Before beginning, the NFL lost one of the "good guys" this past weekend when former running back Craig "Ironhead" Heyward died after a long battle with a benign brain tumor....Heyward played for the Pitt Panthers before moving onto the NFL where he played for the Saints, Falcons, Bears, Rams and Colts.....Ironhead was a hard-nosed runner on the field but a gentle bear off it.....
Credit to The Plain Dealer’s Paul Hoynes for his blurb in Sunday’s Plain Dealer about the Cleveland fans booing Jim Thome when he appeared last month for the first time at Jacobs Field since leaving Cleveland.....the "classy" Cleveland fans gave Thome a resounding negative reception with a chorus of boos.....this is the same man who won many many games for the Indians and was active in the Cleveland community.....
In contrast, this past week, Frank Thomas returned to Comiskey Park for the first time since leaving the White Sox during the off-season.....the Chicago fans gave Thomas a standing ovation and the organization paid tribute to him with a video highlight of his days in Chi-town....
Like Hoynes said, the Cleveland fans should have acknowledged Thome is a positive way.....it was not his fault he left Cleveland....the person who should have been booed was owner Larry Doland for offering Thome a contract worth $40 million while the Phillies offered him a contract worth $70 million......after all that Thome did for Cleveland, that was a slap in his face.....
Overall, I shouldn’t expect anything less from the "world's greatest fans" on Ohio's northshore.....
I’m reading Leigh Montville’s biography of Babe Ruth.....Montville wrote that Ruth did everything in excess – from hitting the baseball, to eating, to having sex.....he wrote that a Red Sox teammate of Ruth’s walked in on the Babe with a prostitute....the teammate said that Ruth was lying on the floor smoking a cigar and eating peanuts while the woman was on top of him.....
Babe Ruth was a freak of nature and 20 years ahead of his time....
By the way, whatever happened to these former Milwaukee Brewers: Stormin’ Gormon Thomas and Big Ben Oglivie??....both were part of Harvey’s Wallbangers during the 1982 season....
Also reading a book about the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates....that team was the first major league ball club that had an equal mix of white, African-American, and Hispanic players.....one of the most underrated managers of all-time is the Pirates’ Danny Murtaugh (right) who managed the Pirates to two World Series titles.....the author wrote that Murtaugh had a knack of relating to all the players no matter what race....
If anyone cares, the Michigan softball and baseball teams won the Big Ten conference title this year.....maybe the football team needs to learn something from the diamondheads....
Is it just me, or are Eric Wedge’s days numbered in Cleveland?.....remember, this Indians team was supposed to win the division this year and battle for the World Series.....
I see Sports Illustrated’s Peter King released his Super Bowl predictions....he has Dallas beating New England in the big game....
I’m going to try my hardest to pay attention to the World Cup this year....I think I’m going to drop some money on a couple of teams to win it this year.....my early favorite was England, but I just read they may be without their second best player.....so right now I am leaning toward Italy and probably Brazil....
Is Pele still aound?.....
I read that rapper/actor Ice Cube is ticked at Oprah because she hardly ever has rappers on her show.....Cube needs to wake up and figure out once rappers stop mutherf***ing everything and talking about every known male and female sexual organ, maybe she will have some on as guests....
It’s Memorial Day weekend and I have taken a few days of vacation....so I might as well knock out a few columns.....
The French Open tennis championship opens on Sunday on the red clay courts of Roland Garros....don’t look for any American (male or female) to win....
On the men’s side, Rafael Nadal is the hottest player on clay right now, but I will still take the best overall player in Roger Federer.....Federer is determined to win the French being that it is the only major title he has now won....
On the women’s side I am going with a wildcard in Martina Hingis.....the Swiss Miss is back and playing solid tennis....about five years ago, Hingis could not fend off the Williams sisters onslaught.....but things have changed....Venus has lost a step but at least she is ranked 11th in the world.....her sister, Serena, has dropped to 108th and will not play the French because of injuries....
Serena’s best days are behind her because of not only injuries, but also the lack of desire on her part.....despite this, I do think Serena has one more major championship left in her.....but who knows when that will happen....
