It’s summer time. Brett Lawrie’s doing just fine. Don’t worry about him. He’s settling in, finding his groove, he’s smashing a grand slam (the first of his career). He’s having a good time. There’s a nice bit of summer recklessness to him.
Summer usually finds us both a little bit laid-back and a little bit amped up all at once. And I think it’s true that our summer mood is being reflected in our sports stories. How’s that, you ask? Just take a look at this week’s highlights. The summer is right there in front of you.
1. School’s out. Do you remember those And1 Mixtapes? Those street ball tapes just feel like summer to me. But I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to notice that my all time favorite And1 player, the Professor (Grayson Boucher) is a dead ringer for Matt Saracen on Friday Night Lights (still getting the critical acclaim it’s due, which is good). Man, those two are alike in so many ways. Also, Kevin Durant has been ripping up street ball scenes this summer (for instance, a week and a half ago he scored 66 effortless points at Rucker Park, the most famous street ball court in the world). Now you’re living, Kevin. But then this week, on Durant’s pick-up game tour, embattled NBA star Michael Beasley (who was also in the game) pushed a fan in the face just in case news was slowing down. But Ron Artest is said to be off to England to play for a team called The Jets because they’ll get him a part in a British soap opera. Checkmate. There is no lockout.
2. Hot nights. Quietly: The Philadelphia Phillies are the best team in baseball. Never was this more definitively the case than on Tuesday night when Phillies starting pitcher Cliff Lee not only pitched eight scoreless innings, but also hit what ended up as the game winning home run. It gives you the eerie feeling that they could almost have won the game with one guy. Pitchers normally hit nothing. However, Lee has a standing home run bet with another Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick. Are they just getting bored in first place?
3. Time off. At the Rogers Cup, some of the players tend to be in slight summer vacation mode. After all, Serena Williams did say that she hoped she wasn’t in Grand Slam form yet, because she isn’t at the US Open yet. But it means some interesting tennis results come out of it all. Over in Montreal, Canadian Vasek Pospisil was tough against Roger Federer. (Of course with Nadal gone, Federer only has Djokovic to worry about in terms of the major seeds.) Back here in Toronto, it’s Serena’s show. As she fights to get back into ‘Grand Slam’ form, she has taken to controlling loud spectators with her mind and compares her body to a boyfriend who keeps letting her down. That’s dominance.
4. Reruns. Brett Lawrie is doing just fine. Don’t even worry. Did you see the grand slam footage above? But Cathal Kelly makes a compelling argument for how it’s really general manager Alex Anthopoulos who is the hope and savior of the Blue Jays. He’s the one who has been making all the moves and trades that are setting the Jays up to be contenders in the very near future. And he’s handing press secretary duties now, going on the counterattack over recent accusations that his team is stealing signs from opposing pitchers. Also, maybe he can help other teams like us more. Lawrie isn’t really good for that.
5. Dog days. The Toronto Argos have a new defensive coordinator and are excited about it. Orlondo Steinauer has stepped up to revamp the the team’s defensive strategy. Which is good. But the Argos are still terrible. They have 1 win and 5 losses on the season. I’m not saying it’s time for them to panic; I’m just wondering if Alex Anthopoulos can maybe be the manager for 2 teams, you know? I don’t think it would be a conflict of interest, I mean, they play different sports.
