Got a good laugh from USA Today recently. Under the heading of "Realignment
plan cost Vincent job", Chuck Johnson proves why we need to keep on top of
the press, who are sometimes fast and loose with their facts. In the article,
Johnson asserts:
"All he wanted to do was move the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals from
the Central to the East and send the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds from
the East to the Central."
"The Cubs sued, protesting the order."
Well, folks, the ONLY sentence that was correct in all that is the very last
one. Yes, the Cubs did sue BUT it was because they were to be moved from the
East to the WEST (St. Louis was being moved to the West with the Cubs. The
Braves and Reds were moving to the East. There was NO Central in Vincent's
plan).
There was truth in the article but that truth wasn't the events as Chuck
laid them out. In a couple of years, someone is going to repeat Johnson's
error and if repeated enough, people will think it's the truth.
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It was nice to see Rose and Perez on the same field. I think that we're
talking at least two ML firsts - the first time that two players from the
same team have had sons play for their old team AND play their old positions.
Of course, this puts the Roses at the top of the father-son lists for at bats
and hits.
                                   ****
Denver looks like they did last year, however, New England looks even better.
The Pats could end up in the Super Bowl AND believe it or not, end the NFC's
streak (I also see Jacksonville back in the championship game). The Packers
look like most typical champions in the year after. I wasn't impressed one
bit by their win against Chicago and wasn't surprised by their loss to Philly
(Philly hurt itself more than GB and that kick off return wasn't for a TD).
Minnesota is inspired by Green's desperate position. I think that it will
take AT LEAST one playoff win to save his job. Even though he's been a good
coach, his personal problems as well as those of his players added to the
Vikings' failures in the playoffs, have made it imperative that he win.
TB is proving that Dungy was screwed all those years and *could* open up a
spot for Sherman Lewis OR Emmitt Thomas, black coaches who deserved a look
last year. Tampa's probably a year away from being a serious contender.
                                   ****
I have to wonder, will Seattle try to get rid of Kemp and what team would be
willing to take him. New Jersey, who assert that Calipari and Jayson Williams
have kissed and made up, is a prime candidate. Golden State, with free agent
to be, Joe Smith, could be another and I'm sure that Philly would be thrilled
to swap Derrick Coleman. None of the other teams have a player that is going
to be able to score enough points so that Kemp's loss will be minimized (And
those that do will want to keep them).
--- TrekEd 1.00
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