Last Wednesday, Atlanta Braves star Freddie Freeman hit for the cycle in a game. That news reminded me of a funny story from earlier this season. Freeman, a five-time all-star, was struggling earlier in the season and was hitting a little over the .220 mark. His five-year-old son told him, “Daddy you got to start playing better.” When Freeman asked Charlie why he said “So we can go to the All-Star Game so I can meet Fernando Tatis.” Freeman then said “So that’s the only reason you want me to play better?” to which Charlie replied emphatically. “YES”….
When Babe Ruth signed a contract for $80,000 in 1930, it was considered an outrageous sum. In fact, a writer incredulously pointed out that Ruth was now making more money than Herbert Hoover, the President of the United States. Babe pondered it for a second before replying “I had a better year than he did.” It is interesting to note that adjusted for inflation, Ruth’s $80,000 salary only equates to $1.24 million which is quite a bit less than Mike Trout’s $37 million a season….
So according to the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song “It was a three-hour cruise…a three-hour cruise.” So why did both the Howell’s and Ginger pack their entire wardrobes for the boat ride? And speaking of the show, does it bother anyone besides me that the Professor turned a coconut into a working AM/FM radio, invented a Lie Detector machine, and made a working sewing machine but was totally stumped when it came to patching a hole in a boat?….
Gut feeling here is that UCF’s hiring of Gus Malzahn will prove to be a stroke of genius by AD Terry Mohajir. In his mid-50s, Malzahn is a big-time coach with impressive SEC credentials (this guy did coach a national championship game) and who I believe — because of his age — will not be looking to using his position with the Knight’s as a springboard to a better job in the future….
I reserve the right to be wrong (as usual), but I see the following records for Florida’s Big “5” this year. Some are suggesting the Lizards (UF) will take a step back with the loss of Kyle Trask and Kyle Pitts but I disagree and I see a 10-2 record in Florida’s future this season. FSU will struggle again but will improve under Mike Norvell. I see one upset win as the Noles finish 7-5. Things should be better in South Florida under second-year head coach Jeff Scott but the team is still not very good. The Bulls may only be favored in one game this season but we’ll give them the benefit of a couple of “upset wins” and call it 3-9. UCF could be the most interesting team in the state. Under new leadership and with the talent returning, this could be a 10 or 11 win team. But the AAC is actually a pretty decent league this year, as Memphis, Cincinnati and SMU could all present challenges. Add in tough non-conference games with BYU and Louisville and a five-loss season is not necessarily impossible. Let’s split the difference and call the Knights an 8-4 team. Seems like every year for the last decade and a half, Miami starts off 5-0 or 4-1 and Miami fan (right Marlin Roberts?) starts with the incessant the “U” is back nonsense, and every year they slip, slide and falter to a three, four or five loss season. Manny Diaz has recruited really well the last couple of years and while the ACC is not the SEC, Clemson and North Carolina are loaded this season and the Canes have a fun one with Alabama to open the season. The thought here is Canes will win one of those three games but will lose a game they should win (suspects are Pitt, Virginia Tech, or FSU). Let’s call them 9-3 on the season…
Biscuits and gravy are delicious and a staple here in the south, but did you ever consider they are nothing more than just really wet flour poured over really dry flour?…
Why Sports are Great, Reason Number 5674: In the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Polish javelin thrower Maria Andrejczyk missed a bronze medal by a couple of centimeters. She missed the 2017 season with a shoulder injury and then was diagnosed and had to overcome bone cancer in 2018. She comes back from that adversity to finally win that coveted medal by taking silver in the Tokyo games last month and what does she do with it? She auctions it off to raise money so a girl – one she did not know– could receive life-saving heart surgery. Andrejczyk posted on her Facebook page that she came across the fundraiser for 8-month-old Miłoszek Małysa, who had a serious heart defect and needed surgery, and she decided to auction off her lone Olympic medal to help raise money for his surgery. It was an incredible, selfless act by an athlete that should be recognized and applauded…
The Baltimore Orioles are the first major league team in the last 100 years to have two losing streaks of 13 or more games in the same year. If impersonating a major league baseball team was a crime, I think the Baltimore Orioles would be looking at some real hard time….
My good friend Mike Bianchi posted a great column about legendary head coach Bobby Bowden, pointing out that he won nearly 400 games, captured 12 ACC titles and two national championships but his nearly three-hour memorial service attended by nearly 350 former players, coaches and staff members barely mentioned a word about his football achievements and instead centered on the positive effects he had on others…
So boxer Manny Pacquiao, age 42, was “upset” by current and still world champion Yordenis Ugas — age 35. My take is this, why is a current world champion winning against a guy seven years older than him considered an “upset”? Which brings me to the main point: Father Time remains the undisputed, undefeated champion of all time (except when dealing with Tom Brady)….
Y’all have a great week.
By J. Daniel Pearson
For Positively Osceola
J. Daniel Pearson, a long-time resident of Osceola County, has joined Positively Osceola as a freelance contributor. His JD’s Monday Morning Musings column will be a regular feature and he will be covering events for us throughout the year. Dan is a former Public Relations Specialist for Florida State University, Boardwalk and Baseball, the Florida Sports Hall of Fame, the Orlando Predators, and other professional sports teams and has been a freelance reporter to many newspapers in the state.
