I wrote this headline while getting drunk at 11am off of strong Rum and Cokes at my favorite Harrisburg restaraunt, Zia's. Matt Garza threw a one-walk no hitter. Matt Garza threw to 27 batters and 27 batters only (said one walk was erased on a double play). Matt Garza threw the 6th no hitter* of the year and was one walk shy of the 4th perfect game of the season*
*Please note, these numbers and this article will be recognizing Armando Gallaraga's perfect game that was robbed from him. the record books may never actually add it, but i promise you i ALWAYS will*
How is it that hitters have been so flappable this year? i haven't seen grown men stammer and stutter so bad since Leo McGarry's debate prep. At first this year they blamed the weather saying once the temperatures rose, so would the batting numbers. But then came May. The pitchers are still dominating the game. You can think of # pitchers off the top of your head that you know could be a cy young candidate (Cliff Lee, CC, Halladay, Jimenez, Johnson, Insert Cardnial Here, Linceculm) but can you tell me who will the real consistent hitters are this year?
jose Bautista (30 HR) Joey Votto (25 HR, 70 R, 68 RBI's, .318 BA), and Miguel Cabrerra ( 24 HR, 88 RBI). would you have guessed ay of them? no, you probably thought Pujols, A-roid, and Prince Fielder. i don't blame you but hey, lets be honest, its not the year of the hitter. BAs are down, RBIs and HRs at teh all star break are lower than they have been since pre steroid era...
... which brings me to the next point: you can't blame it all on the Steroirds. power numbers being down? ok, i'll but steroids playing a part, but you can't tell me that battign average was really helped that much by steroids. sure, it may be a factor because less balls are caught on teh warning track, but that doesn't account for enough, liners are down, situational hits are down, strike out counts are up. this has nothing to do with steroids.
Allow me to throw out my theory. it begins with the idea that the newest crop of young pitchers are a great corps of great arms. i can understand that, strasburg, johnson, jimenez... they're awesome, they're young. but why? my theory is that there is a bell curve in emphasis on each game./ i noticed it when the NFL was switching between power and speed backs. at first you wanted a powerback, a bulldozer to break down the opposing front seven. So what happened next? better defensive players came around, bigger stronger, meaner, they gobbled up the backs and the powerback was put on the shelf. enter the shifty speedy back, he came in and outran outmoved and out hustled the ogre defenders, so defenders had to become leaner, smarter, and more well rounded. this has had several curves over the history of the NFL
The same has happened in baseball. for years the league was dominated by hard hitting enigmatic hitters. now we have slick throwing smart pitchers.
I hope this sin't a fluke, i hope the dead ball year stretches into a dead ball era. i like defensive baseball... don't judge me
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Rookie Rites of passage
Its what they are you know. its not hazing... these days hazing is an act of terror or when a group of persons in a selective group put physical, mental, or emotional strain on a person who wants to be a member. What Roy Williams asked of Dez Bryant isn't hazing, its just a rookie rite of passage. But lets be honest, this really isnt that big of an issue. in fact, i trult believe it wouldn't even be a real issue if not for the numerous news outlets and uneducated bloggers (ah thank you). but in the world of Tweeting, sexting, espn boston and chat-roullette... nothing is above, or more legitamately, below news coverage and speculation.
But lets think with a (silly) thing called reason. what if Dez Bryant interpretted it as hazing. what if Dez just wanted to show Roy Williams that he doesn't see himself as any less of a reciever (because lets be honest if Miles Austin, Tony Romo or Jason Witten asked him... he probably would have done it. but i truly believe it IS a humiliation for a reciever as good as Dez Bryant (and im callin it, he is an immediate impact player) to have to carry the pads of an overated overpaid, underperforming never was thats always been outshined by the NEXT reciever to come in (see Calvin Johnson, Miles Austin). if Anything Roy Williams should have to carry someone's pads until he actually proves he is worth a damn.
But there are two sides to every reaction. Regardless of who asked Dez to do it, its an important tradition. maybe the rookies don't appreciate it and maybe it doesn't really mean that much to the veterans, but clearly not doing it is a big enough issue to cause a rift in team chemistry. Roy Williams has stated thats its really no big deal, but he said he'd get his due. run up the bill at dinner... but if Dez isn't going to carry the pads, why would he pick up the check? won't he get a little pissed aboutgetting taken advantage of anyways? Dez admits that if he knew how big of a deal it was he would have just done it. but thats apologizing without meaning it in my book. The only reason he regrets his decision is because it got him in hot water. Dez... i don't blame you.
