When current Tampa Bay Ray Joe Nelson was in college his coach suggested he convert from being a shortstop/third baseman to becoming a pitcher; success was slow to come at first, until Nelson developed an effective split-fingered type pitch, inspired by his love of Star Trek. Gripping the ball in a “Vulcan”-style, Nelson has finally found success at the big league level.
Uncomfortable with the traditional grip between his index and middle fingers, Nelson one day moved the ball to between his middle and ring fingers — “I just jammed it in there one day” — and it worked. He began throwing it regularly at the University of San Francisco and never stopped.
Then, of course, he had to decide what to call it. “Old enough” at 34 to have watched Star Trek TV show reruns (and, apparently, lots of other questionable shows) in addition to several of the movies, he figured that was the way to go.
“It was either going to be Nanu Nanu from Mork & Mindy, or the Vulcan,” Nelson said. “And Spock just seemed like a cooler character than Mork did.”
You might have heard that Michael Phelps was captured in a picture smoking a bong, I recall hearing something about it, but it got mostly ignored by the mainstream media. Well, the aftershocks of that photo continue to reverberate, first he lost his Kellogg’s cereal sponsorship deal and now, he has been taken off three motivational speaking events, presumably because he is no longer inspirational as a one-time pot smoker.
The Miss America pageant must have fallen on hard times, it was on this weekend, not that anyone would notice since it was only broadcast on TLC. Among the women competing was Tara Wheeler, 24, Miss Virginia, who did not place particularly well in the overall event but, as the girl’s all kept saying throughout the broadcast, “We’re all winners!” So she has that going for her.
Saturday night featured one of the boxing events of the century, although, based on media coverage no one noticed. In a 3-round match in suburban Philadelpha, Jose Canseco fought former Partridge Family member Danny Bonaduce to a draw.
Despite being the greatest female soccer player of all time, Mia Hamm wasn’t able to eke out a victory over her husband’s team at the second annual Celebrity Soccer Challenge at the Home Depot Center on Saturday. Nomar Garciaparra, or Mr. Hamm, led his team, Nomar United to an 8-7 victory over FC Hamm, erasing the embarrassing stigma from losing last year 13-12.
In Italy’s Serie A soccer league, one of the most competitive soccer leagues in the world, every little bit helps, especially in what is generally a low scoring game. So, when Giuseppe Mascara lined up to take a deciding penalty kick, with the score tied 2-2, 
The Slanch Report 
Recent Comments