A classic, for WalterPeck
Friday, July 10
Links Leading Into The Weekend
The Oakland A's are retiring Rickey Henderson's number next month. Today, the number 24 is truly the greatest. [Oakland A's]
UFC 100 is right on our doorstep; two title bouts, Lesnar tries to silence the doubters, GSP sounds like Van Damme and I love it. [CBSSports]
AI is not a robot, he has feelings people. [Deuce of Davenport]
Dante Stallworth was here. I guess it's get busy living or get busy getting probation. [Sportress of Blogitude]
I give you the Rosy Lipped Batfish, enjoy [Yesbutnobutyes]
Wednesday, July 8
How High Do We Lift Our Heroes?
There has been a multitude of deaths in the public forum recently. Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays all passed in the last couple of weeks and then the two big deaths from the past couple of weeks; Steve McNair and Michael Jackson. While billions around the world mourn MJ's death, McNair's has been brought out of the sports community because of the strange circumstances and scandal that surround his murder. Both are being heralded as great men of their craft and shouts have gone out far and wide to ignore whatever transgressions they have done in order to preserve their memories. The element that has been twisting in my mind is to what extent do we deserve to etch in history the wrong these icons did during their time on Earth.
I'll begin with McNair, who mainly reached the audience of this country in the realm of sports. Steve McNair was, if you read the recent headlines, a warrior. Let me take this opportunity to reiterate the notion that it is not properly just to anoint people like McNair or other athletes as heroes or soldiers. It is a term that mostly is not meant in the context of conflict or life and death situations. The soldiers that are fighting a fierce battle in Iraq and Afghanistan are soldiers, warriors, and heroes. First responders who are willing to sacrifice their lives are heroes. Captain Sullenburger who saved 155 lives by guiding a plane into the Hudson is a hero. Yet whom do we idolize, buy jerseys and other merchandise for, and mention more often than the men and women from the previous sentence. I am not reigning judgment down from an ivory tower on the subject, I am merely stating the reality. The real-life heroes deserve praise and recognition but if you are too ignorant to realize that I am not going to try and convince you. The athletes and celebrities that get the fame and attention are held in our culture as heroes and icons and persons of greater worth than you or I, like it or not.
Forgive the digression there but I deemed it to be necessary to the conversation. As I said McNair was considered one of the toughest men in the NFL of his generation. He often took brutal and serious punishment on the field but handled it with resiliency and toughness. In a macho society such as the NFL or really all sports one of the highest honors you can garner is the ability to play with and through pain. Isiah limping his way through game 6 of the NBA Finals, Willis Reed coming out for the final game with the badly injured ankle, Byron Leftwich getting carried by his linemen to the line of scrimmage, etc. McNair embodied this sentiment and was also an impressive player at his position. I myself had great memories of his exploits on the field, the most famous of which was Super Bowl 34. The play McNair made to escape tacklers and get the Titans in position for a possible game-winning play (starting at 1:34 on the video below) is one that I will always recall. If Kevin Dyson had eluded Mike Jones and made it into the endzone and Tennessee had found a way to win, that elusive play would be one of the most celebrated in NFL history.
But fate is not always on your side (right David Tyree?) and McNair never made it back. According to friends, family, and teammates that is not how Steve would be defined. McNair was always good to the press, involved in charity work in the community, and admired by those who claimed to know him best. When his death came about and details began to come forth, it was sobering news. It now appears McNair was having a relationship with a 20 year-old woman in secret was then killed by her in an apparent murder-suicide. While McNair was in the wrong for the affair, it in now way warranted a death sentence. It is tragic that a 36 year-old father is taken away from his family.
This is the point where my mind has a tough time reconciling the sentiments about McNair. Anytime a person dies, it is often better to focus on the good that they have done in their lives rather than the negative issues. When a public figure dies that takes on even more meaning. Jeff Fisher echoed the wishes of many around Nashville, and in the NFL community when he stated that Steve should be remembered for all the good he did for the game and his community. There seems to be a large portion of the population that wants me to overlook the fact that this man was cheating on his wife and allegedly spending a lot of time with this other woman who it appears became his murderer. To what degree should this man be lauded? I am writing this post to ask, because in all honesty I do not know. I am not here to say that McNair was a horrible human being for the affair, but now that he has passed I do not think that I should wipe my mind clean of any wrongdoing.
