Thursday, May 21, 2020

Battlin' Bob's Day

The Friends and Family series is back with more as there still isn't news from the sports world to be excited about.

Today's Battlin' Bob's time to take a swing at the plate with a few questions.
I caught Bob on short notice, so the Battler has only three questions, but they are good ones, so let's get started!

Battlin' Bob: Do you think that sports will come back strong after the Covid-19 crisis is over?

TRS: Yes and No.
Right away, television ratings will zoom through the roof because fans are hungry to watch live sports.
The UFC has performed very well in these times and boxing will be resuming a bit in June, so if the team sports can return with a tournament for the NBA or NHL for their playoffs and if football can resume on time, I think things will be strong.
However, live attendance is going to drop with or without permissions and that is going to be the way it is for quite a while.
The team sports need to find a way to stay in the eye of the fan (which is why I think the NBA will do whatever it takes to get some kind of resolution to finish their season) and cannot take a large amount of time off.
The key will be in the fall- will the NFL and college football start in the fall and can they stay on the field?
That answers a lot of questions.

Battlin' Bob: Do I think Barry Bonds deserves to be in the Hall of Fame?

TRS: Yes, I do.
My bottom line on these things arrives after asking this question- Would this player earn my Hall of Fame vote before any accusations?
In the case of Barry Bonds, his power numbers may not have been elite (How's that for irony?), but they were above average, and the rest of his game was part of the package that made him the best all-around player of his time.
Barry Bonds would get my vote with the asterisk that the Hall needs to notate about the suspicions of wrongdoing.

Battlin' Bob: What is your favorite piece of sports memorabilia?

TRS: This covers a LOT of ground!
My favorite single baseball card probably is the 1965 Topps Sandy Koufax or the 1962 Roberto Clemente.
My favorite completed set is the 1971 Topps set and while with all my autographed cards, I'm not sure I can pick one card because I'm sure I'd forget an obvious choice, my favorite set that I've worked on is the 2018 Bowman Top 100.
My favorite autographed item that I got myself (or was there for) would likely be my Bernie Kosar signed helmet, my Marco Antonio Barrera signed 16 x 20 or the 8 x 10 from the Barrera-Erik Morales fight that Fred Landucci was able to have both fighters sign for me.
My favorite program is likely my 1970 Ohio State-Michigan program or the 1984 USFL Western Conference final program between Los Angeles and Arizona.
My favorite media guides are the ABA media guide from their last season in the league, the 1979 Indians, and my three favorite teams from the USFL, but my favorite item that wouldn't fit in any of those departments would be my game-used World Football League football.
I'm sure there are plenty of things that I've forgotten about that would have been contenders to be
mentioned.

Thanks to Battlin' Bob for the questions and believe it or not- I still have others to work on for this series!.
I've enjoyed it thus far and the series has done exactly what I had hoped that it would do during the no-sports period!





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