Sammy, Big Mac, Barroids, and.....the HOF????

So here we sit, 11 years after the great "Home Run Race" of 1998 between the Cardinals' Mark McGwire and the Cubs' Sammy Sosa. Many said they rescued baseball. We saw the two muscle-bound sluggers on the cover of Sports Illustrated, named "Sportsmen of the Year." We all bought into it too, didn't we?? Come on, admit it. You were as captivated as the next guy as to when the next 400 foot missile would land in the bleachers at Wrigley, or the grassy knoll in center field at the old Busch Stadium. And that's okay.
But knowing what we do now, and that's a lot but still probably not everything, what are your feelings on guys like Sosa, McGwire, Bonds, Palmeiro, Rodriguez(both Alex and Ivan), Ramirez, and Sheffield being inducted into baseball immortality with a plaque in Cooperstown? Some claim that the Hall of Fame should introduce a "steroids wing" that gives said players their just due for the accomplishments, but notes that they did indeed play under suspicion in the "steroid era."
I tend to lean the other way. Cheating is cheating, even if it wasn't technically illegal when most of the dirty work was done. These guys shouldn't sniff the hallowed halls of Cooperstown. But then we run into a quandary. What about Barry Bonds? He took steroids, or the cream, or the clear, or flax seed oil, or B-12 shots, or whatever the drug of the week was at the local gym.....but was Barry Bonds a Hall of Fame player BEFORE his head swelled and temper flared a little more frequently than usual? That's kind of a tough one.
Please give us your opinion. It seems to be the story that won't go away, but no one seems to have the right answer. Care to give your two cents? Please leave your comments in the section provided below. As always, thanks for reading!!

One Month Down....Five to Go!!!!

Well baseball fans, the month of April is in our rear view mirror, and we have some surprises regarding the "Holy Trinity" of baseball favorites in this neck of the woods. The St. Louis Cardinals, predicted by many baseball "experts" to finish anywhere from second to fifth in the head-scratching NL Central are on top of the mountain in first place, while the darling of the division the past two seasons, the Chicago Cubs are finally starting to play respectable ball after a tough start.
As for the White Sox, meh. They're right where we thought they might be. As former Arizona Cardinals head coach Dennis Green so eloquently put it two years ago, "The White Sox, er Bears, are who we thought they were!!!" Up and down starting pitching, and an aging lineup that isn't getting much from the youngsters on the roster currently has the Second City's second team floundering around the .500 mark.
So my question to you, Mr. Baseball fan, is how do you think the Cards, Cubbies, and Pale Hose will play over the next five months? Can the Cards keep it up? Will the Cubs eventually kick it into high gear and take the divison for a third consecutive season? Will Ozzie Guillen's head explode? The answers to these age old mysteries and more lie deep within your own internal baseball "expert." Let myself and WGCY listeners know your OBJECTIVE feelings in the comment section provided below, and we'll discuss them on the morning sports report at 7:30 weekdays. Thanks for reading!!

The "TOURNEY" Returns!!!!

It's mid-January prep basketball fans, and in these here parts, that means just one thing and one thing only.....it's McLean County Tournament time!!!! Yes indeed, one of the longest running high school basketball tourney's in the state, and you gotta think the country, is back and ready for another fun run of hoops action beginning Saturday the 17th. There's some controversy as to whether or not the tourney has been re-named as the "Heart of Illinois Conference/McLean County Tournament," or if it's still just the "McLean County Tournament." Ask any old-timer or WGCY announcer from the rural Colfax area, and you'll get a resounding answer in quick fashion.
In case you didn't know, this is the 99th edition of the tournament in one shape or another. Yes, it seems as if Dr. Naismith himself could have attended the inaugural event, it's been around that long. There's been a great number of different schools, under one name or another, through the years that have taken part in the hoops extravaganza. In this year's edition, there are a total of 26 teams taking to the hard court. All 13 schools from the Heart of Illinois Conference will send both their boy's and girl's teams. To some of the tourney traditionalists, I'm sure it's a little disheartening to see it become, in effect, the H.O.I.C. Tournament. Only Ridgeview, LeRoy, Tri-Valley, Heyworth, and Blue Ridge high schools are located in McLean Co.
Representatives from Champaign, Ford, Woodford, and Livingston counties all will take part this season.
My question to you, the basketball junky is this, "What great memories of the McLean County Tournament do you possess?" Or, "What does this McLean County Tournament mean to you?" Leave your thoughts in the comment section provided below. We'll read them this Saturday or next Saturday, the 24th on our "Speaking of Sports" program at 9:06.

The Lions and Thanksgiving.....Enough is Enough??

More of a question here today rather than random thoughts. The Detroit Lions, one of the more inept and pathetic professional sports franchise's there is......enough is enough of watching them on Thanksgiving? I know how I feel about it. Let me know how you feel. Should the NFL pick another team to take Detroit's place on Turkey Day, rotate the spot every year between all 30 teams, or leave it as is? Leave your comments below. Happy Holidays!!!

Gotta Love the Friday Night Lights!!

