Letters to the Editor
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Published Letters: 173 Editor's Choice: 38
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Hockey - a winter sport
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am not a hockey fan. I agree with the late, great Red Smith that "down and back" games don't do it for me. See also basketball. But I watched nearly an entire hockey game with the hockey fan I married because it was played outdoors in the snow in front of 71,000 screaming fans.
I also reiterated to my hockey fan spouse that the NHL should have adopted the shootout 30 years ago when I first posited the suggestion to her. Any sport that allows the possibility of a tie is stupid. Are you listening NFL? I jumped from hockey to whichever of the BCS blowouts was on at the time. Footkey? Hockball?
I suggest two games every season. New Year's Day and the Sunday before the Super Bowl when football fans are starving for some action. Giants Stadium holds 77,000 people. If half were Devils fans and the other half Rangers fans, there aren't enough NJ State Troopers available to keep the peace.
It could also be used for a rematch of the teams from the previous season's Stanley Cup Finals. Or an annual US-Canada grudge match, held in alternating stadia on either side of the 49th parallel.
Somehow, the NHL, the worst-run "major sport," has hit upon a brilliant idea. Even for this non-hockey fan, please don't screw this up.
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Roger Dodger
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I shouldn't comment on Roger Clemens because I have never liked him. I am glad he never won a world series for the Yankees or the Astros after they gave in to his "I ain't traveling with these bozos -- uh, my teammates" contract demands.
I always thought his hyper appearance in the 2000 WS against Piazza was either 'roid rage or caused by amphetamines. He looked like a man out of control. I thought at the time he should have been ejected for throwing the bat. I wish Piazza had gone after him. It would have been the best heavyweight fight at Yankee Stadium since Ali-Norton.
When he said he didn't care about the Hall of Fame at yesterday's press conference I knew it was all a crock. That's why he's doing this. What's left to care about? He's made a ton of money playing ball (Rule No. 1 - never, never feel sorry for rich people). He has two championship rings. He's done as a player. He's too self-centered to be a coach or to "pay his dues" down on the farm. All he had left to worry about was Cooperstown and endorsements. Enjoy the asterisk, Roger.
In some states recording a phone call without informing the other party is illegal. See Linda Tripp. I assume his lawyers checked Texas law before yesterday's fiasco.
"Millionaire player throws underpaid trainer under bus." What a stand up guy. How many Cy Young Awards did the trainer help you win, Roger? How many tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts and endorsements after age 35 did he help you get? Now all he wants to do is stay out of jail and you try to hang a perjury charge on him. Great guy. Like family. Yeah, the Gambinos.
Barry Bonds had the smarts and the decency to pay his trainer to keep quiet and go to jail. By the way, has Barry Bonds now relinguished his role as poster child for steroid use in baseball to Roger? Sweet.
Will the Babe's monument at Yankee Stadium start to crack after being touched by Clemens before every start? I can hear the Babe now, "You let a guy stick a needle in your ass?"
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There is a free weekend available
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I like the idea of a tournament of 16 college football teams. Rounds of 16, 8 and 4 would be played before the NFL playoffs begin, including New Year's Day.
The championship game would be played on the weekend between the NFL conference championships and the Super Bowl. Having the college championship game that weekend would keep casual football fans from drifting away during the two-week hiatus. Another possibility is to move the NFL's off week to the weekend between the divisional playoffs and the conference championships with no empty weekend before the Super Bowl.
The sweet 16 would be chosen by the current BCS ranking system. After that, losers go back to class. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Good one.
You would need 15 "bowl games" for the tournament. The rest could be tossed unless you want to create a second tier of consolation games for teams ranked 17 to 32. The championship game could be called "The Scholar Bowl." Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Stop it.