Remembering The Soldiers
In 2002, shortly after the 9/11 tragedy, Pat Tillman turned down a $3.6 million, three-year offer from the Cardinals to serve his country and become an Army Ranger (with a salary of $18,000 a year). During an April 2004 battle in a mountainous region near the Pakistan border, Tillman was killed in a friendly fire incident. It’s been just over 10 years since his death. On this Memorial Day, we look back at Tillman’s life with this great profile by Gary Smith and gallery of his best photos.
Bar Mitzvahs Are No Joke
There’s no smooth way to transition from Pat Tillman’s tragic death to Prince Amukamara raging at a Bar Mitzvah, but this video of the Giants cornerback dancing with a bunch of 13-year-olds made my day.
What Are the Chances?
Houston Astros prospect Conrad Gregor hit his first home run of the season while playing for the Class A Quad Cities River Bandits. His father, who drove five hours from Indiana to attend the game, caught the ball while sitting in the outfield stands.
Lovely Lady Of The Day
From the “how is she not much more popular” department, I present today’s LLOD Juliana Proven.
Bizarre Baseball Injury of the Day
Jesse Biddle, the Phillies’ No. 1 pitching prospect, had to miss a start today after being struck in the head with an ice chip during a hail storm on Thursday. Think that’s bad? Here are 43 other bizarre baseball injuries.
Chicago Celebrates Derek Jeter
The Derek Jeter Retirement Tour rolled into Chicago, where the Yankees captain received both his best and worst gift yet. On Tuesday, the Cubs gave Jeter a No. 2 from the Wrigley Field scoreboard, which is kind of “eh” compared to some of his other gifts. Though in fairness to the Cubs, Jeter has only played six games at Wrigley. The White Sox more than made up for it with this awesome Yankees-themed bench made of baseball bats and balls.
From the SI Vault
Lawyer Milloy, Tom Brady and Ted Bruschi :: AP
Lawyer Milloy, Tom Brady and Tedy Bruschi throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park in April 2002, months after leading the Patriots to their first franchise Super Bowl. SI’s Peter King spoke at length with Brady for this week’s MMQB column and discussed his nine-year Super Bowl drought: “It’s hard to win. Thirty-two teams are working hard to try to win it every year, and we’ve been close … 14-2, the Super Bowl in 2011, the AFC Championship Game in 2012 and 2013. You get to those games, and you have to play your best to win, and we haven’t. I haven’t. We had too many opportunities we missed last year in Denver. And then what it comes down to is only one team really had a great season at the end.”
Odds and Ends
Win a sculpture of yourself made out of bacon … This is, hands down, the greatest shirt anyone has ever worn to a sporting contest ever … Barack Obama became the first sitting president to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame … Rob Ryan danced at a Greek festival in New Orleans … Photos from a German finger wrestling tournament … Everyone loved my tweet about the New York Post‘s coverage of the Kim Kardashian/Kanye West marriage (9,600 retweets and counting) … Jackson will have a new look for the final season of Sons of Anarchy … Ed Helms, who played Andy Bernard in The Office, gave the commencement speech at Cornell … Hangovers reportedly cost $160 billion in lost revenue every year in the United States.
Miltary Reunion of the Day
A soldier surprised his son at school.
Military Reunion of the Day (Part 2)
Another reunion at school, this one involving a returning soldier seeing his wife and daughter. Gets a little misty around the 1:20 mark.
Military Reunion of the Day (Part 3)
Peter, a soldier in the U.S. Army, is reunited with his German Shephard, Skylar. Peter used Dogs on Deployment, a national nonprofit providing foster care for military pets, while he was on duty.
Military Reunion of the Day (Part 4)
Sophia is reunited with her dog, Kito. She also used Dogs on Deployment to make sure Kito was taken care of while she was away.
Slash Honors America
The former Guns ‘N Roses guitarist plays the National Anthem before Saturday’s Kings-Blackhawks game.
