Swampland.com

Swampland Sports Six-Pack for the week ending 8/12/07

Your weekly filter for the top sports stories around the South


1. Well the inevitable happened last week when Barry Bonds finally hit Home Run 756. It turns out the Orlando Sentinel’s Mike Bianchi, just like Hank Aaron and many others in our region, showed his disinterest for Bonds’ accomplishment by heading to bed instead of viewing the feat. While Bonds may have the most round-trippers in history, it seems that a majority of fans still consider Hank Aaron the Home Run King. The perception of Bonds (combination of cheating and being a miserable person) has permanently attached an asterisk by his records in the minds of most fans. Additionally, while I will acknowledge the difference in time zones, it’s still amazing how much the television ratings for Aaron’s 715 dwarf those of Bonds’ record home run.


2. The opposite of the Barry Bonds story would be that of Rick Ankiel. It’s very rare in sports when you get everyone cheering for the same thing, but that seems to be the case with the comeback of the former pitching phenom who is now a Cardinals outfielder. The Port St. Lucie native made it back to the Major Leagues last week –seven seasons after his famous Postseason meltdown when he threw 5 wild pitches in one inning. Ankiel’s story has been well chronicled, and it definitely hits home for the many Cardinal Nation members in our Swampland footprint. Ankiel’s perseverance and hard work will make him an inspiration for fans for years to come.


3. Everyone I talk to around the South is SO ready for college football to kickoff. It seems we’re a little less patient each year for that annual rite of passage to begin. Consequently, we tend to overreact (positively or negatively) to the first scrimmage of the year, which occurred at many schools last Saturday. While it sounds like SEC favorites LSU and Florida are ready to go, the common theme of the teams trying to catch them (Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia) seems to be the search for consistency. The high-paid coaches of those squads definitely feel the pressure each season that they don’t win a title or play in a BCS bowl. While the payoff of winning at those institutions is huge, the pressure of meeting (and exceeding) expectations is probably even bigger. Don’t worry fans; the craziness will begin soon as “toe will meet leather” in less than three weeks.


4. It should be an interesting season for football fans in South Florida. While the Dolphins still struggle to find an offensive identity, it looks like the Hurricanes may be ready for a resurgence under native son Randy Shannon. The new head coach and Miami native is already making the ‘Canes a "local attraction" again. For so many years under coaches like Jimmy Johnson and Butch Davis, “the U” was a team with an identity that the region loved. While Shannon is trying to instill more discipline in his squad, there is no reason why his teams cannot have that famous ‘Canes swagger. Shannon played and coached in that environment, and he plans on making Coral Gables the only destination for the wealth of talented recruits in South Florida.


5. We’ve always contended here at Swampland that the benefits of local ownership, when it comes to Pro teams in our area, cannot be overstated. The ability to market and actually make a connection in the community can be the difference in a franchise being successful. An interesting story comes to us from Oklahoma City, where the new owners of the Sonics are trying to move the NBA team to Oklahoma. An amazing quote within the piece has the ownership group saying in regards to having a team in their city: “..we think it's great for the community and if we could break even, we'd be thrilled." While you may question the literal nature of that statement, the commitment that this group seems to have for Oklahoma could make an NBA team work in OKC. In other franchise developments around our region, the likelihood that the Predators will move from Nashville was diminished greatly with the recent news that a local group will purchase the team. Also, the tireless community work of one Orlando front office member helped secure a new arena for the Magic.


6. Vince Young was suspended for the Titans first preseason game Saturday when he violated team curfew rules. Instead of blaming everyone else in the world for his suspension, Young admitted to his mistake and accepted responsibility for a bad decision. This is one of the main reasons that Young is so revered by teammates and fans. After taking a moron for their first pick in 2005 (will the Pacman saga ever go away?), Tennessee changed the perception of the entire franchise by taking a leader like Young in 2006.

Patrick Snow

related tags

Read More...

Comments

Please login or you can to leave a comment.

If you aren't registered, Register Now to start leaving comments.