Hope Springs Eternal

Maybe the Giants really started something that Super Bowl Sunday in February. Those incredible men in blue and their nasty defensive linemen, and most heartening of all, a host of new guys to lay low the "greatest team of all time" Patriots, guys making their bones, if you will.

I'll never forget Steve Smith, a big name at USC but new to the NFL, finding still another hole in a Pats zone and dancing down the sideline to make sure his team got that critical first down. That was immediately preceding that beautiful Eli floater to a wide-open Plaxico versus another ill-fated Belichick blitz.

But Smith certainly wasn't the only new face to shake the halls of the great this past football year. There was a seventh round draft choice named Ahmad Bradshaw who dragged a huge Pats defensive lineman for a few more yards that day, and a big kid from East Orange who did his best to see if Tom Brady's navel could touch his spine. And what about that huge tight end out of Western Oregon, of all places, getting open and deftly turning upfield for a 45-yard gain.

Yes, there were six rookies who made that Giants team , all of whom made their presence felt in the playoffs, and even that wasn’t the end of it. Those G-Men also made some key pickups outside of the draft, most notably a fullback named Hedgecock and a kick-returner named Hixon, whose efforts couldn’t be missed in that run of runs.

And we had a new and totally unlikely Super Bowl Champion.

Of course, none of that had been expected. And if it had been expected, it couldn’t have been so incredible of course, all of which brings me around to some new heroes on the baseball diamonds of the Major Leagues, and the hard courts of the NBA, still other new faces or names you never heard to shake the countenances of the powerful.

Looking at today’s standings in the American League this morning, I see Baltimore and Tampa Bay leading the American League East, the Rays having just swept the World Series Champion Red Sox. Their winning streak couldn’t have been accomplished without Evan Longoria, fresh out of the minors. He hits for average and power, plays a nifty third base, and can steal a base if there’s a need. But he joins a team that already had developed B.J. Upton and the hard-throwing right-hander James Shields.

In the AL Central, the “Pale Hose”, those Chicago White Sox are surprising the Indians and in the West, those Billy Bean Oakland A’s are tied for first with the Angels. The White Sox are doing it with re-treads who seem to have re-discovered their games, names like Crede and Pierzynski. The A’s are doing it with guys like pitcher Dana Eveland, a 25-year old southpaw, and still another over-achieving re-tread named Emil Brown. Emil presently leads the A’s with 25 rbi’s, a figure that is second only to still another new face, Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers.

On the senior circuit, the National League, the Florida Marlins lead the East, 1 ½ games over the Mets and Phillies. Hanley Ramirez is once again tearing it up with 8 home runs, 22 runs scored and 18 rbi’s from the LEADOFF position. He also sports 8 stolen bases, and despite having shown this fearsome production for over two years now, he is still not exactly a household name. The Fish also can boast of Josh Willingham, a former Met batting .341 and two pitchers doing very well, Mark Hendrickson with 4 wins already and Scott Olsen, who leads the team in ERA at 2.06.

In the NL Central, there are the Cubbies, finally, in first place with a 16-9 record. And, although old names such as Derrek Lee and Carlos Zambrano are leading the team in batting and pitching, they wouldn’t be there without Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol finishing games for them.

While Wood had been a household name as a starter before his injury, his closer role is new and one he seems quite comfortable filling. Marmol sets him up and, in only his second year, mystifies batters with his combination of heat and breaking balls, not unlike the more ballyhooed Joba Chamberlain of the Yankees.

In the West, the Diamondbacks of Arizona lead the way, and, although some “woulda thunk it”, what with pitchers like Brandon Webb, Dan Haren and Randy Johnson, who really expected a fella named Micah Owings to start out 4-0 with 28 strikeout’s and only 9 walks. And only the baseball-savvy could’ve foreseen still another Upton named Justin to sport a .323 BA along with five dingers.

In NBA basketball, how good was it to watch a kid like Josh Smith tear up the mighty Celtics twice in a row? Smith was a human wrecking ball, with 28 points and 7 blocks in their latest game. The 6’9” 235 pound Smith seems unstoppable in closing out his fourth year in the league. In Saturday night’s Hawks win, he was even more dominating, hitting 11-17 from the field while grabbing 9 rebounds, dishing off 6 assists and pilfering the ball twice.

Meanwhile, seasoned but unheralded veteran Joe Johnson, originally drafted by the Celtics back in 2001, grabbed the spotlight last night. Joe hit for 35 points, going 14-24. The Celtics seem to be reeling after their two relatively easy wins in Beantown and will undoubtedly welcome a return to their home court after suffering two rather decisive beatings in Atlanta.

In every sport, the beat goes on. We watch the great either hang on or tumble, but it’s always intriguing, and most of us root for that new blood to have their day. And yet, if the veterans still hold sway, we recognize and appreciate their dominance, be it either in teamwork or defense, pitching or long home runs. It’s the good fight that’s appreciated.

<>As I gaze out my window, I see the snow has stopped falling. Ah yes, hope springs eternal.<>