I have been on vacation for the past three weeks and I want to thank John Leone, Randy Kane, Jim Best, and Scott Barr for so ably taking over my blog space in my absence. During my time away, I was on a cruise ship and, unless I went out of my way to research events, I was completely away from American sports during that whole time. The only sport readily accessible to me was European soccer and I am certainly not enamored with that. And, the purpose of the vacation, according to my wife, was to get away from sports for awhile. I did manage to sneak back to my room to see the completion of Jordan Spieth’s victory at The Masters right before we sailed. From that point on – no baseball, no hockey, no NBA, no NFL draft talk, no nothing!
Imagine my dismay and delight upon my return when Saturday, May 2, rolled around. It was time to catch up. However, after perusing the TV guide on the sports page, I was shocked to find that there were 55 sporting events listed from 10 AM through 10 PM. Plus, at around midnight, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao would be throwing their first punches in the self-proclaimed “fight of the century”. Obviously, I needed to prioritize.
I quickly eliminated the three soccer matches, 11 college lacrosse games, two pro tennis matches, four auto racing events, one arena football game, four college softball games, five college baseball games, and IIHF Hockey (what is that, anyway?). And the college rugby Varsity Cup Championship between BYU and Cal did not stand a chance of capturing my eyeballs.
I was still left with a full day – the NFL Draft (Lafayette’s Ross Scheurman and Freedom’s Mike Coccia were still on the board), NHL hockey which is fun to watch no matter what teams are playing, MLB – the Yankees were playing the Red Sox and the Phillies were at the Marlins, PGA golf – the Cadillac Match Play event, the Kentucky Derby (yes, THE Kentucky Derby), game seven of the NBA playoffs between the Spurs and the Clippers, and the prefight banter on ESPN.
Some of the programs were uneventful – Ross and Mike were not drafted; the Phillies lost again.
But some, like the Derby – American Pharoah winning down the stretch; the NBA game seven won at the buzzer by an amazing shot from Chris Paul; the golf featuring Rory McElroy and Paul Casey playing into the dark in San Francisco and still tied when play was halted after their 21st hole (I now had to catch the 9:45 tee-off time the next morning for the completion of that match).
It sounds like I made a good decision not to buy the fight. Pacquiao’s shoulder was injured so reports say it was not as exciting as it could have been. Plus, it did not start until after midnight and, by then, I realized that I was out of “sports viewing” shape. Going from no sports for three weeks to a gluttony of viewing right after my return was a challenge. Even the recliner was beginning to feel like a bed of hot coals. Suffice it to say that the 14+ hours of watching sport after sport left me completely drained.
I NEED ANOTHER VACATION!
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
- It appears the Phillies are as bad as everyone predicted. As I write this, they are already eight games under .500 and have the third worst winning percentage in the major leagues. At least the Mets are in a slump after their 11-game winning streak, losing seven games in their last 10. But, do not get your hopes up about the Phils – they appear to be hopeless!
- So the Eagles took only one offensive player in the NFL draft and five defensive players. Wide receiver Nelson Agholor of USC seems to have been the best available at the time and fills a need at that position. He will shore up both the wide receiver corps and can return punts and kickoffs. And the Eagles certainly need defensive help if they want to win championships.
- All in all, the NFL draft had very few surprises and no wily moves by anyone. The pre-draft analysis sort of spoils the actual picks when that happens.
- It was nice to see locals Kevin White of Emmaus (Bears), Mike Coccia of Freedom (Eagles), and Ross Scheurman of Lafayette (Steelers) picked up in the draft and free agency. I love watching players in the pros who were on RCNTV.
- The inaugural Eastern Pennsylvania Baseball semifinals and championship will be on May 13 and 14 on RCNTV. Time to get back to work!
