WHY ISN'T SPORTS HAPPY?

Sometimes friends ask me why I don't post blogs more often. I always tell them the same thing: I write when I'm inspired to write; when I need to say something. I noticed this week that all the sports stories were sad stories. It was hard to find that joy in watching your team play, watching your favorite athlete perform, watching that great play.
Some of it was there: the Cubs continue to excel, Riley Curry's favorite man coming thru big time in a playoff game, the Yankees winning 5 in a row. But intertwined in the good, was the unfortunate stories and the media always highlight them as though that was the only thing to talk about.
The Warriors are one game away from a magical record-breaking season but the sports networks go on and on  about the dust-up between Lebron James and Draymon Green.
Maria Sharapova gets a two year suspension for a positive drug test.  I'm going to miss those grunts.

The saddest, of course, are the deaths of two of the world's greatest athletes: Muhammad Ali and Gordie Howe. I'm going to miss them, too.
I'm currently watching a 30 for 30 special about the Hillsborough soccer disaster in 1989. I can't think of anything that could be sadder than attending a sports even only to have your anticipated good times ruined when some people are killed and many others injured.

I'm done with that. I'm not going to talk about the bad things anymore. I'm going to enjoy sports, watch the events and be happy again. Find the good even in the face of these sad things Let's start with Muhammad Ali's funeral. Celebrate the man the way Billy Crystal did by watching this eulogy
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOKCoctNk9A

Let's hope that sports gives us those pleasurable moments again. Those great athletic plays, the eye-catching performances  and the record-breaking accomplishments. You will forgive my occasional rants about umpire Joe West and the horrible Fox sports announcers. After all, you can only have so much fun.

***THEY SAID IT***
"Virginia McLaurin finally attended her first major-league game last week at Nationals Park in Washington — at age 107. Not that MLB games drag on or anything, but she was already 108 by the time it ended."  -- Dwight Perry
"After Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Kevin Love underwent concussion protocol. I hope he wasn’t asked, “When was the last time a team from Cleveland won a title in sports?” “I don’t know, but that doesn’t mean I have a concussion.”  -- Brad Dickson
"Steph Curry is bowing out of the Olympics. Makes sense. If he wants the experience against playing against a team of mixed amateurs and professionals, the Warriors have plenty of games next year against the Lakers."  -- Janice Hough
"The NFL has awarded the 2021 Super Bowl to L.A.. Everybody out here agrees it could bring some much-needed traffic to Los Angeles."  -- Argus Hamlton
"ESPN televises The Scripps National Spelling Bee. I watched it, and ESPN was the only word all night I knew how to spell."   -- Jimmy Fallon
" Lil Wayne has written a song about the Cleveland Cavaliers. I believe it's called "#$%^ ^&*! #$^&#@$ and $%^&."  -- Brad Dickson

"Appleton, Wis. — home of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the Brewers’ Class A affiliate — has been proclaimed “the drunkest city in America” by 24/7 Wall Street. To no one’s surprise, the bases were loaded when the announcement came."  -- Dwight Perry

"Former NFL punter Steve Weatherford says he got kicked out of a Planet Fitness for grunting too hard. On the plus side, oddsmakers just installed him and Maria Sharapova as the mixed-doubles favorites at Wimbledon."  -- Dwight Perry

"Khloe Kardashian said she's not dating Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr.; she was only flirting with him. Given the history of athletes with Kardashians, that’s a pass Beckham was wise to drop."  -- Janice Hough

"A rugby player in Italy tested positive for 11 banned substances. Halfway through testing the specimen jar exploded."  -- Brad Dickson

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