Most people have stopped following the US Men’s National Team after it’s tough loss to Brazil in the finals of the Confederations Cup. The US has actually been participating in the Gold Cup, a tournament for teams in the Americas, over the last several weeks. The matches have all taken place on US soil and the United States has used almost no players who played in the Confederations Cup, but nevertheless, the United States will face Mexico in the Finals tomorrow at Giants Stadium.
For those that have watched the games, the United States certainly hasn’t run over its opponents. The US won the games they needed to win, but didn’t demolish anyone and weren’t at the form seen in South Africa. That would make sense though since the roster has just four carryovers – Freddy Adu, Charlie Davies, Heath Pearce, and Luis Robles. Seven players were looking for their first cap while sixteen of the twenty-three man roster have less than five caps. The team looked nothing like the Confederations Cup roster yet they find themselves winning games and advancing. Read more…
Jim Parque isn’t and wasn’t a big time superstar. He didn’t smash home runs. He didn’t fire the ball 100 MPH. He was a scrawny, persistent fifth starter just trying to survive in MLB. He pitched for the Chicago White Sox from 1998 to 2002, starting more than twenty games three times during his tenure there. His best season came in 2000 when he was 13-6 with a 4.28 ERA. Other than that season, his ERA was always above five. He didn’t dominate batters. He was a fourth-to-fifth starter who just sucked up innings and tried his best to keep his team in ballgames.
Then he hurt his shoulder and just like that, his career was in grave jeopardy. He signed with Tampa Bay in 2003 and started five games for them, but of those five games, he made it out of the third inning just twice and ended up with an 11.94 ERA. His career was finished as quick as it had started. Parque was done.
Now six years later, Parque is doing the unprecedented. He’s admitting using HGH with absolutely no pressure and no reason to do so. Few people even know who Jim Parque is. No one is going to care that he used HGH six times while with the Rays to try to stay alive in the league. Yet, this courageous action should be glorified by MLB. It should be put on a pedestal and shown to the world. Read more…
The Tour de France enters the 18th stage tomorrow with Lance Armstrong currently residing in 4th place while Alberto Contador continues to hold the yellow jersey. And yet I say, who cares.
When Armstrong dominated cycling and proved that America could win a sport that they didn’t care about, the Tour de France was slightly interesting. With Armstrong leisurely sitting in the fourth position and Contador quickly pulling away from the field, I have absolutely no reason to follow the race. ESPN shows updates of where Armstrong is and what stage there in, but it lasts maybe three minutes and is entirely focused on the aging American. It’s not just me that doesn’t care. No one cares.
Cycling has been undermined by doping and steroids so much that the little interest that existed beforehand has disappeared. Armstrong was, and to an extent still is, an icon. Livestrong. The man who beat cancer and came back to win the Tour de France. Then allegations of cheating arose. Nothing has been proven and nothing every will be, but the rumors still exist. Armstrong’s legacy has suffered a big blow. And with that, my interest in the Tour de France dwindled so cycling as a whole has suffered a big blow. Read more…
