Len Bias

Every year around this time, I think back to the days of my youth when college basketball meant so much to me.

It's been 28 years since Len Bias overdosed on cocaine and began a ripple that would affect the NBA for years.
However, to me, it was almost yesterday.
I'm going to save the what if's and a look back at the playing career of Len Bias at Maryland for another day to tell the story of me on that day.

In every person's life, there are a few events that you remember where you were and what you were doing when they happened.
For my grandparents, generation-it was Pearl Harbor.
For my parents-the the assassination of President Kennedy and for me, there have been three.
The explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger on national television at a time when such things just didn't happen, of course, 9-11 and if you were on my age and lived in the Mid-Atlantic, it might have been the death of Len Bias.

Living here as a child, ACC basketball was at the top of the sports food chart and as a Maryland fan, I suffered from frequent wins and often heartbreaking losses.
When I was growing up, the boogeyman was Dean Smith and his North Carolina Tar Heels as the Duke Blue Devils were just beginning to move up the standings as I neared graduation, and usually, Duke was of little concern to the Terrapins, that rivalry would mature later.
Len Bias was a hero to me and other Terrapin fans.
Bias was the only Terrapin that not only equaled Tar Heels stars but surpassed them,
Maryland had plenty of great players, but only with Bias, did the Terps have the type of star that could single-handedly take down the Heels.
That's right-Len Bias was better than Michael Jordan in college.
I'm not saying it would have been that way in the NBA, but he was in college.

I had been to a friend's house to watch the NBA draft as my house had cable, but not USA network, which covered the draft then, to see Bias be passed over by the Cavaliers picking first (they took Brad Daugherty, which worked out, but I thought he was so soft from his UNC days) which ticked me off.
I was mowing the grass and came in for a break and as I took a drink, the news broke into my Aunt Edna's soap opera to announce the death of Len Bias.
They interrupted programs in this area. that's how big Len Bias was.

It was the beginning of the war on cocaine.
Before that, people either didn't pay attention to its dangers or put it out of sight out of mind.
After Len Bias, people began paying attention and drug use began to be focused on instead of being blissfully ignorant.

It's funny how things go as time moves on.
The 17-year old that loved basketball has become the 45-year old that is somewhat jaded towards it.
Physical changes and mental changes through the years, I wonder if a similar incident happened today how I would react.
Likely not with nearly as passion, I'm sure.
We deal with these things in the news far more often today and it is numbing, but 28 years ago, the world changed for me.
I never looked at athletes in the same way after Len Bias passed away.
I rooted for them, liked them, but it was changed for good.
For good or bad, they became people that did something well not someone to be put on a pedestal.
Change isn't always for the soft...

Maybe next year, I can write about Len Bias the player and how much fun he was to watch!

Akron's Canal Park or Downtown is the place to be?

Another stop on my weekend jaunt was knocking a ballpark off my list on Hardball Passport (You really should use this site!) in Akron's Canal Park, home of the Cleveland Indians AA affiliate.

I had been to Canal Park once before as Ryan and I stopped by years ago on a non-game day to buy a team set when we were in the area, but I have two lists for ballpark visits.
The most important is actual game action, but there is a second list that is less prestigious that covers ballparks that I have been inside, but did not see a game there.
That list covers Ernie Shore Field, the former home of the Winston-Salem Dash (then Warthogs), and a bunch of Appalachian league stadiums, so eventually, I would like to eliminate this list altogether.
The only way that Ernie Shore is getting off the list is for me to see a Wake Forest game (The Demon Deacons own the field now) and I doubt that will happen anytime soon.

I originally was going to go to Akron on Saturday for the Joe Walsh bobblehead (I hate the Eagles) and be able to add it to the pile that accumulates of giveaways that I sell at the end of the season, but that game was sold out, so since Rachel was finished with the festival for the day on Friday, I decided to make the 45 minute run to Akron.
Right off the bat-parking is a pain.
Akron is one of the cities using the downtown revitalization reason to put their park there and it did seem to do just that.
The streets were closed around the park for the fan experience and that makes things rough on the GPS as it obviously doesn't deal with closed streets when it calculates directions.
Finally after parking on the roof of a parking deck, which at least allowed us to look straight down into Canal Park for what I hope was a cool picture.

Upon entering the park at the ticket window, I was greeted by one of the nicest employees that I've met, who saw my pass and went to the extra mile to get the best seats possible with three together, which wasn't easy considering that this game was also an eventual sellout.
Very nicely done and super professional.

