Armchair Weekend in Review (June 30-July 2, 2006)
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by user JB82
Happy 4th of July weekend, everyone! And belated Canada Day greetings to our readers north of the border. Welcome to a special super-sized post-Canada Day pre-US Independence Day weekend edition of the AWIR.
Interleague finale
- As the dust settles on Major League Baseball's 2006 Interleague campaign, the American League blew the doors off the National League. Some further edification of that claim:
- The Boston Red Sox finished with a league best 16-2 record, polishing off the schedule by taking two of three from the Florida Marlins.
- The New York Yankees were in peril of losing the season series against their crosstown rivals, the New York Mets, for only the second time since interleague play began in '97. But thanks to a third-inning grand slam by – surprise! – Alex Rodriguez, the Yanks beat the Mets 17-7. Looked more like the New York Giants beating the New York Jets on a first-quarter pass from Eli Manning to, let's say, Plaxico Burress.
- The last time both Chicago teams faced each other, Chicago Cubs catcher Michael Barrett slugged Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski and a wild melee ensued. On Saturday, at Wrigley Field, the only slugging was done by Pierzynski in the top of the 9th, and the only act of cruelty was done by the Wrigley faithful, when a mini-riot broke out shortly thereafter. Frustration being vented, I guess. The Cubs soon vented themselves with a 15-11 rout on Sunday.
We'll talk baseball some more in just a moment, but first...
2006 World Cup: Quarterfinals
- If you were a favorite this weekend in Germany, this was not your weekend.
- In the first match of the day, England played Portugal to a scoreless tie, only to have theirs sent back to Britain with their tail between their legs after losing in a shootout 3-1. The lone highlight was Wayne Rooney getting ye olde heave-ho after being encouraged by Cristiano Ronaldo to, as the Brits might say, give him one in the short bits (apologies to any English readers I may have put off.) Ronaldo (not to be confused with the Brazilian) and Rooney are still good chums, but it seemed as though they were anything but in their quarterfinal match.
- The following day, a stunning annoucement came: David Beckham stepped down as captain of the English nationals. It is unknown who will succeed Beckham; some signs point to Chelsea captain John Terry. We do know that Steve McClaren will head the team in the coming years, succeeding Sven-Göran Eriksson.
- All of Brazil was crying in their Cuervo Gold (I know it's a Mexican drink; so sue me) when Thierry Henry scored the lone goal in France's win over the Selecçião. Meanwhile, all of La Belle France partied like it was 1998 all over again.
MLB All-Star Rosters Announced
- I would be absolutely remiss (not to mention unpatriotic) if I did not mention that the rosters for the 2006 MLB All-Star Game were announced. First, the American League:
American League
Catchers
Infielders
- First Basemen
- David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
- Paul Konerko and Jim Thome, Chicago White Sox
- Second Basemen
- Mark Loretta, Boston Red Sox
- Third Basemen
- Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
- Shortstops
- Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
- Miguel Tejada, Baltimore Orioles; Michael Young, Texas Rangers
Outfielders
- Vladimir Guerrero, Los Angeles Angels; Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox; Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners
- Jermaine Dye, Chicago White Sox; Alex Rios, Toronto Blue Jays1; Gary Matthews, Jr., Texas Rangers2; Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians; Vernon Wells, Texas Rangers
Pitchers
- Starters
- Mark Buehrle and Jose Contreras, Chicago White Sox; Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays; Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Devil Rays; Mark Redman, Kansas City Royals; Kenny Rogers, Detroit Tigers; Johan Santana, Minnesota Twins; Barry Zito, Oakland Athletics
- Relievers
- Bobby Jenks, Chicago White Sox; Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox; Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees; B.J. Ryan, Toronto Blue Jays
- Francisco Liriano, Minnesota Twins; Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers
National League
Catchers
Infielders
- First Basemen
- Second Baseman
- Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
- Third Basemen
- David Wright, New York Mets
- Miguel Cabrera, Florida Marlins; Scott Rolen, St. Louis Cardinals; Freddy Sanchez, Pittsburgh Pirates
- Shortstops
- Jose Reyes, New York Mets
- Edgar Renteria, St. Louis Cardinals
Outfield
- Jason Bay, Pittsburgh Pirates; Carlos Beltran, NY Mets; Alfonso Soriano, Washington Nationals
- Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies; Andruw Jones, Atlanta Braves; Carlos Lee, Milwaukee Brewers
- Bobby Abreu, Philadelphia Phillies
- Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies; Andruw Jones, Atlanta Braves; Carlos Lee, Milwaukee Brewers
Pitchers
- Starters
- Bronson Arroyo, Cincinnati Reds; Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals; Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez, NY Mets; Jason Schmidt, San Francisco Giants; Brad Penny, LA Dodgers; Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks; Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs
- Relievers
- Brian Fuentes, Colorado Rockies; Tom Gordon, Philadelphia Phillies; Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres; Derrick Turnbow, Milwaukee Brewers
- Chris Capuano, Milwaukee Brewers; Billy Wagner, NY Mets; Chris Young, San Diego Padres
