Sporty Blog - The Sport Blog

With the Phoenix suns once again being eliminated from the Big Game, nee the National Basketball Association Finals between the LA Lakers and Boston Celtics, NBA All Star Steve Nash will now go to South Africa to attend the upcoming World Cup Soccer “Tourney’ instead, albeit working for CBS Sports by posting videos and Blog reports live from the scene.

You may recall that Nash is more then a casual observer of Football, nee Soccer, as he’s also part owner of the MLS Expansion Vancouver Whitecaps who’ll debut next year along with the expansion Portland Timbers Franchise.

And in what was to be a most intriguing “La-La Land” (Los Angeles) Grudge match during there respective squad’s very first game of their Groupings first round; featuring LA Galaxy’s David Beckham’s England vs. Landon Donovan’s USA, which also features the Team’s Coach Bob Bradley’s son Michael as a Midfielder…

Yet obviously Beckham will now only be an interested observer, having torn his ACL earlier this year while playing for AC Milan as training for the World Cup games. Although it’s just been announce that Beckham will now be Blogging for Yahoo Sports throughout the World Cup tournament.

Also of interest will be Argentina, whose fiery coach Diego Maradona is always an unknown X-factor, not to mention the other Usual Suspects of Brazil, Germany, Italy, Mexico, France, etc.

Of interest to Seattle Sounders FC Fanatics will be that the new Voice of the Sounders FC, Arlo White has been granted a last minute call-up from his ex-Employer, The BBC and will get his chance to fulfill his dream of calling a World Cup match when he covers a total of five first round matches for the BBC. Even better yet for White, is the fact that he’s been penciled-in for the Italy-New Zealand and Argentina-Greece matches, two of the perceived Powerhouses…

Action begins this weekend, with USA vs. England this Friday, June 11th, which may be available on your local Television stations?

Recently, after reluctantly returning for one final season of Major League Baseball, Ken Griffey Jr. also known previously as “The Kid,” upon his insertion into the MLB limelight as the Seattle Mariners Franchise savior at the tender age of 19, decided that he was no longer contributing to the game he so dearly loves, having become a distraction for the Mariners and announced his Ad Hoc retirement from the sport on Wednesday, June 2nd.

Interestingly, “Junior” has long been linked as the catalyst for the construction of Seattle’s Safeco Field, which is commonly known as “The House Griffey Built,” even though it failed to pass its initial Bond referendum, as voters unanimously voted NO upon approval of the State’s request to build it, as then Governor Gary Locke simply overrode the People’s wishes and went ahead anyways.

Thus Griffey leaves the game at the age of 40, after hitting a stellar 630 Home runs, leaving him currently fifth overall, along with not being one of the Sport’s countless Steroids abusers…

Yet for many longtime Western Washingtonians, Junior will always be indelibly linked to those Mega Mariners of Yesteryear, when the likes of Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner and Alex Rodriguez just to name a few amazingly upset those pesky Pinstripes of the all conquering New York Yankees in the American League finals way back in 1995. As I recall this being the series that saw long time Mariners commentator Dave Niehaus coin his immortal phrase upon Griffey’s trifecta, exclaiming; “Get out the Rye bread and mustard Grandma, its Grand Salami time!” Upon The Kid having hit a Grand Slam, while another Niehaus classic is simply known as “My, Oh My!”

While the Phoenix Suns try to usurp those pesky Lakers from La-La Land, with the Orlando Magic facing elimination by the Boston Celtics, as The Boys of Summer, a.k.a Major League Baseball go about there business and the 2010 World Cup is less than a Fortnight away in South Africa, another staple of Americana is slated to take place in Indiana this coming Memorial Day weekend on Sunday, May 30th.

Known as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, I’m talking of none other then the Indianapolis 500, which will see this year’s 94th Running’s celebratory Pace Car Driver being Robin Roberts of Good Morning America, while Jack Nicholson will wave the race’s Green flag, with Actor Mark Walberg riding along in a specially designed Two Seater Indy Car with Michael Andretti at the controls.

