Extra Bases

This week in sports
­­
I got a call from Bud Selig the other day; Major League Baseball
wants to talk to my dog due to reports that she is linked to Balco
and steroids in baseball because she received a steroid injection
at a local clinic. But she had a good reason for using
– she needed to counteract an allergic reaction to catnip. So be
it if a side effect is that her batting average goes up.
This week in sports­­

I got a call from Bud Selig the other day; Major League Baseball wants to talk to my dog due to reports that she is linked to Balco and steroids in baseball because she received a steroid injection at a local clinic. But she had a good reason for using – she needed to counteract an allergic reaction to catnip. So be it if a side effect is that her batting average goes up.

Speaking of dogs, Elwood, a Chinese crested-Chihuahua mix, won first place in the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest. Enough said….

Randy Moss and the New England Patriots are in love. Just wait Patriots fans. 10 games into the season when Moss complains about everything, you will see why the Raiders divorced Randy and sent him packing faster than Kobayashi can eat a hot dog.

The Silver and ‘Bleak’ were forced by the NFL players union to cancel the last week of spring practice because the practice level was too intense. They couldn’t be practicing that hard – the Raiders have only won 15 out of their last 50 games.

If they think the Raiders are practicing hard, the NFLPA should come out to Hollister and watch a few of the Balers’ summer practices. At least they will be able to watch how a winning team practices.

Tennessee Titans CB Pacman Jones turned himself in to Vegas police and will plead ‘not guilty’ and Tank Johnson was released by the Chicago Bears after he was pulled over for speeding and driving while intoxicated. If things don’t shape up in the NFL, we are all going to be watching another remake of “The Longest Yard.”

The San Antonio Spurs swept away the much less talented Cavaliers in the NBA finals. They won their third championship in five years and their fourth in eight. So why are some people saying that they can’t be considered a dynasty?

Speaking of dynasties, in San Benito County’s Babe Ruth league, the A’s won the championship for the third season in a row, accumulating a record of 58-2 along the way.

Hollister is a dynasty of it’s own as the Little League teams from Hollister continue to be no match for any of the other District 9 teams.

The Minor AAA Indians claimed the Dist. 9 Tournament of Champions title, scoring an average of more than 9 runs a game. And, at press time, three of Hollister major teams; the Rockies, A’s and Rangers were all still in the tournament heading into the fourth round.

In other sports news, the United States beat Mexico 2-1 in the Gold Cup final last weekend at Soldier Field in Chicago. With more than two-thirds of the fans in attendance rooting for the green and red of Mexico, one could say the U.S. Soccer team finally won a road game.

And now to a sport that was thought to be much more casual…a golfer nearly lost his arm when an alligator dragged him in the pond on the sixth hole of a course in Florida while he was reaching for his ball. If that doesn’t teach him to stay out of water hazards, I don’t know what will.

All of baseball lost a big man and a big heart as former heavyweight closer Rod “Shooter” Beck was found dead in his home last weekend. Please R.I.P. big, fat, ugly, hairy guy.

Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitcher Jason Schmidt had season-ending surgery last week on his shoulder after only pitching in six games for the ‘Blue Crew.’ What do you know? The Giants actually did something right last off-season.

Ibragimov, Chagaev are to unify the heavyweight titles in October. Wait. Who are these guys? You mean there has not been a heavyweight champion all this time?

The winner of this so-called unification match should have a bout against Hollister’s own Antonio Corrales, who is boxing in Michigan for a chance to become an Olympic boxer. At least the match would spark a little interest.

Good Luck to all the local athletes competing this weekend, whether it be knocking someone’s teeth in or knocking some runs in for the team.