This tangentially brings me to the subject of men cheating on their spouses/girlfriends. I am far too small of a sample size to represent all males in our culture but what I can say from my experiences is that men are liars and cheaters. They just are, by nature and perhaps women are too but I do not have women telling me all the time about their exploits. I have heard time and time again a man tell me about when he did this and that with a woman while his girlfriend/fiance/wife was oblivious. I would put the percentage at 7 out of every 10 men have cheated or are cheating on their significant others. Now that begs the question if I have ever crossed that line? The answer is no and that does not mean I am here to sit in judgment of the other men, I simply have been able to turn down temptation at the right time in my life... so far. Oh yes I hath been tempted by the fruit but never did taste. Of course, bringing professional athletes into the equation changes everything.
Chris Rock once said "Men are only as faithful as their options." This is very close to the truth. Your average man can only resist so much before his brain justifies an act of infidelity. Athletes are not your average man though and this because nearly everyday they have women throwing themselves at them. You are expecting a man who is given wealth and fame to somehow tame himself into taking the moral high ground? That is a lot to ask anyone, just ask the governor of South Carolina Mark Sanford. So men cheat, they cheat often and sometimes they get caught. Sometimes they buy their wife a multi-million dollar apology ring, sometimes they rat out their teammates but they cheat. This brings me back to Steve McNair, I do not sit and condemn him for cheating, but I cannot take that factor out of it when remembering him. When the circumstances of his death are added in, that will always be there in my mind. No matter what good he has done in his life, he has committed wrong. I will celebrate his play and toughness on the field, but I will not choose to elevate him as someone that is to be wholly admired.
That brings us to Michael Jackson. On the scale of heroes MJ would be considered on a totally different stratosphere than Steve Mcnair. Yet the principal remains the same in my mind. Jackson is being honored as a hero, visionary, legendary figure. While he is all that and more, can I honestly sit here and ignore the things this man has done?
Jackson was the biggest pop star since Elvis. He was thrust into the spotlight as a young child, he was given the status of a deity as a young man so is it any wonder why he became the way he did? It was we the public that helped create the monster. Was there any chance of Jackson leading a normal life? I do not deny as a kid I used to watch the music videos back when MTV played music and would even imitate the moonwalk, single glove, and thriller dance. You think I can't stop my shoulders from moving when I hear "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough"? Michael's music and influence on lives around the world is undeniable.
At his memorial service yesterday Al Sharpton told everyone to forget the troubles that MJ carried with him. I'm sorry Al but that I cannot do. Jackson is compelling not only because of his greatness but because of the oddities he carried with him. One need only look at the photos of him through the years to see his ghastly metamorphosis. Who knows for sure what happened between him and the young children, but I am certain it was not all kosher. This brings me back to my point: Jackson should be and will be celebrated for generations, but what he became has to be included in remembering.
I am sure America would love to take out certain portions of our history but to do that is to rob the present population of the knowledge and perspective it would give them about their past, present, and future. So these heroes should be celebrated and idolized, but their entire life must be made known including the negatives. Heroes in our life are not a bad thing to have, but when we lift heroes too high we will lose a vision on why we admire them. I will continue to pump the Michael Jackson through my ipod, just as I will continue to think of Steve McNair as a great NFL quarterback, but I will not forget the entirety of who they were as men. I learned this lesson early in life, because my boyhood hero was Darryl Strawberry (Ed. note: He's still alive).
Tuesday, July 7
It's Our One Year Anniversary!
One year ago today, fueled by a desire to share our insights on sports, Catfish and I embarked on the adventure that is The Amphibious Sports Duo. After introducing myself, I typed our first post about the Federer-Nadal epic Wimbledon match. After reading this post again I realize I really did not spell, grammar, run-on sentence, or diction check the article very well or at all. Yet, it was a beginning and soon Catfish made his appearance by stating some of his mantras and it was off into great unknown. The main reason we began the blog was because we wanted a location to store much of our material and brainstorming. Our ultimate goal is to be able to take the general thoughts, themes and ideas here on the site and bring them to light in the form of a show on radio. While real world obligations continue to require our attention, we have done our best to attempt to entertain, inform, and provoke thought through our content.