This year’s field of 33 contestants is an eclectic mix, with six Rookies entered, a record four Females making the race and four former Indy 500 winners competing, as many Drivers seek to have their likeness immortalize upon the Champion’s Borg Warner trophy.

Here’s a quick rundown on this year’s field.

Team Penske: Although it wasn’t overly shocking that “The Captain,” Roger Penske’s Racing Team captured the Pole, his record 16th by this year’s race favourite Helio Castroneves, who seeks to join the very elite company of only three other Drivers to ever win the race four times, Penske’s cars also claimed the second and fourth starting spots with Will Power and Ryan Briscoe respectively and narrowly missed out on another Front row sweep.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing: Chip Ganassi’s red rockets spoiled Roger Penske’s Front Row sweep when Dario Franchitti snatched the Row 1’s outside third place in the final moments of Saturday qualifying, while teammate Scott Dixon rolls off in sixth place, with both Drivers being former race winners.

FAZZT Race Team: This is the Cinderella Team for the Month of May, as Alex Tagliani was impressive all week prior to Pole Day Qualifying, being the Big 3 “Giant Killer” with a great fifth place qualifying effort, while the Team’s added second car entry driven by Bruno Junqueira was simply amazing after having only six practice laps before qualifying a stout 25th and fastest on Sunday.

Rahal-Letterman Racing: 1986 Indy 500 winner father Bobby Rahal and son Graham unite in a “One-Off” effort that sees Graham garner the Kardashian’s a start from the inside of Row 3 in seventh place.

Panther Racing: Ed Carpenter in an “Indy Only” effort for Panther in conjunction with Vision Racing makes his best start ever from eighth place, while the Team’s primary Driver Dan Wheldon will start in 18th.

Newman Haas: Fielding a single car entry, Japanese Driver Hideki Mutoh will start in ninth place.

Sam Schmidt/Chip Ganassi Racing: This pseudo Third Chip Ganassi ride in conjunction with Sam Schmidt saw “Indy Only” specialist Townsend Bell score a fine tenth place starting position.

Dryer & Reinbold Racing: DRR sports an impressive quartet of Drivers this May, with Justin Wilson the quickest of their four entries, as Wilson starts 11th, Mike Conway 15th, Tomas Scheckter 20th and Female Rookie Ana Beatriz 21st.

De Ferran Dragon Racing: The Team’s primary Driver Rafael Matos starts in 12th and its second car added for Oval Track Specialist Davey Hamilton will start in 14th.

KV Racing Technology: Shockingly, the Team’s biggest Name Driver Paul Tracy failed to qualify for the race, while Mario Moraes was the quickest of the squad’s remaining three entries and will start from 13th place, with E.J. Viso in 19th and Rookie Takuma Sato rolling off from the final Row in 31st.

Andretti Autosport: A pretty rough weekend for this Powerhouse Team as Team leader Tony Kanaan struggled mightily to make the show while crashing a Racecar on Saturday and Sunday, before scraping into the race in 32nd place. Thus Team Owner Michael Andretti’s son Marco was the quickest of the Team’s five entries and will start in 16th place, with teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay 17th, Danica Patrick 23rd and John Andretti in 28th.

HVM Racing: This Minnowesqe One Car Team continues impressing with Rookie Female sensation Simona de Silvestro who will make her inaugural Indy 500 from the inside of Row 8, starting 22nd and one position ahead of Danica Patrick.

Conquest Racing: Another great performance from Eric Bachelart’s Minnowesqe racing Team, as both of Conquest’s Rookie Driver’s made the cut, with Bertrand Baguette starting 24th and Mario Romancini in 27th.

Dale Coyne Racing: This perpetually underfunded Minnowesqe Squad was unable to get the league’s “Fifth-wheel” (Female) Milka Duno into the race, as the Venezuelan Driver who’s qualified the past three running’s was simply off the pace this May. Yet the Team’s second Driver Alex Lloyd will make his third Indy 500 by clinching the 26th Grid slot.

Sarah Fisher Racing:
While Team Boss Sarah Fisher made her way into her ninth Indy 500 race, unfortunately teammate Jay Howard failed to make the race for the second year in-a-row when the Team elected to withdraw his car at the final moment, as Howard became the last competitor on track attempting to qualify but was unsuccessful, while Fisher will start 29th.

