Matt's tales from the beard

Stats vs. Aesthetics: How do you watch a game?

2011-07-23T22:05:00.000-05:00

Baseball-reference.com is an incredible site for baseball junkies like myself. It has every stat of every player who has ever played the game for any stretch of time, including minor leaguers. Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus have similar type-sites that list all sorts of advanced metrics. Every time you visit one of these sites there seems to be a new number to describe a player. It’s great. Gone are the days when the best ways to evaluate a player were with batting average, home runs, and runs batted in. They only tell a small part of the story on a player. Better stats are out there that I have come to embrace as being a greater indicator of a player’s value, on-base percentage, on-base-plus slugging (OPS), OPS +, and WAR are all great indicators of a players value to their team. They aren’t perfect but they are helpful to those of us who like to compare players of today with players from the past.

There are a plethora of other stats that help to complete the picture, as statisticians and baseball talent evaluators continue to look at ways in which to determine player value. Defensive metrics seem to be flawed to a degree and require a large sampling over time. With defense it helps to actually watch the games. Which brings me to the essential point of this post. Baseball has always been a statistically driven game because of its nature as a largely, individualized team sport, if that makes sense. A baseball player’s stats at the end of the year are largely a reflection of their own individual contribution to its team, with the notable exception of RBI’s, but even that has an individualized component. You can look at a player’s numbers at the end of the year and determine, for the most part, how their season turned out. But, you still need to watch the game to appreciate the value of a player. Stats can show that you had a lot of assists from the outfield. But does that mean you have an accurate arm, an accurate and strong arm? Or do teams test you because they haven’t seen you enough? Stats cannot show how smooth a player looks when he turns the double play or how he glides to cover balls in the outfield. It does not tell you how sharp a guy’s curveball is, or how filthy that sinker that he throws. You have to watch the game to truly appreciate what each player brings to the field and how they contribute to the teams’ success. Sometimes I fall into the trap of just looking at what certain numbers say and not the aesthetic things.

There are just so many stats out there and you don’t get to see every player, so if you are into comparing players on different teams, sometimes stats are the best way to go. When it comes to players who played long before I was born, stats are the only way to go cause obviously I never got to see them play. This is where the stories from players who played the game back then are so important to help quantify how good some of the players of the past were. Stories from relatives and old family friends are a key ingredient to baseball’s past, sharing stories of a time where baseball was the America’s past time. One day I hope to be able to share stories of how good players such as Chipper Jones, Albert Pujols, or Derek Jeter to future generations who never got to see them play. Numbers cannot show you how sweet the swing of Adrian Gonzalez is, or the opposite field power that Ryan Howard shows. It doesn’t tell you how Ichiro can throw a guy out at 3^rd from the warning track in right field. Stats don’t tell you how good the 2-seam fastball of Greg Maddux was or how intimidating Randy Johnson was out on the mound. J.D. Drew is a classic example of a guy who has good peripheral numbers, solid OPS, decent batting average, but he’s just missing the “it” factor.

When I first listen to a song, I am not trying to break down the lyrics and find out what the meaning of the song is. I am listening to the rhythm and the beats and then I check the lyrics afterwards if I am still interested. I don’t try and do both. This concept applies to my sports viewing where sometimes I consume stats too much and don’t appreciate the feel and the pure athletic beauty that the game provides to us. I have found the most enjoyment when I forego the statistical approach and just watch for the sake of watching. Watch for that beauty because stats don’t say at all.

Long and Winding Road Part III

2011-07-05T23:26:00.000-05:00

The light creeped into the room. The alarm clock had been pulled the night before in order to charge up a phone. The A/C in the room was doing its job but making a lot of noise doing so. At this point the time was unknown, by me at least. I had no idea if it was 9am or 2 in the afternoon. After a quick check of the phone realized it was 10am, or approximately that time. My mind was still foggy from the night before. 6 hours of not-so-quality sleep does not put me in the most pleasant of moods as I am sure this would apply to just about anyone. So minimal words were spoken, a few grunts were made, and a couple of showers were taken. A knock came on the door, not shortly after the 2nd shower had been completed. Our two companions from the other room were there to greet with their fair share of what I will call "mimics" of LMC legends from the past.

It was beach day. Our stomachs were growling so we headed out the door and piled into my little Corolla. Which is barely big enough for 3 adults, but 5 were crammed in there on our way to Folly Beach. After a few missed turns, a trip to Wal-Mart, and trying to find somewhere to park (this is important to remember for the future). As you would expect on a major holiday weekend, it was pretty crowded. We found a "clutch" food and drink stand and scarfed down our first meal of the day. The time was around 11:30am but I cannot be sure of this as I had no time piece available and really was not concerning myself with time on this trip. After this, we gathered our gear and located a spot on the sand. Lotions were applied and a trip into the water was in hand. Although I should note that one particular person, I won't mention his name, had to wait a few extra minutes to make sure his lotion had set in before he headed into the water. A soul of caution this lad was and is. We proceeded over the next few hours to hang out in the water, which was a perfect temperature, take a stroll across the beach doing some babe watching if you will, drink some canned beverages and just hang out enjoying each others company. After awhile some dark clouds began to gather and we headed on back to the car. I discovered a yellow ticket on my windshield. A parking violation. Unbeknownst to us all, you are not allowed to have any part of your vehicle hanging out on the road. I had pulled over on a side street and had left 2 wheels on the road. A road that couldn't have been well traveled, but thats neither here nor there. The fine was paid and we were on our way back to North Charleston to clean up and ready ourselves for the nights events.

After everyone had showered and napped (our room of 3 for that matter). Our stomachs growling let us know that it was time to eat again. After a long wait we piled into this lime green cab. And when I say piled in I mean literally we had 4 guys crammed into a made for 3 seat back seat (probably illegal). We had to pull over to a nearby gas station as our cab had smoke coming from its engine. Not sketchy in the least bit. So after about 20 minutes or so we were on our way. The cab driver decided it was a good idea to try and talk on his phone, place a dispatch and try to put one hand on the steering wheel, all the while driving 70 mph on the interstate. Not sketchy at all. We arrived in Charleston and walked over to Wild Wings to settle in for dinner. The place we visited the night before that took it awhile for people to recall that it was indeed the last place we had been. After heartily shoving down some quality greasy food. We decided to walk it off for about an hour through the various streets in the city. After about an hour of continuous walking we settled down at last nights drinking establishment. A cover band was playing, finishing up their set as another band was set to arrive not shortly after. The mood had continued to be positive as we settled in at a table close to where the band was playing. It was a small bar. Minimal lighting with some candles set up at all the tables for effect. It was a cool place. I liked it and I think everyone else did as well as we settled in for what would be about a 5 hour stay. The second played a lot of quality songs, bouncing around various genres and decades of music. They played a fair amount from the 90's as I recall. I remember singing along to plenty but my memory fails me at this moment to the specifics of the songs. I remember being happily content and satisfied, other than having to wait 30 minutes in between drinks. The laughs were plentiful that evening. As were the trips to the bathroom (where the handle stopped working and thus wouldn't flush), long-legged scantily clad females, and the amount of numbers seen on the tabs at the end of the night. After awhile our table would rarely see all 5 people at it once as people be up for various reasons, getting fresh air, going to the bathroom, whatever the case may be. The band continued to play up until the last call. It was noted by several compatriots that some of the speciality beverages were light on substance, if you know what I mean. I stuck with my traditional drink. For those that know me you know what this is.

After last call was made and we ventured out onto the streets. The easy decision was made to hop into an ever-growing line outside the pizza joint that "Texas" and I had ventured to the night before. The line was a little longer, but moved pretty quickly as customers shuffled past us, pizza in hand. Somehow it ended up that a big round of applause was to be given to anyone who came out with a whole pizza box. This was done several times as pizza flowed out of this local establishment. After awhile the food was consumed and out we went back into the streets in search of a cab. It was widely agreed upon that riding in the lime taxi was not going to be an option. "Fedora" made some calls but to no avail. Turns out a majority of taxi cab services in Charleston are private and have to be called in ahead of time. We did this but were not picked up initially. The call was placed again and we were told that it would be 15 minutes. It was probably 2:45 am at this point. We had been waiting a solid 30 minutes for a cab to come pick us up. Not shortly after the last call was placed, we hitched a ride with this taxi cab van along with 2 others with whom we had no association with and needed a ride to a different hotel in downtown Charleston. After they were dropped off, we headed on back. A 2nd and final night completed.

When it came down to it. The decision to go to Charleston, SC was not really a difficult one. We all put aside any travel difficulty and costs and made this trip happen. It was a memorable trip filled with many laughs and new memories that will last a long time. You do not know when you will have the opportunity to do things such as this so you take advantage of them when you can. You try your darnedest to organize things like this and make every effort to get there. You forego the animosity and you become care free.

This was a successful RALLY and one I hope to duplicate soon.

MB

Long and Winding Road Part II

2011-07-05T22:20:00.001-05:00

I was the first to arrive. If I had been anxious or stressed out this could have bothered and in the past in probably would have. You see there were 2 rooms reserved in our "lovely" hotel. None of the two were reserved by me as I had to not committed to this trip until about 10 days prior. So I made a call and got a status report. Two of the attendees were a good 2-3 hours out, one of which had a room in his name. The other room reservee was in plane somewhere between Texas and South Carolina not set to arrive until the 6 o'clock hour. Keep in mind it was just past 4. So after taking care of my bladder and finding something to assuage my hunger I began a text in search of the only other guy who was in the Charleston area. A man I had gotten to know over a 3 year period and whom I had not seen since the Fall of 2008 when he graced us with his presence at a cross country race in this very city in which we were about to embark upon. As if by osmosis, the phone began to ring. I waited a few rings as I had just finished purchasing some food. I picked it up as I walked out the door. To make a long story short, he had turned in his rental car earlier that day and had been stuck at the airport since before noon. He needed a ride. I hesitated only slightly as I had just finished a 500 mile drive not but 20 minutes earlier. What else was I going to do? Sit in the hotel lobby to myself for 3 hours. So I hopped in the car again and drove the short distance over to the airport. As drove slowly through the terminal area I pulled over to the side. Thinking that I had found my man. It was not to be so. Just another bearded young fellow with short black hair. I eventually found my guy and we preceded away. The conversation began with pleasantries and just catching up on our current statuses. Reminiscing soon followed and stories began on all the guys that had passed out way over the years we shared together on the LMC campus. If you weren't there at LMC for these people than it will mean little to you, but if you were there even if for a few short months. These people will be etched inside your minds for eternity. Quirky does not even begin to describe the people we encountered while on the mountainous campus. Any story that was retold to the maximum degree and even when you thought you had heard it all. A new plot line (usually not completely true but entirely plausible ones) would be developed and the conversations would continue. Mimicking others for whom we had known and imagining the things that they would say. No one was off limits in this, especially those that were not part of our party of 5.

We arrived back at the hotel. It was 5 o'clock. We meandered over to the hotel lobby and plopped down into a couple of chairs and continued the conversation, making up for lost time. It was said at some point by some body that it was good to see that nobody had really changed that much in 3 years and how that was a good thing. I couldn't have agreed with that more. It is nice to know that how ever much the world changes around you that some of your closest friends are still as you remember them. About an hour and a half had passed when we got the message that "Texas" had arrived in South Carolina and was awaiting a four wheeled vehicle to come pick him up. We confirmed with our North Carolina travelers of their ETA and made the decision to go get "Texas," as they were still a good 30 minutes out. So back to the airport I went. This time the company was doubled with a man we will call "Fedora." As he was sporting a sweet hat of that style that he had purchased while visiting one of our old compadres on the Left Coast. We found our companion and the party had reached 60% attendance. More stories were swapped and the voice mimicking reached new heights as we proceeded back to the hotel. The laughs were coming in more frequent intervals now as I listened and laughed as my 2 passengers battled each other to see who could make the others laugh more. We arrived at the hotel at the exact same time as the North Carolina duo. More voice mimicking occurred and the oneupsmanship of how crazy the mimics could get would only escalate as the night was beginning. It was 7pm.

After the rooms were divided up. We decided to get a bite to eat at a fine local establishment. You know the ones where you order your food and you have it 2 minutes later with halfway cooked cheese and pickles when you say you wanted just cheese on your burger. Yeah that kinda place. The greasy quality of the food started to settled into our stomachs as the reminiscing continued. Greasy food would be a continuous theme over the next 36 hours. We made a stop at a nearby gas station to pick up "supplies." And headed back to the hotel to begin the nights festivities. Every one was in a good mood and ready to party. Some were a little more cautious in nature, but no one was spoiling anyone elses fun. It had been so long since we all had been together. I think we all came to an unspoken agreement to have as much fun as possible and put all current/past issues behind us. The mood was light and festive as the "games" began. After a couple hours and many trips to the bathroom. The decision was made to venture into the city. The wise decision was made to call a cab/van/taxi to come pick us up as it was a good 15 minutes to drive. After a few minutes, a van had arrived and we piled in. The van windows were cracked open, allowing a nice cool breeze to be blown in. I couldn't tell you what time we rolled out onto the streets of Charleston and at this point I couldn't care less. We walked along Meeting St. in search of a place to settle in and have a good time. The first place we stopped at asked for a small cover fee and we quickly turned that down and preceded next door to a place that was free of charge and had some sweet music pouring out onto the street. Easy choice. We strolled in and took a seat at a table not far from where the band was playing and placed our orders with the server. After everyone had placed their orders. "Specialty" drinks were ordered. You know the ones you consume in about 0.3 seconds. Yeah those drinks. The band continued to play. Mixing in some old school stuff that really got me excited and pumped for the evening. After awhile, more rounds were consumed, the trips to the bathroom became more frequent, and more "specialty" drinks were ordered ending with one that would put hair on your chest and tasted a little like animal urine only if animal urine burned like you know what and made your stomach turned inside out. Heck may be thats what animal piss does anyways. Point is, is that it was gross and a good one to end the night on. At this point, details started to become hazy. I remember picking up the bill for my portion of the rounds, that rent in Charleston was $700, and that it was time to move to a different location. So we walked across the street to a place where the other guys had landed. Turns out we ate at this place the next night for dinner. I say turns out because like I said details were hazy on this night at the memory recall was slow to react upon things. After we hung around for what was probably half an hour. "Texas" and I discovered a local pizza joint that was serving massive pizza by the slice as well as whole pizzas if you so desired. I recalled a tip from my dear ole mother from the other night where she told me that after consuming "drinks" that it is a wise idea to put some food in the stomach. I was happy to oblige this, and was well aware of this tip, and stood in line for a few minutes to grab a slice. Side note: what a genius idea placing a pizza parlor right next to all the bars and staying open to all hours of the note to feed the bar patrons as they close down for the evening. I consumed most of the ginormous pepperoni slice as "Fedora" called our cab and we headed back to North Charleston.

As 3 out of our 5 compadres did not get the pizza. They decided that it was a good idea to go to the Waffle House which was just across the street from our hotel. At this point I was probably more tired than anything else as I had been up for about 20 hours or so at this point. I ordered a glass of water as the others waited on and then consumed their food. I, intermittently would put my head down trying desperately to catch some much needed zzz's. After awhile, too long for a fast food type of diner, we strolled back across the street and crawled into our beds. One night complete in Charleston with more in store the following night.

Day 2 in Charleston will be brought to you in a 3rd and final segment as again I have spared no expense on the details of this trip.

Long and Winding Road Part I

2011-07-05T20:53:00.000-05:00

The planning stages began months in advance. Location soon to be determined. Eight were invited, five made the journey east. We came from 4 different states (from as far away as Texas and New York), 5 different places in all. Some came by plane while others arrived in cars. The friendships started as far back as 2005 and were developed over time. Some graduated from college while others had chosen different paths to walk in life. All had one thing in common, we were all members of a college cross country team. It was only 4 months in which we all graced the campus of Lees-McRae at the same instance, but something about those 4 months allowed us to meet once again in the low country of South Carolina. In a town that we had all been to before, Charleston. It had been 3 years since we had all last been together. 3 years too long. While we missed the 3 that could not attend. We made the most of out of who had came. We created new memories, shared old stories, and had many laughs and intoxicating liquids for that matter.

The story for me began at 6:50 AM CST as I anxiously beat my alarm by a solid 10 minutes, eagerly awaiting the adventure that was soon upon me. I had been restless for days in anticipation. Things in South Alabama had become quite slow as the temperatures had hovered around the triple digits for a solid 2 months and many residents had left to go "home" for the summer. So I was ready to get out and have some fun even though I knew 500 miles of road lay ahead of me. After a quick shower to alert my senses and a bowl of cherrios I was 88 and out the gate. Approximate departure can be confirmed. 7:20 was the time. A time I had not seen in quite awhile. All but the first 45 minutes or so is interstate driving so that was a big positive heading out so early with less than ideal sleep the night before. I had created a massive playlist of music off of iPod. Over 300 songs to be more precise. Maybe the best collection of road trip songs that I have put together for any trip. I was locked in and ready to go. The music energized me. As nearly every song was belted out and sung along to. The big question heading into this trip was whether to make this a one or two stop trip. A couple of things are factored into this. How hungry I am and how long can I hold "it"? As I got a couple hours into the journey, the decision became 1 stop. This one stop had to be past the halfway mark (250 miles) and had to include both food and fuel. This brought me to a small community just off the shores of Lake Oconee in East Georgia in between Atlanta and Augusta (which is one of the dullest areas in which to drive in).

Traffic had been smooth sailing on I-20. However I-26 was a slightly different story. When I picked it up just east of Columbia we were crawling along for several miles at a pace that snails would find comfortable. Turns out it wasn't a wreck that slowed us down, but 4-5 cars pulled over in a fairly decent sized median looking like items had been lost or something. Eastbound traffic had slowed down to look. A classic maneuver that annoyed the "fill in the blank" out of me. The longer the drive goes the more irritable I become. You have to remember that this was the longest solo drive of my life. A solid 200 more miles than any I had done before. By the time I had reach Columbia, I was sitting close to 6 hours with a good 90 minutes to go. Once that cleared, the road was full with cars traveling well in excess of 80 mph. Eager to get where they were going on this 4th of July weekend, as was I. Our exit was at 209. Traffic came to a halt and 204. A measly 5 miles away. 5 miles that felt like 5 hours probably took over 30 minutes to complete, Excruciating does not even big to describe those last few miles. I pulled off the exit and arrived at our North Charleston hotel. I had been in the car for well over 7 hours and the 500 miles had been draining, but there I was ready to go and settled in.

It was now 4:00 pm EST...

P.S.- After putting a lot of detail into this first part. I have made the executive decision to break this into two parts. With the other one coming shortly to follow.

A Welcome Return: Realizing your potential

2011-06-13T15:54:00.000-05:00

As you may or may not have noticed, this blog has been a little dormant the last 2.5 months. That would probably be due to a little thing I would like to call school. Maybe you've heard of it. It has consumed much of my time as has life in general. In truth I have also been stagnant in terms of coming up with new and creative ideas to post on here. I wanted to do more than just ranking things and analyzing my home town teams. Which I kind of felt like this had become. So I am going to give this a go again and hopefully I can sustain it better this time. I want to take a more theoretical approach to these articles and throw out some thoughts to ponder. Oh, I'll probably still try to throw in some rankings and home town flavor, but I wanted to take a different approach that won't always be tied to sports. I want to craft stories into something meaningful, not just strict analysis of certain things. I want to try and take an outside the box approach to this and see where that takes me. I have never been one who'd you call an outside the box thinker, but I am feeling kind of frisky so we'll see where it takes me.

Here is my thought for the day. This one does revolve around sports but it can also be applied to certain aspects outside of sports I think. As with all things in the sports world this thought revolves around LeBron James. As you have heard, the Miami Heat lost the NBA title last night to the Dallas Mavericks. The Heat were probably the most hated in team sports in nearly 20 years. There were plenty of reasons for this that I won't get into at this time but I wanted to attack the core reason why I and I think many other basketball fans were disappointed in what LeBron has revealed himself to be in the last few years. By joining Wade in Miami, he joined forces with one of his top rivals. Lets stop and think about this. The most talented player to play this game in recent memory said he could not do it by himself and chose instead to team up with a contemporary of his. Someone who does not have near the ability that he does but has that inner drive that makes him great. What hurt the most as a basketball fan is that we deep down knew this was Wade's team and that LeBron would have to be the Robin to Wade's Batman. We knew it. We just couldn't believe we were seeing this. Whatever "this" means. The player LeBron is often compared to Michael Jordan would never do this. Maybe LeBron has been miscast his whole career as a guy whose supposed to put up sick scoring numbers and be a Jordan-type player. When in reality he is more like some combination of Scottie Pippen-Magic Johnson. Which isn't the worst thing to be. Being a ball hawk defender who guards the other teams best player regardless of position, a guy who can average a triple double every night if he wanted to is not a bad alternative to have, but I don't know if LeBron has the "smarts" to make this transformation a permanent one. He really should've developed a low post game by now instead of working on a jump shot. Which at best is unreliable. He would be an unstoppable force if he committed to the low post more than once or twice a game. Where he can use his 270 lb. frame to dominate anyone who tries to guard him. There is no reason that Jason Kidd should be able to shut him down. I think it was pretty telling that Dallas consistently put their best perimeter defender on Wade. They know what we've all come to realize. Wade is the best player on that team and he shouldn't be, but he is.

A basketball fan has got to feel cheated that LeBron took the easy way out and joined a team with Wade when he should have tried to go somewhere else (Knicks? Bulls?) to try to take on Wade and the Heat with a new supporting cast. He is wasting his basketball potential and we feel cheated. He could be so much better and that's what bothers people like me. I, as a sports fan, want to see every player reach their full potential, whatever that is. I know LeBron has the ability and that is what is frustrating. You know that guys like Kobe, Wade, Jordan, Magic, Bird pretty much maximized what they could do on the court. I don't know that we will get there with LeBron. I don't know that we should expect it either. He might not have it in him. Look, he may end up winning a title in his future, but who will be the alpha dog on those teams? If its him I don't think that team can win a title with his current, but undeveloped skill test. I want to see him reach his full potential because having elite athletes and players at the top of their game makes this game better.

I was talking with a friend the other night and we came up what it means to be a fan of a particular sport. We both agreed that if there is a team that you support than that is your first priority. You want to see them do well, bottom line there. Second priority as a sport fan and first if you do not have a team you support is that you want to see players reach their max potential. It makes the game better that way. Look I want to see Albert Pujols put up his typically historic numbers, he has so far established himself as one of the best hitters of all time, this cannot be doubted. Go look them up.

I want to see special things. That's a primary reason for turning on the TV and watching sports. You want to be entertained but I think you also want to see something special. It does not come around often and when it does you try to cherish it because you know its a rare occurrence. I said this concept of wanting to realize full potential can be applied to sports but also to things outside of sports. I want everyone, including myself, to realize this because it just makes everything in this world better. So think about that and let me know what you think.

MB

Atlanta Braves Preview: The Lineup

2011-03-24T13:59:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I last posted. I figured I would give a preview of my favorite baseball team, the Atlanta Braves and take a look at their offense while previewing the pitching in tomorrow's post. Since I really have no interest talking about college basketball (sorry cannot get over the poor quality of play, the NBA (hometown team taking a nose dive toward irrelevancy in a hurry), or the NFL (wake me up when the season starts-tired of all this labor talk-it is not interesting at all and it just ticks me off on both ends).

Projected Lineup
1. Martin Prado LF (27)- 2010 Numbers: .307-15-66-.809 (OPS)
This guy represents everything that I love about baseball. Hard-working, consistent (hit .307 on the button last 2 seasons), gives great effort every night, and is a notorious gym rat. He always makes the correct baseball play whether out on the field or in the batter's box. Selfless attitude, willing to shift positions without complaining and he does whatever he can to help the club win. He is probably more suited to bat 2nd in this lineup and maybe he will before the season ends but he does not hurt you in the leadoff spot. He is in the prime of his career and I expect similar results from him for this season.