The addition of the Shackleford Files, our podcast, gave us the opportunity to be hear and not just seen. Our last official podcast was two and a half months ago but we have been working in the studio, putting material on tape and (hopefully) perfecting how we work together. The ASD also produced a podcast for our local NBA team, the Charlotte Bobcats, for the blog Bobcats Planet. You can listen to all nine Bobcats Planet Radio episodes here. Catfish and I really had some fun putting those introduction pieces in and just like the Shackleford Files, the show took off once we got in studio together. There is no doubt we have improved from where we started in this respect and are seeking an opportunity in the sports community.
So where does the blog go from here? Do we change our format? Do we do exclusively podcasts? Will we pursue advertising? Even we do not know the answer to that question at the moment (but we can go left or right). Both Catfish and I are trying to get a foothold of what our vision for the blog, our recordings, and where we are in life is going to be. But before we go forward, to mark today's significance we are going to look back. Here are the top ten blog posts from our first year. These posts were chosen based on certain criteria: how well we think they represent our philosophy, the entertainment value, the extent with which they were linked to other blogs, and our subjective opinions. I know you're thinking that how could we possibly choose from our over 600 posts, but somehow we were able to. So enjoy the reminiscing after the break.
10. Tennessee Swingin' September 2, 2008
In this masterpiece by Catfish, he was inspired by the University of Tennessee's epic collapse at UCLA on Labor Day. With some photoshopping and a dash of Swingers dialogue Cat attempted to bring Phil Fulmer up to speed on the problems with not running the ball and letting a third string QB march down the field on you. I guess ole Phil never got the message as he stepped down after the year which ushered in the Lane Kiffin era.
9. Top Ten Trick Plays August 25, 2008
One of our first Top Tens was by Catfish as he caught wind of Western Carolina having a contest which invited fans to draw up a play for the football team and if your play is picked you could win prizes depending on the result. I do not know how the contest shook out, but Cat's mention of the contest along with the subsequent list of trick plays got us our first mention in the blogosphere. Sadly the Fiesta Bowl moment at number 1 has been taken off of YouTube so I put in a replacement vid.
8. BCS Afterthoughts January 9, 2009
Florida ensured my streak of teams I despise winning championships would continue by beating Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. The day after the game, many people were talking about Thom Brennaman talking about Tim Tebow. I chimed in my two cents which got a mention in Extra Mustard and a comment from an obvious Florida fan. I never got to retort to the comment that I used a vague stat stating "A large portion of the viewing audience". Sorry I was not scientific enough to produce numbers, but if you read any papers, blogs, listen to radio, or are not a UF fan, you found Thom's commentary ridiculous. I do not need a solid stat to know that buddy.
7. The Refs Hit Miami Again December 3, 2008
This post concerned a basketball game in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge between Miami and Ohio State. Of course these two teams have a controversial history so when Miami's All-ACC, scoring machine and second-round draft pick by the San Antonio Spurs (love that team for him) Jack McClinton was tossed out of the game for love-tapping a Buckeye after Jack got poked in the eye, it seemed like deja vu to an incredibly lesser degree. Afterwords we learned that the rule as it stood in the NCAA is that if the refs go to the replay and see contact they have to eject, they just cannot call a technical. It was incredibly lame and cost a lot of pro scouts money who flew down there to see McClinton. I thought this play could possibly cost the Canes a tourney bid come March but it turns out the team outside of McClinton played so horrid that losing this game did not even really matter. Miami went to the NIT and lost in the Quarterfinals while Ohio State made the big dance but fell to Sienna due to a double order of onions. The connection made in the post was not lost to the blogosphere as we got a nod on a few blogs including Deadspin.
6. Catfish Turns Heel November 12, 2008
In his quest to be just and fair about his beloved Tar Heels, Catfish concocted the most likely reasons Carolina would not cut the nets down in Detroit. I have to give him credit because this was early in the season when the Heels seemed unstoppable and on the possible path to a perfect season. He took some heat from his Tar Heel brethren but got the ASD's first link on Deadspin and more importantly to him, a championship.
5. The LeBron Situation June 18, 2009
This was only posted one week ago, but in my mind, it was some of my finest work. I cannot remember exactly how the idea for this Pulp Fiction homage got in my head, but I sat at my desk at work and cranked it out. The idea basically was that the Cavs need to make some offseason noise in regards to their roster and somehow Winston Wolfe came to mind as a perfect problem solver. The Cavs have since landed Shaq but it was probably not in the manner portrayed in the post...probably. If you have never seen the movie or do not count it as one of your favorites, then the angle might be lost on you, but otherwise it's an entertaining look at the situation.
