Monday, December 31, 2007

The Comeback

I know I promised that I'd be back at the beginning of September and in all honesty I had every intention to, but I got a little lazy and then one day I woke up and it was January. In my defense I have been busy. I dominated the fall semester at school. Just annihilated it. You should of seen it. I was like a late eighties Tyson. My football team had it's best success in over ten years. It was unreal, for the first time in the three years I've been there we were like rock stars on campus. This is something every male needs to experience. Combine my ever growing status on campus and my academic conquests I had quite the swagger walking around on campus. Testosterone was dripping from every pore.

That's the good news. The bad news is that it's been a year since I started this thing and things are pretty much the same only I'm another year older. My youth is practically in my rear view mirror. I've even started to look at internships for the summer and it's January. Huge difference from when I used to lay around pretending to look for work in the summer until my dad finally lost it on me for playing video games all day. It's a scary feeling, I still don't have the slightest clue what I want to do for a living and will probably fall into an entry level office job somewhere. I'll be just like Jim on the office with no ambition. The only difference is I'm not funny and with my luck the secretary will be three hundred pounds. Another depressing thing is that I'm starting to grow more and more distant from my friends from high school. We talk less and less and when we do it's just not the same. It may be time to cut the cord which is the saddest thing I think I've ever had to do in my life. I can't believe after growing up together and all we've been through together that we'd ever be this different but that's life.

So I guess that's what's been up with me. Pretty much a lateral move. Anyways no promises on when I'll be back but I felt the need to write something down. Hope you had a good Christmas and New Year's there's a whole lot of college football games for me to watch today so I better rest up for the 12 hours of inactivity ahead.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Summertime

This is going to be my last column for a little while. How long? I'm not really sure. Probably at least two weeks, although with my work ethic it could be much longer. Monday morning I start training camp for football which lasts for two weeks. It's pretty much all day (13 hours or so) so it will leave me with little time and energy to do anything else. After that school starts and with that and football I get even busier if that's possible so I'm hoping I can bang out one small column a week but we'll see.

With that said today is pretty much my last day of summer and the last day I'll have off until thanksgiving. So I feel it's a good time for reflection. This summer probably has been the least memorable one for me in a long time. For one I was too old to play summer football which is something I've done since I was 11 years old (I'm twenty now). On top of that I was supposed to get a Co-op position this summer but that fell through so I got a typical retail job and worked more than was really necessary. My downtime was pretty much spent training for the upcoming season. Not very exciting at all which isn't that big of a deal. School is unbelievably awesome so I can deal with having a more workmanlike summer. The thing that worries me is that this is going to be what summer is like for the rest of my life. That scares me. Summer is without a doubt the best time of the year with the warm weather and the nice tanned skin, the barely there clothing on the ladies, the long days of sunlight it just goes on and on. If this is a preview of my working life than I think I better go for my masters just so I can extend school a little longer.

It didn't help that the sports scene was pretty depressing with all the scandals and the Bonds bashing. So with that said here's my advice for the rest of you feeling like me with a summer being wasted. Mine is over but you can do some things to salvage the rest of it.

1) Go to a baseball game. Minor or Major league, doesn't matter. There's nothing more summer than baseball.

2) Go to the batting cages and take a couple of swings. It's more fun than should be. If you're not having a good time I don't know what to tell you.

3) Go to a drive in movie. Preferably with a girl but if you can't swing a date that's alright. We've all been there.

4) Go for a late night drive into the country and watch the stars. Sounds lame but isn't. No really it isn't.

5) Spend as much time outside as possible. The cold weather is coming, enjoy the sun while it lasts.

That's pretty much it. Hope your summer was better than mine and if it wasn't than seize the day. Wish me luck at training camp. Only two more of these then my football career is over and I'll have a real breakdown.

Monday, August 13, 2007

College Football VS NFL

The nothing but baseball abyss is almost over. College football is just around the corner. O.K. it's more like a couple of weeks away and as far as following a season from start to finish the college football season for me ranks just a notch above the NFL. Shocking? Well not quite if you break it down scientifically.

