We can only dream

Ok freaks, we are heading to the land of make believe and searching for some dream pitching match ups/ battery mates/ teammates that we would have like to seen on the field together. When I watch a game, its a small thing like a play on the players names that make a lasting memory of that game, not the guys who grounded out to second. So its with a little tongue in cheek I give you some of my favorites I've seen or dreamt of.



phil COKE vs john SMILEY
You'll have the whole world smiling with you during this game.



colter BEAN(s) vs jim RICE
"Everybody sing now!"
Red beans and rice, red beans and rice, red beans and rice, make everything nice.
Red beans and rice, red beans and rice, red beans and rice, I could eat a plate twice.
So nice, nice, nice.


bud BLACK vs vida BLUE
The 330 wins between them surely bruised some opposing players egos.


dan QUISENBERRY vs darryl STRAWBERRY
You can order a Quisenberry Quench or a Strawberry Beach smoothie from Tropical Smoothie. Refreshing and good for you too! Enjoy !


jim LYTTLE relay throw to roy SMALLEY
It's a "little" bit of a stretch, sue me.


bill SHORT vs terrance LONG .
Talk about a Short career 5-11 era 4.73 Long came up short on promise.


Josh BOOTY vs ralph GARR
It's a shame neither played for the Pirates.


tim RAINES vs curt FLOOD
Tim was a natural at stealing bases. Curt opened the 'gates' of Free Agency


ernie BANKS vs don MONEY
It was money in the bank that when opening a pack of Topps cards in 1978 and always getting Two Don Money cards and no Reggie Jacksons. I was not a happy 11 year old.



PABLO torrealba vs jose ESCOBAR
You'd have to be on drugs to know anything about these players careers.
Pablos 1979 Topps card looks like he's been arrested.










purnal GOLDY vs don LOCKS
If you were alive in the 60's you were lucky enough to see these guys play.
Purnal was not beary good, he played only one year.



the sportsfreak wishes you sweet baseball dreams.
G'nite Freaks.

Random Moments to Reflect on

Walker Cooper, outfielder in 43' World Series, held a ticket in his uniform pocket that he had left for his dad for him to attend the game. Sadly his Dad passed away before the previous game. He instructed the ushers not to have any one sit in that seat, Walker felt his Dad would still want to watch from his seat.


After striking out in a softball game, I was told this by a teammates 6 year old son "its ok.. you swung as hard as you could."


Laying on center court, waiting for the last run of the night.
1:30 AM 07/05/10 Clermont,FL


Not being able to dunk anymore...sigghh.


Seeing a childs face light up the instant a balloon is handed to him/her.


How lonely a baseball mitt looks without a ball.


Never..ever.. pick up a sports page left in a bathroom stall.


Shooting free throws into the sunset.


Hitting the sweet spot is truly sweet.


Having no one to high five is truly depressing.


Crying everytime the National Anthem is played. American to the core.




To all you sportsfreakaholics, thank you for all the support.

A Hairy Time at the Game

As I watched with crazy happiness as Chris Chambliss rounded the bases after hitting a home run to get the Yankees into the 76 World Series, strangely instead of looking at the him running through the hundreds of fans on the field, I was fixated on Chambliss' helmetless balding head. Being nine years old and having a flowing mane of red hair, I never thought a player to be bald under his helmet. In my mind the helmet just covered their hair and of course they all had hair. Now every time I see the replay of this historic home run I can only think of Chris Chambliss' stupid head.

So now I would like you to take seat, sit up straight and stop fidgeting as I take a look back at some of my most memorable sport stars who've cropped to some serious do's and dont's of the "do" world.

Do be - Oscar Gamble: his hair on his 1974 baseball card is unbelievable.
I'm still not sure how his cap stayed on.

Don't be- Rory McElroy:
an pasty white Irish dude with Mr. Kot-TER's hair.
(That one was from way back freaks, hope you got it.)

Do be - Bronson Arroyo- He's the Goldielocks of the MLB.
He's got the stuff to back up his do.

Don't be- Brian Bozworth- if all you wanted to be remembered for in the sports world is how stupid your hair looked.
Mission accomplished.


Curley Culp- how did I wind up with some many of his football cards?


Shouldn't the NHL be given a major penalty because of the 30 years of mullets.


Do be - Ron Duguay new York Rangers 197O's heartthrob.
Never wore a helmet, as to not mess up his hair.
How many posters of him wound up in girls bedrooms?
The real question is how many girls bedrooms did he wind up in?


Here are a few quick snips before the stylist can see you.

Brutus "the Barber' Beefcake- gave the worst haircuts to the finest of wrestlers.

Jerry Hairston Jr.- he's got his Dad's hair.

Earl Combs- weaved his way through the Yankees outfield to the HOF.

Kyle Bush- dude is bush league. Wreck him in corners 1,2,3 and 4

Tim Crews- he of the classic cut.

Red Schoendeist- all red heads should be Hall of Famers.

The Predator- mad props to the alien who can pull off the dreads.

Fuzzy Zeoller- his brain got a little fuzzy in 1997.

Tom Brady- nice Beiber cut! New England sucks!!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang- they had a car that flies!

Harry Carey- Ah-one! Ah-two! Ah-Three



the sportsfreaks blog will now fade to black.

Smile for the Press

Is it just me or have sports Press Conferences gone completely overboard.
Message to all media, when your calling a press conference to announce a press conference, it's time to check yourselves.
We have seen the whole spectrum of PC's, from the down right boring to the completely insane. I would not be surprised to hear ESPN is arranging a PC today to announce Billy Fourfingers from Accounts Receivable has been traded to Account Payable.
So here is my take on the medias beloved PC's.


