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It’s Cinco De Mayo, Not OchoCinco De Mayo blog
Published 9:43am Thursday, May 5, 2011Welcome back sports fans. Lets get to it.
The Minnesota Vikings drafted their quarterback of the future last Thursday in Florida State’s Christian Ponder. I didn’t like the pick. Not because it was Ponder, but because it was Ponder at 12. The Vikings put themselves in a pickle by not addressing the quarterback issue last year and team’s smelled desperation when the Vikings looked to trade down.
Otherwise, the Vikings I thought did a nice job on the draft. The Vikes got first round talent in the second round picking up Notre Dame tightend Kyle Rudolph, got a beast of a defensive tackle in Christian Ballard of Iowa and filling needs late at corner and offensive line.
Without a CBA in place the Vikings can not address their needs in free agency or trades, so the draft needed to be looked at through rose colored glasses.
Twins’ Francisco Liriano pitched a no-hitter Tuesday against the struggling White Sox. Who cares that Liriano walked six, a no-hitter is still a no-hitter. Their is a reason that no-hitters and perfect games are in two different categories.
The Twins really needed the boost from a player many said we should have traded to the Yankees when we had a chance. I like Frankie and believe that the Twins are paying fifth round starter price for a guy that on any given day can be an ace (or a minor league bullpen pitcher, but lets look at the positives).
Pittsburgh runningback Rashad Mendenhall tweeted some not to sensitive tweets on twitter this past week(tw…tw…too many TW-words in that sentence). I understand what Mendenhall was saying about not wishing death upon someone, but to tweet conspiracy theories about 9-11 and to not understand what many Americans had to go through with Al Queda attacks is just plain stupid.
Mendenhall was also a supporter of the Adrian Peterson rant about “slavery” in the NFL. This makes me think that professional sports figures should be given a test by their teams to see if they can handle having a twitter account. Football would be easy, if you don’t score 25 on the Wonderlic, no twitter.
I don’t think that this should be held to sports figures alone. I am all in favor of free speech (Yes, I do realize that this blog is a form of free speech and I hope that most of you realize my views and opinions are no way the opinions of my places of business ((also it is for fun)) but some people should just stay out of political and world news.
Another “why are they involved anyway” government issue, as the Justice Department is asking why college football does not have a playoff. Let me break it down for you… “$Money,Cash,Dinero,Benjamins$.” If that wasn’t the dumbest question I have ever heard I don’t know what is. We all know that college football needs a playoff system, but until they can figure out how to keep all their money, it won’t happen.
One of my favorite schools to watch in football, Boise State, was nabbed for minor violations in their football program. The funny thing about the story is that the NCAA cracked down on four of the schools teams including Women’s tennis. The tennis team actually played someone in a match, who hadn’t registered for classes yet.
I don’t think this is a black-eye on the college (at least not as bad as Ohio St.) but it does bring to question how many of the “good” schools are just as crafty as the “bad” schools.
Looks like the Mavericks are scaring the Lakers going up 2-0. I don’t know if this will matter as I do feel that the NBA is …ri..setu…rehear…not entirely kosher. I know that the fans want a Heat v. Lakers championship. LeBron v. Kobe. I know it sells tickets but that is why most people don’t care about the NBA for 364 days out of the year. Because you know if the game is Celtics and Lakers, its going seven.
Congratulations to Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin. Rose was deserving of the MVP this season (thank goodness that they didn’t give it to one of the Miami Millionaires) and was there any doubt that Griffin was going to be named rookie of the year. Anyone who can make the Clippers interesting to watch deserves at least that.
I will touch a bit on hockey today (I really don’t follow professional hockey). As the conference semifinals are nearly an end, a question that keeps popping up in my head, will Alexander Ovechkin ever win a Stanley Cup? The Washington Capitals, by far, have one of the most talented teams in the NHL, but they are turning into the New York Mets of hockey, a lot of talent but no rings.
ESPN did a question last year on whether Ovechkin or LeBron would get a title first. I think it is in favor of King James.
As stated in my blog title, Happy Cinco De Mayo. Shoutouts go to Fernando Valenzuela, Lee Trevino, Oscar De La Hoya, Anthony Munoz and Roberto Alomar.
Also, on a personal note, went to the Minnesota State bowling tournament in Duluth this past weekend. I did OK. No trophies or state championships to speak of but I wasn’t bad.
Fergus Falls softball leagues start next week. Coach and team captain Ryan Jacobson is getting us pumped up for runs in both Church and Commercial league. We had our first team practice Tuesday and I would say it went pretty well. Devin Barker still has his power stroke, Tyler Garding still has his mop-top hair and I can still get base hits. Looks to be a fun year.
Hope you have a great fishing opener and mothers’ day weekend. Talk to you folks later.
-Zach
