By Paul M. Banks

I love how they go crazy with the retro baseball cards at the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards…which should really just be called the Maryland Sports Hall of Fame, because that’s what it is. http://baberuthmuseum.com/ They are adjacent to and affiliated with the Babe Ruth birthplace and museum (in case their URL confuses you.)  They have quite a collection considering its only one state worth of teams to draw upon. However, I must ask…why are Tippy Martinez and B.J. Surhoff in the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame?  Does the famous “Oriole Way” have REALLY low standards? This can’t be true because my White Sox have always had trouble with the Orioles, and I’ll never forget how they ended our playoff run in 1983 and ruined our postseason chances in 1996. Of course, the O’s haven’t been back to the postseason since 1997, but that’s another story.

As I made this East Coast trek by myself, I ran into another sports buff who was also traveling solo: Chris Underwood, former Arena League football player for the Grand Rapids Rage. It was just a couple hours before game time, and he told me that he just woke up not too long ago. Sounds like my kind of guy, considering I woke up at one on the day that I wrote this. I mention what a great interview subject former Arena-leaguer Chicago Bears wideout Rashied Davis is, and Underwood tells me all about his days playing with Rashied on the San Jose Sabercats. Underwood is now in the military, and it was a treat to tour this fine sports museum with a former pro athlete. He was the photographer of the pictures that you see of me below. The museum is a Colonial style building that looks like the University Student Union you see behind left field of the park. It’s a good place to hit up after the local sports bars around Camden Yards. The former train station features train coaches from the Babe Ruth era for you to walk through on the first level.

Museum Highlights

The gorgeous face of ESPN’s Bonnie Bernstein greets you in the collegiate room downstairs. She was an Academic All-American during her four years as a gymnast at the University of Maryland. They also have a replica of the turtle statue all Terrapins touch on their way out of the tunnel. You can see what I think of the Terps and how they’ve hurt my Illini over the years by the photos below.

 

Fear the Turtle!
It seems Maryland always has the best player names. D.J. Strawberry sounds more like a techno club’s main stage headliner than a hoopster It’s the latest in a great tradition which includes Laron Profit, Nick Caner-Medley, Obinna Ekenzie and of course the greatest name in all college basketball history, Exree Hipp.

Next to the Baltimore Colts section, a sign reads “almost religion,” which says it all about their local Jesus, Johnny Unitas. Next to a Memorial Stadium replica, the wall tells me how the Colts had the first NFL cheerleading unit back in 1954. A uniform from that squad is displayed, and when you juxtapose it against the current outfit from today’s Baltimore Ravens, it shows you how slutty things have truly gotten for NFL cheerleaders since then.

 

 

2131
This banner is certainly the highlight of the tour; especially when you consider how they left it in the final-number-slightly-now-just-being-revealed state. Yes, this is even better than the giant 1984 Donruss Jim Palmer baseball card. In September of 1995, Cal Ripken finally broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games streak of 2,130 games, in a nationally televised game. This was voted the all-time baseball moment of the 20th Century by fans from around the country in 1999. Ripken would finish with 2,632 straight games, finally sitting on September 20, 1998 against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It’s an iconic moment for the franchise formerly known as the St. Louis Browns 1901-1953 and the Milwaukee Brewers 1894-1900. (See you learn something new everyday!) It also brings warm memories to O’s fans any time a rival team fan mentions Rafael “I have never used steroids ever. Period.” Palmeiro and the likely perjury he committed before Congress.

And you know I had to buy some packs of baseball cards in the gift shop on the way out.

By Peter Christian

Few people can debate that the 2008 Olympics will mainly be remembered as the Summer Games when swimming was the most important: thing on TV, topic at work and event to schedule your evening plans around. Michael Phelps owned NBC, Beijing and the Water Cube for 8 days. However, while Phelps garnered more medals than former Olympic Record Holder Mark Spitz, there is another accomplishment within Team USA that his worth taking into consideration, in both the present and past pretenses.

The 2008 USA Men’s Basketball Team is on a mission to reclaim the gold for USA Basketball after a string of sub par performances on the international stage, but they aren’t setting out to just win the gold. They are looking to demolish every opponent in their way. Each and every member of the team has settled into their role making sure that no team can ever question that they were the best.

