Obscure Sports

I like a wide variety of sports. And since I'm ticked off at the Reds bullpen [again] for blowing the game tonight, I thought I'd give a little coverage to some of those sports I don't discuss much. Soccer: I love the sport but I don't get to see a lot of games of my favorite team, Manchester United. They're having a pretty good year in the Premier League [English Soccer League] and the FA Cup [tournament of all the teams in England, like the Florence Freedom getting a chance to play the Yankees], but the big deal has been their performance in the UEFA Champion's League. This is a tournament of all the best club teams in Europe, which Manchester United won in 1999. Man Utd was in this year's semifinal and all they had to do to advance was win or tie against Italian team AC Milan. I watched the game Wednesday and they got thrashed. Seriously, it was like watching the Buckeyes lose to Florida in the BCS Championship game all over again. Not a good showing, at all.

Hockey: I've probably watched 24 minutes of hockey all year. Doesn't help that almost all the games are televised by a network that nobody has. But I've had to take note because my favorite team is doing pretty well. In the mid-1980's, my neighbor took his son and me to watch a exhibition hockey game down at Riverfront Coliseum. It was then that I became a New York Rangers fan. I watched their entire Stanley Cup run in 1994. It's been a rough few years but they've had a pretty good playoff run this year. They swept their first series and, after a slow start, evened up their current series with the Buffalo Sabres. They got a gimme non-goal call this last game that helped them out. Me and The Dale [fellow Rangers fan who grew up a little closer to New York than me] might have to wear our Rangers jerseys to church on Sunday.

Horse Racing: Ever since I married a Kentucky girl, and inherited a father-in-law who is fascinated with race horses, I've enjoyed watching the Triple Crown. And since touring Churchill Downs a couple of months ago, I'm pretty excited for the Kentucky Derby this Saturday. Street Sense is the easy pick, a 4-1 favorite, but I'm really liking Any Given Saturday right now. I'm not going to lock in my pick just yet, but that's where I'm looking.

Curling: Currently, no news to report.