Of the 365 days in a calendar year (and one more bonus day in this very special leap year), only one is empty of any meaningful sporting event.
That is today, the day after baseball's all-star game. No sports of note will take place on this unique day on the sports calendar (there are two WNBA games tonight, but we said "sports of note").
10. Day before/after baseball's All-Star Game: There are 365 days in a calendar year (366 on those special Leap years, 2008 is included on that fun), and each contains some sort of sporting event. Err, actually, 363 days a year contain some sort of sporting event. This is actually a non-sports day entry in the greatest sports days of the year. The day before, and after, Major League Baseball's All-Star Game contain no sports (we don't count the home run contest —- held the day before the All-Star Game —- that's just an exhibition). For those of us working in sports journalism, it gives us a much-needed breather.
"Soccer is a game for 22 people that run around, play the ball, and one referee who makes a slew of mistakes, and in the end Germany always wins." -- former England striker Gary Lineker.
Euro 2008 kicks off in 11 days.
11 days is too long to wait.
To help pass the time, "Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff" breaks down five games to watch ...
Poland qualified for its first UEFA European Championships, and now it will attempt to attain another elusive first ... a long-awaiting victory over their neighbors, Germany, which has qualified for more (9), and won more (3), European Championships than any other nation.
Pint scale (1 - casually watching, may duck out of pub if match gets dull; 5 - sobriety be damned, totally committed to match from start to finish and beyond): 5
Germany isn't the only side that enjoys a one-sided competition with a European rival. Italy -- 2006 World Cup champions -- hasn't lost to the Netherlands since 1978. If you do your math correctly, that's 30 years. However, it's not like these two sides have played each other regularly. It's only been eight games in which the Netherlands failed to beat Italy. Eight games in 30 years? That's not quite so bad. We're beginning to ramble, so let's move on.
Turkey and the Czech Republic will meet for the first time in a competitive fixture, which is significant. What else is significant? The tongue-twisting names of some of the players on both sides. Turkey's roster includes Rüstü Reçber, Gökhan Gönül, Emre Belözoglu, Gökdeniz Karadeniz and Semih Sentürk. The Czech Republic's roster includes Tomáš Ujfaluši, Zdenek Pospech, Václav Sverkoš and Stanislav Vlcek. Best of luck goes out to the ESPN announcers covering this game.
This game's intrigue would be through the roof if Zinedine Zidane hadn't retired following his moment of infamy in the 2006 World Cup. Still, it's a delightfully delicious rematch of that memorable final at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. While Zidane will likely be watching this one with great interest, it will be noted that Marco Materazzi is on Italy's Euro 2008 roster and should be a fixture on the team's defensive line. Do the French players have enough testicular fortitude to try and make it a point to make Materazzi feel some shame? Let's watch and find out!
Greece made an inspiring run to win the 2004 UEFA European Championships ahead of hosting that year's Olympic Games. En route to that triumph was a 1-1 draw against Spain in the group stage. That was a bitter pill to swallow for Spain, which did not advance to the second round of the tournament in just another disappointing finish for one of Europe's most talented squads.
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- author, satirist, political theorist, politician, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman and diplomat Benjamin Franklin
I drank beer last night. I'll drink more beer tonight. Over the course of an unspecified period of time, I will drink gallons upon gallons of beer. That is why the list of the "50 worst beers in the world" interests me greatly.
As a life-long Brewers fan, I'm here to happily expound on that, having lived through this mayhem first-hand (hey, it's been borderline funny, if you have a good sense of humor).
Here is an irreverant season-by-season breakdown, going all the way back to 1983, the season after the Brewers' historic World Series appearance. I think this will be a more accurate representation of just how life as a Brewers fan has been ...
1983: Team traded center-field stalwart Gorman Thomas to the Cleveland Indians for Rick Manning, whose 20 home runs over four and a half seasons with the Brewers fell 19 short of Thomas' 1982 total.
1984: In a precursor of things to come, injury-prone Paul Molitor played in just 13 games as the Brewers fell six losses short of 100 defeats on the season.
1985: Pitcher Danny Darwin finishes a dismal 8-18, including a club record 10 straight losses, but manages to pitch a one-hitter, two-hitter and three-hitter, becoming the first Brewer hurler to do so.
1986: Gorman Thomas returns to the Brewers, but newcomer Teddy Higuera steals his thunder, as he becomes the first 20-game winner for the Brewers since Mike Caldwell in 1978.
