Conference 7.286::sports_90

    He was with the White Sox at Comiskey.  Easy or not, he just missed the
    upper deck on his second homer.
    
    The pitcher was pitching much slower than normal, however (I'd guess
    around 70 MPH).  I would guess that this makes it easier to make
    contact, but harder to crank out of the park.  More proof of his power?
    
    	--dan'l

Michael Jordan is God.

Bob Hunt

    Jordan is an incredible athlete.  Despite the fact that he gets razzed
    on in here as a whiner to his teammates,  the man is also a class act.
    He is probably the top visible sportstar of younger kids from
    professional sports, today (that I can recall).  He is highly
    visible as one of the greatest athletes in the sport as well as being
    gifted in many other areas, yet he has never acted arrogant off the
    court about his abillities(not to my recollection at least).  Unlike
    many other athletes(i.e. Thomas) he hasn't stooped and taken swipes at
    others to boost his ego.  Jordan, in my opinion, presents a very good
    ,and clean role model for younger kids today.
    
    Tom

      It's interesting to compare Bo Jackson and Michael Jordan.
      The biggest difference I see is the sheer difference in
      mass.
    
      When I think of great athletes, I tend to think in terms of
      1: agility, coordination.  No doubt, I would give the nod to
      Michael in those areas.  And 2: pure physical ability I wonder
      who's faster.  Probably Bo.  But, then vertical leap is mainly a
      purely physical ability (like speed).  Michael's gotta be able
      to jump higher!
    
      And going back to the agility, coordination type things, Danny
      Ainge who played baseball said that the hardest thing he ever
      tried to do is hit a baseball.  And there's Bo doing it up in
      the big leagues.  So here's a guy with tremendous speed and 
      size excelling in something primarily agility.
    
      So they both seem to have the pure physical ability coupled with
      that agility.  I would pick Michael Jordan though as the better
      athlete.
    
      One sport that I think one sees great athletes (at least in terms
      of coordination) is tennis.  While being nowhere (compared to
      the likes of Bo or Michael) is the jumping ability or speed, I
      think coordination-wise John Mcenroe was just awesome.  His net
      gane was incredible (the hand eye coordination, the agility).
    
      Would that have been something to see a guy like Michael Jordan
      whose professional craft was tennis.  Of course we'd have missed
      his basketball.
                                     

    I usually think of /Don when I think of great athletes.
    
    JoJ

I guess I still maintain that it's extremely difficult to look
at two athletes from different sports and say with finality which
one is better.

Since the range of sports are so completely different, it's very
difficult to say "so and so is the worlds greatest athlete".

Bo certainly is talented and coordinated and very versatile.
Michael Jordon, when he plays, reminds me of a mountain stream,
because he's so very fluid.

Different people who excel at their chosen sport do so because their
skills are apt for that sport.  I could never be a sprinter because
I'm not fast.  I couldn't play defensive line because I don't have
the mass.

To compare two individuals and try to find a best is kind of a waste
of time.

I admire Jack Nicklaus as one of the greatest golfers of all time.
The coordination involved in the game of golf is very involved.
I admire Michael Jordon as a basketball player, and Bill Rogers as
a marathon runner, and Ted Williams as a great hitter, but I can't
sit back and say unequivocably one is better than the other....

JMHO,
'Saw

    Ever see how much /Don sweats after a /Workout?  Clearly a_athalete!
    

    Jordan isn't a whiner, Magic Johnson is!
    
    Was his tongue hanging out when he cranked the second one? ;-)

    Although I agree that Jordan is an excellent athlete, what about Daley
    (sp) Thompson of the UK ?  He has one the decathlon for several years
    and is considered the best in the world.  

    re .0
    
    Jordan is a great athlete, but just because he can jump high doensn't
    mean he'd have a field day at a track meet.   I'd guess Micheal
    can high jump and long jump at best as good as a good high schooler.
    
    re .9
    
    Daley Thompson was the best decathlete in the world.  He  no longer
    is, but Daley was truley one of the greatest ever.
    
    JD

    Yeah, I got a kick out of Daley Thompson and the English "gutter press"
    Thompson would say sarcastic/humourous/joking things, and the eejits
    would take him seriously. 
    
    He got into a little hot water withthe stuffed shirts at the '84
    Olympics. I think one of the "journalists" asked him if he planned to 
    settle down with a young lady after the olympics and what princess Anne
    (of the British equestrian team) had said to him before a race.
    Thompson replied, "Well, you've just mentioned the lady, and what she
    said was, 'I hope our children will be white'"
    
    In the '88 Olympics, he broke his pole on the pole vault, so he was
    disqualified from the decathalon. an interviewer approached him with
    the ususal "Gee, tough break out there...." Daley said, "well, not
    really, since now I can go on holiday to Disneyland" 
    
    I died laughing. so many athletes today are too stiff to even *think*
    of something clever to say
    
    Tom

    re: .0
    
    >A couple of weeks ago the celebrity golf tourney showed me that
    >Michael knows golf. Did anyone catch the hole in one from the sand
    >trap?
    
    How do you get a hole-in-one from a sand trap?  I've played alot of
    golf, but have never teed off in a sand trap.  Or, do you mean he
    hit one in from the trap?  That's not a hole-in-one.
    
    Pete

    Don't obfuscate with facks.
    
