Sports thoughts

Several people have asked me why I had a hiatus from writing my column for a couple of years. In the words of Ricky Ricardo, “Let me splain, Lucy.”

Why would someone want to read a sports column when they could turn on the T.V. or internet and get sports talk 24/7 on any sport? There is no issue that isn’t covered by video or talk. Why read? In the words of Harold Ramis, from “Ghostbusters,” “print is dead.” I used to laugh at that quote, until I picked up the Arizona Republic’s sports section.

No longer was it an adventure to read a big city sports page. I read one recently that had five pages – three full of advertisements, one filled with box scores, the other notes on Phoenix’s pro teams. I guess the newspaper business must be in trouble.

Let me thank Grady and Warner of the Yuma Sun. I used to call them the Jimmy Olsens, cub reporters at the Daily Planet. These two have beat the bushes to report local sports. I know, the sports section in Yuma used to be a lot bigger 25 years ago, but some additions today aren’t big enough to start a fire. I don’t get paid to write my column, those two don’t get much more. Keep up the good work, Jimmies.

Maybe the way to write a column nowadays is to look at the light side. In the words of Father Mulcahy of M*A*S*H, “we need more jocularity in the world.”

It’s not too funny to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The poor Los Angeles Dodgers got the point. “Greatest Team Ever,” give them that status and they play .500 baseball and have trouble beating the San Francisco Giants. One thing I will say about San Francisco Giant fans is they are the most loyal in Major League