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            Issue VI      
                        March 1994    
                                             Written by    
                               D.P. McIntire 
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 TABLE OF CONTENTS.                                                          
 (1) Michael Jordan playing baseball?  Nah...                                
 (2) The Milwaukee Brewers new logo... it sucks.                             
 (3) Gibbs won't prowl with Panthers.                                        
 (4) Boxing's Heavyweight Division:  Who's really the best?                  
 (5) Short issue, I know...                                                  
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 MICHAEL JORDAN PLAYING BASEBALL?  NAH...                                    
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   Michael Jordan has signed with the Chicago White Sox, after retiring from
the Chicago Bulls basketball club.  The ChiSox management feels that Jordan is
capable of becoming a major league calibre player, and have already assigned
him to their AAA affiliate in Nasvhille.
   Jordan, now 31 years old, has become a media circus yet again, less than
four months after saying that he wanted to bow out of the spotlight.  He wants
to learn to hit the curve ball, the slider, and the split-finger fastball.
   Most give Jordan a 1,000,000:1 shot at making the majors.  The White Sox
and Jordan aren't dealing with the mega-millions that the Bulls dealt with,
but the Sox are looking forward to bolstering their minor league operation
in Nashville with Jordan's presence.
   Let's get serious.  Jordan's odds of making it to the majors are somewhere
about even with mine.  I'd like to see him make it, but realistically he
doesn't have a prayer - Michael Jordan:  He's no Bo.
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 THE MILWAUKEE BREWERS NEW LOGO:  IT SUCKS.                                  
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   The Milwaukee Brewers used to have one of the best logos in baseball - a
baseball in the center of a glove, the fingers of the glove making the outline
of an "M", with the rest of the glove making up a "B".  It was so inconspicuous
that I myself didn't catch it until about 4 years ago.  Now, they've goofed.
   The Brew Crew have changed their logo, this time to some diamond shape with
capital "M"'s and "B"'s and a couple of baseball bats.  It's one of the most
hideous things I've ever seen.  Take a look at it, it's sad.
   The Detroit Tigers have also changed their logo, but only slightly; the
Pittsburgh Pirates changed theirs eight years ago, and it was an improvement.
But in Milwaukee, the "New Brew Crew" logo just, well, sucks.
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 GIBBS WON'T PROWL WITH PANTHERS.                                            
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   Joe Gibbs says that his days of 100-hour work weeks, studying film reel 
after film reel, and sleeping in cots at training camp instead of going home
are over.  The former Washington Redskins head coach has turned down the offer
of the NFL expansion Carolina Panthers to become their first head coach (and
most say a team GM or Vice President as well), in order to continue his job as
an analyst for NBC, and to spend time with his family.
   Although I now live in the Carolinas, and am very disappointed in some ways
that Joe Gibbs won't be prowling the sidelines, I say "Bravo" to Joe Gibbs.
   Gibbs decided that his family was more important than X's and O's.  That a
chance to build a team from the ground up into a Super Bowl contender just
wasn't as big a deal as watching his son's sports activities in college.  He
decided that family was more important than football - he made the right
choice.  Bravo.
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 BOXING'S HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION:  WHO'S REALLY THE BEST?                      
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   Boxing is a bizarre sport in many aspects.  With the plethora of sanctioning
bodies about (World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council, International
Boxing Federation, and World Boxing Organization are just four), and now with
nearly two dozen different weight classifications, the possibilities for being
a champion are nearly limitless.  In the heavyweight division, forever 
considered the people's champion, the title is once again split between WBA
and IBF champion Evander Holyfield and WBC title holder Lennox Lewis of Great
Britain.  The question is:  is either of them the cream of the crop?
   Holyfield, now in his thirties, has fought 24 grueling rounds with Riddick
Bowe, but other than that hasn't had any solid bouts against name challengers.
Lewis himself has had his share of troubles, being manhandled by the likes of
Frank Bruno (isn't it time Bruno gave it up?) before recording a one-punch
knockout the likes of which I haven't seen in years.
   There are others out there who are considered contenders for the title,
among them Tommy Morrison (who was the WBO's heavyweight kingpin until he
was knocked on his duff by a no-name), Michael Moorer, former undisputed
(actually, the last undisputed) champion Riddick Bowe, Herbie Hide, and a few
others as well.  Who is the best?
   My vote doesn't go to Holyfield, if for no other reason than I believe he
should have beaten Bowe in their first encounter.  It doesn't go to Lewis,
primarily because of the Frank Bruno bout.  Tommy Morrison?  I liked him in
Rocky V, and he's got two dynamite fists, but he's also got a jaw with as 
much glass as a chandelier, so scratch him.  Riddick Bowe?  Perhaps he hasn't
yet reached his prime, so a return to the title is a real possibility, but he
isn't a people's champion:  he literally threw his WBC belt in a trash can
after a dispute over a mandatory defense requirement.  Hide?  Who is he?  I
have never seen him fight, so I have no opinion.
   Right now in my opinion, Michael Moorer appears to be the best of the
heavyweight class.  The former WBO champion has his eyes on the WBA and IBF
titles, as he will fight Evander Holyfield in a mandatory bout later this
year.  I expect Moorer to defeat Holyfield, probably in a decision.  Another
reason I like Moorer is that he has already said that if he wins the title, 
his first priority will be to re-unify the title by fighting Lennox Lewis.
I admire that.  Should he beat Holyfield a rematch could be worth millions,
but a unified title to him is more important - and it is to me as well.
   
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 SHORT ISSUE, I KNOW...                                                      
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   Yes, I know that this issue of SportsBeat was rather brief.  I didn't want
to touch on the recently concluded Harding-Kerrigan, ehr, Olympic Games, as
that's pretty much been done to death by now.  Now I fondly await next month,
and the start of baseball season.  I'll probably put my picks to win the six
divisions, the wild-cards, and the World Series together and write them for
the world to see... and laugh at.  I've got to dig out that book with the new
divisional alignments one of these days... see ya!

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