    Mark.

    And remember to wax eloquent.
    
    Hawkspeare.

    RE: .12
    
    C'mon, you know what I meant! :-)
    
    I should have said a 1-holer from the sand trap, ah never mind.
    
    Anyway when he did it, I said to myself, now only MJ could do that!
    
    
    John

   Good note, Bob. As usual.
   

   Somebody had to say it.
   Mike JN

re .15:


Bob Tway did it to win the PGA two years ago, beating a dumbstruck
Greg Norman.

The headlines in our paper said "Tway Holes Out to Win PGA".
One of the guys at work here, doctored the headline so it said
"Way Holes Out to Win PGA".

It was kind of fun imagining, ya know....

'Saw

    Hey 'Saw, do you have a brother named Milky?

    Yeah, John, I knew what you meant.  I'm just in an anal-retentive
    mood today. 8^).
    
    John Bonin, huh?  Didn't you choke to death on your own vomit a few
    years back?  You must be proud of your son, Jason and his new band!
    
    Pete

re Heiser...

Gawd, that's the oldest one in the book 8^)

Actually, while the name is fairly rare here in the States, I've heard
from relatives and others that in some towns in England, there are more
Ways in the phone book than Smiths.

My brother's name is Tim.  He's named after our maternal grandfather,
and I'm named after our paternal grandfather...

HTH,
'Saw

That's my other brother Jimmy 8^)

    Didn't I hear that your sister's nickname was "No". 
                                         

Nope, don't have a sister.

    
    >    John Bonin, huh?  Didn't you choke to death on your own vomit a few
  
    Not exactly.  It was someone else's vomit.
    
    Now, this came from some Rob Reiner movie about a mythical heavy
    metal band, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.
    Can somebody sate my curiosity?
    
    Dickster
    

>>    Now, this came from some Rob Reiner movie about a mythical heavy
>>    metal band, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.
>>    Can somebody sate my curiosity?

It's from "This is Spinal Tap".  With the recent demise of the latest Grateful
Dead's keyboardist, I have been thinking about that movie and the correlation
between Spinal Tap drummers and Grateful Dead keyboardists ;-).

j.

    "Well, we weren't sure it was his own vomit.  You can't dust vomit,
    y'know."
    
    And they're other drummer "died in a bizare gardening accident."
    
    Classic.
    
    	--dan'l

    I roll every time I hear "Big Bottoms".

    RE: .19
    
    Anal-retentive, huh? Tried ExLax? :-)
    
    Yeah, I've been dead for about 10 years now. I don't get
    anal-retentive, the wind passes right through me! :-)
    
    
    re: .26
    
    Someone else's? Not unless I had a lip-lock on Linda Blair
    
    
    Johyn
    

Newsgroups: clari.sports.baseball,clari.sports.basketball
Subject: Jordan homers in BP display

	CHICAGO (UPI) -- Michael Jordan can do everything.
	The Chicago Bulls superstar Wednesday fulfilled a childhood dream
by taking batting practice at Comiskey Park before the Chicago White
Sox-Cleveland Indians game.
	During the five-minute session, Jordan hit two home runs, launching
a pitch into the first row of the lower deck in left field and hitting
another off the upper facade in left.
	``This is something I dreamed about as a kid,'' Jordan said of his
youthful aspirations to play major league baseball. ``I kind of lost
that dream when I started playing basketball. This renewed some of those
dreams.''
	White Sox coach Dave LaRoche was on the mound, the Chicago players
lined the outer edge of the infield, and the back of the batting cage
was surrounded by television cameras from around the country. When
Jordan swings, people take pictures.
	``It didn't take me long. After a few swings, I started making good
contact,''  said Jordan, a right-hander who pulled most of his hits to
left field.
	He didn't miss many, which didn't surprise Bulls and White Sox
owner Jerry Reinsdorf who arranged for Jordan's dream to come true.
	``I don't think there's anything he can't do,'' Reinsdorf said.
``I've seen him bowl. He threw two strikes and a spare between his
legs.''
	The pre-BP hype centered on the appearance of No. 23, which is both
Jordan's and White Sox third baseman Robin Ventura's number.
	``I stole the number,'' Ventura jokingly said.
	Can he dunk like Jordan?
	``From a trampoline maybe,'' Ventura said.
	White Sox Manager Jeff Torborg gave Jordan a few pointers in the
ballclub's indoor batting cage before the Bulls' $25 million man walked
onto the field, blowing bubblegum bubbles.
	``I told him exactly what Walter (Hrniak, hitting coach) wanted to
hear -- keep your head down,'' Torborg said.
	A pitcher in high school, Jordan also threw strikes in the White
Sox bullpen before his hitting display and impressed several of the
players with his side arm delivery.
	``When he threw sidearm, he threw real well,'' White Sox pitcher
Jack McDowell said. ``He threw five balls for balls, then started
throwing strikes. That's hard for us to do.''
	Jordan may be calling the Chicago Bears soon.

    I was in the 8th grade at Laney high school when Michael Jordan was a
    senior.  He used to hustle out-of-towners at a local park in           
    Wilmington NC. He would get them to bet on one-on-one games as in the  
    best 2 out of 3 or 3 out of 5 ,drop a few games, then school them.      
    It was truly classic.
    
    
                                                  Nate