Random Things

A few random thoughts

• I still have no idea what to make of the White Sox. They're about to wrap up a series with the Royals, and the Sox have dropped two of the first three. This is on the heels of sweeping the Tigers. So they've gone from winning three of three from the best team in the game to losing two of three to the worst team in the AL. There are six weeks left in the season and we still don't know who the real White Sox are.
• Two Hall of Fame candidates that we missed before: Jeff Kent and George Steinbrenner. While those two guys aren't connected to each other in any way, they are similar in the sense that neither is the happiest person that you'll ever meet (to say the least). Both are... cantankerous. But both have a shot at the Hall, I think. Kent is one of the best offensive second baseman of all time. Steinbrenner has done remarkable things as an owner and is responsible for reviving the great Yankees franchise. I also think that history will remember him well. We tend to remember the firings and the wild quotes The Boss issues, but down the road I think we will become more and more aware of his extensive charity work and all the good things he does for people. That, plus the New York media, will one day take him to Cooperstown.
• Just a few years ago, Willie Williams was the biggest recruit in the nation. He wrote a diary for a major newspaper that was so widely publicized and described the recruiting process so outlandishly that it caused the NCAA to make numerous changes to recuiting rules. Ultimately Williams settled on the University of Miami. Then his long, juvenile criminal history came to light. Miami admitted him anyway. There were all sorts of stipulations attached. Two years into things, Williams hadn't earned a starting role and now he wants out. He couldn't find a four year college to take him. And now community colleges are turning him down. How can a guy with two years at a 4-yr school even get into a 2-yr school? If he's really the student we all thought he was, shouldn't he have too many credits? Oh well. He's gone. I hope the kid can get his life figured out.