Ironically Named Just So…

Posted by VeRonda Wicks April 13th, 2009

You know, no words can ever express a loss, especially an untimely one, right? We express our sincere thoughts and prayers to the Adenhart family in the loss of their son, Nick Adenhart.

Adenhart, the 22-year-old pitcher for the Los Angeles Angles, was killed last week in a car accident by a drunk driver.

Two others lost their lives in that fatal crash and we send sympathies to their families as well.

Wow, right?

Categories: Baseball

Bang Your Own Cymbal

Posted by VeRonda Wicks April 8th, 2009

I was reading an article this morning about Michael Jordan’s son, Marcus, and I had an interesting thought (Well, it was interesting to me… LOL!)…

K, so Marcus Jordan has chosen to continue his basketball career at a seemingly less than desirable college, the University of Central Florida. While the article actually commended his choice, noting that it was a good decision now for better recruitment possibilities later, I still acquired a weird feeling behind the news… or the potential reaction to the news.

First, who could possibly live up to being Michael Jordan’s son?… (I’m not going anywhere with that, I just needed to ask to satisfy my own selfish desire.). What I want to address is the endless hawk on the backs of so many to do or to be… (I know normally the hawk reference if in accordance with weather, but I liked the graphic picture of a hawk on someone’s back…)…

Like Marcus, if people (old and young alike) would just make decisions based upon what is best for their lives, their futures, and not concentrate so much on popular opinion… man, what a world this would be.

I learned early on to beat to my own drum (That sometimes got me in a world of trouble, but that’s another story for another post. LOL!). It’s an unpopular and hard thing to do sometimes, but I believe it leaves you with less regret…

Categories: Basketball, Insights

Opening Day…

Posted by VeRonda Wicks April 6th, 2009

Hey yall… it is Major Leage Baseball (MLB) Opening Day (Last night was MLB’s actual. opening night, but not many respect that as the official start of the season.). My Hubby is not a baseball fan; however, I think I can convince him to be more interested in the game… What does this day represent? It’s like Spring… new beginnings, new identities, new relationships, new opportunities, etc.

If you are in relationship with a baseball fan (yourself not being one) then take some time to breathe and reflect on the meaning of a new season. Your sig-other hopefully has renewed hope and excitement for the coming season. Capitalize on that and bring a new dimension to your relationship. Well at least that is my suggestion…

Yay baseball! I love when another seasonal sport begins… and, seriously, the best part is that I’m a little closer to summer (LOL!).

Categories: Baseball, Insights

A Response Worth Noting

Posted by VeRonda Wicks March 27th, 2009

I was going back and forth about whether or not to talk about something that I saw last week while watching the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship (remember this is March Madness). After a few conversations with myself (yes, myself!), I decided that I did want to talk about it…

About a week and a half ago, the men’s basketball team from Morgan State University were getting spanked (beaten real good) by the University of Oklahoma’s men’s team. Now all of us basketball fans know that when one team is crushing another there can be a lot of emotionally-driven dumb plays. But this was just uncalled for (at least I think so)…

Need I say anything else?… I think I will. How can someone commit a play that can potentially end another peer’s playing career? When the Morgan player was later asked about his actions, he sorta downplayed the entire thing. I think what I like best was Griffin’s (the player who was flipped) response… which was just to simply get up and walk away. His actions were louder than words.

I have a lot of feelings that I won’t bore you with, but I will say that Griffin’s actions reinforce to me that everything is not worth reacting to.

Categories: Basketball

Michael is Still Classic…

Posted by VeRonda Wicks March 24th, 2009

So, I’ve mentioned before how much I love Jordan, right? This one doesn’t take away from that…

His son, Marcus Jordan, helped his high school team, Whitney Young of Illinois, win their basketball game scoring a game high 19 points. So, of course, every camera was on Jordan as he teared up (I believe something came down his face.) in fatherly pride watching his son and the team receive their accolades.

There is a great photo that captures this moment, but it was like 1 million dollars… so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Instead, I thought any picture of Jordan would do. So, here goes…

Categories: Insights

The System Sucks!

Posted by VeRonda Wicks March 19th, 2009

I know here we focus on professional sports, but this time of year is very much about March Madness… If you don’t know about this bracket bearing, stay home from work ’cause you’re “sick”, and TiVo just won’t do time of year, it’s all about the best of college basketball teams bringing it all to the court and taking home the championship.

