Armchair Weekend in Review (July 27-29, 2007)

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by JB82

A good deal to get to this week, so let's get to it...

MLB Highlights

Barry Bonds got himself within spitting distance of Hank Aaron's home run record, hitting his 754th in his first at-bat Friday night in a 12-10 slugfest against the Florida Marlins. The San Francisco Giants slugger hit the tater off Marlins pitcher (and Dutchman) Rick Vanden Hurk.

If Sunday were a story, it would be Jason Jennings' Terrible No-Good Horrible Day. The Houston Astros pitcher gave up an eye-popping 11 runs – 11 RUNS, JERRY!! – in the first inning alone. This did not bode well for the Astros, who scored as many runs in a 18-11 shootout against the San Diego Padres. Jennings lasted only 2/3 of an inning, much shorter than opposing pitcher Tim Stauffer. The graduate of Saratoga Central Catholic High School in good ol' Saratoga Springs, NY (AWIR World Headquarters) last three innings longer, contributing to Jennings' early demise in the process.

While all this was going on, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn got their tickets cashed to the (US) National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. How great were these two players in the eyes of baseball fans? One need only look at the attendance; there was a record crowd of about 70,000 at the ceremony. Also honored where Kansas City Royals broadcaster Denny Matthews and St. Louis sportswriter Rick Hummel.

Speaking of attendance, if you think the football-esque crowd in upstate NY was huge, how about the crowds at the ballpark on Saturday? If you added up every MLB attendance figure from each game played (including two doubleheaders), there was a grand total of over 700,000 seats filled. This surpassed the previous Saturday for the biggest one-day attendance figure in MLB history.

Opening Weekend at the Spa

For the first Saturday at Saratoga Race Course, the Breeder's Cup folks decided to put in a competition that reeked of March Madness. It was decided that the winners of all four of Saturday's stakes races would automatically move on to the Breeder's Cup World Championships in their respective divisions. Thus, the last weekend of October at Monmouth Park in New Jersey will see Lawyer Ron (Whitney Handicap); Ginger Punch (Go For Wand), My Typhoon (Diana Handicap), and Diabolical (Vanderbilt Handicap) in the field.

Also, Street Sense, the 2007 Belmont winner, took Sunday's Jim Dandy Stakes.

Take off, eh?

On to the Great White North and a lead-off historic happening in Manitoba.

Milt Stegall ended his quest to become the CFL's Jerry Rice. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers slotback scored two touchdowns to hold the undisputed TD record, now at 139 and hopefully more. BTW, the Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 36-18, thanks to Stegall's eight catches and 140 yards receiving.

Ricky Ray had a subpar performance, by his standards. The Edmonton Eskimos quarterback threw for 199 yards and completed 199 yards, as well as getting only one touchdown and three interceptions in a 54-14 whooping at the hands of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Meanwhile out west, the British Columbia Lions were engaged in a shootout with the host Calgary Stampeders, coming out the winner 32-27. All this despite Henry Burris' 423 yards passing and two touchdowns. The Stamps' QB also scored on the ground, with 52 yards on nine carries.

Fast Track + Odds and Sods = Crazy Delicious

Tony Stewart's crew got to imitate Helio Castroneves after winning the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard (Indianapolis Motor Speedway). Meanwhile, in California, Robert Doombos won the ChampCar World Series event at San Jose.

Kudos to the San Jose SaberCats, who won ArenaBowl XXI 55-33 over the Columbus Destroyers. Cats QB Mark Grieb was the offensive MVP, going 24-29 with 218 yards and four touchdowns. His defensive coutnerpart, Omarr Smith had nine tackles in the game.

Same to Iraq's soccer team, who gave their war-torn country a big emotional boost with a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia in the Asian Cup.

A disgraced Tour de France finally came to an end on Sunday with Spaniard Alberto Contador the winner. American Levi Leipheimer finished third on the podium at a Tour grossly overshadowed by doping scandal upon doping scandal.

Speaking of trouble, Michael Vick continues to be mired in it. The latest defection is trading card maker Upper Deck, who announced that there will be no Vick cards in the upcoming season's NFL sets.