Monday's Heroes & Zeros

Hey peeps, hey Hazel (if she's checking in) and anyone else who has arrived at this page either on purpose, by accident, or by hitting a link - thanks for taking a few minutes out of your day/night to stop by.

So today was a bit of a slow day in the world of sports, but as the title of this entry would indicate - a few stories caught my attention. Quite simply, some people came out of the weekend looking like heroes...and some, well...I'll let you decide.

Heroes
Portuguese National Team Striker Pedro Pauleta(born in Sao Miguel, Azores), scored for Paris St. Germain this past weekend - his 100th career goal in La Ligue. Pauleta blossomed when he made the move from the Spanish La Liga to the French Ligue in 2000 - he has played well enough to have been voted the "Foreign Player of the Year" in France. Let's hope this is an omen for upcming World Cup Qualifiers...and next year in Germany. Start practicing that name Hazel - remember to roll the "r" or you can just call him Pauleta - we do.

Kevin Millar of the Boston Red Sox, a lot of guys talk about being "team guys...team players" - well Millar showed just how much of a team guy he is. With the Red Sox charging towards a divisional title - with guys like Ortiz and Ramirez having big years...Millar is suffering through a sub-par year - just ask Red Sox Nation...they are giving it to him almost daily. Millar hasn't hid or made excuses - the man who made "Cowboy Up" famous, has himself stepped up...acknowledging both to Terry Francona and Red Sox Nation that John Olerud is full value for the playing time he has won from Millar - he owned up to the fact he is having a bad year and will do anything to help the team. Millar showed me a lot today.

On a side note...Millar was one of the dudes that helped ease Hazel's transition to Boston...shortly after she announced she was going, Rogers aired an episode of JZone where Hazel was hanging out with Millar, Ortiz and Pedro Martinez. I'm sure that was the Red Sox's unofficial "welcome to Boston Hazel - Millar's ok in my books...hope he regains his form.

Would I be a horse's a** for nominating myself? I was pretty happy with this weekend - I ran 6 km in 29 mins on Friday night (in rain), golfed Saturday morning and went out for a 20KM bike ride on Satruday afternoon (in light rain), ran 8 km in 38.5 mins on Sunday and ran another 6km tonight in 29 minutes. Ok, maybe the hero is my running buddy who won't let me "call in tired" for a run - she's tough. Ok, so my buddy is the hero.

Zeros
Lawrence Phillips, former Nebraska Cornhusker RB, former Montreal Alouette, former St. Louis Ram, former Miami Dolphin, former Barcelona Dragon....you get the picture huh? Lawrence was arrested Sunday after allegedly running his car into three teenagers he got into an argument with - AT A PICKUP FOOTBALL GAME. It gets better...Lawrence was already wanted by police in connection with two incidents of domestic violence (including allegedly choking his girlfriend to the point of unconsciousness). He is being charged with suspicion of attempted murder and domestic abuse - he is being held without bail. I remember this guy in college...what ever happened to him, I'll never know...he had it all - except a brain and an "off" switch on his temper. Way to go Lawrence.

This guy in my building who walks down four floors every morning to grab the newspaper and use our washroom for "his morning deposit/thought/constitutional" or whatever you want to call it. I can't get over it - this clown actually comes down to get a paper and use our facilities. Ok, it's not sports related...but there are days I'd like to pull a Roy Jones Jr. on this guy and kick his can back up to his own damn floor.

Ok...that's about it for tonight. I didn't connect with my buddy last night - I was too busy here with a Sunday entry...so I'm making the call tonight. I hope you all have a great night (or day - depending on when you are checking in)...here's hoping that Hazel is in the midst of a groovy week (still holding faint hope that she "just said no" to Stones tickets - haha).

The Song of the Day on Hazelspeeps at yahoo - in honour of crazy Lawrence Phillips...

Drive - R.E.M

"maybe your crazy in the head little baby"

ok...I'm gone.

Peesth out.