Article:Sunday Smoker - June 29, 2008



''Since we already have a Friday Fryer for the biggest idiots in sports, I figured we could use a recap of some of the smokin' hottest people in sports. They can be on a hot streak, a big-game winner, being lusted after by other teams, whatever. They just gotta be SMOKIN' HOT!''

It should be noted that those are MegECass110' words, not mine. Meg is off this week, so I have stepped out of my role as reporter of the Armchair Weekend in Review to review the week's best, or "Smokers". So, without further ado, here we go...

Fresno State baseball
All had seemed lost for the Bulldogs when they lost to Arizona State in the first game of their NCAA Super Regionals on June 7. But, something miraculous happened on the way to the improbable: the 'Dogs came back to win the next two games against the Sun Devils to make it to Omaha and the College World Series. The road to America's heartland also went through Ruston, Louisiana and Long Beach, California, for the record. Once in Omaha, the Bulldogs lost only two games on their way to a three-game series win and their first-ever baseball title on Wednesday, a 6-1 clincher over Georgia.

Joba Chamberlain
When Ian Kennedy and Phillip Hughes were both demoted to the minors, many felt that they New York Yankees had pressed the panic button in executing their plan of putting the former set-up specialist into the starting rotation. After a slow start, manager Joe Girardi and pitching coach Dave Eiland decided to take the leash off Joba and let him go over 100 pitches. The dividends soon payed off on Wednesday with a start wherein he went over six innings, scattered as many hits and struck out seven in a 10-0 shutout of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

New York Mets
It may have been a season of discord in Flushing, Queens, but somehow, the Mets got it together to put a hurt on their crosstown rivals on Friday afternoon in the first game of a split-venue doubleheader. More specifcally, Carlos Delgado set a new franchise record for RBI's, driving in nine via a two-run double in the fifth inning, a grand slam the next inning, and a three-run jack in the eighth.

As for last week's smokin' ones...

Russia and Spain played each other on Thursday to determine who would go on to play for the Euro 2008 championship, and the Spaniards advanced with a 3-0 shutout of the Sbornaya.

Turkey: Lost to the other finalist, Germany, 3-2 on Wednesday in a comeback that most of the world didn't see because of a TV broadcast failure brought on by an electrical storm.

Boston Celtics: Enjoying a well-deserved vacation. Will they return to the Finals next year? Who knows...

Marcus Thames: Sort of cooled off during the week, going 5-13 (.385) despite striking out six strikeouts in four games the Detroit Tigers played during the week.