Third and Blog

LeBron Having Fun

waymatth — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:29:54 +0000

So often, we talk about how sports are supposed to be fun. But, the professional athletes are only in it for the money. That’s one reason I like LeBron James. The guy is out on the court every night trying hard and having fun. Usually he’s dancing. On this night, a few months ago, he was rapping:

Championship Week Moments

waymatth — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:41:37 +0000

Championship Week is one thing ESPN does very well. Every year, you see lesser known schools fighting with one common goal: getting to the Big Dance. Some get there, some don’t. You’ll be hard pressed to find more emotional basketball than you see this week. For many schools, they need to win the conference tournament or their season is done.

Anytime I think of Championship Week, I think of Darius Washington. In 2005, Memphis made it to the Conference USA Championship Game. If they didn’t win the game, they were done. If they won, they were in the NCAA Tournament. And it came down to the very end. I can’t ever remember a more emotional moment during Championship Week than the few minutes captured below.

Detroit Lions: Doin’ Work

waymatth — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:34:04 +0000

NFL Free Agency began last week. The Detroit Lions have already made more noise than they did in Matt Millen’s entire tenure. They’re likely overpaying guys, but hell, they pretty much have to. Here’s a quick look at the moves they have made so far.

Kyle Vanden Bosch, DE

KVB has seen a steady decline, but he was a very productive DE under Jim Schwartz in Tennessee.

The Lions are paying him $10 million in 2010, a number which drastically drops off in his final three years. Probably a good move for a guy who won’t be too productive in a couple years.

Corey Williams, DT (trade)

Williams is another productive veteran defensive lineman who is past his prime. But, the Lions need defensive line help badly. If the Lions add Suh or McCoy in the draft, the defensive line could go from worst in the league to about average. That would be a huge help for a defense who suffered from not being able to get any pressure on the QB in 2009.

Nate Burleson, WR

Another good pick-up for the Lions, the combination of Burleson and Pettigrew will hopefully take some double teams away from Calvin Johnson. The Lions WR corp was truly pathetic in 2009. It’s nice to see the front office address the two worst position groups for a change.

Chris Houston, CB (trade)

Considering they only gave up a late round pick, Houston is a nice addition. He’s struggled a bit in Atlanta, but he’s an athletic freak who is still young. He has a lot of potential which is better than anyone the Lions could pick up in the fifth round.

What’s Next?

Thomas Jones is still out there, and the Lions could use another running back. The offensive line still needs to be addressed too, whether it be in the draft or free agency. But, for the first time in a long time, I have some faith in the Lions front office.

Greatest Baseball Call Ever?

waymatth — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:38:59 +0000

No, we’re not talking Bobby Thomson or Kirk Gibson homer runs. Rather, Craig Monroe. In the 2006 season, the Tigers made a run that will be remembered by all Detroit fans. They seemingly hit a walk-off home run every other night. This is one of the most memorable, if for no other reason than the call.

That’s Rod Allen folks. The same guy that brought us this:

March = Spring Training

waymatth — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:26:11 +0000

With March comes spring training. Baseball was always my first true love. Growing up in Michigan, I grew up watching the greatest double play combination ever in Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker. I watched Cecil Fielder hit towering home runs. I grew up with Mickey Tettleton as my favorite player. I always tried to emulate Tettleton’s “bubble gum” in his left cheek and Trammell’s spin move from shortstop when I played in Little League.

The one thing I looked forward to every year was Ernie Harwell’s definition of baseball every Opening Day. In the spirit of the beginning of Spring Training, here it is. Don’t be surprised if it re-appears come Opening Day.

Baseball is the President tossing out the first ball of the season and a scrubby schoolboy playing catch with his dad on a Mississippi farm. A tall, thin old man waving a scorecard from the corner of his dugout. That’s baseball. And so is the big, fat guy with a bulbous nose running home one of his 714 home runs.

There’s a man in Mobile who remembers that Honus Wagner hit a triple in Pittsburgh forty-six years ago. That’s baseball. So is the scout reporting that a sixteen year old pitcher in Cheyenne is a coming Walter Johnson. Baseball is a spirited race of man against man, reflex against reflex. A game of inches. Every skill is measured. Every heroic, every failing is seen and cheered, or booed. And then becomes a statistic.

In baseball democracy shines its clearest. The only race that matters is the race to the bag. The creed is the rulebook. Color merely something to distinguish one team’s uniform from another.

Baseball is a rookie. His experience no bigger than the lump in his throat as he begins fulfillment of his dream. It’s a veteran too, a tired old man of thirty-five hoping that those aching muscles can pull him through another sweltering August and September. Nicknames are baseball, names like Zeke and Pie and Kiki and Home Run and Cracker and Dizzy and Dazzy.

Baseball is the cool, clear eyes of Rogers Hornsby. The flashing spikes of Ty Cobb, an over aged pixie named Rabbit Maranville.

Baseball just a game as simple as a ball and bat. Yet, as complex as the American spirit it symbolizes. A sport, a business and sometimes almost even a religion.

Why the fairy tale of Willie Mays making a brilliant World’s Series catch. And then dashing off to play stick ball in the street with his teenage pals. That’s baseball. So is the husky voice of a doomed Lou Gehrig saying., “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.”