Hey sports fans!!(football fans in particular) Is there a more exciting time of year than right now? The NFL is a week deep, the college and high school football seasons are in full swing, and even the pee-wee's are running up and down the gridiron. It truly is a lot of fun to bundle up with a sweatshirt, maybe a pair of gloves, and that old blanket at a good ol' fashioned football game....wherever it may be.
Sure, the NFL and college football are great. In my opinion, they both feature the greatest athletes in the world. Where else can you find a 6' 5" 350 lb. lineman run a 4.9 40? There's nothing like a Saturday at Memorial Stadium, or a Sunday gathered around the tube with friends watching the Bears or Packers. But for my money, you get to see the game in it's purest form on Friday night at your local high school field. You can argue that there are kids out there playing for a scholarship(nothing wrong with that by the way)but for the most part, they're there because they love to play. No shoe contracts are on the line, no bonuses available if your tailback reaches 1,000 yards. Just pure, unadulterated love of the game.
As we reach the third week already of the 2008 high school football season, I encourage you to spend a Friday evening taking one in. It's cheap entertainment for the whole family. You could do a lot worse than becoming part of the "community party" that goes on each and every week during the fall. I know here in Gibson City as well as in Melvin and Sibley, the entire towns have gotten involved. Whether it's their support of the booster club, a sponsorship for our broadcasts here on WGCY, spending money for an ad in the program, or offering breakfast for half off on Saturday mornings to the players, it's nice to see the local merchants get behind our kids. And I'm confident it's the same way in other small towns all over our country.
It really does become a source of city pride to see your kids go out, and win or lose, give their best effort. We've been extremely fortunate here at GCMS to have quite a successful run in the past 5-6 years. Coach Mike Allen and his staff have done an absolutely tremendous job at resurrecting football on the north end of town. They'd tell you about all the hard work and sacrifice by the student-athletes that have ultimately led to the winning ways. Coach Allen would probably express that first and foremost, the support of the community and it's citizens are just as integral.
So when you get off work Friday night, finish dinner, and get the kids settled in after another school day, why not load up the family mini-van and take in a game in Downs, LeRoy, Fairbury, Paxton, Gibson City, or one of the other small hamlets in Central Illinois? Become part of something special....I think you'll enjoy it.

"Thanks a lot Ozzie...."

Here we are just three weeks away from the annual mid-season classic a.k.a. the All-Star game, it's mid-June, and the Cubs, Cards, and White Sox are all very much in contention. Currently, the Cubs sit in first place in the National League Central division, 4.5 games ahead of the second place Cardinals. The North-Sider's have the best record in baseball, are 32-8 at Wrigley Field, and have won 14 straight at the Friendly Confines. And all of this without leading home run hitter Alfonso Soriano and ace pitcher Carlos Zambrano. So yeah, life is good if you're a Cubbie fan.
So why oh why are so many Cubs fans like myself a little upset right now? The bane of our existence looks a lot like a former shortstop who played about ten miles to the south of Wrigleyville....and his name? It's Ozzie Guillen. What. A. Classless. Piece. Of. Trash. There, I said it. What a classless organization for that matter. From GM Ken Williams, to young lefty hurler John Danks. They clearly showed that the "little brother syndrome" they've been diagnosed with year after year has obviously flared up.
Look, we all know Wrigley Field is old....really old. It was built in 1914. So there are some uncomfortable amenities that one has to endure in order to enjoy a day out at the old ballpark, we've all known this for a long time. It's nothing new. There aren't enough bathrooms, the seats are small, the food really isn't anything superb, there's no where to park, and the underbelly looks like something out of "I Am Legend." But it's also a baseball mecca, a fabulous place to watch hardball. From the ivy, to the rooftops, the bleachers, neighborhood watering holes, and day baseball, there's no park more picturesque or as fun to watch a game in. So why did "The Blizzard of Oz, as one Chicago newspaper columnist so aptly named him, feel the need to open his big trap up? Why did John Danks feel the need to say the place "smells like urine?" Monkey see, monkey do I say.
When outspoken GM Ken Williams told a Sun-Times reporter a week ago that he'd have to be very hard up to take a job with the Cubs, and felt compelled to say "happy anniversary" to Cubs fans regarding a certain drought at Clark and Addision...he basically set the tone for the weekend.
Guillen and Danks took it and ran with it from there. Again, NO class from the south-side. Seriously, what's the deal with the Napoleon complex the White Sox suffer from? After 100 years in Chicago, they still haven't come to grips with the fact that no matter how many World Series titles they win, no matter how new their stadium is, no matter how big a loud-mouth their field general is, the will never, never, never be the number one team in the Windy City. Is it fair? Maybe not. Is it reality? You betcha.
And what's the best way to shut the opposition up? You can try and retort with your wittiest comment. You can get in a battle of words through the media. Or you can go out and sweep their sorry butts on the field of play. Uncle Lou didn't respond. Jim Hendry didn't respond, and young Eric Patterson only responded with five hits in two games. Aramis Ramirez let his bat do the talking, clubbing four homer's and knocking in eight runs. Does bulletin board material exist in baseball? Not sure if it works like it does in basketball and on the gridiron. It might. Ask the White Sox.

And they, like Rodney Dangerfield, wonder why they "can't get no respect."

Ahhh, the Memories...

Hey everyone! My apologies for a lack of updates to "Notes From The Pressbox." Really no excuses, just had a tough time thinking of something relevant to ramble on about as far as sports are concerned. So I thought I'd ask for your thoughts or favorite recollections of sports. Whether it be baseball, football, racing, basketball, tennis, golf, etc....what memory brings a smile to your face whenever you think about it?

It could be a game you attended, played in, watched on TV, whatever. Just write a little diddy and let us know about it in the comment section provided below. As for mine, it's a tie between watching my beloved Bulls and MJ in the 90's win year after year after year. As a fan of Chicago sports, all the success on the court by the Bulls wasn't really something I was too accustomed to. Right up there, it's got to be the 2003 Major League playoffs with my Cubbies. Now I know what you're thinking, only a Cubs fan would have a fond memory of LOSING, but despite the end result, that was a fun, fun time to be a Cubs fan. Hey, it was uncharted territory, again, something I'm not too accustomed to as a Cubs backer.

Again, a comment section is provided below, let us know about your favorite sports memory. Thanks again for reading.