The cleaning of the inbox continues as I offer notes from the sports world in this segment and soon will sift through the non-sports notes later in the week.
Former "dirtiest player in the game" Conrad Dobler
shares his battles with health issues from the game with 7220Sports.com, which is a site that covers Wyoming sports.
Wyoming was the alma mater of Dobler and the long article discusses Dobler's college and pro career, the tragic accident suffered by his recently deceased wife in 2001 and his current cognitive issues along with how it affects his family.
It's a really interesting read about how football can leave you impaired, yet still, be willing to go back and do it all over again.
Retrosimba.com
writes something that I had never heard before as they write that the then St.Louis Cardinals were twice offered Jim Brown for their running back of the time John David Crow.
Crow, who won the Heisman at Texas A&M in 1957, had rushed for over 1,000 yards in 1960, but still finished 200 yards behind Brown for the rushing title.
The supposed discussions were noted by various newspapers at the time as mentioned in the article and one of them was the good old Hagerstown Herald-Mail, who talked to Bears quarterback Billy Wade ( I have no idea how or why Wade would be chatting with the Herald-Mail) for his thoughts on the proposed trade.
Wade was quoted as saying the Cardinals made the right choice in turning the trade down and keeping Crow, which might have been why Billy Wade never ran an NFL front office.
The San Francisco Chronicle
writes of the story of Giants announcer Mike Krukow and his service dog Patriot.
I've written before of the Giants TV team of Krukow, Duane Kuiper, and Amy Gutierrez playing a key role in my Giants fandom starting because they are so good at what they do and I've written of Krukow's condition, inclusion-body myositis and his susceptibility to falling in the past, but I've never mentioned Patriot as Krukow's service dog.
The story is mainly about Krukow and why he needs the help that Patriot provides, but there is plenty about the service program, how Patriot was trained and his integration into the Krukow family.
As for Gutierrez, she recently did an
interview with "Sportsastoldbyagirl" and discusses her entrance into television, the ups and downs of being a female in a male-dominated business and her top memories covering the Giants.
The New York Times
writes of the pain and problems that catchers receive (no pun intended) from foul tips that are diverted and smack off the facemask.
When you consider how hard pitchers throw in today's game and then mix in the speed from a swinging bat, the Times equates the impact of those foul tips to taking a punch from a strong boxer.
An interesting point was comparing catchers to other sports players, who can return to the game if removed for an injury, while catchers cannot.
That's very true and the article mentioned that baseball had considered a rule that would allow a catcher to leave the game under those conditions and return later if the player would be judged to be fine after an evaluation.
ESPN
writes of the continuing decline in fighting in the NHL.
Between the changes in the style of the game and players that were once kept on the roster to be an enforcer are no longer able to be kept on a roster because the luxury of a one-dimensional player doesn't exist in making a roster in today's game, fighting penalties have and will likely continue to fall over the next few years.
Fighting at the junior hockey level has decreased even more due to rules that lead to suspensions for players that fight more than a certain amount and perhaps that reason alone will continue to see fighting lessen as players learn to play hockey without having to fight.
I miss fighting, always enjoyed it, but it's not a mandatory part of the game and I can live without it, as it dries up as time goes by.
We wrap up with The Athletic's
article on the 1994 Indians and how they lost a shot at a playoff run due to the strike that canceled the postseason and ended what would have been the Indians first playoff berth since 1959.
The Indians were almost sure to be the wild-card team and with only a one game deficit between the Indians and first place Chicago in the Central Division, the Indians could have easily won the division.
Still, the young players that led the 1994 Indians into contention, would be the same players that took Cleveland to the 1995 World Series and their development was the biggest part of that and the ensuing playoff contenders in the late 90s.
Lots of notes finished but plenty still to go and the next cleaning will be from the non-sports side!