4. The Evolution of the Press April 3, 2009
This is probably one of our biggest thought provoking pieces that we have posted. As much as we love the pop culture references and less than tasteful jokes, at our core these are the type of issues we find relevant when it comes to sports and society. This is the kind of discussion we would push for if given our own forum to the masses. Catfish explained the past, present, and future of how sports information is going to be obtained and interpreted. It was linked around the blogosphere as it should have been.
3. The Genesis: Point and Counterpoint July 7, 2008
This argument between Catfish and I (click the "Point" and "Counterpoint" separately for each side of the debate) is really what got the ball rolling for the blog. We wrote the opinions about the 2008 NBA Finals and their legacy in a forum thread and after talking, decided we should begin a blog to house debates such as this. Catfish was contending that the Celtics win over the Lakers had the most impact on individual legacies since the Bulls' first championship in 1991. He came at this from both sides; the Celtics big three and Doc Rivers, and the wounded legacies of Kobe and Phil. He made a strong case and of course this is neglecting the Lakers' triumph this year which alters some of that history. My contention that it was the two years where Jordan was flailing at curve balls where so many legacies were defined. Between Hakeem and the Rockets going back-to-back and all the other stars that failed to seize a title while Jordan was away (Stockton-Malone, Barkely, Ewing, etc.), those two years left a strong mark on NBA lore. Up to this point we had discussed creating a forum for our debates such as these and attempting to pursue careers in it, but it was this particular correspondence that put it into action. Not exactly letters between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, but it's who we are.
2. Carolina's Big Cat Missing October 13, 2008
Catfish made this right-on-point poster after the Panther's Julius Peppers had a less than inspiring game (cannot remember which one, there were many). It has long been a hot topic in Panthers' Country what should be done with number 90 and the debate rages on. Even though for a moment against the Saints it appeared the old Pep was back, this poster still holds true in the Queen City today. The poster is truly a great work of art and got the ASD some pub on the local sports radio station.
1. Bob Johnson Embarrasses Bobcats On CNBC October 15, 2008
I am loathe to make our number one post a negative story, but all the factors of this post combined makes it our top one. Catfish found the video footage of Bobcats owner and Charlotte sports hate target Bob Johnson on CNBC's show "Squawk Box" making such epic statements as "put the right players on the field." Nobody really caught the interview which also featured Mark Cuban and in the morning Catfish had the blogosphere and the local sports radio sharing a chortle over the cluelessness of the Bobcats owner. The story got linked on Ball Don't Lie, SLAM Online, as well as others. Considering this and that we here at the ASD covered the Bobcats closely this year and even had our own podcast dedicated to them, this post makes our number one spot.
So there you have it, our top ten from our Paper Anniversary. I'm sure all seven of you that read us faithfully may have other articles that stood out for you. Feel free to share which ones in the comments. We look on the second year as one of great hope and possibly, finally a positive and stable one. To once again quote Kodos, "...we must move forward, not backward, upward not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!”
Monday, July 6
Coming Full Circle on ASD, Wimbledon-style
Tomorrow will mark the one-year anniversary of the Amphibious Sports Duo and perhaps it is fitting that the first post on our blog was about the epic 5 set match last year in the Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. I labeled it the "Marathon Match" because the contest went 9-7 into the final set. The final yesterday between Roger and Andy Roddick ended 16-14 in the 5th set. While many did not get the "best match ever" feel yesterday, you could not deny that this was the longest and the biggest test of endurance. There was no rain delay, no fading light, just two men slamming serve after serve at one another.
I will simply say the following about the historical implications. Roger Federer is the greatest by the numbers as Pete Sampras, who was on hand with wife Veronica Vaughn, Bridgett Wilson, put it better than anyone could when asked by John McEnroe who held the title of best ever. It was great to see players from each era standing together; Bjorn Borg, Rod Laver, Sampras, and Roger. There was mutual respect between them all and there seemed to be an understanding that being the best in your era marked your place in history and that any discussion over who is the best ever is a compelling argument, but not one that has a definite answer.
