Truly a Sunset day in Sports

July 15, 2008

Today saw the 79th MLB All-Star game, the final played at original Yankee Stadium, which is considered by most the "sports cathedral" of the world. It was a true rubber match for most of the game, the first since 1990 to go 4 innings scoreless.
They would have had to go back a few more years if it weren't for Matt Holiday of the Rockies hitting the second hit, and first home run of the game. The home run gave the NL a temporary lead of 1-0. The NL went up 2-0 before the AL rallied to tie. The NL again gained the lead, only for the AL to once again tie. The game was epic all around, and along with the insanely entertaining home run derby last night (Josh Hamilton of the Rangers, recovering heroin addict who hit a record 28 HRs in the first round) is a fitting start of the end for Yankees Stadium.
The game was the longest in All Star game History by the 12th inning, and went into the bottom of the 15th.
Holiday was not the only Rockie to do well in the game, Aaron Cook came in in the bottom of the 10th with the bases loaded due to Dan Uggla's two errors in the inning. Luckily for the NL, Cook pitched 3 scoreless innings, and the defense was miraculous.
Two plays in a row were a force at home, and the last out of the inning was an amazing charging play on a ground ball by Miguel Tijada, in which he rocket flipped to first, flailing, off balance. Cook did give up a hit, though the Center Fielder at the time, Nate McClouth, threw out Navarro at home. Navarro was trying to score from second base, and the play was a razor's edge close tag.
"This game", as Joe Buck (Head Commentator of FOX and all around know-it-all) said, "has had everything!" It was the most exciting 4-3 game I have ever seen, and a great All Star weekend all around. It will be sad to see old Yankee go down, but new Yankee Stadium looks a great deal alike, and will have to offer 21st century amenities for over $1 Billion.

NBA
In Denver today, Marcus Camby's reign as the best defender, and one of the most feared Centers in the league ended as he was traded to the Clippers for a future 2nd round pick.
I understand the Nuggets had to drop salary, which they did partially by trading Eddie Najera away, and Camby was to make around $10 Million next season. Yet, did they have to get absolutely nothing in return?
I mean at around $10 Million, Camby has a tradable salary, even though he is aging and has been injury riddled in the past. Although, he started many of the games the past 2 seasons, playing in 70 in 06-07.
The last person selected by the Nuggets in the draft was Leon Powe, in the 2nd round. He is actually in the league, we dropped him and the Celtics picked him up. Karl didn't think he could play, but somehow he found minutes on the World Champion Celtics during the season.
We draft horribly, and a second round pick in the NBA is basically worthless.
The problem is, Camby and Najera are easy answers to dropping salary, compared to other options. A.I. decided to stick with the team for the final year of his over $20 Million contract. K-Mart has a ridiculously high salary(thanks to the Nuggets "cough" friend Kiki Vandewege) and has been more than injury riddled, has poor work ethic, and a bad attitude towards coaches and players. Although, he had his best season last year as a Nugget, surprisingly.
Kiki by the way also drafted huge bust Nikoli uh...Ski-tish-vee-lee is the phonetic way to spell it, and recently tried to steal Carmelo from the Nuggets in a trade for Richard Jefferson. Nene was payed a huge amount of money by the Nuggets via Kiki(when he was the GM). Nene, although a rising talent, has already had a major surgery on a knee and is currently undergoing chemotherapy for cancer that was found. Nene was also drafted in front of Amare Stoudemire, the NBA All Star, and backup center for the USA Men's Olympic Team. Well he was until he pulled out due to an injury.
Carmelo is about the only other option to drop money, yet I would have hated it if he were traded. Basically, Stan "The BIG Man" Kroenke, owner of the AVS, Nuggets, Pepsi Center etc., was not about to pay another $50 Million to the league for being $25 Million over the salary cap. After all, the Nuggets were only the 8th best team in the West this year, even though their record was an impressive 50-32.
All in all, a sad day in national (league) and local sports history. Old Yankee is almost closed after being open 85 years, and Marcus "Cambles soup" Camby leaves the Nuggets.