2. Nate McClouth CF (29)-2010 Numbers: .190-6-24-.620
He was godawful last year. No doubt about that. I was initially hesitant of the Braves decision to put him in this spot in the lineup but after careful thought and consideration this move could do wonders to his confidence and is a good spot to be in the lineup hitting between Prado and Chipper. He is a career .252 hitter so there is reason to believe he should do A LOT better this season. If the Braves can get a career average season from him than that will be a huge plus for the club this season. I expect him to bounce back and hit around .260 and to double his HR total in 2011 with around 12 for the season.

3. Chipper Jones 3B (39)-2010 Numbers: .265-10-46-.806-95 gms
This future Hall of Famer is probably in his last season of his tremendous career. He is still a huge presence in this lineup despite his failing health and still can give you a clutch at bat when you need him to. He still has a great eye at the plate as evidenced by his .381 on base percentage which is excellent considering his .265 batting average. Do not expect him to play more than about 120 games or so, but as long as he can avoid long DL stints he can be effective. Projected numbers- .275-14-62 w/ a high on base percentage.

4. Brian McCann (27)- 2010 Numbers: .269-21-77-.828
Another player in the prime of his career. He is among the top 3-4 guys in his position in the majors. His power numbers have been pretty consistent, usually around 20 HR a year. I expect him to hit a career high in HR this year with 25 this season. I think his average will rise and be right around his career average of .289.

5. Dan Uggla (31)- 2010 Numbers: .287-33-105-.877
Big acquisition for the Braves to put in the middle of their lineup. His defense is questionable but they did not acquire him for that part of his game. They got him because he has hit 154 HR in his 5 seasons in the majors. That is 31 a year. His batting average should return to the mean and be around .260 or so. Another given is that he will strike out a ton and that he will probably struggle in April before busting out in May. Some Braves fans will be disappointed when he does not hit .320 with 45 HR and a 130 RBI and they will have to stay disappointed because he will not hit that well, but he will provide a significant power boost to the lineup and will probably bat cleanup against LHP, which he absolutely crushes.

6. Jason Heyward (21)-2010 Numbers: .277-18-72-.849
Sky is the limit for this young stud. If only he can avoid some of these growing pains that caused him to miss 20 games last year. Would like to see him get into 150 or so this season. I expect his numbers to incrementally get better, meaning the average to rise about 10 points, to add about 5-6 HR and now that he is batting lower in the order he will be in a better position to drive in some runs. He has a tremendous eye at the plate, not just for a young player but for anyone period. His .393 on base percentage was 4th in the NL last season. Right behind guys like Pujols, Votto, and Fielder. Not bad eh.

7. Alex Gonzalez (34)-2010 Numbers: .250-23-88-.741
Sea Bass came over to the Braves in a midseason trade with the Blue Jays last season and he preceded to do what he has always done. Hit around .240, strike out a lot and not hit a lot of homers. Do not get me wrong, he provided some stability after the disappearance of Yunel Escobar, who suddenly forgot how to hit at the ripe old age of 27. He is going to strike out a bunch and hit around .245 and that is fine for a guy hitting this low in the lineup. He does not need to hit any higher than this or the Braves may be in some trouble. This will more than likely be his last season in a Braves uniform. I will be very surprised if he is with the club next season.

8. Freddie Freeman (21)-2010 Numbers-only 24 AB's w/ 1 HR(bomb off of Roy Halladay)
A little bit of an unknown this year for Freddie. This guy will hit, but how well? Probably not as good as Heyward last season. My best guess would say he hits around .270 with about 15 HR's. He'll take some walks and probably strike out some. He will play excellent defense and I am excited to see what he can do for a full season. His minor league numbers show that he can hit (.301 career average). I think he will grow into his power, he is indeed a big fella (6'5 and around 245).

The bench is a little bit of an unknown, as most benches are. David Ross and Eric Hinske are known commodities who provide production when forced into duty. Brooks Conrad will provide some clutch pop off the bench, just do not expect him to do much out in the field. After that its anyones guess who the remaining guys will be. Joe Mather, Diory Hernandez, Brandon Hicks, Matt Young, Ed Lucas anyone?

Tomorrow I will preview the pitching for the club. Until then, hugs and handpounds everyone.

MB

Top 5 Rotations for 2011

2011-03-14T22:12:00.001-05:00

The stache (would be nice if it matched the color of my hair but that is a story for a different day) has made a temporary return to this writer's face as he transitions towards the warm weather look of clean shavenness.

Enough with all this basketball nonsense. How about some baseball talk? You know how much I like lists and rankings so I figure I would wet the beak with my personal ranking of the starting rotations for the 2011 MLB season. So without further ado.

1. Philadelphia Phillies
Roy Halladay
Cliff Lee
Roy Oswalt
Cole Hamels
Joe Blanton

The resume:
The reigning National League Cy Young winner. The 2008 American League Cy Young winner. The 2008 World Series MVP. Not to mention Roy Oswalt. A man with a 3.18 career ERA. The lowest among the 5 starters. The top 4 guys all pitched over 200 innings last season and it was not the first time that these guys had done it. The only concern I would have with these guys is their age. The top 3 guys are all over the age of 30 and when you become that age you are always really close to experiencing a significant drop off in production. Halladay is a horse, I expect him to duplicate his numbers from last season but he will turn 34 during the season. You just do not know. On paper this is the best and deepest rotation in the game. This is the strength of this club.

2. Oakland Athletics
Trevor Cahill
Gio Gonzalez
Brett Anderson
Dallas Braden
Rich Harden

The resume:
Had the lowest starters ERA in the majors last year at 3.47. They have youth, which can mean growth and potential. They may not have the flash and glam that other rotations have but the results speak for themselves. Cahill (23) had a 2.97 ERA in 2010, 4th in the AL along with a WHIP(walks + hits/innings) of 1.11 that also placed him 4th in the AL. Gio Gonzalez LHP (25), 3.23 ERA in 2010-200 innings pitched. Brett Anderson LHP (23), 3.57 ERA in 49 career starts. 2.80 ERA in 19 starts last season. Dallas Braden, he of the perfect game last season adds a third lefty to this young rotation that has the potential to lead this team into the postseason.

3. San Francisco Giants
Tim Lincecum
Matt Cain
Jonathan Sanchez
Madison Bumgarner
Barry Zito

The resume:
The reigning World Series champions were 3rd in the majors last season and 3rd in 2009 in starters ERA. Lincecum- 2x Cy Young Award winner, 3.04 career ERA, 3rd in K's last season. Cain-worried a little about his arm injuries this spring, 3.14 ERA in 2010-3.45 for his career in 170 starts, a perfect number 2 pitcher. Sanchez- 3.07 ERA in 2010, 8th in the NL in K's last season. Bumgarner (21)- 3.00 ERA in 111 IP in his rookie season last season. Barry Zito is not terrible as a 5th starter. I like the youth of these guys, 4 guys in their 20's.

4. Atlanta Braves
Tim Hudson
Tommy Hanson
Derek Lowe
Jair Jurrjens
Brandon Beachy/Mike Minor

The resume:
The Braves are back to being led by their pitching. 6th in starter's ERA in 2010, 1st in 2009 with largely the same crew of guys. Hudson-had his best season as a Brave, pitching his most innings(228.2) since 2003 and also his lowest ERA(2.83) since that season. Hanson(24), career ERA of 3.16 in 55 starts, over 200 IP last season with 173 K's, future staff ace as soon as this season. Lowe-reliable veteran, who will give you 190 IP and an ERA around 4.00, pitched real well down the stretch and in the postseason. Jurrjens (25)-key to the staff, had a dreadful season last year, battling injuries all season long, career ERA of 3.52 in 92 starts, had 2.60 ERA in 2009. Good mixture of youth and veterans on this staff.

5. Milwaukee Brewers
Zach Greinke
Yovani Gallardo
Shawn Marcum
Randy Wolf
Chris Narveson

The resume:
It always helps to add a former Cy Young award winner to the top of your rotation in Greinke. Although his rib injury deserves some attention. He's been over 200 IP for the last 3 seasons on one of the worst teams in baseball. Had 242 K's in 229 IP in 2009. He is really good if but a bit odd as a person. Gallardo (25)-3.67 career ERA in 82 career starts, fits in well as a #2. Marcum (29)-had 3.64 ERA in A.L. last season for the Blue Jays, an innings eater who should see him numbers improve against N.L. Central competition. Wolf-durable consistent veteran LHP, career 4.13 ERA, 3.23 ERA in 2009, good fit as a 4 starter. Rotation may not have pedigree that others do, but I like potential. Top 3 guys are in their 20's with two of them coming over from the A.L. where the DH is a factor in some inflated numbers.

Others rotations I like:
Chicago White Sox
Tampa Bay Rays
Los Angeles Dodgers
Detroit Tigers
Florida Marlins

Debate and enjoy.

MB

It's Time For A Breakup

2011-03-07T10:38:00.000-06:00

You know it when you see it. You buy into something because it is your team and that's what you do. You talk yourself into certain players. You say to yourself, well maybe if this guy is healthy or if he makes the commitment on defense or if he improves his jump shot or if ref gives us more breaks. When you have that many ifs it probably is sign that you are not good enough in the first place. It can be difficult to realize that something you have grown to love and appreciate could be and should be over as you know it to be. When that team has struggled for so long and then finds relative consistency and starts making the playoffs, improving upon their win total year after year. You can talk yourself into the team continuing to improve and continuing to going a little bit further each year in the playoffs. It is easy to do. However, if the ultimate goal of any professional sports franchise is to win a championship (and it should be), regardless of previous successes or not, and that it has become obvious to all of that teams supporters that it just cannot happen. That there are too many teams that are better and too many ifs have to happen for that championship to occur.

Then it is time to pull the plug on the current version of that team and that is the case now for the 2010-2011 Atlanta Hawks. I have heard, and agree with the sentiment, that in the NBA if you win between 40 to about 50 wins a season that you are in purgatory. You are good enough to make the playoffs, maybe make it to the second round of the playoffs, but you just are not good enough to make a run at the Finals. You are stuck with getting draft picks in the 20's and without radical improvement from within you will not win and win big. The 2010-2011 Atlanta Hawks as currently constructed are on pace to win 50 games for the second season in a row. The likely 5th seed come playoff time. That is decent but not good enough. They are in NBA purgatory. In the NBA you need at least two top 10 caliber players or three top 15/20 caliber players with the right supporting cast. You need the studs to make it work.

Let us look at recent NBA Champions.
2010 Lakers-Kobe(top 5), Gasol(top 15), supporting cast Lamar Odom, Artest, Bynum
2009 Lakers-Kobe(top 5), Gasol(top 15), supporting cast Bynum, Odom
2008 Celtics-Garnett(top 5), Pierce (top 15), cast of Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Perkins
2007 Spurs-Duncan (top 5), cast Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili
2006 Heat- Shaq (top 5), Wade (top 10), weak supporting cast
*top 5 means All NBA 1st Team, top 10 All NBA 2nd Team, etc.

Point being all these teams had a top 5 guy and one other guy who was thought of as top 15 caliber player. Joe Johnson has been the best player on the Hawks since he came to Atlanta in 2005. You cannot question that. He averaged close to 40 minutes a game for a solid 4 seasons. He was worn out at the end of the season and I feel that his performance suffered in the playoffs when he ran out of gas. During the regular season, he was never better than a top 15 performer. Making the third team all NBA last season. Good player, but not great. His best basketball, I feel, is behind him. It is slowly becoming Al Horford's team. Again a good player but not great.

The Hawks have 3 guys on the team currently who would be considered top 25/30 caliber players. With Josh Smith being the third guy. Josh Smith, as electrifying as he can be, has never made an All Star team. He has been close a couple of times but never quite good enough to make it on the squad. Excellent defensive player, he can do a lot of things for you on the court, but you still cannot trust him to make the right decision at the right time. You need him on your team but he should never be one of your top options. Unfortunately the Hawks maxed out on that contract to Johnson. Limiting some of the moves they could make to improve the squad. The Hawks recently made a move to acquire Kirk Hinrich for Mike Bibby. An upgrade, but that is not saying much. Bibby was a stiff on defense and his FG percentages and PPG had dropped in each consecutive month this season. Hinrich has brought some intensity to the squad, upgrading the PG on defense and providing more of a spark on the offensive side of the ball. However, the improvement is minimal and will have little impact on the bottom line at the end of the season. Bibby helped the Hawks make the playoffs and established a nice veteran presence on the floor to help mature the young players that Atlanta had. It has been proven over time that veterans win in the playoffs not young teams. This Hawks team is not young and they are not really veteran. Again stuck in a purgatory. Do you wait a couple of years and allow this core group to mature and hope that they can get better while other teams around them fade? Do you add some key pieces here and there, maybe a shot blocking/defensive type center to shift Al to the 4? Will that move alone put this team over the top? Or do you start thinking radically and moving guys like a Josh Smith to try it with a different set of guys? Me, personally I like the last two options, especially the last one. Trade Josh and see what you can get for him.

There is just something about this team that reeks of lack of urgency. It became obvious during the blowout sweep to the Magic last year in the playoffs that something was missing. For a team that had continued to get better every year, they hit a brick wall and hit it in a big way. Something did not look quite right, they gave up and looked content. Or maybe it is that they are good but not good enough. Al Horford and Joe Johnson are nice but you need someone who is better than those guys to contend for a championship. You need a first team All NBA caliber type of player. But where do you find these guys and how do you get them to come to Atlanta? Carmelo would have fit in well here but he wanted to go to NY. Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, and Chris Paul would work but I doubt they will come to Atlanta when they are free agents. The latter two could have been drafted by the Hawks 5 years ago, but we decided that Marvin Williams was the better option, but that is a story for another day. Point being it's time for a breakup and hopefully management will realize this and make the proper move accordingly.

MB

Its About That Time

2011-02-24T13:34:00.000-06:00

So it has occurred to me that I promised some baseball talk a week or two back and I have failed to live up to that promise. If you are a current resident of the south than you know all too well the spring-like weather that we have had recently. This type of weather (mid 70's) cannot help but remind me of being at the ballpark. It just smells of baseball right now. I have been slowly digesting and gathering information for the upcoming season. Reading up on relevant articles and looking through the lineups and pitching rotations of all the teams trying to figure out who is going to do what for 2011. Trying to figure out who the breakout players are going to be, who the top players at each position are and who has a chance to put his name on the map. Trying to figure out which players are on the declines of their career and can no longer be regarded in the same light that they did not such a long time ago. These are the things I think about daily. With advanced metrics becoming even more a part of the overall analysis, well that just adds another wrinkle of how to accurately look at a player. I cannot watch every game so I have to rely on stats to do some of the work for me. Things such as WAR, OPS +, ERA +, have new and significant meaning to me as these are excellent tools for evaluation of players. RBI's while important do not hold the same relevance to me as they once did. You may be a great run producer, but if no one is on base in front of you than you will not have as much an opportunity to drive in those runs as someone on a better team does. I am also aware of the dynamic of paralysis by analysis. Sometimes you have to see a player in person or on TV to appreciate his value.

2010 was the year of the pitcher, with numerous no-hitters (6 total) and 2 perfect games thrown. It also was the year of the young pitcher. Felix Hernandez, currently 24 years old, won the Cy Young last year and deservingly so I think. He, and Zach Grienke before him, represent a changing of the guard in terms of young pitchers and because they won the award on very bad teams with low win totals. Hernandez won 13 games last year, a few years ago he probably would not have sniffed the top 5 of the list. However, he was so dominant in the other areas that the voters realized this and did not hold it against him that he pitched on a team that scored so few runs. He had an ERA of 2.27 and had 13 wins, that is a nearly impossible feat. Some other young pitchers that I am looking towards establishing themselves as household names are guys like David Price, last year was his breakout year-this year I look for him to continue on that trend of true eliteness. Josh Johnson of the Marlins, second in the majors in ERA, had to be shut down the last few weeks of the season last year, but I expect this hoss to lead a potential playoff sleeper this season. Other guys would be Tommy Hanson of the Braves, who at 24 has shown the moxie to become an ace of the staff in the not to distant future. Ubaldo Jimenez has the stuff to dominate, I think he can continue to do that as he looks to establish more consistency from start to finish this season. The Giants studs of Lincecum (who is already a household name), Matt Cain, Jonathon Sanchez, and Madison Bumgarner are expected to keep the Giants in the title hunt for the foreseeable future. Their Bay Area counterparts, the Oakland Athletics, have some young studs worth keeping an eye this season, Trevor Cahill and Brett Anderson, just to name two. Jon Lester, Clayton Kershaw, two young lefties who are starting to emerge as top of the rotation guys. The Reds Johnny Cueto and any of the guys that Tampa Bay puts behind Price are candidates to emerge this season.

I am sure there are plenty of names that I forgot, but the point is is that I think pitching is here to stay to dominate over these next few years, and that is a good thing to me. I love watching well pitched games that last around 2 hours. As much as like baseball, I do not want to have to consistently sit through 3.5 hour games filled with guys who cannot throw it over the plate. There is just something about a well pitched game that gets my juices flowing. I grew up in Atlanta during their reign of division titles so I appreciate the value that good pitching provides. My hometown team the Braves have gotten back to that way of operation. They have a solid four of Hanson, Tim Hudson, Derrick Lowe, and Jair Jurrjens to lead the way in 2011, but there are several potential young studs on the near horizon. Mike Minor, Brandon Beachy, Kris Medlan (when he comes back from Tommy John, he was one of the top guys for the Bravos before he went down), plus guys who have not yet made it to the show, Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado, and Arodys Vizcaino. I like what I hear about these guys and look forward to seeing how it all will shake out over the next year or two. So that is one of the many things that I am looking forward to this season.

To steal a line from Mr. Fogerty:
I am born again there is new grass on the field.

Let's play ball!

MB

P.S.-too early to make any predictions for the season, have to see if any signifanct players get injured, etc. (i. e. Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals)

Top 10 NBA Players for 2010-2011

2011-02-22T14:12:00.000-06:00

I have not posted in awhile, been pre-occupied with various things such as school, my Dad's 50th birthday party, and school some more. In light of the recent Carmelo Anthony trade to the Knicks (finally we can get on to focusing in on the stretch run towards the postseason), I have decided to formulate another list of rankings, which I love doing because of the debate that it creates. I am not going to do a breakdown of the trade, you can read that most anywhere else today. My brief take is that any time you can acquire a top level player you have to do it. The supplemental parts can be filled in time and this sets the Knicks up better in the long-term not as much this year. My list will be of the top 10 current players in the NBA today. I will be looking at factors such as postseason success, winning, regular season success, and how much value they add to their teams. Recent success will also be heavily considered as well.

So without further ado, my top 10 NBA players for the 2010-2011 season.

1. Kobe Bryant (age 32)- L.A. Lakers
Comments: 15 year in the league, still among the top scorers in the league. Has 5 championships, including the last 2. He still prone to selfishness but his teams are usually on top at the end. Phil Jackson gets a lot of credit for his molding of Kobe, much like he did with Jordan. He has logged a lot of minutes over his career including some deep playoff runs so we will see how his body holds up over these next few years.

2. Dwayne Wade (29)- Miami Heat
He gets the edge over his teammate because of his postseason success and because he got LeBron to come to him, not the other way around. He may have peaked statistically a couple of seasons ago, but still puts up around 25 ppg. He is a 7 time All-Star and has a Finals MVP on his resume where he was spectacular. He is such a tenacious player on offense, who is best skill is driving towards the basket and making those difficult shots, which leaves him vulnerable to injury. With LBJ now in town this should only help Wade as it lessens the offensive burden on him. Only flaw is his penchant for shooting too many 3's of which he shoots a low percentage (below 30%), other than that he is a really good player.

3. LeBron James (26)-Miami Heat
The best athlete this league has ever seen. 6-8 270 lbs and has the speed and power combination that is just not seen in this world. He is also the best regular season player on this list which should count for something. Appeared in 1 NBA Finals and lost to the Spurs. He should really just drive every time he gets the ball and not worry about shooting so many outside jumpers. If he wanted to commit to sitting down in the low block then he could really complete his game. He has gotten better on the defensive side of the ball and can lock down elite players on the wings. He is such an intriguing figure. It will be interesting to see how his career evolves with Wade in Miami. Can he be the man? Or will it be LeBron for 3 quarters and Wade taking over in the 4th quarter. We'll see. It will be exciting to watch.

4. Kevin Durant (22)-Oklahoma City Thunder
A pure scorer. An elastic man version of Tracy McGrady only better. He has limited playoff experience, only 1-7game series against the Lakers. Figure on his team continuing to progress through the rounds in the playoffs with the emergence of Russell Westbrook as a more than capable sidekick. The leading scorer in the league the last 2 seasons. He is a great teammate who is teammates seem to get along well with each other which helps fuel their winning ways. He is a guy who you want to pull for because of all the things he represents. Not flashy, humble, and hungry for wins.

5. Dwight Howard (25)- Orlando Magic
Reigning two time Defensive P.O.Y. 5 time All-Star, his teams win a lot of games. He has made 1 appearance in the Finals and another appearance in the conference finals. His teams have won over 50 games the past 3 seasons and are on pace to do so this season. He covers up for his team's defensive mistakes. He is averaging a career high in ppg this season at 22.8 and he continues to be a force on the boards averaging nearly 14 a game for the past 4 seasons. He is a liability down the stretch in games because of his poor FT shooting.

6. Carmelo Anthony (26)-New York Knicks
A pure, elite scorer who comes by his points pretty easily. A four-time All Star his teams have appeared in the playoffs every single season that he has been in the league, but have only advanced past the first round once. He should do well in D'Antoni's system in NY.

7. Deron Williams (26)-Utah Jazz
He tentatively holds the title of the best all around PG in a league that is full of quality ones. He is averaging a career high in ppg at 21.3 and is averaging right around 10 dimes a game. He is a decent outside shooter at 35% a game on 3's. His teams have been in the playoffs the last 4 seasons and all but 1 saw his team advance past the first round. A lot of credit should go to Jerry Sloan for the success of this team and I do not like how that situation ended with Sloan resigning a couple of weeks ago but with that being said, this is a dynamic PG and the tops in the league for now.

8. Dirk Nowitzki (32)-Dallas Mavericks
He just keeps plugging along in now his 13th season in the league. His teams always win and as a model of consistency he has averaged between 21.8 and 26.6 ppg every year since the 2000-2001 season. Prior to this season and excluding his rookie season the most games he had missed in a season was 6. He is a 38% career 3 point shooter. He won a MVP and has appeared in 10 All Star games. From 2000 on the fewest games his team has won in a season is 50. Again consistent excellence here. Probably would be best served as an elite number 2 option on a team, not quite an elite player but pretty damned close.

9. Derrick Rose (22)-Chicago Bulls
He has made the jump this season and is a strong candidate for MVP this season. He has gotten better every season that he has been in the league. He has worked diligently to improve his outside shooting, jumping all the way up to 35% on 3pt shots from 26 and 22% shooting his first 2 seasons in the league. Thus his ppg is at a career high of 24.9 a game, up 4 a game from last season. He has led a banged up team this year to the 3rd best record in the East. He has been dynamite in his brief playoff experiences.

10. Chris Paul (25)- New Orleans Hornets
A floor general. Some say very similar to Isaiah Thomas. Has led the league in assists and steals twice. Leads the league in steals this season. He can really shoot. 47.3% for his career, including 36.4% from 3. His last 2 seasons he has shot over 40% from 3. He makes his teammates better which is why he ranks where he does on this list. His health, especially his knees are a big concern going forward. How will he hold up? When he plays his teams win. When he does not play, they do not win. That to me is value.

Honorable Mentions- Pau Gasol, Amare Stoudimire, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Russell Westbrook

Feel free to disagree, I am sure you do.

MB

A New Passion?

2011-02-14T10:16:00.001-06:00

I came into this weekend, knowing that the weather was going to great but not knowing what I was to do with it (other than going for a run) and I left the weekend with perhaps a new passion in life.

