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In the wake of Bill Walsh’s death, the news must go on. And today, a day that will be sorely remembered in the Bay Area, there is still more to talk about.
This is almost a tragedy, but not quite. Gore, the 49ers all-time single season leading rusher with 1,695 yards, will miss preseason but should be back for the start for the 49ers first game. It was initially reported to reporters in Santa Clara that he had bruised is hand in non-contact drills. Apparently the damage was much worse.
The team is saying they aren’t worrying though because of the nature of the injury. As somebody who has caught passes with broken fingers, I can assure 49er fans that this isn’t as bad as it could be. Gore can simply slap on a cast and play through as most players do. But he’ll miss out for the good part of the training and getting acquainted with his new coordinator. That’s what will hurt the most.
Veterans Maurice Hicks and Michael Robinson will get more reps now. Hicks practiced with the first team in drills Monday and Robinson split time with six-round pick Thomas Clayton.
Allen returns
Larry Allen showed up for training camp Monday in the middle of morning practice. Allen had been rumored to be considering retirement because he didn’t show up for OTA’s. He squashed that talk when he met with reporters before the afternoon practice.
Allen solidifies the offensive line which has increased its depth over the last two years. Because of his presence, I expect at least 1,400 yards for Gore.
It’s an accurate one-word adjective that’s bull’s eyed all over my back.
After the one of the greatest innovators of San Francisco 49ers history died today, I couldn’t help but think selfishly: ‘Why now?’
Bill Walsh died Monday July 30, 2007 while I was at the 49ers Santa Clara facilities for training camp. It was my first day ever covering the 49ers in training camp, which was also supposed to be an opportunity to get my feet wet with professional football.
Respectfully so, I took the back burner to my newspaper’s wire service as well as the AP, and I can’t help but feel bad that I felt bad about it.
I knew I was in over my head, but I wanted to get in on the action (more on this later). I also thought I had a pretty good story before I found out he died. I think that’s why I really feel bad. Not because I had a good story, but because I was more concerned with the story than the loss of life.
It’ll be a sad day when I truly get the two mixed up and I apologize for my feelings.
This is a first for me in two senses. 1) I’ve never posted a story I’ve written here. 2) I’ve never written about drag racing. The reason I’m doing this is because I’m surprised by the results. Anyways, on to the main show…
The NHRA’s best and brightest made their way to the wine country at the longest stretch of the season - a grueling six-week ride into the sport’s birth state - for the Fram Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway.
This weekend is the final leg of the NHRA’s western swing, which saw three records broken on the track during the past two weeks in Seattle and Denver.
Greg Anderson broke the record for elapsed time (6.612 seconds) and speed (208.07 mph) in Pro Stock, while Mike Ashley broke the Funny Car record for top speed at 326.79. It’s the sixth time Ashley has broken a record this year.
“I’d like to thank Robert Hight for smoking the tires,” Ashley said. “Every time he does something, I seem to do well.”
Hight probably felt the biggest disappointment. After finishing with the top Funny Car qualifying run in 4.821 at a top speed of 318.17, he dropped all the way to No. 9, getting blown away in his heat with Ashley.
But if anyone stole the spotlight of the night, it was Infineon Raceway, which continued to receive praise from the racers.
“It’s always nice (to come to Sonoma),” said Ron Capps, a former Bay Area resident, who has friends still in the area and considers Infineon his home track. “I used to play racquetball (in the Bay Area) and I’ve already had 20 to 30 friends that saw me play racquetball come up to me.”
Capps has already clinched a spot in the NHRA’s inaugural Countdown to the Championship, which begins the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis on Aug. 29. Add to the fact that the countdown has already changed the strategy for midseason races, Capps has come to rely upon other sports terminology to describe how he’s getting prepared for Day 2, let alone Day 3.
“It’s very much like any other sport,” Capps said. “You can’t roll into the playoffs with a couple of losses, so we’re still playing to win.”
If it weren’t for these guys, the dead of summer would be dead. Top it off with a cherry picking from the Tour de France’s recent doping scandal and there is a great scandal in our midst. However, this scandal has nothing to do with specific people, but the moral ineptitude of the sports in which fans cherish.
Bear with me.
Nobody likes Barry Bonds, at least not as a person. As long as Bonds keeps jackin’ homers out the park, he’ll be loved. But if his “day is coming,” as he proclaimed yesterday, I’ll be quick to point out that people believed gullible wasn’t in the dictionary, too.