Better Atmosphere: Hands down it's college football. The passion of sometimes over 100,000 is absolutely electric and it translates to the televised product. I can only imagine what it's like at the stadium. The NFL fans by comparison are fairly reserved. It's tough to have passion for a professional team like you can for the school you went to or currently go to.
Big Edge: College Football

Better Athletes: Obviously the NFL has the best football players in the world although there is something to be said to watch a player dominate in college. It's a real treat to watch a once in a decade athlete absolutely destroy teams like Reggie Bush and Vince Young. You only get a very brief period (3 years) to enjoy it then it's over.
Edge: NFL

Better Games: A good college game trumps any regular season NFL game. When two teams are undefeated and highly ranked there's nothing like and same goes for rivalry games like Michigan Ohio State. The problem is these games are sandwiched between unwatchable beatdowns. Plus watching two mediocre teams isn't very exciting either. With the NFL everygame is watchable but you don't get the same excitement for the marquee games that college does.
Edge: Even

Better Playoffs: Considering College Football doesn't even have playoffs the NFL will obviously take this one. But if College Football ever adopted a playoff system it would be absolute mayhem.
Big Edge: NFL

Better Video Game: The NFL's got Madden, and College Football has NCAA football. I know Madden is universally considered the best football game ever. But NCAA football is better. (yeah I said it) Dynasty mode in college football were you recruit players, players jump to the pros early, skip class and get in trouble is even better than Madden's franchise mode. I'll fight you to the death over this point and I'm serious.
Slight Edge: College Football

Wildcard:
NFL: Fantasy football. Enough said

College Football: There's something cool about the players leaving every four years. Gives teams hope to recruit better players and it's nice to see kids grow up on the field and not have to witness them grow old and grey with diminished skills like in the NFL.
Edge: NFL

O.K. so when you break it down there's no logical reason why I like College football better than the NFL. But I guess that's the thing about sports it doesn't have to make perfect sense. There's just a youthful enthusiasm with College Football where they're (hopefully) playing for the love of the game and not the money. It's pure and exciting and to me takes the cake even over the NFL.

Monday, August 6, 2007

Hall of Fame

This past weekend was quite the milestone fest. Bonds hit number 755, A-Rod hit number 500 and Glavine won number 300. So with that in mind I think it's time to determine just who of the current baseball players will make the hall of fame if they all retired today. There might be some omissions because I'm not really sure if guys like Rickey Henderson are still technically not retired. Plus I'm bound to miss another handful or so players because I'm not very good at this sort of thing.

Anyways now that I've got your interest piqued here we go

Sure Fire Locks
1) Roger Clemens: Has the wins, K's, and the Cy Youngs.

2) Barry Bonds: Possibly the best player ever

3) Greg Maddux: Over three hundred wins, a handful of Cy Youngs and a World Series.

4) Ken Griffey Jr.: Got the home runs and the defence plus no steriod suspision

5) Tom Glavine: three hundred wins, a Cy Young and a World Series

6) Sammy Sosa: The mans hit six hundred home runs. Give him some credit.

7) Mariona Rivera: For his October dominance alone

8) Randy Johnson: Has the K's, the Cy Youngs and a ring.


Safe Bets
9) Craig Biggio: Has three thousand hits and is one of the best ever offensive second baseman

10) Alex Rodriguez: 500 home runs and 2 MVP's.

11)Frank Thomas: 500 home runs, an MVP and a world series ring

12) Mike Piazza: Best offensive catcher ever

13) John Smoltz: Has a world series ring, lots of wins and saves

Good Shot
14) Omar Vizquel: Longevity plus defence should be enough to get him in.

15) Kenny Lofton: Great longevity, lots of stolen bases, great on-base percentage

16) Trevor Hoffman: All time leader in saves doesn't get his due

17) Manny Ramirez: Nearly 500 home runs, world series MVP, good average.