I got the call about a quarter after one on Friday afternoon. I had just left the office at work for a weekend that had potential but an unknown destination. It had been a long week, a full week full of random class room assignments as well as other scholastic duties that came and went throughout the week. I received that call at 1:15 and one thing led to another and an hour and a half later I was helping prepare a small boat to go out on the lake (more like a pond but whose counting). As my companion and I were getting ready to set foot in the boat we noticed a fairly large "critter" walking down the trail on the other side of the pond. Now, this distance was approximately 100 yards or so, maybe a tad more. We had no binoculars or scopes to get a better look. All we know is that it was big, walked on four legs, had a tail, and had a light brown/yellow tint to it. What was it? We do not know but we could only speculate as to what it could have been before it scampered away into the woods, never to be seen again by our eyes. At first glance it looked like a regular cat, but upon further review it was probably a bobcat, may be even a small mountain lion. A little odd to see a creature out and about in the middle of the day.

So out we went onto the pond with four reels in tow, as well as some other assorted items that included two anchors, a tackle box, some water, and a cooler to help catch what we hoped would be a plentiful bounty. We navigated through all the limbs of the trees that used to mark this area to which a body of water now stood upon. We settled into the spot, dropped anchor and casted out the lines. I had never caught a fish in my life. In fact I do not recall ever personally seeing anyone catch one in my life. May be there was a time when I was younger but the memory had faded by this point but I knew for certain that I had never had the experience of catching one for myself. It could not have been more than five minutes before we got the first bite. First cast of the day and my partner, who far exceeded my experiences in the outdoor world, caught this beautiful 5.5 lb. bass. I wish I had a better word to describe it as other than "cool" but that word will suffice for now. So he caught it, big ole grin on his face, and threw it in the cooler for safe-keeping. We finagled our way through the brush to different locales around the lake err I mean pond as the sun began sinking behind the Alabama pine trees. The wind was blowing pretty steady all afternoon, moving us around and making it hard for the boat to hold steady. It was chilly, mid 40's perhaps. I was lightly dressed but fairly warm except for my hands which were downright freezing, blood red and numb. We had nothing to dry the hands off with so whenever he had to stick our hands in the water that just added to the misery.

The master, the wise ole one, (Brandon Sluder a.k.a. Dr. Sluder) guided us around the lake before we finally settled upon the glory hole. The prime spot, he said where he had caught numerous fish before. It was good spot. You could see the branches of a log that was resting just underneath the surface of the water. A prime location to explore and see what could be found. Winter time is a more difficult time to catch fish, they are less active, but I was told that the ones that are caught are usually big in size and stature. Now he had caught some small ones that were soon tossed back into the pond without even much as a second look. I had gotten a few tugs on the rod, maybe they were fish maybe it was just was rod getting tangled in some brush underneath the surface of the water. I could not be certain. But this moment, I knew. I knew something serious was happening on the other of my line. The rod bent severely down towards the water. I was getting instructions from behind, "pull it up, jerk it up!! (at least that is what I thought was being said at the time). So I did and it gave me quite a battle. I reeled as fast as I could, my insides just bursting with excitement and anticipation of what was on the other end. As it finally came into the clear, my eyes could hardly fathom and wrap my head around what had just occurred. A five pound bass lay dangling at the end of my line. Unreal. My smile spread as wide as the Joker, I could not believe it. My first fish. A five pound bass. I was told later that this was a rare catch and that many fisherman go a long time without catching one. I was pleased for sure. I quickly spread the word to family and friends of what had just happened. It was after 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the sunglasses were soon to be displaced from eyes. My hands were numb but my heart was beating not out of my chest but pretty close I think. The question was asked, how big was it? First estimate had it around 3 pounds, but that was inaccurate. A five pound bass caught with a rubber worm (the trick I was told to catching fish in the winter time), unbelievable. It had to have been a solid 10 years since I had casted out a line. We soon set back towards the dock to end our journey for the day. And what a day that it was, a "bobcat" sighting and a first time fish for myself.

A day that I won't soon forget.

The next day we set out a little bit earlier in the afternoon. No bobcats in sight but another large bass was caught somewhat near yesterday's catch. We estimated it being at around four pounds. Not a bad start to my fishing career, a five pounder and a four pounder. I think I may now be "hooked" on this thing they call fishing. I appreciate the patience shown to me by my companion. Who dealt with my vast inexperience of being out on the water. I barely knew how to throw out a line but he stuck with me and I appreciate that very much. I grew up in the outdoors but the type of outdoors that he grew up with. I grew up playing baseball, football, or whatever other sport that I could think. I went went camping/hiking a few times but that was the extent of my outdoor adventures as a young buck. I may have found a new hobby, a new passion for myself to chew up some time. The next new outdoor adventure to explore is that of the hunt. Deer hunting to exact. I hope this will happen soon. I cannot wait to see what nature has in store for me in the future. It surely is off to a great start.

What a great weekend that had unfulfilled potential and exceeded all expectations.

Until we meet again.

MB

P.S.- Pitchers and Catchers reported today, baseball talk will soon dominate this space!

Football Jadedness

2011-02-08T11:06:00.000-06:00

First things first, it was a good game on Sunday, not great but good. It was competitive, but filled with flaws. Most noticeably the 3 turnovers by Pittsburgh and the dropped passes by the Packers receivers. The Packers deserved to win, they played better, they made minimal mistakes, and rode a hot streak towards the end of the season (more on this in a minute). If Roethlisberger had been able to connect with Mike Wallace on that deep pass that he overthrew than we may be singing a different tune.

The highlight for me (or the low light if you want to call it that and I think most people would say that it was) was the dreadful halftime performance by the Black Eyed Peas. Visually it looked pretty cool, the neon dancers on the field, the bands outfits were kind of cool looking but that was about it. They lacked energy to me and it looked like they were trying to do too much. The dancing with the singing did not work for me. Half of the songs they did were not even theirs. The dance Usher did was pretty cool as was Slash on the guitar, but Fergie's singing to "November Rain" was just horrendus. I understand what the NFL was trying to do trying to appeal to a younger audience, but to me the classic rock genre of music worked and they put on great shows. The Who, Bruce Springsteen, and Tom Petty were good enough in my mind. There is a way to make this work so that it is interesting and entertaining. The Black Eyed Peas are solid on the CD's in the studio but their live performance was lacking. I think it reflects upon the poor choices available with modern popular music. The "underground" stuff that I listen to is fantastic but not a lot of people know who these bands are even if they would put on a great show. It seems that when pop music is at its worst is when the "other" stuff is really rocking and rolling. Just my two cents on that whole thing.

I do not know about some of you but I am ready for football to be done with for awhile. I referenced this in an earlier blog about my longing for baseball season to arrive (pitchers and catchers are one week away). Football is not favorite sport, it is a close second to baseball for me (which I know is rare in today's 21st century of fast-paced, non-stop, constant movement of the world). One of the growing problems I have with football, primarily the NFL, is Roger Goodell. I wish more people in the media would call him out on this 18 game schedule crap. He says that this is what the fans want. I think he misconstrued the answers he receives from the fans. Fans do not want to pay full price for exhibition games as a part of purchasing season tickets. So Goodell assumes they do not want to pay for the exhibition games so let us just add two more regular season games. Yeah that makes sense. I really do not think there are enough injuries in pro football, the game is not violent enough, yeah lets add two games because we are not making enough money. For the uninitiated that is sarcasm to its highest degree. Did he watch the Super Bowl? Charles Woodson knocked out of the game, Sam Shields injured, Emmanuel Sanders injured. Let us add two more games because that will definitely enhance the product on the field. Come on man! How stupid does he think the fans are? All of this non-sense about how much they care about the players' health, the emphasis on concussions, blah, blah, blah, blah. Cut the crap! We have reached a saturation point with the level of play and how many games can be played with the level of the athletes that we have in today's game. If the owner's are looking for more revenue than maybe you can drop the exhibition games and add some playoff teams (I disapprove of adding more playoff teams, more on this in a minute).

Twelve playoff teams is the maximum amount that I could stand. Let me preface this next set of sentences with this, I have nothing against the Green Bay Packers, but they were a 6 seed that got hot the last few weeks of the season. They barely beat Chicago the last week of the season to get in. They were 10-6, which is a real solid record. They were a good team, should have had a better record than 10-6. I just do not like how it turns out that basically the regular season prior to December does not really matter that much. As long you stay around .500 you have a shot if you can get hot at the end. Arizona a couple of years ago. They were 9-7. I repeat they were 9-7. Is that worthy of an appearance in a championship game? Kurt Warner and that offense got hot at the right time and made it to the Super Bowl. Taking it back a little further the first championship for Roethlisberger. They were a 6th seed. What I am getting at, is no more playoff teams. The NFL is turning into the NBA where the regular season has minimal significance. They have 16 playoff spots for 30 teams. Lets just give everybody a trophy so no one's feelings get hurt. My generation of kids grew up with everyone getting trophies. We are spoiled because of acts like this and a lot of us are soft. When people in support of these big playoffs for college football starting running their mouth. All I can do is scream at the top of my lungs, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! College football has the most meaningful regular season, so do not change it. Why should the 8th best team or the 16th best team have a shot at the championship. It is not right for those at the top who have earned it by playing well in the regular season. Ideally college football could determine the course of championship on a year to year basis. If there are two dominant teams that are undefeated, we do not need a playoff. If there are 4 deserving teams than we can have a plus one system.

Sorry for the rambling, had to get all of that off my chest.

MB

P.S.- New updated QB rankings
1. Brady
2. Manning (by default, BR wins he is here)
3. Rodgers (resume incomplete, another great season and he is at 2, outplayed BR)
4. Roethlisberger (post-season clutchness way overrated upon further review)
5. Brees (could rise again with less int's next season)

Legends and Leaders; Impact of the Super Bowl on All-Time Greatness

2011-02-05T17:32:00.001-06:00

In browsing through online media coverage of this year's Super Bowl, I stumbled along something that caught my eye. Those that know me pretty well, know my fondness for creating lists and rankings things. On ESPN's site they had one of these Sports Nations polls where you could vote upon who you thought were the best Super Bowl winning Quarterbacks of all-time. Sign me up for that one. Well of course I spent the next 90 minutes researching about the QB's with whom's statistics I was unfamiliar with. Names such as Bart Star, Len Dawson, Joe Namath, Terry Bradshaw, and Bob Griese, just to name a few. What really struck my eye was the low percentage that some of these guys completed passes at and how some QB's had even thrown more interceptions in their career than TD's and yet were first ballot Hall of Famer's and multiple Super Bowl winners.

Some particular names that were interesting to look at were Bradshaw (51.9% completions, 212 TD's-210 Int. for the career) and yet he won 4 Super Bowls and was a first ballot Hall of Famer. Another interesting name of note whose statistics did not match up to the legendary status to which he is revered is Joe Namath (50.1%, 173 TD's-220 Int.), but got into the H.O.F. on his 3rd try. There were others who had "poor" stats but managed to win Super Bowls and eventually get elected to the Hall of Fame. These kind of things make sports fun and so intriguing. What is it that these guys do to put up crappy numbers, but yet find ways to make plays and win when it matters the most? It brings up interesting discussions of who was better Terry Bradshaw or Roger Staubach? Joe Montana or John Elway? Where does Dan Marino or Jim Kelly fit in (guys who never won the big one)? Yet guys such as Trent Dilfer, or Doug Williams, or Earl Morrall have rings on their fingers. It is an ongoing debate of who is considered the best of the best, the true elite guys. I think to be among consideration for the best of all time, you need to have won multiple titles and had some strong Pro-Bowl/MVP type of seasons in your career.

I am not going to go through and rank the all-time guys. I just wanted to create a list of the guys who had won multiple Super Bowl titles:

Joe Montana (4 Super Bowl wins)
Terry Bradshaw (4 SB wins)
Troy Aikman (3 SB wins)
Tom Brady (3 SB wins)
John Elway (2 Super Bowl wins, 5 total appearances- most all-time)
Bart Starr (2 SB wins, 3 NFL titles prior to Super Bowls being played)
Roger Staubach (2 wins)
Jim Plunkett (2 wins)
Bob Griese (2 wins)
Ben Roethlisberger (2 wins)

10 guys that is it. Everyone is in the H.O.F. except for Plunkett and the 2 active guys Brady and Roethlisberger.

The point I am trying to make with this post is to try to make myself realize the importance of clutchness in big time games and trying to wrap my head around what exactly clutchness entails and how do I put it into the proper historical context. Super Bowl's are not the end all be all of determining who the best is, after all this is a team game. Is Doug Williams better than Dan Marino or Jim Kelly because he won a Super Bowl and they did not? We know the answer to that one. Super Bowl/NFL titles really serve as the tie-breakers, I feel, for determining the "eliteness" of these signal callers. By winning titles, John Elway essentially breaks the tie with Dan Marino whose regular season numbers are fairly similar. It is what is breaking the tie between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. If Manning can get that 2nd ring than we can bring the discussion back up again but as long as Brady sits at 3 and Manning at 1 than that discussion has ended in my mind. It has taken me awhile to realize that because by most accounts Peyton Manning may be the best regular season QB we have seen this side of Marino. I have had to rely on stats to tell the stories for me when I evaluate different players with whom I barely remember seeing play. You can do that more so in baseball but not in football where there is far more teamwork involved and so many different components involved as well. Which makes the case for Ben Roethlisberger intriguing to me.

Approximately two weeks ago I posted an article ranking my top 5 QB's in 2010-2011 NFL. To review I had 1)Brady, 2)P. Manning, 3)Brees, 4)Roethlisberger, 5)Phil Rivers with Aaron Rodgers being the next man up.

This Super Bowl I feel will help set the stage for how we will be evaluating this next generation of QB's and may be setting up future battles in the years to come as Manning and Brady continue on towards the 2nd half of their careers. The list you see above will change by 48 hours from now, I am nearly certain of this. Just by appearing in this game, I think Roethlisberger moves up to 3 and depending on how he plays may move into the top 2. Rodgers, who is sitting at 6 on my list, will move into the top 5. He is not there already because I did not want to prematurely crown him as so many have done already. Look, he has got all the tools you want (strong arm, leadership, mobility in and out of the pocket), he just lacks experience. If he plays well he will slide ahead of Brees for sure, dropping Brees down to 5 if both guys play well. Rodgers may even jump Roethlisberger as well. He will not jump Manning, simply because of the experience and the consistency factor. If Rodgers can duplicate this kind of season again in 2011 than I will bring up again for discussion. That is what is at stake for the two signal callers leading two of the most proud and respected franchises in the NFL. The Steelers will be going for their unprecedented 7th Super Bowl title, the Packers will be going for their 4th. Super Bowls stand the test of time. People remember certain games by how well the men in them played. Super Bowl III is known for Joe Namath, Bradshaw is known for all 4 of those titles he won. The performances in these games overshadows, and rightfully so, the regular season performances of these guys.

To steal from the Big 10 (now the Big 12) this is where "Legends" and "Leaders" are born.

Steelers 27 Packers 24

MB

What I am really longing for....

2011-02-02T22:23:00.000-06:00

When most of your daily life centers around the sports world it can be hard when there is not enough of it to wet your appetite. I know, I know this is Super Bowl week. The culmination of the professional football season. There should be plenty for me "eat" and "digest" this week. Call me crazy but I am really not that interested. Do not get me wrong I will still watch the game. Maybe it is because my favorite team is not in the biggest game of the year that causes my lack of interest. Two weeks in between games is a long time, especially when their is a lack of quality sports to watch on the tube.

College basketball, count me as one who cannot get interested in watching guys jack up three's that they miss 70% of the time and just the slower level of play. As the quality of players has risen over the last few years, the gap between the entertainment value and the quality of the play that I witness between the NBA and college basketball is as wide as it has been awhile. The only way that I watch college basketball right now is if there is a player that is going to be drafted in the lottery and even then I do not watch an entire game. I think forcing guys to wait a year after they graduate high school to enter the draft has benefited the college game and also hurt it at the same time. On the positive side we have seen players like Kevin Durant (Texas) and Michael Beasley (Kansas St.) elevate their teams and made the college game more entertaining. It was must see TV. The last game that I really watched for college basketball was the Memphis-Kansas game a few years back at the end of the 2008 season. That game featured future pros such as Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Mario Chalmers, Brandon Rush, just to name a few. That game was really good, two teams full of talent that played together as teams. Maybe those kinds of teams exist today, but my interest has really waned. As I mentioned previously the "one and done" rule as it applies to college basketball has also had negative consequences in my mind. You have coaches such as John Calipari who gets a lot of these one and done guys and basically has a different roster every year. If players stay more than two years they probably are no better than an 8th or 9th man on an NBA team. Their talent is limited even though they may be a smart kid, who works hard, their basketball skill level is usually pretty low. Players such as Tim Duncan are few and far between. Personally I think that college basketball should use a similar rule to how baseball does it. Either the kid can go right out of high school to the professionals or he has to wait three years to enter the draft. Two years out of high school might be the better option. Blake Griffin would be a good example of this. He was not quite ready to go to the NBA out of high school, but two years really helped him out.I am just not a big fan of how the college game has turned, academics are really being shunned at and laughed in the face at with this one and done rule for college basketball. It puts coaches in a conundrum. Do they sign these really talented one and done players and risk high turnover and low APR (academic progress rate) that can affect that their job status? Do they sign the lesser talented players and wait for them to develop over a two to three period, risking wins and losses?

What else is there to occupy the sports fan time over these upcoming days/weeks/months? The X-games? Please give me a break. It is bad enough that this stuff was made into an olympic sport. The NBA is good right now, the regular season has quality games on nearly every night but if ESPN or TNT does not have the right game on TV you are stuck with The World Series of Poker or a college basketball game that features two mediocre teams. Football will be over with a few short days and that will be a good thing for me. My mind and my television is over-saturated with football. I get that it is popular and there is a reason that it is exposed so much to the masses. There is a limit to the amount that I can absorb and I am at that limit. The build-up to the Super Bowl is nearly always bigger than the game itself. This is one of if not the most watched sporting events out there and there are many reasons that this is so. The commercials, the game itself, the drama that unfolds during the game, and the fact this is the most popular game here in the States just adds to at all. Every year around this time, especially the last couple of years, this burnout feeling occurs inside me. I will long for football again during the heat of summer, but right now it is time for a break. The NBA is gradually building steam towards its conclusion in a few months but with their being so many games left to play, there is just too much of the unknown and still too many games that do not matter. I would call myself a casual NASCAR fan but that only holds my interest for so long.

So what is a guy to do with his time? Watch the History channel. There are usually some good things on that channel. AMC had a triple feature of awesomeness this past weekend, El Dorado, True Grit, and Jeremiah Johnson. That was an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon, but it was fleeting and only lasted for a day. I could devote myself to my studies (and I do for the most part). I am in graduate school pursuing a degree in Sport and Fitness Management. Who wants to spend their whole day buried in books or research. There is value in that but not something you want to completely monopolize your time. I long for the days of warm weather and nice cool, evening summer breezes after a long hot day. I long for the days where shorts and sandals are the clothing du jour for the day. I long for the boys of summer. You know that song. You know what I long for and it is my favorite sport. The nation's former National Past time. I know I am rare breed in Generation Y when i say:

Pitchers and Catchers report in 12 days....

MB

A quaint little town in North Mississippi

2011-01-30T17:48:00.008-06:00

I came to Oxford, MS with unbearable anticipation and excitement and left with my ringing and my mouth grinning. I am not going to run through the entire set-list for my virgin Drive-By-Truckers show but will just give my overall thoughts on the show itself, the vibe from the crowd, and the vibe I got from Oxford itself (also a virgin voyage to this quaint little town).

The Futurebirds gave the crowd in Oxford a nice little 45 minute warm-up beginning around the 9 o'clock hour. They were young guys, not much older than myself and my companion on this trip, Justin Haynes. One guy sported a flannel shirt, a banjo, and had a spectacular beard that was a cross between Garth Hudson from The Band and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. I could not stop staring at it the whole time. The bassist bared a striking resemblance to Adam Morrison, the basketball player more known for his time at Gonzaga than anything he did in the pro's, albeit not quite as tall. The other members looked pretty ordinary. The band interchanged a lot with different guys taking turns on the drums, guitars, and singing lead vocals for certain songs. All in all a good warm-up act for the featured show of the night.

The Futurebirds

Drive-By-Truckers came out a little after ten o'clock a solid 25 minutes after the Futurebirds had left the stage. Plenty of time for those pouring down the alcohol to get riled up into a tizzy, which would reflect upon the behavior of some members as the show wound on. They began with "Ray's Automatic Weapon," a Patterson Hood song from their latest and soon to be released album Go-Go Boots. A good song but a little slow for the opening show for the set.

They preceded to go into Mike Cooley's "Zip City," off an earlier album that truly kicked the show off. A lot of D.B.T.'s songs tell about the areas in which they grew up in which for most is in North Alabama in the Florence-Muscle Shoals area of the state. Zip City is a little town about 5 minutes from my friend Justin's apartment in Florence. He took me there recently and when you hear the song and know the place that they are singing about it just adds to the total listening experience. The band would essentially go onto alternate with both Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley songs with a couple of Shonna's songs mixed in at appropriate times throughout the two hour plus show. They played 18 songs in the first set and went on to play six more in the encore that I am not sure was deserved due to some behaviors in the crowds that I will touch on shortly.

Mike Cooley

There was one point in the show where Patterson called out two people, who basically were not interested in the show and were instead more interested in each other if that makes any sense. Mike called out these guys who were holding up "Rebel" flags, saying that if he were not in Oxford he would shove those things up their you know what. Since the band has started to become more famous and more well-known throughout the country, it has started to attract some people at their shows that are not truly appreciative of their music. As a fan of any band you want them to get big enough so that they can be the feature attraction at just about any show and still be able to tour across the country, but not too big as to attract fans that are just there to get liquored up and socialize during the show. Some people think that since the band is from the South and that they use three guitars that they are a "Southern Rock" band. While they do have some elements of Southern Rock in them it would not be fair to say that is what the band should be classified as. They are not Lynard Skynard or The Marshall Tucker Band. They are what I would call "Blue Collar Rock." They sing about Southern themes and are very aware of the dualistic nature of being from the South in the 21st century. There are some parts of their Southern roots that they are ashamed of and there are other parts for which the band is appreciative of and that is reflected in the songs that they play. So by those guys in the crowd holding up the Rebel flags I can see why it would set them the wrong way. The only other critique I would have is not from the show itself, which was outstanding, is again from idiot "fans" in the crowd. There was some kid, probably a frat boy, but I could be wrong, basically shouting F-bombs at D.B.T. when they left the stage for the first time. My best guess is that kid probably came in late, had too much to drink, could not handle his liquor, and missed a bunch of the Trucker's set and was pissed off that he did not hear the songs that he wanted to hear. I came to realize that they have so many good songs that it is impossible for us to hear all of the one's that we like. That show could last for another two hours.

Alas, I did not let a few bad apples spoil my trip to Oxford to see the Drive-By-Truckers. It was a fantastic show that leaves my ears ringing nearly 48 hours after it ended.

"With Bon Scott singing 'Let There Be Rock...."

Patterson Hood

P.S.- I love Oxford, not the drive over there which is as dull and depressing as you can can get, but the town itself was very nice. There are plenty of good places to eat, bookstores galore, and oh by the way there is a chance you can see Eli Manning walking down the streets of town, which happened to us over the weekend.

