Sports roundup

Baseball, Morneau, Thomas, Boxing & O.J.

By Edward Zawadzki

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Big congratulations going out to Canadian Justin Morneau who was chosen as the American League MVP for the 2006 season the other day. The 25-year-old, hard-hitting first baseman had an outstanding breakout year hitting an impressive 34 round trippers and 130RBIs while batting.321 in helping his Minnesota Twins to top spot in the ALs Central Division. Morneau also proved that he was a player of heart and courage by bouncing back so impressively from serious injuries in the 2005 season, which limited both his playing time and accomplishments. To make this win so much more impressive was the competition that the young Canadian had to face for the prestigious title such as Derek Jeter of the Yankees and the ‘Big Hurt’ Frank Thomas, who just signed a deal for our Blue Jays.

I’m going to love to see Frank Thomas suiting up for the Jays this season. One of the best power hitters to ever play the game, Thomas is also one of the most intimidating players to face for opposing pitchers. Standing in at 6-foot-5 and at least 275 lbs., Thomas can put the fear of God into an opposing team before the first pitch is ever thrown. Currently standing with a major league 487 homeruns in his stellar career, it will defiantly be a thrill to see him hit his 500th this season as a member of the Blue Jays. Speaking of the Jays with players like Alex Rios, Overbay, Glaus, Vernon Wells and now the ‘Big Hurt’ on their roster, is there a better hitting lineup in the American League?

I am so relieved that Regan Publishing and Fox Television have cancelled the profitable payoff of slime sucking scumbag OJ Simpson and his supposed quasi autobiographical portrayal on how he might have viciously killed his wife, the mother of his children and an innocent acquaintance 14 years ago in one of the most publicized fiascos of a trial of the last century. Simpson, who was to be reportedly paid 3.5 million dollars for this ‘piece of fiction’ will have to go back to hustling golf and living well on his Florida real estate holdings and NFL pension--which by the way cannot be seized under the law to pay for the multi-million dollar judgment that was awarded to the family of murder victim Ronald Goldman. Only one ray of light remains in this sad and tragic story and that is that somewhere and someday someone will truly take Simpson to task for what he did and only then will the Goldmans get true justice for their pain and loss.

So it looks like big Vitali ”Chicken Kiev" Klitzchko is pondering a return to the squared circle to again challenge for the ring supremacy of a division full of what could best be described as living breathing models for the Aylmer’s Tomato Can Corporation. The 6-foot-8 Ukrainian retired a few years back citing injuries instead of facing rapidly fading but still hard-hitting American heavyweight Haseem Rahman a few years back, a bout that he pulled out of no less than three times. It seems that all that would satisfy him is that he wants both he and his brother and current WBO champ Wladimer to win all the major heavyweight titles and prove to the world that the Klitzchkos reign supreme on the planet. These guys are certainly full of themselves, but it sure should be interesting to see what Shannon Brigs or the likes of also retired, former heavyweight king Lennox Lewis have to say and bring to the table on the matter. When the dust clears from these anticipated potential battles, I fully expect to see a couple of stiff, oversized cold pierogis being swept up off of the ring mat.

It certainly has been a terrific couple of weeks for Canadian pugilists on the international scene with Toronto-based featherweight Steve Molitor winning the IBF title by impressively knocking out Michael Hunter of the UK in the latter’s home turf of Hartlepool, England by 5th round KO. I understand that James Jardine and Allen Tremblay, Molitor’s managers and promoters are looking for a series of fights here in Canada for their newly crowned world champion. A word of advice to the hardworking team: set up a nice deal in both Montreal and the Niagara Falls casino to showcase your boy’s talents and stay away from Toronto where the sports fans’ apathetic nature towards boxing wouldn’t be beneficial to the selling and marketing of a world champ.

Also congratulations to native Montrealer George St. Pierre, who last weekend dominated UFC welterwerweight champion Matt Hughes to win the belt in the much anticipated pay per view UFC 65 “Bad Intentions” in Sacramento, California. It is completely amazing how this sport has grown in leaps and bounds since its inception on the world stage just a little more than a decade ago. Congratulations to not only the talented and highly respected new champ but to the entire UFC who have marketed their sport in such a brilliant way. It truly is a shame that this exciting growing brand of pugilism is not given a chance to showcase itself here in Ontario because of the shortsightedness of the increasingly archaic Ontario Athletic Commission, which will not allow mixed martial arts in the jurisdiction.

Also kudos to the hardworking people at Stele Productions, who last weekend put together a terrific fight show at the PowerAde Centre in Brampton, Ontario. The show, which featured Orangeville, Ontario’s Byron Mackie decision over Manitoba’s own Larry Sharpe in an exciting 10-round match up drew in several thousand people which is a true testament to the work, integrity and `stick-to-itness of the promoters that have to face less than ideal of friendly conditions from the local Athletic Commission.cf

Until Next Time.

Copyright@ Edward Zawadzki All rights reserved

Reprinted with permission