The unique perspective and provocative opinions of Joe O’Neill
Sports Shorts
I hope I’m proven wrong, but I still say it would have been better if Tim Tebow had bowed out on top — after that monster Sugar Bowl game against Cincinnati — instead of heading off to the NFL with every hot-shot college player hoping to cash in. Now Tebow has a bad All-Star game on his resume – as well as a below average score on the league’s Wonderlic intelligence test. He won’t be a number 1 draft pick because he doesn’t project as a prototypical quarterback, no matter what Jon Gruden taught him. Tebow is a gifted athlete with a secure legacy as one of the greatest — and nicest — college players of all time. But more importantly he is a special person with a special calling. Chances are he can only compromise that status in the NFL, where players are shilled as show-biz commodities.
What will it take to ban maple bats in Major League Baseball? For several years the anecdotal evidence has been mounting that they shatter more often than any other kind. A lot more often. It’s why Minor League Baseball has banned them for all players who have never played in MLB. The other day a big piece of a shattered maple bat almost splintered the face of Rays’ pitcher David Price. What will it take to ban them? Presumably when a player or fan is actually maimed. That’s unacceptable and negligent.