Top 5 NFL QB's

2011-01-24T12:26:00.003-06:00

In light of this weekend's results in the NFL, I would like to reveal my own personal QB rankings. Since this is my blog post, I will set my own criteria for how to judge and determine the current state of NFL quarterbacking. I consider factors such as regular season stats, focusing in upon completion percentage, touchdown to interception ratio, yards per attempt, and team winning percentage. I also take into consideration the playoff performances of the QB, sometimes the team played well and the quarterback did not, that is taken into consideration. Sometimes the quarterback plays well and the team did not win the game, that will also be taken into consideration. Also the "clutchness" of the QB's will play a factor as well. The last and probably the most important criteria for me is the eye test. Who always seems to be making plays at the right time and whose team is usually one of the last one's standing? I believe you cannot just judge based on one season, you have to look at the whole body of work with greater emphasis being on what has happened recently. That seems fair to me. I cannot place a guy high just because I think he will do well in the future. It has to be results-based rankings for me.

I decided to post about this topic because Super Bowl XLV will have two quarterbacks playing that are both highly regarded and place high in my rankings. The outcome of that game will have a bearing on future rankings, but I figured now was a good time to start the discussion.

I am limiting this to the top 5 Qb's for space purposes and because these are the elite, upper-echelon guys in the league.

Enjoy.

Feel free to disagree because I am sure you will.

() denotes age as of January 24, 2011

1. Tom Brady (33) New England Patriots- drafted in 2000, starter since 2001

Career Win-Loss Record: 111-32 (.776 %)

3 Super Bowl Titles, 4 overall appearances

2 Super Bowl MVP's (7 TD's-1 interception in 4 games)

14-5 Career Playoff Record (8 overall appearances)

95.2 Career Passer Rating, 96.2 and 111 the last 2 seasons

6 Pro Bowls, 3-4000 yard passing seasons

64 TD's, 17 interceptions last 2 seasons

23 4th quarter comebacks for his career

1 NFL MVP

Has not won the big one in 6 years, his last two playoff appearances have seen his team lose its first game. Be interesting to see how the Patriots build around him as he winds down the 2nd half of his career. On top of his game still. Consistency over the long haul the key to this ranking.

2. Peyton Manning (34): Indianapolis Colts, drafted in 1998 started every game of his career

Career Win-Loss: 141-67 (.678 winning percentage)

1 Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP (2 overall appearances)

9-10 Career Playoff Record (big red flag)

11 playoff appearances in 13 seasons (7 times has lost his first game in the postseason)

11 4000 yard passing seasons

399 TD passes for his career

35 4th quarter comebacks for his career

11 Pro Bowls, 5- 1st team All-Pro

4x NFL MVP (AP)

He may be the best regular season quarterback in league history, this side of Dan Marino. His playoff success, or lack thereof makes him a little difficult to judge historically and from a present day stand point. However, he has been far too good for far too long to be considered much lower than 2nd on my list. His career still has a few good seasons left in it but he will need to win another ring in order to truly be considered one of the all-time greats. The supporting cast needs to improve dramatically around him for this to occur.

3. Drew Brees (32): New Orleans Saints-drafted 2001, starter since 2002

Career Win-Loss Record: 79-58 (.577%)

1 Super Bowl Title and MVP (114 QB Rating)

4-3 Career Playoff Record (4 overall appearances, twice been knocked out in first game)

Last 2 seasons: 67 TD's-33 Int.

5-4,000 yard passing seasons

5 time Pro Bowler

1 time 1st team All-Pro

16 4th quarter comebacks

His career is not as full as the guys listed above him and is more full than the guys listed below him. He has been a top 5 guy for about years now. The Super Bowl win last year really elevated his status around the league from an already impressive regular season resume. He is right with Brady and Manning and if he can continue to lead his team into the playoffs and advance deep into the postseason, he will stay up here if not rise. He plays in one of the toughest divisions in football, the NFC South, which could hurt his future chances for postseason success.

4. Ben Roethlisberger (28): Pittsburgh Steelers, drafted 2004 and has started ever since

Career Win-Loss Record: 69-29 (.704%)

2 Super Bowl Titles (64.1 QB rating, 1 TD, 3 Int in 2 games)

10-2 Career Playoff Record, 5 overall postseason appearances

1 4,000 yard passing season

144 TD's-86 Interceptions for his career with a 63.1% completion rate

19 4th quarter comebacks

1 Pro Bowl

He is the antithesis of Peyton Manning, underwhelming regular season stats with overwhelming postseason numbers, although he has never really put up good numbers in the Super Bowl. Dude just finds ways to win and make plays when he needs to. The career winning percentage and postseason success is not coincidence to this last remark. Depending on how he performs in Super Bowl 45 could determine whether he can move up another spot on this list. Best QB under 30 years old.

5. Phillip Rivers (29) San Diego Chargers, drafted 2004, starter since 2006

Career Win-Loss Record: 55-25 (.688%)

3-4 Playoff Record (4 overall appearances)

97.2 Career Passer Rating, 104.4 and 101.8 last 2 seasons

136 TD to 58 Interceptions for Career

8.8, 8.7- Yards per pass attempt last 2 seasons to lead the league

12 4th quarter comebacks

3 Pro Bowls

What, you were expecting Aaron Rodgers?! Sorry, not yet my friend. I know Rodgers has been in a Super Bowl and Rivers has not. Rivers has been on top of his game the last 2 plus seasons and has had to deal with a team full of knuckleheads and an incompetent coach as well. I cannot fault him for that. His regular seasons stats are tremendous, 2 consecutive seasons with a passer rating over 100, yowsers! He has been in the league a little longer than Rodgers and has thus proven his consistency. That is the reason I chose him over Rodgers. I did not want to be a prisoner of the moment with him. Let's not rush to crown Rodgers as the next great QB and the best postseason QB ever. Let's let this breathe a little and take some time to evaluate them.

Others receiving consideration: Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Eli Manning

Thanks for reading.

A Time For Reflection

2011-01-19T20:34:00.008-06:00

I talk a lot about sports on this blog and in my everyday conversations with friends and family. However, there are certain instances and circumstances that come up in life that require me to take some time away from sports. One of which is scholastic obligations. However with what I am studying now, Sport Management, sports is never too far away from my mind or the conversation. Another instance that can draw my mind away from sports, temporarily, is being around the family and engaging in family-type activities, but even in that instance the conversation will usually turn to sports with myself usually being the catalyst for the discussion. People who have known me for any length of time know that I have strong passion for just about everything sports-related and so the conversation will naturally drift in that direction. It is not that I find "other" things in life trivial, it is just natural for me to be thinking about sports on a 24/7 basis. I can talk about and communicate effectively about other things such as music, movies, life experiences, places been, vacations, etc, but not to the extent of which I can express and articulate myself effectively as I can when I am discussing the merits of certain sports teams and am able to name the starting shortstop for every major league team or the second string quarterback for every NFL franchise.

There is one thing, however, that can fully knock my mind off of sports and I do not know how to say it without sounding cliche or trivializing the matter, but that very thing that causes me to pause and reflect is the very thing that happens every day throughout the world and that is the death of a loved one. Whether that be a family member or a friend. When somebody with whom you have had a personal connection with in your life passes, it can be a time of close, personal reflection, and in some instances causes a self-evaluation of your own life. Are you living like you should? Are you taking advantage of the opportunities that were given to you? Have you told that special someone in your life how much you appreciate them being in your life? These thoughts and many others ripped through my mind and put me in a daze of sorts on the afternoon of Wednesday the 19th of January.

Sure I am sad when a famous person of some historical significance passes away but it is usually for a fleeting moment and then it gets pushed to the back burner of my mind. It is just not the same as when you lose someone that you know, from a personal standpoint.

I am writing about this because someone I knew pretty well passed away earlier this week at an age far too young with a vast amount of "life" potential that will remain unfulfilled. This is my way of grieving and giving up my thoughts and prayers to remember this special person. The best way that I know how to express myself is through the written word. I have spent the whole day reflecting upon the times I had with this person and recalling the first time I met this girl. My first remembrance of this girl was when the cross country teams at Lees-McRae got together and played ultimate frisbee the preseason week before school started my sophomore year. She was this tenacious red-head that was constantly in your face, knocking down frisbees and just being a real pain in the butt. As all of us soon came to find out that was just Carla being Carla. She was a tenacious competitor who did not like to lose whether it was in a meaningless ultimate frisbee game, competing on the cross country course, or racing on her bike. She was life personified. She had the best combination of guts and talent than any person that I have ever met. She also combined that with a wonderful personality, a friendly smile, and a keen mind.

Carla Swart, you left us way too soon.

God Bless,

NFL Playoff Preview 2011

2011-01-06T12:52:00.005-06:00

Greetings, welcome to 2011, this will be my first post of the new year. I figured I would get in a blog post in before the semester really starts kicking into high gear. Got pretty much a full slate of classes to attend and teach this spring. My thought process on this is twofold. One is that I am ready to get back into the swing of things, get settled in and get one semester closer to finishing my masters degree. On the other hand I really enjoyed my month off from school. I spent a lot of quality time with the family and doing absolutely nothing but enjoying the good life. Did a whole lot of relaxing and unwinding to prepare myself for the grind ahead this year in 2011.

Anyways on to the theme of today's post, the NFL playoffs. We have a full slate of games this weekend to kick us off with, two games on Saturday and two on Sunday. I will give a preview of each and what I see happening in each game. I went through the process of researching about these match-ups, listening to what people had to say, noting any significant injuries and just trusting my gut, which inevitability is what I rely upon.

New Orleans at Seattle Saturday 4:30pm

The high temperature in Seattle for Saturday is 44 with a 40% chance of rain. Typical Seattle I guess. I do not know for sure, never been there. Seattle is a long way away from New Orleans and Qwest Field is known for being kind of loud and boisterous. Do not know how much a factor that plays in this game if the home team is decidedly less proven, less talented, and flat out just not as good. Last line I heard had New Orleans as a 10.5 point favorite, which almost unheard of in the playoffs, showing the discrepancy between the two teams. The Saints are without Chris Ivory and Pierre Thomas, two of their top running backs. I think that plays a factor. If Seattle can keep possession and not turn the ball over than they could keep it close and make it really nerve racking for Saints fans. In a completely biased thought here, I would love to see Seattle knock these guys out so I do not have to hear "Who Dat?!" over and over again, but my gut tells me the Saints and Drew Brees will win in a closer than the experts think kind of game.

New Orleans 27- Seattle 17

New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts Saturday 8:00pm

A rematch of last year's AFC title game. Supposedly the Jets used that loss to the Colts last year as motivation, whatever. Rex Ryan's team has looked soft to me late in the year. The defense does not look as strong as they did last year. Manning figured these guys out last year in the 2nd half of that playoff game and I think he will do it again. Sanchez has played a little bit better than he did last year, cutting down on the interceptions and completing a little bit more of his passes, but I do not think he is good enough yet to spoil one for the home team. Number 18 (Peyton Manning) is one of my favorite guys to watch play and I guess you could say the Colts are my "#2" team that I pull for but there is a big difference between them and my hometown Atlanta Falcons in terms of rooting interests. I think it has partly to do with their uniforms which I love as being simple, basic, and blue. Despite all of the injuries that have occurred to the Colts I think they win this game and this game only in the playoffs barring a blowout of the Jets which then I will allow myself to get sucked in to this flawed team.

Colts 24 Jets 13

Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs Sunday 1:00pm

I just checked the weather for this one, 34 degrees is the high in Kansas City for Sunday according to weather.com. I do not know about you, but that is cold. Which is kind of what you would expect from a team in the midwest playing against a team, the Ravens, which I associate with playing in cold weather. The Chiefs return to the playoffs for the first time since 2006 and I miss seeing them in January. I think it has to do with their uniforms, which I love because they are red and red is tied with blue as being my favorite color. I am sure I am not alone in saying this that I based a lot of whether I liked a team growing up or not by the uniform colors that they had. Oh, you wanted some X's and O's break down in this one, sorry, that will be limited because, wait a minute hold your breath, I never played or coached football, but regardless I find this a very intriguing matchup. The Chiefs can run the ball really well, Jamal Charles had nearly 6.4 yards per carry this year, which is really good. He has a good complement in the veteran Thomas Jones and Matt Cassel has had a nice year this year. Tamba Hali provides a solid pass rush to this young and up in coming defense. However, I think the veteran Ravens are the better team. The questions I have about them are: do they know what their offensive identity is (my solution: run the ball with Ray Rice, throw the ball no more than 25 times, and utilize Rice in the passing game)? The other question I have about them is their defense which is still good but it is not good enough to carry them far into the playoffs. Ray Lewis is not as young as he used to be, but then again who is in this world and they just seem a little vulnerable on that side of the ball. With all that being said, and that was a lot I had to say there.

Baltimore 17 Kansas City 13

Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles Sunday 4:30 pm

The high temperature in Philadelphia for Sunday is 34 degrees. My analysis tells me that that is cold. Weather.com is also calling for some strong wind to be blowing which will only add to the fun of trying to throw the ball around. One thing I will tell you right now, is that you will not find me at a football game with these conditions unless I am in a protected from the cold press box. This is the game that probably intrigues me the most and I have reversed my opinion on this game since Monday. Whatever happens in this game will not surprise me and it will determine the team with whom the Falcons have to deal with next week. A Packers win means they play Atlanta. An Eagles win will more than likely give the Falcons a date with the Saints. This game features the best quarterback matchup of this opening round, in my opinion. Michael Vick versus Aaron Rodgers. My quarterback rankings place Rodgers at 6th in the league and Vick at 8th. Both of these guys can scramble and make plays. I think Vick is going to be a little too banged up and his play of late has reflected that with a lot of interceptions and sluggishness. I also do not like the Philly defense, they give up a lot of points and yards. Andy Reid has had pretty good success in opening round games so that is definitely something to consider. I like the Packers defense a lot here and I think that Aaron Rodgers will get his first playoff win in Philly. Another thing to watch in this game is for one of if not both of the head coaches to make some head-scratching time management move at some point in the game. It may or may not make a difference in the game, we will see. Relied a lot upon the ole gut in this one.

Green Bay 34 Philadelphia 23

Enjoy the playoffs. Until we meet again.

Hugs and hand-pounds everyone.

The Day After Christmas: A Show To Remember

2010-12-28T13:05:00.014-06:00

Kevin Kinney

It was a cold night in Atlanta the day after Christmas. I was not quite sure what I was getting myself into, but I planned on having a good time and that is how I try to approach any new or unfamiliar situation. When I attend concerts I anticipate having a good time singing along to the songs I know and nodding my head to the ones I don't. I also anticipate having my ears ringing for the next few days which is fine and comes with the territory. The featured attraction was Drivin' N' Cryin celebrating their 25th year as a band; formed in Atlanta in 1985 (one year prior to my existence on this Earth). To be honest I only knew three of the band's songs, "Fly Me Courageous", "Honeysuckle Blue", and "Straight to Hell." You would think that someone who grew up in the shadow's of Atlanta would know more but I didn't and that was my loss. Of all the three bands that took the stage that night, the one's I was least familiar with was the one's that had been around the longest, Drivin' N' Cryin.

Sons of Bill, a five piece band out of Charlottesville, VA, was a band I had been listening to for a few years courtesy of college roommate who was from the bands' hometown. They only took the stage for about 35 minutes but more than held their own with the two bands that were to follow them. Being a Sons of Bill fan I wish they could have played longer as there were a good five or six songs that were worthy of being showcased and I know the crowd would have enjoyed them. James Wilson, the lead singer for the band has a special talent for songwriting with such lyrics from their song "Broken Bottles" as "Hank Williams might have been a love-sick drinker/but being a love sick drunk don't make you Hank." Honestly I think the two best live songs that they performed were "The Rain" and the one they ended with off their very first album A Far Cry From Freedom "Far Cry." Which they just absolutely brought the house down with some epic guitar rifts that I salivate thinking of at this moment. Sam Wilson, the lead guitarist is another special talent. I hope this band can start getting the recognition that they deserve.

The next band to go on was Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit. A band I started listening to in the last year, courtesy of a friend who lives in the area where these guys are from. The band is based out of Northwest Alabama in the Shoals region of the state that is famous for its renown recording studio FAME Studios, which has seen such artists as Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and Duane Allman record their at the studio. Jason Isbell, the lead singer, is a former member of the band Drive-By-Truckers from 2001 to 2007. He played a mixture of some of his old songs from Drive-By-Truckers as well as some of the songs he has recorded as a member of his current band. My friend who is an avid music listener and knew all of the bands that had played that night in Atlanta feels that Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit had the best overall set of the three bands that played and that is no slight to either Sons of Bill or Drivin' N' Cryin'. Jason ended with "Decoration Day," a song he recorded with Drive-By-Truckers off their album Decoration Day, gave me goosebumps and electrified the crowd and set the stage for the featured attraction. Being on the front row you could just see the sweat pooring off Jason's face as he ripped through his set and you could really feel the passion behind the words in his songs.

Around 10pm the buzz was alive in that old church. It had been about 15 minutes since Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit had left the stage. The press corps inside the pit in front of the stage was at full capacity. The stage was dark. You could see the band walk out onto the stage then.... BOOM it began with one of their more well known tracks, "Honeysuckle Blue." I thought my ears were about to explode.

I did some YouTube searches of the band in the coming weeks before the concert to get familiar with their sound and some of their more well known songs. I expected the band to sound different from their youth, a "past their prime" kind of sound. Boy was I wrong. Kevin Kinney(who sounded like he did 20 years ago) and the boys put on one helluva show. What ensued over the next two plus hours is something that I won't forget for a long time to come. Ending with probably their most famous song, "Straight to Hell," which Jason Isbell and a cast of characters joined in to bring the show to an epic, guitar blasting, ear-rattling close.

What added to it for me personally was that my uncle who has known the main guys from Drivin' N' Cryin' since the very beginning was there in the pit taking pictures and video of the crowd. He made a comment to me how it had all come full circle for him. A band who had first formed before I was born. Me, one of the younger members of the crowd enjoying music that he had embraced over 20 years earlier, standing in the front row nodding my head and singing along to songs by guys that he knows personally. I thought that was cool and brought an interesting and memorable experience to it all. I like to think that I have a good taste for music and have an open mind to branching off and exploring new music. This will probably be one of the few shows where I really enjoyed all three performances and actually had a working knowledge of all the bands that played, some more so than others. I also found it interesting to note the age progression of the bands that played and how one band fed off and built upon the next. Sons of Bill is compromised of guys who are in their 20's and early 30's. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit is a band that appeared to be made of guys in their 30's. Drivin' N' Cryin' a band in their 40's if not slightly older than that. The real treat for me was seeing Jason Isbell join the stage for the last few songs of Drivin' N' Cryin's set. His talent on the guitar was readily apparent and it was such a treat for me to see. You could really feel the appreciation that all three bands have for each other. All of the bands are wonderfully talented and skilled in different ways. I hope people will continue to support bands like these so we can be fortunate enough to hear what talents they have to offer. Kevin Kinney, Tim Nielson, Mac Carter, Dave V. Johnson, and company thanks for making the night after Christmas a night to remember.

Photos courtesy of David S. Barron amFILMS HD

New Coach for the Gators

2010-12-15T10:56:00.003-06:00

Greetings,

Welcome to the second installment of Tales from the beard.

Just wanted to touch on a few things that have been rambling around in my head these last two weeks.

The University of Florida has made former UGA defensive back, Will Muschamp their new head coach. Muschamp has a lot of experience as a defensive coordinator at Texas, LSU, Auburn, and even the Miami Dolphins for one year. He has worked his way up through the ranks, he has paid his dues to get to this position. There are not many places that are considered upgrades over being the defensive coordinator and coach-in-waiting at Texas, but being the head coach at Florida does. Florida is one of the top 5 places to be a head coach in college football. Right up there with Texas, LSU, USC, Oklahoma, Ohio State, etc. It is a high intensity, stressful type of job. If you watched Florida this year, you could just see the energy being zapped from Urban Meyer. His health scare from last year was pretty reflective on the performance this season. His energy was not there and by all accounts he was less involved than in previous seasons. I think losing his top 2 assistants over the last 2 years, Dan Mullen to Mississippi State and Charlie Strong to Louisville hurt his team this year.

The Florida Gators do not lack for talent, that is not the problem. They just need an energy boost and someone to give them direction. Can Muschamp do that? That remains to be seen. I think this is a fairly risky hire for a program of this stature. Florida AD Jeremy Foley hit a home run with the Urban Meyer hire, but struck out on his previous hire of Ron Zook. Where will he stand with Muschamp? It remains to be seen. My best guess is that it is somewhere in between. A few SEC East titles, maybe an overall SEC title, but no national championships. Look, Muschamp was the hot name, but I think his coaching acumen was a little overvalued. While he his a great recruiter and has a fierce sideline demeanor, his defenses could hit hard but also missed a lot of tackles.

How much of it was his defense at LSU (Nick Saban) or at Auburn (Tommy Tuberville)?

A side note to this, as a lifelong Georgia fan, there is no better opportunity to try and take the SEC East division (well other than this previous season). New coach at Florida, South Carolina is South Carolina and until they can consistently show that they are a 9-10 win type of program, I have my doubts. Tennessee is in year two with Derek Dooley, who I think will get them back to where they are used to being and that is the top of the Eastern Division. Kentucky and Vanderbilt are what they are, average and below average SEC programs. South Carolina should be the favorites going into next season and we will see how they handle that pressure.

Georgia will have the best QB in the division in Aaron Murray and although they will lose some guys to the NFL draft, most notably A.J. Green, they still have enough talent to have double digit wins and play in New Year's Day bowl games. I have my doubts on this happening. The UGA program has stalled under Mark Richt and it does not seem to be on the uptick. The defense has not been the same since Brian Van Gorder left after the 2004 season. The line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball has been lacking the last couple of years. Especially on the offensive line, where the past two years they have been regarded as one of the top lines in the preseason only to be slightly above average and struggling to find the "right combination." To me this is Richt's last year at UGA if he cannot win the East. That is what the administration should be telling themselves as well. You only get by so much as being a nice guy. Eventually you need to win some games. Being a nice guy sure does not scare the players that much. Go look at their off-season track record the last few seasons.

That is all I have for today. I hope you will continue to read. Enjoy.

Hugs and handpounds.

Return of the beard

2010-12-02T21:58:00.002-06:00

From those don't remember my old blog "tales from the stache", and who would have since I haven't posted one in over a year, this is the "return of the beard." A newer, hipper, more mature version. Stache 2.0 if you prefer. I decided to reboot this old thing because it was something I enjoyed doing and it really stirred some deep passions within me.

There is a lot that has happened to me since last September and most of you who keep in touch with me know what has been going on so I will only touch on the highlights. Since last September I have worked in retail and did that until July, it was a trying experience that taught me a lot of patience.

Also, I decided to enter graduate school and selected Troy University in Troy, AL. It is slightly bigger than my last school. Well, I say slightly, more like 10x as big if you can imagine that (700 to 7000). The smallness of Troy does not bother me as much as one might think. I have found this place warm (literally and figuratively) and I feel like I have made the right decision so far.

What else is new? Well I am still running, albeit not as much and not as fast as in my "younger" days. Logging around 20 mpw, enough to keep me in shape and my appetite up.

I have also been opening up my music tastes and have found many new artists in which to listen to , some are newer on the scene than others and I can say with great confidence that this music has helped me mentally get through some stressful times over the last few months. Some of those new bands that I have started listening to over the last year have been Drive-by-Truckers (props to my buddy Justin Haynes for introducing me to these guys), a rock band based in the South. I have fallen head over heels in love with everything these guys do and I can't believe I didn't listen to them sooner. I can't wait to see these guys live in concert. Another band is based right out of my backyard in Atlanta, Blackberry Smoke. A kick-ass Southern Rock band, whom I have seen twice this year. They have been described as if Lynard Skynard had had sex with angels. I'd say thats an accurate description. Sons of Bill is another band I would like to mention, who I have been listening to recently. I have heard and listened a little bit to them before the past year but did not follow them seriously as I do now.

This new version of the blog will also include my thoughts on sporting events going on in the world as well as any other random takes I may have on things ranging from school, life, and any new beer recommendations I encounter. I think that is enough for tonight. Hopefully I can get a decent following and let me know if there is anything you would like me to tackle.

Hugs and Handpounds.

