Wooley's Weekly Winners 7-19-14
By: Ryan Wooley
@wooleymammoth85
It's been quite a while since I've sat down to do a Weekly Winners blog and after much heckling by fellow colleague Dan "The Man" Leach to bring it back -- I've finally decided to jump back on board.
For those of you that have followed this blog before, I take three things that really stand out during the week and name them "Wooley's Weekly Winners" and sometimes it's as obvious as a team winning a championship, a good deed by someone in the sports world or even something like LeBron James returning back home to Cleveland. The point however is to honor those individuals, teams or great moments that can get lost in the daily sports news.
For this week my three winners are Derek Jeter, the New Orleans Saints, and professional wrestler Sting.
Derek Jeter
What can you say about this guy that hasn't already been said? He is the true definition of what a role model should be as he has won and lost with class over the last 20 years and has never been involved in a steroid or sex scandal. He is by far one of the best players, if not the best player of our generation and it was great to see Major League Baseball honor him as so during the All Star Festivities. It will be truly remarkable to see if he becomes the first unanimous player to be voted into the Hall of Fame when he is put on the ballot in 2020 – and honestly should be.
New Orleans Saints
It's no secret that tight end Jimmy Graham was not happy about getting slapped with the franchise tag this offseason or that the NFL ruled that he was indeed a tight end and not a wide receiver, which ultimately cost him $5 million dollars. But it was nice to see the Saints recognize the talented player they have on their roster and reward him with a new four year contract worth $40 million dollars, $21 million of which is guaranteed – making him the highest paid tight end in NFL history. The deal also keeps their quarterback Drew Brees happy and focused since Brees has been vocal about getting a deal done with Graham before training camp opens.
Sting
Whether you're a professional wrestling fan or not, there are certain names that when uttered you instantly recognize because they have been ingrained in pop culture like Hulk Hogan, the Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ric Flair, Macho Man Randy Savage, and Sting. Each have had their own impact on the world of sports entertainment through various decades but only one has never competed in the biggest wrestling company of them all --and that's Sting. He had always said that he would never join the company as he didn't think they knew what to do with his character but that is all set to change as the Stinger has struck a marketing deal to take part in WWE's upcoming video game set to be released in October, and has now went on record saying he wants one more match before he retires and that's against The Undertaker. This contest has been a dream match for many fans for years and despite some saying it's 10 years too late, if Vince McMahon and the WWE were somehow able to make it happen it would garner as much interest as any other WrestleMania main event and make generations of fans extremely happy that they were able to witness icon vs. icon one last time before both future Hall of Famers call it a career.