Across All Sports

I’m guessing that even if you wanted to watched the Home Run Derby last night, you may not even know that Minnesota Twins’ first baseman Justin Morneau won. That’s because Morneau wasn’t the main story. He wasn’t even a story. The night belonged to Josh Hamilton and rightfully so. Unfortunately for Hamilton, his historic first round performance did not result in a Home Run Derby victory. The Texas Rangers’ outfielder hit a record 28 home runs in the first round and didn’t even have to hit in the second round since he had already clinched a spot in the finals (he took a couple of hacks anyways though). The finals didn’t go so well for Hamilton as he smashed just three home runs and lost to Justin Morneau who hit five homers in the final round. In the end though, Hamilton walked away with something much more important than the trophy: He walked away with the respect and admiration of everyone watching.

Hamilton was selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 1999 MLB Draft and was the Rays’ top prospect until he became addicted to drugs and alcohol. He lost years of his life to his addiction. He didn’t play baseball and his major league baseball career, all of that potential, seemed to have come to an end. He didn’t even workout, because he spent so much time using needles. Yet, in a harsh confrontation with his grandmother, Hamilton finally came to realize his problem. He turned to God, faith, and Christianity to change his life. All of a sudden, Hamilton was back on the rise. He straightened his life out. He hung out with better people and stayed away from drugs at all costs. Even today, Hamilton brings someone with him wherever he goes, because he doesn’t trust himself. Read more…

I know this post is a couple days late, but I think its worth writing about anyways. So here’s the story. After verbally agreeing to a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, Elton Brand turned the other way and signed a five-year deal worth approximately $80 million with the Philadelphia 76ers. This took the Clippersby shock and deeply hurt the organization, which has been crippled by bad luck and poor support for their entire history. Now the questions is: Did Brand betray the Clippers? Even more so, should players take home-town discounts or go to where the money is best?  Should players feel some responsibility to their teams or after the contracts expire, should they be completely separated from their former team? Is it a business or a game?

Brand is just one of many big time players who are expected to stay with their team for no apparent reason. Why should superstar players be attached to their particular team? In Brand’s case, it is different, because he had already agreed to a contract with the Clippers. The Clips seemed to have locked up Brand and felt content that they could finally compete in the tough Western Conference. Yet, Brand turned around and signed a lucrative deal with the 76ers. The Clippers weren’t offering maximum money to the big man, something they thought wouldn’t be the breaking point in the deal. They thought they were going to get a hometown discount and be able to keep Brand while also using some extra money to sign Baron Davis. Well they signed Davis, accommodating one of Brand’s wishes: to build a winning team. Now all Brand had to do was sign on the dotted line. Los Angeles wasn’t offering the maximum salary and though Brand seemed okay with that at first, he wasn’t okay with it in the end. So was it fair for Elton Brand to suddenly shock the Clippers and sign with the 76ers? Read more…