Wednesday, August 22, 2007

UP AT 6: EDDIE GRIFFIN AS TRAGEDY

While you were screaming your best friend's name from the rooftop...

  • It's somewhat wrong to impose sentiments posthumously on Eddie Griffin (pictured), the NBA forward whose death in a fiery SUV-train collision was confirmed last night. Nevertheless, in death Griffin is a tragic figure. He was given more than he could handle -- talent, and money -- and it broke him. It's important to keep that in mind whenever it seems like pro athletes come by it all too easily. It's hard to shake where one comes from and Griffin, by every account, accumulated serious amounts of baggage that he didn't purge.

    He probably threw away the chance of 10,000 lifetimes and now he's an eternal reminder of the savage undercurrent in the saga of the elongated Eliza Doolittles who make it to the NBA. Free Darko's take is that Griffin "was doomed from the beginning. In some ways, he might as well have never been an NBA player. His demons were going to run him down sooner or later, and that wondrous game of his? In the end, it existed only to remind us all how little it actually mattered."
  • Vikings fans will take whatever we can get when it comes to reasons to look forward to this season. Watch Adrian Peterson run from last Friday vs. the Jets. Kissing Suzy Kolber is calling him Purple Jesus, a phrase I haven't thought of in a football context since attending Queen's Golden Gaels games as an undergrad about 10 years ago. (You know what I'm talking about.)



    Wow, it looks like Vikings coach Brad Childress' offence is getting more imaginative in his second season. The Vikes are actually running the ball to the right side now.
  • So sweet that you had to brush your teeth twice afterward: All-time crybaby suck Mike Mussina was knocked out in the second inning of the Yankees' 18-9 shellacking at the hands of the Angels on the same night that his Orioles record for most strikeouts in a season was matched by Eastern Ontario's own Erik Bedard.

    In fairness, Mussina was ODB'd by Yankees play-by-play man Michael Kay. The Yankees were losing by 10 runs with two out in the ninth and Alex Rodriguez homered off 29-year-old rookie mopup man Marc Gwyn, who was making just his second major-league appearance -- and Kay still did that little "See Ya!" home run call.

    Well, that homer did get the Yankees within a run of Garrett Anderson's tally for the evening. Fair enough.
  • Carleton Ravens guard Ryan Bell -- he's that rangy, quietly effective player who was next to Oz Jeanty for four seasons -- will play for Canada at the FIBA Americas championship; cishoops.ca notes that as the only true point guard on Leo Rautins' roster

    Aaron Doornekamp, as expected, was left off the roster since Canada needed more depth in the backcourt.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was wondering when you might reference that Peterson run!

That guy is looking like a VERY special player. Now, one great back does not an entire team make (see Sanders, Barry and Dillon, Corey) but a great talent like that instantly changes the chemistry of your team. If you can build a great defense, and couple that powerful running attack with a smart, accurate QB who can complete the short stuff and won't throw the game away for you, you can be competitive in a hurry. For the first time since the Moss and Culpepper show broke up, the Vikings might be fun to watch again.

sager said...

Dennis,

Well said, well said.