I have been guilty of criticizing Roddick in the past, and also guilty of deferring to his swimsuit model wife and millions of dollars as comfort for him. But as the match progressed and after Andy fell short, I actually felt bad for him. I am not talking in the grand scheme of things, but simply in the sense of a sports' competitor. Andy deserves all the credit in the world for retooling his game and improving on his weaknesses. He stood toe-to-toe with Roger with his groundstrokes yesterday which is something he had not done in his previous Grand Slam losses to Federer. Even Roger had to be surprised by the level of Roddick's play and it is another tribute to Roger took everything Andy had and still came out on top. Roddick had Roger 15-40 in the 5th set but Roger powered serve after serve to get out of the jam. It reminded me of when Sampras used to do that all the time. After that game Roger never let Roddick get close and by the 30th game, Andy could simply not stay at the level he had been playing. Of course Andy will re-live his bad miss on a backhand volley when he had set-point 6-2 in the second set tiebreaker, but he did bounce back from that to force the 5th set which is another credit to his improvement. I do not see how he recovers from this loss anytime soon, but I hope he attacks the game with the vigor and game planning with which he approached his last two matches.
One thing that has remained constant for Roddick is his entertaining interviews before and after matches. On court, fighting back tears, holding his second place trophy like it was a crumpled paper plate he just used to gobble down BBQ, Andy paid respect to Roger and looked over at the royal box and said, "Sorry, Pete, I tried to hold him off." He turned down the clubhouse interview with McEnroe which I think was wise considering the hug he gave a sullen Federer after last year's final. In the press conference, Andy was slumped over, but answered all the questions truthfully and with his usual wit and snark. "I lost," he said. It was that simple.
Thursday, July 2
Let's Play the Feud
Every Wednesday Catfish, Xtra Medium, myself and a few friends head to a local pub to play trivia. Operating under the team name of Mookie Blaylock we love going head-to-head with the other teams. It is a general trivia contest and we usually win more than we lose. One of my solo runs is now part of trivia and ASD lore. Today, via Extra Mustard we have this video of a "Natural Enemies" episode of Family Feud between MLB umpires and a collection of 1990 players. Joe Carter and Rick Sutcliffe tie for best haircut here. The vids are broken up into 3 parts and even feature some sweet commercials. I always loved the Ray Combs Family Feud, but somehow he did not hang in there. (I'm going to pay for that joke.)
Wednesday, July 1
Round Tripping: Parity Alive And Well In Baseball
As the weather continues to get hotter (read unbearable for the southeast) baseball is just about to the halfway point. If you are obsessive like I am and check the standings about everyday you will notice something interesting. While the NFL is the undisputed king of parity and unpredictability week to week, need I remind you the Arizona Cardinals made the Super Bowl last year, Major League Baseball has become much more of a level playing field this year. Some would say it is too early to make such claims but with such a plethora of teams still in the race for division titles and wild-cards, the August/September stretch run could possibly be the most contested since the expansion to 8 playoff teams.
As of right now, I would only say that 7 of the 30 teams are out of the race for a playoff spot: Baltimore, Kansas City, Cleveland, Oakland, Washington, San Diego, and Arizona. It may be a tad generous to suggest that teams like Pittsburgh and Atlanta are playoff contenders, but the numbers so far do not lie.
The San Francisco Giants (yes you read that right) are ahead in the NL wild-card for the moment. The top ten contenders are separated only by 6.5 games. The mighty Yankees of unlimited payroll have to settle for the AL wild-card top spot since they trail the Red Sox in the division. The top 7 in that race are only separated by 5.5 games. The largest division lead in baseball is the NL west where the Dodgers own the best record in baseball (49-29) as they have a 6 game edge on the wild-card leading Giants.
Once again it can easily be pointed out that the season is only half over, but right now you would be hard pressed to find a MLB game on any given night that has zero significance right now. This should make the trade deadline extremely interesting next month. So why do we have all this parity in baseball? Isn't this supposed to be the sport where only the rich thrive and every once in awhile a small market team catches fire for a season? It could simply be chance, just the way the numbers fall and since the baseball season is the classic marathon not a sprint of regular seasons it may all fall apart come September, but maybe baseball is changing and perhaps the way of the Marlins, Rays, and Rangers are going to become more of a solid formula than the way of the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, and Cubs.
