admit that the game and things have changed, I would like for Charles to do the same thing, along with examining why he even headed for the what he thought would be greener pastures.
As for Michael, he made the assertion that he would not have asked Magic and Larry to come play with him in Chicago. Why should they? They were winning before he was. At least Michael had a better supporting cast and coach than what LeBron had in Cleveland. LeBron did not have a Scottie Pippen with him like Michael did.
Michael also needs to get in the “way back” machine and take into account that the cap did not have as much of an impact on rosters as it does today. While I do not think either was hating on LeBron, they could at least taken a longer look at the landscape.
PGA blues
If Tiger Woods keeps falling short in the Majors, the PGA as we know it will fall out of favor with the TV crowd and will go back to the competition level of holding off Roller Derby as fan favorite. The ratings continue to tumble as Tiger tries to find his way.
When you toss in the fact that the foreign players are having more success than ever, it is not helping. I commend them on their English when being interviewed, but the problem is most American golf fans would have already turned off the TV.
By the way, what ever happened to the chosen one, Phil Mickelson?
Beal street
The St. Louis Eagles AAU Basketball program is at it again as they compete for the national championship. The Eagles are a talented group that is led by Mr. Everything Brad Beal.
My only question is while he is entering his senior year at Chaminade, what can Bradley Beal actually learn at this point from that environment? Wouldn’t a prep school be better at this point as he prepares for college? There are number of places that could do a better job of getting him ready that anything he could learn on Lindbergh other than picking up bad habits.
As for the Eagles, Rich Gray and his staff get it done the right way. They get the best players from around the area to work together on the common goal of winning. There are no shenanigans, no under the table foolishness, no politics. They just play and play they do. In most cases better than their high school environment.
Keep it up.
All aboard with Tony Dungy
I had a chance to meet Tony Dungy the other day. You remember him from his days in the NFL. He is retired and he is more active in trying to save the youth of America than anything else.
We have heard of his work with Michael Vick and others who have had trouble off the field, but Dungy has a bigger mission. He was here for Christian Family Day at the Ball Park, an event that was put on by the Cardinals. Dungy’s message was powerful and meaningful.
While he still incorporates his message through sports, he talks to coaches and teachers and certainly parents with respect to trying to reach our kids. And from the looks of how the paper reads, there is a lot of work that is needed.
Tony Dungy, for me, was the most pleasant experience I have had meeting someone this year. He is real, calm and sincere in every sense of the word. I am on board with anything Tony Dungy.
Now if we can get a few million more to sign up for the work that is ahead.
