LITTLE ROCK — Dodgers ready to be hated team
Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times calls the Los Angeles Dodgers a team that the National League will love to hate.
The Dodgers acquired first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, outfielder Carl Crawford, starting pitcher Josh Beckett and infielder Nick Punto from the Boston Red Sox on Saturday in a nine-player trade.
“The Los Angeles Dodgers have been respected and admired through most of their years, mocked and pitied for the last couple of years,” Shaikin wrote.
“Now they will be hated.
“This is not hate from San Francisco, the hate born from a rivalry. This is hate from every other city in the National League, the hate born from the rich new kids on the block trying to buy a championship.
“The Dodgers are on the verge of paying about $140 million for three players - just to secure the chance to pay about $120 million more for the one player they really want. Ladies and gentlemen, your New York Yankees of Los Angeles.
“Not that the Dodgers care.”
Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly, who played for the New York Yankees in 1982-1995, recalled his career in New York with Shaikin.
“It was kind of a little rock show,” Mattingly said.
“Everywhere you went, you caused that little buzz.
“That’s the way the Dodgers should be. I’ll be honest with you: To me, when the Dodgers come to town, it should be THE DODGERS.”
Russellmania
The Associated Press’ Tim Booth, via Twitter, on Seattle Seahawks rookie quarterback Russell Wilson,who threw for 185 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 44-14 exhibition victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday night.
“Russell Wilson is the greatest 5-foot-103/4 QB who played at 2 colleges [North Carolina State and Wisconsin] in football history. #PreseasonOverreactions”
“Russell Wilson will demand the sun shines for more than 2 months in Seattle. #Russellmania.” “Russell Wilson will move the fences in at Safeco Field before next season. #Russellmania.”Paying tribute
Frank Fitzpatrick of the Philadelphia Inquirer remembered former Philadelphia Eagles running back Steve Van Buren, who died Thursday at 91 of pneumonia.
Van Buren led the Eagles to NFL championships in 1948 and 1949.
“Time is cruel. Our heroes retire, fade away, die and sometimes are forgotten,” Fitzpatrick wrote.
“If Van Buren had been born a half-century later, he would have won untold wealth and fame.
“Maybe he, too, would have been corrupted by the power, the money, the attention and the isolation that is part of the athletic experience in a world where the camera’s red light never shuts off.
“It’s somehow comforting, though, to believe he wouldn’t have changed, that heroes like him, no matter how down-to earth, are truly worthy of the mountaintops.
“They can take away victories from Joe Paterno and strip Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France wins.
“But no one can diminish what’s in the mind’s eye.”
Quote of the day
“Hunter and I and our family, we don’t count on football. There’s just bigger things in life than football.” Mark Henry, father of Arkansas Razorbacks commitment Hunter Henry, on how the family approaches his son’s future
Sports, Pages 22 on 08/26/2012