Except one.

With all the talk about this team being “The Redeem Team” it is difficult not to draw comparisons to the original team that exploded on the Olympic stage. “The Dream Team” in 1992 was the first USA Men’s Basketball team to feature active NBA players on an Olympic roster and they owned Barcelona much in the same fashion that Phelps has taken claim to Beijing. The question remains, which team is better, The Dream Team or The Redeem Team? Better yet, which team wins head-to-head?

At face value it seems like an extremely easy question. The Dream Team smokes The Redeem Team. Right?

The Dream Team was a collection of 10 players that were among the 50 greatest in NBA History, one other player who is in the top 60 and a token college star who mattered less to that team than Fergie did to the original Black Eyed Peas. The team was two deep (at least) at every position and even the “back-ups” were 50 times better than the next best player at their position in the 1992 Olympics. They won their games (all of them, durr) by an average of nearly 44 points and Head Coach Chuck Daly didn’t use a single timeout during the entire tournament. They had Michael Jordan on the roster just as icing on the cake. Sure, he is the best player on the globe, ever, but he is also the most competitive and most demanding-of-his-teammates player of all time. The rumors about the closed door practices for that team have become stuff of legend. Nobody could have put together a different group of 12 guys to match-up against them, to contain them, let alone beat them.

So, why on Earth would anyone even think that this Redeem Team would have a chance against the greatest roster ever created? Sure, they’ve won all their games by double digits and have handled their competition easily, especially in the second half, but their average margin of victory is only 32 points.  They play tough defense (something that USA Basketball hasn’t done since 1992) and actually run sets while still maintaining their fun-to-watch and fast paced tempo, but have had stretches of poor three-point shooting.

Plus the Redeem Team has definitely let up on teams, allowing games to look closer than they were (Angola, Greece). There is no way that MJ allows that to happen on his team.

So why are we still having this conversation?

Because:

The Redeem Team is the only roster that could give The Dream Team competition.

The Redeem Team would have demolished the international teams of 1992 by 40 points as well.

The international game is much more developed and specialized in 2008.

For the first time since 1992, the majority of the team is made with players who are the best players at their positions in the world.

For the first time since before I can remember, Team USA is exactly that, a TEAM.

If for a moment you looked at the talent as being equal between the two squads there is still one factor that puts the Dream Team above the Redeem Team. Intelligence. The Dream Team was the smartest and most fundamental collection of basketball players ever. Any member of that team would simply get inside the head of their opponent and destroy them, even if that opponent was a bit more gifted athletically. Although, the Redeem Team is a collection of the most athletically gifted and creative scoring basketball players ever and that would allow the Redeem Team to keep up with the legends of 1992.

.

At the end of the day, the Dream Team would win. The match-ups all end with slight edges to the Barcelona Gold Medal winners. The following facts would hold true in the proposed game:

1)    LeBron would have to play all 40 minutes (international rules) in order to keep the 2008 squad close.
2)    Pippen would be charged with guarding James.
3)    Jordan vs. Kobe would be the most amazing full court match-up ever.
4)    Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing and David Robinson would make Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer a complete non-factor in the paint (with Boozer probably having the best success)
5)    Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler and Chris Mullin would dominate Carmelo Anthony.
6)    The Redeem Team would go small with Howard at Center, LeBron at the 4, Kobe at the 3, Dwayne Wade at the 2 and Chris Paul/Deron Williams at the point. Wade would be the toughest guy for the Dream Team to match-up with.
7)    The Dream Team’s main lineup would be David Robinson, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.
8)    The Dream Team’s bench would be 5 times more successful than the Redeem Team’s

The scoring, shooting, rebounding, defense and overall team play goes to the Dream Team. The speed, creativity and athleticism go to the Redeem Team, but as we have seen in both the NBA and in recent years in international competition, the latter qualities don’t necessarily equate to victories on the largest stage.

Final Result: Dream Team 98     Redeem Team 87

Seven Game Series: Dream Team wins 4-1.

