Sports Notes - Sir Alex Ferguson Does His Job American's or Not - May 2007

James Loving - National Radio Text Service - Saturday May 12, 2007

SIR ALEX FERGUSON --- WHAT CAN YOU SAY???

Fank Sinatra sang it best I DID IT MY WAY. Yea, yea, sure, sure you can say what you want about Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson but what ever you say you must include HE'S A WINNER. He won his 9th EPL title in 15 EPL campaigns. Ferguson was appointed manager at Old Trafford on November 6, 1986 and since that time it's been win, win, win.

The gruff Scot does ruffle some feathers at times such as encouraging David Beckham flee the roost. Then Ruud van Nistelrooy, fell in disfavor with Sir Alex after the Dutchman scored 150 goals for the club and rates as one of Man U's all time goal scorers.

Ferguson's stance is that no player is bigger than the club. He has consistently taken a "my way or the highway" approach in his dealings with players and the pressure of this management tact has often been the cause of many notable players' departures.

That posture has led to the exits of Paul McGrath, Paul Ince, Andrei Kanchelskis, Jaap Stam, Dwight Yorke, Gordon Strachan and Roy Keane.

And then the ultimate insult for an Englishmen, no not Fergie…. Now excuse us, we're generalizing here, but an American buying the sacred Man U team!!!… Oh my gosh the world will freeze over.

IT SHOULDN'T HAPPEN many Englishmen were quoted as saying on news and sports programs in UTTER DISGUST.

Well Fergie wasn't annoyed when the Glazer family took over. He's a professional and obviously a rationale man who had a wait and see attitude while knowing that his job was to focus on managing the team. Thus he was attentive on leading his young squad to the EPL title despite all of the baggage that surrounded the club.

Yo!... Englishmen think about it…. A club winning the EPL title with American owners who were deemed an unwanted party by Man U fans.

Many Englishmen were of the attitude that American ownership would RUIN MANCHACTER UNITED. OH PLEASE!!!

As a manager the former striker has won more trophies than any other manager in the history of English football and been in charge of Manchester United for more than 1,000 matches and has 20 years of managing experience on his resume.

He is the most successful manager in the history of English football. In 1999, he became the first manager to lead an English team to the treble of league championship, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League. As well as being the only manager to win the FA Cup five times, he is also the only manager ever to guide a club to three successive league championships in the top flight in England (1998-1999, 1999-2000 and 2000-2001).

To the professional that Ferguson is why should American ownership get in the way of the J-O-B or success?

Let's take a look at the math and the equation…. Manchester United + American owners + Sir Alex Ferguson + team players, excellent talent and chemistry = EPL TITLE. Hmmmm… does that work for you now???

WILL ENGLAND SURVIVE???

Hurry up! Close the Boston harbor and hide the tea.

MORE MOURINHO vs Ferguson

There's more Ferguson and Man U coming with the FA Cup Final vs. Jose Mourinho's Chelsea at the new Wembley Stadium on Saturday 19 May 2007,

PHIL JACKSON the GREATEST?

When current Lakers coach Phil Jackson obtained his first NBA head coaching job with the Chicago Bulls for the 1989-90 season he appeared to be a confident man that thought he could get the job done. The two previous seasons he was the Bulls assistant coach under Doug Collins.

Jackson knew the team but the question was could he get the job done and win an NBA title.

Since that time Jackson has won nine NBA titles as a coach to compliment the title ring he won as a players for the 1973 NY Knicks.

His two three-peat Chicago Bulls teams had superstars Michael Jordan. Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman as well as Horace Grant, Robert Parrish, Toni Kukoc and other strong support players.

With the Lakers three-peat title team he had Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant plus big game player Robert Horry.

If there's one thing Jackson had it was some of the best players ever to play the game playing on his teams. The bigger question is he the greatest coach of all-time?

FULL STORY COMING.

ANN MEYERS - The NBA's 1st Female Player

In 1979 collegiate All-American Ann Meyers became the NBA's first female player when she signed with the Indiana Pacers after graduating from UCLA.

Meyers didn't play in a NBA regular season game due to being cut from the squad prior to the regular season opened by then head coach Bob "Slick" Leonard.

Meyers came from a family of athletes. Her brother Dave played for UCLA under coach John Wooden and also three years in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks. He then mysteriously quit the game after being a key player that had achieved a high level of success in the league.

Though Ann didn't make to regular season Pacers squad she went on to play Women's professional basketball and being recognized as the greatest female athlete in the world when she won TV's Women Superstars competition three consecutive years (1980-1982)

Other than her NBA experience she was the first in several other areas. Meyers was the first player to be part of the U.S. National team while still in high school. She was the first woman to be signed to a four-year athletic scholarship for college, at UCLA. She became the first woman player drafted by the Women's Pro Basketball League (WPBL) in 1978 and won the WPBL Co-MVP for the 1979-1980.

On March 25th, 1978 her UCLA Bruin team was the AIAW national champion: UCLA defeated Maryland, 90-74 at Pauley Pavilion. While at UCLA (1976-1979), she became the first four-time All American women's basketball player.

She was the winner of the Broderick Award as outstanding women's college basketball player of the year, as well as the Broderick Cup for outstanding woman athlete of the year in 1978.

Her pro basketball career, including the Pacers and the WBL's New Jersey Gems, is featured in "Mad Seasons: The Story of the First Women's Professional Basketball League, 1978-1981," by Karra Porter (University of Nebraska Press, 2006).

On May 10, 1993, she was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Her #15 basketball jersey was one of the first four retired by UCLA. She was honored on February 3rd, 1990 in a ceremony in Pauley Pavilion, along with Denise Curry (#12) and NBA legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (#33), and Bill Walton (#32).

On June 5th, 1999, she was inducted as a charter member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and in 2001; she was honored as a Wooden All-Time All-American by the Wooden award.

In 1986, she married former Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star pitcher Don Drysdale making them the first and only sports Hall Of Fame married couple.

Both became sports broadcasters Don with the Dodgers and Ann with college sports. For over 26 years, Ann served as a network television sports analyst for ESPN, CBS, and NBC. In 2006, Meyers was awarded the Ronald Reagan Media Award from the United States Sports Academy.

I've seen both play their sport and later got to know them from my covering the Dodgers.

For Don I saw him almost every day. For Ann she would often show up at the stadium to visit. On one of those visit's I asked her for an interview. My request was granted and took place at their home in 1992. The story was published in the French language.

NOTE: Meyers is now a Vice President with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.

© Copyright: National Radio. Any use of these materials, whole or in part, is prohibited unless authorized in writing by National Radio. Contact: nationalradio@yahoo.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED