Write On Sports

At long last, it’s here. It is time for the NFL season to begin. The Indianapolis Colts will kick off the defense of their Super Bowl Championship in the season’s first game, against the New Orleans Saints.

A season’s preview can be viewed below:

M. Dean
Write On Sports/Muhammad Ali Life

In light of the Michael Vick case, I just thought this was one FUNNY way that someone chose to deal with Vick’s mistreatment of dogs.

What else can one say except “Funny and Appropriate”?

M. Dean
Write On Sports/Muhammad Ali Life

It hasn’t taken too long. After a well-celebrated U.S. debut for David Beckham on July 21st, it seems to have all come quickly crashing to an end (at least for this season).

Slightly more than a month after beginning with the L.A. Galaxy of American Soccer, David Beckham has suffered what appears to be a season-ending knee injury.

M. Dean
Write On Sports/Muhammad Ali Life

With all the previous talk about wanting to be traded, then changing his mind, Kobe Bryant has Lakers’ fans wondering what he is going to do. Having missed the golden opportunity to get Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves, has the Lakers’ organization done enough to satisfy Kobe Bryant’s desire to make the team better?

We’ll just have to wait and see. . .

M. Dean
Muhammad Ali Life

The fan from New York who caught Barry Bonds’ 756th homerun ball is planning to auction it online, which could net him somewhere in the area of $500,000. Despite IRS standing there with their dirty hands out, 21-year-old Matt Murphy should end up being a very rich man!

In a Minor League baseball game, ex-Major Leaguer Jose Offerman hit a homerun for the Long Island Ducks on the first pitch of the game. When he came up to bat in the second inning, the opposing pitcher plunked him on the calf with a pitch, and Offerman went nuts. I say that because sometimes when players are hit by a pitch, especially when they think it’s intentional (and it probably was), they get angry, they threaten the pitcher, and sometimes they even charge the mound and a fist fight erupts. But I say Offerman went “nuts” because he charged the mound WITH HIS BAT and started swinging.

Now that is a whole different matter from charging the mound to fight. There’s a very thin line between charging the mound to FIGHT with a bat in your hand and charging the mound to KILL. What Jose Offerman did was not “wrong”…. it was INSANE.

As a result, the pitcher sustained a broken finger, and the opposing catcher, who tried to protect his pitcher, wound up getting hit in the head and had a concussion which will probably keep him from playing for the rest of the season.

Appropriately, Jose Offerman was not only thrown out of the game, but was ARRESTED. He is to be charged with second-degree assault, and the league has suspended him indefinitely.

Now I understand that athletes get angry sometimes in games, but his reaction could easily have been deadly. As it was, he clocked a player on the head with the bat, so it is most fortunate that there weren’t worse injuries, or even a fatality.

Jose Offerman is 38 years old, played 15 seasons in the majors with the LA Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets.

Even when athletes get angry, they must learn to control the anger that they feel, especially when you have such a lethal weapon as a baseball bat in your hands. I feel sorry for Offerman, but whatever happens to his career from here is his own fault.

What’s your opinion? We’d like to know.

M. Dean
Muhammad Ali Life

He was the shortstop for the New York Yankees for 13 years, won the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 1950, played in 9 World Series in which the Yankees won 7, played in 5 All-Star Games, and was a member of Baseball’s Hall of Fame. But for those who lived in New York and watched Yankee baseball on WPIX Channel 11, Phil Rizzuto will always be best known as the voice of the New York Yankees, an announcer for nearly 40 years.Phil Rizzuto died today at the age of 89. He had been the oldest living member of Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Rizzuto had the chance to play with the likes of Yankee greats and fellow Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra. And with his induction into the Hall of Fame in 1994, he also will forever be considered one of the Yankee greats.

As an announcer, his trademark phrase was, “Holy Cow!” which he shouted after a great play or a Yankee homerun of significance, such as Roger Maris’ 61st homerun in 1961. As a player, he was known as “The Scooter” for his quickness, and he was an excellent bunter, making him a vital leadoff threat. He played his entire career with the team he loved, The New York Yankees.

In an ironic twist of fate, the Yankees’ crosstown rivals in New York were the Brooklyn Dodgers. They also had a great player named Pee Wee Reese, who played shortstop as did Phil Rizzuto. So they were defensive rivals for two rival New York teams. In 1999, Pee Wee Reese died on August 14th, exactly 8 years prior to the day of Phil Rizzuto’s passing.

We, at Write On Sports, send our condolences to the wife and family of a great Yankee baseball legend, No. 10, Phil Rizzuto.