Who's right? Who's wrong? Both... maybe neither... but lets be honest, this isn't really a story until it disrupts the team unity
But lets think with a (silly) thing called reason. what if Dez Bryant interpretted it as hazing. what if Dez just wanted to show Roy Williams that he doesn't see himself as any less of a reciever (because lets be honest if Miles Austin, Tony Romo or Jason Witten asked him... he probably would have done it. but i truly believe it IS a humiliation for a reciever as good as Dez Bryant (and im callin it, he is an immediate impact player) to have to carry the pads of an overated overpaid, underperforming never was thats always been outshined by the NEXT reciever to come in (see Calvin Johnson, Miles Austin). if Anything Roy Williams should have to carry someone's pads until he actually proves he is worth a damn.
But there are two sides to every reaction. Regardless of who asked Dez to do it, its an important tradition. maybe the rookies don't appreciate it and maybe it doesn't really mean that much to the veterans, but clearly not doing it is a big enough issue to cause a rift in team chemistry. Roy Williams has stated thats its really no big deal, but he said he'd get his due. run up the bill at dinner... but if Dez isn't going to carry the pads, why would he pick up the check? won't he get a little pissed aboutgetting taken advantage of anyways? Dez admits that if he knew how big of a deal it was he would have just done it. but thats apologizing without meaning it in my book. The only reason he regrets his decision is because it got him in hot water. Dez... i don't blame you.
Who's right? Who's wrong? Both... maybe neither... but lets be honest, this isn't really a story until it disrupts the team unity
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Athletes with Agents
it never used to be common noise, athletes with agents, but it seems like every second there is a new scandal about a student athlete being in cohoots with an agent. Reggie Bush started the fire but ever since the sanctions against USC came down its been breaking news after breaking news. is it becuase its now a bullseye and everyone is on edge? or is just that kids are a lot stupider these days? (yes, i used the word stupider for dramatic effect). Everyone's quick to give the coaches a lot of guff, and yes... it might be wise for them to include a day of "don't be an asshole and ruin our team" lectures, but its not their fault. its not even their job. self respect, responsibility and ownership are the things a college aged student learns from their parents.
Is it the Agents fault? about as much as it is the car salesman's fault you bought a lemon. he made it sound exotic, but you were stupid for buying it. Is it the fault of the student athlete. With regards to Reggie Bush, that just sucks for everyone. who do you penalize? Can't penalize the coach, he flew the coop to Seattle. can't chastize the player, he's too busy celebrating a world championship, and you can't penalize the Agents because this isn't a court of law. so what happens, the current students, fans, and athletes get screwed out of a chance for greatness.
So what do we do?
Lets assume this is going to happen no matter what. Its happened in the past (Chris Carter) its happening now (everyone in the SEC), it will happen in the future. so how do we make the playing field level, how do we keep it conducive to team chemistry, how do we make it legitamate.
Enter Hampsterdam. in season 4 of HBO's "The Wire" Major "Bunny" Colvin had a radical idea to, not legalize drugs, but decriminalize drugs. he pushed all of the drug trafficking to sections of Baltimore that were uninhabited and away from the parts of society trying to succeed. it was monitored: no weapons were allowed, there was on site medical testing and informational kiosks and active good doers there to make sure there was a quality of life in this new area. what happened? the rest of the city streets and corners were able to stay alive and thrive and enjoy peaceful existence. was it pretty everywhere? no but... it worked.
I say let them sign. if an agency is willing to put their money into a kid, they absolutly should be able to... but that kid gets no scholarship. no funding, no meal plan, NO help from the school. if its allowed, they will and only the cream of the crop will eve have the chance to have agents becuase if they're going to foot the bill for college, they aren't going to waste it on a bust. then more walk-on kids can get scholarships, more families can be helped out and maybe we can get back to playing college football as opposed to college politics.
