Scott Cordischi On Sports: Bob “Sgt Schultz” Kraft
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Was that Patriots owner Bob Kraft who addressed the media the other day or Sergeant Shultz? When asked about what he knew about Aaron Hernandez’s background, Kraft sounded like the Hogan’s Heroes star when he essentially said, “I know nothing…….NOTHING!”
While I generally believe that Kraft is an honest, hard working businessman, I am not so sure that he was being totally honest with us the other day. Granted, he could have never foreseen Hernandez being capable of allegedly committing murder, but he and the organization probably knew a lot more about his background than they’re leading on.
Taking a chance on questionable characters is nothing new for the Pats. Alfonzo Dennard and Aqib Talib are two of the latest examples of this. Dennard was convicted of assaulting a police officer while Talib was indicted on charges of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly firing a gun at the boyfriend of his sister. Those charges were eventually dismissed.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAs for Kraft’s assertion that he was “duped” by Hernandez, there is probably some truth to this in that he may have believed that Hernandez was a changed man. The former TE certainly gave Kraft that impression after signing his new contract last year when he donated $50,000 to the Myra Kraft Foundation.
But, to suggest that he and his people knew very little about Hernandez’s background seems a little hard to believe.
-I wonder if the Bruins did a thorough background check of Tuukka Rask before signing him to his new 8-year, $56 million dollar contract. He could be a member of the "Finnish Kings!"
-I hate to sound like a broken record, but I have truly had enough of watching Jon Lester’s petulant attitude on the mound. I honestly don’t care how talented he is, if I never see him pitch for the Red Sox again it will be too soon.
-Speaking of baseball, who’s the bigger fraud – A-Rod or Ryan Braun? Here’s hoping Major League Baseball has the intestinal fortitude to drop the hammer on these two clowns for their ties with the Biogenesis clinic in Miami.
-Separated at birth, Herman Munster and Boston Celtics’ first round draft pick Kelly Olynyk.
-Did you happen to see or hear Larry Bird’s comments about Danny Ainge the other day? The Celtics legend and current President of Basketball Operations for the Indiana Pacers has great respect for the job Ainge has done in Boston but can’t resist taking shots at his former teammate every once in a while. When asked about Ainge’s decision to blow things up and start the rebuilding process, Bird said, “believe me, Danny Ainge knows what he’s doing. He’s had great success, he’s won a championship. I never doubt Danny Ainge.” Then, the right-hook by Bird. “I only doubted him when he had the ball in his hand with 3 seconds to go,” Bird said with a huge grin on his face. Vintage Larry!
-How frustrating is it that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Federal Government have to waste more tax dollars on giving accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev a trial? He and his brother Tamerlan (aka “Speed Bump”) collected welfare from the state before setting off bombs at this year’s Marathon. What’s worse is that Dzhokhar apparently wrote a confession to the crimes in his own blood while lying in that now infamous boat in Watertown. I’m all for innocent until proven guilty and having a fair trial, but do we really need one here?
-I guess all we need to know about Tyler Seguin and his immaturity is the fact that he allegedly tweeted a gay slur AFTER being traded by the Bruins to Dallas. Seguin claims that his account was hacked into and that the comments didn’t come from him. Okay, Pinnochio!
-He may not get into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, but if there ever were a designated hitter deserving of a spot in the Hall, David Ortiz would certainly be that man. The ironic thing about Ortiz is that some suggest that he must be on some type of performance-enhancing drugs because he's playing so well this late in his career. To me, it's not about his power numbers which are very good. It's that he has become a much more complete hitter later in life. Where once Ortiz was a dead pull hitter who would often strikeout or hit a homerun, he now has a tremendous command of the strike zone and hits to all fields. Like a fine wine, he appears to be getting better with age.
-Did you see the story about the Florida State offensive lineman who received his ACC Championship ring which had "SEC Champions" engraved on it? You can read the story and see the picture of it right here.
-Then again, with all of the conferece realignment in college sports, would anyone really be surprised if Florida State were to move to the SEC?
-ESPN's Adam Schefter said that the early signs on Rob Gronkowski's recovery from back surgery are "encouraging" and that the team is "cautiously optimistic" that Gronk could be ready for the season opener on September the 8th at Buffalo. I still think the PUP is more likely for Gronk to start the season meaning he would be out for the first 6 weeks.
-One of the most underrated beautiful private golf courses in our area is Seekonk's Ledgemont Country Club. A terrific layout with three great finishing holes, Ledgemont is always in pritine condition and has a reputation for having some of the finest food of any club in the area.
