1-Man’s Opinion on Sports-Program Note

Posted by on August 24th, 2017  •  0 Comments  • 

Hacksaw on Vacation currently

Will return on September 1st.

Thanks for following everyday.

Regards,

Lee Hamilton

1-Man’s Opinion on Sports-Wednesday. “Boxing-Fight of Century-or-Fraud of Century?”

Posted by on August 23rd, 2017  •  0 Comments  • 

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“Boxing-Fight of Century-or-Fraud of Century”

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It’s happened before.

Boxing mismatches.

You wonder, how did this fight get sanctioned? Why would anyone want to watch this fight? How bad is this fight going to be?

In a sport that gave us Gerry Cooney and Leon Spinks….Marvis Frazier and Wladimnir Klitzchko, we get this.

Floyd Mayweather-vs-Conor McGregor.

A sport that gave us a champion like Manny Pacquiao…Roberto Duran…Sugar Ray Leonard…Marvin Hagler….we have to deal with this.

The history book reads of our love affair with Muhammad Ali, Smoking Joe Frazier, Lenox Lewis, George Foreman and so many other great champs.

We remain mezmorized over the life and times of Mike Tyson, and recall the greatness of Oscar DeLaHoya..

You never forget the Brown Bomber Joe Louis, or Tunney-Dempsey-and the likes of their era.

But this Las Vegas matchup might be intriguing,but in all likelihood, might be messy.

Mayweather is (49-0), has made zillions, has been in and out of jail. He has fought people on his own schedule, normally when age has caught up with an opponent. World champ and wife beater too.

McGregor is (21-3) and has those UFC championship belts. He has personna squared.

For every fight fan you canvass, those who love action in the ring, those who scream and yell about what happens inside the cage, you get different opinions.

Can McGregor last more than a couple of rounds against this champ?. UFC bouts are 5-rounds max unless someone taps out.

McGreogr has never fought with 8-ounce boxing gloves. He’s never seen this quickness, explosiveness, mechanics.

He won’t be able to use his feet as weapons will he?.

Will his looping punches leave him exposed to crushing counter punches?.

Can he take a blow to the jaw?. How will be hold up to body shot after body shot-round after round?

What happens if he drops his hands, as he usually does in UFC?.

It will be the boxer vs the brawler.

It will be the sweet science vs the blood sport.

Fight of the century? of Fraud of the century?

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1-Man’s Opinion on Sports-Tuesday. “A lot of Junk on TV”

Posted by on August 22nd, 2017  •  0 Comments  • 

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“A lot of Junk on TV”

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Boy there was some bad stuff on my television and yours too on Sunday.

Yes there was a dreadful performance in another preseason game by the LA Chargers.

There was another Padres loss to the Washington Nationals.

But aside from that, we have so many channels, that need to fill time, they put all this other stuff on television.

The Chargers drew a TV rating of 6.8 for their Sunday nigh loss to Saints, down from their first preseason game piped into San Diego.

The Padres TV numbers are really low, in another losing season. They drew a 2.9-rating.

But look at all the other stuff that was on TV on Sunday.

The Little League World Series drew a 1.8 rating for Sunday’s games, the third highest in the market..

Something called the Wyndham Championships, used to be the Greensboro Open, drew a 1.2.

The English Premeir League soccer match, with headliner Chelsea attracted a 1.2 rating.

The LPGA tour, the Solheim Cup was ranked at a 0.6, as ladies golf slips into a sinkhole..

Indy car racing, once very popular, come home with a 0.5.

So did the US Gymnastics championships with a similar 0.5..

And the prestigious US Amateur golf championship finished with a 0.2

It gets us to the bottom line that says the NFL draws, regardless of whether it is preseason, regular season, beloved team or hated team.

The Chargers have played two very poor games so far. The fan turnout at the Stub Hub Center has been poor. The television ratings back here are still strong.

But the bottom line should also tell us there’s lots of junk on television on Sundays, including a poor Chargers team.

I am surprised. Are you?

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1-Man’s Opinion on Sports-Monday. “Cleaning Out a Weekend Notebook”

Posted by on August 21st, 2017  •  0 Comments  • 

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“Cleaning out a Notebook”

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Padres…Great to honor ‘Trader’ Jack McKeon, who built the Padres first World Series team…the talent-laden 1984 team that faced the Tigers in the World Series….He spent Ray Kroc’s money in free agency, he made blockbuster trades to acquire veterans….He drafted Tony Gwynn and Alan Wiggins….It was an fascinating 11-year run for him in the front office and in the dugout….He then went on to success in Miami and was also with the Reds and Royals….a fun loving guy.

Padres..A bit of a surprise the option of RF-Hunter Renfroe to El Paso. His batting average has hovered around (.230) for most of the year. There were still lots of strikeouts….Thought his play in right field had improved…but his (.285) on base percentage was horrible….He will be a fixture of this team going forward.

Padres…The amazing sinkhole Will Myers has fallen into continues. Since May 17th, his batting average has been just above .200. Yes he hits home runs on occasion but the strikeout totals are stunning, and the number of called third strikes is staggering….Seems like he is guess on so many pitchers….He says his confidence in not lagging, but if you look at body language you see something else.

Padres..P-Travis Wood got offended when I asked him his feelings about the Confederate Monument issues in the Deep South….”No politics-just pitching” if we are going to talk. Wood is from Arkansas. Who better to ask that a deep southener?

