2002 Darryl Kile is found dead in his hotel room before a Route 66 rivalry game. The Cardinals pitcher's tragic death still brings a tear to my eyes today.

1926 Grover Cleveland Alexander was picked off of waivers by the Cardinals from the Cubs. The pitcher was 39 at the time.

1930 Lou Gehrig smashes three homers in a game.

1946 Bill Veeck buys the Cleveland Indians.

1958 A game in Kansas City is delayed for 29 minutes because of a tornado. The A's beat the Red Sox in that game 2-1 on their home turf.

1959 Sandy Koufax whiffs 16 hitters on the Phillies.

1982 Pete Rose moves into 2nd place on the all-time list with another hit.

1983 The NHL adds a five minute overtime.

1984 Carl Pohlad is the new CEO of the Minnesota Twins.

1987 Tom Seaver retires.

1990 General Manager Bobby Cox is named the manager of the Atlanta Braves. We can safely say that his reign in Atlanta wasn't bad at all. Russ Nixon was the man who lost his job as manager.

1991 The Quebec Nordiques selected Eric Lindros with the first pick in the NHL Draft. Lindros also had a great career.

1993 Anthony Young went winless in 27 starts, but he actually pitched okay during that span.

1994 The Rockets beat the Knicks in 7 games to win the NBA Finals.

1997 Ernie Els won the Buick Classic.

Happy birthday to Carl Hubbell, Pete Maravich, Clyde Drexler, Kurt Warner, Champ Bailey, Brad Hawpe, and Ian Kinsler. That's a nice list right there.

Happy 33rd Birthday!

Vote

Comments (2)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Joe Soriano - Category: NFL, Champ Bailey, Kurt Warner, MLB, Red Sox, Indians, Twins, Athletics, Phillies, Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Cubs, Anthony Young, Bill Veeck, Bobby Cox, Carl Hubbell, Carl Pohlad, Darryl Kile, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Lou Gehrig, Pete Rose, Russ Nixon, Sandy Koufax, Tom Seaver, NBA, Knicks, Rockets, Clyde Drexler, Pete Maravich, Other, Sports History, Ernie Els, Defunct Quebec Nordiques, Eric Lindros

Email this Post to a Friend

6/22 Daily Rundown: A new proposal

June 22nd 2011 06:13

1. Owners giving a new proposal to players

The players will get 48 percent of the revenue, and it will never go below 46.5 percent. If the salary cap for a year is at 125 million or something like that, a team's payroll must be around that amount. That could be difficult for teams in smaller markets, but it forces owners to actually spend. There is a rookie wage scale in this proposed deal, but it isn't finalized yet. A player must have four years under his belt in order to become a UFA, and tags (such as the franchise tag) are going to be discussed in the next round of player-owner negotiations. Retired NFL players will also get benefits such as improved health care, and I am glad that is in the proposed deal.

2. Dwane Casey hired

Finally. Former Mavericks assistant coach Dwane Casey was hired by the Toronto Raptors to be their new coach. Casey was probably the best assistant coach in the league, and he is finally rewarded with his first head coaching gig. I love this guy, but I don't know if even he can change the mess in Toronto. They have the worst roster in the league, and there isn't a star on this team.

Casey is going to give his offensive players freedom, and he is going to emphasize defense. This is, after all, a defensive-minded coach on a team with absolutely no defense. Have you seen Andrea Bargnani try to play D? He's going to try to bring something to this defense and work with his players to improve their defense.

3. Jose Reyes waiting

Jose Reyes told the Mets that he doesn't want to engage in negotiations during the regular season. He wants to keep playing for the Mets, but he doesn't want any distractions hindering his performance this year. He is easily the team's best player, and he has the highest WAR in the NL. The Mets shouldn't trade him, and they should make every effort to re-sign him in the offseason. This is their star.

4. Thanks Pat

Erik Spoelstra is one of my favorite coaches in the NBA, and he's one of the best coaches out there. He is the reason why Dwayne Wade kept on improving, and he is the reason why the Heat even made it this far. Remember that whole crying episode? Spoelstra had to be Sparky Anderson, and then some. He not only had to manage three superstars with egos of their own, but he also had to coach a team with no bench.

