Even more Knucklehead opinions from the world of Sports

This is part 2 of the interview with Bob Alvis from the Sports Buffet.

Bob Alvis: Your ONE die hard sports team?

Knucklehead: The San Diego Super Chargers. My favorite sport, my favorite team.

BA: Your 1st Sports Memory as a Kid?

KH: OK, you’ve confused me. Surprise! My first sports memory is of me playing soccer in the rain at age 4 or so with my thick Buddy Holly glasses almost completely obscured. My first sporting event memory is from a San Diego Padres game in the mid 70’s. I was probably around 6 or 7. The Padres played the Pittsburgh Pirates (with those ugly shaped hats they had) and Mr. Curly Randy Jones was on the hill for the Padres. I remember the game going 14 innings, but I can’t remember for sure who won. I remember it happily though so I’m sure the Pads won. My mom tells me we went another time when I was younger to a double header where both games went extras (14 and 13 innings). My dad never left a game early, so we stayed for both.

BA: Your 1st game you ever attended.

KH: OK, first off thanks for making me feel really old. I have been to so many games over my life that I can’t seem to remember what the first one was. I would be pretty sure it was a Padres game.

BA: If you could attend one specific event in the past, what event would you attend (like a specific game, event) and why?

KH: Easy, the Epic in Miami playoff game from January of 1982 between The Dolphins and the Chargers. I have watched the NFL films show on the game many times. What an amazing game. It was very competitive and had lots of out of the ordinary happenings. Kellen Winslow’s performance alone, makes it my obvious pick. The Chargers coming out on top after the marathon game helps too.

BA: If you could attend any sports event what would you attend and why?

KH: I immediately thought about the Super Bowl. But with the advent of HDTV, I think I’d rather watch that from home. So, I think I’d say the World Cup. It is an event I’d like to take in the whole experience, the games and the whole atmosphere.

BA: You can go to dinner with any 3 athletes past or present, who's eating with you?

KH: Tony Gwynn is definitely there as my favorite MLB player of all time. Dan Fouts is there as well since he is etched in my childhood mind as the greatest QB I ever saw in person. The third one is hard, but I’d have to say Gayle Sayers. He just seemed like a great guy, and man what an amazing athlete. I still say he might one of the best Running Backs ever. He only played 68 games and yet he’s in the hall of fame. Boy what a dinner that would be.

BA: Who are the 4 people that you would put on your Sports Mount Rushmore and Why?

KH: WOW! This might just be the most difficult question of all time. Let’s see what I can distill out of the many names that come to mind. I’ll go with one from each of the 4 major sports. I am not a Hockey fan, and even I’m smart enough to say Wayne Gretzky. The guy was amazing enough to make me watch. He was so ridiculously dominant, it was unreal. Next I’d have Hank Aaron. The man just played ball and played it at a high level for long enough to eclipse the sports highest record for a long time (I think he should still hold it). Now it’s time for some sweetness. Walter Payton still lives in my memory as the best running back I’ve ever watched. There are a bunch of great ones right up there with him, but I have to give him the edge again because of his dominance. I’m no NBA guy. Read my blog and you’ll see that. I’ve gone back and forth between Larry Bird and Michael Jordan and my Carolina ties helped Air Jordan win out.

BA: Who are 4 Sportscasters that you would put on your Sports Mount Rushmore and Why?

KH: Billy Packer, Dick Vitale, Marv Albert, and Bryant Gumbell. What’s that? Oops sorry, I thought you said Mt. Trashmore. Let’s try again. I’d have to have Jack Buck on there. I spent many a late night as a teen in North Carolina listening to him call Card’s games on Clear Channel AM waves. Then I would have 2 other classic voices that cut through my memories: Harry Kalas who I especially remember from hours of NFL Films footage, and Mel Allen whose This Week in Baseball was a Saturday morning staple for me for years. Then I would have to cap it off with Al Michaels. I just love the way he calls games and always have.

BA: If you had to send your son/daughter to play a sport and anyone could coach them, who would you want coaching them (Top 3)?

KH: I’ve never really thought about this one. Let’s go with: 1. College Basketball, Dean Smith, 2. College Football – Mark Richt, and 3. NFL – Joe Gibbs

BA: If you had ultimate power and could change any rule in sports what rule would you change?

KH: This is going to sound crazy, but I would say none. Nothing really stands out to me as a horrible rule. I mean there are quite a few rules that I think are unnecessary, but none that rise to the level that they must go. I watch the games for the excitement, the emotion, and the competition. If you put a gun to my head, I’d say the tuck rule in the NFL. It makes no sense, and is way too easy to mess up.

BA. Stuck on a desert island and you get to take 3 DVDs of anything related to sports, whether it is a game, event, movie, whatever. What do you take?

KH: I would need to have Hoosiers and Rudy right off the bat. And it’s really convenient since I already own both DVDs. I would then like a DVD of the best Chargers Games of all time. Want to buy that one for me?

That’s what’s rolling around in the DOME for now!

All you want to know about the Knucklehead and then some.

Bob Alvis from the Sports Buffet asked me to do a little interview for the blog section of his web site. I thought it might be interesting to post it here for all to enjoy, or laugh at.

Bob Alvis: 1. Tell us a little bit about yourself, and where your love of sports came from and how it developed.

Knucklehead: I grew up in San Diego California with lots of professional sports all around. My dad was a HUGE sports fan and we spent much of my time growing up at Jack Murphy Stadium (Now silly QUALCOMM Park). We saw tons of Padres and Chargers games there as well as many pro soccer games. As I grew older, my love for sports became even more than my dads and expanded to include college basketball upon moving to North Carolina at age 11.