Is it a pretty solution, absolutly not but... it'll work, and even if it doesnt... at least SOMETHING is being done
Is it the Agents fault? about as much as it is the car salesman's fault you bought a lemon. he made it sound exotic, but you were stupid for buying it. Is it the fault of the student athlete. With regards to Reggie Bush, that just sucks for everyone. who do you penalize? Can't penalize the coach, he flew the coop to Seattle. can't chastize the player, he's too busy celebrating a world championship, and you can't penalize the Agents because this isn't a court of law. so what happens, the current students, fans, and athletes get screwed out of a chance for greatness.
So what do we do?
Lets assume this is going to happen no matter what. Its happened in the past (Chris Carter) its happening now (everyone in the SEC), it will happen in the future. so how do we make the playing field level, how do we keep it conducive to team chemistry, how do we make it legitamate.
Enter Hampsterdam. in season 4 of HBO's "The Wire" Major "Bunny" Colvin had a radical idea to, not legalize drugs, but decriminalize drugs. he pushed all of the drug trafficking to sections of Baltimore that were uninhabited and away from the parts of society trying to succeed. it was monitored: no weapons were allowed, there was on site medical testing and informational kiosks and active good doers there to make sure there was a quality of life in this new area. what happened? the rest of the city streets and corners were able to stay alive and thrive and enjoy peaceful existence. was it pretty everywhere? no but... it worked.
I say let them sign. if an agency is willing to put their money into a kid, they absolutly should be able to... but that kid gets no scholarship. no funding, no meal plan, NO help from the school. if its allowed, they will and only the cream of the crop will eve have the chance to have agents becuase if they're going to foot the bill for college, they aren't going to waste it on a bust. then more walk-on kids can get scholarships, more families can be helped out and maybe we can get back to playing college football as opposed to college politics.
Is it a pretty solution, absolutly not but... it'll work, and even if it doesnt... at least SOMETHING is being done
is it really a Vick-tory?
Mike Vick just can't stay out of the news. but its not like its because he is a TMZ low-impact news guy... he makes big splashes in the headlines. If its not dogfighting its bakruptcy, if its not a shooting at his birthday, its bankruptcy fraud. Mike Vick can't help but make a splash... except of course for on the football field.
The man barely made an impact, was used very infrequently, had some dazzle but had some flops too. he has is and always will be an average quarterback at best. As a wildcat option, he's a dream come true. he's a refined tim tebow, an effective option, and a threat to be reconned with. Its a rebuilding year at Quarterback for the eagles so why not take some strain off of Kevin Kolb and use vick about 35% of the time. give vick 30 easy pass routes about 10 options and 4 keeper plays, throw him in (especially on 2nd and 18 or first and ten). Have a quarterback by committe and do work. but hey, Andy Reid knows what he's doing... unless it comes to coaching or child-raising.
For all the trouble he is to have as a member of the team the Eagles might as well get something for him. the man is damn near unpunishable now. Someone lies about Ben Rapelessberger taking advantage of her and he STILL gets suspended. Someone who helped ruin Vick's first life (and wasn't even invited) gets gunned down just 3-minutes after number 7 is invloved in seperate altercations and leaves his own birthday party, how does that NOT warrant a suspenssion.
Roger Goodell has been the enforcer, he has been the sherrif, he has been the law. if you even sneeze into trouble your reprimanded. if someone even suggests that you farted in church you get suspended. i want to know why Vick is above the law. but really, i want to know what the big deal over Mike Vick is. i have never cared about a backup as much as i do with vick. the man is barely ever seen in a football game yet gets more media attention than Derek Anderson, Chad Henne and Trent Edwards combined. from now on, i just dont care about Mike Vick until he's relevant
The man barely made an impact, was used very infrequently, had some dazzle but had some flops too. he has is and always will be an average quarterback at best. As a wildcat option, he's a dream come true. he's a refined tim tebow, an effective option, and a threat to be reconned with. Its a rebuilding year at Quarterback for the eagles so why not take some strain off of Kevin Kolb and use vick about 35% of the time. give vick 30 easy pass routes about 10 options and 4 keeper plays, throw him in (especially on 2nd and 18 or first and ten). Have a quarterback by committe and do work. but hey, Andy Reid knows what he's doing... unless it comes to coaching or child-raising.
