It is onto the finals of the Women’s Soccer Wold Cup for the United States team after a (2-0) victory vs Germany in the semi-finals.
Teams from England and Japan meet today in the other semi-final game to determine the United States team’s opponent in the final game.
The event is being held in Montreal, Canada.
I predict the team from England will upset the team from Japan in today’s match.
Do you think many if any of today’s comedians, male or female, could be as funny or fast, no less as witty, as the great comedian Jack Carter, who passed away at age 93.
To answer the above question they could not do it, without the blue material.
Nothing inherently wrong with blue material, but the greats like Carter, could be funny without it. Today few, if any even try.
Whether on “The Match Game,” or What’s My Line,” (first as a mystery guest and then as a panelist) or on so many comedy roasts, Jack Carter with his rapid fire delivery and great wit always entertained.
He did so with class. Where has that type gone?!
Click here for a vintage Jack Carter stand-up routine
Even though I still think their intangibles for this season are bad and I can not get over their sacrifice bunt decision in game seven of last year’s World Series, it is time to recognize the Kansas City Royals and their excellence.
They are (44-28), (only the St. Louis Cards have a better record) and clearly they have SHOWN (a Missouri “show me state” reference) as in sparkled, that they are a good team.
They swept this past weekend in Oakland vs the seemingly never to be A’s, and have a five and a half game lead in the A.L. Central.
However, “good luck,” getting as far as they did last year when they led the World Series two games to one and had a (4-1), 3rd inning lead, in game four.
The decision to bunt down a run and on a (2-0) pitch in Madison Bumgarner’s first relief inning, whether made by manager Ned Yost or the player, Alcides Escobar, was one of the worst in baseball history.
I said, or rather, screamed, watching that fateful, cowardly, passive decision which cemented the fact that the “S.F.” Giants and not the “K.C.” Royals would win the 2014 World Series.
Here are some predictions and comments on upcoming sports events.
Wimbledon tennis begins tomorrow and I predict neither big favorite, Novak Djokovic on the men’s side nor Serena Williams among the women, will win the title.
If neither wins the title, that would be a pretty big upset.
I should have said this before the Masters but I did feel it. Now with only two golf major tournaments left, it is not much of a pick to say Rory McIlroy will not win a major tournament this year.
As for Jordan Spieth who has been great, he will not win one either. Maybe the end of success has come for Tiger Woods, but no golfer will be anywhere near as successful for a long time.
However, I never felt Woods was that close to being the greatest golfer ever, as for example, the “built up” Phil Mickelson, was probably his toughest competition.
There were much tougher foes for the great golfer, Jack Nicklaus, whose record for major tournament wins seems safe for now.
Also his status as the best golfer, always safe in my more perspective based view, is “safe” even among the instant gratification types that permeate the sports media.
Jack Nicklaus,
In similar fashion the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland Athletics dominated the American League for three year periods at one point in time.
The Orioles won American League pennants from (1969-1971) but won just one of the three World Series they played in during that time.
The Athletics won the A.L. title three straight seasons from (1988-1990). They also won but one of the three World Series in which they were involved.
Both the Orioles and A’s were remarkable in the three ALCS they won to reach the World Series. The (1969-1971) O’s swept all three which were best of five, hence going (9-0) in ALCS play.
The (1988-1990) A’s lost but one game in winning three best of seven ALCS, going (12-1).
The final Orioles ALCS sweep in 1971 was vs the Oakland A’s of another time, a team just developing into greatness.
That greatness manifested as the A’s of (1972-1974) won not just three straight pennants, but three straight World Series titles, something no non New York Yankees team accomplished before or since.
Charlie Finley and the A’s three World Championships–1972, 1973 and 1974
If you have read some of my previous posts, you know I am not a big fan of Fox Sports’ lead announcer Joe Buck.
At the very least, I can easily say his incredible luck to have broadcast and continue to broadcast events like the World Series and Super Bowl is way out of proportion with his talent.
Surely his luck was and is enhanced by virtue of Joe being the son of the late Jack Buck, an esteemed, highly over rated announcer, who still was far better than most announcers today.
Jack was at his best with a rooting interest and thus his St. Louis Cardinals’ baseball broadcasts were his best work.
