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Tuesday’s Best - That Thing You Do!

5. The Ghost of Al Capone - When NBA players Eddy Curry and Antoine Walker were robbed at gunpoint in their Chicago homes last summer, authorities determined that the two incidents were targeted attacks on professional athletes. Further proving that organized crime is more dangerous than disorganized crime, Steelers rookie Rashard Mendenhall was held up along the Chicago lakefront Monday morning. The former Illini was unharmed, but lost his cell phone and wallet in the altercation. With minicamp and OTAs on the horizon, Pittsburgh is hoping their first-round pick can shake of this incident and form a powerful backfield with Fast Willie Parker. But as long as he doesn’t go crazy and reenact the opening scene from “The Last Boy Scout”, Mendenhall should be in good shape.

4. The Houston Astronauts – Considered an afterthought in the NL Central, the Astros have quietly put together a solid start to the season. Off the strength of a 5-for-5, 4 run game by Lance Berkman, Houston won their fourth straight to post a winning record for the first time all season. With their main competition coming in the form of Chicago’s loveable losers and St. Louis’ hateable halfwits, Cecil Cooper has a decent shot at turning this team around.

Though most of the off-season trade talk centered around Detroit’s acquisitions, it should be noted that Houston gave up several young prospects for closer Jose Valverde and shortstop Miguel Tejada. And though Miguel doesn’t have as many seasons left in him as they first thought, a .344 batting average is something fans of all ages can enjoy.

3. Players Jordan Passed To – Though Steve Kerr was a terrific player for the Arizona Wildcats, he will always be remembered for hitting a game-winning shot in Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals. Now GM of the Suns, Kerr has given head coach Mike D’Antoni permission to speak with other teams regarding their coaching vacancies. Mike D has been in close contact with Chicago Bulls GM John Paxson, whose jumper in the ’93 Finals gave the Bulls their first three-peat.

For a team in need of an identity, D’Antoni would be a great fit for the Bulls. Former coach Scott Skiles wore out his welcome with most of his players, as his strict rules created problems among rookies and veterans alike. With the Suns setting in Phoenix, now might be the right time for D’Antoni to bolt for Chi town. That is, unless some team hires Jud Buechler.

2. Awful Basketball – In a game that will surely be lauded for both teams’ defensive effort, Boston defeated Cleveland 76-72. But more accurately, the Celtics were four points less awful offensively. In fact, Boston had two shot clock violations in the final four minutes. I guess they really wanted to get back on defense.

Though the Celtics held LeBron James to a mere 12 points, he still managed to come within one rebound and one assist of a triple-double. However, he did record a very interesting double-double: 16 missed field goals and 10 turnovers. But in dissecting the box score, the most glaring stat is that for the first time since his rookie season eleven seasons ago, Ray Allen did not score a single point. Coincidentally, the Celtics are 1-0 in games like this. Ride the pine, Shuttlesworth!

1. One-Hit Wonders – Scott Olsen was one out away from a complete game shutout, Carlos Zambrano didn’t allow a base runner past second, and Tim Wakefield pitched eight scoreless innings against Detroit. But none of these pitchers were able to accomplish what the 25-year-old Gavin Floyd did: allow the opposing team to score. Despite an unearned run, Pretty Boy Floyd was two outs from no-hitting Minnesota until Joe Mauer laced a double to the left-center gap. This is Floyd’s second near no-no of the season, as he carried a no-hitter through 7 1/3 against the Tigers four starts ago. At this rate, it seems pretty obvious that Gavin’s final start of the season is going to end with him pitching 15 1/3 innings of no-hit ball.

This performance comes a few days after manager Ozzie Guillen’s profanity-laced tirade against White Sox critics. I guess motivation comes in all forms, you stupid $#^@.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 9:53 pm and is filed under Today's Best, MLB, NBA, NFL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.