insight on sports & everyday life

Apr 16, 2010

Orioles Honor Jackie Robinson by Not Wearing No. 42

It was 63 years ago that Jackie Robinson suited up for the Brooklyn Dodgers and broke baseball's color barrier. Major League Baseball honored Robinson yesterday by having all of its players suit up in Robinson's No. 42. But the Baltimore Orioles decided to pay their own unique tribute to the American legend.

"We were all getting dressed before the game, putting on our No. 42 jerseys, and it just didn't feel right. I knew I had to stop it," said Orioles outfielder Adam Jones. "As an African-American, as someone who looks up to Jackie Robinson, I knew he deserved better than having his number worn by the Baltimore Orioles."  Jones asked his teammates to change back into their regular jerseys out of respect for Robinson, and they eagerly complied.

"I am hitting .222," said Baltimore third baseman Garrett Atkins. "I hit .226 last year. It actually felt kind of racist to have Mr. Robinson's jersey number on, like: 'You may have accomplished all of this in your career and in your life, but you're still stuck on Garrett Atkins' back.' He deserves better than that."

With their regular jerseys back on, the Orioles went out and quickly showed they made the right decision, falling behind 5-0 to the A's on the way to a 6-2 loss -- their ninth in 10 games this season.

"If Jackie Robinson was up there in heaven watching this game, I'd like to think we made him happy," said Jones. "Although I truly hope someone like Jackie Robinson has better things to do in heaven than watch Baltimore Orioles games."

Commissioner Bud Selig said next year's Robinson tribute would be expanded to also ban the Nationals, Royals and Pirates from wearing No. 42.  "It would be great if they also didn't wear the Major League Baseball logo on their uniforms," he said. "But we'll take this stuff one at a time."

Apr 2, 2010

Duke as National Champ?

Of the teams in a pretty wide-open Final Four, Duke has the best chance to win the national championship. Duke is healthy (Michigan State and West Virginia have significant injuries); Duke can consistently make shots from multiple positions (Michigan State and Butler can, too); Duke has size and offensive rebounding strength (West Virginia does, too); Duke has the best scoring defense (West Virginia and Butler are excellent, too); and Duke has a coach who has won a championship before (Michigan State does, too).

Duke has made some really interesting adjustments this season, and Mike Krzyzewski has shaped this team into one of his most effective defensive teams while playing differently. Duke is more of a containment team on defense, and is doing a better job of limiting teams to one shot and preventing penetration. Krzyzewski has had better and more powerful defensive teams that created turnovers and forced teams further out on the floor to take them out of what they want to run. Yet this Duke team limits opponents to fewer points than any team he has ever had. That is what coaching is about. Instead of trying to play a certain way, the best coaches choose to play the best way for his team to win.