Braves Talk

2009-09-01T20:58:00.002-05:00

I have been promising for awhile now that I would post more blogs, so I think I will hold that promise (for now at least). I have not talked much about the Braves lately. So in this edition of "the stache," I will divulge some random thoughts on the club as we head into the last month of the season. The team is currently 3 games back in the Wild Card. It doesn't matter how far back they are in the division because for all I am concerned that race is over.

-Matt Diaz is a player. For those that have followed the Braves over the last few years they know this. He is a ballplayer. Always hustling, always busting it out of the box, can bat anywhere in the lineup and be productive. He has hit over .300 in 3 out of his 4 years with the Braves. He has been a part-timer over these 4 years and is always ready to play whenever and wherever he is needed. He has the most awkward swing and has never seen a pitch he does not like to swing at.

-Martin Prado has been a godsend for the Braves in the second half of the season. Since replacing Kelly Johnson in the lineup the Braves have played so much better. The Braves struggled getting production from the top of their lineup and when they placed him in the 2-hole, the lineup really started to click. Martin can play 3 different positions on the IF and maybe even SS in a pinch. He has a great looking level swing and just knows how to play the game.

-Yunel Escobar has been the Braves offensive MVP this year, maybe even the MVP of this entire club. He has always had the tools and is finally looking like he has matured emotionally and professionally. The Braves have found the ideal spot for him in the lineup, hitting 5th or 6th. He is an aggressive hitter and that suits his style well and his approach with runners in scoring position has helped to increase his RBI production for the year. Martin Prado's emergence allowed him to be dropped in the lineup.

-The pitching staff has been really good this year. Derek Lowe, the 36 year old 60 million dollar investment has been the fourth or fifth best pitcher on the staff this year and he has not been that horrible. The staff is well blended with youngsters and veterans. The two 23 year olds, Jurrjens and Hanson have been tremendous. Vazquez has been an excellent find from the White Sox and Kawakami has been getting better as he has become adjusted to the American game and culture. Jurrjens had a great start to his Braves career in 2008 and has only gotten better this year. He will surpass his innings total from last year in his next couple of starts. His ERA has hovered around 3 all year and it currently sits underneath that mark. Hanson has been good ever since he came up in June. He has show poise and moxy, no situation is ever too big for him. He reminds of Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay in physical stature, demeanor, and the variety of pitches he can throw. We can only hope his career will be anywhere close to the things the former Cy Young Award winner Halladay has accomplished. Vazquez is having his best season as a pro at the age of 33. He is second in the NL in K's and has been a workhorse going nearly 7 innings in every start. With Lowe, Kawakami, the emergence Kris Medlen of this year out of the pen, and the return of Tim Hudson. The Braves have a plethora of SP available to them, it will be interesting to see what happens with this team for next year.

I think this team will finish just shy of the playoffs. I predict they will finish with 86 wins and be 4 games out at the end of the season. An improvement over the last few seasons and a positive sign for things to come in 2010 where I think they will make the playoffs and make that return to the postseason. Take care and hugs and handpounds everyone.

College Football Preview 2009

2009-08-28T11:32:00.002-05:00

At last it is the long awaited College Football Preview for 2009. This will include the predictions for each conference and a top 25 overall for the nation. I will have win projections as well the champions, team on the rise, team on the decline, and sleeper(unexpected success) for this year. So without further ado:

ACC Atlantic

1. Florida State 8-4 (6-2)

2. N.C. State 9-3 (5-3)

3. Wake Forest 8-4 (4-4)

4. Clemson 7-5 (4-4)

5. Boston College 6-6 (3-5)

6. Maryland 6-6 (3-5)

ACC Coastal

1. Virginia Tech 11-1 (7-1)

2. Georgia Tech 9-3 (6-2)

3. North Carolina 8-4 (4-4)

4. Miami 7-5 (4-4)

5. Virginia 4-8 (2-6)

6. Duke 4-8 (1-7)

Champion: Virginia Tech

Team on the rise: N.C. State

Team on the decline: Clemson

Sleeper: Wake Forest

Anaylsis: Virginia Tech is the favorite by all accounts. They have a strong defense and are the champions of the conference the last 2 years. Big question marks on offense with Tyrod Taylor at QB and the loss of RB Darren Evans for the year. Taylor is the key for this team, if he is good they could be a darkhorse for the national title race if he is not good than they won't even be in the ACC Championship game. Georgia Tech should be a strong challenger in their second year under Paul Johnson. Their offense is really dynamic and should only be better than it was last year. UNC is an interesting squad, Butch Davis has restocked the talent on this team, if they can find some playmakers on offense they could be a sleeper team in this conference. Miami will be better but their record won't reflect it as they face a brutal early season schedule. Virginia and Duke won't be very good. The other division is a lot more muddled and there is no clear favorite. I like FSU because I like Christian Ponder and they have a solid OL for this year. N.C. State probably as the best QB in the conference in Russell Wilson, very accurate with the ball, does not turn it over. Wake is interesting because they have a senior QB and teams with senior QB's tend to do real well. They are well coached like N.C. State and tend to overachieve, but have they reached their ceiling as a program. Its tough to build a program with such a small student population as well as the difficult academic standards. Clemson will underachieve like they do every year. I don't like Dabo as the coach. They have not won anything really in about 20 years. BC and Maryland should bring up the rear. BC just doesnt have any players on offense and no QB to speak of, which is a problem.

Big 12 North

1. Nebraska 8-4 (5-3)

2. Colorado 8-4 (5-3)

3. Kansas 8-4 (4-4)

4. Missouri 6-6 (3-5)

5. Kansas State 6-6 (3-5)

6. Iowa State 2-10 (0-8)

Big 12 South

1. Texas 12-0 (8-0)

2. Oklahoma 10-2 (6-2)

3. Oklahoma State 9-3 (6-2)

4. Texas Tech 9-3 (5-3)

5. Baylor 5-7 (2-6)

6. Texas A&M 4-8 (1-7)

Champion: Texas

Team on the rise: Nebraska

Team on the decline: Missori

Sleeper: Colorado

Analysis: I don't think Texas will go undefeated, but I struggle finding more than 2 teams that have a legit shot at beating them (the 2 Oklahoma schools). There are 3 teams that have a shot at this division and thus the conference crown which will stay in the South. Texas Tech won't step back much from last year. They are a consistent winner and I expect that to continue. They will probably beat somebody they shouldn't and lose to someone they shouldn't. Baylor is intruiging. Art Briles is a good coach and they have a young dynamic QB who could upset some teams. They should contend for a bowl game. A&M is not good and that is a disapointment for a school with this kind of tradition. The North should be pretty competitive with Nebraska returning to prominence under Bo Pelini. Their schedule is tough and 8 wins would be an excellent achievement. I expect Colorado to take a step up this year and seriously challenge for the division, their schedule sets up pretty favorably for 8 wins, if they don't win that many Dan Hawkins may be gone. Kansas has the senior QB and some veteran receivers, but again I do not like how their schedule sets up. Those are the 3 teams that can win the North. Missouri will take a big step back without Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin on offense. K-State is wrestling in mediocrity and Iowa State is just really bad. I don't know how anyone can win there.

Big 11

1. Penn State 10-2 (6-2)

2. Ohio State 9-3 (6-2)

3. Michigan State 9-3 (5-3)

4. Iowa 9-3 (5-3)

5. Illinois 8-4 (5-3)

6. Northwestern 8-4 (4-4)

7. Wisconsin 7-5 (4-4)

8. Minnesota 7-5 (4-4)

9. Michigan 7-5 (3-5)

10. Purdue 3-9 (1-7)

11. Indiana 3-9 (1-7)

Champion: Penn State

Team on the rise:

Team on the decline: Ohio State

Sleeper: Iowa

Analysis: This conference is wide open with 3-4 teams having a legit shot at the top spot. Ohio State lost a lot of people and I just don't think they have the horses this year to get it done. I like Penn State because of their schedule and because of senior QB Daryl Clark. The Nittany Lions seem to have that swagger back and I like them this year. Iowa and Michigan State won't win this conference but will have a say in who does. Iowa will be a team to watch this year. Great offensive line and a veteran QB. The next tier of teams in the Big 11 consists of Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. All are about 6-8 win teams. Illinois has talent on the field but has a questionable head coach. Northwestern is well coached. Wisco is heading in the wrong direction. Michigan is intriguing, Rich Rod won at WVA and is offense produces with the right players in place and they may finally have that. They will be young, but face a difficult schedule this year. A bowl season would be a step in the right direction. Purdue and Indiana are bad.

Big East

1. Pittsburgh 9-3 (6-1)

2. Rutgers 9-3 (4-3)

3. West Virginia 8-4 (4-3)

4. Cincinnati 8-4 (4-3)

5. South Florida 7-5 (4-3)

6. Connecticut 6-6 (4-3)

7. Louisville 5-7 (2-5)

8. Syracuse 2-10 (0-7)

Champion: Pittsburgh

Team on the Rise: Cincinnati

Team on the Decline: West Virginia

Sleeper: Rutgers

Analysis: This conference sucks and all the teams are pretty close together which means their are a bunch of average teams. Somebody has to win and so this year its Pittsburgh time. I don't why but I guess they have the talent,toughness and schedule to grind it out. Rutgers, West Virginia, Cincy, and South Florida could steal it. West Virginia will disapoint because Pat White hid a lot of flaws on this team, most notably poor defense and poor coaching. Syracuse may win more double that total I listed above, but until they do so I can't put them down for more than 2 wins.

Pac-10

1. USC 11-1 (8-1)

2. California 10-2 (7-2)

3. Oregon State 8-4 (5-4)

4. Oregon 7-5 (5-4)

5. UCLA 7-5 (5-4)

6. Stanford 7-5 (5-4)

7. Arizona State 6-6 (4-5)

8. Arizona 6-6 (4-5)

9. Washington 3-9 (2-7)

10. Washington State 0-12 (0-9)

Champion: USC

Team on the rise: UCLA

Team on the decline: Arizona State

Sleeper: Oregon State

Analysis: USC wins again, what a suprise. New QB, overhaul at LB, sam result. They will contend for a National Title appearance and probably lose to Cal if at all. Cal is the main challenger to the crown this year. They have an explosive offense. The rest of the conference is jumbled in the middle except for the two Washington schools, who bring up the rear. I expect to Oregon State to do well this year and finish in the top 3. They are well coached and have playmakers on offense. UCLA is a team on the rise, their defense will be strong and their talent is gradually getting better, I expect them to flourish in 2010. Washington will be better, only because they have no other option but to. They have had teams win in the past, so they can do it again. Washington State will challenge Iowa State and Syracuse, for the worst team in a BCS conference this year.

SEC East

1. Florida 11-1 (7-1)

2. Georgia 9-3 (5-3)

3. Kentucky 7-5 (3-5)

4. South Carolina 5-7 (2-6)

5. Tennessee 6-6 (2-6)

6. Vanderbilt 4-8 (2-6)

SEC West

1. Ole Miss 10-2 (6-2)

2. Alabama 10-2 (6-2)

3. LSU 9-3 (6-2)

4. Auburn 8-4 (4-4)

5. Arkansas 8-4 (4-4)

6. Mississippi State 4-8 (1-7)

Champion: Florida

Team on the rise: Ole Miss

Team on the decline: Tennessee

Sleeper: Arkansas

Analysis: Florida is great, not good, a great team. Everything thats been said about this team is the truth, they are loaded, if they were playing in any other conference they would be undefeated, but since they are in the best conference in the land they will lose 1 game, and it probably will be to LSU on the road. UGA will be good for around 9-10 wins. The defense worries me a little, as well finding some additional playmakers on offense for Joe Cox to throw to. Richard Samuel will be a stud. He is from Cartersville and is built like another SEC bruiser from a few a years ago from the same town (Ronnie Brown of Auburn). Not saying he's as good, but hes built like a horse. He can be physical and can run away from defenders. The rest of the East is pretty average by this conferences standards. I expect Kentucky to lead the way and for Tennessee to not be as good as the hype surrounding them this fall. The west is the best division this year. 5 teams will win 8 games this year (not counting bowl games). Three teams will probably win 10 and I expect Ole Miss to lead the way. Everyone seems to be split between Ole Miss, Bama, and LSU. I lean towards the Rebels because of their QB play, their playmakers on offense, and their front 7, their front 4 is especially nasty and deep. Bama brings in a new QB and has to replace 3 guys on the OL. They are talented and have a strong defense and running game to hold them up this year. As well as Julio Jones at WR. LSU is talented but Les Miles is pretty lucky and his teams play undiscliplined. They are a sleeper potentially for the national title if they get some solid play at QB because they have proven talent at every other part on their team. Arkansas and Auburn will be in the mix as well but I don't expect to see either in Atlanta for the championship game. Solid teams that I feel are on the rise this year and the years to come. Auburn will bounce back from last years disapointment and rely on a strong running game and a strong defense. Arkansas will be explosive on offense but struggle mightily on the defensive side of the ball. Mississippi State won't make it out of the cellar. They would be a bowl team in another conference but not this one.

Top 25

1. Florida

2. Texas

3. USC

4. Oklahoma

5. Ole Miss

6. Alabama

7. Virginia Tech

8. Oklahoma State

9. LSU

10. Ohio State

11. Penn State

12. Georgia Tech

13. UGA

14. California

15. Oregon

16. Boise State

17. TCU

18. Florida State

19. Utah

20. North Carolina

21. Iowa

22. Notre Dame

23. BYU

24. Nebraska

25. Oregon State

National Title: Florida over Texas

Heisman: Tim Tebow

My Bucket List

2009-08-10T20:36:00.002-05:00

I was reading through SI's lists of all of their writers top 5 bucket lists of sporting events they would to go to as well as the best event they have ever covered. So in honor of that I have complied my own list, its about 20 deep and is in no particular order, although the ones that came first to me are at the top and they are of a little more importance than those at the bottom of the list. So here we go:

Matt's Sports Bucket List

1. The Masters- I have always wanted to go this event. It is in my home state, so maybe one day this can happen.

2. World Cup- I started playing soccer at 4 and played for 10 years. I would say my knowledge of the game has grown so much since then. I have paid more attention to what goes on in the world of soccer over these last few years. So why not try and attend the top level event for this sport. It doesn't even have to be the U.S. playing. Brazil in 2014 seems like a likely destination for me.

3. Kentucky Derby- Ever since 1997 I have followed the Triple Crown. Every year since then my desire to attend this event increases.

4. English Premier League- Any game it doesn't matter which one. Preferably a rivalry game.

5. Fenway Park- I have been outside of this famed stadium, but never inside. A regular season game would be fine, it doesn't even have to be the Yankees, but I think it would make it better.

6. Iron Bowl- A game near and dear to my friends heart. This is the top rivalry in college football, not Ohio St-Michigan, this one, where your neighbor of the rival team lives next to you for 365 days out of the year.

7. College Football Stadiums- Some of the bigger ones I want to see a game at are: Penn State, Michigan, the Rose Bowl, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Notre Dame, just to name a few.

8. SEC Football- I want to see a game in every stadium in this conference. Only been to a game in one, 11 to go.

9. UGA National Championship- I want to witness this in my lifetime, doesn't have to be in person, but I think that would make it better.

10. Tour de France- Like soccer and horse racing my knowledge and appreciation of this sport has grown incrementally over the last decade or so. Lance Armstrong's success has a little to do with that. I think I would enjoy the scenery of the area more than race, but I am sure the race would be exciting as well.

11. Duke-UNC- I have been inside both of these arenas when no games were being played, I'd like to see one during the season. These games are rarely dull.

12. Wimbledon- I really just want to go to England, this would just happen to be going on at the same time.

13. Boston Marathon- A friend just told me he wants to run Boston next year. Well in order to do that you have to qualify. I know the work it takes to put in for one of these, just getting motivated to enough mileage to qualify and get in. I have been 50/50 on this for awhile, sometime within the next 2-3 years would be the best bet. It wouldn't matter how fast because I would be running the streets of one of my favorite cities in a historical event.

14. NCAA Tourney Game- First round, second round, sweet 16, elite 8, final 4, it doesn't matter as long I'm there and the game is good.

15. Wrigley Field- Not as high a priority as Fenway but still one to see. (day game)

16. Heyward Field- Nestled away in a corner of the country I want to explore. This jewel of track and field and absolutely legendary place would give me goosebumps.

17. No-hitter or some other historical event- In live and in person, something that rarely happens would be something cool to see.

18. British Open- Preferably St. Andrew's, but any course would do. It would be another excuse to get me to go to the U.K. Then I would go to a pub afterwards and share a drink with the locals.

19. See a game at every MLB park- Dodger Stadium would be at the top of my list. I have been to games in Baltimore, Detroit, and St. Louis.

20. See a sporting event in every state- Self explanatory and just an excuse to accomplish one of my goals of visiting every state in the U.S.

21. College World Series- Just so I can say I went there.

Best event ever attended: Without a doubt Game 4 of the 1995 NLCS. Braves sweep the Reds to go onto win the World Series. Just me and Dad in a packed house at Atlanta-Fulton County chanting "SWEEP, SWEEP, SWEEP, SWEEP," over and over again.

July Stuff

2009-07-28T15:27:00.003-05:00

As some of you know, I started working at Marshalls about 2 weeks ago. For those that are not familiar, Marshalls is a discount retailer of clothing, home decor, as well as other assorted items. I have only worked there on 3 separate occasions, but I can already tell the job is not for me. I like to think I have a good "feel" for things and this one does not feel right to me. The job requirements do not accentuate my strengths, at least this is the initial impression that I have come to. I have worked 2 busy days up at the register, which is pretty stressful if you have never been up there before and then they throw you to the wolves. There are just so many little things that I have to remember to do, it can be overwhelming at times, but it is a job. I can't really complain at work, so this is the forum in which I will do it in. I won't complain too much because I have a job and that is what is important in today's times. It is a temporary stopgap to bigger and better things for me in the future. It is a good experience for me, as it provides an opportunity to enhance some of social and practical skills. It also is something I hope I do not have to do for too long. I hope to have a better sense of my future in the next few months.

Right around the time I started working for Marshalls, I had the opportunity to house sit for this family that goes to my church. They went on vacation for a week and I was responsible for feeding their animals, which included horses, goats, dogs, and cats. The horses and goats had to be fed twice a day and the horses had to be led to separate locations to be fed. It was a unique experience. I had never dealt with horses before and in fact I had only ridden a horse once in my life. So I was in some foreign territory. The woman in charge instructed me on how to conduct all the feedings a few times before they left on their trip. The animals were all well behaved, except for a few times when one of the horses was acting a little stubborn, but there was no harm done. It paid well, and I got to enjoy some alone time with a 40 inch flat screen in a house to myself.

The month of July is pretty dull for sports. You have baseball, the Open Championship, and the Tour de France (if you are into this event, which I am). I followed the Tour over its 3 weeks and became fascinated, like I do every year, over the tactics, strategy and story lines that occur throughout the tour. I love the team strategies, when to chase, when not to chase. Which team members are responsible for which tasks. The sprint finishes are dramatic, the mountain stages are epic and separate the men from the boys. I love the continual attacking on the mountain stages to see who is up to snuff. In the end the best rider is evident and this year, like it was 2 years ago, is the Spainish rider from Astana Alberto Contador. This young rider is a mountain goat and climbs faster than even 7x Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong did in his heyday. He is an incredible talent who should have many more yellow jerseys in his future. Armstrong was a big story in this years Tour as he finished on the podium in 3rd place. Quite remarkable for a guy who has been away from the sport for 3.5 years and is at the ripe old age of 37. Over ten years older than his main competitors in this years race. There was a lot of controversy between Armstrong and Contador as they were battling over team leadership and tactics throughout the Tour. They were able to put away noticeable differences in philosophies to take 2 out of the top 3 spots. The bad blood between these two is still there, and they will go their separate ways and be on 2 different teams in next years race. It makes the sport exciting and gives me one more reason to watch, like I needed another one. So that concludes this blog. I hope you enjoyed it.

Hugs and handpounds everyone.

Peachtree Road Race 2009

2009-07-13T22:27:00.003-05:00

It has been quite awhile since I have last posted. Don't worry I haven't forgot about this, there has just been a lot of things going on and a lot of things not going on if you know what I mean. I am going to try and post more regularly as we get closer to football season and the baseball season winds on down in the second half of the season.

I guess the main thing I wanted to touch on tonight was last week's July 4th Peachtree Road Race(due to popular demand and strong urging from some fans). For those that are not familiar, the Peachtree Road Race has been held every July 4th since 1970, when 110 people ran in it. So this year marked the 40th running of the race. The Peachtree Road Race is more than just a race down Peachtree St., its an event. It is hard to describe unless you have been there yourself and see and experience it all. 55,000 people of all different ages and ability levels. People has young as 14-15 all the way up to 70 years and older. One man, Bill Thorn has ran in every single one of them, quite an accomplishment. This man keeps himself in good shape by doing pushups, situps, jumping on the trampoline, and either riding the bike or walk/running everyday. The Peachtree organizers did something really cool to commemorate the original 110 by one giving them a T-shirt and two allowing them to start 8 minutes before the rest of the field. Nice tribute. The race starts at 7:30am for the elites and the first couple of groups because obviously you can't start 55,000 at one time. A little aside, everyone gets their race numbers about 3 weeks before the race and you are assigned a number based on a time you submitted from a legitimate race within the last year. If you submit a time, period, than you will be in one of the first few groups. The time I submitted got me in the sub-seeded(3285) which placed me in the group right behind the elite runners. Which this year included many U.S. elites who were competing in the U.S. 10k Road Championships simultaneously. Pretty cool, got to see guys like Brian Sell, Abdi, and Famligetti , just to name a few. For this year's race everyone got a timing strip that could be interwoven in between your shoe laces. This timing strip can tell when you cross the actual start line to when you finish and give you an accurate time for your rice. They only start the clock once, so even for people in my group who start at the same time but don't start at the same place, you can get an accurate 10k time. Its what I would call a rolling start. The rest of the race numbers are randomly assigned and you have to start with your group. The last group does not start until almost 9am, well after a lot of people have finished. Some other tidbits about the pre-race stuff. I got up at 5:20am had a bagel and some OJ (big mistake that I will explain later) and got to the start line around 6:40am. The race starts on the north side of Atlanta at Lenox Mall and runs south down Peachtree Road. Some of the lore surrounding the Peachtree Road Race is the mystery of what the T-shirt is going to look like. 5 shirts are selected from the many that are sent in. They are then voted upon by people online. No one execpt for the race organizers knows what the shirt looks like. It only goes to people who finish the race, even though I am sure some people cheat the system and start before they should. In fact I even read about this group of women that were spotted around the 3rd mile on course even before the elites arrived at that point.