For all the trouble he is to have as a member of the team the Eagles might as well get something for him. the man is damn near unpunishable now. Someone lies about Ben Rapelessberger taking advantage of her and he STILL gets suspended. Someone who helped ruin Vick's first life (and wasn't even invited) gets gunned down just 3-minutes after number 7 is invloved in seperate altercations and leaves his own birthday party, how does that NOT warrant a suspenssion.
Roger Goodell has been the enforcer, he has been the sherrif, he has been the law. if you even sneeze into trouble your reprimanded. if someone even suggests that you farted in church you get suspended. i want to know why Vick is above the law. but really, i want to know what the big deal over Mike Vick is. i have never cared about a backup as much as i do with vick. the man is barely ever seen in a football game yet gets more media attention than Derek Anderson, Chad Henne and Trent Edwards combined. from now on, i just dont care about Mike Vick until he's relevant
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Be Careful What You Wish For
Sometimes you just need a night like tonight. As a baseball fan and avid pitching lover i have always wated to experience aperfect game. i don't care how, but i wanted to follow a perfect game from at the most the 4th inning on. Tonight i was listening to the Phuils Reds game. it seemed like a match made in heaven. Roy Halladay, Cy young winner, perfect game owner, Ace pitcher against a 23 year old kid with only 3 MLB starts to his name named Travis Wood. through 4, you started to sense it.
If you ever do get to experience a perfect game against your team for all 9 innings you experience quite the roller coaster of emotions. Its a lot like "Lost" actually. your so excited and intruiged at first and after the 3rd inning (second season) your hooked, once you get to six, you know something big is happening here, but you don't really wanna think about where its headed (Wait they're off the island? wait, they wanna get back to the island? What do you mean they can move the island? How the hell are they in two different time periods simultaneously? why is everyone dying but kate dammit!) so many emotions are makeing their way through you all in dramatic swings. Curiosity, Fear, Anger, Despair, Unease, Anxiety.
You know theirs a good chance you'll be witnessing history tonight, but never in a way you ant to see. you don't want to be the first team to have a perfect game and be perfectoed in the same season. you don't want it to be a 23 year old in onlyhis 3rd MLB start, you don't want it to happen against your Ace for whom you haven't given any run support to. and you Really don't want it at home, during a shaky injury riddled season.
It's worth noting that Joey Votto, having been snubbed in the all star game has been a man on a mission like President Bartlett when his youngest daughter Zoe was abducted. He's been tearin' shit up and leading two of the 3 triple crown categories, hitting like a savant and doing it humbly. Thats a scary man to have on the other side.
When the bottom of the 9th came around, and we were guarenteed Travis woods had to pitch 10 perfect innings if he was going to win this game. in his first game back from a long enough stint on the DL we got one of our surprisingly clutch hitters back. Carlos Ruiz, Chooch is one of our most valuable players. from being such an important part of our world series team, to giving us a reason to not play Chris Coste,being a wonderful backstop and an even better game caller. he caught and called our 2nd team perfecto, Roy Halladay gave him his due. after doing extensive work in the off season on his stance, he came back this year with more stats, a higher batting average and some of the first half of the seasons most clutch plays. but he hasn't gottent too much love. He's a lot like Josh Charles' character in sportsnite... without all the bitching and whinning.
Like the Dependable Veterans do, Chooch came through. with a leadoff double the perfect game was over, the no hitter too! everyone in philadelphia took a deep breath... and then rememberred its a still a scoreless game. When uiz advanced with one out, we believed we could win this thing. But we'd have top wait because the ninth was over, Haladay was done, and we lived to fight a little longer.
Roy Halladay. what more can he do for us? regardless of what happens from here on out he's done more with less, witched 8 9-inning games (7 complete games), throwing the 2nd perfect game in phils history, and now kept us out of the other side of that record book category and saved us from watching a bullpen train wreck. Jose Contreras, Dan Hernendon and Brad Lidge? if anything these names would have installed confidence in Travis Wood... but Halladay, thats a scary thing to come across. A lot of people say "Desmond is my constant" well... Halladay is my Desmond.
When Brad Lidge took the mound in the tenth every Philadelphia fan held their breath again. In Analogyworld, Brad Lidge is Ben Linus. You want to root for him because he's the backbone of the 2008 World Series team, just as Ben was the reason you kept watching in seasons 3-5. But after that you just never know which version is coming. is it meltdown brad/self-serving ben or is it World Series Hero/the good side of Ben. Still, whenever Lidge looses a game or blows a save i am filled with teh same dissapointment i fel with Ben antagonized Meany and then watched him execute his daughter. But no matter what, i always know the next time i have to count on them i will, i will believe in the good, i will have faith. Faith was a owerful thing tonight. after getting himself out of a little game Brad had perserved the shutout, gave us a fighting chance.