1987: Brewers win first 13 games of season, which included a no-hitter by Juan Nieves and a magical Easter Sunday at County Stadium, but then went on to lose 18 of 20 games in May. Ouch! Paul Molitor's 39-game hitting streak only cemented the '87 Brewers' reputation as "Team Streak."
1988: Gary Sheffield begins a despicable four-year run with the Brewers.
1989: Sheffield is touted as an American League Rookie of the Year candidate, then goes on to intentionally throw balls into the stands after fielding grounders to prompt a trade.
"The Brewers brought out the hate in me," an honest Sheffield admitted in 1992. "I was a crazy man. I hated everything about the place. If the official scorer gave me an error I didn't think was an error, I'd say, 'OK, here's a real error,' and I'd throw the next ball into the stands on purpose.'"
1990: In typical fashion, Rob Deer smacks 27 home runs, but whiffs 147 times, in his final season with the team. From 1986 through 1990, his strikeout totals during this five-season stretch with the Brewers is the stuff of legend ... 179, 186, 153, 158 and 147.
1991: Sal Bando is named Senior Vice President at season's end, and then hires Phil Garner, a.k.a. "Scrapiron," as manager.
1992: Brewers finish 92-70, and then forced Milwaukee fans to wait another 15 years before seeing their team finish above .500 again.
1993: Franchise cornerstone Robin Yount concludes a remarkable 20-year career with the Brewers. Yount collected his 3,000th hit late in the 1992 season, thus assuring his place in Cooperstown in 1999.
1994: Brewers change their uniforms to these atrocities, thus ushering in an era of futility. Yes, you can totally blame hideously ugly uniforms for a team's poor performance on the field.
1995: Against their fans' best wishes, the team returns from baseball's devastating strike to finish 65-79.
1996: After finishing the season just two games under .500, the Brewers break ground on what will eventually become Miller Park.
1997: Ancient reliever Doug Jones records 36 saves, which would be a Brewers record for two seasons (broken by Bob Wickman's 37 saves in 1999).
1998: The Brewers become the first team in Major League Baseball history to switch leagues, moving over to the National League to accomodate the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
1999: Tragedy strikes at the construction site of Miller Park, thus delaying the opening of the park for another year.
2000: The Brewers' season opens with a tie against the Cincinnati Reds when weather forces the game to be suspended. Later in the season, with their playoff hopes totally shattered, the Brewers and Indians execute a seven-player trade that sends Rickie Sexson to Milwaukee.
2001: Back when his approval rating was still at an acceptable level, President George W. Bush takes time off from his duties as the nation's fearless leader to witness in person the Brewers' first game at Miller Park, a 5-4 victory over the Reds.
On an unrelated note, the new state-of-the-art stadium didn't feature Bernie Brewer's signature chalet and beer mug, just a crappy slide onto a platform. Lame!
2002: Miller Park hosts the All-Star Game, which results in the first tie in the Mid-Summer Classic's history. This event created quite a stir at the time, and prompted the "This time it counts" winner-gets-home-field-advantage-in-World Series All-Star Game that baseball fans enjoy today.
On the field, Jose Hernandez makes a magical run at the single-season record for whiffs, and the Brewers finish 56-106, the worst record in franchise history.
2003: Brewers fall two games short of getting their fans free hamburgers at George Webb's during a magical 10-game ride in August.
2004: At season's end, Los Angeles financier Mark Attanasio becomes the new owner of the team, thus ushering in a new era of hope for Brewers fans and ending Bud Selig and family's reign.
2005: Sporting an 81-79 record with two to playand threatening to have the first winning season in 13 years, the Brewers lose the final two games of the season in Pittsburgh to finish at an even .500.
2006: Injuries and a 27-54 road record doom the Brewers to a 75-87 record.
2007: Brewers blow eight and a half game lead in the NL Central. I pinpoint this disappointing collapse to one game ... a 6-5 loss to the Cubs on Friday, June 29, a game which my friend Aaron and I watched at Kate O'Brien's in San Francisco. Thankfully, we were sporting a healthy buzz fueled by wicked-awesome Bloody Marys and beer.
2008: In biggest oopsy-daisy of the Major League Baseball offseason, the Brewers sign reliever Eric Gagne to a lucrative free-agent contract.
This blog is maintained, albeit not very well, by some guy who knows some stuff about sports.
I am also available for autograph signing sessions and speaking engagements.
Of the 365 days in a calendar year (and one more bonus day in this very special leap year), only one is empty of any meaningful sporting event.
