Rants and Rambles
By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
June 13, 2003
It's time for yet another look at some of the odder things happening in the sports world brought to you by the diligent workers here at the R &R offices.
TREAT DAD RIGHT
According to our calculations Father's Day is right around the corner.
In fact, by our math it is a mere 48 hours away, depending on what time you are reading this column.
As a public services, we here at R &R would like to toss out of few gifts that can be purchased for that sports nut dad in your household.
Of course, the standards of favorite team's hats or jerseys are always nice or tickets to an upcoming game will bring a smile to pop's face.
But for those who want to go the extra mile, check out this spiffy little item brought to you by none other than Tiger Woods.
The arguably greatest golfer ever to tee it up is again auctioning off a round of golf for dad and three of his buddies at Woods's home course of the Isleoworth outside of Orlando.
The money goes to his charitable foundation, and Woods will join the foursome for 18 holes, at a date to be determined, and the club will toss in lunch to boot.
And if that is not enough, the Orlando Sentinel reports that Woods will pose for a commemorative photo with the group.
All you have to do to secure this once in a lifetime opportunity for the golfing dad in your family is log on to eBay and slap down your bid for a round with Tiger.
A word of caution, last year's winner paid $425,000.
We're thinking no dad can live without a copy of the anniversary edition of "Caddyshack," one $14.99 at cdnow.com.
CAREFUL NOW
For those who have watched the cinematic classic that is "Bull Durham," you may remember Crash Davis, aka Kevin Costner, telling his teammates how great it is to play in "The Show," i.e. for a Major League Baseball team.
Costner whimsically talked about how you never had to carry your own bags in the show.
An idea that should go far beyond the airports for Seattle Mariners reliever Kazuhiro Sasaki.
It seems the bullpen hand suffered a rib injury from a fall at his house.
What does falling and bag carrying have in common you may ask?
Well it seems our good buddy Sasaki's plunge occurred while he was attempting to carry his own suitcase up the stairs.
Riiiiiiiight.
MEAN STREAKING GORDON
R &R is the first to admit that NASCAR is far from this office's area of expertise.
But the one thing we do know for sure is that nobody seems to like Jeff Gordon.
Apparently, the race car wonder boy is aggravating more than just fans this year.
He is also getting under the skin of his fellow NASCAR drivers by banging around the track like he's suddenly the second coming of Dale Earnhardt. He's wiping out rivals left and right.
And he used to be such a well-mannered little guy.
DOES THIS REALLY COUNT
The Houston Astros notched a no-hitter on Wednesday nights against the New York Yankees.
And when we say the Houston Astros, we mean THE HOUSTON ASTROS.
The Texas ballclub used a record six pitchers to record the no-no against the pin stripes.
Forced to scramble after ace Roy Oswalt was injured, five relievers finished off the first no-hitter against the Yankees in 45 years.
Completing the Astros' 8-0 victory Wednesday night were: Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner.
Now the injury forcing someone else to come in and keep the Yankees from getting a hit is understandable, but the other four pitchers is just overkill.
Does anybody else remember a time when one pitcher could throw more than just an inning to get a win?
