BY JOHN McALEAVEY | This week I’m offering up a Johnny Mac Six-Pack of nuggets from all over the sports world:
- This Sunday, the AFC and NFC Championship games will be played, and the Final 4 boast a Fantastic 4 of signal callers. Between the quartet, there are two Heisman Trophy winners (Cam Newton and Carson Palmer), and three who were chosen #1 overall in their year’s NFL’s Draft (Newton, Palmer and some guy named Peyton Manning). However, with my money on the line, I will take the QB that was drafted #199 (6th round) under center all day long, because he happens to be Tom Brady.
- I was flipping through the channels the other night and stumbled on the cult film, The Warriors. It chronicled tough gangs fighting for control of the mean streets of New York City. In the movie’s pivotal scene a rival gang taunts the Warriors by chanting over and over: “Warriors, come out to play, Warriors come out to play!” Well, they ultimately do, and wipe the streets with them. So, I started thinking, are there any NBA teams chanting: Warriors come out to play! The answer is no! Following Monday night’s annihilation of the Cavaliers, in Cleveland, Golden State is now 38-4. They have a very good chance of eclipsing the 95-96 Bulls NBA best regular season record of 72-10.
- Did you hear the big news coming out of the professional tennis world? Yes, there actually still is a professional tennis world, and no, it is not that Rafael Nadal and Venus Williams both lost in the first round of the Australian Open. Reports surfaced about players fixing matches and that betting syndicates in Russia and Italy, made a lot of money as a result. Can’t you just hear John McEnroe right now screaming: “You cannot be serious”!
- College basketball season is in full swing, and to this point, five different teams have reached #1 in the top 25 poll. That is because soon after reaching the pinnacle, they lost. North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan St., Kansas, and Oklahoma have all gone up, and then come down. Who will be next?
- One of my New Year’s resolutions was to try and follow the sport of hockey a little more…okay at all. So, here’s my first stab at a little NHL analysis: the Chicago Blackhawks are red hot! Last year’s Stanley Cup champions (winners of 12 in a row) are poised to defend their title even though they brought in a few new faces for this year’s team. Did you know that the last team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions was the 97-98 Detroit Red Wings? Me neither.
- For those of you frequent flyers here on My 2 Sense, you’ll know that music is a big part of who I am, and what I write about. That said, the Rock & Roll world has lost two giants this month. They were talents whose music was not only part of my formative years, but they touched my life personally in a way. You see, David Bowie and I share a birthday (January 8th), and Glenn Frey died from among other things, Rheumatoid Arthritis and pneumonia, two things that also contributed to my father passing this June. RIP gentlemen, and thank you for filling my iPod with hours of wonderful music!
And that is My 2 Sense for this week.
Photo: zurb.com