Alright now onto the race, race time temperature was around 68-69, low humidity, great weather for a 4th of July in the ATL. My expectations were not very high, I had a couple of weeks around 30-35 miles, but had only been running for about a month. Nowhere near peak condition. I was expecting somewhere between 40-42 minutes, but I had no clue really. I had done no workouts and my longest run was 60 minutes and I only did that once. The thing about the Peachtree and most 10k's in general, it really tests your fitness level. You can't cheat your body here, either you got it or you don't, this isn't like the 5k where you can get away with not training as much. What makes the Peachtree difficult is that that the first 2.5 miles is either flat or a slight downhill and the rest of it is either very uphill, slightly uphill, or flat. When you are starting to hurt is when the course gets tougher. Some other tidbits about the race is that there is so much fan support along the side of the roads, its pretty cool to see all the different people who come out to support the runners. People who live in the area will come out with their lawn chairs and line up on both sides of the road, it's really cool to have them out there. There are also bands and radio stations out there playing music along the way which makes it fun too. Now onto my race. I felt relatively comfortable the first mile, running with an old teammate from high school. I did not catch the 1st mile split but it had to be a little under 6 minutes, and around that time is when I started going backwards. I said goodbye to my teammate and tried to start enjoying the race, and settling into a comfortable rhythm of some sort, which is hard because you still want to try and beat people, but I could just feel that first mile eating me up. In fact I told my old teammate that I was struggling a little the first mile at the pace he was running (he ended up running 37 minutes, which is 6minute mile pace). I hit the third mile in 18:50, not bad but I was really starting to go backwards then as it was where the first of two hills begins to hit you. The second of those hills which comes right after the 5k mark is called Cardiac Hill because Piedmont Hospital is at the top of the hill and because of how it challenges all the runners in the race. It is difficult for sure and I have ran up my share of hills. I had not started walking yet but I felt like it for sure. My back was aching, my stomach was starting to feel a little weird. I was not feeling good at all. Still getting passed and just trying to finish. The 4th mile was reached around 25-26 minutes, I don't really remember, I was pretty delirious at the time. Now during these last couple of miles I was trying to take down some water to see if that could speed me up any. It did not really help me at all and I was feeling pretty terrible that 5th mile. So after the 5th mile, I pulled off the side of the road and proceeded to throw up breakfast. About 3 different times if I recall correctly. It just hit me all of a sudden and it all came out. Quite lovely, and cost me some time in the end, but I felt better after I had gotten it all out. I realized later that it was the orange juice that was the culprit, as the acid helped to jar everything around in my stomach. Rookie mistake, I knew better, but I wanted to see if I could get away with it, and I thought two hours would be enough, but I guess not. So I walked it out for a few seconds and then proceeded to finish out the race. Feeling a lot better than I had the previous two miles. The Peachtree makes a left-hand turn and you know you got about .5 miles to go. Thankfully it is a rolling downhill to the finish. About .25 from the finish there is a place that takes a picture of you and all runners who run underneath it. You can order the pictures online about a week later. So I finished it up in 46:05, 1701st overall, a lot slower than I would have liked, but oh well I am no longer competing seriously so it was not a big deal. At times during the race I said there was no way I would do this race again, just too much pain to deal with. But once I crossed the line, walked over into Piedmont Park, saw all the other thousands of runners around, and grabbed the much coveted t-shirt. I decided that I would be back again next year, hopeful of beating my time from this year and curious to see what kind of t-shirt there will be for next year. The experience is great and I would recommend it to anyone who considers themself a runner of any kind of ability level. Whether your goal is to win the race, (which you probably won't unless you can run around 27 minutes for 10k), set a personal record, or just to finish and get that t-shirt, it is something that you should do. If you want to get in, registration begins in March, not everyone gets in so plan accordingly. Take care, enjoy the summer.

U.S. Soccer

2009-06-29T09:02:00.003-05:00

So the U.S. Men's Soccer Team just completed a nice, somewhat surprising run through the Confederations Cup. For those that do not know the Confederations Cup consists of 8 teams, the winner from each of the 6 continents (No Antarctica champion), the defending World Cup Champion from 2006 and the host nation for the 2010 World Cup. Through most of the first two games the U.S. played in the group stages, they played poorly against Italy and Brazil. The Brazil game was quite embarrassing as they lost 3-0 and showed no heart whatsoever. Demarcus Beasley had a key turnover that led to a Brazilian goal on a fast break streaking across the pitch. That was the proverbial "nail in the coffin" for him on this national team, at best I think he can be a sub but he is not a starter. He had a lot of negative energy that I think brought down everyone else around him. The tides began to turn for this team last Sunday against Egypt. Needing to beat them by 3 goals and needing to get help from Brazil over Italy, this team suddenly came to life. I did not see this game, but seeing the highlights and reading and listening to the commentary, this team finally showed some heart. They showed they could be a force. A team that struggled to move the ball up and down the field efficiently with crisp passes and movement off the ball was now looking like a team that had some potential to do some good things. We could only hope as U.S. fans that they could build off of this momentum and take it into their next game against the Spanish, the number one ranked team in the world and on a 35 match winning streak. As the U.S.-Spain match began to develop, you could just sense the energy and the confidence on the pitch for the U.S. squad. They were putting pressure on the Spanish to defend and were attacking down the field with solid ball movement. They were showing hustle, they were showing heart, they were showing a new found confidence. I would be remiss if I did not mention one of the unheralded stars for the U.S. squad, Charlie Davies, a young, fast Forward who was a catalyst for the team in the Egypt game as well as the Spanish game. He helped set the tone with his energy. In the 25th minute Jozy Altidore, the young 19 year old striker used his body well to hold off the Spanish defender and powered a goal past the Spanish keeper. Goal U.S., 1-0. The game was tight the rest of the way as Tim Howard and the defense came up huge against a barrage of Spanish shots on goal. The number one team was not going down without a fight. Than in the 73rd minute, Clint Dempsey put in a ball of a deflection from a Spanish defender into the back of the net for a 2-0 U.S. lead. Looking at the replay, it was widely thought that Landon Donovan should have taken the shot as the goalkeeper was the only one between him and the back of the net. Instead he crossed it through several Spanish defenders, who failed to clear it out of the box, to Dempsey on the back post to seal the deal for the U.S. They held on for a huge win to advance to the final to take on Brazil, a team that had embarrassed them 3-0 earlier in the tournament. Going into this game, it felt different, their was a different vibe around this team. This team was all but left for dead after losing to Italy and Brazil by a combined 6-1 score. They had outscored their next two opponents, Egypt and Spain 5-0. What a complete 180 for this team, that now brings some hope going into next summer's World Cup. Regardless of the result against Brazil in the final, this team had already exceeded the expectations of so many. All they needed to do, in my opinion, was to play a competitive game to build off of into the second half of their qualifying for the World Cup to start up again later in the summer. The U.S. got off to a fast start in the final. Scoring two goals in the first 26 minutes to get on top of a shell shocked Brazilian squad, but they aren't the Brazilians for nothing. After taking that 2-0 lead into halftime, the U.S. had to know that they were about to get a full flurry of attacks from Brazil, and they did. With beautiful precision and speed, Brazil responded quickly, scoring in the first minute of the second half. Than with that came two more goals in the 73rd and 83rd minutes to seal the deal. The U.S. had done everything they could, they just ran out of gas. They could not get the ball from the Brazilians, as they played typical South American soccer, possessing the ball and showing everyone calls this the beautiful game. The U.S. showed heart, they showed they could go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the world. Let's hope they can carry this momentum all the way into next summer.

Marco Island

2009-06-23T13:57:00.003-05:00

These are interesting times in my life. Times of uncertainity. Times of possibilities and just a lot of time to think period. Think about this think about that, you would not be suprised of the things you can think about when you have nothing to do. I am sure one day I will look back on these days and long for them when I am busy with work, or whatever else will occupy my time in the future.

For now I think I will just give a recap of our family trip to Marco Island, Florida last week. For those that don't know Marco Island lies about 20 minutes south of Naples on the Southwest coast of Florida. The island itself is not all that big, but is well developed with many condominiums and nice hotels alongside the beautiful, white sandy beaches. Do not go here expecting big waves because there aren't any, unless you want to come here when there are hurricaines in the area than I am sure you can find some good surf. But what you will find are a lot shells, clear green-blue water, and a quiet, family-like place to relax and enjoy yourself. We went during the "off-season" so there were not many people out and about on the beach compared to a lot of other places than we have gone to in the past. This is not a place like Panama City Beach or even Myrtle Beach to some extent, you won't find many teenagers/college kids down in this area. This is a place for families and really rich, mostly retired people or some kind of combination of the three. The sun down here is intense so if you don't like a lot heat, either get there before noon or wait until after dinner. Two hours out there will get you nice and red for sure and if you don't continously lather up a lot of burn and eventual skin peeling to come. The water was nice and warm, which is where I like to spend most of time when I am at the beach. I like to lay out on the beach as well, but the water is usually where it is at for me. While living on the island for a week, like we did, you can either do a lot of things or a lot of nothing. It is all up to you. Now I said the island was well developed, but that does not mean you cannot find times of solitude and quiet throughout all hours of the day. Many a house on the island is located alongside canals that are separate from the ocean but can you still lead you there if you choose. Our house was located within feet of these little canals and being how this water was so calm and wave less it was an excellent opportunity to go out on the kayak that was provided to us at the house. My first time in kayak was a lot of hard work, but also really cool and it is something that I would like to try again sometime. We went exploring through the different canals located near us on the island. Although we did not see any wildlife or anything out of the ordinary it was still a cool experience. My brother went out with my dad the next day and saw some dolphins, which are always cool to see and especially cool when they are within yards of your kayak.

There were two different beaches we went to, one was Tigertail Beach and the other one was the Public Access beach. Tigertail you had to drive to and you had to pay to park. When we first got to this beach we were a little disappointed because the water was basically like swimming in a shallow stream that had a lot of seaweed, but we quickly noticed a lot of people walking across this sandbar across the channel of water. They were carrying all of their beach things with them, chairs, coolers, strollers, you name it it was being hauled across the channel which was waist high and about 50-60 feet wide. Turns out that was where the really beach was (you could not see it from the other side of the channel). So we went back and took all of our things across and enjoyed a couple of hours on the beach, where I ended up helping my dad and little sister in constructing a sand castle. This was where I got sun burned on the back and was in mild discomfort for a couple of days.

The Public Access beach was the one we went to the most as it was merely a 5 minute bike ride from our house, or a 15 minute walk if you preferred that mode of transportation as there was no place to park your car. So we did that several times during the week, always around the same time (11am-1pm). After that we would go back to the house, eat some lunch and just relax either inside the house, or out by the pool, which was screened in and was about as warm as your standard bath, which for most of us out there means that it was really warm and not really refreshing from the hot sun. Many a day was spent reading and relaxing out by the pool and inside the house. I do not know if there was a day gone by where I did not nap sometime in the mid-afternoon. I got up nearly everyday to get some running in and by the time 3-4 o'clock rolled around I was beat and needed the Zzzz's. Ah, the tough life I was living (sarcasm duly noted).

I actually got some good reading in. Continued to work on reading "The Summer of '49," about a chapter a day. The book chronicles the 1949 baseball season through the stories of the players on the Yankees and Red Sox. One of the best books I have ever read and I haven't even finished it yet.

We also went out one evening down to Naples to play our family traditional activity, putt-putt golf. Unfortunately I was not able to defend my crown from last summer's trip, as I finished a distant 3rd behind both of my parents. I did have two hole-in-ones, but two 6's during the middle part of the round stalled my efforts to take the crown. Afterwards we headed back into town and got some ice cream. I had rainbow sherbet, one of my all-time favorites, and I was the only one to get it in a cone, for whatever that means, just another time to give some props to myself for unique. Hey, I got to take advantage of these opportunities as they do not occur often. Another highlight of the trip was heading about 30 minutes east to the edge of the Everglades to see some Manatees, sea cows if you will. Only they were not located in the seas but in some small rivers, and channels. So maybe river cows is better terminology for these massive creatures. We took a 90 minute guided boat tour, that does not take you in any specific direction, only in the direction where you can spot the manatees. You have to keep a careful watch for "footprints", a.k.a. when their tail comes up out of the water and leaves a mark on the water's surface. We saw several of these guys as there was a "receptive female" in the area and they were all hovering around the same general location. So that was cool. We did not see any gators but seeing the manatees in their natural state was cool enough.

The last thing that I would like to mention in regards to the things we saw and did on this trip was the sunset we got to see on the beach last Wednesday evening. It was absolutely fantastic and was for lack of a better word, cooler than just about anything else we did. It puts things into perspective and allows you time to be at peace with yourself (as long as there are not too many people talking and making disruptions around you, which there really weren't). So I would like to end this by thanking the people who made this trip possible, my parents and my grandmother. Without them this wouldn't have been possible in so many ways.

Mb

Been Awhile

2009-06-17T13:23:00.003-05:00

So its been awhile since I last posted, 11 days to be exact. A lot has gone on since then. There is no way I can address it all. The Braves continue to tease and disappoint us. I guess when you are a .500 type team that is what you get. Since I last spoke we had the long awaited arrival of Tommy Hanson for the Braves. While his numbers will not blow you away, it is his "mound presence" and the things that he says that lets you know he belongs here in the big leagues. The spotlight does not seem too big for him, when he adjusts physically that meets his mental level right now, we will see something special from him. The problem with the Braves continues to be the offense, followed by middle relief, and somewhere mixed in there some bad baserunning and other poor mental decisions made out on the field. Francouer is continuing to be mediocre at the plate with a .625 OPS, which is way below league average and basically means that he is not getting on base and he is not getting a lot of extra base hits. Kelly Johnson has continued to struggle at the plate, underachieving, they need more from him. The trade for McLouth has not produced much boost for the offense, as he has hit only .239 in 11 games so far, but he has hit decent in the past so he should come around. The big 3 hitters are Chipper, McCann, and Yunel, who has made a lot of low baseball IQ plays and seems to be lost out on the field at times. He has a great arm but he does not use his brain as much as he should. Is football here yet? Speaking of football, I bought a pre-season SEC College Football magazine the other day to get me ready for the upcoming season. For those in the south understand that is never too early to talk or read about football, especially SEC football. 80 days away until the season opener for the Dawgs against the explosive Oklahoma State Cowboys. Expect football talk to heat up on this blog as the Braves continue to float in mediocrity and wait until the next year or two to make a serious run at the playoffs. Also expect me to recap all the goings on from my family trip down to Marco Island, Florida, where I still call home for another 2-3 days.
"Kokomo"-The Beach Boys (one of my favorites)
Aruba, jamaica ooo I wanna take you;
Bermuda, bahama come on pretty mama;
Key largo montego baby why dont we go
Jamaica Off the florida keys
Theres a place called kokomo
Thats where you wanna go to get away from it all
Bodies in the sand
Tropical drink melting in your hand
Well be falling in love
To the rhythm of a steel drum band
Down in kokomo
Aruba, jamaica ooo I wanna take you
To bermuda, bahama come on pretty mama
Key largo, montego baby why dont we go
Ooo I wanna take you down to kokomo
Well get there fastAnd then well take it slow
Thats where we wanna go
Way down to kokomo
To martinique, that monserrat mystique
Well put out to sea and well perfect our chemistry
By and by well defy a little bit of gravity
Afternoon delight, Cocktails and moonlit nights
That dreamy look in your eye, Give me a tropical contact high
Way down in kokomo, Aruba, jamaica ooo I wanna take you
To bermuda, bahama come on pretty mama
Key largo, montego baby why dont we go, Ooo I wanna take you down to kokomo
We'll get there fast and then well take it slow
Thats where we wanna go
Way down to kokomo
Port au prince I wanna catch a glimpse
Everybody knows A little place like kokomo
Now if you wanna go and get away from it all
Go down to kokomo Aruba, jamaica ooo I wanna take you
To bermuda, bahama come on pretty mama
Key largo, montego baby why dont we go
Ooo I wanna take you down to kokomo
Well get there fast and then well take it slow
Thats where we wanna go
Way down to kokomo, Aruba, jamaica ooo I wanna take you
To bermuda, bahama come on pretty mama
Key largo, montego baby why dont we go
Ooo I wanna take you down to kokomo

Oh My What A Day

2009-06-04T22:46:00.003-05:00

As summer is officially about to start in a couple weeks, mother nature has already given us a taste of what is to come with a couple days this week approaching 90. Hello summer, good bye spring. I like spring because it is warmer and things are green but I like summer more because it signals an end to my allergies and it is the heart of the baseball season. Basketball will finally be over in a couple of weeks, the playoffs go on forever it seems and baseball will be on its own to capture our hearts and give us memories of our youth. Summer is a time of innocence, a time to relax after long days out in the sun. It is time to recharge the batteries if they need recharging. And speaking of recharging the batteries, my hometown team, the Atlanta Braves, certainly know how to do that to this beleaguered 22 year old, just out of college, without yet a job in this poor economy, but I digress. Back to the recharge, it all started at 6:00 EST, that is Georgia time for all you Central Time Zoners, and 18:00 military, when the Braves announced that they had released Tom Glavine, 43 year old LHP with 305 career wins. Timing was curious and at the time, we fans did not fully comprehend what exactly was about to hit us in the next hour or so. Initial reaction was of shock and then curiosity and then I began to think. Before hearing any comments from GM Frank Wren, I knew this would be a PR nightmare, but I felt it was the move that gave us the best chance to win this year. Because if we had put him on the roster we would have to pay him $1 million, that is an awful lot to commit to a guy coming off of elbow and shoulder surgeries over the last year. The reports say his fastball consistently hit 83-84 MPH on the gun. Now that is pretty good if you are in high school but not if you are trying to get guys out at the major league level. I know he has never been known for velocity, but when you throw that slow your margin for error is very slim. His bread and butter pitch, the change-up is not as nearly effective when the fastball is only in the mid-80s. I do not fault the Braves management at all for this, this was a performance decision, as they said, but within that it was also a business decision. Wren said screw PR my job is on the line we need to win now and by bringing up top prospect 22 year old Tommy Hanson, he and his scouts felt like he gave them the best chance to win this year and at a cheaper price. This kid needs to get to pitch in the majors, he has already proven he can get AAA players out, let us see what he can do. The initial plan with Glavine was to put him in the regular 5 man rotation in mid-April, but setbacks caused that to be pushed back and he did not prove to be ready until now. Well now is too late, Hanson is ready, we cannot afford to lose any more ground by giving up games to a guy who will not pitch out of the 6th inning (Glavine). Not to harp on a future HOF but that is reality, that is what he was at best, a 6 inning pitcher. Not one Braves scout thought he had the stuff to get guys out at the major league level on a consistent basis. Hanson has the better potential and the better stuff right now, and potential is a dangerous word, but this guy has the stuff to get it done. No more Jo-Jo Reyes, and although Medlen will be good soon, Hanson has the potential to be special, his statistical numbers are outstanding, go look them up if you are curious. Let's see what this kid can do, I am excited for his debut this weekend.

The other major move yesterday was the addition of gold glove CF Nate McLouth from the Pittsburgh Pirates for minor leaguers, Gorkys Hernandez, Charlie Morton, and Jeff Locke, one OF and two pitchers. This news came down during the first couple of innings of last nights game against the Chicago Cubs. My friend Justin called me as soon as he announced it, we could not believe it, what a steal, what a player. One of our favorites. This is a move that says we are tired of sucking and this is move built on the long term with McLouth being signed for the next 3.5 years. He is going to provide the pop that we have been missing in the OF and on this team in general. A guy we can also place at the top of the lineup and use his speed to steal bags, to take the extra base, and to run down balls in the field. He is another left handed bat but a guy who can hit LHP so that will not be a problem. For this move to be made, we needed to give up some guys. Hernandez, a good CF prospect at the AA level is still a year plus away, Morton, in my opinion based on what I saw last year from him, will be a number 3 starter at best in the majors, Locke may be the best of the bunch, but he is struggling at high A ball and is still at least 2 years maybe more away from contributing. Due to our recent drafts, the minor league system for the Braves is filled with depth, especially in the OF and the pitchers. So we dealt from a position of strength, a smart business move. Plus we still have Jordan Schafer who struggled mightily his first 2 months this year for the Braves, who still might be a contributor for us sometime soon, but now is not yet his time, and it is fine now that we got a guy who can produce. When the kid is ready we will call him back up, but I do not anticipate that until late in the season. We probably still need another bat, but who knows where we will find it and who knows if we will get it, but I like these moves, they are bold moves but they are the right moves. The object is to win games now, and that is what these moves are telling me. I can't wait to see how this will all turn out. Yea come on!

Mixed Emotions

2009-05-31T11:38:00.003-05:00

It's been quite a hectic last several days for me. From driving 4 hours to see my friend in Alabama, to staying out late with him and his buddies to having drive back 4 hours the next day for my brother's high school graduation to going out again with my friend and his sisters friends to having my brother's high school graduation party yesterday afternoon. Needless to say I have had a lot going on plus all the while trying to find jobs that are non-existent, as well as a number of other different personal things that I have been thinking about lately. First off, Florence, Alabama is a nice little city, about the size of my hometown, where my good friend from high school goes to school at. I heard people say how tired of how small their town was and how they just wanted to get out of there because there was nothing to do. All I can say, is if you think Florence is small, go to school in Banner Elk, NC for 4 years, than you will know the true definition of small. At any place you go to in this world you can find stuff to do and while we are on that note why do we always need things to do. What is wrong with chilling out every once in awhile, you can do that anywhere regardless of the size of the place. I think the problem stems from unrealistic expectations of what college life is supposed to be. You see a movie, you talk to an older sibling or friend and they tell you about their experiences and you, naturally want the same kinds of experiences. And when those experiences don't happen the way that you want them to you become disappointed and frustrated at the place you are at instead of living in and enjoying the moment. Kids in my generation have this huge sense of entitlement that they feel things should just be given to them and that they always need to be doing stuff, etc. It is ridiculous and bothers me more than just about anything. I enjoyed my time in Florence and it made me appreciate the smallness of Banner Elk while also being able to appreciate the size of Florence. There were many reasons why God allowed me to stay at the same place for 4 years and I think one of them was that so that I would learn to appreciate my surroundings and be grateful of the area that I live in. I don't need much to entertain me, I don't need the brightness of the big city, although I think it would be cool to experience a big city for a little while to help put things in the right perspective. My brother's high school graduation gave me a lot of time to reflect on my high school experiences and how short ago it seemed that I was in his shoes. It feels like just yesterday that I was in high school with very few worries of what was going to happen next, because I knew where I would be in 3 months. I had no idea of the experiences that I would have and the people I would meet. Now 4 years later I find myself in a precarious position of uncertainty, frustration, and self-doubt. Do I have the skills to be successful in this world? Will I ever meet that special someone who makes my life more complete? Will I be willing and able to take those risks? Being able to forego my shyness and just go for it in any situation. Will I be able to be comfortable in my own skin and not worry what others might say about me? I need to develop a thicker skin than I have now because that is the one thing that sets me back is my reluctance to speak out for fear of being wrong. Finding that balance between not talking enough and being social enough is something I need to strike a balance with. I am tired of having regrets of not talking to certain people when I know I should be getting to know them and trying to forge some type of meaningful relationship. It keeps me up many a night recently. I always think there will be other times to talk to someone, but know that will not be the case. I try to always live in the moment, but many a time my mind will wonder off in that moment and I become distracted thinking about what is going to happen next instead of enjoying the company I am in. I don't know why I do that, maybe some psychology expert has an answer for that. I think part of it is that I like to think before I speak and when I say that I mean I need to plan out word for word what I am going to say in a certain situation when it happens. I cannot wing things very well, never have been good at that. Like for example this weekend with my brother's graduation party this weekend, I knew the question would come up about what I am going to do next with my life? I planned out so many different answers because I have nothing specific that I have decided upon. That is just who I am probably will always be to some extent. While its not a bad idea to think before you speak, I hope I can develop more spontaneity as I grow older. I like catching people off guard, when they say "I did not know that about you," or "I totally did not see that coming from you." So I have that going for me I guess, that element of surprise, but also it tells me that I am not painting the proper picture of myself and not many people know what I am about. It's all about balance. This is the most difficult time ever for me in terms of emotions and stuff going on my life that I am uncertain about. I thought going to middle school everyday and dealing with the emotions of puberty and certain teachers that made me a little uncomfortable at the time, but now realize they weren't really that bad. I don't know who all will read this but this format serves me well for getting things off my chest. Take care.

College Football Preview

2009-05-27T10:34:00.004-05:00

Today I am going to make a return to sports talk, with an early look at College Football. Yes, I like many others out there is making predictions 3 months out of the season. Hey its never too early to talk about College Football in the South or anywhere for that matter, without further ado here is my early 2009 predictions for this season (subject to change until the season starts)... Feel free to disagree and share your comments with me, this is just one man's opinion.

