Some Assists

Quite a few noteworthy happenings in sports yesterday (6/25), so a quick recap of the best in each.

TENNIS: Djokovic slams Federer, saying that he himself, along with many others, are capable of taking down the FIVE-TIME defending Wimbledon champion. Then, he goes and gets crushed in straight sets. Hey, Novak, just keep your mouth shut next time when you’ve only gotten out of the first week of Wimbledon once.

HORSE-RACING: Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr. – aside from having a big mouth and prematurely crowning his horse before the Preakness – is facing a 15-day suspension for one of his horses, Salute the Count, having excess of a substance that increases lung capacity before the Kentucky Derby. Even if it wasn’t Big Brown, the last thing any sport needs is a drug scandal.

BASEBALL: Probably should be higher on the list, but Fresno State pulled off one of the greatest Cinderella stories in sports by winning the College World Series. (according to espn.com voters, it’s the second best cinderella winner) Major props to the so-cal team.

SOCCER: Turkey might be the only team in Euro history to provide three instant classic games in the same competition. Everyone knew not to write them off against Germany – the writers still took Joachim Low’s European juggernaut – and although the Germans won, the Turks gave such a great show, again. Semih Senturk, “the lifeguard”, has cracked my top 3 fave soccer players. Unfortunately, the whole world except for Switzerland missed two goals because of technical difficulties from a storm. Maybe UEFA should think about weather when they pick the next host.

BASKETBALL: Aside from Candace Parker dunking for the second game in a row (ok, so that was two days ago), Jermaine O’Neal is likely getting traded to the Raptors. Couldn’t be happier for the Pacers – I really loved them and it’s awful what has happened to that franchise since the brawl. If it can just get rid of Jamal Tinsley now, Indiana can finally move on.

Today, make sure to watch Spain-Russia in Euro 2008′s second semi-final. It promises to be real exciting. Also, check out the NBA draft. If you can get past the excess of Stephen A. Smith, the heckling of the New York fans is great. I will never forget the day the Knicks passed on Marcus Williams to draft Renaldo Balkman (Rondo was on the board too, but that wasn’t a real crime at the time). I think God made sure that Balkman wasn’t there to endure that reception. HILARIOUS, but sad.

It’s quiet in here

Not a lot going on here, so I’ll talk about what’s on my mind. The IRL racing at Texas is a disaster waiting to happen… no, a disaster that has happened. If you like watching danger in racing, watch tonight’s race – it’s the only track on the circuit that I actually worry about. I’ve thought this ever since Kenny Brack crashed here in 2003:

The crash reportedly measured over 200G’s, but miraculously Brack survived with a broken sternum, femur, back, and both ankles. The issue for tonight’s race is that there will be 28 cars – up from 20 last year – and many rookie/inexperienced drivers on the high-speed oval. Can’t really do anything but hope for the best.

Other topics:

Casino Drive, the closest challenger for Big Brown at the Belmont stakes, will not be racing with a hoof injury. Barring a disaster for Big Brown (they did draw inside rail, so you never know) I’d say that little stands between him and the Triple Crown.

Good news Matt Forte, you can expect to start for the Chicago Bears next season! Cedric Benson is a complete moron and is pretty bad anyway. The fact that Benson can’t lay off the alcohol while his NFL career is in peril is a complete joke, and I’d say the chances he sees another snap for the Bears just dropped dramatically.

I expect better, ESPN

There’s a poll on espn.com right now asking “Who has the toughest job to save his or her sport?” After about 4,000 votes the results are:

44% – Candace Parker

32% – Sidney Crosby

13% – Big Brown

10% – Danica Patrick

I’d say these results are mostly fair, although I don’t really understand the wording “save” the sport. In Candace’s case, yes, she will have a large part in “saving” the WNBA which has been viewed as a joke to most people and struggles to keep its head above water. However, the league is still expanding and I wouldn’t save its in any imminent danger – maybe it should be worded as “generating legitimate interest” in the sport. Sidney Crosby is a solid #2 because it will be difficult to raise the NHL to a sense of relevancy for the common sports fan, but does the NHL need saving? In a recent Harris Poll asking “If you could pick one sport as your favorite”, Hockey ranked higher than Pro Basketball, and the NBA is in fine shape. I believe it ranks higher because Hockey is more of a niche sport – I would guess that most NBA fans are also NFL fans or college ball fans, so because the poll only include your favorite, it ends up with a lower tally. This is not a bad thing for hockey because it means more hardcore fans – with a hardcore fan base, hockey doesn’t need “saving”. Likewise Big Brown isn’t going to “save” Horse Racing – It has its followers as it has seemingly forever and gets its share of coverage around Triple Crown time (although PETA might have other plans). Also, Danica Patrick goes under the “generating interest” column because unlike the other three on this poll, she isn’t at the top of her sport – and a sport that would be “saved” by open-wheel unification, not by one driver.

The real issue in my mind is that ESPN does not have enough respect/coverage of other sports beyond it’s “Big 3″ – football, baseball, basketball. Just because these sports aren’t given equal coverage time by ESPN, doesn’t mean they don’t have large, dedicated followings. What about the MLB? It’s embroiled in a scandal which taints the results of its games for over a decade, and by that Harris Poll has lost 8 percentage points in the last 20 years. Does it need “saving”? Probably not, because it still has a large following, but I could make a better argument for the MLB than for the NHL. Even the NBA has gone through a major “Post-Jordan depression” and has dropped from 13% to 4% in the last decade. Same argument applies.

The bottom line? As much as I love SportsCenter, its time for ESPN to stop snubbing other sports and earn the self-proclaimed title “Worldwide Leader in Sports”. Maybe better wording of polls such as these would be an easy way to get started.