Donations, Collisions, and Champions

Barry Bonds - fresh off his recent conviction of one count of obstruction of justice in his perjury trial - has offered to pay for the college education of the children of a San Francisco Giants fan who was severely beaten outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles back on March 31.  The single-father Giants fan has been in critical condition since the beating, and the support from the Giant fan base has spanned from monetary donations to hospital visits.

Barry Bonds is known for being a home run king and an alleged steroid user, 
but two children of a Giants fan will know him as a generous donor.

But not many people would have expected Barry Bonds to be a part of that support system.  Some may view Bonds' offer cynically by suggesting that he is trying to recoup some sort of positive public image by taking advantage of the situation, but I don't care who he is, what he may have done (or not done), or what you may think of him, you have to tip your hat to the all-time home run king* for what he has done for the fan's children.

Speaking of the Giants, their 2011 season was derailed this week as their star catcher, Buster Posey, could potentially miss the rest of the year with a broken leg after he was barreled over by Florida Marlin, Scott Cousins, in a physical play at the plate that can be seen here.  Since then, many baseball experts have debated whether Major League Baseball should change any rules that restrict such significant contact at the plate (what Cousins did was within the current rules) in order to protect rising stars such as Posey from injuries that can have long-term effects.  However, nothing will happen and no rules will be changed.  Why?  Because this isn't the first catcher to ever get hurt in a collision at the plate...and he unfortunately won't be the last.  A play at the plate is one of the most exciting plays in baseball, and if any rule changes are made then the game will suffer.  Should the NFL eliminate the sack (of a quarterback)?  Should the NHL eliminate hitting?  Should the NBA eliminate traveling?  Wait, ignore that last one.  If the catcher doesn't want to get hit, then he shouldn't block the plate.  Simple as that.  Sorry, Buster.  Get better soon!  Baseball needs you just as much as it needs plays at the plate.

Finally, an across-the-pond shout out to FC Barcelona who won the "Super Bowl" of soccer on Saturday by defeating Manchester United 3-1 in the Champions League Final.  Led by a fantastic performance by the greatest soccer player in the world, Lionel Messi (left), Barcelona staked their claim as one of the best teams ever with a dominant performance over the English champions.  I do not profess to be a soccer expert, but even I could tell by watching this match that FC Barcelona was by far the better squad with pinpoint passing and excellent execution of actual soccer "plays".  It was the 3rd Champions League Final win for Barcelona in 6 years.  Viva Espana!

Quick Hits #2

The first version of Quick Hits may have been too "basketball-heavy", but so is my life during the month of March so here are only a couple more March Madness-related items followed by some other noteworthy sports headlines:


Big L-"East":  The Big East Conference set a record this year with 11 teams in its 16-team conference getting invited to the 68-team tournament.  The Big East snatched up 10 of the 37 "at-large" bids (27%), yet only 2 of the 11 teams remain in the tournament after 2 rounds of play - as many teams as the Big Ten, the Mountain West, and the City of Richmond, Virginia!

VCU is one of the two teams from
Richmond Virginia enjoying the "sweetness"
of the NCAA Tournament

How 'bout the City of Richmond?!:  2 of the 16 teams left in the NCAA tournament (VCU and Richmond) are from Richmond, Virginia.  The 11-seeded VCU Rams and the 12-seeded Richmond Spiders pulled off two consecutive upsets each this week.  Best known as the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War, it is now know as the capital of the Cinderella team.

The NB-Who?:  By the way, has there even been a single NBA highlight on SportsCenter during the past week? Apparently during March Madness people pay attention to the NBA just about as much as the NBA players pay attention to playing defense before the playoffs.

Mario Lemieux may now be regretting his
demands for higher punishment for physical
play after Cook's suspension.

Irony on Ice:  Last month, the owner of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, Mario Lemieux, lashed out at the NHL for what he perceived to be an insufficient amount of discipline and punishment following a brawl-filled game between his Penguins and the NY Islanders.  Last week, Lemieux proposed tougher suspensions for players that cross the line and inflict unnecessary roughness on other players during games - even suggesting that the teams be fined for the player's conduct.  This week, after elbowing an opponent in the head, one of Mario Lemieux's key players (Matt Cooke) was suspended for the remainder of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs.  Mario?  Any comment now?

Bonds on Trial:  The Barry Bonds perjury trial began on Monday in San Francisco.  You can read the riveting recap of Tuesday's proceedings of this century's "trial of the century" in California here.  Barry Bonds is on trial for perjury and obstruction of justice, charged with lying when he told a federal grand jury that he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs...or eat his teammates' garlic fries.  It's also interesting to note the list of Bonds' perjury trial jurors in the ESPN link above, which has led to the key question that everyone in this perjury trial wants to have answered:  "Juror 21, how exactly did you manage to become a retired cashier without committing perjury yourself or slipping at least a $100 bill in your pocket at the end of every shift?!"