The Super Bowl: Ode to consumerism

New iPhone in hand, I went to the grocery store with my family the other day to pick up a few provisions for dinner. Near the checkout aisle was  row of Super Bowl caps done up in blue and orange in what is either homage to the Denver Broncos, a jab at them or mere coincidence. In any event, as I got a better look at the photo on my PC this morning I couldn’t help but take delight in how the caps are placed in the perfect setting, surrounded by junk food in a modern American supermarket.

Jeff Kent: Hero or villain?

Jeff Kent announced his retirement from professional baseball today, ending an outstanding career as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kent has always brought out mixed feelings in me, and a lot of memories were dredged up today as I heard the morning guys on KNBR radio in San Francisco talking about him.

I first noticed Kent when he was playing for the New York Mets, and I considered him a hack. Why — who knows? I never saw him play anywhere but on TV, and only rarely.  I had no rational basis on which to form an opinion.

Kent came to San Francisco by way of Cleveland in a stunner of a trade for Matt Williams, who at the time was one of my favorite Giants.  So I didn’t exactly warm to Kent right away.

But what a run he had with the Giants. As Murph and Mac pointed out on KNBR, the Giants went from losers to winners as soon as he arrived, which didn’t happen when Barry Bonds came to The City a few seasons earlier. The team hasn’t been the same since Kent left. Of course, he left and later ended up with the hated Dodgers, and every time I’d see him in Dodger blue I’d seethe with rage.

For any good reason? Not at all. But as a Giants fan, I figure my DNA requires that I hate anybody wearing Dodger blue, especially somebody who turned on the Giants. And especially somebody as talented as Kent, who always seemed to get a key hit and wreck whatever the momentum the Giants had.

Now, in the middle of winter, I’m taking a mellower, more rational approach. What entitles us sports fans to decide that any particular player is a hero or villain? We don’t know these athletes, and the closest most of us will ever get is brushing past them as they walk off the field at the end of a game while we head from the cheap seats to the parking lot.

Kent was a fine player. Who am I to begrudge him getting a better deal for himself and his family by leaving the Giants for the Dodgers, or any team for another?

Here’s wishing Jeff Kent well in his retirement from playing. Whether in the role of hometown hero or archrival villain, he added to my enjoyment of baseball. His play is worthy of the Hall of Fame, in my judgment, and I hope he gets elected.

As for whether he should go into the hall with an “LA” or “SF” on his cap, don’t push me. I haven’t quite fully forgiven his move to Chavez Ravine.

Which cap for Rickey in the Hall of Fame?

Players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame no longer get to choose which cap they’ll be depicted wearing in the bronze plaque that enshrines them. There’s no question that Jim Rice, who played his entire career for Boston, will be wearing a Red Sox cap.

But what about Rickey Henderson? In a 25-year major league career, he played for the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Anaheim Angels, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Dodgers.

If there’s any debate, it’s between the A’s and the Yankees. He spent several years with each of those teams and only a season or two at most with the others. For me, there’s no question he should be enshrined as a member of the A’s, with whom he spent roughly half his career.

I think if you ask the average baseball fan what team Henderson played for, most fans would say “A’s” first.

I was fortunate to see Henderson tie Lou Brock’s single-season stolen base record at Milwaukee County Stadium in 1982. While I missed the next game, at which he broke the record, I got to cover a news conference he had the next morning.

While he always impressed me with his speed and hustle as a young player, I found him even more impressive in his 40s as he tried to hang on in the big leagues. He was playing Atlantic League ball for the Newark Bears when I last saw him on the field. It was in either 2003 or 2004 when I saw him get tossed out of a game against the Somerset Patriots for mouthing off to an ump.

For all his accomplishments, and his competitive fire, Rickey Henderson truly is a worthy member of the Hall of Fame.

Capping off the NFL season

Steelers Saints Hall of Fame Game Football

Originally uploaded by mfarago.pittsburghsportsweekly

At the risk of alienating a work colleague who is a die-hard San Diego Chargers fan, I hereby link to this year-old photo of Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. The Steelers whacked the Chargers this afternoon at snowy Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, setting up the AFC championship game against the Baltimore Ravens, a match I personally find revolting.

The Steelers are the age-old nemesis of the Cleveland Browns. While I have not fully bonded with the inept Browns expansion franchise, the Steelers’ black and gold uniforms still make my blood boil. The Ravens are, of course, the Browns franchise that the hated Art Modell wrenched away from northeast Ohio.

So it’s a given that I won’t pay much attention to the AFC championship. I’ll be rooting in the NFC game for the Eagles against the Chicago-turned-St. Louis-turned-Arizona Cardinals.

Suffice it to say I’m not a fan of franchise moves.

Baseball cap outlook for 2009: The audacity of hats

Political and fashion lore has it that by not wearing a hat on inauguration day, John F. Kennedy killed the haberdashery industry. From then on, American men stopped wearing hats. While JFK and his fashion-conscious wife certainly influenced American style, I suspect the growing dominance of the automobile in our culture did more to hasten the end of the hat than Jack and Jackie.

As we approach Inauguration Day 2009, there’s renewed hope for us hat fanciers. President-elect Obama has been wearing his Chicago White Sox cap regularly since the Nov. 4 election, and he wore it while campaigning. That’s commitment. It’s not reasonable to expect that he’ll be sworn in wearing a baseball cap, but one can always hope.