Fast Break
Baseball
Aaron might talk to Bonds
Hank Aaron might talk to Barry Bonds about the new home run record.
“Eventually, if I happen to see him somewhere, I’d probably say something to him,” Aaron was quoted as saying on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Web site Thursday night. “To be honest, I’m as happy for him as anybody.”
Aaron was asleep at his home in Atlanta when Bonds hit his 756th home run Tuesday night to break Aaron’s mark.
“It was 1 o’clock in the morning,” Aaron told the newspaper. “Heck, I’m not going to sit up and watch a baseball game. It’s just like I wasn’t going to be able to travel all over the world to watch. It wasn’t being disrespectful or anything. It’s just a matter of, hey, the body needed to go to sleep.”
Aaron previously recorded a video congratulating Bonds, and it was played on the scoreboard at AT&T Park in San Francisco.
“I’ve gotten a lot of calls saying that was the right thing to do, and these were from people who know a little bit more about this situation than just the average person,” Aaron said.
The 73-year-old Hall of Famer avoided ballparks during Bonds’ run to the record.
“I thought things were pretty normal for me at one point after going through what I did,” Aaron told the paper. “Then, all of a sudden, it crops up again with all these questions, and to be honest, I still don’t know how I managed to get thrown into this Bonds thing.
“Oh, I feel tremendously relieved. I’m so glad this is done with, and now I can just go my own way.”
College football
EWU hires Ackerman
Tom Ackerman, who played eight seasons in the NFL after completing his career at Eastern Washington University in 1995, has joined the Eagles’ staff as an offensive line coach.
He played 105 games in the NFL, including 21 as a starter. He played six seasons with the New Orleans Saints and two with the Tennessee Titans, his last in 2003.
Ackerman, from Nooksack, Alaska, was a volunteer coach with the Spokane Shock this past season.
Baseball
Cal in diplomatic big leagues
Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr. will enter the diplomatic major leagues next week when he is appointed a “special sports envoy” by the State Department, which is hoping to capitalize on his wholesome American image.
Despite her well-known love for football, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to announce on Monday that the Baltimore Orioles great has been selected to join champion figure skater Michelle Kwan in that capacity, the department said.
Ripken shattered the major league record for consecutive games played – 2,130.