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"Lazzari's Sports Roundup" - - - - 6/29/13
Let me try to describe the beauty of now-40-year-old actress Alyssa Milano using baseball terminology: As she's aged, she's lost NOTHING off her fastball; if anything, it even has more MOVEMENT than it once did..........TRIVIA QUESTION: Pete Rose and Joe Torre were the last National League players to accumulate 230 hits in a season--Rose in 1973 and Torre in '71 (both had exactly 230). Who was the last NL player to tally MORE than 230 hits in a season? Answer to follow..........I was talking to my "Monday Night Sports Talk" co-host Tony DeAngelo the other day about the epidemic now known as "NCAA recruiting violations"; the Oregon football program was one of the more recent ones to be fingered and put on probation for three years. Ummm, meanwhile coach Chip Kelly bolts for the riches of the NFL and a job with the Philadelphia Eagles. DeAngelo's take on "big-time" college football as a whole: "Let's just call it what it really IS, folks: ORGANIZED CRIME--AND RACKETEERING"..........Did you know that the 1989 Detroit Tigers--who finished 59-103 under manager Sparky Anderson--had just ONE player on the squad who drove in more than 50 runs? Infielder Lou Whitaker led the team in RBI's with 85 while outfielder Chet Lemon was second on the club with just 47..........After examining some of the people that former NFL TE Aaron Hernandez was 'running around with' away from the gridiron, I will NEVER again question my own friend-choosing ability..........ITEM: Dallas Cowboys DT Josh Brent is jailed after failing his second drug test in a month; this FOLLOWS the December 8th car crash of last year (that killed teammate Jerry Brown) when Brent was driving while intoxicated (twice the legal limit). While I have total disdain for this dolt's irresponsible, idiotic behavior, I'll also ask this: What kind of legal system allows a guy driving THAT drunk to be a free man--thus allowing him to get into FURTHER trouble?..........Here goes: Just imagine if Minnesota Lynx (WNBA) guard Sugar Rodgers married former NBA guard World B. Free. Diabetics everywhere would surely love her married name of Sugar Free.......... Answer to trivia question: MANNY MOTA--who led the NL with 231 hits in 1969 while playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates..........Roger Federer out in the SECOND ROUND at Wimbledon? The writing's on the wall as far as the end of his career is concerned, folks--in fact, it's being carved INTO the wall. Please, Roger, don't follow the lead of so many athletes of today and stay a year or two longer than you should; you have nothing--ABSOLUTELY NOTHING--to prove. You're almost 32 years-old now--ancient for a top-flight tennis player. I think I speak for many when I offer this: PLEASE leave all of us marveling tennis fans with ONLY good memories of the best player of all-time..........Finally, condolences go out to the family of former tennis coach/mentor Jelena Gencic--who died recently in Serbia at the age of 76. Gencic was the individual who discovered the talent of a young Novak Djokovic at a mountain resort back in the 1990's; she had also advised tennis greats such as Monica Seles and Goran Ivanisevic during their younger years. It wasn't ALL about tennis with Ms. Gencic, either; she also taught Djokovic--the multi-Grand Slam winner--many life lessons by providing him with books about various aspects of life. A tough woman? She would often pick practice sites for her students based on where BOMBS had fallen the night before in Belgrade; she even had a sister who died as a result of the bombings. She seemed to pass her mental toughness along to all of her students--one of her greatest gifts. She also convinced Djokovic's parents to sacrifice a lot--knowing what type of special tennis talent their son possessed. Yes, it surely paid off for Ms. Gencic AND the Djokovic family; none of us will EVER forget when Novak won Wimbledon in 2011 and proceeded to deliver the replica trophy in person to Gencic in Belgrade. May this special lady rest in peace.