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Chargers…How’s that fight for LA going….Empty seats again at Stub Hub Center….by halftime-half stadium empty….New Orleans mugs the Chargers (13-7) in really ugly game…Coach Anthony Lynn visibly upset in postgame interview ‘team did not compete’….Chargers lose 2-mmore offensive lineman-Tyreek Burwell-with possible broken hand…C-Dan Feeney-finger injury

Chargers…Nightmare of a night in offensive line…allowed 8-sacks….had 9-run plays of zero or negative yards…committed 6-penalties….1st team offense running backs had 17-carries for 17-yards in the first half….Failed on a 4th and 1-run…..Chargers had (171Y) total offense…Chargers offense has now gone 18-straight possessions without a TD over 2-preseason games…Bolts special teams fumbled a kickoff…had a (-12) yard run on a punt return….

Chargers…Dexter McCoil had a 99Y=TD interception return for a score…LB-Melvin Ingram had a sack and tackle for loss…CB-Desmond King had a sack and pass deflection….Kellen Clemens had 3-scrambles for 29-yards in loss.

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Aztecs….San Diego State came up with the slogan….”1-City-1Team” as a way to market themselves in the community after the defection of the Chargers to LA….Hasn’t had much impact. SDSU has sold just 2,000-new season tickets for the coming season. The Chargers left behind 51,000-season ticket holders….Despite all the successes of coach Rocky Long, SDSU still has not figured out yet how to market itself in this city….Yes they say attendance was at 40,000 last year…but the UT reported that was just 25,000 paid…the rest are free tickets….in a city-county of 3.1M, with an Aztec alumni base of 110,000 in the city alone.

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USD….A major setback looming?…Tough to hear the Torreros won’t have record setting tight end Ross Dwelley to start the season. He left camp August 2nd with family-personal problems. and has not returned. Might have been the best small college tight end in the nation…Coach Dale Lindsey won’t talk about specifics….But a huge loss to QB-Anthony Lawrence, who also does not have graduated RB-Jonas Hodges-gone to the CFL.

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Soccer City….The ‘FS’ investors group is going to continue its push to get Major League Soccer to delay its decision on the expansion teams for 2020. waiting till the ballot measure for the Qualcomm sight is voted on in November 2018….By then we will also see if SDSU actually comes forward with a developer for their own stadium and campus expansion ideas.

Soccer City…has wrapped its arms around the greatness of Landon Donovan and what he meant to the World Cup program? Should Soccer City do something to entwine itself with legendary San Diego Soccer stars Julie Veee and Brian Quinn and Kevin Crow, and the other indoor starts still living here? They should.

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AHL Hockey…The San Diego Gulls have put together two strong seasons..and the Pacific Division growth will continue….The Colorado Avalanche will move their top farm club to Loveland, Colorado, replacing the ECHL team in that city….the Colorado Eagles team will launch in 2018 and become the 31st AHL club, matching the 31-NHL teams…Keep an eye out for two other storylines….Do the Vancouver Canucks relocate from their upstate NY location (Utica Comets) and move closer to home, and does San Jose take its AHL team out of its building, and move it somewhere else, Reno, Fresno, Sacramento, to draw better?

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1-Man’s Opinion on Sports-Friday. “Pitching-Some Good Days-Some Bad Days”

Posted by on August 18th, 2017  •  1 Comment  • 

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“Pitching-Good Days-Bad Days”

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He’s gone.

The first locker stall in the Padres clubhouse, usually reserved for veterans, is empty.

Jered Weaver is gone, headed to retirement.

We hardly knew him here, but we knew all the things he did before he got here.

When last seen here, he was booed off the mound in the aftermath of an ugly 8-run first inning in his last start.

His body broke down on him. First neck issues, that spread to his shoulder, that robbed him of velocity.

Then hip issues, that impacted his back and his mechanics.

I felt bad for Weaver in his last start before heading to the disabled list.

Padres fans were cruel as he got blasted in that final start.

Velocity gone. Ball movement non existent. And it was over just like that.

But there’s so much more to Jered Weaver, that this (0-5) record and inflated ERA in San Diego.

He was a workhorse for the Angels over a decade long span.

He pitched with a fury to his personality. He won 150-games in the regular season. He rang up big strikeout totals. He had some spectacular ERA’s for the Halos.

He was everything a high lst round pick was supposed to be, and he did it in his own backyard, coming out of Simi Valley.

He could have been, should have been a Padre, but lousy ownership refused to pay the going rate for high draft picks.

The Padres wound up with Matt Bush, bad attitude, bad drinking problems, and and bad elbow.,

The twilight of the Weaver career came quickly, like a fast arriving sunset in winter, much as it did for his talented brother Jeff Weaver, who did so many great things for the Detroit Tigers.

Jered made a lot of money because he had a lot of good seasons. He could have left the Halos, but he elected never to test free agency, just sign an 80M extension at the height of his career.

Up till the final year in Anaheim, when the injuries overwhelmed him, he answered the call and brought attitude and accomplishment to the mound every 5th day.

I was impressed with his demeanor and dedication thru this painful to watch season.

He answered questions honestly about being hurt, about the home runs he gave up, about what he was trying to do with his body to continue to make starts.

Inside, this man of fury, had to be hurting, but he never struck back, not at the media, not at the fans, who booed him so badly at the end at Angels Stadium than Petco Park.

Remember him for his amazing decade long career. File and forget how it all ended up, for that was a small sliver of all the man accomplished.

Sometimes you violate the media code, no cheering in the press box, by wanting a guy to do well.

You cheer privately when you see Brandon Morrow, the ex-Blue Jay and Padre, come back from diabetes and shoulder and forearm surgeries, to throw 95 this year out of the Dodgers bullpen.

You are saddened when you know 3-elbow surgeries have ended the career of once promising Padres left-hander Corey Luebke, retiring at age 30.

And for Jered Weaver, you remember his fire and the finality to how he pitched so many good games.

An odd bad day or bad season, does not denigrate all the great things he did for his team.

It’s baseball. Lots of good days, but yes, some bad days too.

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