Knucklehead of the Week
San Jose Sharks goon Raffi Torres talked to the media last week for the first time since he was suspended 41 games for clobbering Anaheim’s Jakob Silfverberg in the noggin. In an exhibition game. The hit will cost Torres $440,860. “I’m disappointed in myself for kind of losing my head for a second there,” Torres told the San Jose Mercury News. It is the fifth suspension of Torres’ career. He won’t appeal it because he’s probably lucky the penalty wasn’t more severe.
The unbeaten Bengals are off today, which is fortunate considering all the recent distractions. Naked locker room footage, a cheerleader lawsuit settled. To complete this three-ring circus, I’m half expecting footage of Mike Brown doing the whip/nae nae to surface on social media.
I was nodding off Friday night when Lorenzo Cain woke me up. Cain's wild sprint from first base to home on a long single down the right-field line in the bottom of the eighth provided the winning run for Kansas City in the American League Championship Series. If you haven't seen it, find it. Incredible.
I’m picking the Royals to beat the Mets in the World Series for these reasons: Kansas City beat tougher teams to get this far, the long layoff will hurt the Mets, and there’s no way Big Apple homer machine Daniel Murphy can keep it going.
The NBA tips off this week and the hype that surrounded the Cavaliers and LeBron James a year ago has been replaced by hand-wringing. LeBron looks like an old 30; he hasn't even been knocked down yet and he's getting injections in his back. I hope his health returns (same with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love) but it looks like an uphill climb.
The OHSAA reportedly screwed up the rollout of its "competitive balance plan" because of software problems. The plan was approved in 2014, which means this process is taking about as long as the downtown makeover of I-75. If it is delayed for a year, some public school is going to get jobbed by a school that can recruit — and should be in a higher class.
Congratulations to Miamisburg on its dramatic 35-32 victory over Springboro on Friday night. What a scene for the final football game at ancient Harmon Field. Years from now, 20,000 Burg residents/alumni will claim they were there. The Vikings are 8-1 and appear to be heading to the playoffs.
Trending up: Mount Union, Wade Davis, Derrick Rose. The Purple Raiders — what a great nickname — blew out Wilmington on Saturday to run their regular-season winning streak to 100. One hundred! But they've done better. From 1994 to 2005, Mount Union won 110 straight, not counting playoff games. That's 210-1 in 211 outings.
Trending down: The U, Rick Pitino, Don Mattingly. Caught some of Clemson's 58-0 stomping of Miami. The Tigers embarrassed the Hurricanes and even knocked out QB Brad Kaaya with a two-man pass rush. Canes fans looking for something to cheer about (not many left) will have to settle for the constant ESPN 30-for-30 reruns.
About the Author