Sports This and That

I haven’t really written much about sports in general here, but a couple of things caught my eye this weekend….

First, Kobe Bryant and Shaquile O’Neal’s relationship has turned icy again. It’s been no secret that Shaq and Bryant have had problems sharing the spotlight in Los Angeles over the years, and that feud is starting again, with Shaq declaring (in the third person no less) that the Lakers are “Diesel’s team” and that being a Laker is all about playing for a team. Translated, this means that the Lakers revolve around O’Neal, and if you don’t feed him the ball most of the time, you’re not being a good teammate. Much has been made over the summer about Gary Payton and Karl Malone joining the Lakers, and how they would gel with the rest of the team. It looks as if Payton and Malone won’t have any trouble buying into Phil Jackson’s team-first offense, and they’ll be very willing to put aside personal glory for the title.

The Pittsburgh Steelers now have the dubious distinction of being in last place in the AFC North, one game behind the Cincinnati Bengals. That’s right, not only are they in last place in the NFL’s worst division, they are looking up to the Bengals. They lost yesterday to the St Louis Rams (Les Mufflounsfor Tuesday Morning Quarterback fans), and the score didn’t relfect how bad it was. The Steelers secondary was so overmatched, I could have done just as well as the cornerbacks. Anyone can clutch and grab to prevent the receivers from catching the ball, and at least if I was out there getting burned on every down, you would expect it.

The Florida Marlins beat the New York Yankees in baseball’s World Series. Should be an interesting offseason in NYC, as owner George Steinbrenner won’t be too chucked about losing to a team whose payroll was roughly $158 million less than his…..