tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-371824302024-08-30T09:14:04.250-07:00Discussion and Commentary on the World of Sports and the Culture Surrounding it.Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-73220773130073608372014-05-21T11:44:00.001-07:002014-05-21T11:45:44.971-07:00

With recent allegations coming out that players were given pain pills like candy before games on top of the recent Concussion Settlement of $765 Million, one has to wonder how much longer the NFL will continue to be able to function as they have in the past. The game of football played at the NFL level is a violent physical game played by young men who can reap incredible financial benefits and

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-17055346956576904642014-05-17T11:45:00.001-07:002014-05-17T11:48:15.471-07:00

The Preakness is set to be run again in Baltimore this afternoon. The wealthy and not so wealthy will descend upon Pimlico Race Course in Northwest Baltimore to watch the second of the Triple Crown races, with some hoping for immortality and riches, and others just looking for a good time being part of the spectacle. Having grown up about 10 miles from Pimlico Race Course, I am very familiar with

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-85231774321235361212014-05-16T09:26:00.000-07:002014-05-16T09:27:03.262-07:00

I've been watching and reading the talk concerning comments made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling in a telephone conversation he had with a lady friend/girlfriend/etc. While not touching on the legality of recording the telephone conversation, some of the actions and comments border on the ludicrous. While the NBA has fined the owner $2.5 million which he says that he is not going to pay, the

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-36452966602835673102012-05-07T09:29:00.000-07:002012-05-07T09:29:02.637-07:00

I watched the Kentucky Derby this weekend and as usual it was quite the spectacle. While the race itself was quite exciting, it only lasts about two minutes, but it is arguably the most exciting two minutes in Sports. More than just the race, it's everything leading up to it that makes the Kentucky Derby the Superbowl of horse racing. For all intents and purposes, the festivities surrounding the

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-92008008318816317172012-04-15T21:26:00.000-07:002012-04-15T21:26:59.262-07:00

In Sports, there are few things more compelling and fun to watch then a good rivalry between evenly matched competitors and teams. In boxing, you had Ali-Frazier. In tennis, one of the great rivalries was McEnroe-Connors. Golf had Nicklaus-Palmer and it's the same with team rivalries. In baseball, there's no rivalry that can match the drama of a Boston Red Sox- New York Yankees playoff series. In

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-76663009501396954132012-04-14T20:24:00.006-07:002012-04-14T20:57:50.015-07:00

If you're a hockey fan like me, it's the best time of the year, especially if the team you follow is in the playoffs. With the long regular season behind them, the teams in the playoffs play a seven game series, with the winners moving on to do it all over again in the next round. I have said it many times, that winning the Stanley Cup is the hardest championship to win in any team sport. The two

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-24645657614143559732012-04-12T10:09:00.002-07:002012-04-12T20:10:48.955-07:00

Growing up in a poor working glass White ghetto in Southwest Baltimore during the 60's, there were no trips to places such as Ocean City, Cape May, or any other place for my family and most of the families in the area. If we were lucky, we got to take a trip out to Gwynn Oak Park, an amusement park that was quite popular at the time. However, even though we didn't get to go anywhere during those

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-33053342585778930662012-04-11T06:43:00.001-07:002012-04-11T07:28:14.800-07:00

Growing up as a child, it used to be that one could tell the changing of the seasons in many ways. Like the seasons, we had our sports activity schedule and the way it worked was we would play baseball from March to September, then football up until the NFL championship game which was usually around the holidays, and afterwards we would play basketball until it was time for baseball again.

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-57248534933064999682012-04-10T17:57:00.009-07:002012-04-12T10:13:05.398-07:00

It was only a few years ago when just about everyone had penciled Tiger Woods in to break Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 career major victories. With Tiger having 14 Major victories at the tender age of 32, it was a foregone conclusion that it was just a matter of time before he broke Jack's record and claimed the mantle of the "Greatest Golfer" of all time. But that was before Tiger's little

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-73807719263074085272011-04-01T12:17:00.000-07:002011-04-01T12:17:28.483-07:00

Major league baseball opens their regular season today and in many places the weather will seem to be more suitable for a football game than baseball. The seasons have become so long in most sports that they end up playing in weather totally unsuited for the sport. For instance, baseball starts at the beginning of April and finishes up close to November; neither one of these times suitable for

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-72870493022399224102011-03-23T09:45:00.000-07:002011-03-23T20:28:00.359-07:00

The NFL made two rule changes that will impact the game in a significant way. The first, moving the ball up to the 35 yard line on kick-offs should not only help reduce injuries but should speed the game up a bit as there will be less kick-off returns which means that the officials won't have nearly as many opportunities to throw a flag for blocking in the back, which seems to occur on just

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-77526473103699097322011-03-18T09:22:00.000-07:002011-03-18T09:22:58.075-07:00

I have often heard it said in sports as well as life that "everybody loves a winner". Well, I would add as long as it doesn't come at your expense. For instance, The New York Yankees have been baseball's most recognized and storied organization and have been one of the most successful. The Yankees have a large following not only in New York but around the country as well. However, there are just

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-33181025246877400382011-03-17T09:26:00.000-07:002011-03-17T09:26:49.517-07:00