BA: 2. The title of your blog, Sports from the DOME, what led you to that title and what will readers get reading Sports from the DOME?

KH: The Sports from the dome title has two meanings actually. I am proudly bald as can be thus that version of the dome. And sporting events are often held in domes, so there is the other. You can expect lots of varitry from the blog, and maybe a little of opinion too. OK, who am I kidding, I am extremely opinionated and different, and you will pick that out right away.

BA: Quick Hits. Give me a quick take on each of these subjects and if you support these (yay) or disagree with these (nay).

KH:
Michael Vick being reinstated to the NFL - YAY - Look the man has served the time for the crime. Truly he served more than someone with less notoriety would have. So, let's move on. If some team wants him, then more power to them. We have an NFL full of repeat offenders for much worse crimes to other people, so he deserves a chance. Now, ask me if I think he is worth anything as an NFL QB, and you'll get a totally different answer (can you say WR?). By the way, I say re-instate Pete Rose too.

College football playoff - Did you say quick hit? WOW! Look I say YAY, but I think it will never happen for greedy money reasons. I am actually for an 8 team playoff that ties in with the current BCS. Otherwise this topic is too long for a quick hit.

Should the All-Star Winner determine the WS Home team? - NAY - I think it should be in the hands of the contending teams themselves not the whole league. EARN IT. I liked the way it was, and think they tried too hard to manufacture All-star excitement. It's also silly to let one meaningless game decide an important facet of a best of 7 game series.

NCAA Tourney Expansion - in a word - NO! Look, all the extra tourneys are already a joke. They don't have anywhere near the draw or excitement of the field of 65. Why fix what ain't broke? The teams know what it takes to get in, and have consolation tourneys if they don't. The only thing I say is to add 3 more play in games so there is one for each region. That's it.

Will Soccer ever be major US Sport? - Nay - Every country where Soccer (futbol) is a major sport doesn't have the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL stealing all the best athletes first. Unfortunately US Soccer will always be to European soccer what Canadian Football is to the NFL. That is, a cheap imitation at best.

That’s what’s rolling around in the DOME for now!

Thanks Tom

In a time that I refer to as football wasteland, Tom Watson did something I thought couldn’t be done. I had no intention of watching the British Open. I kept up with the scoring the first two days and even watched some highlights, but it was with at best a passing interest.

As I began to hear how well Tom was doing, I began to pay attention. I watched some of the coverage of Tom’s round on Saturday, and WOW. It was a thrill to see great fundamental golf being played. In a day and age where golf has become about the big hitter, it was nice to see someone to play a great all around game the way the game was meant to be played. The amazing part was that he was winning a major at 59.

Sunday started off great as well, and I had fun watching quite a bit of it. Then it all started to go bad on the 14th hole. His famous putting stroke began to let him down. Tom has always been known for his putter, but this time his strength became a weakness. It appeared that he was just plain worn out. I watched the 17th and 18th and began to believe it was just not going to happen. I couldn’t bear to watch after the first 2 holes of the playoff.

It was sad to see this great performance come up just short. But when you take this performance and place it in a list of all time golf accomplishments, it has to rank really high. He single handedly made a tournament without Phil and Tiger watchable. I’m no golf expert by any means, but one thing is for sure, Tom gave us duffers something to hang on to as we grow old. It gives the regular guy a reason a reason to keep playing.

So, thanks Tom. Thanks for giving it your all. Thanks for being such a class act. Thanks for the memory.

That’s what’s rolling around in the DOME for now!

It's only football wasteland

I am a huge football fan. Everything else pales in comparison to me now. That is actually kind of weird because I had been big into other things for years, but not any more. I’ve tried so hard to get into other sports since the Super Bowl, but I just can’t do it. I had a great period of focus with my second favorite sport right now, college basketball, in February and March. Then it all went so wrong.

I mean don’t get me wrong. Some of the special events like the Masters and US Open, the College World Series, World Cup Qualifying, and others have captured my attention for short periods of time. But nothing captures my full attention like the NFL.

I used to fill the void with Major League Baseball and Nascar, but that is not the case right now. I have fled Nascar completely. I guess certain drivers that are now gone (Dale Earnhardt, Ricky Rudd, Rusty Wallace, Ward Burton) are what kept me watching for so long. I still like to watch Major League Baseball, but not like I once did. First off my favorite team (San Diego Padres) are in a rebuilding mode. I usually start paying attention after the All-Star break. There is just nothing there right now to get me into it.

So, I was glued to the NFL combine and the draft. Yea, I know I’m sick, but what can I do. I watch NFL network as much as possible. I do quite a bit of reading on the NFL in general and on my favorite team (Chargers). The NFL is just a better, more exciting product. It’s been quite sad being stuck in this wasteland. Come on NFL, hurry up.

I can not wait for training camp and pre-season games to come. I have an extra reason to watch the pre-season games this year. Liberty University stud running back Rashad Jennings is now a Jacksonville Jaguar. He tore it up in Mini-camp and OTAs. I hope Rashad sees the field a lot in the pre-season. Is he does, watch for him to emerge as Maurice Jones-Drew’s full-time back-up.

Dear Mr. Goodale, please add a Spring/Summer NFL Minor League. Yes, it WILL be profitable. Trust me.

I love College Football too, and can't wait for that to start too. I'm the guy who watches the Spring Football Games on ESPN. College practices start the second week of August, and I can't wait. I mean, I'm even ready to spend my Friday nights out watching some High School football.

So, for now I will continue to watch way too much Deadliest Catch, Top Gear, and Wipeout to get through the doldrums. NFL, Please Hurry.

That’s what’s rolling around in the DOME for now!