THIS COLUMN WAS WRITTEN IN FRONT OF A LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE
QUICK QUIZ
Who holds the National Hockey League record for most goals in a season by a rookie?
QUOTABLE QUOTES
“The top three worst things I’ve seen in hockey? The invention of the trap. The invention of the morning skate. And the invention of the extremely ugly uniform.” – Brett Hull
“Me shooting 40% at the foul line is just God's way to say nobody's perfect.” – Shaquille O’Neal
"They give you a round bat, and they throw you a round ball, and then they tell you to hit it square." - Willie Stargell
IDLE THOUGHTS
Mean Stamping will again sponsor a summer baseball team in 2023 – its 58th year of baseball. The Stampers, coached by Gary Gerken, will play as a travel team. What an outstanding legacy coach Wendell Nehmer started.
Lauren Huebner, a two-time graduate of Saginaw Valley State University, has been named to the NCAA’s 2022 Today’s Top 10 list. The award recognizes former student-athletes for success in the classroom, competition, and community. Huebner is a Swan Valley High School graduate and a past Dr. Tom Slade Athlete of the Year award recipient of the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame. She is the first SVSU student-athlete to be named an NCAA Today's Top-10 Award winner. She has racked up numerous accomplishments at Saginaw Valley, including:
Is it me or does Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell look like he’s always freezing his butt off?
I recently watched a West Virginia college basketball game against Oklahoma State. During the contest Erik Stevenson of the Mountaineers was assessed a technical foul – his fourth foul of the game. Less than two minutes later Stevenson drove to the basketball and was called for a charge and would foul out (with 17 points). West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins, who never-ever minces words, said: “Erik gets incredibly stupid again and basically costs us the game. It can’t happen again. Just cannot happen again. We can’t have one guy changing the game the way [Stevenson] changed the game. I love the kid, I do. I love the kid and I wish him nothing but the best. But he hurts our team when he does that. We’ve got to stop the stupidness. I’ve had the conversation, I’ve had another conversation, I’m not going to have another one. I’m just going to say pack your stuff and head out.”
The NCAA introduced the idiotic transfer portal on October 15, 2018, providing athletes a path to explore their options. Players do not need to ask permission from their coaching staff in order to transfer. They merely need to request that compliance enter their name. Usually, it takes 24-48 hours for a player to appear following their request. Schools are free to contact a player without restriction once their name appears in the portal. While a player entering their name in the transfer portal means they intend to explore their options, it does not necessarily mean they will leave. A player is free to withdraw his name at any time. However, schools are under no obligation to keep a player on scholarship once they enter the portal. I believe they should enhance the rule by stripping a player of their scholarship once they enter the portal.
Much has been written and televised about the frightening sight of injured Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin lying motionless on the field. Broadcaster Joe Buck and analyst Troy Aikman did their best to let the viewers know – in real time – the shock and sadness of Hamlin’s injury. Sideline reporter Lisa Salters was nearly in tears. When they tossed it over to the studio, Suzy Kolber was visibly shaken but analysts Booger McFarland and Adam Schefter were serious and frank about the situation. After the game was suspended, ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt and Ryan Clark did an admirable and solid job of reporting. Tough circumstance and they were all professionals
Every professional and collegiate basketball team has a dedicated group of equipment managers whose main job is to ensure, at minimum, everyone has the right uniforms and shoes for the game. Last week Texas A&M visited Florida and realized before tipoff they had left their game jerseys at the team hotel. The result was one of the only true delay of game penalties in basketball history, as they quite literally could not start the game until they went and got the jerseys — although some threw out the idea of just playing shirts and skins like it was pickup ball. That meant Florida started the game with a 1-0 lead before the opening tip by hitting a technical free throw.
I have a friend from Bay City, Pat Neitzel, who is one of the most diehard Detroit Lions fans I know. On game days, he had (I stress the word had) a huge inflatable Detroit Lion player in his yard for years until someone stole it last year. Don’t know for sure but I’m blaming a Packers’ fan for the theft.
After watching HBO’s Hard Knocks (In Season), I came away extremely impressed with Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Kingsbury was just fired (the Cardinals were 4-13 on the season), but he always stood up for his players and had a great relationship with them.
My friend, Cheryl Hadsall, made a good observation while watching a recent Lions game. Why can’t these professional athletes simply say where they went to college when they are recorded for the player introductions? They try to be cute and mention the high school they attended instead of their college or university who provided them with an athletic scholarship.
Watching Sunday night’s Detroit Lions’ victory over the Green Bay Packers felt like a bonafide playoff game. The Lions will have four of the first 60 draft picks.
I, like you, miss a daily printed newspaper where they provided high school sports schedules. Now I have to hunt for them.
The Detroit Tigers have acquired Nick Maton, Matt Vierling, and Donny Sands from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for reliever Gregory Soto and infielder Kody Clemens. Start printing the playoff tickets, he said in jest.
Whatever happened to Mark Bavaro?
QUICK QUIZ ANSWER
C. Teemu Selanne, who scored 76 goals for the Winnipeg Jets in the 1992-92 season.
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Jan 09, 2023
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