Now we all know how the Yankees of the 70's were hiring and firing managers like crazy with an occasional fight breaking out during these PC's. Did the Yankees have a PC everyday just for the hell of it?
The first real press conference that I fondly remember was of the Dave Winfield signing by the Yankees in 1980. With the enormity of his contract ($23 mill over 10 years) and with his sheer size and charismatic smile, it was a memorable introduction to a city.
To me it was the last great PC.


Why must older players have press conferences when they are joining their new team?

Is it really "breaking news" that David Eckstein is now a member of the Washington Nationals or whatever team his is on right now.
Did the Boston Celtics really need to have a big PC with the signing of Shaq? He is or was a big name in the NBA. But really people, when you are trying to think of a fancy nickname for your newest player you just signed instead of telling us how he will play in your system. You might as well call it day.

Do you think Mike Maddux mailed in his 8th,9th and 10th PC's when he signed with Seattle, Montreal and Houston. They should have just put a cardboard cutout of him with a cartoon cloud that said " I am just happy to be here in..."

My recomendation for the crap listed above:
The MLB/NBA/NHL/NFL should step up and rule that a tweet would be sufficient.


I think the multi-player PC is the unltimate humiliation for at least one of the players. All I can think of is that I don't want to be that guy on the end of the podium wanting to scream to everyone there " Hey I'm gonna play here too!".
No offense AJ Burnett or Chris Bosh, you guys were like the little annoying younger brothers. Just shut up before Lebron /Wade or Texeira/Sabathia beat the crap out of you.


I love the players contract extension signing PC's. It's where the player who thinks he has outperformed his contract and refuses to play until he gets paid because he felt he was underpaid and when he finally get paid tells us, the honest hard working fans, that he did it just for them and the love of the game.
Thanks to 90% of all athletes for being insincere.


When will this joke of the High School Athlete's PC finally end? Do I really need to know that Dirk Youwannabeme in the 10th grade at Windy City Prep thinks he might be willing to play football at Ohio State, but won't sign (It's a full scholarship moron!Just sign the paper!) at this time because he stills want to visit other schools (score with more chicks) but will definitely give his word that he is 87% sure he will commit, that is until his best friend decides to go to another school and he now wants to play with his buddy at Michigan.


Couldn't we place a time restriction on a PC?
How about allowing two minutes max for a Press Conference.
My PC Example:
"I'd like to introduce Bjorn Kickemfar.
He will be the new punter of the NY Jets.
We'll see y'all in training camp. "
How many media freaks will be setting up an all night vigil for that?




Thank you everyone for coming.
The sportsfreak is proud to announce that this PC is OVER!

Come to Your Senses

Touch

I love a dry glove.
I despise a sweaty one, for that I have no love.
A dry baseball, just feel those seams, its gotta good grip.
A wet baseball feels gross, its bound to slip.
A dry basketball means a swish.
A wet basketball feel like a slimy fish.
A dry football produces a perfect spiral.
A wet football touched by everyone is just viral.

Why does touch football always turn into a game of who can touch the hardest?

It's great to hear someone say you have great touch on the tennis court.
Chasing down a drop shot from the baseline, never gonna get there abort! abort!

Hate the touch foul. It goes by the another name "ticky tack".
Overly sweaty dudes on the hoops court.(needing to towel off after every hack)

Fielding Rule #79. Never, ever touch a rolling bunt down the line.

Swing and have the ball hit on the label of the bat.
Pain like you never felt.

Using a wood bat feels like baseball.
Using aluminum bat feels like cheatin y'all.



Taste

Sports stuff I have licked/tasted over 42 years. Mom,please turn away at this time.
My baseball glove (I swallowed bits of it too).
Wooden bat (for luck).
Baseballs (too many to count)
Wiffleball & bat.
Football. Tennis Ball. Volleyball. Ping pong ball (covered in beer).
Bowling ball(turned tongue black).
Handball wall (hiding from Port Jeff Police).
Horseshoe. Ping pong paddle. Tennis racket (wood,metal,graphite).
Fishing pole (salty). A few baseball fences.
High School track (face plant-ouchy).
High jump mat (never could land right).
Bingo card at the swim club(sue me,I was 8).
My little red sled (slowest sled ever made).
OK...time for my annual tetanus shot.


Hearing

"you ain't hearing, if you ain't listening."
He no batta he no batta, swing batta.
I'm open !
Swish!
Brick!
Your the rock, I'm the stick, at the mailbox go deep and I'll hit you.
Keep your head down, hands up, head up, step into it,
Bend your knees.
Just put your face in the water.
Keep your eye on the ball.
Put it between the arrows,
Dig!
Good dig!
It's in the pocket.
Man Up!
Shirts or skins?


Smell

Freshly cut baseball field grass.
Stinky socks after playing all day.
New can of tennis balls.
My glove.
Those overly sweat dude from above.


Sight

"You see what you want to see."
Coach Richie hitting thee highest fly balls ever.
A true single to center.
Dragging baseball bats behind us on the way home.
Sliding your mitt to the fat end of the bat.
Sideline bomb to Wesley Walker.
Shooting the rock while the sun blinds you (please go in)
Athletes smiling- that's when they are just boys playing a game.
Getting a final run in just before sunset.





"I think we are done here" the sportsfreak feels it.