Mattie T’s thoughts in the world of sports… (for the week of July 23-29)

Right about now, it’s about that time…

For a new blog, from Mattie T!!!

This will be a long one today, and i’ll explain later why…

Let’s start with the controversial issues regarding the Tour De France, which recently finished up.

Floyd Landis won the Tour De France on Sunday, but a ton of controversy and questions have surrounded him in just a week.

On Thursday, Landis was accused of taking performance-enhancing drugs during the race. If further investigations show that Landis clearly used these illegal drugs to boost his performance during the race, his Tour De France title will be stripped and given to the 2nd place finisher Oscar Pereiro of Spain.

7-time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong has shown great support for Landis and believes that he is innocent. Floyd Landis was a former rider on Lance Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Team before Armstrong went on to dominate the Tour De France with 7 consecutive victories. Lance went on to comment about Landis’ current situation:

“Although i still believe in Floyd and believe him to be innocent, it’s not good for cycling.” Armstrong said.

Three-time Tour De France winner Greg Lemond is urging Landis to come out with the truth about the doping charges.

Lemond quoted “If he is confirmed positive, i hope he has the courage to tell the truth. He alone can change the face of the sport today. His example could be a symbol of change.”

Lemond also talked about Armstrong, who repeately denied doping allegations during his triumphant 7-year run at the Tour De France.

“I hope that he (Landis) won’t do what another American did: Deny, deny. deny.”

I will have more stories on this in future blogs.

Mattie T’s Thoughts:

It’s so unfortunate that this current scandal takes away all of the good things that Floyd Landis did during his Tour De France win. If Landis is found innocent, this will be nothing but a misunderstanding and he can prove to everyone that he can win a race without taking any type of drugs to enhance his performance.

However if Landis is found guilty, it will tarnish his career and ruin his reputation in the sport of cycling. You know the saying “Innocent until proven guilty” right? Well i hope these allegations against Landis are cleared and he can move on with his life.

Now, on to the MLB..

Tomorrow will be the biggest day of Bruce Sutter’s life.

The 12 year MLB veteran will be the first Hall-of-Fame inductee who never started a single game in the majors.
Bruce Sutter played his career with 3 teams-The Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals & the Atlanta Braves.

Sutter struggled throughout the minor leagues with an injured arm before he discovered a gift that would change his life forever: A split-fingered fastball.

Sutter made his major league debut as a member of the Chicago Cubs on May 6, 1973 against the Cincinnati Reds. Sutter soon began closing games for the Cubs, and finished with a 6-3 record in 52 games with a 2.70 ERA in his rookie season.

Sutter made the first of six All-Star Game invites in 1977 & and he also tied a major-league record by striking out the side on NINE pitches in a 9th-inning apperance against the Montreal Expos on September 8, 1977.

Sutter recorded 27 games in 1978 & was the winning pitcher in the All-Star Game.

His best season however, may have came in 1979.

Sutter won the NL Cy Young award, becoming only the 3rd relief pitcher to do so. He had a hand in 43 of the Cubs’ 80 wins, recorded a NL-high 37 saves, and won the All-Star Game for the second consecutive season. His manager Herman Franks called him “The greatest relief pitcher that i’ve seen in my 45 years of baseball.”

Sutter was traded to the rival St. Louis Cardinals on December 9, 1980.

Shortly after he was traded to the Cardinals, Sutter became the highest-paid relief pitcher in baseball history when he signed a 4 year contract at an estimated $3.5 million.

Sutter recorded the final six outs of Game 7 of the ‘82 World Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, helping St. Louis capture their first championship since 1967. He also set an NL record with 45 saves in 1984. St. Louis Cardinals manager Whitzey Herzog had the following to say about Sutter:

“He was the most important guy on our team when we won. The way the game is today, you’re trying to cut the other team down to 21 outs to beat you. When you do that, you’ve got a great chance. Bruce can do that.”

Sutter left the Cardinals via free agency to sign a six year, $10 million deal with the Atlanta Braves after the 1984 season, which would be the final stop of his career.

Sutter recorded 23 saves and posted a 4.48 ERA in his first season with the Braves.