Looking at payroll, the teams 1-3 (Yanks, Mets, Cubs) are all not in control of their division at the moment, but they are close. The Yankees had a horrible start, but only trail Boston by 2.5 and have won 7 of their last 10. We just saw back to back outstanding starts by Sabathia and Burnett. Combined with their potent offense this is what we all expected out of the Bronx this year. Hang on with your top starters, bomb away at the plate, and once again lean on Mariano in the 9th. The formula has gotten them this far, but with Burnett's unpredictability, Sabathia and A-Rod's past playoff history, and the the miles on Mariano's arm come October, it is not a fool-proof formula. You would think $201 million and change would give you better security than this Yankee fans, but that is what your hopes hang on if you want the Yankees to make their first World Series in 6 years and win their first in 9.
The other 2 top dogs in payroll have underperformed for various reasons. The Mets have been devastated by injuries. It seems like a cop out to say that but it really is true. With 3 of the top 4 hitters on the DL (Beltran, Delgado, Reyes), one of their starters they were depending on in John Mayne sidelined, and their setup man J.J. Putz gone for a long while, the Mets are in dire straits. It also does not help that they are running a gauntlet of tough teams and that their fielding this year has been akin to a Bad News Bears movie. The Mets are right where they were last year, two games under .500 and clinging for dear life. The Cubs situation is a little different. Yes, Aramis Ramirez has been hurt but I guess Buster Olney said it best yesterday when he called the Cubs "the Dallas Cowboys of baseball." The locker room is in dysfunction and the Southsiders always have the championship drought hanging over their heads. The Cubs are also 2 games under .500 and if they are not careful, they could be out of the picture by the end of July.
Of the remaining 5 teams with a payroll over a hundo million, only Houston is not leading their division. These teams seem to have spent their money wisely, but they are by no means safe. Boston has New York, Tampa, and to a lesser degree Toronto lurking behind them. Detroit has to deal with Minnesota who is always tough and the chaotic Ozzie Guillen and the White Sox. The Phillies have been in a bad slump and while the Mets have mirrored it, the Braves and Marlins have begun to charge. The Dodgers are the 5th team and for the moment they appear rolling but we will see what happens when Manny comes back.
One of the factors that is contributing to this parity is the sustained success of the small market teams. Looking at the playoff teams from last year, you would think that the Brewers and Rays were simply one year wonders. But the teams are right back in the thick of the race this year. The Brewers lost C.C. but they still have the core of their line-up, they added Trevor Hoffman as the closer, and Yovani Guillardo has stepped up to be the ace. The Rays have virtually the same team as last year and despite their slow start, the return of B.J. Upton has lead their 7 game win streak.
Where does the economy factor in? Attendance has been down, but no one is shocked by that, but it certainly limited the free agent wheeling and dealing in the offseason. The big name guys got their money, mostly from the Yankees but a lot of the mid-level teams stayed put and were able to keep their young talent and add some veteran pieces. The Rangers are probably the prime example of this. Think of where they were years ago when they signed A-Rod and spent a ton of money on bats. Now they have a minimal $68 payroll but have the bats of Kinsler, Young with the veteran pitching of Milwood and Padilla. The Rangers trail the Angels by 1.5 games in the division and (hopefully) soon they will have Hamilton back.
We could not forget to mention the Marlins. While the A's are the portrait for Moneyball, even though the movie has been scratched for now, there is perhaps no better example of getting the most out of a paltry payroll than the Marlins. Who knows if this will change when they move into their new stadium and become the "Miami Marlins" but at this point why change what works? The fish sit dead last in payroll at $36.834 yet they one game over .500 and trail the floundering Phillies by 1.5 games. It seems like we could have 2003 all over again. I expect the Marlins will be buyers before the trade deadline which means they could possibly add a veteran arm or bat. The market will be tough though since almost everyone will be looking to improve after the All-Star break. The Marlins did show some signs last year after holding onto Uggla and Hanley Ramirez and it has paid off for them. Hanley Ramirez is, for lack of a better word, "en fuego". He is hitting .341 and driven in a run in 9 straight games. Josh Johnson appears to be doing a Josh Beckett impersonation on the mound and Matt Lindstrom has only blown 2 saves thus far.
What does it all mean? It means that the fans are the big winners just like in the NFL where each week, each game holds significant value. While tickets remain high and attendance dips, in many cities there will be incentive to make the the attempt to come out and catch a game. Baseball can only hope that a month from now the standings will look the same.