The idea of lying and being held accountable for it is unfathomable for the modern athlete. Rafael Palmeiro understands this. Mark McGwire understands it. Why can’t Barry, Vick and Donaghy?
I believe the truth is that there is no trust among strangers. We don’t know Barry as much we don’t know Michael or Tim. And for us, that’s a problem because we see them every day. We cheer for our athletes, expecting them to play hard. We expect our referees to be unbiased because that’s their job. We believe in our team because they represent our city or our values. But as much as we love them we are merely spectators in the sport, while they live it. They owe us nothing and therefore take our blind, and sometimes wayward, trust for granted.
How does the atheist’s joke go? “You can be in love with God, but I assure you, the love affair is one-sided.”
The truth is, as much we expect them to have some sort of moral grounding, in which they are accountable to our feelings and the games they represent, that is totally absurd in respect to themselves and their values, however tarnished or degenerate they may be.
So while basketball and baseball go through tumultuous times, and football is marred with tumultuous athletes, we will continue to sit on the sidelines wondering what the hell is wrong with these people.
The NBA ref who has been accused of betting on games he officiated and others, has been getting a lot of reviews from the YouTube community. This particular video, demonstrates the actual work he was putting in, as recent as the Western Conference Finals.
In the latest news of a series of unfortunate events, Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest have been suspended by the NBA for seven games each.
The two were suspended for Jackson pleading guilty to criminal recklessness in Indiana after a club shooting and Artest pleading no contest to spousal abuse. Both are already pinned to do community service.
Just goes to show you, getting spanked by the law is not the only punishment you’ll see in the NBA.
I say the Warriors should give it to him. I mean, why not. The guy is making $3.1 million a year — somewhere in the lower tier of NBA coaches. (I know, $3.1 is lower tier!? Crazy talk, I say … crazy talk.) Nelson is trying to get his playoff bonuses (meaning if the Warriors reach the playoffs) guaranteed. That would put him at about $6 million. He is the second-winningest coach in the history of the NBA.
Not too bad for a guy who is 67 and a team that’s fan based is starving for playoff action. Last year only incited the enthusiasm surrounding the W’s. Why not guarantee that the good times will keep rolling by keeping the coach happy? Heck, if the franchise was any good without him, we would’ve been in the playoffs at least once over the last 12 seasons. And with structure and stability, the W’s can only get better.
When Venus Williams won her fourth Wimbledon title today, the highlight of the story in most newspapers and news organizations is (and will be) that she is revived. That, somehow, she has left the tennis world for the last two years and has finally returned to dominance. Adding to the fact, that she will be making equal money as men’s players — a first in Wimbledon history.
All the while, there is a story line that has failed to come to light in most quarters. I give props to ESPN’s Jemele Hill for bringing it up in her page 2 column.
Althea Gibson was the first black person to win a Wimbledon. She did so before there was Arthur Ashe and without the acclaim that he received — even though she filmed a movie and has an album (”Althea Gibson sings”).
To be precise, Gibson won her first Wimbledon 50 years ago. A date Hill argues, and rightfully so, that should be recognized by Wimbledon’s organizers. Tennis, the great equalizer in many respects, has celebrated the breaking of the color barrier and the gender barrier in the past. And now, when there is finally equal pay between men and women’s athletes, Venus, one of two recognizable black people in the sport, wins the title and yet there is no mention or peep of Gibson.
I am abhorred.
Wimbledon is a place that holds so much history. It’s a shame that some of the most important dates culturally are no longer recognized.
This isn’t even news. He also doesn’t want to participate in day games and only likes to play in the first few innings. In a perfect world, he would be a DH in the American League and wouldn’t be a consistent liability in left field.
But otherwise, he’s just old. Those aren’t crickets, those are his knees you’re hearing.
The 43-year-old lefty will be playing in his 14th All-Star game — 12th starting — next week. He’s played in his fair share of Home Run derby’s, winning in 1996 at Philadelphia.
Barry Bonds. Michael Vick. Tim Donaghy.
When Venus Williams won her fourth Wimbledon title today, the highlight of the story in most newspapers and news organizations is (and will be) that she is revived. That, somehow, she has left the tennis world for the last two years and has finally returned to dominance. Adding to the fact, that she will be making equal money as men’s players — a first in Wimbledon history.