Baseball is cigar smoke, hot roasted peanuts, The Sporting News, ladies day, “Down in Front”, Take Me Out to the Ballgame and the Star Spangled Banner.

Baseball is a tongue tied kid from Georgia growing up to be an announcer and praising the Lord for showing him the way to Cooperstown. This is a game for America. Still a game for America, this baseball!

The Impact of Sports

waymatth — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:38:47 +0000

Do you ever stop to think what sports means to you? To the country? Sometimes, it takes something tragic to make you think about these things.

September 11th conjures up a lot of memories to people. Everyone you talk to who was old enough to appreciate the day remembers where they were when they heard the news. You probably remember most details of the entire day. I was in my 4th hour German class when I heard. We had soccer practice after school, and inexplicably, a plane flew overhead when all planes were supposed to be grounded.

In the days and weeks after September 11th, the country saw displays of patriotism that will never be topped. Nowhere were those displays more powerful than in the sports world. Some of the very first memories I recall when I think about September 11th are the events on the New York baseball fields just ten days after the attacks.

Shea Stadium was home to a Mets/Braves game in which both teams were more concerned about returning to normalcy than winning a baseball game. The embraces between teammates, opponents, and the NYPD faithful are memories etched in the minds of Mets and Braves fans forever. The sight of Rudy Guiliani provided a calmness to a city and a country who desperately needed it.

At Yankee Stadium President Bush threw a strike in the ceremonial first pitch. The leaders of the country were visible in the sports world.

Though September 11th was the reason for unity in those cases, sports was the arena in which it took place. The 1991 NHL All-Star game served a similar purpose. Just days after the United States officially entered the Gulf War, NHL fans showed their support.

Normally, however, sports plays the opposite role.

Seven Saturdays each fall, you see an extremely unique event. One hundred ten thousand people unite for a common cause. These 110,000 people come from many different backgrounds. Many believe in one god, many believe in multiple gods, many believe in no gods. You will find people from a hundred different countries speaking twenty different languages. Half voted for Barack Obama. Forty percent voted for John McCain. Ten percent are still campaigning for Ron Paul. But, every Saturday, every one of those people can agree on one thing. That one thing is Michigan football. You’d be hard pressed to find 110,000 Americans to agree on any one thing non-sports related.

When I visited Ann Arbor last fall, I was told a great story that typifies this idea of unity. One of my good friends’ dads had an on-field pass for the Michigan vs. Western Michigan football game on top of his regular ticket. As he walked through the tailgates on his way to the stadium, he stopped and handed that field pass to a random Michigan fan. He continued to walk to the stadium, and one of his family members asked him why he just gave a field pass to a random stranger. His response was simple. “He was wearing the right colors.”

See, that’s all that matters in sports. No one cares who you voted for or where you came from. Ernie Harwell puts this much more eloquently than I ever could in his poem about baseball. He says, “In baseball democracy shines its clearest. The only race that matters is the race to the bag. The creed is the rulebook. Color merely something to distinguish one team’s uniform from another.”

Think about your favorite player. Do you know his religious affiliation? His political ideals? Probably not. If you do and your beliefs don’t align with his, do you care? No, all you care about is that he produces on the field. If he’s wearing a Winged Helmet, I don’t care what he believes should happen with the death penalty. After all, everyone kills people. All I care about is that he plays hard every Saturday. If he does, he can be white, black, liberal, conservative, Muslim, Christian… doesn’t matter. I’ll support him all the same. Through all our differences, sports still unites us. And it always will.

Ozzie Guillen on Twitter?

waymatth — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:23:10 +0000

I don’t think this has been confirmed, but regardless, it should be entertaining. Ozzie Guillen, or an alter-ego, is on Twitter.

So far, Ozzie has come up with these gems:

what I saw on the field today was a lot of grass…
3 day of Spring Training and im already boreddddddd

Over/Under on fines in 2010? I’ll set it at 13.5.

Why do I like Rich Rodriguez?

waymatth — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:51:13 +0000

I get asked that question a lot. People say: “He’s “ruined” your favorite football program… how could you possibly support the guy? “

I’ve documented why many times on this site and others. The problem I really have is when tell me Rich Rodriguez is a bad person. Because, that’s just not true. The below video was taken at the Victory Rally in Ann Arbor yesterday. It, again, illustrates the great person that Michigan has as their head football coach. He’s someone that I don’t think I could possibly respect more.

All-Time Best Sports Rants

waymatth — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:25 +0000

We, at Third and Blog, enjoy nothing more than a great sports rant. I’m pretty sure I wasted full weeks worth of time in my four years of undergrad surfing Youtube videos with my friends for great sports rants. Whether they come from coaches or players, they sure provide A+ entertainment. Here are some of our favorites. What did we miss?

My personal favorite, Herm Edwards:

Jim Mora:

Dennis Green:

Mike Gundy:

Allen Iverson:

Kevin Borseth:

Jim Mora again:

Bobby Knight compilation:

Lee Elia on Cubs fans:

Hal Mcrae:

Have $55,000 lying around?

waymatth — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:25:19 +0000

If you do, put a down payment on a suite to watch Michigan Football next year. Pricey? Yes. But, the suites look pretty awesome: http://www.mgoblue.com/view.gal?id=61944