A ho-hum at bat by the phils and reds led to the bottom of the 11th... when Chooch came up to the plate with one out. Everyone could feel it, and when he smackedhis second double, we knew. it was our night afterall. after a Wilson Valdez intentional walk and a Ross Gload flyout (that wasn't deep enough to advance the runners of course) the longest tenured phil and unarguable leader of the team, Jimmy Rollins came to bat.
The second the ball hit the bat we all knew what could happen. as Jimmy made his way to first Carlos ran harder than Matt Santos and made his way into home. three straight walk offs by the Phils. three great nights of extra inning baseball, three magical reasons to believe.
The Slump is over, this CAN be our year. we can win in any situation (except maybe 2 run lead from the 6th on with our Bullpen pitching). but there is no reason to count the Phils out. Tonight is going to go down in my top three sports memories of all time (ruight up there with our demolishing of Johnny Bronxton in the '08 NLCS and Lidge's greatest slider ever getting the rays to strike out and getting the Phils a ring). This game was exactly what good baseball is. I welcome the dead ball era in baseball, i love good pitching duels. i hope pitchers continue to bring their A-game against Halladay, these are the best games.
There is so much baseball left. the 2010 season Part Two... soon.
(and for those of you scoring at home we counted 4 Lost References and 3 Aaron Sorkin references. Congrats to those who bet on Lost, well done)
If you ever do get to experience a perfect game against your team for all 9 innings you experience quite the roller coaster of emotions. Its a lot like "Lost" actually. your so excited and intruiged at first and after the 3rd inning (second season) your hooked, once you get to six, you know something big is happening here, but you don't really wanna think about where its headed (Wait they're off the island? wait, they wanna get back to the island? What do you mean they can move the island? How the hell are they in two different time periods simultaneously? why is everyone dying but kate dammit!) so many emotions are makeing their way through you all in dramatic swings. Curiosity, Fear, Anger, Despair, Unease, Anxiety.
You know theirs a good chance you'll be witnessing history tonight, but never in a way you ant to see. you don't want to be the first team to have a perfect game and be perfectoed in the same season. you don't want it to be a 23 year old in onlyhis 3rd MLB start, you don't want it to happen against your Ace for whom you haven't given any run support to. and you Really don't want it at home, during a shaky injury riddled season.
It's worth noting that Joey Votto, having been snubbed in the all star game has been a man on a mission like President Bartlett when his youngest daughter Zoe was abducted. He's been tearin' shit up and leading two of the 3 triple crown categories, hitting like a savant and doing it humbly. Thats a scary man to have on the other side.
When the bottom of the 9th came around, and we were guarenteed Travis woods had to pitch 10 perfect innings if he was going to win this game. in his first game back from a long enough stint on the DL we got one of our surprisingly clutch hitters back. Carlos Ruiz, Chooch is one of our most valuable players. from being such an important part of our world series team, to giving us a reason to not play Chris Coste,being a wonderful backstop and an even better game caller. he caught and called our 2nd team perfecto, Roy Halladay gave him his due. after doing extensive work in the off season on his stance, he came back this year with more stats, a higher batting average and some of the first half of the seasons most clutch plays. but he hasn't gottent too much love. He's a lot like Josh Charles' character in sportsnite... without all the bitching and whinning.
Like the Dependable Veterans do, Chooch came through. with a leadoff double the perfect game was over, the no hitter too! everyone in philadelphia took a deep breath... and then rememberred its a still a scoreless game. When uiz advanced with one out, we believed we could win this thing. But we'd have top wait because the ninth was over, Haladay was done, and we lived to fight a little longer.
Roy Halladay. what more can he do for us? regardless of what happens from here on out he's done more with less, witched 8 9-inning games (7 complete games), throwing the 2nd perfect game in phils history, and now kept us out of the other side of that record book category and saved us from watching a bullpen train wreck. Jose Contreras, Dan Hernendon and Brad Lidge? if anything these names would have installed confidence in Travis Wood... but Halladay, thats a scary thing to come across. A lot of people say "Desmond is my constant" well... Halladay is my Desmond.
