When a big holiday is approaching, I usually like to write a holiday-themed column to help in the celebration ' although I doubt anyone is going to need help this weekend. So, without further ado, I present to you some of the tricks and treats of the last two months in sports:
Trick: The Arizona Cardinals. They bring in Edgerrin James and Matt Leinart. They have arguably the best receiving corps in the NFL in Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald and Bryant Johnson. The last time Dennis Green coached a team with this much offensive talent, his Minnesota Vikings scored over 500 points and won 15 games in 1998.
Yet this team has somehow managed to start this season 1-6, blowing leads in successive weeks before dropping one to the woeful Oakland Raiders on Sunday. The only treat coming out of the desert so far this season was Green's post-game tirade after the Cards' collapse against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football. I can't believe I picked this team to win at least eight games, let alone go to the playoffs.
Treat: The Ohio fall sports teams. The football team is on a three-game winning streak and poised to possibly take first place in the Mid-American Conference East Division this Saturday at Kent State. The volleyball team is marching right through conference play once again, and the reasoning for its fall to No. 22 in the latest AVCA poll is debatable.
The field hockey team is in first place in the MAC following two wins this past weekend, and the soccer team is battling for a home game in the first round of this year's conference tournament. I'm sure not many would have expected the surge that the Bobcat sports teams have provided so far this year.
Trick: The new basketball used by the NBA. The league hyped it up as being better than the previous ball, but the players and I are just not buying it. Shaquille O'Neal watched it fly out of his hands as he went up for a shot not too long ago. Two-time defending MVP Steve Nash has complained about it as well. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has even gone so far as to hire physicists to test the new ball and prove it's worse than the old one.
Maybe it won't be so bad. If players struggle with the new ball, I can try out for the Cleveland Cavaliers and join Damon Jones to form the best-shooting one-two punch in the league.
Treat: The Detroit Tigers. This team lost over 100 games three years ago, and now is three wins away from a World Series title. They convincingly dispatched the Yankees and swept Billy Beane and his boys of Moneyball. Their pitching staff consists of young guns and the Gambler himself, Kenny Rogers (who has been dominant throughout this postseason, so drop Dirtgate already). Their catcher, Ivan Rodriguez, somehow finds a way to wind up on the unlikely postseason runs. He played a big role in helping the Florida Marlins win the World Series in 2003.
I'm not as big on baseball as I used to be, but I love a good underdog story when I see one.
All that's left to say is, Go Tigers.
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Jason Fazzone
Writer gets in the Halloween spirit by examining the Arizona Cardinals and David SternG
