John Rooke - Thinking Out Loud
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Thinking out loud…while wondering why our state legislatures’ idea for increased revenue is always “let’s hit the taxpayers again…”
• Brad Marchand is quickly becoming my favorite Bruins’ player to watch. Undersized, but tough as nails, not afraid to hit anything that moves, and he scores goals. Wow, what a concept…
• Has their been a more precipitous fall from the ranks of the elite than that suffered in the Stanley Cup finals by Roberto Luongo…or the Sedin twins? Could it be the bi-coastal travel? Must be, because whoever that was in goal Friday night for Vancouver was NOT the same guy in goal for the Canucks in Boston...
• It’s a rare moment, but take just a minute to reflect here – the Red Sox are back in first place, and they continue to beat up the Yankees. You know something else special must be going on if THIS news gets moved from the headlines…
• By the way…loved this from David Ortiz this week, when he was asked what he hit when he homered against the Yankees Wednesday night – “A bomb.”
• Has there been, in recent memory, a player who more personifies what the Red Sox are all about than Tim Wakefield? You love him, you hate him…then you realize you can’t do without him…
• Did you see that the Patriots are putting single-game tickets on sale for this season? Does this mean they feel confident about HAVING a season?
• Not for nuthin’…but what are the chances Plaxico Burress finds post-jail opportunity in Foxboro?
• Kudos to former Friar hockey great Kurt Kleinendorst…winning an AHL Calder Cup as head coach of the Binghamton Senators in his FIRST season as the head coach…
• The Friar basketball program has had some pretty high profile recruits come through their doors in recent days. That’s great news. Time to see if Ed Cooley’s staff can button up a couple of these guys…if they can, we’ll find room on the bandwagon for you…
• Congrats to former Friar great Lenny Wilkens, who received the NBA Coaches’ Association Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement award. Wilkens remains as one of only three Hall of Famers enshrined as both a player and coach, at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA, and is the only legend listed among the Top 50 NBA players, and Top 10 NBA coaches of all time…
• Congrats as well to the Cranston West baseball team for taking their 3rd state title in the past six years…and to Johnston for winning the Division II crown. Now, wouldn’t you like to see these two pair off for a TRUE state champion? C’mon RIIL, make it happen. It’s time to move away from the “everyone gets a trophy” era…
• Ohio State has fallen from grace. USC has vacated a national football title. Why do I get the feeling that Auburn’s photos with President Obama can, and will be, used against the President in the court of popular opinion some day soon?
• A friend of mine told me this week that he was watching the NBA Finals. Cool. Who’s playing?
• He’s a real knucklehead, but I love Charles Barkley’s ability to incite emotion. He’s called the Miami Heat fans “the worst,” the Heat themselves a “whiny bunch,” and that he would root for the Washington Generals if they played Miami. So would I, Chuck…
• Latest Marshon Brooks rumor…10th overall to the Milwaukee Bucks…
• Comings and goings in Big East basketball…COMING – former Dayton guard Juwan Staten, and former LaSalle center Aaric Murray, to West Virginia…top-ranked 2011 recruit and former Texas commit DeAndre Daniels, to UConn…6-9 Southern Illinois transfer Eugene Teague, to Seton Hall…GOING – former Rutgers head coach Fred Hill, to Northwestern as an assistant to Bill Carmody…former Louisville forward George Goode to Missouri…
• Completely unnoticed this week…bouncing back from the 4-0 shellacking they took from World Cup champ Spain in Foxboro last Saturday, the US Men’s Soccer team bounced back to shutout Canada 2-0 on Tuesday. More misfortune for our Canuck friends from the north…
• I haven’t yet been out much, but the local golf courses seem to be in pretty good shape, after spending the past winter buried under a foot of ice and snow. Played Alpine in Cranston this week…lookin’ good, Eddie Kirby and crew…
• It sounds good in principle, but the idea of having a “coach in waiting” seems to do nothing but create problems. Take Texas football, for instance – Will Muschamp was the CIW, but questions of “when will it happen?” were always being asked, never giving Muschamp (now at Florida) or current head coach Mack Brown any peace. Dana Holgorsen was the CIW at West Virginia, but with rumors running rampant that the current coach, Bill Stewart, set his replacement up for failure…Stewart was ultimately forced to leave. Oh, and this was after Holgorsen was recently kicked out of a WV casino for inappropriate behavior. Who could make this stuff up?
• And here’s why coaches are willing to, apparently, do whatever it takes to become head coaches, and keep those jobs - $$$, and lots of it. Big surprise, right? Auburn’s Gene Chizik, fresh off a national championship, received a $1.3 million RAISE this year, over what he made last year…and he’s only the fourth highest paid coach in his conference, the SEC…
• I’ve heard this was coming, but Providence Democrat Edith Ajello’s proposal to tax beverages (including soda) in Rhode Island as an answer to our state’s fiscal woes just flat out makes me angry. Every legislator who proposes a bill that increases our taxes should automatically face censorship and go stand with their nose in a corner of the statehouse. And be voted OUT of office…who’s with me?
• Interested in having your questions on local RI sports (including the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Here’s your chance to “think out loud,” and send your questions and comments to [email protected]. We’ll share mailbag comments right here!
John Rooke is the radio "voice of the Providence Friars," and was recently inducted into the RI Radio Hall of Fame. He has been covering sports in RI and New England since 1988.
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