King’s Court
Welcome back to another edition of King’s Court! School is starting for most kids around the country in the coming days, while other schools are already in session. Before you head back to school, check out what I have to say in this week’s edition. A scary MLB injury, a historic milestone, starters named, new president of players, and a Hall of Fame announcer coming back. If you are reading this, thank you. Without further ado, Court is now in session.
Jason Heyward out 4-6 Weeks
Injuries are never fun for the athlete or those fans in attendance watching the game. That was no different than seeing Jason Heyward get hit in the face by a 90 mile-per-hour fastball from New York Mets’ pitcher, Jonathan Niese. The pitch hit Heyward unintentionally and the Braves’ right fielder will likely miss the rest of the regular season as he suffered a broken right jaw, putting him out for 4-6 weeks. He should be able to make a return to the Braves’ lineup come playoff time. The Braves should be just fine going down the stretch being that they have a 14-game lead on the Washington Nationals in the National League East.
Vick, Weeden Named Starters
The Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns have named Michael Vick and Brandon Weeden their starting quarterbacks. Vick beat out second-year player Nick Foles for the starting gig in the City of Brotherly Love. Vick looks to be making huge strides in First year Head Coach Chip Kelly’s up-tempo spread offense. Weeden will be the starter in Cleveland for the second straight season. He has looked sharp in two preseason games this season and a big part of that is due to new offensive coordinator, Norv Turner. Weeden will learn a lot about how to play the quarterback position from Turner, but it is up to Weeden to execute on the field. The Browns have a shot to be a surprise team in the AFC North this season.
Chris Paul New NBA Players Association President
On Wednesday, Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers was elected the new president of the NBA Players Association. Paul replaces Derek Fisher, who was president since 2006. Paul is the highest profiled NBA player to be president since Patrick Ewing in 2001. “CP3” should make a good president as he is well respected around the NBA. He has been a part of the Players Association for a number of years now, so it’s not like he is completely new to the job. Roger Mason Jr. was elected as vice president. Earlier this week LeBron James said he would like to be the next president, but later decided against it.
Ichiro is Mr. 4,000
Ichiro Suzuki just became the Third player ever to reach the 4,000 hit plateau, joining Pete Rose and Ty Cobb. Ichiro got hit number 4,000 in the first inning of Wednesday’s game off Toronto Blue Jays’ pitcher, R.A. Dickey. His New York Yankee teammates rushed to first base to celebrate what he had just accomplished. Ichiro got 1,278 hits over in Japan, while racking up 2,723 hits in the MLB. Some question whether or not his Japan hits should count and I think they absolutely should. 4,000 hits are 4,000 hits, especially since he is creeping up on 3,000 MLB hits. He may play for the team I hate most in all of sports, but I have to tip my cap to Ichiro.
Vin Scully to Return for 65th Season
Los Angeles Dodgers’ legendary announcer Vin Scully will return in 2014 for his 65th season in the broadcast booth. He will continue to call home games and road games that are in California and Arizona. His Hall of Fame career started in 1950 when he joined Red Barber and Connie Desmond in the booth while the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn. He has been with the Dodgers in all 53 years of the franchise’s existence in Los Angeles. He was inducted into the Broadcasters Wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Dodger Stadium press box is named in his honor. He has called 25 World Series, three perfect games, 19 no-hitters, and 12 All Star Games. He is definitely a guy I look up to as a sports journalist and announcer. I can only hope to have half as good a career as Mr. Scully.
If you don’t already, you can follow me on Twitter @KingEdward15.
I am King Edward and I have spoken.