When Brad Lidge took the mound in the tenth every Philadelphia fan held their breath again. In Analogyworld, Brad Lidge is Ben Linus. You want to root for him because he's the backbone of the 2008 World Series team, just as Ben was the reason you kept watching in seasons 3-5. But after that you just never know which version is coming. is it meltdown brad/self-serving ben or is it World Series Hero/the good side of Ben. Still, whenever Lidge looses a game or blows a save i am filled with teh same dissapointment i fel with Ben antagonized Meany and then watched him execute his daughter. But no matter what, i always know the next time i have to count on them i will, i will believe in the good, i will have faith. Faith was a owerful thing tonight. after getting himself out of a little game Brad had perserved the shutout, gave us a fighting chance.
A ho-hum at bat by the phils and reds led to the bottom of the 11th... when Chooch came up to the plate with one out. Everyone could feel it, and when he smackedhis second double, we knew. it was our night afterall. after a Wilson Valdez intentional walk and a Ross Gload flyout (that wasn't deep enough to advance the runners of course) the longest tenured phil and unarguable leader of the team, Jimmy Rollins came to bat.
The second the ball hit the bat we all knew what could happen. as Jimmy made his way to first Carlos ran harder than Matt Santos and made his way into home. three straight walk offs by the Phils. three great nights of extra inning baseball, three magical reasons to believe.
The Slump is over, this CAN be our year. we can win in any situation (except maybe 2 run lead from the 6th on with our Bullpen pitching). but there is no reason to count the Phils out. Tonight is going to go down in my top three sports memories of all time (ruight up there with our demolishing of Johnny Bronxton in the '08 NLCS and Lidge's greatest slider ever getting the rays to strike out and getting the Phils a ring). This game was exactly what good baseball is. I welcome the dead ball era in baseball, i love good pitching duels. i hope pitchers continue to bring their A-game against Halladay, these are the best games.
There is so much baseball left. the 2010 season Part Two... soon.
(and for those of you scoring at home we counted 4 Lost References and 3 Aaron Sorkin references. Congrats to those who bet on Lost, well done)
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Its a scorcher out there
As i sit in my air conditioned living room sitting next to my mother watching "enterprise" and trying to stay out of the 100+ degree heat i decided its time to dispell my flip flopping ways. here on 7/7/10 i am going to promulgate my favorite teams of each sport, why they are, and what they mean to me. from here on out these will be my teams, forever.
NFL
The Miami Dolphins. Ever since i saw Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, i have been a dolphins fan. from Dan marino to Jay Feidler, the shitty of the greisses and now the tale of two Chads. The nice thing about being a dolphins fan is that even when they make a major offseason acquisition (See: Ricky williams, Joey Porter, Chad Pennington) ya don't get dissapointed when they fail to make the playoffs, or when they do you just KNOW the football gods are going to pin them against the Ravens and the Dolphins are GOING to go home that night dissapointed. But at the end of the day, no matter how gay it makes my circulatory system, i bleed teal and orange.
MLB
The Philadelphia Phillies. Earlier this season with the Strassburg Senators in full swing i almost became a Nationals fan, immersed in the pride of the Nationals organization. but fuck the Nationals (hahahaha, i said buttfuck) but the Phils started to slump and a lot of people jumped off the band wagon, i decided it was then that i needed to stay a Phils fan. It all started in 2006 when my best friend Matt took me to a Phils Mets game. it was only my 2nd MLB game ever. my first was an orioles win at home over the yankees when i was maybe 6 or 8 years old. all i remember is falling asleep in the 3rd inning and i woke up when it was over and the O's had won. But the mets phils game at citizens bank park was amazing, and the chance to heckle an outfielder WITH the philadelhia faithful was all i needed to become a phils fan... course the game winning 8th inning homerun by Pat burrell helped. So i am forever a philadelphia phillies fan.
