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From the Sandbox
By Sanders Lightfoot
10/20/2004 11:25 AM EST
Courtesy of
http://www.sportsinsights.com
OJ in a 49’er uniform. Willie Mays “chasing down”
fly balls in Shea Stadium. Martina Navratalova touring the World Team
Tennis circuit. Pedro Martinez in the post-season. Each example of an
aging superstar failing to come to grips with his own mortality is more
painful than the next. It’s like watching a Three Stooges reunion
featuring only Shemp and Joe.
There was supposed to be something different about
Jerry Rice’s twilight years. After all, he did end up in the one place
that is socially acceptable for an over-the-hill future Hall of Famer to
end his career. For years, Oakland has been the convalescent home for
some of professional football’s greatest aging superstars. It’s the
Ellis Island of the NFL. A place where the tired, the poor, the huddled
masses…ok, ok, maybe not the poor, but you understand what your future
holds when you sign with Al Davis’ Raiders.
You understand that in no uncertain terms you are
being granted the ability to extend your career and avoid the elephant
graveyard that is professional athlete retirement. What you are not
being granted is the ability to demand more touches and a bigger role in
the offense, especially when you are 42 years old. Even if you are
Jerry Rice.
The truth of the matter is that someone should have
given Jerry Rice the memo from 1997 that said he was not the player he
was in 1987. Please do not get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for
Jerry Rice and his abilities. His present abilities, past abilities and
future abilities, but there comes a time in every professional athlete’s
career that he must choose the road less traveled. It’s just too bad
that Jerry thinks that road leads to Seattle.
Apparently, Jerry knew his days in Oakland were
numbered. I think it may have had something to do with his statement,
“My days in Oakland are numbered.”
Even before the trade with the Seahawks was
official, there were reports that some of the younger Raider players
were getting autographed memorabilia from Rice. It was a very touching
and emotional time; the time between Rice actually signing the
autographs and the players actually putting the merchandise up for
auction on E-Bay.
Well Jerry, you have made your choice. While I
truly believe you will have as much success finding happiness in Seattle
as I have in finding love on RussianLadyFriends.com, I wish you luck.
Hopefully, that old saying will ring true: The road to Super Bowl
defeat at the hands of the Patriots runs through Seattle.
With Major League Baseball attempting to go
head-to-head with the NFL this past Sunday, I can not help but pose this
week’s freaklently asked questions to the powers that be in the
MLB:
Exactly who is watching these baseball games that
are still on at 1 AM on a weeknight? Are they the same people who are
still watching Monday night football well into Tuesday? If so, isn’t it
reasonable to think that they do not have to get up for anything on
Wednesday?
“Can’t we stop calling the Red Sox/Yankees series a
“rivalry” until the Red Sox actually win something?” Aren’t you tired
of hearing that yet?
By the way, who’s playing in the National League
Championship series?
Boston has two Super Bowl Rings in the last three
years, so why do we feel so sorry for them?
Don’t you find it odd that the NFL will cancel it’s
Sunday Night Football game out of respect for the World Series, but
continue to schedule the Bengals on Monday Night Football without any
respect for the fans?
Because they’re there, this week’s picks, pans and
props:
Pick of the Week: Tennessee (+6.5) over Minnesota
because the Titans are not that bad and the Vikings are not that good.
Pan: Any televised sporting event that starts more
than five minutes after its scheduled start time.
Prop: The Republican Party will win the
Presidential Election (-150). Hey, I’m apolitical, but if the Democrats
were going to bury Bush, don’t you think they would have done it by now.
Props: To my good friends Dan and Kira.
Congratulations on your recent nuptials. Does anyone know if swim
trunks are an appropriate wedding gift?
Sanders Lightfoot, author and columnist, appears
courtesy of 100 Proof Publishing and Sports Insights. Email your
questions, comments and concerns to
sanderslightfoot@hotmail.com
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