"Pedro may be just a mere mortal now," Bill Reynolds, Providence Journal, 5 June, page 1, sports section.
This is just such a brilliant article, let me reprint it in full. It's local sports legend Bill Reynolds's weekly "For What It's Worth" column (and yes, I put in the bold below):
FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH:As a former H.S. "glory days" jock, that's almost as cool as getting into Rolling Stone next week.
What to make of Pedro?
Because he is not what he used to be.
Which doesn't mean he is going to fall off the planet, either. Great players don't lose it all at once, the magic suddenly as gone as the Easter Bunny. They lose it in degrees, in dribs and drabs, a little here, a little there, until one day they simply are not what they used to be.
So it is with Pedro. He is still a quality pitcher, still someone who fills you with a certain confidence. He's just not what he used to be. How he adjusts to this new reality will determine how effective he's going to be. Either way, though, the days of seeing the Pedro we used to see on a consistent basis seem over.
The Pistons will make it ugly, but no one on their roster can come close to checkin' Shaq.
Smarty Jones is getting more publicity than Paris Hilton.
If Paul Wolfowitz were a coach, he'd be fired by now.
Buddy's been so quiet you would think he's in the witness protection program instead of jail.
What are the odds now on Derek Lowe getting $27 million for three years?
Line of the Week comes from URI assistant athletic director John Vanner on seeing the scene when Tom McElroy was introduced as the new athletic director: "When I walked in here, I thought we had joined the Big East."
Line of the Week II comes from Bill Belichick on whether Ty Law will be at the team's mini-camp: "We'll run it whether he's here or not."
Line of the Week III comes from Allan Kreda of Bloomberg News: "Tony Soprano may be the only one with a chance to stop Shaquille O'Neal on Sunday night."
You know it's a strange world, Bunky, when one of the most noble things these days is being known as a high roller.
There's no truth to the rumor that if you lose in the French Open, you become French toast.
Or that the longer Pedro's hair gets the worse he seems to pitch.
Or that Jose Contreras looked more like Jose Jimenez in his last start.
More and more people are telling me they find the NBA playoffs all but unwatchable, even if cable TV numbers are up.
Thomas Barnett, who lives in Portsmouth and has written The Pentagon's New Map, couldn't have been any more impressive than he was on Book Notes with Brian Lamb last weekend.
Arena Football outdraws the NHL playoffs on TV.
Nothing like an all-Russian final to perk up interest in the women's French Open, right? Or where have you gone, Chrissie Evert?
Kurt Warner is worth the risk by the Giants.
Have you seen where Roger Clemens is now 8-0? Why can't we get pitchers like that?
The disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow should be about the day after the Sox blew Game 7 to the Yankees last year, not global warming.
The word is that URI will play basketball at Manhattan in November, with the Jaspers playing in the Ryan Center in the 2005-06 season, when St. Ray's Jeff Xavier will be a sophomore for Manhattan.
Baseball America says Hendricken's Jay Rainville has the fifth-best fastball of any high school pitcher in the country.
You know it's the Twilight Zone, Bunky, when lyrics by new rap star Kanye West say, "She couldn't afford a car, so she called her daughter Alexis."
It could have been worse, I suppose. He could have called her Hummer.
Speaking of Hummers, they belong fighting the war in Iraq, not cluttering up the streets.
The Red Sox should be applauded for helping in the Dominican Republic relief effort.
Do you really think Kobe wants to chase Rip Hamilton around in this upcoming series?
They've been out for so long, that if Trot and Nomar lived in Rhode Island, we'd say they are on a case.
It's been a decade since the O.J saga began, if you want to realize just how elusive those real killers are.
Shaq is shooting 41 percent from the foul line in the playoffs.
If you can name the top 10 hitters in the National League as of this morning, Bunky, you should get a baseball merit badge.
Danny Almonte, in the center of the Little League scandal a few years back, is now one of the best schoolboy pitchers in New York City.
Raul Mondesi seems like he's been taking lessons from Albert Belle.
If you like Robert B. Parker, you'll like his new novel, Double Play, which is about baseball, 1947, and a man assigned to protect Jackie Robinson.
R.I.P. College Hill Book Store, an East Side institution, just the latest example that old Rhode Island continues to disappear.
This year's Stanley Cup is the sporting equivalent of a tree falling in the forest.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is one of the few superstars who has found a second act, writing books and pursuing other interests, his latest being the story of a black tank battalion in World War II called Brothers in Arms.
You can never have enough pitching.
Smarty Jones is so popular Kerry should pick him as his running mate.
Has there ever been a society that has talked more and said less?
I thank Mr. Reynolds for the nice compliment.