Shortly after the season ended, Sutter had his first shoulder operation in the off-season, a sign that his short-lived career was coming to a close. Sutter missed the final 5 months of the 1986 season and was sidelined for the entire 1987 season. He made a comeback in 1988 and pitched 38 games for the Braves before retiring in March of 1989 after finding a completely torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder.

Sutter finished his career third on baseball’s all-time saves list with 300, only trailing Rollie Fingers & Rich Gossage at the time. (Lee Smith currently holds the record with 478.) Sutter was the first NL pitcher to reach 200 & 300 save plateaus. He complied a record of 68-71 while appearing in 661 games. He recorded 861 strikeouts and 309 walks in 1,042 1/3 innings pitched with an ERA of 2.83.

Sutter led the NL in saves 5 out of 6 years from 1979-1984, winning the NL Rolaids’ Relief Award & The Sporting News’ Fireman of the Year four times in his career. He also finished in the top six during NL Cy Young voting 4 other times, & finished in the top 10 in MVP voting five times.

Mattie T’s Thoughts:

When we think of the most dominant closer in baseball today, many of us will think of New York Yankees’ closer Mariano Rivera who is currently the active saves leader. Bruce Sutter had an amazing career despite the fact that he never discovered his famous “split-finger” fastball until he was in the minors with the Cubs’ farm system.

You will almost never see closers nowadays pitch two innings for a save, but Sutter did it regularly and was nearly automatic with his stuff everytime he got out on the mound. The fact that he struck out 3 batters on only 9 pitches to end an game is absolutely incredible. It is extremely difficult to execute this unless your stuff is just flawless, and that’s what Sutter had on September 8th of 1977 against the Expos.

He is definitely one of the greatest closers of all-time, and it’s unfornaute that he had to end his career early due to injury. Otherwise, we would be discussing more and more records that Sutter had the potential to break, because he’s that kind of a special pitcher who deserves this wonderful induction into the Hall-of-Fame tomorrow afternoon in Cooperstown. Congrats again to Bruce Sutter on a wonderful career.

In other MLB News…

The Chicago Cubs recently sent 1B Derrek Lee back on the DL with inflammation in his right wrist. The two-time Gold Glove winner has only appeared in 34 games this season, batting .261 with 4 HR’s and 14 RBI’s. Lee is unsure on when he will return to the Cubs’ lineup. Derrek finished third in the 2005 NL MVP voting, hitting .335 with 46 HR’s and 107 RBI’s.

Mattie T’s Thoughts:

Derrek is obviously having a down year with the injuries, but this shouldn’t take away from his stellar career both offensively & defensively. We all know what a healthy D-Lee can bring to the table, and i hope that Derrek will be 100% and ready to go for the Cubs by the time spring training rolls around in late-Februrary in Arizona.

GM Jim Hendry has also infored manager Dusty Baker that he will finish out this season with the Cubs. Baker is in the final year of a 4 year contract. Baker’s Cubs are currently 41-61, 17 games back behind the first-place St. Louis Cardinals.
Baker has complied a career record of 1,135 wins and 1,006 losses in his 14-years of managering between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs. He is also a three-time NL Manager of the Year winner and managed the Giants to the 2002 World Series, which they lost in 7 games to the Anaheim Angels.

Hendry will reasses Baker’s status with the team after the season.

Mattie T’s Thoughts:

I personally think that Dusty Baker’s time with the Cubs is up. The team has gone downhill step-by-step since the 5-out disaster during Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS against Florida. Dusty is still a very good manager who can help a team win, but it’s time for the Cubs to go in a different direction.

The White Sox have made a couple of deals in the past few days, preparing themselves for what should be a exciting AL Wild Card race for the 2nd half of the season.

On Sunday, the White Sox acquired veteran catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. from the Los Angeles Dodgers for minor league pitcher B.J. Lamura. This will be Alomar’s third stint with the White Sox. Sandy appeared in 27 games for the Dodgers, batting .323 with 9 RBI’s.

Alomar sounds very relieved to be headed back to the South Side.

“I wish i can stay and play with them (Los Angeles), but i’m happy to to be going home and to a place i’m familiar with. It’s a good thing for me & my family. All i could do here is pinch-hit, and there are other players who can do more for this team.” Alomar will back up All-Star representative A.J. Pierzynski at Catcher for the defending world champs, who are currently a half-game behind the New York Yankees for the AL Wild Card lead.

Mattie T’s Thoughts:

It’s always good to bring back a player who’s familiar with your system, which is exactly what the White Sox are doing with Sandy Alomar Jr. He should be able to provide A.J. Pierzynski some rest down the stretch and become an instant fan-favorite at U.S. Cellular Field.

The Sox also acquired pitcher Mike McDougal from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for minor-league pitchers Tyler Lumsden & Daniel Cortes.

McDougal made the AL All-Star team as a rookie in 2003 when he recorded 27 saves in 68 apperances for the Royals.

He will likely be the set-up man for closer Bobby Jenks, who is 4th in the majors with 27 saves. McDougal missed the first 3 1/2 months of the season with a right shoulder strain, but has not allowed a run in 4 apperances with Kansas City after being activated from the 60-day DL on July 13.

McDougal made his White Sox debut on Tuesday, pitching 1 inning and allowing a hit during Chicago’s 4-3 loss to Minnesota.
Mattie T’s Thoughts:

McDougal should provide some immediate help as Bobby Jenks’ new set-up man, and it’s vital that he is staying in the AL Central as opposed to getting a bullpen pitcher from the NL.

On to the NFL…

Carolina Panthers WR Steve Smith was injured Saturday in the team’s first day of training camp with a left hamstring injury.

Smith is coming off a campaign year in which he led the NFL with 103 receptions for 1,563 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s a big reason why Carolina is one of the NFC favorites to represent the NFC during Super Bowl XLI in Miami next February.
Midway through the afternoon session, Smith pulled up while running a long route down the left sideline. He immediately grabbed his left hamstring , took a few steps & fell to the ground. Smith was able to get back on his feet under his own power before being carted off.

Mattie T’s Thoughts:

Hopefully, this injury will not slow down Smith’s chances to better (yes, i said it!) his numbers from last season. Some people in Chicago are still talking about the way Smith absolutely TORCHED the Bears’ secondary last January in Carolina’s 29-21 win during the NFC Divisional playoff game at Soldier Field. Smith finished his career day hauling in 218 yards on 12 catches & 2 TD’s. This came after he suffered a broken leg vs. the Packers during a Monday Night Football game in 2004. What can i say, the man is AWESOME!

Chicago Bears’ RB Thomas Jones has a mild hamstraing strain and should be able to practice soon. Jones has been the subject of trade rumors after expressing his displeasure with his current deal after he became the first Chicago Bear since Walter Payton to rush for 1,300 yards or more. Cedric Benson is currently #1 on the depth chart, but a healthy Jones shouldn’t be too far behind.

Mattie T’s Thoughts:

Thomas Jones is probably the best fit for the Bears right now to start over an unproven Cedric Benson at RB. Jones has good speed and is also a pass-catching threat, which should help out the Bears’ offense.

Pittsburgh Steelers’ QB Ben Roethlisberger took part in his first practice today since his motorcycle accident on June 12th that nearly took his life.

“When my guys here still see me, they shake their heads & the coaches shake their heads. I shake my head every morning when i look in the mirror. I do feel blessed to be out here and to be able to take this test and play football.”

Head coach Bill Cowher has not yet decided yet if Roethlisberger will play in Pittsburgh’s first exhibtion game on August 12 against Arizona. “We’ll monitor things as we go. I think that’s the best way to approach this” Cowher said. “There’s no more apprehension.”

Mattie T’s Thoughts:

As Big Ben said, it’s truly a blessing to even step out on the football field again after such a tragic event. I hope Ben has learned his lesson from what has happened and i hope he appreciates life even more, because you never know how soon you will be leaving this earth.

Dallas Cowboys’ WR Terrell Owens has released a new book called “T.O” which criticizes his former teammate Donovan McNabb. Owens goes into detail about an Eagles 27-6 win over the New York Giants in November of 2004 which convinced him that McNabb was jealous of him.

According to Owens, McNabb ignored a play call from head coach Andy Reid that involved a pass to T.O. Owens then returned to the huddle and asked McNabb about the play. Donovan responded with an obscenity to T.O. in front of his teammates.

