What's giving you a rash this week?
The out-of-control arrogance in professional sports today? The latest in labor? The price of a lousy stadium hotdog?
An overpaid player? An underhanded agent? An owner who would sell the carpet from underneath his own mother's feet for the right amount of PSLs and luxury boxes?
Where can you get off your chest something boiling inside your belly?
Right here. Right now. Buckshots, a weekly dish-it-out-and-duck feature, is designed to give you, the subscriber, a chance to take your best shot at Ray Buck, national columnist for SportsLine USA.
Agree or disagree, let 'er rip. Sign your name -- if you dare -- and tell us a little about yourself: age, city, state, occupation/student. Just remember, Buck has the last word.
E-mail your comments to buckshots@sportsline.com
"In my opinion, the worst thing about the NBA is the in-your-face, bad-boy type of immaturity that so many of its players think is cool. I can't get over the fact that of all the people for you to call 'a whiner' you chose David Robinson. He's a man of real character and integrity who has played his sport with intensity and excellence without all of the ugliness that's constantly displayed by his peers. "So lay off one of the good guys for making a legit complaint."
BUCKSHOT: You're absolutely correct, there's nothing ugly about The Admiral. He's sitting pretty at home.
is -- and always will be -- the best game of any football season.
"It is football played the way football was meant to be played. The academies don't try to be NFL clones, they don't chase television money, they don't recruit giant bodies with midget brains."
BUCKSHOT: We phoned Bob Ford and, as you can imagine, he took issue with your comment. He has never completed anything in his life.
but do not forget the two years on the circuit without Monica (Seles)," Silvano Ferlesch, 25, e-mails us from Kelkheim, Germany, where she owns a company that sells energy converters and anti-pollution devices.
"We have to take into account that Monica would have won some titles from (Graf) ... oh this poor millionaire. Tax-dodging is a crime, so do not feel sorry with her!"
BUCKSHOT: Nor her father, who actually committed the crime. All I know is that Steffi managed to keep winning in spite of her dad's wrong-doings.
(Signed) Michael Mint
BUCKSHOT: If you mean Shaq, Michael, it's spelled O'Neal. He'd really be bummed if he saw how you butchered his name.
Bring real sports back to the USA! Life would be so much more tranquil without having to save a month's pay to take a family of four to a ball game or worry about staying home to catch the "big one" on the tube. No pro sports in America ... hey, I like this idea better and better."
BUCKSHOT: You really do want to see me out of work, don't you, Texkan?
"Let's get down to a more meaningful statistic. Instead of listing the 10 youngest players to hit 200 home runs, how about listing the 10 player fastest to 200 home runs? Albert Belle hit 200 in around 162 fewer games than Griffey. Frank Thomas has about 130 games in hand with five (home runs) to go."
BUCKSHOT: Good point, Imp. Wasn't it H. L. Mencken who wrote, "Home runs are wonderful but too bad they're wasted on the young?"
"Kennedy was obviously venting some frustration about losing Wil Cordero, one of the best young infielders in the game, for such a long time on a freak play in a blowout game nonetheless. It's a tad bit harsh to cite Kennedy as a whiner; however, (Kennedy's decision) to put Clemens up to bat against Seattle was simply dumb.
"Why risk such an integral part of the organization in a blowout game at all?"
BUCKSHOT: Good question, Shawn. Now let me see if I have this straight: Kevin Kennedy is a fool, not a whiner. Maybe that's another column.
"There's nothing wrong with playing hard and still using a little discretion (toward safety) when the outcome of the game is painfully obvious. As it is, some overzealous scrub has taken out one of the finer players in the league."
BUCKSHOT: All I know is that when you try not to get hurt, that's when you get hurt. Besides, the fact remains, Cordero didn't have to be taken out by "some overzealous scrub." He could've been taken out by his manager. It's not that tough, Johnny G.
"A 16-4 game in the bottom of the ninth is over."
BUCKSHOT: That's what the Houston Oilers thought about a 35-3 lead in the third quarter of an AFC semifinal game at Buffalo a few years ago.
BUCKSHOT: Did you forget, Texkan? Getting a fat contract on the free agent market makes it more special for today's "real" pros.
"Good substance ... but not enough to keep around."
BUCKSHOT: Great analogy. Wish I had thought of it.
(Phoenix Suns coach) Cotton Fitzsimmons probably loved your prediction. Good thing he's not a betting man. Obviously you aren't either.
"I'm disappointed."
BUCKSHOT: You're also gullible. I think you mean John Piekarski, deputy managing editor at SportsLine USA, and we hear his own mother wouldn't go with his picks. By the way, Piekarski wants you to check out his NHL picks ... but I warn you, never use real money.
turns on his conclusion that it 'just isn't fair' that some athletes can use equipment technologically superior to equipment used by others," challenges Jim Neale, a 40-year-old recreational cyclist and former member of the 1975 USA Junior Olympic fencing team, now living in New York City.
"I cannot think of a single Olympic sport in which technology is not employed to give athletes whatever competitive edge is available. Think of newfangled running shoes and aerodynamic 'skinsuits.' Think of high-tech skis and waxes. Think of golf clubs with graphite shafts and titanium heads.
"Think of the first vaulting poles made of fiberglass and other exotic materials. Think of lightweight kayaks or shells with computerized hull designs. These technologies evolve with each sport, as do training techniques and facilities.
"In short, Olympic competition has always involved the man, the machine and the money."
BUCKSHOT: Dunaway just has problems with hearing an Olympic official shout, "Gentlemen, start your engines." And that's in the men's 100 meters.
than any of those so-called sports figures you mentioned.
"The wonders he has done for the sport will never be duplicated. He is a class act, a credit to the sports world and should be treated as such. And Deion gets 20-how-many-million-dollars for a few minutes of play per game, 16 games per year? C'mon, give me a break! No, no, give Michael a break!
"By the way, not one of the movie actors you mentioned could carry MJ's jockstrap."
BUCKSHOT: You mean Rocky Balboa couldn't carry MJ's jock?