Inside, the place was a zoo.
I've been to three other Eastern League parks (Altoona, Harrisburg, and Reading) and none of them were like this-lots of people, frenzied activity all over, and simply put-a major league crowd in a minor league park.
In other words, a team's dream and my nightmare.
It wasn't a baseball guy's crowd, it was a party crowd with the park as the backdrop.
Now, I don't blame the Rubber Ducks, it is a business and the object of said business is to fill the seats and make as much money as possible.
The Ducks can check that box for sure.
It did seem more about the peripheral things than baseball, but that's the way it can be at times.
The hardcore baseball fans usually aren't enough to fill the seats on their own, so this is what it is.

For a team with a new name and everything else, you would never know they re-branded things because other than the retained (as one of ) mascot Orbit, they have scrubbed everything that remotely said "Aeros".
Cherie asked how long they had been the Rubber Ducks and the reply that this was the first year surprised her.
In the team shop, normally you see lots of leftover items on clearance and past team sets etc-in Akron-gone.
One would think that perhaps the team decided not even try to get a sliver of clearance sales and move the Aeros to the dust bin as quickly as possible by taking the loss on anything that retained the name.
I'm not sure if this is correct or not, but one urban legend is that the teams held two "Name the team" contests that Aeros won both times, and new owner Ken Babby just decided to change the name anyway, only relenting on the fans pleas to keep Orbit around...
After a team set purchase for Mike Oravec in return for Mike's constant help with 7up 10 and a sharp-looking road alternate hat that was my Father's Day gift from Cherie and Rachel (thanks ladies!), we moved to our seats.

The seats were boxes and nice ones, especially considering the crowd and that we walked up.
The sightlines were quite impressive and the video board was nice as well.
I intended on attempting to graph the visiting Portland SeaDogs, but an EBAY purchase of Henry Owens and his top 100 didn't arrive in time (I bought in enough advance times that it should have been and it was waiting for me in the mailbox when I returned of course), so I didn't lug the briefcase along to weigh me down.
From what I saw, I wouldn't have had a ton of success as there seemed to be a lot of graphers and the crowd would have made things tough.
I'll get another shot at Owens, who is a good signer, in Reading on an upcoming date as long as he isn't moved up by then.

I'd like to report that I stayed the entire game, but I didn't.
Between the long trip, the travel back in forth to Avon, traffic hassles on a Friday in Akron, etc, I left after a few innings, but as we walked out, I saw a familiar face in Mike, who was there with our most loyal reader Big Don!.
After a few minutes of verbal patter, we left Canal Park, but not after giving our seats to Don and Mike to give them an upgrade from general admission, which I imagine wouldn't be fun.

All and all, Canal Park was just a little too busy for me.
Nice park, nice employees, and pretty customer-friendly equals that I would consider a return trip.
IF I could hit a weeknight day or travel with another driver that is!

Perhaps back later with another anniversary from yesterday or more from the trip and if the Cavaliers officially name a coach today (I hear that could happen), I'll be back.
I told you that I'd be back with a flurry of posts!!!  

Duck Tape Madness

After a week away, I plan on trying to catch up over the next few days as I look at my weekend with my ladies that includes a stop in Akron for a first-time visit to Canal Park for a game and a stop at the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Father's Day, but we start with the reason for the trip-Rachel's graduation wish for a trip to the Duck Tape Festival...

Now, I normally jump on any chance to hit O H I O even if it's just for a trip for Jones potato chips or a shot at Grandpa's Cheese Barn, but I must admit the Duck Tape Festival truly didn't seem like my idea of a great time from the start.
It didn't turn out that bad though and Rachel wound up getting a nice "haul" for her supply table, so it was worth it to her.

Avon, Ohio is a small city (census estimate is about 20,000) near Cleveland that houses the Duck Tape brand factory and uses the name and product for the reason for the city to have a fair type setting.
Many small towns use a theme for a weekend setting for the town to have a parade and a fair and since the factory is the town's largest employer, what better theme could there be?
I know the true name is DucT Tape, but Duck Tape found a niche' with the mispronunciation of the name and became the name brand of the product.
Think of regular tape is usually called Scotch tape for another example of this...

We rode by the factory on the second day and Rachel along with Cherie stopped and snapped some pictures of the sign in front of the factory.
It really to sum it up was a large carnival or small fair if you prefer with a decent size addition on the end devoted to Duck Tape.
There were large works of art using the tape with the theme of the year being space and some of those artworks were interesting-my favorite was a large Saturn V rocket.

The parking was not done well considering the large ground that they had and on Saturday, we had to park far away (I can use the walk), but was blocked in such a way that I had one small avenue to exit and that was with several shifts and starts.
Fortunately, only a skilled driver as I was able to maneuver my way through in the rented SUV.
Full sarcasm and a nod to First Blood there, for those of you that have seen the film many times, I'm sure you know what I'm referring to.

