I always like to look at the Major League standings at mid-June to see how well the pundits got it right, and this year, it seems they are more than a little prescient.
Folks have been trumpeting the rise of the Washington Senators for the past several years, with the golden arm of Steve Strasbourg and super player Bryan Harper. Sure enough, they are three to four games ahead of last year's National League Champion New York in the NL East. In the West, it's San Francisco and Los Angeles breaking away from the rest of the division with the Giants holding a four-and-a-half game lead.
Like everybody in the press and on TV said would happen (and I didn't want to believe them) the Cubs are dominating their division with a nine game lead over St.Louis. They are dominating all of Major League Baseball with the best record in the pros. They are the only club to have more than 40 wins, sitting pretty with a 42-18 record. At home, they are a sizzling 22-8.
They have a lot of youngsters on their roster and enough veterans to make it a fine mix. Coupled with the best manager coach the Cubs have had in generations, they could roll in to October and break the more than 100 year title drought in the city.
St. Louis just had a big weekend, sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates three straight at Pirate Field. What the Cards have been miserable at this season so far has been starting pitching. Their offense has turned out to be much more explosive than first imagined and their slugging has been keeping around the .500 mark for most the season. This past week saw their starters go deep into games with the better providing enough scoring to build a five game winning streak.
I don't think it is likely that the Cards will catch up to the Cubs before season's end. In a sense, it might be just as well they didn't. In the past four seasons, the worst record St. Louis put up was the 2011. However, they qualified for the playoffs on the last day and eventually won the World Series. The past couple of years has seen the Cards mount the best overall winning percentage, but they won no World Series rings in spite of their success.
The Cards own a playoff seed right now by several games. If they have finally found their groove, maybe they can replicate 2011. It's not the best team that wins the World Series, it's the best team late in the season that wins.
Has Stephen Curry's Christianity got him in the cross hairs?
Has Golden State's splash brother and two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry's relatively sudden celebrity status eased enough that anti-Christian forces can hone in on a new target?
Nobody saw Curry's rise in the NBA due to his physical stature and perhaps his lack of a dark background so many NBA players brag about. His achievements in the past two years have been incredible with his scoring ability off the charts. His nice guy every man persona has been a boon for the league which has had far too many of their players winding up cuffed in the back seat of a police cruiser.
A couple of years back, Curry said no to a very lucrative Nike contract because they refuse to let him write a Bible verse on the shoes he wore. Instead he signed with UnderArmor for less money but more freedom.
Speaking of money, his current playing contract isn't among the top 50 in the league and even on his own team, he is only the fifth highest paid player.
He does make $10 million a year with the Warriors which Curry said at a news conference "is more than enough to take care of me and my family."
When asked if he thought he was worth more than what he was getting, Curry replied that he was, but a deal is a deal. When his contract runs out, the next one will be much higher.
Standard behavior for NBA players who outproduce their contract is to whine, complain and press for a new contract or a trade. Curry doesn't do that, citing the selfishness of it and the dissension it would cause.
There are a whale of a lot of stories concerning Curry that paint him as a kind, caring person, someone that would be enjoyable to know; but, not to a lot of folks though.
There have been many former pros along with sportswriters who believe that Curry is overrated and oversold. Numerous players on past NBA championship teams claim they could easily crush the Warriors, I think that in saying this, they could get a rise out of Curry. Curry's response? "They can think what they want to."
Curry's new basketball shoes (every NBS All-Star has their own shoes) is called the "Curry Chef." Made by UnderArmor, the shoe is all white and has been denigrated by a host of critics. These critics claim that Curry has the obligation to have shoes that represents his culture, etc., etc., and an all-white shoe will be popular for old white men.
Curry's reply was that he liked it, had worn all white shoes before and will again. Folks can decided for themselves what they want to buy or wear.
Curry has done nothing to cause anyone anywhere a reason to condemn, mock or vilify him. When he does get made fun of or mocked, he never reacts in kind, usually never reacts at all and just goes about his business. That is what probably angers these people the most.
There is a Biblical text about returning good for evil, thus placing hot coals on an adversaries' conscience. Maybe this is the reason for so many "hot heads."
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Editor's note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. He is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The Times. Mr. McGee can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 06/15/2016