Sports Notes!

Normally I would want USC to beat Notre Dame.  But this time I was happy the Irish won.  Gave them a ticket to the national championship game.  Now they can play either Alabama or Georgia (probably the Tide) and get totally crushed, humiliated, put in their place.  Roll Tide!

Over in Merry Olde England the latest odd couple pairing is at Chelsea.  The Russian oligarch-owner Abramovich shit-canned Roberto DiMatteo in a shameful way (his usual behavior) and hired Rafa Benitez, who spent six years at Liverpool alienating people and winning little.  Wonderful.  The Russki and the Spaniard deserve each other.

Here in what Herb Caen called Baghdad by the Bay (Baghdad must have had a different image back in the day) the soon to be Santa Clara 49ers have replaced a winning quarterback who finally succeeded after five or six years of failure by a new guy – Kaepernick in for Smith – who instantly became a new winning quarterback.  Was it a smart move?  Was it a heartless move?  Is the coach Mr. Fickle?  At the moment criticism is muted, since the team is winning.  I’m ambivalent.

David Beckham closes out his MLS career when the Galaxy play in the championship game on Dec. 1.  With good play, hard work and little ego Beckham has proved the naysayers wrong.  Good for him.  I suspect he’ll end up in the Premier League again.  That would be a fitting and appropriate move.

Speaking of egos – they’re hard at work and on display in the NHL work stoppage.  Owners and players.  Money.  Only the fans pay the price – both when games are played or games are cancelled.  Another useless argument that will end one of these days.  Lessons learned?  None.

The Giants have been quiet since dropping Melky and signing Affeldt – both good moves.  I hope they hold on to Scutaro and Pagan – and if the latter leaves we move for an outfield upgrade.  On the management side, the Sabean-Bochy combo is the best in the game.

That’s it for now.  Have a nice day.