I remember back on March 4rth of this year when I received a text message from one of my NFL sources telling me that Packers great Brett Favre was about to announce his retirement any minute, I turned to my buddy, property management empassario Steve" The Sports Junkie" Stern and told him that I'd bet him that Favre's retirement would last about as long as a Pauly Shore sitcom.
As Stern was busy calling his son at Western and then just about anyone else who was in his Blackberry directory who'd listen to this juicy insiders tidbit, I truly doubt that he would remember the wager I made with him that day. Now as I seem to remember it, several months and a brain concussion later, we shook on a million dollar wager about Favre's retirement. I suppose that I have be satisfied with the steeped tea from Tim Hortons that I know he'll so adeptly renegotiate from me, but I'm sure I should now be on easy street with this win. Now getting back to Favre, this guy is still one of the best QBs in the business, way too good to be a second stringer any where in the league. If anyone has their doubts just look at his stats from last season. Along with winning the NFC Offensive player of the year awards he started all 16 games and passed for over 4100 yards, leading his Packs to a 13-3 record, his best stats in over a decade. Could you imagine a renewed and rested Favre with a new challenge placed on his determined shoulders? If I were either with the Detroit Lions or the New York Jets today, I would be screaming at my bankers to open the vault and buy the player who could in the short term make either team instantly respectable. It'll be an interesting week to see how this storyline unfolds. I'll also let you know how Stern pays off the wager. Triple, Triple, please.
Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, the list can go on forever about the players who donned the Yankee pinstripes and called the great Stadium home since its opening in 1923. Located on the corner of River and 161st Street in the Bronx, this legendary venue holds a unique and unrivalled place in American sports history. From its opening day on April 18th 1923, which saw the great Ruth hit a three run homer in a 4-1 win over the Red Sox to the same teams first of an unparalleled 26 World Series championships at Yankee Stadium. Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali all defended their titles at the legendary "House that Ruth Built". At the end of this season sports will lose one of its dearest treasures, a monument to the dignity, excitement and beauty of all that is good in the world of sports.
I've been listening to the ramblings of several syndicated sports journalists recently, trying to decide what is the greatest sport's moment history. It seems that with Tiger Wood's victory on one good knee and the Federer-Nadal Wimbledon final have been at the top of the list for many of my short memoried colleagues. As impressive as Woods win was, was it any more courageous than Evander Holyfield's 12-round war while suffering heart failure through the second half of his second pugilistic battle with Riddick Bowe? Can anyone truly compare the excitement, drama and social relevance of the recent Wimbledon final to the first Frazier- Ali battle of March 8th, 1971 when the champ Frazier knocked down and outpointed the legendary Ali in an exciting 15-round decision? I know that I'm going to get a lot of letters and e-mails about this one, but as impressive as Tiger and Wimbledon were, neither comes even remotely close to matching the two above mentioned sparkling sport's moments of years gone by.
I know that we sport writers can be a lazy lot, but you have to go a long way to beat the non exploits of a certain Canadian sports scribe by the name of Hugh Watson. Back in the early 50s, Watson, who was reporting for the Vancouver Province invented a fictitious league that went by the name of the Howe Sound Basketball League. He then began to file results and scores from this non existent band of franchises which the paper began to report on. This ruse may have continued for who knows how long but the Canadian Amateur Basketball Association came a calling, looking for some of the league's top scorers to join the Canadian team in international tournaments. It was then that the world discovered that there was no such league and more importantly no stars to lead our Canadian team. So how many of you have heard of the Zawadzki Bocce Ball Association? No! Really, they are really huge on the prairies! No! Can't blame a guy for giving it a shot.
Ran into an old friend a few weeks back at the MMA and kickboxing show that my pals, the Twin Dragons promoted in Woodbridge. My beautiful pal Melissa Di Mambro is one of the brightest, talented young ladies I've come across in a long time and I'm proud of the changes and direction that she's making in her personal and professional life. Coupled with her determination to succeed, this is a lady who has success written all over her. She filled me in on the literary project she's starting to research and it's got the earmarks of a best seller all over it. This is a lady that we are all going to hear great things about.
Until next time
