Last night Ken Griffey Jr. knocked the 600th home run of his career, is this a harbinger of great things for the Juniors of this world? This coming Sunday is Father’s Day, are the stars lining up?  What could be more fitting than to do something fantastic on Father’s Day when your name is followed by the term Junior?  Ken Griffey Jr. has set the pace… Who are the other Juniors that could do their Dads proud this week?

There are many in baseball, but since Ken Griffey Jr. has already stepped up, we’ll concede baseball to him.

The NBA Finals are on the schedule, but neither the Celtics nor the Lakers have any Juniors on their rosters… Whats up with that?

The U.S. Open is on this week. I suppose many look at the game of golf as an uppity endeavor and based on the fact that I couldn’t find a single “Junior” in the field, this may be an indication. The fact that there are two with the “III” at the end of their names goes a long way toward reinforcing that uppity moniker… The two “high brows” are Davis Love III and Charles Howell III, well la-de-dah… Personally, I grew up with a guy who had the “III” behind his name and if he was any indication, then the uppity thing works… Remember the old MASH sitcom with Major Charles Winchester III? Now that’s uppity personified…

Davis Love III and Charles Howell III

So that boils the week’s sporting events on this Father’s Day week down to racing. No, the Formula cars and the Indy cars will be idle this week. NASCAR will be on the docket with the Trucks and Sprint Cup cars running Friday and Sunday at Michigan International Speedway (the Cool City Customs 200 and the LifeLock.com 400, respectively) and the Nationwide cars will be running Saturday at Kentucky Speedway in the Meijer 300.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

There will be two Juniors trying to qualify for the Truck race as Ron Hornaday Jr. and Scott Lagrasse Jr. are among the drivers there. There is only one Junior trying to qualify for the Nationwide field in Kentucky. Bobby Hamilton Jr. will be looking for a top finish there. That leaves us looking at the Sprint Cup LifeLock.com 400 on Sunday. There will potentially be three Juniors in this field as Martin Truex Jr., Sam Hornish Jr. and finally, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be in the qualifying.

Ron Hornaday Jr. and Sam Hornish Jr.

Martin Truex Jr. and Bobby Hamilton Jr.

So which of these racing Juniors is the most likely to once again bring glory to the name he proudly wears?

After looking at their histories on the tracks being run and with careful consideration into who is due to win, I’ve got to believe that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the most likely to win in their respective races this weekend…

To all you fathers out there, have a Happy Father’s Day, and may the best Junior win!

As a reformed Mariner fan (I wanted to get that out of the way up front) I want to point out to those of you who are still enthralled with the Major League Baseball team in Seattle that the only thing the owners of this team care about is the bottom line. It’s not a question of fielding a championship team it’s only a question of providing a show, something to draw in paying customers. Look around you Mariner fans, when it was a question of saving baseball in Seattle, the owners actually put some money on the line in terms of a strong management group built with good baseball people. They then went about assembling a team that came oh so close to the ultimate prize. The effort resulted in the franchise staying in the Emerald City and the construction of a wonderful new facility, but that is where the ownership’s commitment to excellence ended. The Seattle Mariners had a huge following. The team sold out their new Safeco Field on a regular basis for many years. But suddenly it didn’t seem to matter whether they were challenging for the playoffs anymore. So it came as no surprise when Lou Piniella appealed to management for pitching help to put the team over the top before the trading deadline one season when they were in the running for a playoff spot, nothing was forthcoming. The team lost one of the best managers in the game as a result. Lou Piniella is a winner. He exudes winning and can’t bring himself to settle for anything less. He knew his time was over in Seattle when his requests for help fell on deaf ears. Less than one year after Lou excused himself, the team’s gem o####eneral manager, Pat Gillick, the man responsible for assembling the 2001 team that won 116 games, was also gone. Just like Lou, Gillick was not through with baseball, he was just through with the Mariners. Both men left of their own volition, the writing was on the wall and both were too proud to hang with a bunch of also rans. I lay both of these blunders right at the feet of the ownership group who were unwilling to go that one extra yard for the fans of the Seattle Mariners. This chain of events has led to what amounts to six years of rebuilding under the guidance of General Manager Bill Bavasi. Three different Field Managers dealing with several new faces on the field later and the team seemingly can’t put runs on the board while their pitchers struggle with injuries.

Now, after years of futility, the fans have finally begun turning their backs on baseball, Mariners style… Seven of the smallest crowds in the history of this new ballpark have been seen in the first five weeks of the 2008 season. Now the red flags have been run up the flagpoles around Safeco. The bottom line is being threatened and that will never do! What is the answer in the eyes of the team’s upper management? Bring back one of the biggest Mariner stars from their glory days, Ken Griffey, Jr. Is this a move to make the team championship caliber? No it’s not. This is a pure and simple move to put fans back in the seats. It has nothing to do with what should be the primary goal of any professional team in sports, that being to win the title. What will it take to bring Ken back into the fold? Oh, I’d say the team will be forced to mortgage their future by sending a couple of up and coming stars to the Cincinnati Reds. All for the sake of maintaining a short-term positive cash flow.

          Safeco Field - The Good Old Days!                         2008????

Ken, if it comes to pass that you actually rejoin the team of your youth, the team where you enjoyed your greatest success, that will be great, but it’s not to win a championship. To you and all the loyal Mariners fans, don’t delude yourself that this is a move toward the championship.  It’s just to remind the Seattle baseball fans of the heady days of Junior, Edgar, the Big Unit, Bone and Alex. Those sunny afternoons watching Jamie Moyer spin his magic and John Olerud wearing a batting helmet out at first base and lacing line drives into right field are long gone.

The fans will return to see one of the most dynamic ball players to ever don a Mariners uniform. The future Hall of Famer will have his moments, but it won’t be the same.

For all the hype and hope heaped upon this team at the start of the 2008 season, it has turned into business as usual.

                Just be mediocre, baby!