By Paul M. Banks & Theresa Carter

World War I pitted the “Triple Alliance” versus the “Triple Entente.” In the world of Chicago entertainment blogs, there is a powerful alliance between The Sports Bank.net and The Local Tourist.com.

Here’s a story by my newest content partner, Theresa Carter who runs the Windy City’s premier where-to-go and what-to-do website, The Local Tourist.com. It’s kind of like Time Out Chicago, but much more fun to read. Or like Metromix, but with much better usability, information and access. Theresa, my “work wife” founded the site and has been running it for 6 years. Theresa also works with me on the NBC5.com Street Team and the other big-name secret project that I am not supposed to plug yet. (But I will plug it soon and trust me it’s exciting!) I will now be posting descriptions of and links to many Chicago related TSB articles on her homepage during the week.

 

Read this link below for more on that:

http://www.thelocaltourist.com/blog-categories/sports/sports-bank-opens-account-tlt/

 

 

By Paul M. Banks

It’s hard to decide who accomplished less in 2007, the Washington Nationals baseball team or the administration of our 43rd president. The Nats, a franchise known prior to 2005 as the Montreal Expos, had a winning percentage almost as low as George W. Bush’s approval rating. The pre-Nationals history of baseball in our nation’s capital is also lackluster. Although you gotta love the Nationals’ old school red hats with the retro Washington Senators “W” logo, the Senators as a franchise were about as effective in winning pennants as Mark Foley, Larry Craig and Ted Haggard are in faking heterosexuality.

The Nats, like the Sens before them, weren’t big winners on the field, but their home field is very stellar. A quote on the Nationals Park history wall states “After decades of waiting, Washington finally has a winner. The new Nationals Park is the bomb,” Thomas Boswell, Washington Post. I wholeheartedly agree with the old white guy and his statement utilizing hip-hop slang. The Marlins were in first place and sent their best pitcher at the time, Ricky Nolasco to the hill against the last place Nationals and their worst pitcher (at that point in the season), Tim Redding. Given the team records and starter ERAs you’d expect an outcome the opposite of what transpired. Nats hitters usually struggle with plating base runners in the same way that Sean Hannity struggles with comprehending facts and basic journalism ethics. However, they were on their game this night and routed the first place fish.

 

Nationals Treasures

I love how when you step outside the Navy Yard metro stop, it’s all right there! The train station is within walking distance, and you can see inside the park because it’s straight down the street. The fact that much of the park was built underground makes the vistas both in your seat and outside the park that much better. Still, this game was pretty empty considering it was Friday night. How can they have trouble selling tickets when they have the “Racing Presidents” promotion going for them? Click on these links to learn more about the races themselves, and learn why poor Teddy Roosevelt can’t win. At least he “speaks softly and carries a big stick!” Unlike most of the Nats hitters (Hey Hey!) http://blog.letteddywin.com/ I was lucky enough to meet Teddy up close and personal; George Washington too.

This story warms my heart: the Nats’ stadium is the first eco-friendly ballpark. It is the only LEED-certified stadium that doesn’t have a corporate name…let’s hope they don’t sell out the name.  http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/personal-finance/lifestyle-money/washington-nationals-green/ (Look I actually posted something from Fox News! In a non-disgusted or mocking fashion.) But seriously, their stadium is a green initiative on par with the steps taken by the Philadelphia Phillies earlier this season. However, this trend has to be more than an NL East thing. In fact, it can’t be a trend at all, environmentally efficient just has to be the way that we do things from now on because as I would later see written on the walls of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial:
 
“Men and nature must work hand in hand. The throwing out of balance of the resources of nature throws out of balance also the lives of men.”
Other Nationals Park Plusses:

-Veggie hot dogs in the outfield concessions, the Cell on Chicago’s Southside has them too…Other parks need to take notice!

-The specialty brewed Homerun Ale isn’t bad. It’s kind of cool how all the concessions and bars have a Colonial American insignia and lettering surrounding them. It kind of made me feel like I was back at Disney World; in the Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Square or “American Experience” in the Epcot Center’s World Showcase.

-Kids will love the Play Station video arcade in Centerfield.

