Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Sports this 'n' that

When the Colorado Rockies salvaged the final game of their series with the Mets at Citi Field Sunday, they actually had a cheering section rooting for starter Jeff Hoffman, who ran his record to 4-0 on the season in a 13-4 win.

Hoffman had 30-40 family members & friends who made the trip from Latham for the game. Hoffman was a graduate of Shaker High School. and the local media has made a point of running highlights of his starts whenever possible. Colorado sent Mets starter Steven Matz to an early shower, knocking him out in the 2nd inning, as Matz just didn't have it on Sunday. Hoffman may get another shot at the Mets when the scene shifts to Denver in a week and a half.
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Back at home, the Tri-City Valleycats had a rare 1:00 (ET) Sunday start in Batavia, and made the most of it, beating the Muckdogs, 13-8. Monday's home game vs. Connecticut was suspended in the 2nd inning due to rain & lightning, and they'll pick things up today. Under minor league rules, they'll play it like a double-header, with each game going 7 innings instead of 9. The Tigers led, 1-0, when play stopped. Tri-City, which has won 2 straight, needs to make a big run if they want to get back to the playoffs this year.

Next month's All-Star FanFest in downtown will have a country beat, as the Eli Young Band has been signed to headline. 9 years ago, when the 'Cats first hosted the All-Star game, they had Eddie Money headlining the Monday festival. Well, at least they've moved up to current sounds.....
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So Roger Federer won at Wimbledon for the 8th time on Sunday. Excuse me while I yawn. No, seriously. Federer is one of the best grass court players in the world, but this just doesn't excite me, and, yes, tennis has been known to put me to sleep from time to time. Just sayin'.
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The Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League will have their All-Star game tonight in Amsterdam, but after that, there are only 11 regular season games left for the Albany Dutchmen, who sit in 3rd place, 5 1/2 games in back of front running Amsterdam. What that says is that the league might need to see if they can move the game so that it comes halfway through the season. Yes, it's a 2 month regular season, but still......!
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Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball is actually inviting a bidding war among major shoe companies, after wearing Nike & Adidas shoes during Summer League games last week. Seems he realizes his father's Big Baller Brand is doomed to an epic fail because of overpricing, a by-product of Lavar Ball's sudden need for 15 minutes of fame, which are quickly evaporating. Smart move by the kid. Even smarter would be to move out of the nest and let a more experienced agent handle his business affairs, largely because pops has become a toxic presence.
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Interesting read in the paper yesterday where a number of backstretch workers from Latin countries won't be at Saratoga Race Course when the season starts on Friday due to fears that immigration officials may be looking at deporting them if they don't have work visas or haven't been naturalized as American citizens. This is the world we live in now under President Trump, who still thinks he can have a wall built to block people from sneaking across the border from Mexico into the US. Even if it is built, people will find a way. Just sayin'.
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Ever since WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle was appointed as GM of Monday Night Raw in April, you knew sooner or later the show's uncreative team would develop some lame storyline to build drama where it doesn't need to be.

Well, it's happened, but not in any way that had been teased since.....well, last week.

After dropping hints of an illicit affair with former TNA president Dixie Carter (who was interviewed for a WWE Network special on Angle last week) or Stephanie McMahon (who has been off TV since Wrestlemania, aside from non-WWE functions), they swerved and revealed that Angle "has a son" on the roster. Jason Jordan, 1/2 of American Alpha, was moved from Smackdown to Raw for this purpose, weakening the Tuesday show's tag division.

All that says to me is that, with ratings at an all-time seasonal low, CEO/Chairman Vince McMahon thinks recycling an old storyline with new players would solve the ratings problems. No, it doesn't. While a lot of people assumed that Angle would eventually serve as a mentor to Jordan and Chad Gable, McMahon decided to break up American Alpha and push Jordan & Gable as individual talents on each brand. It's another knee-jerk decision borne out of frustration over the low ratings. One more reason, though, why McMahon has to step down and let Stephanie and her husband, Triple H, who has a firmer grip on things per the success of NXT, take over full-time while he enjoys his sunset years. Vince just doesn't get it, doesn't want to, and doesn't care.

And, so, we are all poorer for his decision making deteriorating before our eyes.

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