Scott Garceau: In Your Face Conn (Dis & Dat)
Jeremy Conn, my radio partner on The Fan, was quick with a "Click" text to me Thursday night. It came right after Steve Pearce hammered a 2-run homer to give the Orioles a 7th inning the lead. It was a nice call by Jeremy on our Thursday afternoon show considering Pearce entered the game with as many hits as Jeremy. Nice way to break out of an 0-13 start. Oh yah, my pick to click was Matt Wieters, all he did was hit a Walk-Off Grand Slam, the first by an Oriole since Harold Baines did it in 1999. It came in the 10th inning, now that's a Pick to Click, in your face Conn!
Navy's David Robinson did it by scoring 71 points in the final game of the 1993-'94 season to edge Shaq. Georgetown's Allen Iverson did it 4 times and this week former Towson Catholic prep star Carmelo Anthony did it. Anthony won this season's NBA's scoring title. Melo averaged 28.7 a game to edge Kevin Durant. The Knicks star became the first Baltimore player to win an NBA scoring title. And please don't go Dominique Wilkins on me, The Human Highlight Film did spend some time in Baltimore but he was born in France and played his high school ball in North Carolina.
The NFL draft is right around the corner and this is about the time things get crazy. I'll let you in on a few league secrets about the student-athletes soon to cash in. There's a wide receiver in Tennessee who may be deficient in mental acuity. Just say it he's dumb! West Virginia's Tavon Austin, a state record setting running back at Dunbar in Baltimore, may not have aced the Wonderlic test but he's aced all the football tests and I suspect he'll be an NFL star for the team that drafts him in the first round next Thursday night.
Here's my favorite. A report says some NFL teams may be down-grading talented BYU defensive end Ziggy Ansah. Why you ask, well it seems when talent evaluators attended his pro day they noticed he was "old in the face." I don't make this stuff up. The Ravens and a lot of other teams aren't holding Manti Te'o's dating game against the Notre Dame linebacker, all indications are that he'll be a first round selection likely before the Ravens pick at 32.
The NFL schedule has been released and after careful analysis I noticed that all teams have 8 home games and 8 on the road. Did we really need a 3-hour special to tell us that? Of course we did and I'm sure the "Schedule Special" on the NFL Network did record ratings.
Out of the finish line tragedy of the Boston Marathon comes the triumph of the American Spirit and sports helps reflect that. A night at Yankee Stadium brought it home after 9-11 and a hockey night in Boston this week reminded me how proud I'm to be an American. If you haven't seen the video here it is. God Bless America!
