Ryan’s Rants

Most sports fans sink into a depression during the dog days of summer. No NFL games, the NBA finals come to a close, college football is too far away, and hopefully by the middle of May the Chicago Cubs are already out of the chase for both the National League Central and the wild card. Thankfully, this summer was full of excitement in the sports world, giving me something to rant about until our beloved Panthers don the pads on Sept. 11 against the dreaded North Dakota State University Bison.

For a baseball fan like me, this summer revived my hope for the future of Major League Baseball. As most of you will find out throughout this semester in the Northern Iowan, I am a diehard Atlanta Braves fan (currently in first place). On April 17 I watched helplessly as my Braves got no hit by Colorado Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez. My embarrassment was short-lived however, as Roy Halladay, Edwin Jackson, Dallas Braden and Matt Garza imitated or bested the work of Jimenez. There were other notable performances during the proclaimed "year of the pitcher," such as Armando Galarraga having his place in the Hall of Fame stolen by Jim Joyce and his handlebar mustache, and Kevin Slowey going seven innings of no-hit ball until the Twins skipper decided to pull him and cut his possibly historic MLB moment short.

This summer wasn't all about baseball, and I believe Jim Joyce owes a big thanks to the one and only "King" LeBron James for taking most of the focus off him. Unless you were living under a rock, you know that on July 8 LeBron James announced that he was "taking his talents to South Beach" during an hour-long special on ESPN that raised money for the Boys and Girls Club of America. I started to question the humility of James after this spectacle, but when I saw James, Bosh and Wade dancing on a stage in Miami, I quickly realized that the Heat were going to be etched into my "most hated teams club" along with the Cubs and the New England Patriots.

One of the greatest sports moments of the summer came on July 14 when our own Ben Jacobson, Ali Farokhmanesh and Adam Koch received the "Biggest Upset" ESPY award for knocking off the Kansas Jayhawks in the NCAA tournament. The ESPYs also did an amazing job of remembering one of the greatest coaches and people to grace this earth, the late Ed Thomas, former football coach at Aplington-Parkersburg High School.

Overall, this summer was a great one for the sporting world. Excitement, disappointment, and utter embarrassment kept most sports fans on their toes between the months of May and August. Wait a second, there were also a few soccer games that were played on ESPN this summer, but we can just keep those out of the news for another four years. I'm just kidding (kind of), congratulations Spain.