Sports fodder for a Friday morning ...
Only 14 shopping days remain for the San Francisco Giants to prove to their loyal fans they are serious about getting to the National League playoffs. The Giants, as usual, need our help. So we have a suggestion. The Giants should trade Jonathan Sanchez before he throws another pitch. Trade a pitcher just coming off a no-hitter? Are we crazy? Well, yes, but that's another fodder for another Friday. Sanchez, a guy the Giants didn't even want in their starting rotation 10 days ago, will never be hotter than he is right now. Yes, of course, the Giants would rather deal Randy Johnson than a young lefthander who just tossed a no-hitter. But you can't get a Matt Holliday or an Adam Dunn by offering the 2009 version of Randy Johnson.
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The Nevada Wolf Pack and all of Northern Nevada lost a cherished member of its extended family this week with the passing of former punter Pat Brady. Brady was one of the classiest gentlemen you'd ever want to meet. I had the good fortune to ask him about his NCAA-record 99-yard punt against Loyola Marymount in 1950 a couple times and each time the humble Brady would just say, "I got a good roll." Brady, who was also the Wolf Pack's quarterback, quick-kicked the ball on third down on his famous goal line-to-goal line punt. A 99-yard punt today would earn you an ESPY and an evening of sitting next to Justin Timberlake. In 1950, all it got for Brady was a pat on the back. It was the highlight of the Pack's 1-9 season in 1950 (the Pack even lost to Loyola, 34-7, that day) and the school dropped football the following year, forcing Brady to transfer to Bradley for his senior year.
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The Utah Jazz are supposedly thinking about taking out a bank loan so they can match the Portland Trail Blazers' offer to Paul Millsap. Paul Millsap? The immortal Paul Millsap? Really? Granted, Millsap is a solid player. His battles against the Wolf Pack earlier this decade for Louisiana Tech were memorable. But is it worth it to go into financial jeopardy to sign a guy that has never even started as many as 40 games a year, averaged 15 points or 10 boards? The Jazz need to pull out an old media guide and check out Karl Malone's numbers to see what a premier power forward is supposed to look like.
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Who cares if the Indianapolis Colts sell advertising space on their practice jerseys? They can turn their entire team into a NASCAR pit crew, dress them in uniforms with a different ad every two inches and it wouldn't matter. What's the big deal? Their quarterback, Peyton Manning, is already a walking billboard. You can't turn on the TV without seeing him selling this or that. In case you haven't heard, sports is all about making a dollar. It's the reason why you have to spend $29 to sit in a box seat at a Triple-A baseball game in Reno. We just have one question. Who, exactly, is going to see those ads on the practice jerseys?
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Florida football coach Urban Meyer had to tell the world for the 100th time this week that he is not interested in becoming the next coach at Notre Dame. Of course, nobody believes him. The minute Charlie Weis is fired - it should happen about 12 hours after the Wolf Pack beats them on Sept. 5, by the way - Meyer will be on a plane to Indiana in the middle of the night. Notre Dame, despite all of its troubles the last few years, is still one of the greatest coaching jobs in all of sports. All they need is a good coach.
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A couple of bratwurst eaters in Wisconsin have come up with the idea of selling jerseys with the name Judas and the number 4 on the back. It seems they believe former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre should be likened to the apostle Judas who, betrayed Jesus. There is only one problem with their premise. It was the Packers who betrayed Favre, not the other way around. Didn't the Packers tell Favre to stay retired last summer when he wanted to return to the team? Hey, why let the facts get in the way of a good T-shirt. Favre, though, should feel flattered. It's not everyone that gets their first name on the back of their jersey. The bratwurst eaters could have put "Iscariot" on the back. And shouldn't they have put roman numeral IIII instead of 4? When Peyton Manning betrays the Colts, a couple of Indy guys could slap a cell phone ad on their Judas jersey.
Joe Santoro is a freelance sports columnist for the Sierra Nevada Media Group.