It’s great to see the Edmonton Oilers only one game from making the Stanley Cup finals....it would be nice to see a Canadian team with the Cup this year....
Will someone please explain the difference between Miracle Whip Dressing and Heilman’s Mayonnaise??.......to me they seem the same.....
I was wa
tching "Inside Edition" the other night and saw a report about another female high school teacher in trouble.....this time, the blond hottie was not sleeping with her students, but instead posing in swimsuit magazines.....I have one question to ask, where were all these blond hot teachers who wanted to have sex with their students at when I was in the 9th or 10th grade????.....
The headshot is the teacher who was "doing" one of her students.....the bikini babe is the teacher who posed for swimsuit magazines....
The best name in baseball right now – Boof Bonser.....
The Sporting News and Lindy’s annual football magazines are already on the shelves......both magazines have Notre Dame number 1 and Ohio State number 2....
Speaking of Ohio State.....I ran into my friend Jim Tressel last week when I was in C-bus.....yeh, that Jim Tressel.....I’ll have to say, coaching a big time program hasn’t changed him....he came up to me, shook my hand, and chatted for a few minutes....
Like I said to him, I wish him luck this year except with "The Team From Up North" comes to town.....
I’m sorry but the Cleveland Cavaliers blew it last week in their series against Detroit.....I’m reading how the Cavs fans are proud that their team made it this far and forced the defending Eastern Conference champs to a seventh game....WHAT!?!?....
The Cavs were up in the series 3-2, at home, and with the lead in the 4th quarter.....they had the Pistons on the ropes for goodness sakes.....but they choked.....
I hate when the media and fans keep saying "wait til next year".....the Cavs had the golden opportunity to dump Detroit and they couldn’t do it....and who knows what will happen next year.....the opportunity was there for the taking, but they couldn’t do it....
I’ll admit when I am wrong....and I have to say I have been wrong this year about Chi Chi Sabathia.....they big guy may finally be pitching to his potential.....he’s been dominating of late, but I still say he needs to stop ordering those double Whoppers....Finally, sometimes the criminal justice system works as was the case with Kennie Boy Lay and Jeff Slippery Skilling.....it was great to see these cheats and crooks get found guilty for the Enron disaster......
It has been a while but here we go...
Isn’t it great to see the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds playing great baseball....maybe one day soon the Pittsburgh Pirates will have a change of fortune....
Chill out Cavs fans....you are still down 2-1.....
One of the worst columnists has to be The Beacon Journal’s Terry Pluto....don’t get me wrong, Pluto is an excellent features writer.....but I am getting tired of his "homer" columns about all Cleveland teams....
Alex Rodriguez is 100% class....after making two errors the other night, The Boss ripped A-Rod for his lackluster play....instead of pouting and whining, A-Rod said that because of the money he makes and talent he has, he deserves the criticism.....then he went out and homer three straight days in a row...
Lebron James needed to chill out after the Washington series.....The Chosen One was all bent out of shape throughout the series because The Plain Dealer beat writer, Branson Wright, picked the Wizards to win the series....who cares if Wright picked Washington....it was only a reporter’s opinion....we need more journalists like Wright who have the "onions" to pick against the home team instead of Terry Pluto who thinks every Indians minor league player is the next coming of Jim Thome....
Speaking of Thome – nice class Cleveland fans....when Thome returned to Jacobs Field for the first time since leaving the Indians, the great and wonderful Cleveland fans greeted him to boos.....this is the same guy who won how many games for the Indians with his late inning homeruns and clutch hitting???.....
By the way, whatever happened to Sixto Lezcano???....
Look for Barbaro to be a heavy favorite in the Preakness.....I’m still trying to figure out why my two horses were not even in contention during the Kentucky Derby....
One of my favorite names of a horse is Thunder Gulch....
The more I watch Grady Sizemore, the more I know he is going to be a stud for years to come....
Outside of Cleveland, I think most of the nation wants to see a Pistons-Heat rematch for the Eastern Conference Finals.....
I still say the Dallas Mavericks will win it all.....
Dirk Nowitzki has been dominating the playoffs....the only difference between him and Lebron is that the Mavs have more talent as a team....
Finally, Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there....give your mother a hug because you never know when she may be gone....