However, what Rachel enjoyed best was getting tape that wasn't available elsewhere such as scratch and sniff tape (what won't they make?) that has not been released for sale in stores and getting free rolls of "Old School" silver (Excuse me, sir have you gotten your free roll? Of course, not) for her.
The downside? Well, there were two.
The first was the interminable wait for credit card machines to get rolling (hey, when you are spending the money-get those points!), but the lady running the store was very nice and the other was someone named "J Wallets".
I don't watch Duck Tape videos other than Rachel's, but apparently, J is another video person and he obviously has A) Rich parents, B)Parents that spoil him or C) Both as he loaded up a massive basket filled with this stuff while running around pouting that he didn't get enough tape.
There were a few things that could have went smoother on this trip, but now in hindsight (although maybe not at the time), have to spend 20 minutes in line behind a whining J Wallets might have been the worst part of the trip.

All things considered, the festival was tolerable for the old man and I even had a good cheesesteak out of it and Cherie had a nice stromboli according to her for another plus.
I'd do it again IF there were other things to do as well to go with another trip to Avon!

Pirates punt Polanco debut

The highly hyped debut of Gregory Polanco ended with one hit and a 7-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park.
Casey Sadler took the loss in relief (0-1) after allowing four runs in the sixth and seventh innings to snap a deadlock at three.
Andrew McCutchen homered for the Pirates in the third inning (9) to provide two of the three Pirates runs.
The series vs the Cubs finishes today with Brandon Cumpton (1-2) against Chicago's Jason Hammel (6-3) at 7:05

Pirate Hooks

1) Francisco Liriano started the game,but left in the fourth inning with "right side discomfort".
Hope it is not one of those dreaded "Oblique muscle" issues,those things take a lot of time to heal and often can become a chronic injury.

2) I like Starling Marte as a player and like the enthusiasm that he plays with as well,but sometimes that can be a detriment as last night,he took off on a caught fly ball,stood and watched it past second base,didn't re-tag second and was doubled off first.
Just not smart baseball....

3) Gregory Polanco scored a run after his career starting single on Andrew McCutchen's homer,but it was the way he did it that was amusing.
Polanco just roared around the bases like McCutchen had slashed the ball into the gap.
Love seeing the speed,but didn't he see a third base coach or anything?

4) Polanco,Marte and McCutchen are going to be a tremendous defensive outfield,but as the adjustment for Marte took time in left,Polanco will need the period of refinement as well.
Polanco had a ball hit off the heel of his glove that I would have scored an error,but the Pirates scorer tabbed a double.
The threesome will cover a ton of ground,but will need to learn to work together as a unit...

5) One can see the tools of Gregory Polanco,but I especially like his swing.
If you look carefully,you can see a little of Ken Griffey Jr. in the Polanco swing.
Slightly up without being an uppercut,if the Pirates got anywhere close to that type of production-they'd be thrilled.

I'll be in Frederick tonight,but with luck I'll be back with a look at the Indians in the afternoon game in Kansas City....

Pirates call up Gregory Polanco

The Pittsburgh Pirates pulled the trigger in an attempt to reverse a sub .500 season as they called up super-prospect Gregory Polanco  from AAA Indianapolis to plug into right field.

Polanco hit just under .350 in his Indianapolis tenure and gives the Pirates what has the potential to be a multiple tool outfield for years to come with Starling Marte and Andrew McCutchen,but why the wait with the spectacular start by Polanco and the less than fast start by Pittsburgh?

The reason was to make Polanco ineligible for arbitration as a "Super 2" which takes spectacular young players that exceed their contracts and allow them to go to the arbitrator's table.
I can understand the financial reasons for a small market franchise to save money when they can,but in this case,I think the team made an error in judgement.

When you consider the Pirates playoff appearance last season and the teams expectations after such a great year,the blatant money issue could result in a loss of goodwill with the fan base.
And if the Pirates turn things around and just fall short of a playoff return?
One could make a case if Polanco plays well,that he could have been the difference over the less than sharp play of Jose Tabata and Travis Snider.
I'm going to try to watch tonight's game and be back tonight,if all goes as I hope....

Cotto hammers Martinez,Boxing Challenge

Miguel Cotto hammered Sergio Martinez to the floor four times, three of them in round one alone, and grabbed the WBC Middleweight belt held by the Argentine when the champion's corner stopped the bout before the start of round ten in New York City.

I, of course, didn't see the fight being at the road office, but my fellow fight fan, Ramon Malpica, reports that Cotto shook Martinez with every shot and that Martinez never looked steady on his legs after knee surgery after his last defense against Martin Murray of England.
When you consider that Martinez is a fighter that bases his entire style off his movement, the leg issues meant doom for the 39-year-old.