18) Curt Shilling: Numbers aren't overwhelming but he has two rings and one bloody sock.

19) Ivan Rodriguez: Great defence and good offense, an MVP and a world series ring

20) Gary Sheffield: almost 500 home runs but steriod cloud might be enough to keep him out.

21) Jim Thome: A solid long career but no MVP's, no World Series, still he's going to get 500 homers

22) Derek Jeter: Just because of the rings, although his in season statistics are also pretty good.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Fantasy Football

I think with August just a couple of days away it's finally time to dive headfirst into fantasy football. I've been doing some research, bought a magazine, listened to Simmons' podcast and feel it's time to throw my two cents into the action.

First of all fantasy football is almost too perfectly set up. The draft doesn't take too long, you only have to set your line-up once a week and you don't have to be a stathead to win. It's pretty easy to see why it is at least ten times bigger than fantasy baseball or basketball. With that said even though I much prefer watching football to baseball, fantasy baseball is the tops. If you're a die hard like me who doesn't mind checking my team everyday then fantasy baseball is the chess to fantasy football's checkers.

So here's a couple of wrinkles to try to make fantasy football a little more exciting.

1) Try an auction draft. Seriously who has had a bad time at an auction? This will allow the ability to get any player you want and not be at the mercy of your draft slot. Plus it guarantees to extend you draft by an hour and draft day is one of the best days of the year.

2) Have a two QB league. Everyone knows running backs dominate fantasy football largely because you have to start at least two of them. So to make it more like real football where the emphasis is on quarterbacks why not start two of them? That way someone is practically forced to start someone like J.P. Losman and can you really put an entertainment value on that?

3) Have at least a twelve team league. If you have any less than twelve teams than everyone's team is two good and kills most of the strategy of drafting.

Anyway here's a couple of strategies that I've come up with for this years draft.

1) There seems to be lots of solid RB so the normal strategy of two running backs in the first two rounds seems unnecessary. I'm seriously considering a RB, WR, QB for the first three rounds or something to that effect.

2) The number three and four draft slots scare me to death. If you're sitting at number three you've got to pray that Stephen Jackson is still there. Larry Johnson just has taken too much of a pounding and Shaun Alexander is getting any younger but I just can't see myself pulling the trigger on Gore, Addai or Manning at that point in the draft.

3) I think too many people try to wait on QB's. Seriously whens the last guy that won a league with Jake Delhomme? You'll put yourself in a much better chance to win with a top five guy not to mention save yourself multiple nervous breakdowns watching the Jeff Garcia's of the world have another terrible game.

With all that said here's some guys I'm targeting and guys I'm avoiding

Targets
QB: Carson Palmer or Marc Bulger
RB: Edgerrin James, Travis Henry
WR: Donald Driver, Chris Chambers, Braylon Edwards
TE: Kellen Winslow, Vernon Davis

Avoid
QB: Vince Young
RB: Larry Johnson, Shaun Alexander, Rudi Johnson
WR: T. J. Houshmandzadeh, Donte Stallworth
TE: Tony Gonzalez

Monday, July 23, 2007

Why we need Bonds

This is a very depressing time in sports. Baseball rules the landscape with no other real challenger and what should be the most celebrated event in sports this year is being tarnished by a bunch of uptight sports writers who want to refuse to acknowledge Bonds accomplishments and a commissioner who might not even show up to watch it happen. Like he has more important things to do.

So instead of being caught up in the chase of the greatest record in sports being broken by arguably the best baseball player ever we instead got to bear witness to the following sports stories in the past month or so.

1) Chris Benoit's Murder Suicide which was just about the most shocking and deplorable thing I've heard. As a former wrestling fan he seemed like one of the good guys. This hurt me more than any event in sports ever did.

2) Mike Vick's Dog Fighting Ring which even if he didn't have knowledge of it is still bad. It happened on your property and something this brutal shouldn't be happening anywhere.

