So many clips, stories and happenings to choose from makes a good week. Here’s the best.
5 — Kasey Kahne. Sportswriters and commentators waited and waited for Kahne to come around last year, especially since he made the Chase in 2006. Once June hit, they waited. July, the same thing. Guess what they did in August? Waited, right. Saturday, though, Kahne showed signs of ‘06 after he was voted into the Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and snatched the $1 million purse. Not bad for someone who seemed to be as forgotten as Gerardo. Better yet, Kahne said the win, not the money, was a confidence boost for his team.
4 — Geovany Soto. It did happen Monday night. But inside-the-park home runs are rare. So, it will appear on this posting. Soto’s shot looked like a conventional dinger after smacking the concrete wall in centerfield at Minute Maid Park. It caromed off, bouncing into center and it counted as the Cubs catcher’s ninth homer of the season. He’s also hitting .321 (prior to Monday’s game).
3 — Pittsburgh Penguins. This is the story of the nice guy finishing first. Nice guy Mario Lemieux bought the franchise, almost went bankrupt and watched it almost dismantle. The city and Lemieux endured tough times and the Pens gave Lemieux the perfect present for his induction into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame — a Stanley Cup Finals appearance.
2 — Paul Pierce. Prior to Kevin Garnett’s arrival, Pierce was the Celtics. He bled green and Sunday he showed he still can carry a team. Scoring 41 points in the deciding Game 7 against the Cavs, Pierce had perhaps his best game in Boston, leading the Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals. But it wasn’t just Pierce’s scoring that led Boston to its eighth postseason win at home this year. He grabbed a crucial jump-ball away from LeBron James to close the game.
1 — Big Brown. His name is becoming a regular on this site. And it’s deserved. The 3-year old colt certainly opened eyes with late-stretch kicks to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. He arrived in his home state of New York on Monday to begin some rest and preparing for the biggest race of his short life. Only the Belmont Stakes, and perhaps supreme competition from Casino Drive (a Kentucky-born who has trained predominantly for Belmont), will keep Brown from securing the Triple Crown. We’ll see in three weeks. Let the hoopla begin.
Bonehead of the week — Bob Davidson. The umpire admitted to making a mistake Monday after he jumped in and switched third-base umpire Mike Reilly’s call from an apparent home run to a foul ball during the Mets 11-2 win over the Yankees. Davidson was wrong. Carlos Delgado should’ve been awarded the homer. But what’s worse was the time ESPN, especially color commentator Joe Morgan, wasted on talking and displaying the error. The network made an instant celebrity out of fan Christopher Rom, who sat next to the foul pole that the ball ricocheted off. And it benefited neither the Mets nor the thousands of viewers.
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