Moment of the Decade

Welcome back to RedWhite&BlueSports! First of all I'd like to congratulate Sean Johnson and 27pitches.com for it's outstanding work and being put on Bob's Blitz's "Blogs to watch" for 2010, very good stuff.  Now I move onto the topic of the moment of the decade.  I sincerely hope that no one argues this with me because I'm not doing this just because I'm a die-hard Yankees fan.  But when President Bush took the mound in the 2001 World Series Game 3 in front of 57,000 at Yankee Stadium and the millions watching around the world, that captured the title of Best Moment of the Decade.


As President Bush walked out confidently onto that pitchers mound sporting a "FDNY" sweatshirt to commemorate the bravery of those who lost their lives on that tragic day in September, he stood ever so proudly while he seemed to scan the upper deck and take in what was occurring, then delivering possibly the greatest "thumbs up" in the history of the world.  With deafening cheers and blinding light bulbs flashing it seemed as though President Bush was a stone figure while he held his position for what seemed like an eternity out there.  Then with a quick, but somewhat mechanically correct, wind up and motion he threw a strike down the middle of the plate to Yankees catcher Todd Greene.  It only seems fitting that after he went out to the mound with such "swagger" he threw a strike that even "K-Zone" would recognize.  Something very few people who have thrown out the first pitch to any game can say they have accomplished.  Furthermore, something that probably wasn't notiched was that President Bush threw from the actual "rubber", unlike other ceremonial first pitches where people stand about a yard in front of the "rubber".  Finally, while he was walking off the mound there was a thunderous "U-S-A, U-S-A" chants, definitely RedWhite&BlueSports material.

There was a good game to follow as well, the Yankees won 2-1 to move the series standing to 2-1.  But another interesting fact about our fearless leader at the time is that he is one of five sitting Presidents to throw out the first pitch of a World Series and the first in 45 years to do so.  The other Presidents to throw out the first pitch to a World Series game are Dwight Eisenhower, Franklin Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, and Woodrow Wilson.  Not bad company.

Coach of the Decade

Welcome back RedWhite&BlueSports fanatics! Today we discuss the best coach of the past decade. This person has been the center of controversy, but nonetheless, he is a wizard when it comes to football. As much as this hurts me as a New York Jets fan the best coach in the past decade has been Bill Belichick. As I said it hurts admitting this as a Jets fan but there is no one I hate playing more than the New England Patriots and the ugly sweatshirted man across the field known as Coach Belichick.

He was named head coach of the Patriots in 2000, went 5-11, which was his only losing season with the team. Since then, 2003-2007 they have finished 1st in the AFC East, making four Super Bowl appearances, winning three of those Super Bowls. Belichicks first Super Bowl came in 2001 in just his second year as head football coach of the Patriots, thanks to Drew Bledsoe getting hurt, Tom Brady emerged and became the shining star he is today. The Patriots went on to win consecutive Super Bowls in 2003 and 2004 and they currently have the AFC East locked up with a 10-5 record this season. Bill Belichick's record with the Patriots is 112-47, a .704 winning percentage averaging double digit wins and in the playoffs he is 14-3, with an outstanding .824 winning percentage, not bad. Furthermore, Belichick and the Patriots were the first team to complete a perfect regular season since the introduction of the 16 game schedule in 1978.

Now I digress to "Spygate". This was something that was blown out of proportion (and I'm part of Gang Green). At the time, I wish Eric "Man-genius" Mangini would have the will to win like Bill Belichick and go out and do everything he could to win, even if that means bending a few NFL laws. Belichick was simply trying to get the upper hand on the competition. He was caught though, paid a hefty fine, learned from his lesson, and continues to torch the AFC East.

So being the two time AP NFL Coach of the Year, 2003 and 2007, winning three Super Bowl rings, being the third longest tenured coach in the NFL, and putting a very frightening team on the field year after year points Bill Belichick in the direction of being the best coach of the past decade.

One final note on Bill Belichick, he also wins worst dressed coach of the decade barely beating out University of Tennesse's Bruce Pearl and that orange suit.

Inaugural post-Best Athlete of the Decade

First off, thank you to the limited amount of readers who are partaking in this blog and the first post for RedWhite&BlueSports. We find it fitting that our first set of posts should close out the decade as we started this at the end of the decade. With that being said the best athlete of the decade goes to Lance Armstrong. Lance Armstrong did more than just dominate the sport of cycling by winning 7 consecutive Tour de France's (although the first was in 1999), he brought it to America and changed the way Americans and other countries saw this sport. It almost became normal to see Lance riding with a yellow jersey on drinking champangne on the way to the podium to receive yet another gold medal. Furthermore, everyone knows this story from cinematic genius behind "You, Me, and Dupree", but Lance overcame testicular cancer that metastisized to his lungs and brain. For those who do not know his originial prognosis was extremely poor and this just shows how much of a competitor he is, he overcame cancer and eventually created the Lance Armstrong Foundation and of course those "Livestrong" bracelets which I am currently sporting.

Other than the 7 consecutive Tour de France victories he also complied numerous other awards througout his illustrious carrer. 2002 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, Associated Press male athlete of the year 2002-2005, and winning ESPN's EPSY award for best male athlete of the year 2003-2006 just to name a few. Other than the awards from cycling, he also ran the New York City Marathon to help raise approximately $600,000 for cancer research. Not bad for a guy who dominated a sport for nearly an entire decade.

Lance's performance on and off the bike make him a model American citizen. He represents his country overseas in a sport in which Americans are hated, dictated a sports for 7 years after overcoming cancer, then in his spare time raise money and awareness for cancer research which many Americans can say affected them. This is what makes Lance Armstrong the best Athlete of the decade.