There Are Racists in Football

LeSean McCoy thinks his former coach is a racist. Could be true, could be whiny bullshit. I don’t know. I don’t even really care if he is a racist cracker. Much more interesting to me was what McCoy said about Kelly being a genius at getting the ball to an open running back. Successful teams throw to their backs in today’s league. You get the sense that even though he doesn’t like coach Kelly, McCoy is impressed by Kelly’s understanding of the game and the application of his playbook. I kind of hate the Eagles, but even I admire Kelly’s fast-paced system and versatile use of his backs.

One cannot be certain at this point whether McCoy’s ability elevated Chip Kelly’s offensive schemes or vice versa. I am certain that DeSean Jackson, who, by being among the best receivers in the game, makes his team’s offensive strategies more potent no matter where he plays. The Eagles offense with McCoy and Jackson executing Kelly’s calls was explosive, perhaps the most exciting offense to watch in the NFL. It will be interesting to see how that offense fares this year without McCoy and Jackson. That being said other issues will keep the Eagles safely away from the Superbowl this season. I hope.

Besides, McCoy is a Buffalo Bill now and Buffalo will be lucky to get five wins. Buffalo must be the worst place in the world to be a sports fan. They have made some serious strides this offseason, but it won’t be enough to erase a culture of losing.

Tennis is Awesome

Tennis is just fucking awesome. Start in the fifties if you will. Speedy Frank Sedgman, the great Ken Rosewall, and Tony Trabert all won at least five major tournaments in their careers, with the first of their grand slam victories coming in the 1950s.

The notion of an elite few players dominating a decade intensifies in the sixties. Rod Laver and Roy Emerson won eleven and twelve majors respectively, while John Newcombe managed to win seven major titles among his numerous doubles championships.

The seventies brought Jimmie Conners and Bjorn Borg, both consummate winners throughout their long careers. That decade also gave us Hall of Famer Guillermo Vilas, winner of four grand slam titles. Two of those victories occurred during 1977 (the U. S. Open and the French Open), his magical year during which he ammassed an incredible 145-15 record which included a ridiculous 46 match all-surface winning streak. He did that playing against Connors and Borg.

Young John McEnroe won the U.S. Open in 1979, effectively ushering in the eighties and bringing us to the first decade in my memory. Mats Wilander, Ivan Lendle, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker and McEnroe were the tennis stars of my youth, pounding out the sets under a hot sun while I watched early in the morning before anyone else was awake from a farm in Saskatchewan. My personal memory cant help but give an honorable mention to Michael Chang that one time (1989 French Open). Shit he was good.

1990: Pete Sampras won his first major. 1991: Jim Courier won his first major. 1992: Andre Aggasi won his first major. Those three were fucking amazing for so many years. If you don’t remember them you didn’t watch tennis in the nineties. Or sports highlights for that matter.

But thats the history of tennis. Ancient history. In 2003 I was living in Victoria. As spring arrived I found a job at the greatest racquet sports store I’ve ever been in, Courtside Sports. As Wimbledon approached, the owner of the store and his employees commented on how good this young Swiss player had looked at whatever/something/yadayada. His name was Roger Federer. It seems like only a few months later we were seriously discussing if he could be the best ever. Honestly, he’s probably the greatest of all time. He is an artist. But he doesn’t define the last 15 years of tennis. That period is defined by his rivals. The pundits call it “the big 4” even though Andy Murray has 6 fewer grand slam wins than Novak Djokovic (8) and twelve less than Raphael Nadal (14). Three different styles of play (all Murray can do is run, and thats not a style), three different personalities, three great players who each simply hate to lose. And that is what makes a great winner: hating to lose more than your opponent. Since 2003 I have seen the best tennis ever. Period.

Too bad they’re all old now, or at least in the twilight of their primes. Yesterday Djokovic lost the French open final to Stanislas Wawrinka. That gives Wawrinka as many grand slam victories as Andy Murray. Is he next on the list?

Who the Fuck is Pitching for the Jays?

Who the fuck pitches for the Blue Jays these days? Who the fuck is Drew Hutchison? Ok there’s Dickey, the weird knuckleballer, and I’ve heard of Buehrle but I don’t remember why, but… Who. The. Fuck? Who are all these other guys? I bet there are 5 pitchers listed on the active roster that I have never seen pitch and another two that I’ve never seen in a Blue Jays uniform. Bunch of goddam no-names. Goes to show you how much (how little) I have watched baseball in the last couple of years. It really is a boring sport until playoffs… And now that I’ve given up hope that the Blue Jays will ever win regardless of the money the owners spend, who has time for that shit…. All the baseball news is about how to live with/deal with the steroid guys anyway. Boring shit. But, like a spoiled child, I cant wait until the Jays come to Seattle. That’s going to be an awesome weekend.