Random Sports Reflections

Here's some quick reflections on some recent sports news items:

*First, the Shaq/Kobe deal. For those of you that don't know, last week Shaquille O'Neal was at a New York club and was taped doing a freestyle rap. The tape ended up on a tabloid website and then became headline news. In the rap, Shaq trashes Kobe and made some off-color remarks.

Now, anyone that knows me knows I don't like Kobe Bryant. I'm not a fan of his at all. However, I was totally disappointed in Shaq's behavior. Besides the fact that their feud was supposedly over with like two years ago, there really was no reason for Shaq to go off like that. To give credit where credit was due this year, Kobe's team did go farther in the playoffs than Shaq's (much to my disapproval). In my mind, this puts a tarnish on Shaq's reputation and in some ways elevates Kobe's.

*Next, the Jose Guillen situation. Last Friday, Guillen talked about how he was booed for not running out a grounder that was nearly an error in the previous game. He said, to put it mindly, to forget the fans and that he doesn't care what they think (he did throw in a few choice words in that). He has since apologized for that remark.

Me personally, I didn't take that remark seriously. I thought he was just frustrated and did what most people do when they're frustrated, lash out. So I don't necessarily fault him for that. It was nice to see that he apologized. I will say this, he's been way more vocal this year than he was last year in Seattle. I don't really remember him saying anything at all the whole year. It might have been that team was better than this one or there was more veteran leadership with the Mariners. I don't know. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the year plays out with him and the team.

Finally, football (aka soccer). Yesterday was the final of Euro 2008, the championship for all of soccer in Europe. The match between Spain and Germany was a good one which ended 1-0 with Spain on top. I watch that match and several others that led up to it when they were on TV. I'm in the minority I know but I do enjoy a good soccer match, even on TV and this was a good one. If you didn't see it, you missed out.