There was a lot of speculation in the beginning of the season that Pat Riley would take the reigns and boot out Spoelstra. I said that was the stupidest thing, and that I would start raging if that ever happened. Like, why would you even consider firing one of the best young coaches in the NBA? Riley also mentored Spoelstra, and I doubt he would oust him. Riley is also content with sticking around in the background.

Well, Pat Riley said that he won't coach again and that Spoelstra is doing a great job. Thanks Pat, that made my day.

“It doesn’t mean that I don’t have the fire,” Riley said. “But we have a great young coach here and I want to support him and hope that he can grow like I did. This is just his third year.”

5. Tony Parker for lottery pick?

The San Antonio Spurs have talked to several teams with lottery picks about moving Tony Parker for one of those choices. I wouldn't do this if I were the Spurs because this is such a weak draft. I would never trade a a very good player for a pick that will probably yield a decent borderline starter in the NBA. This seems a little out of character for the Spurs, and it would be a huge mistake if they were to trade Parker for the Raptors' fifth pick- or something like that.

A new proposal

Vote

Comments (1)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Joe Soriano - Category: NFL, NFL CBA, MLB, Mets, Jose Reyes, NBA, Raptors, Dwane Casey, Andrea Bargnani, Heat, Erik Spoelstra, Pat Riley, Spurs, Tony Parker

Email this Post to a Friend

6/17 Daily Rundown: Ricky Rubio Officially On Wolves

June 17th 2011 05:39

The Daily Rundown is a new segment I will do that covers the days biggest stories. I will also comment for a paragraph or so on the subject.

1. Vancouver Riots

100 people have been arrested, and 150 people were injured as a result of the disgraceful riots in Vancouver that stemmed from the Canucks' loss in Game 7. Canucks fans live by their team, and they have been waiting for a Stanley Cup final for so long. The Canucks have been great in the regular season for the past few years, yet they can never win a championship. They finally made it to the Finals, but they lost in a poorly played Game 7.

There's no excuse for rioting over a game. You can be angry, you can cry, but you can't start destroying property just because your team lost. This whole fiasco is a disgrace to the city of Vancouver, to the fans of the Vancouver Canucks, hockey fans in general, and it also hurts the reputation of sports fans.

2. Braves Beat Mets

The title doesn't sound to interesting, but the Braves beat the Mets in the tenth inning thanks to a walkoff balk. Yeah, D.J. Carrasco balked- it was very easy to call- with Jason Heyward at the plate. Diory Hernandez crossed home plate, and the Braves won 9-8. Jordan Schafer went 5-6 with three runs scored, and Chipper went 3-4 with 5 RBIs and a homer. Jose Reyes went 3-6 with a stolen base and triple.

3. Ricky Rubio Officially With T'Wolves

Rubio is David Kahn's last hope of vindication from the last couple of drafts. He's finally leaving Barcelona to play for the NBA team that drafted him. He was on the basketball radar after having be electrifying in the Olympics. He's a smart player who knows the game, but his offense has been declining each year in Spain. One overlooked factor is that Rubio is a creative point guard, and Barcelona's coach does not let him use that creativity. However, Kurt Rambis and the Timberwolves will allow him to let his creativity flow.

4. Wild Hire Coach

The Minnesota Wild have hired Mike Yeo to be their new coach, and he is set to replace the previously fired Todd Richards. Yeo was one of the best AHL coaches, and he also did a nice job for the Pens as an assistant coach. I think he's a nice upgrade over Richards, but I still don't think the Wild are going to be in the playoffs.

5. Flacco As Good As Rivers?

KC Joyner is a very good sportswriter, but I am going to disagree with his post that Joe Flacco is just as good as Philip Rivers. Joyner makes most of his decisions using advanced statistics, and his main reason for saying this is that Flacco organized a great deep attack with mainly possession receivers.

Flacco is a very good quarterback, but Rivers is one of the top five best in the game. Flacco has a better arm than Rivers, but Rivers has way better accuracy and poise. I view Rivers as a top five quarterback and Flacco a top ten QB. I just think that Rivers' amazing accuracy puts him over Flacco.