1. Originally selected but unable to play due to injury.
2. Replacement
Players in bold are Final Man candidates.
Football North of the Border
- How did this section get here, you ask. Well, I read the comments from last week, and one person, who shall remain nameless, complained that I did not put in a section dedicated to the Canadian Football League. Well, since this was Canada Day weekend in the Great White North, it would only be appropriate if I did.
- Good news and bad news for Toronto Argonauts running back Ricky Williams (yes, that Ricky Williams). The good news, he rushed 18 times for 97 yards and made his first entry into that super-sized end zone (and with no help from the hoochie <BADABING!>). Bad news, his Argonauts lost to the British Columbia Lions 26-19.
- Other games: The Calgary Stampeders came from behind to beat the Hamilton Tiger Cats 23-22 on a last-second field goal by kciker Sandro DeAngelis, while the Winnipeg Blue Bombers blew the doors off the defending Grey Cup champion Edmonton Eskimos 46-10.
- No action from both the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Montreal Alouettes. Everyone on both teams were probably up at their respective cabins.
- As you could see, Chris Berman ain't the only American who has a thing for the CFL.
Wimbledon: The End of an Era
- Andre Agassi has provided tennis fans with so many great moments at Wimbledon. It's a shame he bowed out like he did when early on, he showed flashes of his former, long-haired self. Now, with long locks and beard since shorn, he took his final leave of the All-England Club on Saturday, bowing out against Spaniard Rafael Nadal, 6-7, 2-6, 4-6.
- Meanwhile, the last Amerk, Andy Roddick was disptached by Scotsman Andrew Murray 7-6, 6-4, 6-4. Roddick got the last laugh, as the former was sent home to the Highlands by Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-4, 7-6. Baghdatis hails from the great tennis juggernaut of Cyprus, BTW.
- Sadly, there are neither any Amerks nor Brits left in the tourney. ;-(
Fast Track
- Normally, I'd put all this in Odds and Sods, but decided not to do it this week. Nor is there and Odds and Sods section this week (a decision I would soon regret; details inside). But fear not, for it will return next week.
- Tony Stewart did his Helio Castroneves impression for only the second time this year as he won the Pepsi 400 at Daytona on Saturday night. Doing himself one better, Stewart climbed all the way up to the flag stand, got the checkered flag, and then partied with the crowd before going off to Victory Lane.
- Speaking of "Spiderman," on the weekend Superman Returns grossed over 52 million USD, Castroneves' IRL IndyCar Series teammate Sam Hornish, Jr. won the Kansas Lottery 300 in Sunday.
- Last year's Formula 1 United States Grand Prix turned into a great debacle as only six cars competed due to an issue with tires. But, time healed all wounds this year as all 22 drivers were present and accounted for at Indianapolis. Michael Schumacher won the event in a time of 1:34:35.199.
Monday extra
- Annika Sorenstam held off all comers to win the U.S. Women's Open at Newport, RI. This was her first major win in a decade.
And finally...
Speedboat races at Madison, Indiana have been a tradition for decades. But there was an accident this past weekend that did not involve boats on the Ohio River. An automobile lost control on a nearby road. When all was said and done, the car went into the river and 11 people were injured. I was relieved to read that nobody was killed. Story from the Madison (Ind.) Courier
With that sordid episode in mind, that's all for this week. Until then, as always, let's all be good sports and let's all be careful with the fireworks this Fourth of July.
Date
Mon 07/03/06, 1:52 pm EST
