The Atlanta Braves opened a home stand against the struggling Washington Nationals and provided their fans with an abject performance. They gave up 4 home runs and meekly left the field 2-9 losers against a team who had lost their previous six games.
What made my blood boil was the string of inept excuses trolled out by the sycophantic Braves sports commentators. The Braves were caught up in New York with the prospect of Hurricane Irene hitting the Big Apple over the weekend. MLB officials decided to postpone two of three game series against the Mets allowing the Braves to “high tail” out of the town.
What’s this got to do with the loss to the Nats you may well ask. Well I will tell you if you give me a moment. Including the official off day the Braves were inactive for three days, and the sycophants claimed that the break had upset the regular routine of the pitchers. Having played over 130 games this season and with the playoffs in their sights one would assume they would welcome a rest.
The Braves offense faired little better, but another lame excuse was trotted out. The Nats’ wily veteran pitcher, Livian Hernandez was on the top of his game and was almost unhittable. I have lost count the number of times Hernandez has pitched against the Braves over his long career (four times this season) so he is not an unknown factor.
By the way, they lost to the Mets on Friday 0-6 which according to the spin doctors was due to the fact they were anxious to leave town and were mentally unprepared to play the game. Speaking of which Tottenham Hotspur’s melancholy midfield player, Luca Modric, asked his manager two hours before Saturday’s kick off if he could sit out the game. I make no apologies if my words are dripping in sarcasm. The poor (not in the financial sense) man has been the subject of much transfer speculation and wants to join Chelsea.
He claimed he was not in the right frame of mind to play, and judging on his inept performance resulting in his substitution after 60 minutes, he probably had a point. He certainly didn’t help Spurs’ cause losing 1-5 at home to Manchester City. I was convinced that was the last time I would see him in a Tottenham shirt, but the club’s Chairman rejected a reported 40 million pound offer from Chelsea at the transfer deadline. Personally I don’t subscribe to keeping disgruntled players and 40 million was a tremendous offer. .
On a brighter note, Spurs managed to unload quite a few underperforming dead weights at the transfer deadline including Crouch, Jenas, Bentley, Hutton and Palacios. Unfortunately, they were unable to find assisted living for Huddleston and Lennon. Swansea City meanwhile have failed to score one solitary goal in their first three games in the premiership. Danny Graham was signed for a club record fee from Watford to score goals, but has failed to deliver. He was the top goal scorer in the Championship last season with 24, but my son warned me about goal scorers in lower divisions struggling to make an impact in the premiership.
Apparently he hasn’t come to terms with his new environment as he is battling with a new language, (Cymru am Byth) inclement weather and all the temptations that Swansea night life has to offer. Meanwhile veteran defender Alan Tate broke his leg on a golf course when his driver (human and not the club of choice) lost control of their golf buggy and had an altercation with a tree. Details of the story have been carefully concealed and any mention of alcohol being involved is pure speculation. Needless to say he will miss 6 months of the season which could prove to be a blessing considering his deleterious performance in the season opener against Manchester City.
An article featuring sporting prima donnas would not be complete without reference to one Michael Vick; ex-Falcon, ex-con, and ex-dog killer. He is now weaving his web of trickery and smoking mirrors in Philadelphia, and the Eagles have just awarded him a bumper contract. Vick has gone from serving 18 months in Leavenworth to a six-year stretch worth $100 million. That certainly disproves F. Scott Fitzgerald’s theory that there are no second acts in America lives.
One could also discern that he went to the dogs and came back smelling of roses. He has also become the only athlete in sporting history to be awarded two $100 million contracts in a career. But as one old curmudgeon put it: there’s no substitute for class which he wouldn’t recognize even a rampaging line backer smacked him in the face with it.
Hey, we’re 15th in the league, above Arsenal and TOTTENHAM. We’ll take that at the end of the season!!!
It’s a long season sunshine!