Admittedly, in the 1985 and 1987 seasons, a pair in which “St. Loo” would make but lose the World Series, I would leave my apartment and go in my car, to tune in KMOX radio from St. Louis.
I looked forward to Jack’s “that’s a winner” call after a Cards victory.
Some really liked Jack Buck and former coach Hank Stram on CBS Radio, as an alternative to Monday Night football on television.
Jack Buck was working for ABC television as an extra reporter when Stram’s Dallas Texans won the 1962 AFL title game in 6 quarters, vs the Houston Oilers.
In conclusion Jack Buck had his good moments and his bad.
The Bucks
Likely, but far from definitely, the Boston Red Sox bad record and now injuries to top players Dustin Pedroia and Hanley Ramirez means they will not contend, no less make post season.
It is hard to feel sorrow for them, with the recent success of the franchise, which after an 86 year title drought, won three World Series in 2004, 2007, and 2013.
I do feel bad that such great, or near great players, as Carl Yastrzemski, Dwight Evans, Bill Buckner and others had some near misses, but never played on a World Series winning team.
The American League East pace is slow and it is not even the halfway point of the season, thus still a long way to go, but I do not see the Red Sox this season.
Only the St. Louis Cardinals deserve real credit to this point in baseball 2015, the 21st season with the horrible wild card presence.
The near great Cardinals franchise is second only to the New York Yankees in World Series crowns but the margin (Yankees 27, Cardinals 11) is not close.
The Cardinals have largely been one of baseball’s great franchises, and in its history, I believe only the eventual 1946 World Series winning Cardinals had ever won as many as 46 of their first 70 games of a season until this year’s version.
The Cardinals have a nice lead in the N.L. Central and if they maintain it and win the division, they will be one of 8 teams in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs, no matter how many games they win.
Bottom line is there is a long way to go, but so far so good for the Cardinals, which sadly means so much less than in seasons past, 1946 included.
1946 World Series Champion Cardinals: Whitey Kurowski, Enos Slaughter, Marty Marion and Stan Musial
Some observations, at least, my citing of coincidences or notes, while perusing the offerings of the great commercial free channel TCM (Turner Classic Movies).
In “A Place in the Sun,” a fine 1951 film based on Theodore Dreiser’s great book, “An American Tragedy,” the brooding, brilliant Montgomery Clift plays “George Eastman.”
In one scene, he makes a great shot on the pool table of Angela Vickers’ (played by Elizabeth Taylor), rich family. This impresses Angela/Elizabeth.
Two years later (1953) (and an hour or so later in the back to back TV showings), Clift playing “Robert Lee Pruitt,” gets the praise of Frank Sinatra’s “Maggio” for his pool ability in “From Here to Eternity.” Mr. Sinatra, by the way, revived his career with an Oscar for best supporting actor in “Eternity.”
In another scene, Jack Warden, who went on to become one of the great character actors, comments on a Sergeant WARDEN, repeating the name WARDEN, who was played by Burt Lancaster.
Lancaster’s Sergeant Warden famously kisses Deborah Kerr (pronounced Car as in Star as I once heard film critic Jeffrey Lyons utter) on the beach in a beautiful scene. Kerr’s character is named Karen.
Former Detroit Tigers’ pitcher, the mercenary but talented Max Scherzer, was one strike from a perfect game when the current Nationals’ pitcher, who took the money and went from Detroit to the Washington Nationals, was ruled to have hit pinch hitter Jose Tabata of the Pittsburgh Pirates with the (2-2) pitch in a game last Saturday.
Scherzer did retire Josh Harrison to record a no hitter and has in fact yielded but 1 hit in his last two starts, something only Johnny Vander Meer topped, with back to back no hitters in 1938, in the category of least hits allowed in 2 straight complete game starts.
I recall two Detroit Tigers pitchers were also one out away from a perfect game when they were denied not only the perfect game, but the no hitter as well.
In 1983, Milt Wilcox was one out away from a perfect game when Jerry Hairston of the Chicago White Sox got a base hit to break up the perfect game and no hit bid.
In 2010 Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga appeared to have tossed a perfect game but a clear error in judgment by umpire Jim Joyce denied Galarraga not only a perfect game but the no hitter as well.
For the record the batter was Jason Donald of the Cleveland Indians, who when called safe erroneously by Joyce, was credited with a hit.
Andy B Sports 