Now that Martinez is likely to step away from the title picture and Miguel Cotto has the title held as the lineal "true" Middleweight champion -what's next?
I would not think that Cotto or promoter Bob Arum have any interest in unifying with the WBA champ and (in my opinion) best fighter in the division Gennady Golvokin, WBO champ Peter Quillin brings little in marketability along with the Al Haymon factor and IBF champion Sam Soliman brings even less than Quillin, although if Cotto needs a stay active bout, Soliman makes a lot of sense for Cotto.
Soliman would bring a belt with him, would likely make more money than he would elsewhere, but far cheaper than the other names and should have no problems coming to U.S soil.
I could see Cotto-Soliman in the fall if things are unable to be worked out for a bigger bout.

Considering the above factors, there are two bouts to be made that would be huge interest fights.
Floyd Mayweather defeated Cotto once in an entertaining (for a Floyd Mayweather fight) bout and could look at this as a way to annex another division title against a fighter that he defeated.
Canelo Alvarez would be an interesting fight with the Mexico-Puerto Rico angle along with two fighters unafraid to stand and slug it out.
Either would be huge pay-TV numbers and both could be made, although promotional arrangements suggest that Alvarez would be more likely with Golden Boy and Top Rank recently making up a little bit.
Two things are sure to me-the middleweight division has taken a leap up in interest and the big loser other than Sergio Martinez last night was Gennady Golovkin, who may have to keep knocking out second level contenders to keep busy.
I doubt  Miguel Cotto will fight Golovkin, I believe Sergio Martinez would have...

That moves us to the boxing challenge, where due to personal issues,I didn't have time to post the picks on a weak undercard.
Ramon and I did make our picks though and it wasn't a great night.
I picked Martinez by a unanimous decision and earned zero points for the loss, although I did get one from Marvin Sonsona's split decision win over Wilfredo Vasquez Jr.
I picked the decision to be unanimous, so I only earned the lone point.
Ramon's night was worse as he picked Martinez via a 6th round KO and Vasquez to win a decision, so he added no points on the night.
I gained one standings point and trimmed Ramon's lead to 44-41.

Back later or tomorrow!!!

Cleaning out the inbox.

Lots of stuff from the inbox and I mean LOTS, so it may take a few times to truly clean it out.
I'm going to work from the oldest up other than the time-sensitive stuff.

I did watch the Tyler Beede start today for Vanderbilt in their NCAA game against Stanford.
What I have read about Beede looked to me to be true-Mid 90's fastball, nice curve, and changeup, and will come down to this-Can he stay in the strike zone?
Beede looked good for three innings, but began to show some command issues in the 4th and 5th, leaving the contest in the fifth after allowing six runs, all of them earned.
I liked what I saw arm-wise, but the Giants have some work to do.

I used to be a massive horse racing fan that trickled to just a casual one, but most of the near misses that William Nack writes about for ESPN, I've seen.
I was a huge Sunday Silence fan that ran into the one course that Easy Goer could beat him on and I still rate Spectacular Bid as the best horse I've ever seen (yes, I did see Secretariat) that was beaten by injury and jockey error in his Belmont run, but most of the rest of the near misses really weren't truly great horses.
The Bid might be headed to the Forgotten Superstars universe sometime soon and even if you are just a casual fan, check the article out.
I bet Ryan recognizes a lot of those names!
And yes, the above bobblehead of the Bid is in my collection and might be my favorite bobble!

Waiting for next year is a Cleveland-based sports site and they did an article on the "lost cards" on former Indians first baseman Tony Horton, who abruptly retired and never had a Topps card made of him.
The Horton story is a sad one, worth reading about, and of course, it talks about the 1971 Topps set!

Grantland looks at the draft lottery and the astonishing Cavalier victory here.
I don't know what the Cavalier plans are, but unless they get a star player that is under contract for a while (Kevin Love has one year left on his deal), I'm taking Andrew Wiggins of Kansas.
I'll be looking at the Cavaliers in a future post before the draft...

ESPN looks at former top prospect Brien Taylor in an oral history of the 1991 top overall pick that injured his arm for good in a bar fight in North Carolina.
It's a great article on Taylor, who was unavailable for comment as he is serving jail time for dealing crack cocaine.

Finally, we say goodbye to the most exciting light heavyweight ever as former WBC champ Matthew Saad Muhammad passed away at the age of 59.
Saad Muhammad was Arturo Gatti before there was Gatti as he fought war after war on national television defending his belt in memorable brawls.
Combine the style with the story of him being abandoned in Philadelphia at the age of five and you had a compelling reason to watch Saad, who held the title from 1979-81 in making eight successful defenses of his belt.
Check Saad Muhammad out on youtube for some thrilling bouts.