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Mutterings interruptus
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By Jeff Mayfield
[JUNE 14, 2005]
With the demands of
the summer heating up, I will be withdrawing from regular sports
coverage for a while. I'll try to do an occasional feature or two,
but it will be sparse. As always, I'd like to thank our readership
for their outstanding contributions to the whole process. We are
more than just a news source; we have a relationship and a dialog
with you that is critically important to making the entire operation
a success. I hope to resume more coverage in the future but am
currently not sure when that will be. Needless to say, I wish each
and every one of you a very blessed summer!
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Cardinal update One of my
all-time favorite movies is "The Outlaw Josey Wales"… and yes, it
stars Clint Eastwood as Wales. There are lots of reasons I have
always liked that movie, but one of them is the interesting
relationship between the old Indian and the grandmother from Kansas.
In one particular scene where Wales' ragtime band (which included
the Indian and the grandma) was trying to fight off a warring tribe
of Indians and a posse of bounty hunters, their conversation was
especially interesting. When Grandma and the gang shot several
Indians she leaned over to the old Indian and said, "We sure showed
those Redskins a thing or two… Oops, no offense." To which the
quick-on-his-feet Indian muttered, "None taken." A little later in
the fight scene, the group takes out several in the posse, which
enabled the quick-witted Indian to lean over to Grandma and
pronounce, "We sure showed those palefaces a thing or two… Oops, no
offense." And Grandma retorted, "None taken."
It probably loses a little of its
flavor in the translation, but in the scene it's captivating. And in
the St. Louis Cardinals' week of interleague play against the Boston
Red Sox and the New York Yankees the scene was repeated for me.
While I don't know if any offense was taken, I do know that "We sure
showed those Sox and Yankees a thing or two!" And what a great time
to do it. The Cubs are finally getting healthier and are starting to
play a better brand of baseball -- at least closer to what I had
speculated they might do. But Boston and New York were simply no
match for these Redbirds. St. Louis got great starting pitching and
a couple of nice relief efforts and offensively pummeled the Red
Hose and the Yanks.
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And how 'bout that shot by Scott Seabol?
That is one of the reasons I like bringing up a kid who is ready
when a front-line player goes down. Yes, we have utility guys who
can go in there every day, but then, they are no longer utility
guys. Seabass, as he's known in the Cardinal clubhouse, couldn't
have come through at a more opportune time. What a clutch home run!
And what can you say about the continuing sparkling play of David
Eckstein and Mark Grudzalaniek? They have been nothing short of
sensational. With the Cardinals playing as well as they are, we
should be very afraid that they now take to the road to play at
Toronto and at Tampa Bay.
Spurs smack Pistons
You rarely see as thorough a beating
as the Spurs administered to the Pistons in Game 2 of the NBA
finals. San Antonio gave as dominating a performance as you will see
against a Larry Brown-coached team, but I still wouldn't count
Detroit out just yet. In fact, I think they will win at least a
couple of games back up north. However, the last few teams that have
led 2-0 in the finals series have emerged as victors, so those stats
are being kind to the Spurs. And speaking of stats, here's one for
you. The Spurs' Tim Duncan has played in 100 playoff games and has
recorded a double-double in 78 of them. Can you say consistency?
There's surely lots of other sports
stuff going on, but I haven't had much time to follow it all… so,
I'll just gracefully bow out for now. Have a great and blessed
summer, everyone!
[Jeff Mayfield] |
