The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Mayweather-McGregor? Save your money
Register columnist Chip Malafronte says he can’t see any reason to pay good money for the sham of a fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor.
Baseball’s annual amateur draft has come and gone. Once again, not a single team took a chance on this aging sports writer. I’m beginning to think my window for reaching the major leagues is closing.
• Barring some miraculous additional spectacle, like the ghost of Jack Dempsey announced as referee, I can’t see any reason to pay good money for the sham of a fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor.
Mayweather is one of the great boxing champions of all-time, undefeated since turning pro in 1996. McGregor occasionally throws punches in between the kicks, elbows, choke holds, anklebiting and whatever other tactics are considered legal in mixed martial arts.
The best analogy we saw was a gold-medal winning Olympic decathlete — someone who does all track and field events well but specializes in none — trying to beat Usain Bolt in the 100 meters.
McGregor, a rank amateur as a boxer, is in way over his head. The odds are even less that this bout is even mildly entertaining. But it will still generate millions and be considered a rousing success, because money, not sport, is what determines triumphs of the day.
• Keith Petruzzelli, currently set to enroll at Quinnipiac this fall, was rated as the secondbest goaltender in North America available for next weekend’s NHL Entry Draft in Chicago. The Springfield, Massachusetts, native is 6-foot-6 and was named USA Hockey’s amateur goalie of the year. Petruzzelli is expected to be taken in the first or second round of the draft.
• Rory McIlroy and Jason Day failed to make the cut at the U.S. Open. Guess they wanted to save themselves for the chance to shoot a round in the 50s at next weekend’s Travelers Championships in Cromwell.
• Remember when summer movies were actually worth getting excited about? Now, the so-called blockbusters are nothing more than a steady stream of superhero movies and terrible nostalgia TV flicks.
• Not the most exciting NBA Finals of all time, but not to worry. The Cavaliers and the Warriors will be back next season to play the rubber match.
• Tom Moore, fired at Quinnipiac after 10 seasons as men’s basketball coach, was hired as an assistant at Rhode Island. Moore will work with Danny Hurley, a rising star coming off a 25-9 season in which the Rams made the second round of the NCAA tournament.
• The Discovery Channel announced Michael Phelps will race a great white shark as part of Shark Week. It’s official. Shark Week has jumped the shark.
• Could Maria Sharapova be play New Haven in late August? It may depend on whether the U.S. Open greets her with open arms. Since returning from her doping ban Sharapova has battled injury. She dropped out of Wimbledon and isn’t expected to play again until Stanford in late July. As the 178thranked player in the world, there’s no chance for her to climb high enough to qualify for the U.S. Open. If the Open offers her a wild-card — no guarantee, given the negative reaction to the doping accusations — she may use New Haven as a tune-up, should tournament director Anne Worcester offer her a spot. Sharapova’s drawing power makes her an attractive option for New Haven.
• Paul O’Neill is a delight in the broadcast booth. He even makes Michael Kay somewhat tolerable. He’s the Scooter Rizzuto of his generation. The Yankees need to get him more work.
• It’s entirely possible that the Mets built Citi Field over an ancient Indian burial ground.
• One of the two U.S. Congressmen who encountered the baseball field shooter in Virginia just before he opened fire was Ron DeSantis, captain of the Yale baseball team in 2001.
DeSantis had an early meeting and left practice to beat traffic. In the parking lot, a man he later identified as the shooter asked if those who remained on the field were Republicans or Democrats. The shooting occurred moments later.
• “Beat the Freeze,” the Atlanta Braves betweeninnings promotion in which ordinary fans are given a long head start against an accomplished sprinter wearing a superhero costume, is the best thing that’s happened in sports this year.
• Quinnipiac had two players selected in last week’s MLB draft: Shelton’s Matt Batten and Suffield’s Robbie Hitt. Batten and Hitt. How could any baseball team go wrong with those names?
• Amazon is purchasing Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. That’s a bargain considering a week’s supply of groceries purchased at Whole Foods typically runs in the neighborhood of $6 billion.
• Here’s my itinerary for the perfect Father’s Day: 9 a.m.: Wake up. That’s it. The last time I was allowed to sleep past 6:30 a.m., without being woken by a crying baby, bored child or yelping puppy, was in 2007. I don’t ask for much. But a few extra hours of uninterrupted slumber would really hit the spot.
I would’ve also request an additional 30-minute afternoon nap, set up by a cold Tom Collins and a nice cigar on the back patio, followed by a trip to my big black living room chair for the final few holes of the U.S. Open.
That’s probably pushing my luck.
Here’s to all the dads out there. Hope you find a few minutes of that elusive peace and quiet today.