NCAA Football 2009

ACC Atlantic
1. Wake Forest
2. Florida State
3. N.C. State
4. Clemson
5. Boston College
6. Maryland
ACC Coastal
1. Virginia Tech
2. Georgia Tech
3. UNC
4. Miami
5. Virginia
6. Duke

Big 11
1. Ohio State
2. Penn State
3. Michigan State
4. Illinois
5. Wisconsin
6. Iowa
7. Minnesota
8. Northwestern
9. Michigan
10. Purdue
11. Indiana

Big East
1. Pittsburgh
2. Cincinnati
3. West Virginia
4. Rutgers
5. South Florida
6. Connecticut
7. Louisville
8. Syracuse

Big 12 North
1. Missouri
2. Nebraska
3. Kansas
4. Colorado
5. Kansas State
6. Iowa State
Big 12 South
1. Oklahoma
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma State
4. Texas Tech
5. Baylor
6. Texas A&M

Pac-10
1. USC
2. Oregon
3. California
4. Oregon State
5. Stanford
6. Arizona State
7. UCLA
8. Arizona
9. Washington
10. Washington State

SEC East
1. Florida
2. Georgia
3. South Carolina
4. Vanderbilt
5. Tennessee
6. Kentucky
SEC West
1. Ole Miss
2. LSU
3. Alabama
4. Arkansas
5. Auburn
6. Mississippi State

Top 25
1. Florida
2. Oklahoma
3. USC
4. Texas
5. Virginia Tech
6. Ohio State
7. Ole Miss
8. LSU
9. Oklahoma State
10. Oregon
11. Boise State
12. TCU
13. Georgia Tech
14. Alabama
15. Georgia
16. California
17. Penn State
18. Oregon State
19. Utah
20. North Carolina
21. Cincinnati
22. Texas Tech
23. BYU
24. Nebraska
25. Florida State
Comments: I don't claim to know much about conferences outside of the South, so take those picks with a grain of salt. I relied a lot on the opinions of others to give me a base in which to work with in conferences like the Big 11, Pac 10, Big East, and Big 12. Now to the conference we care about here, the SEC. Florida, is the defending National Champs and return their whole defense, not to mention this guy named Tebow. While I despise everything that the Gators do, they are the best team with probably the best coach in the conference which means they have the best team with one of the best coaches in the entire country. They have so many athletes, with so much speed and they are well coached and they are physical on both sides of the ball. There is no reason Florida should ever be worse than 10-2 in any season, if they do it is just because of bad coaching. The state of Florida has so much talent, it is ridiculous. UGA poses the only other serious threat in the East. 5th year senior Joe Cox takes the reigns at QB and will do a solid job behind a more experienced offensive line. I keep thinking back to the DJ Shockley year at QB for UGA in 2005 and think that this season could be very similar. A season that saw the Dawgs winning the SEC Title. The key will be the defense and if it can bounce back this year after taking a step back last year. Finding a pass rush and learning how to tackle would help. South Carolina gets the third spot by default. Their defense will be good I am sure but I have not done full research on them, so this pick could easily change over the summer. Vanderbilt returns a lot from their team from last year and I expect them to go to a second consecutive bowl game after getting over the hump last year. Tennessee will struggle because they do not have a QB and I am not sure about Kentucky, they could be better but they just lost one of their best defensive players to a year long suspension for steroid use.

The West should be a little more competitive I think. Ole Miss is the popular pick for now so I will stick with them for now. Jevean Snead will help to lead the way for the Rebels, I do worry about their OLine, but the defense will be as strong as ever so thats where I hang my hat on. LSU is a big mystery, always full of talent, but the Les Miles era has proven very rocky and inconsistent so you are never quite sure what you are going to get from them. I like Jordan Jefferson at QB, Charles Scott at RB, and their OL is always pretty good. I like the hire of John Chavis at DCoordinator, formerly of Tennessee, his units were always solid and well prepared and I think he return some of that discipline to the Tiger defense. Alabama, they had a big year last year but I expect them to take a step back this year. They are bringing in a new QB, which always leads to struggles in this conference. Nick Saban is a jerk, but also has a proven track record of success. How long will he stay at Bama and can he keep them at the top of this very competitive conference, that remains to be seen. So for now, I place them in the middle until further research can be conducted on this squad. Arkansas, much to my chagrin will be better this year. Ryan Mallett takes the reigns of Bobby Petrino's offense. This team will have improved talent and was competitive in games they should not have been in last year. So that experience will help them this year. They will probably be top 25 before the season is over. Auburn, brings in a new coach, has big question marks at QB and on offense where they had one of the worst in the country last season. Guz Malzahn will help at OC, but how much we do not know at this moment. Auburn always has a good defense and that will keep them competitive and they may be able to steal some games that they shouldn't win, but this team also likes to lose games that they should win, so a .500 season is about where they should finish, unless Gene Chizik and their QB's are better than we think right now. Mississippi State was a disappointment to me and a few others last year. It is just hard to get quality football players to come to Starkville. Probably one of the toughest places to win in major college football. Dan Mullen is the new coach their taking over for Sly Croom, so it remains to be seen how much he can do with this program after spending the last few seasons as OC for the Gators. The West should be competitive and I look forward to see what happens with the best conference in the land in the fall.

Like I said I do not really care much for the other conferences so you can look at the picks and decipher what you will. As of right now I think Florida wins it all, but I am sure that could change. I think there is a clear separation of teams after the top 6. Virginia Tech and Ohio State should take care of business in their conferences, as well USC in the Pac-10. That is all I have for now. I could keep talking about this for hours on end, but it is time to eat so I will leave you these nuggets to chew on. Enjoy.

Mb

The Happenings

2009-05-26T23:10:00.003-05:00

So I have had a busy last few days that can be basically summarized like this. Eat, Drink, Sleep, Graduation, Eat, Drink, Sleep, Sleep some more, go to Linville Falls, Eat, Sleep, Drive home, Sleep alot more, Run, Eat, Sleep, Eat, Run, Eat again, now on computer typing this to you. Graduation was a blast, I had so much fun spending time with family and classmates. It was a bittersweet last couple of days. Not knowing when or if you will see any of your friends again. Worrying if some of the relationships you made will stand the test of time. Deep down I know this won't be true. We all live in different parts of the country and the world. I can only hope that we can maintain something meaningful over these next stages in our life. I wish that I had hung out with more of my classmates more often because they were just cool to hang with and I never gave it a full chance. I waited too long to get know some of these people and that is the one regret I will leave school with. But with every downside in life there comes an opportunity to learn something from it. It didn't occur to me initially, but after talking to one of these classmates/friend, that opportunity is to realize the mistake of being too shy and stop being a weenie when it comes to meeting new people. Take advantage of every opportunity, you never know who you might meet. So I am going to consciously work on that, it does not come naturally to me so it is something I always need to be aware of. Just being more friendly towards others will help my cause I think. Life is about relationships, making new ones, working on old ones, and everything else in between. It is always intriguing to me what others have to say, their perspective on things, its fresh, its refreshing and keeps the mind working and challenges it. These four years flew by. I can't believe I am done with school. The question is: what to do I do now? For now I will rest and recover from all of this. I am trying to figure where to look for jobs and what kinds of jobs I want to try to pursue. The job market is tough, so it will require patience. I like to relax, but I want to have some kind of purpose and direction in my life. I can't do that sitting on my ass, hoping something will come to me. I have to go after it, but go after it with a plan and goal in mind. I can only pray that I will find my true calling in life and find something that I enjoy doing, whether that is owning my own business, or working in sports somehow. All I need is an opportunity to get my foot in the door. That is where maintaining and building relationships with others becomes really important. Can't burn those bridges and no stone can be left unturned. With a little hard work and a vision of what you want to do, many things can be accomplished.

Mb

Expectations and Graduation

2009-05-22T10:55:00.003-05:00

Expectations, you got to be careful with this word. Throughout my life I have learned to keep expectations reasonable and realistic. Never has that become more apparent to me over these last 24 hours or so. I am not an overly religious person but I do believe that everything happens for a reason according to a plan set aside by a higher being. You should not set the bar too high or you will just end up being disappointed. I should have heeded my own advice for this week's expectations for graduation, which will be tomorrow at 11am. I like to envision how certain things will turn out for every important event in my life, whether it be athletic or academic related. I envision the people who will be here, the stories that will be shared, etc.. If recent events are an indicator of how things will be different post-college than I thank the Lord for testing my will and how to handle myself when things do not go according to plan. I know deep down there is a reason behind all this "drama" and one day I will know for sure why it all happened the way it did. With out knowing how I will feel approximately 24 hours from now or what events will transpire between now and then, I will try to regain that excitement that had been building all week and re envision a new scenario with different people and different events. Without going into too much detail over the last 18 hours; my grandpa and his wife will not be able to attend because of a knee injury he suffered yesterday, a friend of mine who graduated last year will not be able to attend because of last minute academic responsibilities that could not be helped, a close friend who has mysteriously gone MIA over the last 48 hours, and the lady who was in charge of booking our cabin for this weekend wrote down the wrong days and we have to push back the move in date 24 hours to Saturday. I can already some silver lining, pointed out to me by my dad, the place that my family has to stay at for this evening is pretty cramped and would have been more cramped had my grandfather and his wife been up here. So I guess that worked out OK. I was also looking forward to getting out of this dorm by this afternoon but that will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon. Its an adjustment I will have to make, whats one more day in a dorm? Some might say oh that's not a big deal, but it is to someone like me at this point in my life. With an event like Graduation every one has expectations of how it will turn out. You want to do such and such thing with such and such person. Over these last few years I have tried to consciously evolve from a high strung, too uptight person to someone who could just go with the flow and let things happen as they may. These recent events have emphasized that kind of evolution that I have been on and continue to be on in every day of my life. With every negative situation there arises an opportunity for something positive to happen. I am going to try my darnedest to make sure that I have a good time over these next few days and that I do not ruin anybody elses good time with a negative attitude or disposition. There are not many people that really truly care about what goes on in your life. Everybody has their own shit to deal with they don't want to be burdened with your troubles because they have troubles of their own. These issues are family issues and that is where they will be discussed, not among friends. I want to leave here on a positive note and in good spirits. I can't do that if I carry the burden of those who are not here. While I will miss them, I have to move on. I know these people could not be here for valid reasons so I can respect that and know that if they could be here they would be. So on that note I would like to say thank you to everyone who has helped me along my journey. My family, my good friends, my coaches, my professors, my grade school teachers. Thank you for helping me along the way. I will not forget how much you have done for me. I really appreciate it.

"Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?"

Mb

I am Done

2009-05-18T14:53:00.003-05:00

As of 12:34 EST Monday May 18, 2009 I am officially done with college here at Lees-McRae. It has been a long time coming. Ever since I first walked on this campus for the first time as a student in August 2005, I have dreamed about this moment. As a young freshman you never think this day will come, it seems so far away at first, but as each semester passes by you realize how close you are to moving on into the real world. These last couple of weeks have been difficult from the standpoint of seeing all of the people you went to high school with finishing up their college careers a week or two before you, while you sit here and suffer agonizingly as you wait for the semester to drag to an end. And what a beautiful day up here in the mountains to signal the end for me. The sun is finally out and the weather is absolutely perfect. I have a little less than a week to spend up here. I am looking forward to what this week will bring. All of the fun and memories that are sure to be made. I have been making a conscious attempt to be nice and friendly to as many people as I can because I want to leave here on a positive note with everyone. That is something I need to do more ofter, open myself up and let people see what kind of a person I am. No need to hold grudges now, I am now in a carefree and happy. No worries for awhile, time to have some real fun. I don't think I will stop smiling for awhile. The grin has not left my face since we completed our presentation this morning around 11:30. This is a week of celebration and good times. Nothing really to worry about anymore. Looking back on all my years of schooling, I can't believe I have finally made it to this point. I talked about how far away this day seemed as a freshman, I remember thinking about this back in the 5th grade. That was 11 years ago. A lot of things have happened since then. High school seemed like it was just last week, and college seemed like it started a few days ago. A week after I graduate, my little brother will be ending his high school days and soon to beginning upon the journey I started 4 years ago. My little sister will be beginning her high school journey in the fall. My, where has the time gone? I remember the exact moment of where I was when she was born. Now she has grown so much I can't believe it. She has grown so much since I have been away up at school. Every time I see her it seems like she has grown another 2 inches. Whatever happened to that little girl who used to be my sister. Now she is nearly full grown, over 5ft tall and a string bean. She will always be my little sis, but now I will begin to think of her a little differently, a high schooler, hard to believe. So no more tests, no more presentations, no more studying, all that is left is to walk across the stage Saturday morning. I am done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mb

Anticipation

2009-05-17T15:37:00.002-05:00

Sorry its been awhile since I last posted. I have been busy wrapping up my collegiate career. I have had several presentations and tests over the last 5-6 days or so. I have also been having a blast hanging out with a bunch of my business class peers. I have really enjoyed my last weeks up here and I think I will end up missing the comforts that this school has brought me. I have met so many cool people from all sorts of different backgrounds. I have gotten to know my professors and have been given the tools to succeed in this world. Now it is just a matter of finding that passion and seeking it out to the fullest. A guest speaker, who had been very successful in her industry, that I had the pleasure of listening to earlier this week said a couple of things that really hit me. She said you need to find the shoe that fits, find that thing you are good at and do that very thing. Don't necessarily do what is hard or what others think you should do. Do what comes easy to you because it is the right fit for you. She also said that you need to have a vision of where you see your life and career headed to. You need to think and dream big so that you can achieve big. This really spoke to me and served as part of my motivation to become successful in this world. I want to start up a business with a friend of mine. I won't reveal the idea at this point because it is still in its inital phases, but we believe it is an idea and a plan that can really work. So I am excited to get that process underway. In the meantime, I am looking forward to just taking a break away from responsbility for awhile. I want to take my time this summer and find something that suits me. I need time to regroup and refocus my energies to gear up for the next phase in my life. My only regrets about my four years here is that I didn't get to know other people outside of cross country team. I think it would have made me a lot better person and plus I think I would have had a lot more fun and more memories to be shared. Not that I didn't enjoy the time I had with my team, but I feel like there was definitely something missing from college experience. I have really gotten to know a lot of my business classmates over these last few weeks and it makes me realize what I was missing. It is just a different perspective thats all. A fresh perspective where the conversation is always centered around running. That is why I have enjoyed my 3 weeks off of running, it has served as more of a mental break than a physical one I think. There are days where I do not even think about running, or anything related to the sport and this is something I did not think was possible at any point in my 8+ years of running. I was so consumed by it that I did not take the time to apprecaite the other facets of life. I got better with having more of a "life" over my 4 years here. But with everything I did, every action I did, I always had running in the back of my mind. If it wasn't in the back of my mind, some teammate was always bringing up how a certain situation was going to effect my running. I think this last year of running I struggled with trying to only think of running when it was time to run and not all the time. I think this hurt my focus a little this year, I was not being anayltical in my training like I probably should have, but then again I think I still put forth the same physical effort, but my mind was worried about so many different things. With all this being said, I am actually looking forward to getting back into decent shape after all this school stuff is over with in about a week or so. It will be a different approach to running I think. One where I am not going to pre-determine the time or distance I will be running but to just go the distance I feel like on that particular day. There is no rush to get into shape for anything, take time to enjoy it and appreciate everything that I have been given in my life. All the people who have helped me to get where I am today, too numerous to mention. Every new person I meet allows me to see things in a different perspective, a different light, that is what I will miss from this place I called home for 4 years. Meeting so many different people. I hope to keep up my relationships with them as that is what I will miss the most about this small school up in the mountains. The people, the team, but most of all, the memories I shared with them all over the years. I wish I had more memories, but the ones that I did have will stick with me forever. Everything happens for a reason. I need to work on some things about myself, but overall I am pleased with how everything has turned out. I look to the future with great antisipation and excitement. It is really hard for me, and those of you who know me well can attest to this, to not know what I will be doing next. I like to have a plan for everything, usually pretty strict plan if you know me. The future for me now is truly an unknown and I could not be more thrilled. Thanks for reading.

Mb

Reflection and Thanks

2009-05-12T15:04:00.003-05:00

What a beautiful day here in the mountains of North Carolina. Temperatures hovering around 70 under partly cloudy skies. No sign of rain for the first time in about 2 weeks as we have had some form of rain here over about a 2 week period. All of those rainy, and somewhat miserable days make up for it on days like this. Took about a 30 minute walk around campus this afternoon to soak it all in and just get some fresh air and exercise. It was very enjoyable and it helped to clear my mind of any troubles. Each day for me over the last week has gotten progressively better from a mental health standpoint. These are the best days of life for sure right now. Still under the protection of school, but winding it all up in less than a week gives me great joy. The anticipation of the moment I am done with it has been building steadily over the last several days. I keep imagining how I will feel and really won't truly know until it has all been completed. I have exams of variety in nature on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Monday. A few presentations, a couple of papers, a test is what awaits me. I am not liking how some of these projects and presentations are going to be weighted so much compared to other things but I guess it just gives me an opportunity to really come through in the clutch with some good grades. I think I am going to miss this place, the friends and relationships that I have established with so many here, the senior business class is one that I will never forget as we have had so many wonderful memories with each other. Reflecting upon it now I realize how much I have enjoyed spending time with a majority of these folks. We all know each other's strengths and weaknesses in the classroom and most recently have gotten to know each other more on a personal level as we have completed our senior research class. I think its that common bond that we all shared to get our final business plans completed and presented. It is a unique bond that we have developed that can only be shared by those in the class. We all seem to get along except for a few instances where are competitiveness, stubbornness, and ego get in the way of each other. When you are dealing with 22-23 year olds their is a lot of emotion, stress, and uncertainty of what is around the corner and I think that contributes to some of the tension we have at times. I am glad I chose the major that I did because it brought me to come into contact with some neat people of different ethnic backgrounds and cultures. I also came into contact with some wonderful professors who have shared their experiences with us on a personal and non-personal level that I really respect. It helps to know where people come from so you can better understand the message they are trying to send to you. My professors have not been hesitant to share in personal stories of success and failures and I really appreciate all that have done to help the business department grow to where it is today. I hope I am able to maintain contact with all of them. My peers in the classroom as well as the professors to whom I have spent many a hour and day with. There are so many memories that I leave here with and I am very grateful for the decision I made to come here. It was a place that allowed me to grow and develop at my own pace. It is also a good place because of its location it allows a lot of time for reflection and perspective on your role in this world. There are not many distractions here and that allows for you to process things and really think about things. It has given me a lot of time to reflect on my future and what steps I need to make in my life to become a better person and a successful person. I have learned that success is not always defined by material possessions but in how you treat and deal with others, to be well-respected is the most important quality I want others to see in me. I have so many people to thank, but I would be remiss if I did not mention my parents who have not so much pushed me but helped to guide me along the way. They have always been there when I needed something and they continue to be there for me as I enter this next phase in my life. They have not forced me to do anything I did not want to do. They have supported all of the decisions I have made and have allowed me to grow at my own pace. They don't interfere, they have done a great job and I thank them for not trying to make me something I am not. So I end this little walk down memory lane. I hope to have many new memories along the way and I look forward in anticipation as to what lies around the corner. For the first time in 22 years I truly do not know what awaits me and I could not be more thrilled.

Mb

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T11:23:00.002-05:00

Happy Mother's Day! Take time to appreciate those who brought us into this world. I know I do. There are just so many things I could say about my own mom, too numerous to mention and I fear I would leave some things out. So I won't list them here on this blog.

Take care. 13 days away!! Go Braves!

Mb

Winding Down The Road

2009-05-07T18:28:00.003-05:00

Sorry I have not been updating this as much as I want to. Been busy with school functions and tending to academic responsibilities. I have also been battling a little cough/stuffed up nose the last few days, so that has also slowed me down a tad. Started taking medicine for it Tuesday evening and have felt a lot better today, so that is encouraging, at least it wasn't the swine flu. It took some prodding by one of my buddies here at school to finally get me to go see a doctor on Tuesday. I usually try to beat illnesses naturally for a couple of days and than I resort to taking medicine if it starts effecting me too much. I guess it is kind of a male pride type thing. Don't want to take medicine unless its absolutely necessary and don't want to have to spend money on medicine either. I'd rather spend it on other things like food or nice clothes or something like that.

The "stache" has been operating under about 5-6 hours of sleep a night this week, so that has been adjustment I have had to deal with. I have had trouble getting to sleep this week and I have several theories behind this phenomenon. One is that I have had some major coughing fits right as I try to go to bed, this is a likely cause for the first couple of days for sure this week. Two, is that I have a lot of stuff on my mind this week. A lot of things going on this week. Our Senior Omega Projects were on Wednesday, had to celebrate completion of the Omega projects Wednesday night, which was a good stress reliever for all that attended, had a test today in another class, along with the worries of other upcoming projects and tests and also of my future after college. Which seems to be a popular topic of conversation around the water cooler these last couple of weeks. I hate giving the "I do not know" response, but its true right now. I do not know what I really want to do, don't know when I am going to figure that out, hopefully sooner than later, but we'll see what God has in store for me. My third and final theory on my sleep deprivation this week is my lack of physical exercise. I just feel a little restless at night. I have only ran once in the last 11 days. It is all part of my plan to just get away for awhile, and then jump back into it when I am back home after school gets out. I think my mind needs an opportunity to recover from all that competitive running that I have done. For any of those of you out there who have done any kind of running, you know the mental challenges it possess and I just need to take a step back from the grind of it all. Also from this standpoint it allows me to focus all my energies onto finishing up the semester strongly. I know they say running can stimulate the mind, but I like I said I needed a break from that because it can bring you down physically which means you need more rest and thus less time to do studying. I have noticed one thing and I knew this would happen, my appetite has shrank over the last week and a half. I now eat more like a "normal" person. Instead of getting 3-4 plates of food plus desserts, it is closer to 1-2 plates a meal and sometime I do not finish the food on these plates. I realize the importance of not stuffing myself, cause that is how you put on the weight. Quality over quantity is what I am trying to stress more now.

Only 16 days stand between me and the real world, can't believe that day is so close. The days seem to be picking up speed. I am not sure what I am going to feel on that day or when its going to hit me that I need to make up my mind on what the heck I want to do. It's crunch time now, followed by chill time for about a month, and then its serious time to find a job. Someone has got to pay off the 17k that I owe to the government after 4 years of school. I'd prefer it not be my parents, they have already paid enough money on me. It's time to start being more responsible and make some life decisions, but not yet, not yet.

Mb

Camp 360

2009-05-04T20:27:00.003-05:00

The artist formerly known as the "stache" has just completed all of the assignments assoicated with our Senior Research/Omega project. All that is left is the presentation. For those that are not familiar with what I am talking about, our senior research business class was divided into 4 groups of 4-5 members each. We had to come up with a business plan on what to do with the 200+ acres of land that the school owns on its property. Our group came up with the idea of a camp called Camp 360. This camp would be geared towards youth groups from local churches in the area. The basic idea behind the 360 came from what Lees-McRae College has came up as its motto this past year. A 360 degree experience in your education incompassing many different aspects not just inside the classroom. We want the campers at our camp to have a variety of different experiences, all seperate, but all connected in the end. We want them to have fun, but to also work hard and learn some different things along the way. A full, unique expereince, different from any camp they have ever been to is what we are trying to accomplish with this camp. Last I checked, we had the idea to set up 6 cabins with one central multi-purpose building set away in the woods of the 200 acre plot of land. Each cabin would hold 10 campers with 2 counselors per cabin. The main facility would be used for dining, as well as other different kinds of activities and such that we see fit. Our plan is to be open weekly during the summer and on weekends during the winter months. There would be a lot of planned, off-site activities, such as whitewater rafting or skiing in the winter time. There were a lot of different things that we had to put into consideration when putting this together, more than you would realize. All of the zoning issues, how much it would cost for each of the buildings, how much it would cost to build roads to the buildings. What kind of roads to use, gravel or paved? The terrain of the land, how you take that into consideration. It took us awhile to decide on the activities we wanted our campers to partake in and whether we wanted weekly or weekend camps. Did we want to hire a full time camp manager? The answer to that was yes we did. This person would be resonsible for marketing the camp and finding out who wanted to attend our camp. It would be their responsbilty to maintain and develop good realationships with different businesses in the area just in case we needed their assistance for anything. I told you there were a lot of things to consider and that is not even half of the decisions that went into this project. I was so glad that I was not responsible for putting together the financial plan. There were so many numbers and things to consider. The guy who did it for our group, I give him big props for all the serious hard work he put into it. I know there was a lot of frustrating long hours, but it looks like he did a good job from I could tell by glancing at it. Our plan was nowhere near as long as some of the other groups in our class. Two other groups had business plans that were well over 100 pages long. They put a lot of work into theirs, we just had a different type of idea that took a lesser amount of work, I am grateful for what we did. Ours is around 40 pages long and I feel like it is sufficient for what we are doing for our project. We will have to see on Wednesday, when we all present who comes out on top. The top group gets an automatic A and has the priviledge of presenting on Friday in the Senior Symposium presented for the entire school to see if they like. We will be judged by the business faculty, the provost, and some other distinguished guests. Based upon their ratings, the winner will be determined. I am curious to see who comes out on top because I know there are a lot of other smart people and hard workers in our class. It should be fun. My role in the actual presentation will be pretty small as it is not required for all members to participate in the presentation. We have a guy who is really good at presenting and I think he will do a majority of it for us. Wish us luck. Thanks for reading.