NBA
The Orlando Magic. Usually the apparel backs the fandom, but in the NBAs case, the apparel made teh fan. my Nana gave my older sister an Orlando Magic starter jacket, after about a year my sister gave it to me and i didn't have any allegiences so i decided to become a Magic fan. throughout highschool i followed the stoned T-mac franchise, they were pretty fun to watch... but the goddam Grant Hill era made me stop caring so much. then they drafted this gangly 7-foot freak of nature highschooler with braces named Dwight Howard. in 2009, shortly before i graduated college said best friend Matt gave me an Orlando Magic vanity plate... then they lost to the Lakers in the NBA championship game. after that i finally started to ACTUALLY follow the NBA. i will forever be a magic fan.
NHL
Washington Capitals. I'm not really that big of a hockey fan, but this year the local Hershey Bears made a run at their 11th franchise AHL chamnpionship and their 2nd back to back. they lost the first two games of the Calder Cup finals to the Dallas Stars and i was worried they wouldn't repeat. now normally this wouldn't mean too much, but since i had to Enumerate a domicile housing 3 hershey bears and i... er... have a little history of accidentally ruining teams when i interact with their players so i was praying i didn't end up screwing the team. then they rolled off 4 straight wins, sweeping the texas stay, and i listened to every second on the sports radio. so i am a DIE hard hershey bears fan now, and since i have no realy professional team, i might as well be a Caps fan.
NCAAB
Penn State. ever since my father took me to a PSU game at the Bryce jordan center i've been an avid fan... but Gysaii Clineheard helped that out. he was a dominant force on the paints and a superstitious man on the line. Penn State basketball kinda sucks, so there isn't much to talk about... but they sure as hell won the Nit 2 seasons ago... and i'll take that
NCAAF
Unknown. i have decided to never have a live or die allegience to an NCAA football team. the makeup of every team is different every 4 years, and i love that. so my allegiences will shift every four or so years. i went from Chad Henne's Wolverines to Darryl Clark's nittany Lions to Lesean McCoy and Dion Lewis' Pittsburgh Panthers
Thats all i got. glad i could shed some light on some things
NFL
The Miami Dolphins. Ever since i saw Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, i have been a dolphins fan. from Dan marino to Jay Feidler, the shitty of the greisses and now the tale of two Chads. The nice thing about being a dolphins fan is that even when they make a major offseason acquisition (See: Ricky williams, Joey Porter, Chad Pennington) ya don't get dissapointed when they fail to make the playoffs, or when they do you just KNOW the football gods are going to pin them against the Ravens and the Dolphins are GOING to go home that night dissapointed. But at the end of the day, no matter how gay it makes my circulatory system, i bleed teal and orange.
MLB
The Philadelphia Phillies. Earlier this season with the Strassburg Senators in full swing i almost became a Nationals fan, immersed in the pride of the Nationals organization. but fuck the Nationals (hahahaha, i said buttfuck) but the Phils started to slump and a lot of people jumped off the band wagon, i decided it was then that i needed to stay a Phils fan. It all started in 2006 when my best friend Matt took me to a Phils Mets game. it was only my 2nd MLB game ever. my first was an orioles win at home over the yankees when i was maybe 6 or 8 years old. all i remember is falling asleep in the 3rd inning and i woke up when it was over and the O's had won. But the mets phils game at citizens bank park was amazing, and the chance to heckle an outfielder WITH the philadelhia faithful was all i needed to become a phils fan... course the game winning 8th inning homerun by Pat burrell helped. So i am forever a philadelphia phillies fan.
NBA
The Orlando Magic. Usually the apparel backs the fandom, but in the NBAs case, the apparel made teh fan. my Nana gave my older sister an Orlando Magic starter jacket, after about a year my sister gave it to me and i didn't have any allegiences so i decided to become a Magic fan. throughout highschool i followed the stoned T-mac franchise, they were pretty fun to watch... but the goddam Grant Hill era made me stop caring so much. then they drafted this gangly 7-foot freak of nature highschooler with braces named Dwight Howard. in 2009, shortly before i graduated college said best friend Matt gave me an Orlando Magic vanity plate... then they lost to the Lakers in the NBA championship game. after that i finally started to ACTUALLY follow the NBA. i will forever be a magic fan.
