Tony Gwynn

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The Media is not supposed to do it… but we will break this rule this time.

There’s college baseball to be played around the country today.  1st round of the NCAA regional tournaments.  San Diego State, coming off an awesome season, plays Mississippi State at 11am in the South regional in Louisiana.

A loaded batting order, with 5- .300 hitters will be there.  A deep pitching staff, with All American reliever Mike Cederoth and big strikeout starter Bubba Derby will be there.  The coach, the superstar, the icon, the local hero, will not.

Tony Gwynn, continuing the fight of his life, to beat back cancer, and regain his immune system and strength, has been bed-ridden, and in a wheel chair for an extended time.  The laugh and smile are there at times, but we all know the implications of relapses, and the wear-and-tear factor of chemo-radiation and multiple surgeries.

His legacy will forever be in a Padres uniform as a Hall of Fame batter.  His lasting accomplishment at his alma mater is what he has finally built SDSU into, a very good college program.

It’s not been easy, this war against the disease.  But he has never wavered.  It hasn’t been easy, the missteps taken in trying to find the right combination in recruiting at SDSU.

Gwynn has hit a home run, finding the balance in scheduling, and convincing young pitching to come to the Mesa and build a career.

Every San Diegan is pulling for, rooting for Tony, to slap this disease thru the 5.5. hole and beat it back again.

He will be there in spirit and his uniform will be in the Aztecs dugout this entire weekend.  He will watch from afar, but everyone in San Diego, while rooting for his team, are rooting more for the man, the media included.

Root root root for the home team and its coach…

Clippers Sale

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It’s almost over-thank goodness a new beginning about to start.

On the clock. The NBA is awaiting for the clock to strike midnight on Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

Reports everywhere the franchise could be sold tonite, maybe tomorrow. Regardless of the constantly changing story from the deposed Sterling, and the threats of lawsuits still out there, it appears as if a billionaire is about to step front and center and buy the team.

Microsoft CEO-Steve Ballmer has met with Shelly Sterling and B-of-A officials. Ballmer was the money man in the bid to get a team into Seattle.
Larry Ellison of San Francisco, with the deepest pockets, is part of the negotiations.

The Guggenheim Group, who bought the Dodgers, have Magic Johnson as their front man.
LA industrialist Rick Caruso; a group with Grant Hill in it: a Chinese syndicate with Yao Ming, are also there with bids.

The deal will be reached, then forwarded on to the Board of Governors for a vote.

Whoever buys the team gets greeted by the good will of fans, and inherits a pretty good team.

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Malcom Floyd

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Heart is willing-can the body hold up.

You must give him credit for heart, dedication and courage. You may critique him too for stupidity.

Chargers wide receiver Malcom Floyd, last seen lying in crumpled heap in the middle of the field after a horrible head on collision with an Eagles safety, is back on the field with his NFL team. He is taking part in the NFL off-season training activities. Running routes, catching balls, conditioning, and occasionally getting bumped.

Floyd suffered a severe cervical strain of the neck after a brutal middle of the field hit early last season, in weekend two. Enormous pain, nerve damage, compressed discs, and real fears.

The pain persisted till February, despite rehab, and weight work. It is gone now, and now he has been cleared by team doctors and his own physicians to return and play.

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Padres Woes

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Questions-Lots of Questions about a bad baseball team.

It goes on and on and no-one seems to have a solution.

The Padres are back out on the road, after wasting 2-homestands, where you thought they were going make up ground, pull themselves up by the boot straps, and try to make the summer baseball season interesting.

Last nite, another gruesome loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the ones who started the season (8-22). The Padres wasted a couple of long distance home runs. They had two baserunners thrown out at 2nd and 3rd, stranded another at third, and booted a ground ball into centerfield, that led to 2-Arizone runs. That plus giving up a huge 9th inning home run, while their closer was standing in the bullpen.

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Hacksaw: Remembering Those Who Served on Memorial Day Weekend

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Memorial Day weekend. Picnics, family, Padres games, the Indy 500, the Lakers in the playoffs, the Stanley Cup finals. Lots to see, experience and think about.

Memorial Day weekend, a time to remember also. We see hometown heroes amongst us. The Padres icon broadcaster Jerry Coleman flew fighters, even landed upside down on a flight deck. Red Sox hero Ted Williams was a fighter pilot both in the Pacific and in Korea, survived two crashes, and came home to super stardom.

The are two Purple Hearts in my house. Family members who served in our World Wars, were wounded, killed, and whose lives were forever changed.

When you come from an extended large family of that era, you are influenced by their experiences. Influenced by those you know, those you loved, those you lost.

I’ve been to Arlington, to the Punch Bowl cemetery in Hawaii, to Rosecrans Cemetery here, and know full well about the US cemetery at Normandy.

I wept when I went to the black granite Vietnam Wall in Washington, and was moved by the D-Day Memorial in Virginia. If you go to the Balboa Naval Hospital you are impacted. When you know them, when you cared about them, when you see them, when you ache for them and their memories, it leaves a lasting impression.

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