Steven's Scattered Sentiments

It's been a while since I've given you all my opinion on the way things are going in the sports world. Since it's been such a long time, I'm going to address a few issues that I've been meaning to write about: Cliff Lee, Fantasy Football, and as of the other night, Prince Fielder. I'll start with Cliff Lee.

You'll notice that in one of my older posts, I called for the Phillies to do whatever it took to go after Blue Jays Ace Roy Halladay, even saying that if they had to give up Kyle Drabek and JA Happ that they should. However, at the same time, it was rumored that the Indians were asking for Drabek also, so I didn't even consider them an option. When it came out that they could have gotten Lee for the package that they ended up getting him for, I was amazed. They kept their most prized prospects in the system, while adding a Cy Young winner to the rotation. This deal is almost if not better than going out and getting Roy Halladay. Your playoff rotation right now comes out to: Lee, Hamels, Blanton, Happ, and that's quite possibly better than any top 4 they'll face. Add to that the fact that the Phillies have an absolutely lethal batting lineup, and you may be looking at a repeat as World Champions. Great move by Ruben Amaro Jr, if they win the title he should be sainted.

Fantasy Football: Once, Scott Van Pelt could be heard saying "If you play Fantasy Football, you should just put on your Darth Vader mask, and move into your mom's basement." Some people just don't get it. Fantasy Football is a way of friends to get together and challenging each other's managerial skills against one another in a format that was not always available for them to do so in. You're drafting a team, making week-to-week roster decisions, managing injuries, and at times even working under a salary cap. Not everyone gets to be a General Manager in the professional sports world, but Fantasy Football has allowed those who aren't a glimpse of what the GM's life is like. I will always love Fantasy Football, for the experience, for the camraderie it builds among friends, and for the fact that it promotes a venue for trash-talking beyond the field of play. It never gets old, no matter what Scott Van Pelt says.

Prince Fielder is an absolute disgrace to professional sports. Call it hyperbole all you want, but this was the biggest "hold me back" (for those of you who are unfamiliar with "hold me back moments," they are instances where any athlete or person picks a fight in which they know someone around them will try to stop them, never really going one on one, trying to appear tough, but truly showing shameless cowardice, instead,) moment I've ever seen. Is he really that much of a thick-headed twit, that he actually thought he'd be able to get past security into a room full of bats, cursing and screaming? Honestly? I don't expect all professional athletes to be rocket scientists, but I do expect a certain degree of dignity, and Prince Fielder shredded all of his that night, in one fell swoop. He knew he was going to be held back, he knew he wasn't getting to Guillermo Mota, and he should very well know, that if Bud Selig has a single fiber of honesty or integrity left in his body (and there's a very good chance he doesn't) that he'll be facing a suspension in the very near future.

I apologize for having waited this long to update, and promise another one before monday.