History Wall Highlights

Behind home plate you can see a beautiful view of the capitol building. On the other side is the history wall.

-It starts with Base Ball. Yes, I spelled it that way on purpose because that’s how they wrote about it in the 19th century. The legendary Fredrick Douglas himself was unanimously elected to be an honorary member of the Washington Mutuals, a Negro league team that began play in 1867. His father Charles Douglas was the squad’s de facto GM.

-Mickey Mantle’s famous 565 ft homer is honored.

-Walter Johnson the “Big Train” is my favorite of the players honored on the walls of fame. He was supposedly the hardest thrower ever and likely threw well over 100 mphs; we don’t know for sure because he predates radar guns. His legendary stats include 411 career wins, 110 by shutout.

 

Party Caucus

When it comes to choosing where to sit at a baseball game or my politics, I always lean left. The tickets I purchased to this game were even left of the foul pole. On my national stadium adventures trips, I’ve had a lot of company and sometimes even gone by myself, but never had I been at a game where my company had this much collective juice. It starts with a girl I know who has “Juice like Williams,” Washington Times writer and future Harvard graduate student Carrie Sheffield, not to be confused with Gary Sheffield. Then there’s Glennis Webb who works directly for a Congressman and has absolutely the coolest and most important looking business card you will ever see. There’s also political consultant Bryan Roberts (not to be confused with Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts) and Eric Pfeiffer, a writer for Congressional Quarterly who has recently been a featured guest panelist on both MSNBC and Fox News. I’m certain that at least one person in this group, if not two or more will be regulars on the Sunday Morning roundtable shows in about 15-20 years.

D.C. Cultural Highlights

My friends here laugh when I tell them how I’ve heard the District described as “Hollywood for ugly people.” Given the way people network and hand out business cards, I see where that phrase comes from. However, I think the phrase “Hollywood for nerds or Hollywood for intellectuals is more apt. It definitely rivals San Francisco or New York as a vacation destination for those interested in living the life of the mind. It’s a multicultural and marble city designed by a Frenchman to echo the most aesthetically pleasing architectural achievements of antiquity. There are monuments to every notable president and war, my overall favorites being the FDR memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. I once played Roosevelt in an Advanced Placement History course presentation (Nerd! Yes, I know I am) and his political leanings were the closest to mine as any former president. I visited Arlington on a day with a torrential downpour, which ironically heightened the experience! Seeing the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is especially powerful on a day that no one wishes to be outside honoring the sentinel’s creed. John F. Kennedy’s eternal flame burns hotter on a day filled with moisture. Another landmark I’ll remember forever is the Korean War Monument. Although creepy and odd in some places, a wall reads “Freedom is not free,” just like in my favorite scene from one of my favorite movies “Team America: World Police.” Like the song “Freedom Costs $1.05” says “Freedom isn’t free, there’s a heft freakin fee, and if we don’t all chip in our buck-o-five than we’ll never pay that bill.” 

This guy does a decent job recreating that famous scene…although this video is ruined by the fact that he wastes a whole minute on the introduction and then plays the German version of “99 Red Balloons” for some reason at the end

The blue chip monument is also D.C.’s highest building, the Washington Monument. There is a law that nothing can be built taller than this structure, and this provides a unique and somewhat bizarre landscape. Washington D.C. is a major metropolis with no skyline and downtown filled with giant skyscrapers. Rosslyn, Virginia is where all the skyscrapers are, so it’s essentially a bizarro world where the suburbs have the impressively high structures and the downtown is flat and sprawled out.

My favorite overall attraction in the District was the Newseum, a billion dollar shrine to journalism that opened in April. To talk about everything the museum offers would turn this article into a 4,000 word essay. The Newseum walls contain numerous inspirational quotes about the media industry including my favorite:

“There are three types of people who instinctively run towards disaster instead of away from it- cops, firemen and reporters.”

This statement definitely explains why I’ve been attracted to most of the women that I’ve been involved with recently.
 

On deck: Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards

In the Hole: Baltimore Orioles

Also Due Up soon: Detroit Tigers, Field of Dreams, Purdue University’s Ross-Ade Stadium, THE Ohio State University’s Horsehoe