Where’s the love for Griffey?
June 10th, 2008, 7:09 am · Post a Comment · posted by Alex Kreitman
I grew up idolizing Ken Griffey Jr. I can remember my brother and me gawking at his unbelievable catches over the fence and the bone-crushing home runs he hit out of the old Kingdome in Seattle.
That seems like ages ago and in some ways it was. I was just a kid then and so was Griffey, hitting his first homer as a teenager. Griffey is 38 now and finally reached the 600 home run mark Monday afternoon.
As Griffey came up in the majors I had no doubt he’d break Hank Aaron’s home run record and Roger Maris’ single-season mark. He’s done neither. He skyrocketed to 300 homers, then 400 and 450, but after that his career slowed. Griffey battled injuries for much of his 30’s which has kept him from reaching his potential.
But by reaching 600 Griffey is back on the radar and national stage where he belongs. I’ve felt bad for Griffey during his quest for 600 because he’s received such little attention. This man survived the steroid era without using or being accused. He truly is one of the greatest to ever play the game. But somehow along the way his name got lost in the shuffle of needles and syringes.
We forgot a man who brought entertainment and amazement to the ball field night after night and was clean while doing it. Why don’t we hold Griffey in higher regard? We should. 600 is special and he’s the first in a long time to do it without a question mark or even though of an asterisk next to his name. I applaud Griffey and hope he stays healthy and can reach more milestones.
Of course I have to discuss the NBA Finals again because I’m counting down the hours until tonight’s Game 3. Today I’d like to talk about how Phil Jackson isn’t as good of a coach as everyone thinks. For this I will give one recent piece of evidence to support this wild claim.
Boston’s Leon Powe had the game of his life Sunday and dominated the Lakers, driving through the line and dunking of the Lakers defense over and over. His name is pronounced Po. After the game, Jackson was asked about Powe’s performance and Jackson referred to him as Pow, totally mispronouncing his name.
How do you not know the name of a player on the opposite team in the NBA Finals? That right there says to me that the Jackson’s Lakers aren’t prepared. Lucky for L.A. the players know his name. Jackson is just foolish for getting that name wrong. I hope Powe comes back and has another monster Game 3 and shoves it in Jackson’s face.
Also, Jackson is one of the greatest coaches all-time, resume wise, but he’s won with superstars. Every team he’s had has been filled with studs. I mean who couldn’t win championships with Michael Jordan? There’s no coaching involved on that team. Then Kobe Bryant and Shaq put together, it’s the same story. This is the weakest Laker team and I honestly don’t think coaching plays much of a role. I think it’s all Bryant all the time with this squad. Kobe has devloped as more a of a leader and I think his performance impacts the team. He is the reason the Lakers are in the finals, not Jackson. He’s just a name with a legacy.