A.J. Foyt Enterprises: Upon Grandson A.J. Foyt IV complaining that his Racecar wasn’t any good, ‘Ol Super Tex, a.k.a. A.J. Foyt II (Foyt Sr.) replaced him with Jacques Laizier who failed to qualify for the race. Thus Foyt’s primary Driver Vitor Meira will be the Team’s lone racer in this year’s 500 starting in 30th place.

Bryan Herta Autosport: Inaugural Indy 500 Team Owner Bryan Herta’s Minnowesqe Racing Team incredulously makes its way into the show after having been bumped out twice in the final hour of qualifying, as Rookie Driver Sebastian Saavedra crashed their lone Indy Racing Car with just over one hour remaining, before learning while at Methodist Hospital that he’d made the show in the 33rd and final slot upon the Grid.

You can watch the race this Sunday on ABC at 10AM Pacific…

A few weeks ago the Indy Car Series, which is the States Top Open Wheel Racing category and NOT NASCAR… Made their foray into the Belly of the Beast by making their inaugural trip to the Barber, as in Barber Motorsports Park down in Sweet Home Alabama…

Thus it made sense that they’d seek somebody of local lore to be the race’s very first Grand Marshall of Festivities for the Alabama Grand Prix, picking a very colorful character affectionately known as Sir Charles, a.k.a. Charles Barkley who was also given the moniker of being the Round Mound of Rebound, due to his enormous girth whilst having an unbelievable ability to snare an enormous amount of rebounds over his much taller adversaries.

And it certainly was a long-long Time Ago when I saw Sir Charles cutting his swath towards stardom during his early years with the Philadelphia 76ers, way back in 1987 during Doctor J’s Swan Song year in the NBA, as I can still recall Barkley in his all white uniform with a buzz cut before he went Air Jordan style… In what was then known simply as the coliseum, before later being renamed Key Arena when the Seattle Supersonics still existed in the Pacific Northwest!

And Sir Charles performed all of the associated Grand Marshall duties during the weekend’s activities in his Home state of Birmingham, AL, where he’s confessed to one day wanting to dabble in Politics, even reportedly having announced his candidacy for Alabama Governor in 2014, albeit probably after his TNT Studio Analyst contract expires.

Thus The Chuckster’s Grand Marshall Appointment made me flash back to The Big Cactus’s duties as Indy Car Grand Marshall last year at Texas Motor Speedway; Y’all know everything’s BIGGER in Texas, right?

As Shaquille O’Neil was “The Sherriff” that weekend, even participating in a Pit stop Demonstration as a tire changer for the Luczo Dragon Racing Team, since obviously he cannot fit inside the cars tiny cockpit!

As a side note, Stephen J. Luczo, who is Part Owner of the Indy Car Racing Team is also Part Owner of the MSL’s Vancouver Whitecaps who’ll debut next season, while another of its Owners is the Phoenix suns Steve Nash.

Meanwhile though, over the weekend, Sir Charles was heard to exclaim there AIN’T NO Shoehorn big enough to squeeze him into one of those cockpits, before the Round Mound of Rebound threw the race’s Green flag!

Phoenix didn’t look nearly as invincible as they had looked the previous 2 games as Portland came ready to play.  The Trailblazers also got a much needed lift from the VERY early return of superstar Brandon Roy.

Roy, who is just about a week out from knee surgery, made a surprising showing on the court and in the process gave Portland the extra lift and motivation they needed to take a tough game away from Phoenix.  Although Roy didn’t have an amazing game, scoring 10 points in 26 minutes, his presence just seemed to rejuvenate the Blazers after back-to-back blowout defeats.

The Suns and Trailblazers are now tied in the highly contested series as 2 games each.  The series is all set to resume on Monday, April 26th at 10:30 p.m. EST on TNT. NBA odds makers have Phoenix getting back out in front, listing the Suns as a 6 point favourite.

Look for Phoenix to come out with guns blazing for the next exciting matchup