I guess my problem with this whole thing is the way it goes down… Meaning, the hand full of teams that make it aren’t necessarily there because they are, indeed, the best. It’s this subjective ruling that is determined by some random group of people and that’s it. While I’m at it, I’d also like to echo the thoughts of an analyst I heard earlier this week on the radio… Teams that don’t have the big school names, the television coverage, or the gigantic endorsements don’t get a chance to play the big named schools. Its unfortunate because there is talent on these less glamoured teams that no one ever gets to see.

You know, I’m just about fairness and I don’t think the way things go down is particularly fair. And you know what else? I know unfair things happen all the time. As I understand it, this complaint has fallen on deaf ears for years, so I guess this will be another deaf musing… Oh well, I remain unmoved.

Categories: Basketball

Oh, Those Private Moments…

Posted by VeRonda Wicks March 16th, 2009

Just wanted to comment on the private (well, were once private…) nupitals of the New England Patriot’s quaterback Tom Brady and supermodel Gisele Bundchen. They’ve been dating for a minute and were recently married, and of course everyone is trying to get that one great, exclusive shot…

Tom & Gisele

Hubby and I always travel watching our backs so no one will get that money shot (LOL! I’m cracking myself up!). Its a burden that some of us must endure.

Much success to the really, really, really (stupid really) rich couple (Smile!).

Categories: Insights

Utterances of a Duck?

Posted by VeRonda Wicks March 9th, 2009

It’s the off season for the NFL, but the drama in football is never out of season…

So, Terrell Owens (T.O.) was released from the Dallas Cowboys and then picked up by the Buffalo Bills… That’s where the facts end. Everything else is just what he said, rumors of what he did, and then the truth (Crack up!). I just don’t know what to believe because there is a tendency for the media to jump on something and run with it, but then if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it can’t be a turkey, right (I don’t know where that came from. LOL!)?

Terrell Owens
Terrell Owens

The thing is, he’s talented. Even at 35, he’s still one of the top receivers in the NFL. So, if the rumors are true what is a coach, a team, a owner to do?… Think about winning and pick him up or consider the hype around him and pass him up? Personally, I like T.O… I like his work ethic, his commitment to his craft, and passion for the game. I’m also thankful that he’s not a knuckle head and having off-the-field issues. And along with this is the reality that money and success weighs out above most other things. This is the reason why I think he’ll be employed for as long as he wants.

Quack, quack…

Categories: Football

Change is Good, Huh?…

Posted by VeRonda Wicks March 3rd, 2009

Okay, so today’s National Sportsmanship Day… and the question that’s been asked all day all around sports is what would you like to see changed in sports.

I actually started biting my nails (I know, that’s nasty.) on this one because the obvious thought was that I’d like to see equality, fairness in sports between the genders. But then I thought about it and I don’t think I really, really care about that too much after all. So, I’d then have to say that I’d like to see salaries kept quiet. I think a lot of the hold outs, hype, confusion, and diva-like complexes come from one player knowing another player’s worth. Other than that, I’d just like to see the football season extended!

I pose the question to you… What would you like to see changed in sports?

Categories: Questions, Sports

Random, off-the-Bench Player…

Posted by VeRonda Wicks March 1st, 2009

I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to share. So many stories have been going on in the sports world that I thought I should write up something for you guys…

So, check this out… Today, Hubby and I were watching the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons play. When all of a sudden this random, off the bench player just started hitting threes in Stephen Marbury’s (Yes, bye bye New York Knicks. He’s with the Celtics now.) mouth. The commentators then explained the extraordinary story of the Argentinian player, Walter Herrmann.

Herrman is this guy with tremendous skill and at the height of his career the most devastating thing happened. The three most important women in his life–his mother, fiancée, and sister–were killed in an automobile accident. Crazy, huh? Well, it gets crazier. Some time later, he gets a call that his dad has died of a heart attack. Even the announcer got choked up in even telling the story.

All I could think of while he was running down the court was that “this”, basketball, the court, is where everything makes sense. You know? Because beyond that, I’m not sure what could possibly make sense in his world. So, then I realized that his hitting threes in Marbury’s mouth was more than just what it seemed… It was where he could control something in his life. Man, what a random, off-the-bench player, huh?…

Categories: Basketball