EL BARRIO, EL FALLS – Happy Memorial Day. We have come to see it as simply a three-day weekend, but it deserves so much more. It is the day we should take a moment to recognize all those that died in the name of this country. A lot of people use the term defending it but not every military conflict was really defending this nation. Some where more about US foreign policy but those young men and women were committed to fulfilling their duty to this country and for that we should all take a moment in prayer to thank them for making the ultimate sacrifice. With that, today’s piece will be about: Baseball’s Hitting Woes, Naomi Osaka, Copa America
Baseball’s Hitting Woes
Baseball has witnessed a ridiculously high number of no-hitters through the start of the season along with low batting averages for teams and players all over the league. Fans are frustrated and now the experts are wondering if it is the new deadened ball. There has to be an explanation as to why Francisco Lindor is not hitting like he is Matt McCarthy and Peter Alonso has turned into Cam James. I blame the weird spring training for the majority of effects. Baseball players are creatures of habit and very superstitious so it doesn’t take much to through them off their game. I believe #COVID has been a perfect answer to the weak start of the season.
Naomi Osaka
With more success comes more money. More money begets more problems. For tennis’ Naomi Osaka, as her success has increased the need to do press conferences before and after the game has grown. As such Osaka has decided to start skipping the post-game press conferences. She has mentioned watching the way the press has treated Serena Williams, especially after their matches against each other and having watched a few, I can see why. The WTA has it in their contracts that players have to do these press conferences but what about the players mental state and fatigue. Unfortunately, Osaka is one of the few that could eat a 15K fine and skip out on those press conferences to bring light the state of the players. That is the thing with tennis, the player is the main focal point. There are no teammates to relieve the pressure and nobody cares to hear from the coach. It all falls on the players, so their welfare has to be taken into consideration.
Copa America
Apparently #COVID is not done ruining the sports calendar. Copa America is the South American World Cup – to simplify it. The nations of South America play against each other to determine which is the best futbol nation down there. This year’s contest was suppose to take place in Argentina but apparently the ‘Rona outbreak in that country means that they can no longer be the host. So with two weeks to go, they have to find a new host. It can be a new host anywhere in South America but my instinct says that they will go with the low hanging fruit and hold it in America. We will see if I am right.
Thanks for reading, comment below and come back tomorrow for Ben Whitney, who will ramble on about hockey or something.