M. Dean

The quest for the new homerun record is now over. Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants holds the record for the most homeruns in Major League history at 756. He hit the homerun in front of a friendly home crowd in San Francisco on Tuesday night, August 7th. He has now surpassed Hank Aaron, who held the record for the last 33 years. Everyone should be celebrating.

But they are not. Not everyone. And we all know why and don’t want to belabor the point here. But it was, indeed, a monumental feat and Barry Bonds does deserve congratulations. I’m sure that many players could begin using steroids openly on national TV, with rub-by-rub commentary, and still not hit 756 homeruns in a career nor 73 homeruns in one year. It’s not that easy to hit major league pitchers throwing 90 mph fastballs at you with various spins on the ball. You have to be good — very good — to hit homeruns like Barry Bonds. And people forget that before all the talk about steroids, and before he blew up in size, Bonds was considered the best player in baseball for many years. Let us not forget the talent that the man has. And he’s still hitting considerably well.

He was, and still is, a great baseball player. He did something foolish, whether knowingly or unknowingly (as he claims). You don’t just rub cream on your body without having any idea what it is. I don’t necessarily buy it. But I’ve played the game of baseball. I still use a batting cage occassionally. It’s not easy. So while I don’t like the possible steroid use and all the controversy surrounding it, in the final analysis I must tip my hat to Barry Bonds because hitting homeruns off of major league pitchers is a very, very difficult thing to do. And he’s done it at least 756 times. So, like it or not…….Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants is the new homerun king of Major League Baseball. He now wears the crown.

Hank Aaron sent a pre-recorded message to Bonds which played on the video board at the San Francisco stadium after the homer. I think it was a very gracious act of a great player who, in my opinion, may have been the 2nd greatest player in baseball history. I still say that Willie Mays was the best ever. Look at Aaron’s stats, and it’s hard to argue the point. And the good thing is that Aaron’s record of 755 came without any controversy. So hat’s off to Hank Aaron, also, for acknowledging Bonds’ feat and congratulating him.

Maybe Bonds can relax now and play out the rest of his career as the new king of the homerun.

What’s your take on Barry Bonds?
Give us your opinion. We’d like to know.

M. Dean
Muhammad Ali Life

When you speak or write about the great coaches in NFL history, you will always have to include the former coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Bill Walsh, who died today at the age of 75. Walsh guided the San Francisco 49ers to 3 Super Bowl championships while many coaches have never been lucky enough to have even made it to the Super Bowl. During his tenure with the 49ers, Walsh was considered by many as a ‘genius’ in football circles. His success with the likes of quarterback Joe Montana will be a long-standing legacy in football history.

We, at Write On Sports, are saddened by the loss of Bill Walsh, one of the great coaches in professional sports history.

M. Dean
Muhammad Ali Life

Author: M. Dean
Write On Sports

The time has come for me to jump on the Barry Bonds News bandwagon. As of this writing (July 27, 2007) Barry Bonds has 753 homeruns, just two shy of the all-time homerun record of 755 held by Hank Aaron. This is a great accomplishment for Barry Bonds, and a great accomplishment for any athlete to break the all-time record in a sport.

I like Barry Bonds. I really do. I think that what he has achieved and, even more, is about to achieve, is a mark of greatness. However, I just can’t bring myself to blow up any balloons. Even though I have such a tremendous regard for Hank Aaron, that’s not the reason why Bonds’ numbers bother me to some degree. It is simply the allegations of steroid use, which seem to be fairly accurate, that bothers me. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, like a tall glass of castor oil. It might be good for you, but it still leaves a bad taste.

The breaking of Hank Aaron’s homerun record is good for baseball, with all the attention that Bonds and the Giants and the sport of baseball will get in the coming days of Barry Bonds watching. Every time Bonds comes to bat, a section of the sports world will focus in, and this is good for baseball. The celebrations and the accolades that will be showered on him when he ties and then breaks the record, with homerun number 756, will be seen over and over worldwide, and this is good for Bonds and baseball. But I feel it will also be tainted. And so, even though it is too late to change what was done, and whatever was used was used, it is not too late to at least learn from it.

I hope that all athletes will take a look at how this great accomplishment will have some tarnish on it, reducing its shine, and see that it is better to use your God-given talents to strive for greatness than to use steroid-given muscle to cheat yourself out of the real glory. Let us learn from this. Yes, Bonds probably used it and, maybe with its help, will break the homerun record of the great Hank Aaron. One can use it and end up like Bonds. But one can also use it and end up like Lyle Alzado, or even worse, Chris Benoit. Like I said, let us learn from all of this and let us wisen up.

Give us your comments on Barry Bonds. How do you feel about his breaking the homerun record?

What’s your opinion? We’d like to know.

M. Dean
Muhammad Ali Life