In an article on one of the sporting sites, the writer states that football fans may not be so forgiving this time if the NFL has a prolonged strike. My opinion.....hogwash! While fans may have a knashing of the teeth over an NFL strike, it's been shown time and time again that the fans will put up with just anything, and in the case of the NFL, it's such a product that's in demand that once the

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-35079137708331959032011-03-16T07:54:00.000-07:002011-03-17T07:46:04.180-07:00

It's March already, and that means it's time for the annual ritual known as "March Madness". This annual NCAA Basketball tournament that comprises 64...oops 66...oops 68 teams is a time where thousands if not millions of people across the country try to make like Nostradamus by picking the most winners in the NCAA brackets and thereby achieve bragging rights and most likely a nice sum of money

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-24142328314522180502011-03-14T09:33:00.000-07:002011-03-14T09:33:30.677-07:00

There's a headline on the front page of Sunday's Baltimore Sun entitled, "Already Missing Football?" and it shows a couple of fans sitting in the seats looking forlorn and completely lost. The article goes on to talk about how football fans in Baltimore are already feeling the effects of the NFL football lockout and how important football is to them and their life. For many fans, it's become a

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-87956310915445767192011-03-08T06:07:00.000-08:002011-03-08T06:15:11.947-08:00

While the recent revelation that Ohio State players have been selling memorabilia may have been a shock to some, for many it's just another 'yawn' story about some athletes trying to cash in on their talents on and off the field. In particular, football and basketball have become such huge moneymakers for the major universities that it's somewhat hypocritical for coaches and schools to be too

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-41084881533947841692011-03-05T06:39:00.000-08:002011-03-05T06:39:15.008-08:00

It's hard to get too upset about the pending NFL work stoppage. On one side you have a group of 30 owners trying to get a bigger cut of the billions generated by the NFL, and on the other you have a lowly group of millionaires trying to get a bigger share as well. The biggest issue for the fans and one of the most contentious is whether or not the NFL will be able to force the players to accept

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-76652342133270447412011-02-28T20:48:00.001-08:002011-02-28T21:03:42.917-08:00

Sports has become such a major factor in our lives, that for many of us, we judge the changing seasons not so much by the budding of new leaves or the changing color of the leaves in Fall, but instead use markers such as Spring training as a harbinger for the arrival of Spring, or the first regular season NFL games in September as the end of Summer and the beginning of the Fall season. In

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-81304805347272093642011-02-27T12:39:00.000-08:002011-02-27T13:05:11.082-08:00

A local Pittsburgh sportscaster was asked recently who made for a better locker room interview, NFL football or NHL hockey players? Without hesitation, he stated that hockey players by far made for the more intelligent and interesting interviews. Having listened to many football players after the game giving their analysis with a hundred or so "you know" in the course of a five minute interview,

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-87320315903599235792009-04-25T08:30:00.000-07:002009-04-27T06:29:48.673-07:00

Sports and CultureIt's that time of the year for America's "pastime" to once again take its place in the "Baseball, Apple Pie, and Chevrolet" part of American culture. Unfortunately, it looks as if only Apple Pie is going strong as Chevrolet is on the ropes and baseball seems to keep losing it's hold on Americans to NFL football, Nascar and other sports. While much of the fault lies in the

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-54242944795866669472009-04-01T20:12:00.000-07:002009-04-01T20:43:24.589-07:00

Sports and CultureI remember seeing a Rugby match for the first time down in Norfolk, Virginia. I was visiting my brother who happened to be in the Navy at the time, and as he was busy, I decided to take a walk in the park that was nearby. I happened to notice a bunch of burly guys playing a game that was unlike anything that I had seen before. Although it was a little like soccer, and somewhat

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-88454791625489919752009-03-28T10:04:00.000-07:002009-04-01T20:44:47.541-07:00

Sports and CultureI've known for quite a while that there's no corollary between athletic ability, character and maturity. In fact, when watching some of the antics of professional athletes it often seems as if we're watching overgrown children instead of mature adults. There are many reasons for this but much of it has to with the culture from where the athletes come from. The truth is that many

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-77474914258168966582009-03-24T05:56:00.000-07:002009-03-24T06:31:25.566-07:00

Before there was cable and ESPN, there was a program that used to come on every Saturday called ABC's Wide World of Sports that would feature sports and sport like activities from around the world. Some of the things I first remember seeing on Wide World of Sports programs were things like barrel jumping, demolition derby, rugby and many other unique activities that I couldn't begin to put a name

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-6429200648574380642009-03-22T19:23:00.001-07:002009-03-22T19:41:27.494-07:00

It's that time of the year again in this part of the world where the cycle of life begins anew as plants start to grow, birds build nests, and baseball returns. Opening Day is one of those rituals that a large part of the American population participates in, in various ways. For some, it means taking the day off from work(for those lucky enough to still be employed), and for others it's listening

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37182430.post-44918181084554306752008-07-31T05:41:00.000-07:002008-08-01T20:03:06.701-07:00

When I was a child, most of us were into collecting baseball cards. We would spend much of our allowance trying to get all of the cards and since each pack that you bought had different cards, you would wind up with numerous duplicates before getting the 'star' players. Sadly for most of us, our baseball card collection went by the wayside when we became teenagers and discovered other things...

Bill Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03435642340780372133noreply@blogger.com0