Albert Pujols

                     

Click the image for a feature segment.

Manny being Manny

Drafted by Cleveland as the 13th overall pick of the 1991 draft Manny Ramirez has been said by teammates to be in his “own world” and “affably apathetic.” Born in the Dominican Republic and moving at a young age to the Washington Heights neighborhood of northern Manhattan, Manny is said to be of the top two players ever to come out of the New York City public school system. The other Sandy Koufax.     

            

The Manny stories are likened to those of Ricky Henderson. Stories sometimes funny, sometimes outrageous, sometimes maddening, but mostly just a misunderstanding. One of such stories occurred in 1997. Lore has it that Manny who is said to have two Social Security numbers and five active driver’s licenses managed to present none of said identification to the officer who pulled him over for driving with illegally tinted windows and a stereo blasting loud Latin music. “The cop knew who he was,” as Sheldon Ocker, the Indians beat reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal, tells it. “He said, ‘Manny, I’m going to give you a ticket.’ Manny says, ‘I don’t need any tickets, I can give you tickets,’ and reaches for the glove compartment. Then he leaves the scene by making an illegal U-turn and he gets another ticket.””

          

Today he retires from Major League Baseball as one of the greatest right-handed hitters to play the game. More here.

Brooms

On an 8th inning suicide squeeze and behind the arm of Fausto Carmona, the Cleveland Indians (4-2) defeated the Boston Red Sox (0-6) 1-0 to complete a three game sweep at Jacob’s Field this week.

              

The April 5, 2011 Minnesota Twins

Last night, the Minnesota Twins came back from a four-run deficit in the eighth to beat the New York Yankees 5-4 after ten innings of play. “And it’s even better because it’s not as much what the Twins did right, but what the Yankees did wrong.”

                

More here. Go Twins.

Popeye

No no.16 seed has ever beat a no. 1, but in 1991 Murray State took Michigan State to the wire. The Racers, lead by Popeye Jones (Two time Ohio Valley Player of the Year, and future Dallas Maverick), lost in overtime 74-71 to the Spartans in one of the most exciting first round could be bracket-busters to date.

                    

National Holiday

In Cincinnati where the Reds, baseball’s oldest club, play host; Opening day is a holiday.

1912 Opening Day Parade.

Mr. Smart

Shaka Smart (born April 8, 1977) is an American college basketball coach, and the current head coach of the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams men’s basketball program. Before accepting the job at VCU, Smart served as an assistant coach for the Akron Zips, Clemson Tigers and Florida Gators men’s basketball programs.

 Mr. Smart’s teams play a style of basketball known as “havoc.” Smart described his “havoc” defensive philosophy during his introductory press conference as, “We are going to wreak havoc on our opponent’s psyche and their plan of attack.” On the court, the “havoc” defensive mindset is visible through the heavy use of the full court press and pressing after made baskets to disrupt opponents’ timing of offensive sets. In his second season, VCU led the Colonial Athletic Association in steals. Offensively, Smart-coached teams play uptempo and push the ball after misses and makes with what Smart describes as “The freedom to make plays in the open court.

                                       

Shaka Smart, head coach of the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams.

While at Kenyon College in Ohio, Smart did extensive research on race consciousness and social issues and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in history. Smart received an NCAA postgraduate scholarship and earned a master’s degree in social science at California University of Pennsylvania. Smart developed a love for quotations at Kenyon College and began writing down quotes in a digital document that is now over 110 pages long.