MARCH 1st 2005
RANDY MOSS TRADED TO THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
ESPN. COM
The New England Patriots have traded their 2005 1st round pick and wide receiver Deion Branch to the Minnesota Vikings for Randy Moss and a 2006 pick named to be later
Moss has had sour relations with the Vikings and ownership in recent memory and now he goes to the New England Patriots who receive a massive Wide Receiver upgrade as they try to reload for a 2nd Super Bowl championship in 3rd years next season
MARCH 2nd 2005
JOE TORRE ELECTED TO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME AS A PLAYER
ESPN. COM
The Baseball Hall of Fame Veterans Committee for the first time since 2001 has elected a new player to the baseball Hall of Fame
Joe Torre has won 7 AL pennants and 4 World Series including 4 World Series titles in 5 years from 1996 to 2000 to 7 AL pennants in 8 years from 1996 to 2004 but before that Torre was a MVP winning 9 time All Star Catcher with the Braves Cardinals and Mets
In a career that saw Torre a majority of games at catcher but a good amount at 1st base and 3rd base however when Torre retired among players with majority of games played at catcher he ranked
1st in career hits
3rd all time in home runs
2nd in RBIs
5th all time in batting average
2nd all time in doubles
3rd all time in runs scored
A man who very well would be a as soon as possible Hall of Fame manager if he retired today will see him get into Cooperstown a bit earlier than expected as he will join Ryne Sandberg and Wade Boggs who were voted into the Hall of Fame by the writers in January to compete the Hall of Fame class of 2005
Torre was the only candidate to receive 60 or more votes as other player candidates Gill Hodges and Ron Santo finished the closest behind Torre with them receiving 52 exact votes
“It’s a pleasant surprise” Joe Torre said after receiving the call Wednesday night as he jumped from 29 votes to 62 votes
Torre says he is counting the days till he is up in that podium in late July
MARCH 3rd 2005
MATTHEW STAFFORD COMMITS TO USC
FOXSPORTS. COM
Matthew Stafford one of the top prospects for the college football class of 2006 and the number 1 quarterback of that class recruiting has committed to defending champion University of Southern California Trojans
Stafford the Dallas native flirted with signing with Georgia but in the end at the final moment decided to stay home
USC goes back to back when it comes to top quarterbacks in their recruiting class as it was Mark Sanchez for the class of 2005 and now Matthew Stafford the class of 2006
MARCH 7th 2005
2005 ROCK N ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY RECAP
U2 AND SINTARA TRIBUTE STEAL THE SHOW
MTV. COM
The 2005 Rock n Roll Hall of Fame ceremony certainly rocked the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York Monday Night pun intended
From Bruce Springeen inducting Irish rockers U2 in a speech what seemed to be 20 minutes long praising and paying tribute to the band which resulted in afterwards a performance by the group led by lead singer Bono in which they preformed some of their biggest hits like “Pride In The Name of Love” “Where The Streets Have No Name” and “Vertigo”
Neil Young would induct and honor Midwest rockers The Pretenders and Eric Clapton and BB King would do the same for legendary Blues guitarist Buddy Guy
Justin Timberlake would honor local Soul greats The O Jays as preformed their big hits “For the Love of Money” and “Love Train” and Percy Sledge would get honored by Stevie Van Zant
plus non performers including Rock n Roll talent agency Frank Barsalona who discovered acts like The Who,Led Zeppelin,U2,Bruce Springsteen ,Van Halen,Fleetwood Mac,Black Sabbath and Jimi Hendrix plus many others was Sire Records founder Seymour Stein who discovered Punk and New Wave icons like The Ramones,The Pretenders,The Talking Heads and Madonna was honored too
However the best for last was the induction of Frank Sinatra fitting that he would be posthumously inducted in Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in New York who was inducted by actor Matt Damon into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and has his award accepted by his son Frank Sinatra Jr
“Ol Blue Eyes” maybe not be the most Rock n Roll person that comes to mind but Rock n Roll owes a lot to Frank Sinatra said Matt Damon while giving his induction
Damon would give a 10 minute speech praising Sinatra and thanking the Hall for giving him the opportunity to induct the man in which he would say
“I’m sure Mr Sinatra would have loved to be in the same club as musicians he learned to love such as The Beatles,Johnny Cash,Elvis Presley,James Brown and The Rolling Stones and I am sure that he is somewhere smiling that he has been awarded this honor and I think he would have loved to be inducted in the place he called home”
Afterwards singer Michael Buble and Norah Jones would join Frank Sinatra Jr to preform classics from him like “New York New York”, “The Best Is Yet To Come” “Fly Me To The Moon” and “That’s Life”
The ceremony would end as the main performers and inductees of the night Michael Buble,Norah Jones,Frank Sinatra Jr,Bono,The Edge,Bruce Springsteen,Neil Young,Justin Timberlake,Christy Hyde,B.B King and Eric Clapton all would come out in a jam to preform possibly Sinatra’s biggest classic song “My Way”
The ceremony is set to appear on VH1 in the following weeks
MARCH 9th 2005
RICH GANNON TRADED TO TAMPA BAY BUCCANERS
ESPN. COM
Rich Gannon who is set to return to the NFL for his 19th and possibly his final season according to his words has been traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a late round 2006 pick to be named later
Gannon is expected to be the mentor for whoever the next quarterback for Tampa Bay is whenever it is acquired in free agency a trade or the draft in April
Gannon was benched earlier last season for 2nd overall pick Eli Manning who led the Raiders back to the top of the AFC West and a appearance in the AFC Championship Game