Monday, June 29
Weekend Recap
Well, let us just say that the trip to Ohio did not disappoint. There was not even that many Buckeye fans around, perhaps because we were closer to Pennsylvania than Columbus, but whatever the case K-man is now a happily married man and Catfish and I are safely back in North Carolina. While recounting the details of the weekend would possibly incriminate all those involved and since some people who read this blog know me personally, I sadly cannot divulge all that occurred. I will however give a rundown of what I learned over the weekend though.
-Youngstown, Ohio is apparently the marriage capital of the Midwestern United States. There were weddings everywhere and when I informed people I was here for a wedding they all told me what to expect and looked upon me as if I was an simple tourist in some kind of marriage destination.
-Catfish throws a strong right hand and somebody got on a plane yesterday with evidence of that on their face.
-If you have upwards of 200 people at your wedding but less than 4% of those attendees are single ladies, that is wrong.
-Despite popular belief, I am not in favor of chasing after cankles.
-There are few words better in the human language than "open bar".
-Lighting is a very important component in owning/operating a strip club.
-Four guys in the back of a compact Mazda is not a good idea, but can be done with the proper body angles.
Each one of these revelations has an interesting story behind it but I will leave it to your imagination. Catfish and I stopped by the Pro Football Hall of Fame like we planned yesterday. It was a good experience and I'm glad we decided to go. While we were gone some crazy stuff went down.
Billy Mays is gone? Wait this stuff is only supposed to happen in 3's. [Tampa Bay Online]
The U.S. Soccer team came oh so close to pulling off the huge upset while we drove through the hills of West Virginia. Even though they came close and lost, the story is not all bad. [Soccer Haus]
The Yanks swept the Mets at Citi Field, Rivera picks up his 500th save and Jerry Manuel is sending out an SOS. 3 of your 4 best hitters, a starting pitcher, and you're setup man on the DL will do that to you. [New York Post via TBL]
Roger Federer continues to roll at Wimbledon. It appears only Andy Murray can stop him now. [SI.com]
The Mountain West is not letting their dream of a playoff in FBS college football die. [Salt Lake Tribune via CGB]
Traveling in Ohio this weekend meant we got a taste of Cleveland sports radio, the talk was all about Shaq and the Cavs. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
Friday, June 26
Thursday, June 25
Into The Belly Of The Beast
This coming Saturday our friend and faithful reader of the blog(!) K-Man is getting married. Yes, we all tried to talk him out of it, but it turns out he has found the right one. Therefore, at the asscrack of dawn Catfish and I will embark on a journey to a place I never thought I would venture: Ohio. Now it is not a mystery how I feel about the state university of Ohio, but I am not going in angry. I do not assume that every single person in the state is an annoying Buckeye fan, but I'm certain most of them are. However, to keep the occasion joyous I will refrain from entering any arguments, especially ones about the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. Of course, you never if you can keep a promise like that if you are provoked. Who knows what dastardly plans Catfish has for an alum of the U in such a place. Hopefully such an incident will not occur and I can focus on the open bar.
We do plan on stopping by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton on our way home Sunday. I will give a rundown of our trip there on the blog next week. As we mentioned before, things may be changing around these parts but that is still yet to be determined. Luckily we have been able to keep up somewhat with the blog and we plan to continue that until our new course of action is taken.
Before we sign off for the weekend, a few stories. And for those of you wondering, yes there will be a "It's Friday" posted tomorrow.
The NBA Draft is tonight and the excitement is palpable. If you have any interest in this already I cannot tell you anything you do not already know about who might be picking whom. But perhaps you did not know this: UConn center Hasheem Thabeet's name roughly translates to "Carlton Banks" in English. [HHR]
I do not know if they used Winston Wolfe like I imagined, but the Cavs have acquired Shaq in a trade with Phoenix. They probably didn't use the Wolf because they had to give up a second -round pick in addition to Shasha and Big Ben. [Ball Don't Lie]
Finally, a word on number 90. Julius Peppers finally signed his franchise tag tender and plans on reporting to camp from here on out with the Carolina Panthers. Interesting language going on from both sides on this issue. Peppers says he is ready to play ball for the Panthros and GM Marty Hurney expects the all out effort from him. Maybe it's just me but am I missing something here? Pep also said he is interested in a long-term deal now? Something smells in the QC my friends.[CBSSports]
Well, it is time to hit the road. Who knows what adverntures lie ahead for the ASD in Ohio, perhaps we will run into these guys.
Until next week, stay thirsty my friends.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
