Continue on, Ramon, with your homage to Peter King:

FIVE THINGS I THINK I AM THINKING ABOUT

1. I think I’m thinking about Mychal Thompson. For no other reason than it it’s a beautiful Friday, a day that reminded me of few spring and summer months, many many years ago, I spent working at a popcorn shop next to the athletic footwear store Thompson worked (cough) while a freshman in college.

a. The fact the Spurs traded Thompson to the Lakers - for Frank Brickowski, Petur Gudmundsson, two draft picks and cash – because he matched up with McHale his whole career reminds me what I miss about the NBA these days: The great team rivalries.

b. Going into a Thompson vs. McHale wormhole brought me here … a very odd site obsessed with everything Celtic green, McLovin’, KG, and the (conspiracy theory) relationship between Ainge and McHale.

c. Was I secretly rooting for the Cavs? Not so secretly. Not because of KG but rather the awe that is LeBron. Okay, maybe a little because of KG.

d. The Lynx will be better than the Wolves.

2. I think I’m thinking about the best sports books I’ve read and the ones I haven’t. Saddened to see any list with Buzz Bissinger’s name above Ring Lardner’s. And so many young readers’ books never make these lists. My favorite was “Touchdown For Tommy”. What about you readers? What was your favorite sports book as a kid?

a. The word on John Feinstein’s new Glavine / Mussina book isn’t great.

b. Got home late from work to a rerun of “Field Of Dreams.” Like many readers, I’ve seen it numerous times, and each time Kevin Costner’s performance gets worse. The cringe factor at his wooden reading of the line “I only saw him years later when he was worn down by life” keeps growing. Would rather see “North Dallas Forty” every night.

c. If you haven’t read Jane Leavy’s “Sandy Koufax – A Lefty’s legacy, do it.

RAMON > FRIDAY NIGHT LONG SNAPPER (CONT)

3. I think I’m thinking about the dynamics of Minnesota sports fans. Went to a Twins day game a few weeks ago. My friend who holds the season tickets remarked it was an unusually vocal crowd for a Twins game. Seemed more like the crowd at a Low show.

Reminded of a comment another friend, a rabid hockey fan
who has been to quite a few NHL arenas, at a Wild game a few years ago. His feeling was that the X is so nice and with so many amenities compared to other arenas, that the crowd is more into the experience than the game. His name: Eddie Shore.

4. Eight Belles and Big Brown … if that poor filly wouldn’t have broken down we may have seen the racehorse version of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

a. Love the free admission coupons to Canterbury Park you get at Twins games. More than I love the left side of the infield.

5. I think I’m thinking about Carl Eller, and Mark Craig’s fine article in the Strib. The PPE’s (including Gary Larsen) represent more than Viking’s lore, but also an era of pro football (and pro sports in general) where we wanted our players to be characters more than have it. In good Westerns the heroes wore white hats; in a greats Westerns they sometimes wore black. We should take into account the joy he gave us those many Sundays and the blood and guts he left on the field for our enjoyment, before they put him out on the proverbial ice floe. Maybe I’d feel different if he had made Jared Allen money, but I feel hypocritical saying Eller shouldn’t be treated any differently than, say, this guy. We treated him differently when he was a great Viking. Now, with legal and health issues, simply blind justice? As much as Eller has to pay for what he did, the punishment not only needs to fit the crime but also the criminal. I’m sure that no one agrees with me and there are situations where I don’t agree with myself. Still, I have more sympathy than antipathy, as opposed to someone who has given nothing to society.

Reading that Eller, Marshall and Page still meet regularly for lunch made me think it would make for a good Richard Price short story. Sort of like the reunion scene at the end of “Rounders.”

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