Sports and the Single Girl

I don't usually write about sports, but a few things have happened in the past few days that need commenting on.

The Belmont and Big Brown's bust -- I don't usually subscribe to conspiracy theories at all. I believe, that for the most part, 99% of the time, sports are on the up and up, and games, matches, races, et al are not fixed. However....with no apparent injury to Big Brown, isn't it just possible that the trainer took a bribe to have Big Brown not win the Triple Crown?

The passing of Jim McKay -- before cable TV and ESPN, before the internet and instant access to ever imaginable sporting contest, I had two things that I looked forward to on Saturdays. The Saturday game of the week (baseball) with Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola, and ABC's Wide World of Sports. If you are a child of the '70s or earlier, how can you not hear in your head, "spanning the globe....the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat" and then see that skier totally wipe out at the bottom of the ramp?! It was this sports fan only way to get sports on a regular basis, other than reading my Sports Illustrated every week.

I had the opportunity to meet Jim McKay just once when I lived in Baltimore. It was at the Orioles press conference when they announced Mike Hargrove as their new manager. There were far more important people in the room than me, but he took the time to say hello, shake my hand, and ask me what was going on that Museum. He was a gentleman, through and through.

Ken Griffey Jr hitting his 600th home run -- Fifteen years ago, he was the heir apparent to breaking Hank Aaron's record. And then his career was injury ridden. He was on the DL for more games than he played in some seasons. But he never lost his sweet swing, he never lost his joy for the game, or that infectious smile. When other players were taking steroids to help them recovery from injury, "not to get an advantage over other players," they rationalize, there was Jr. Griffey sucking up his recovery, his rehab, and losing valuable games, at bats and youth.

Six hundred home runs over the span of his career. A career without steroids, without even the hint of scandal. The 600-home run club should only be Ruth, Aaron, Mays and Griffey. The names of Bonds and Sosa taint it, for sure.

But thinking about what Junior accomplished in his career -- drug-free -- only makes what Ruth, Aaron and Mays (things that most of us can only read about or see precious few highlights of) all the more amazing. If it were easy, there'd be more men in that club, and if it were easy, Sammy and Barry would have been able to do it without drugs. But we'll never know.

And so for me, the 600 home run club is about four men, not six. It's about when the game was pure, and when the game was fun. And when hitting 600 home runs was a milestone to be celebrated, not something that this generation of sports fans has already seen twice before last night's accomplishment.