Superstar of the Week: Ryan Hunter-Reay
After a strong start to the 2012 season that included podium finishes at St. Petersburg and San Paulo, Ryan Hunter-Reay struggled with DNFs at the Indianapolis 500 and in Texas. Instead of looking forward to a championship run in 2013, Ryan Hunter-Reay turned his luck around and firmly returned to the IndyCar Series Championship hunt with back-to-back wins at Milwaukee and Saturday’s event in Iowa. Hunter-Reay’s two victories have moved him from seventh to second in points, only three markers behind the once-dominant Will Power.
Two victories in the IndyCar Series are incredibly impressive when you do not drive for Team Penske or Chip Ganassi Racing, the super teams of the sport. Ryan Hunter-Reay has put Andretti Autosport in victory lane two weeks in a row and has the #28 Sun Drop Chevrolet/Dallara DW12 in the forefront of the championship fight. Congratulations go out to one of the hottest drivers on the planet. Ryan Hunter-Reay is on a roll.
Jerk of the Week: Jerry Sandusky
It is easy to say that former Penn State football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky is one of the worst human beings in the world. Sandusky did nothing new this week to deserve this award but, when you finally get your just desserts for almost two decades of evil, you do not have to do anything new to be the Jerk of the Week.
On Friday night in a Pennsylvania court room, a jury handed down their verdict after 21 hours of deliberation in the trial of the former Penn State assistant coach charged with sexual misconduct with minors spanning over two decades. Found guilty on 45 of 48 charges, Sandusky will face a maximum of 442 years in prison. Justice was served in the case of the “Tickle Monster” vs. the State of Pennsylvania. After molesting at least 10 children (and probably dozens more), Jerry Sandusky is going to be confined to prison for the rest of his life. The only hope that I have left for this front-runner for Jerk of the Century is that I hope Sandusky gets the same treatment he willingly gave to so many young boys during his reign of terror on the Penn State campus. If Jerry Sandusky can experience one-tenth of the pain and distress he inflicted on these young boys, life in prison will be a just punishment for a man otherwise deserving of the death penalty in my eyes.
Babe of the Week: Kate Upton
A Special Congratulations to… Juwan Howard
Lost in the commotion of the Miami Heat winning* the NBA Championship and LeBron James earning* his first NBA title was the culmination of a dream that started generations earlier in Chicago, Illinois. On a cold and gray Chicago morn, a poor little baby child was born. In the ghetto. His name was Juwan Antonio Howard. The year was 1834 and, even though it was still 57 years before James Naismith invented the game, little Juwan knew he was going to be an NBA Champion.
Howard led a memorable life before basketball. He helped slaves escape to the north alongside Harriet Tubman in the Underground Railroad. Howard later served in the United States Army during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. After a brief time performing as a member of The Four Tops during the late 1950s, Howard served for the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. Afterward, Howard worked on a ranch alongside Juan Valdez and his goat Pepé picking coffee beans in the 1980s, Howard enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1991. As a member of the heralded Fab Five, Howard went to two National Championship Games during his three years at Michigan. A major scandal led to the forfeiture of accomplishments from 1992-98 by the NCAA yet Howard’s time and efforts with fellow Fab Five members Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Ray King, and Jimmy King are still recognized by fans as among the greatest years in Michigan Wolverines basketball history. Howard entered the NBA in 1994, being drafted fifth overall by the then-Washington Bullets. Howard spent seven years in Washington with his only all-star appearance coming as a Bullet in 1996. Howard then bounced around the league for the next decade with stops in Dallas, Denver, Orlando, Houston, Dallas again, Denver again, Charlotte, and Portland in pursuit of the one prize he has yearned for since the 1800s: an NBA Championship ring.
Howard joined LeBron James and the Miami Heat in 2010 when the Heat first assembled their “guaranteed” championship team. Initially, Howard wandered into the victory celebration and believed he was “a champion” as Howard said this repeatedly in his well-known voice duplicated by Robot Chicken character Eagle-Eye Smith.
Howard was prepared to retire with his first NBA Championship but later reconsidered when finding out that the celebration was actually a team introduction. Sitting on the bench regaling teammates with tales about when every NBA arena was “orange groves as far as the eye can see,” Howard finally achieved his life-long goal on Thursday night with his first NBA Championship in his 17th season. Congratulations, Juwan. You are finally a champion.
No comments:
Post a Comment