The World Series, the NFL and the NBA visited

October 19, 1993
Originally published by The Daily Collegian (Fresno State)

It's that time of year when the so-called Golden Period of sports emerges. The World Series is upon us, the NFL continues to attract hard-core football loyalists and NBA training camps are in full swing. To stay up on all this without a scorecard is impossible, so it's time to get a perspective on each.

Phillies have a dream
America loves an underdog. In this year's World Series, America loves the Philadelphia Phillies, a team that has come from nowhere. The Phillies have an ugly image and they win even uglier, but give them credit: They win. Who said baseball has to be pretty?

Though the clean-cut Atlanta Braves and politically correct Toronto Blue Jays have loomed awesome before the Phils, their improbable dream continues: "Ya Gotta Believe!"

Watching the Toronto Blue Jays is watching baseball in the 90's. Oh, Canada, those Jays have it. They have the SkyDome, the stars, high tech strategy and last year's title. The Blue Jays have experience. They've shown they have what it takes to win it all.

Philadelphia, however, takes baseball back to the Gashouse Gang in the 30's. They sweat, bleed and get dirty. In short, they are a team that plays with a passion. These concepts are unheard of to either today's baseball or their Series opponents' image.

The Phillies lineup is an all-star thug cast with noted hoodlums Lenny Dykstra, John Kruk, Dave Hollins, Darrin Daulton, Pete Incaviglia and Milt Thompson. These guys could crack an NFL training camp and not look shabby.

This bunch could be hired as bouncers for a heavy-metal rock band. They could pretty much do what they damn well please. They are a team, in the loosest sense of the word. They are a team when the pressure is on. And they are a team when it matters.

John Olerud, the Jays' hitting extraordinaire, keeps his batting helmet shiny and neat and sleeps in it. Dykstra uses his to bang his head.

The Blue Jays are nutritious and eat the breakfast of champions. The Phillies, on the other hand, have been known to smoke breakfast, inhale lunch, and drink dinner.

Toronto fans are quiet and docile. They'll sip some wine in their climate-controlled SkyDome and cheer nicely. Philadelphia fans will drink anything that gets them drunk and go berserk over their beloved Phillies.

Toronto is baseball's best team. They have overpowering pitching, relentless hitting, and postseason experience. The smart money is on the Blue Jays. The Phillies don't appear to have a prayer, but they are this year's hungry team with destiny written all over them.

49ers are slipping
The San Francisco 49ers have been a team with a great organization over the years. But what made them great was wealth. The Niners have been an organization with a lot of money. Now their pie is cut thinner.

The 90's have dawned with free agency and big contracts. Thus, players are naming their prices and teams and laughing all the way to the bank.

Break up the Niners. Jerry Rice wasn't getting the ball until late in the game, and Ricky Watters wasn't getting the ball, period. Needless to say, coach Seifert isn't in much high esteem right now.

San Francisco's biggest problem, however, is that they are too quick to pull the trigger on veteran talent. Remember the fiasco that sent Ronnie Lott and Roger Craig to the Raiders? Remember the Charles Haley deal? Remember the Joe Montana saga this spring? How can you forget?

Two of these deals have backfired, and the other is on the way. The Raiders beat the 49ers two years ago with Lott and Craig. The Cowboys used the Niners as a stepping stone to their Super Bowl win last year.

Kansas City is licking their chops at the thought of advancing to the Super Bowl next January and having Joe Montana go at his old team with a vengeance.

Even though Dallas hardly looks like the champs they were, they proved with Sunday's win that the 49er dynasty is over. The Cowboys were the better team in last year's NFC championship game, and they proved it Sunday. Now, Dallas is the great organization, possessing the championship aura that is slowly creeping away from the 49ers.

It's about that time
Basketball wasn't the same last year without Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. With Michael Jordan retired and Charles Barkley threatening to do the same, the NBA will be a ghost town in '93-'94.

Sorry, but you just don't replace the game's greatest player with Larry Johnson, a man who has worn a dress in public. Shaquille O' Neal can intimidate a playground to get Pepsi, but that's hardly the image the league wants to project.

Seattle and New York, the two teams that have the best chance to dethrone the Jordan-less Bulls, will have to stand in line. Barkley plans to retire next year if his Suns win the title and Barkley is not one to be denied.