Baltimore Orioles - "Man, I Miss Cal!"

Kevin Garnett is my superstar, Tom Brady is my Cinderella story, and Patrick Roy is my untouchable.  But Cal is the stuff legends are made of.  He is a real life knight in shining armor.  He is, at least in my opinion, the single greatest professional athlete in history.  I know you can throw out Jordan, Ali, Babe, Gretzky.  But while those guys were amazing, even better athletes, none had the heart, the character of Cal Ripken Jr.  Take away all the awards, all the fame and what do you have left?  With Cal, you still have a great human being.  I don't think that if you look down the long list of great athletes, you'd be able to find someone that was able to be as talented, have as impressive a character, remain loyal to his franchise, have as strong a work ethic, shatter unbelievable records, and capture the heart of a nation the way that Cal Ripken has.  Even during his last years when the Orioles were in the gutter, it was still special to sit in the stands of Camden yards because I was going to watch Cal. 

I've been to the stadium once since Ripken retired, and I'll make my second appearance on Friday night.  It seemed kind of empty without him there.  To tell the truth, watching the Orioles isn't really anything to get pumped up for with the way this franchise has folded.  I've been begging for the A's to move to Jersey so I could have a worthy ally with which to fight the Yankees.  (And weren't those just the best games back in '96 and '97 when the O's would smack around the Yanks).  To be honest, I can seem like a fan with good intentions, but I'd sell this team up the river in a second if I could just find a team that I like.  After all, the owner sold out a really long time ago.  But for now I'm sticking with the least of 30 evils in this messed up league.