With the latest polls, following their destruction of Kent State on the heels of wins vs. Youngstown State, Akron, Washington State, Northwestern, Minnesota, and Purdue Ohio State is #1 in both. The Buckeyes are 7-0, and got 5 games left. The next 5 weeks, they have Michigan State, at Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois, and at Michigan for the 104th edition of THE GAME. Not only are we are going to run the table, We’re going to destroy Michigan State, and invade Happy Valley, and pump the Badgers guts full of lead, and PULVERIZE the Illini, and kill Michigan, and then we’re going to go New Orleans to WIN THE NATIONAL TITLE!! Yeaararh!!!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BUCKEYES!! O-H…I-O!!

With a few weeks remaining in baseball’s postseason, great amounts of time will soon be dedicated to deciding the winners of MLB’s various awards. Among all the honors, there is one that can truly claim no losers. The Roberto Clemente Award is given annually to the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball through sportsmanship and community involvement, carrying on the spirit of the award’s hall-of-fame namesake.

Clemente was a 12-time All-Star, won four NL batting titles, won an NL MVP award, two World Series titles, and a World Series MVP. Broadcaster Vin Scully remarked of his throwing power: “Clemente could field the ball in New York and throw out a guy in Pennsylvania.”

The greatest of Clemente’s accomplishments, though came off the field.

On Sept. 30, 1972, Clemente hit a double at Three Rivers Stadium against the New York Mets for the 3,000th hit of his career. No one knew it would also be his last hit. That off-season, Clemente died in a plane crash delivering aid to a ravished community:

When an earthquake destroyed Managua, Nicaragua, Clemente immediately began organizing relief flights to send aid. Unfortunately, the first two flights of aid packages were diverted by corrupt officials of the Somoza regime, and never reached the victims. Upon learning this, Clemente decided to accompany a flight in attempt to ensure the aid would reach the victims. Unfortunately the plane, which had a history of mechanical problems, crashed shortly after takeoff.

Clemente’s dream of building a sports complex in his native Puerto Rico was only a small part of the legacy he left behind. Naming the award that recognizes those who truly understand the value of helping others after Clemente will keep his legacy alive forever. His spirit will never be forgotten.

The following off-season, The Baseball Writers Association of America decided to wave the five-year waiting period for the Hall of Fame for Clemente, and he was posthumously inducted with 92 percent of the vote. He was the first Latino player ever voted in.
Of all of this year’s candidates, which include UIC alumnus Curtis Granderson of the Detroit Tigers and Nick Swisher of the Oakland Athletics, son of former Cubs and White Sox catcher Steve Swisher, Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee is the logical choice to keep the legacy going.

Last year, his four-year-old daughter Jada was diagnosed with Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), a rare genetic vision disorder which has caused her to go blind in one eye. Along with Boston Celtics co-owner and CEO Wyc Grousbeck, who also has a son with LCA, and the University of Iowa, Lee has created Project 3000 in hopes of finding and testing the estimated 3,000 people in the U.S. who have LCA.

Since it was created, over $1 million has been raised by Project 3000, thanks in large part to the contributions of various big-league players. More importantly, though, the efforts have raised awareness for the disease. From 1996-2006, about 500 people were tested. Since the creation of Project 3000, at least 150 additional people have been identified with LCA.

“Once you realize something is wrong with your child, you do whatever you can,” Lee told MLB.com. “And then you want to help all other families. That’s what this is all about.”

It’s also the true meaning of the award and Clemente’s legacy.

Last month, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen got a contract extension through 2012, despite the fact that he was calling the shots on one of the shittiest teams in the majors. With that being said, about Ozzie getting an extension he shouldn’t have gotten, where is the extension for Chicago Bulls head coach Scott Skiles? Both the Bulls and White Sox are owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, so it only makes sense to give an extension to Skiles. I don’t care if Ozzie won a World Series. They had 1 good season, and then proceeded to play like shit afterwards.

Ever since Ozzie called Mariotti a piece of shit and a fucking fag, the White Sox have been playing horrible. Skiles may not have won a title, but he is building this team back after Krause left a horrible mess, and has gotten them into the playoffs 3 years in a row, and last year, led the Bulls to their best season since the Jordan era ended. Winning one title is not enough. Winning consistently and making the playoffs on a consistent basis is the key. Skiles has done that. Ozzie never will. Where is Skiles’ extension?

I was reading a White Sox message board recently, I came across this:

http://beachwoodreporter.com/audio/Please_Stop_Believing.mp3

Telling Cubs fans to stop believing. Get a grip, White Sox fans. Furthermore, the song is sung horribly off-key. You’re giving Steve Perry a bad name. It’s bad enough that you’ve ruined the use of this song for anyone else, but now making him look bad, that ain’t cool. You keep showing that you’re entire baseball vocabulary is Cubs Suck.

With Octoberquest complete and baseball’s playoffs underway, the new magic number for 8 teams is 11. The Cubs are one of those teams. I’m really feeling it this year. So many things have happened since 2003, I really feel it. The Red Sox broke their misery in 2004. The White Sox broke their misery in 2005, leaving the Cubs as the only miserable team in baseball. Furthermore, the White Sox beat us to it in our city. Top it off with the fact that our next biggest enemies following the White Sox, the Cardinals, won it all in 2006.

This year, with the Cubs making the playoffs, all 5 of my teams did good this year. My Buckeyes made it to the national title game in both football and basketball only to lose to Florida in both. The Bears made it to the Super Bowl, only to lose thanks to Grossman. The Bulls made the playoffs only to get bounced in the 2nd round by the Pistons. How much more suffering am I supposed to take?

A few ominous signs this year have also given me an optimistic look. In June, Sam Zell’s attempted to screw the Cubs by vetoing the deal for Jacque Jones because he didn’t want to put more debt on the new owners tab, when this would have taken $600,000 off. Ever since the Cubs failed to trade the Frenchman, he has been a big part of the playoff run. Until September, the Cubs had never won a game with me in attendance. That all changed on September 5th, when they finally won with me in attendance. Last week, San Diego Padres outfielder Milton Bradley got into an argument with an umpire. It led to a full-blown confrontation, with Padres manager Bud Black needing to restrain Bradley. In a very Cubs-esque moment, Bradley tore his ACL when his manager spun him to the ground in an attempt to restrain him. Another sign: The crew chief of that umpiring crew that angered Bradley was an old friend of the Cubs, Bruce Froemming, he who has been screwing the Cubs for 35 years and is retiring after this year. You see, ever since he became an umpire in 1972, he has been making life hell for the Cubs. He ruined Milt Pappas’ perfect game that year. Pappas had retired the first 26 batters, and had a 2-2 count on the 27th hitter. The next 2 pitches were extremely close, but Bruce called them both balls, ruining the perfect game. Ever since then, he has always made sure to make calls to screw the Cubs. Seeing him screw someone else, that is a sign.

I take all these events as a sign that the external forces are weakening and this is the year it’s gonna happen. Next year is here!! Go, Cubs, Go