NHL
Washington Capitals. I'm not really that big of a hockey fan, but this year the local Hershey Bears made a run at their 11th franchise AHL chamnpionship and their 2nd back to back. they lost the first two games of the Calder Cup finals to the Dallas Stars and i was worried they wouldn't repeat. now normally this wouldn't mean too much, but since i had to Enumerate a domicile housing 3 hershey bears and i... er... have a little history of accidentally ruining teams when i interact with their players so i was praying i didn't end up screwing the team. then they rolled off 4 straight wins, sweeping the texas stay, and i listened to every second on the sports radio. so i am a DIE hard hershey bears fan now, and since i have no realy professional team, i might as well be a Caps fan.
NCAAB
Penn State. ever since my father took me to a PSU game at the Bryce jordan center i've been an avid fan... but Gysaii Clineheard helped that out. he was a dominant force on the paints and a superstitious man on the line. Penn State basketball kinda sucks, so there isn't much to talk about... but they sure as hell won the Nit 2 seasons ago... and i'll take that
NCAAF
Unknown. i have decided to never have a live or die allegience to an NCAA football team. the makeup of every team is different every 4 years, and i love that. so my allegiences will shift every four or so years. i went from Chad Henne's Wolverines to Darryl Clark's nittany Lions to Lesean McCoy and Dion Lewis' Pittsburgh Panthers
Thats all i got. glad i could shed some light on some things
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Dear Jay Feilder,
Sometimes, you just don't know what you have until its gone. I never knew, back in 2004 when we unloaded you to the hapless Jets, i never knew how much i'd miss you. 5 seasons with the fish 11,040 yards 66 Touchdowns 63 int's, but a competitive team damn near year in and year out. As a fan im, really sorry for how badly i begged for Ray Lucas, im even more sorry that i was oh so happy to see Brian Greise take your starting spot. Nick Saban, you ruined one of the classiest acts in the National Football league. a winning quarterback, a stand up guy and an ivy leaguer now washed up and forgotten about. well number 9, i haven't forgotten about you... and here are a few epic Jay Feidler moments i'll always remember.
Sports illustrated cover after our 3-0 start, you rushed into the end zone and you just looked like a damn competitior.
Beating Payton Manning back when he was still in our division
replacing Damon Huard, thank christ.
Having absolutly no talent on the team yet still making it to the playoffs just to innevitably loose to the superbowl champions Baltimore Ravens
Making me forget, more than a few times, what a quarterback with the number 13 on hius back looks like
taking it all in stride
never causing an issue, never letting media get you down, always being a respectable and respecting person
being a role model
helping us land ricky Volume 2.0 (volume 1.0 = texas/new orleans, version 4.20 = africa haitus, version 5.0 = this ricky)
being the last dependable quarterback until Chad Pennington came along before he died for the 40th time
and last but not least... thank you for letting me know what its like to believe. i believed in you and i believed in the dolphins. the last time you were at the helm is the literal last time i believed we could win a superbowl. brian greisse, daunte culpepper, really any of the JOKE of quarterbacks we had, none of them had the talent you had n your pinkie my good sir.
But now we have Chad Henne... potential gunslinger, PA boy, Michigan alum, and wearer of the number 7. if health stays consistent i truly believe we have a shot, but Jay i want you to know...
i will always have a special place in my heart for you...
...No Homo
Sports illustrated cover after our 3-0 start, you rushed into the end zone and you just looked like a damn competitior.
Beating Payton Manning back when he was still in our division
replacing Damon Huard, thank christ.
Having absolutly no talent on the team yet still making it to the playoffs just to innevitably loose to the superbowl champions Baltimore Ravens
Making me forget, more than a few times, what a quarterback with the number 13 on hius back looks like
taking it all in stride
never causing an issue, never letting media get you down, always being a respectable and respecting person
being a role model
helping us land ricky Volume 2.0 (volume 1.0 = texas/new orleans, version 4.20 = africa haitus, version 5.0 = this ricky)
being the last dependable quarterback until Chad Pennington came along before he died for the 40th time
and last but not least... thank you for letting me know what its like to believe. i believed in you and i believed in the dolphins. the last time you were at the helm is the literal last time i believed we could win a superbowl. brian greisse, daunte culpepper, really any of the JOKE of quarterbacks we had, none of them had the talent you had n your pinkie my good sir.
But now we have Chad Henne... potential gunslinger, PA boy, Michigan alum, and wearer of the number 7. if health stays consistent i truly believe we have a shot, but Jay i want you to know...
i will always have a special place in my heart for you...
...No Homo
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