A funny thing happened last Saturday for the Fox baseball Game of the Week. A perfect game was pitched by Phillip Umber of the Chicago White Sox. In roughly 200,000 games played in the majors, 21 perfect games have been pitched.
What is even more rare is on Saturday for the first time in the history of Major League Baseball broadcasting, the final out in a perfect game was called on TV by an African American. Dave Simms, who is the play-by-play man for the Seattle Mariners, was on the call for Fox Sports that day.
Simms is no stranger to broadcasting with over 30 years calling the NFL, NCAA, Major League Baseball and countless other sports and activities, but to be the first African American to be part of history in the same week that we recognize Jackie Robinson’s anniversary of making his major league debut should not go unnoticed. Congratulations, Dave. Hopefully it will not take a another 200,000 games for the next person of color to call a game of that nature.
Draft, hope
The day is finally here. The day we circled on the calendar back in October when we knew that the Rams were going to be bad to the point that we were starting to look at players in college that the Rams should be interested in when it came to the 2012 draft.
There is no question that the Rams have a lot of needs. They started with a new coach and general manager in the off season and it’s a start, especially with the hiring of Jeff Fisher as head coach. As for General Manager Les Snead, the jury will begin to hear the evidence on his skill set in acquiring good players starting tonight with the NFL draft.
The Rams have been somewhat proactive in the off season, electing to part ways with many of the previous regime’s free agent signings that led to them being titled “previous.” St. Louis has also traded down in the draft order to secure more picks for this year’s draft and the two following this one. Good moves as this could take awhile.
If you put a position in the hat to choose from with respect to improving this team, there are few positions that would not be considered. With that being the case, one has to think you select the best player available with the sixth pick. The Rams have been in this spot this before and the fruit has not always been good to taste after a few years.
This is also the season where you will hear from every so called and self anointed draft expert. Many would not know a real football player if he were tackled by one. Funny how you never read or hear the “experts” tell you who is going to be drafted in the third and forth rounds as that’s where teams are built.
As for the talk shows, host and callers who profess that they watch film too, give it a rest for awhile.
So now it’s time for the Rams to make the call. Wide receiver appears to be the people’s choice for one reason … the Rams need a receiver for Sam Bradford to throw to. Yes, Justin Blackmon of Oklahoma State is considered to be the top prospect.
Is he a difference maker? That is what the Rams need. Not another undersized guy who comes from a tricked up offense where he is more one dimensional and will have to learn the position all over again. I find this to be the ultimate head scratcher for the Rams.
Worldly Stupid
The Ron Artest act has grown old. His latest antics last Sunday with the flagrant elbow to the head of James Harden of Oklahoma City was inexcusable. Talk about giving a league a bad name. Artest or Metta World Peace has worn out his welcome. Spare me with the “he is a nice guy” bit, he needs to go.
Playoff seasonal
Yes that was the St. Louis Blues who got out of the first round in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last weekend, and it was a long time coming as they had gone 10 years without winning a series. I am a hockey fan. The Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in team sports. I find that when the playoffs roll around, hockey fans from all zip codes in a community pay attention as the NHL is truly a seasonal sport … playoff season.
