Wake-up Call: Usain Bolt, Tiger Woods, 3-D NFL, Jamie McCourt
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First things first: Let’s look at the voting in our poll from Tuesday. If Michael Phelps is SI’s sportsman of the year, who would be No. 2? The winner is Jamaica’s Usain Bolt. He had 16 of the 83 votes, or 19% of the balloting. Tiger Woods, who has been out of action since April, had a steady 10 votes from the start and at the end pulled out a second-place finish with 11 votes. Coming in third (and I am proud of you readers with this one) was L.A.’s own Candace Parker, who had a flurry of votes yesterday and finished with 10. Being named the WNBA’s rookie of the year and most valuable player wasn’t enough to beat out Tiger, which goes to prove Tiger’s pull. Now, Bolt is no surprise as the winner. He proved at the Beijing Games that he is, indeed, faster than anyone on Earth. His achievements were spectacular, never mind the suspicions of steroid use that trailed his team. I loved his crowd-pleasing theatrics too. His absolute joy. But remember how IOC chief Jacques Rogge dissed Bolt for those theatrics? Rogge proved to be the fuddy-duddy everyone suspected.
3-D tonight: The San Diego Chargers host the Oakland Raiders tonight in the NFL Network game. Here is the most interesting thing about it: It is being broadcast in 3-D in a handful of movie theaters to demonstrate the technology. One is in Hollywood, by invitation only, and Diane Pucin, our media writer, will be there and will write about the experience tonight. But the Raiders are upset about the 3-D showings because the Bay Area is not one of the locations.
To give or not to give: You might have read Bill Plaschke’s column last week on Frank and Jamie McCourt. And today Kurt Streeter weighs in. And T.J. Simers, of course, has another view. (P.S.: I like Jamie McCourt’s style and attitude.) But enough already. I have paid a lot of money (pre-recession) to sit in Dodger Stadium and watch this team. For years. There should be room and money enough to give a lot to the community and to field a team that will make it to the playoffs. To be blunt, that’s why owners are called rich. This past season was so much fun after you signed Manny Ramirez. Not before. That wasn’t a fluke. Would I pay big money to watch James Loney? Uh, no. Sorry, James. And, let’s not forget the McCourts brought us Andruw Jones (this past season, a .158 batting average in 75 games). Good grief. Other team owners manage to work hard for the community on many levels. It shouldn’t be one side against the other. Show us greatness in charity, hope and faith ... show us greatness in Chavez Ravine. Lest we not forget, here is a clip from one of the pre-Manny games in which Andruw Jones was booed after making another out. Notice the empty seats.
Top photo: Jamaica’s Usain Bolt celebrates winning the gold in the men’s 200-meter final at the Beijing Olympics. Credit: Thomas Kienzle / Associated Press
Inset: Candace Parker holds her trophy after being named the WNBA’s most valuable player. Credit: Eric Gay / Associated Press