3) Tim Donaghy Betting Scandal which I'm still not sure how big of an effect on the game it will have once it's all said and done.

So those are three major story's from the past month and with football still more than a month away we are stuck with baseball to remind us why we watch sports. That's why we need Bonds. We need to get caught up in something, to marvel at the accomplishment and forget about the previous three events. So I'm begging everyone from Bud Selig to the nation's sportswriters just forget about your undeserved agenda against him and please let's just celebrate something this summer.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Best Year of Your Life

Things are pretty slow on the sports front. Baseball is back in full swing after the all-star break and it's still a little early to fully divulge into fantasy football. So with that being said it's time to break into the old bag of trick columns. It's time to decide what really is the best year of your life.

Here are the candidates:

1) Four years old

2) Senior year of high school

3) Freshman year of college

4) Second year of college

5) First year of retirement

Four years old is a good age because school hasn't started yet, you're young enough to have everyone do everything for you, your parents don't really get mad at you for doing anything. But you're a little too young to comprehend everything and life's just a little too simple to qualify as the best year of your life.

For you first year of retirement hopefully you're still young enough to do the things you enjoy. Obviously you don't have to work anymore and you should be financially secure enough to enjoy life. But as good as retirement seems I just can't see it comparing to your youth so that to is out for the best year of your life.

The first year of college is off the charts fun. You're away from home for the first time, there's more girls there then you have ever seen in your life but there the huge adjustment you have to make. You have to make new friends, learn new surroundings, handle a much bigger workload without flunking out. It's fun but it's also tough. So that too is not going to qualify as the best year of your life.

So that leaves two. Your senior year of high school and your second year of university.

Let's break it down

Senior Year of High School

Pros: You're young so you have no real responsibilities, School's free so there is no monetary pressure on you. You can now drive, everything is familiar to you and you run the school, your a big fish in a small pond and everyone knows and respects you. You get to chill with your friends who you've known for way too long and you guys all talk and think the same. Plus after you get accepted into college school becomes a joke. All you have to do is pass so there is basically no work being done. Plus if you played high school sports like I did you know there is nothing like it. You get to walk around school like a big wheel and play in front of the whole school, it's sheer fun the way sports should be, nothing beats high school sports. You also know all of the good looking girls in the school and you're comfortable talking to them. Plus the most underrated part of high school is when the weather turns warm around May and early June and the girls start to wear short skirts and everything just turns very chilled out and nostalgic because you know you probably won't see most of the people again.

Cons: You still live with your parents and your ready to bust out so there's tension there. At the start of the year there's big time pressure to get into college. Even though you are comfortable with all the girls at school you get a little too comfortable and could use some new blood. At school they don't give you much freedom. They call home if you skip class and you still have to get your parents to sign your report card.


Second Year of College

Pros: Your familiar with your surroundings and you've made new friends but are still fairly tight with some people from high school, You're away from home and have all the freedom you could imagine. There's girls everywhere plus you got first dibs on the incoming frosh because they like more mature guys like you. The real world is still a few years away so you don't feel that pressure. There's non stop parties and thousands of people just like you. You get some major holiday breaks like three weeks for Christmas and close to five months for summer. They don't make you do monotonous things for school work and you don't have to go if you don't want to. Playing on a varsity athletic team brings big time prestige.

Cons: You never get that feeling like your a big deal. Playing varsity sports takes up huge amounts of time and it's way tougher competition than high school. Lots of times when you see a good looking girl walking down the hall of a building you'll never see her again. School costs a lot of money so there's pressure to make money in the summer and perform in school. School's over before it gets really warm so you never get to experience the thrill of when the short skirts come out.

So there you have it when you break it down logically it comes down to personal preference. Do you prefer the freedom of college or the ability to be a big fish in a small pond in high school? I think college is more universally liked because being cool in college doesn't matter whereas in high school being unpopular can be miserable but my personal preference is the last year of high school to me nothing beats those care free days. Man I miss them.