In Owens’ opinion, that situation proved to him that McNabb was very jealous of his popularity in Philadelphia. Owens said “I was getting so much of the Philadelphia glory that used to be his.” Owens also added that he got into a locker-room confrontation with McNabb after the game & that RB Dorsey Levens had to break it up between the two players.

Mattie T’s Thoughts:

And i thought Philly was nicknamed the city of Brotherly Love?? I am really surprised that McNabb and T.O. had all of this displeasure against eachother during their 2 seasons together in Philadelphia. I think all of this started when the Eagles lost Super Bowl XXXIX to the Patriots in which T.O. claimed that McNabb was “scared” to call plays in the huddle during the fourth quarter.

It will be very interesting to watch T.O’s return to Philly on October 8th to see what kind of reception he will receive & to see if Donovan will actually attempt to greet him. I swear, this is like the NBA’s version of Shaq vs. Kobe, except those two actually won championships together and have made up from their previous feuds.

I hope Donovan and Terrell will do the same, for the sake of every NFL fan around the world who only cares about seeing these two excel on the field.

Oh, and T.O., Philly is still Allen Iverson’s town (that is, until they decide to actually trade him in his daily BS off-season trade rumor, lol.)

Former NBA star & newly Democrat Charles Barkley has hinted that he may run for governor in Alabama, possibly as early as 2010. Sir Charles commented “I really believe i was put on Earth to do more than play basketball and stockpile money. I really want to help people improve their lives, and what’s left is for me to decide how best to do that.”

Barkley has shown interest in running for governor ever since his days with the Phoenix Suns in the early 90’s & during his 1993 MVP season. Barkley was recently a Republican until earlier this month, quoting “I was a Republication until they lost their minds.” You can currently catch Barkley on TNT’s halftime shows and on “Inside the NBA” alongside Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith.

Mattie T’s Thoughts:

I don’t know if this is a publicity stunt, or a serious move from the Round Mound of Rebound. Kudos to him though if he does go through with it. He might be able to use another athlete-turned-governor for inspiration. That would be former WWF wrestler Jesse “The Body” Ventura who is serving as the governor of Minnesota & has hinted of making a presidental run in 2008.

Barkley was one hell of a rebounder during his playing career despite his 6-6, 250 frame & i hope he will do the same on the political side if indeed he does win his election a couple of years down the road.

Team USA has made its’ first roster-cuts, trimming their roster from 18 to 15 as they prepare for an exhibition game against Puerto Rico on August 3rd from Las Vegas, NV.

Adam Morrison, Luke Ridnour and Shawn Marion (injury) were the 3 players who were not selected by head coach Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K for short) and managing director Jerry Colangelo after completed workouts in Las Vegas.

The current roster will include the talented Class of ‘04, which is led by Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, and Carmelo Anthony. Others include Gilbert Arenas, Elton Brand, Amare Stoudemire, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Antawn Jamison, Chris Bosh, Kirk Hinrich, Brad Miller, Joe Johnson, Shane Battier & Bruce Bowen.

After the exhibition game on August 3rd, Team USA will head to China for two warmup games against China & Brazil before traveling to Korea for two more warmups against Korea & Lithuania. The World Championships begin on August 19th from Japan when Team USA goes up against Puerto Rico.

Mattie T’s Thougts:

I know that Kobe Bryant will be unable to participate with Team USA this summer due to knee surgery, but Wade, ‘Bron & ‘Melo should be more than enough talent to help Team USA get back what they deserve: The Gold. If Amare is healthy, he should be a HUGE addition to Team USA’s frontcourt. I expect this team to be ready to go on August 3rd as their challenge begins.

Until next time,

I will be on vacation next week, so this is why i am hittin’ everyone up with a nice long blog to read until i return! Me & my family are headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico for a 7-day cruise which begins next Sunday. (i can’t wait!!!) I will definitely catch Sportscenter as much as i can while i’m gone, so i can keep updated on the latest sports news even when i’m thousands of miles away from home. Look out for my NFL season preview blog, coming on Monday, August 14th!! You DO NOT want to miss this!!!!

Remember to hit your boy up with some feedback! It is GREATLY appreciated and i thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my latest blog. Take care and have a great weekend!

Mattie T

Sports Writer for BMS Radio Chicago

www.bmsradio.com