Mb

Stormy Sunday

2009-05-03T21:48:00.002-05:00

Keeping it brief tonight, as it is getting late and I am trying to battle off a cough that has suddenly emerged within the last 24 hours. Great timing on this one, but what can you do other than get some rest and drink some fluids. Briefly came out of retirement this weekend to win a race and a margarita. Yes by winning a race you can win some alcohol, so living an active lifestyle can be rewarded so keep that in mind. I still plan on taking the next 3 weeks or so off just to recover mentally for all the grinding that I have gone through over the last 8 years and 16,000 miles. I was thinking back on this, other than when I got hurt my senior year of high school and had to take off 6 weeks. The longest I had ever gone without running was two weeks, and that came in high school. The longest I ever took off in college was about 10 days or so. I always felt I needed to get back into it and the longer I took off the more the runs would hurt at the start. Also, being that I lack some natural ability I had to get in all those extra miles that I could. So taking off a month will be a new experience for me. It is allowing me to concentrate a little more on my studies, not necessarily doing more studying, but having the flexibility to get work done during the afternoon and not having to wait until the night to get it done. I have always wondered what it would be like to not be an athlete and go to school. I guess I will never really know. Running and playing sports in school provides you the necessary discipline and determination to get things done in life. It allows for a way to get away from school and other life issues for a couple hours a day to help reduce the stress levels that we all have in our lives. I don't regret the miles and hours I put into this sport, because it shaped me into I am today. Oh, congrats to the Hawks for finally putting the Heat away and advancing to the 2nd round for the first time in 10 years or so. They need a lot of things to go right for them to knock of the LeBrons, but I like the progress they have shown over the last 5 years. Going from 13 wins to 47 wins and advancing into the second round of the playoffs. Next year, hopefully they can keep this core intact and add some key pieces to get to 50 wins and a trip to the conference finals. They have one of the best starting 5's in the league, they are just lacking a little on the leadership side. They need this to play more consistent ball from game to game. The Braves continue to be average, and can't seem to put all phases together for a long period of time. There is just something missing with this team, there is no spark. Well thats all I have for now, take care, have a great week.

Braves April Recap

2009-05-01T14:41:00.003-05:00

Alright seeing as this is the first day of May I would like to do an evaluation of some of things that have been going on in the baseball world, especially with my home town Atlanta Braves. I want to lead off talking about some of the offseason moves that we made and how they compare to guys we tried to get now that we are a month into the season. So without further ado, my inner stat geek will be revealed...

Derek Lowe(4yrs 60mil)(Atl)- 2-1 3.10 ERA, 5 starts-29 innings pitched(would be more if not for a rain delay in one of his starts) 25K's and 12 BB.

I have no complaints here, he has been as advertised, chews up innings and will keep you in the ballgame. Everything that I have read about him has been positive, his work ethic is tremendous and he looks to be in mid-season form already. I am really encouraged by what I have seen.

A.J. Burnett(5yrs-80mil)(NYY)- 2-0 5.40 ERA, 5 starts- 31.2 innings pitched, 25K's and 13 BB.

Well deserved reputation as a big strikeout guy, he has the same as Lowe as we speak. He tends to warm up as the season does so we will see if those numbers pick up at all. He is not in a contract year so will his motivation be there to pitch well. Big difference in ERA for these two, I think there is more of a boom or bust factor with Burnett, you don't know whether he will no hit you or give up 5 in 5innings. I think the Yanks are looking for a little more out of this guy. So at the end of one month its Lowe 1 Burnett 0. Stay tuned for further developments.

Garrett Anderson (1 yr-2.5mil)(Atl)- .200 BA, 0 HR 0 RBI .551 OPS 25 AB's in 10 games played

This guy looks like a big waste of money, even at 2.5 million. He has constantly been hurt and he looks to be done. Nothing that he has done has been positive. I'll admit I expected better things from him, but I did not realize how much of a fragile player he was. A calf injury, come on its a calf, are you serious Garrett. He uses that bat of his as more of a walking cane than to hit the ball. He is stealing money right now. We should've just given Brandon Jones the chance to platoon with Diaz, instead we are stuck with this guy for the year. Who knows maybe he will get hot and become a factor, but more likely he will continue to be a non-factor this year and may not even be with this club at the end of the season.

Ken Griffey Jr. (1 yr-2mil)(Sea)- .200 BA, 2 HR 5 RBI .676 OPS 60 AB's in 17 games played

Numbers are not really that much better. Griffey has just been healthier this year, that seems like the only difference. Which is odd if you looked at the last 10 years of these two players, who would have thought Anderson would have a harder time staying on the field. The fact is that both players should be DH's and that's even stretching it a little bit. They have seemingly lost most of the skills they were blessed with over the years. At least Griffey has tried to play this year, Anderson can't get out of his own way. At the end of a month Griffey -5, Anderson -50.

Those are the two main guys I wanted to compare because Burnett and Griffey were the two players closest to becoming Braves this year.

I will now go into some of my good and bad points for the Braves this year. Start off with the good, the Starting Pitching has been really solid so far this year and that is a good change from the last couple of seasons. They currently sit 3rd in the National League in ERA with a 3.62. I'll take that all year long. Lowe-Jurjens-Vazquez have been the stalwarts so far this year. They have also been chewing up innings which will help the bullpen as the season winds on down the year. Also after a slow start to the season the bullpen has started to perform well of late, they currently have the second most strike outs of any bullpen so far this season. So I am encouraged by their improvement as a whole but they still worry me on a night-to-night basis. On the offensive side of the ball, Chipper is being Chipper which is good and bad. Hitting .322 with a solid .929 OPS, while playing his usual solid defense at 3B. He also has missed 5 games with some injuries, which is a constant concern for the team as they seem to not be able to win when he is not in the lineup. I like what Jordan Schafer has done out in CF in all facets of the game so far. He has little pressure on him by hitting 7 or 8 in the lineup and his defense has been solid as he has covered a lot of ground out in the field, while possessing an excellent arm. He is currently hitting .273 with a .854 OPS. I will take that all year long from him. He leads the team with 16 BB but also leads the team with 23 K's, but that's what you get with a rookie. He may be moved to the top of the lineup soon because of the speed threat that he has. Kotchman has been good at 1B, he has come up with a lot of clutch plays this year, while throwing up some solid leather over there at 1B. The bench has been excellent as expected, Prado, Infante, and Ross have been good when put into the lineup and being called upon to pinch-hit so far this season. Ross has been the most valuable offseason (including Lowe and Vazquez) move made by the club, because of the eye issues with McCann, he has been forced to play a little more than expected but has stepped up in a big way so far this year.

Some of the bad, starts with the offense's overall lack of consistency and the ability to do just about anything right swinging the bats. They are 12th in runs scored, 12th in home runs, and 9th in BA in the National League. That won't cut it. You lose a lot of 4-3 games that way and it gives your pitching little room for air that way. You are putting a lot of pressure on your pitchers every time out there, which is not good because then they pitch tighter and make more mistakes. Most of the problems lie with the ineffectiveness of Kelly Johnson in the leadoff role. He is hitting .203 this year with a .295 OBP. A leadoff man cannot be getting on base less than 30 percent of the time. They need to be at 35 percent and above. Kelly just is not finding any holes this year and that hurts because of the threat he poses on the base paths. Another problem lies with Brian McCann, the expected cleanup hitter this year, who has struggled with eye problems and blurry vision. Not being able to see is pretty tough for the average human being, but not being able to see and trying to hit a 90 MPH fastball or even catch one behind the plate is a troublesome issue. He has hit .195 this year, very un-McCann like. If this team is to score more runs, he needs to be a big factor in that. Hopefully that stuff gets corrected and he can return to a .300 BA and 20 HR type production. They surely do need his bat. Middle relief is still a little bit of a concern for me. Who comes in to stop the bleeding the 5th and 6th inning? Not sure at the moment and that could be a detriment to this seasons overall success.

So some things to look for in the next month. Will Tommy Hanson be in the starting 5 by the end of the month? He has been solid in AAA and the Braves only have 1 off day this month, so the time may be near, especially if the back end of the rotation can't find its solutions. Will Jo-Jo Reyes be able to solidify the back end of the rotation for the Bravos? He has the potential to be excellent as a #4 starter, hopefully the Braves can score some runs for him. Which leads me to my next point. Who will provide the offense for this club? Chipper can get on base but he needs people to hit him in. Chipper also needs people to drive in for himself, so we need guys who can get on base in front of him. McCann needs to come back in a big way and provide that protect for Chip. Will Kelly Johnson be forced into some type of a platoon if he continues to struggle at the plate? Omar Infante and Martin Prado have proven to be more than capable in a short time span, may be they deserve a chance. Can Jeff Francouer keep up his solid start to the season? I think he will. He looks fit and his defense and approach at the plate have shown impressive strides since last season. That is my recap of all the Braves happenings so far this year. Thanks for reading.

Mb

Some Thoughts

2009-04-30T16:58:00.003-05:00

Wow, we are at the end of April, hard to believe it was just January and the winter winds were in full effect. Spring has finally, truly arrived here in the high country. All of the plants and tree are blooming with life, awoken from the long slumber we call winter up here.

The "stache" has been on an academic whirlwind of sorts over the last 48 hours, hence the absence of an edition since Monday. This is is a busy time of the year for us involved in the academic world. It is especially hectic with all of the sporting activities that present themselves in these months. Yesterday I spent 3 hours working on this one problem with two other people, one problem on a take home test for Operations Management. It had to be done in Excel, which is a great program, but it takes awhile to figure out the formulas and numbers to put in the problems. Glad that it is all over now. Yesterday was also Mountain Day, here at school, which is a service project day where we have a day off of school to help out the community. The XC team helped to pick up trash along Elk River, it is amazing the amount of garbage you can find alongside a river. There were 8 of us and each of us had 3 trash bags full worth of stuff. Also that afternoon, I helped clean and clear out the wooded area behind Pinnacle Inn, where the Business Department is located. We had a guy on the chainsaw, as well as many people helping to remove vines, cut down limbs, and pick up any trash on that hillside. The amount of vines, and what they can get tangled on is amazing when it goes unkempt for so long. It looks a lot better than it did before, and was a lot of fun in the process. I like doing productive work, especially outside. My post-running career has definitely had a lot to keep me busy. My brain is in overdrive right now, just waiting for it to completely give out on me, but it has not quite yet. My mental endurance has seemed to improve over the last few days. I guess my physical endurance has shifted a little into my head. Not that running was a burden, but it has definitely freed up some time to get some other things accomplished. I am not hamstrung, so to speak, by the amount of time I have to spend on other activities. I pretty much have all day to do things and not have to wait until nighttime to get my work done, which allows me to rest and get more quality sleep. This is a time of mental cleansing for me, taking things in from a different perspective. I feel like I am more free to do other things, without worrying how it will affect my running. The actual changes are minuscule from an outsiders perspective, but for me it feels a lot different. It feels new and fresh. I do not know if that made sense to anyone, but I think you get the point.

Graduation is a mere 23 days away, school ends a few days before that. All of us seniors here are eagerly awaiting these days. We know there are challenges out there for us to tackle and the goings will be tough early on, but we have the tools necessary to be productive in this world. It is just a matter of finding that right opportunity. Some will find their calling in life sooner than others. It will be interesting to see what happens on this road we call life as we face the cold reality that is the real world. No more college comforts, nothing to fall back upon any more. Time to step out of the shadows and make a name for ourselves. I will probably have more words of wisdom as we get closer to G-Day, so I hope you enjoyed a taste of what is sure to come soon. Take care.

Mb

Atlanta Sports Weekend

2009-04-27T17:36:00.003-05:00

I am going to try and keep it short and sweet this evening. My head hurts from all this learning stuff. My brain can only so much useful and useless information inside it at one time. The artist formerly known as "the stache," will be presenting his thoughts on this weekend Atlanta sports action and so on we go with that...

Atlanta Braves
Finished off the road trip in a somewhat positive note taking 2 out of 3 from the Cincinnati Reds. We finished the trip at 4-5 only 2 games back of the Florida Marlins who have lost 6 straight to bring them back to the pack. The Braves starting pitching continues to be real solid in the top few in the NL in ERA. Kawakami is proving to be a bit of a weak link so far this season. He gave up 8 runs in 4+ innings yesterday, and has been average in his other starts. Hopefully he can figure out this league a little more and make the necessary adjustments to be successful here in the States. The bullpen has been pitching well of late after getting off to a rough start to the season. The roles are starting to be determined and I think that shows in how they have pitched recently. The offense still needs some work and is inconsistent at best. Kelly Johnson is really struggling right now. Brian McCann and Garrett Anderson are on the DL, so there are some noticeable holes, but I think they can do better than what they have showed. David Ross, the backup catcher has been outstanding this year displaying power and defense that just were not there at the position last year. Tonight begins a series with the powerful St. Louis Cardinals who have had a torrid start to the season (13-6). So we will see if this last series means anything.

Atlanta Hawks
Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic performance in Game 3 on Saturday evening. The Heat crushed the Hawks 107-78. No heart and no passion from this team. Where is the defensive effort? Where is Joe Johnson? They need to shut down the Heat's other players, Jermaine O'Neal, Udonis Haslem, and company in order to win or just even be competitive tonight. Very puzzling from a team that has been clutch, and played tough when it matters to come up so small in big moments like these. They need to take this one tonight or they can forget advancing to this next round.

Atlanta Falcons
I liked what Thomas Dimitroff and the boys did this weekend in the Draft. Focused on defense with 7 out the 8 players being on that side of the ball. They heavily addressed the DLine with Peria Jerry, Lawrence Sidbury, and Vance Walker. Jerry should start from Day 1 alongside Jonathon Babineaux at DT. The team will be young on the defensive side of the ball but they will be faster than they were last year. They may struggle initially, but I feel like they will come together by seasons end and be a real force for this team. The offense has the potential to be top 5 next year if everything breaks right for them. The Offensive Lines ability to keep Matt Ryan off the ground will be key. Tony Gonzalez is a huge acquisition that could pay huge dividends for Ryan and be the threat in the read zone that we lacked last year.

Mb

The End Of An Era

2009-04-26T09:30:00.006-05:00

I have been asked many times over the last 24-36 hours about what it feels like to run your last college race. Or how does it feel to be done with running or do you plan to continue running in the future? All good questions, and I'd be lying if I said I had not thought about my responses to those questions. At the time of the inquiries I had no solid response. All I had was typical me responses such as "I don't know (as I shrug my shoulders)", "it feels ok (with little enthusiasm", and "it feels good." All response with very little conviction. I guess I had never really put serious thought into it and if I did my feelings on it would change from time to time. I think there were some points where I was really eager to get it all done with and move on to something different in my life. Maybe even consider giving up running all together. Something I strongly considered because of the burnout I was feeling over the many thousands (estimated somewhere around 16,000 in my career) miles of miles I had put into the years. Some with a lot of results to show for and many a time with hardly anything to show for all the work I had put in. Competitive running can be very frustrating and challenging. Good results usually do not come by easily. You see people put it in the same work as you and still be better in races for whatever reasons that may be. Or it can be frustrating as a team when you work so hard to come up just a few measly points from reaching your dreams (2007 XC finishing 22 points out of 2nd place at Regionals). It takes awhile to get over that disappointment and I still feel that carries some weight for me today. Its like you tell yourself that no matter what you do it just is not enough. I realize that it will not always be the case, but its a frustrating disappointment none the less. You will always think that there is something more that you could have done to make it happen.

So my thoughts as I leave the sport of collegiate distance running are not all that clear right now. On one hand there is a little sadness that I won't get to go on any more van or bus rides to all of these different places. The camaraderie of being on a distance running team is unique and can't be replicated. I know its cliche but we do what other sports consider punishment and we do it for fun (for the most part) and we do it to see what our potential is. At least that is why I continued to do it to see if I could squeeze any more times and numbers out of the abilities that God gave me. I was fortunate to be able to squeeze one little second off of my 1500m time this year. It was the only PR I set my last year of college running. Frustrating to say the least as you watch others around you drop times and you feel like you are running in quick sand to try and catch up. I feel that like with everything, everything happens for a reason. There was a reason why I was not able to drop my times like I wanted to. Its not because I did not set goals or work as hard as I had in the past. I feel like I did these things, but still fell short for whatever reason. I feel that reason was that my patience, determination, and will to keep pushing on even when times are not good and things are a struggle. Stuff that is important down the road of life.

Running can be a microcosm of your life. How do you deal with the struggles, how do you deal with pain, injury, and going that extra mile when it may feel uncomfortable or risky. In racing you have to know when to gamble to lay down all the chips and make a run for it. If you do not take that chance you may never what lies behind the other side of that door. Running teaches patience. It is a long-term results focused sport in my mind. You have to be willing to see what a run in mid-July is going to help you to run better in late October. Every run as I like to say serves its purpose, whether you realize it or not. Its like building a pyramid. You have to begin with the base, which takes the most time and is not the most glorious part of your training. Than after the base is in place you get to add some faster stuff and then you get to race and that is the top of the pyramid where all of the sweat and miles will hopefully pay off into a positive result for you. I think one of the things I enjoyed most about running was the process of all the miles you put in to see how all the puzzle pieces fit together. What will this workout do for you in a race, etc.? Running is a blue collar sport, it does not get the national attention, and all the work is usually done out on some isolated roads or trails where very little people have access to. Only you know the work you put in. It used to be high school that in cross country I would look forward to the workouts, but dread the races. In college it became a complete 180 almost as I dreaded having to do an 8 or 10 mile tempo run. I would rather race the 8k or the 10k. I still enjoyed the process but I learned to appreciate more the art of racing. I was never nervous before the start of a college cross country race. Every high school race I wanted to run away from the start line and not have to race. I think the biggest difference between my feelings in high school and college had to with confidence. Confidence that I could run fast because I had done the training. That is where I got my confidence from, the training, the miles put in. For some reason in high school I didn't have that confidence and I probably overachieved as a result of that. Its part of mental maturity I think, not being afraid to take a risk in a race and having no regrets when you crossed the line. As I wound down these last few races of my collegiate career, each race served a greater importance. I would run each race smart and to the best of ability. If the pace for me needed to be quick early on than that's how I approached it. If it needed to be slower than that's how I would race it. I do not know the specific reason why I struggled this last year. I have given it quite a lot of thought and came up with no definitive answer other than this. My body and my mind is telling me, you have already pushed so hard for so many years you just do not have that extra gear that you used to have had in the past. The body is shutting down, so to speak, from competitiveness in running. Its time to compete in something else. Its hard to explain clearly but that is the best response I have to why I struggled this year. My body just was tired and my mind could not overcome this and push to a different level. The runs were not as easy as they used to be, the workouts were a struggle all the time. Its amazing to me how so much changed in such a short period of time. I should've been able to compete better but I did not up to my standards. My body was telling me, no you will not be fast today. I think the carryover from 2007 XC had a lot to do with all this. So much time and effort spent, but with unsatisfactory results to boot. I improved a lot from when I first got here running around 31 minutes for 8k down to around 28 minutes. The 5k dropped from mid-18's to mid-16's. My 1500m time dropped about 10 seconds. So I accomplished many things here and I do not regret the decision I made to be a part of this team (only regret was not realizing how cold it gets here in the winter time). I had many a great memory here and it is a place that allowed me to grow and development at my own pace not someone elses.

Although I did not have quite the finish I wanted to (a 435 1500m and 209 800m on my final day of college running), I hang up the spikes for the final time as a collegiate runner with pride. I have a lot of people to thank for that, too numerous to mention, but thank you to everyone who played a part in my running career. All the way from middle school and beyond, up to the present day. You have helped me to learn so much about this sport and how fortunate I was to be able to do it for so long. Not everyone gets opportunities like this and I am very grateful.
Thanks for reading.

Mb

ATL Sports and My Impending Retirement

2009-04-23T17:03:00.002-05:00

A little sports talk for a beautiful Thursday evening in the High Country. The "stache" a.k.a. "the matt in black." That's TMIB for short.

A lot is going on in the ATL sports world this time of year. Its unfortunate the end of the school semester has to conflict with all the sporting events on TV, something has to give here and you know it won't be the sports. First, the Braves, my long time love and passion. I have to be careful watching their games so as to not to get so worked up about them, its difficult but I am trying to mellow out as I get older. Its frustrating when you see a team with all this talent and you feel like they are underachieving. Does it come from the manager? Do we have the wrong mix of players? I think the answer to the first question is yes, I think we need to seriously look at letting Bobby Cox go into retirement. The spark does not seem to be there. Look, to me he is one of the best managers ever in the history of baseball, but the time may be up for the long time skipper of the Bravos. I hope I am wrong on this and the team can turn it around, but I have seen this team go into a precipitous downhill slide the last few years and I do not see much hope for this year other than a .500 record or so. I think we have the right mix of players with some reinforcements on the way in the next year or two to see who fits in well and who does not. We should also just get rid of Terry Pendleton, the hitting coach, because where do guys go when they are struggling with their swing, not him, but Chipper Jones or some guy from another organization. Heck, Jeff Francouer went to Rudy Jaramillo of the Texas Rangers to fix his swing. What does that say about the competence of Pendleton? Chipper talks to his dad, Brian McCann talks to his dad, I don't see many talking to TP. The offense has been too inconsistent this year, while the starters are above average and the bullpen finally seems to be coming around (knock on wood), but we cannot seem to put all phases of the game together for more than a game at a time. The defense has been suspect in some cases as has the baserunning. Something is not clicking, I do not want to begin to seriously talk about football until at least June, they might force that occurrence to happen by mid-May if they do not get it together.

Next team: The Hawks. The series currently sits 1-1 against the Miami Heat with the series heading to Miami for two games this Saturday and Monday evening. The first game we played was fantastic, holding the Heat to a measly 64 points. They basically made them quit and only Dwyane Wade and Micheal Beasley scored in the double figures. A complete team effort by the Hawks on both sides of the floor as we put six guys into double figures in points, while holding the Heat to 25 points in the second half. Outstanding performance followed by a very average performance last night as the Heat lit us up in 108-93 game that saw Miami make 15 three pointers (Dwayne Wade and Daequan Cook with 6 a piece). We could not seem to find the defensive touch that we had in game one as they jumped on us early and never really looked back. They had five guys score in double figures. The key to stopping the Heat is to shut down the other guys and kind of let Wade do his thing. Also knocking down some free throws would be nice as well (19 for 30). Joe Johnson and Al Horford will be the keys in these games in Miami. They need to play big or we are going to be heading home for good sooner than we would like.

Next and final team: Atlanta Falcons. You may ask isn't it a little too early to be talking about football in April. Oh on the contrary my friend, the 2009 NFL Draft is less than 48 hours away. Cannot wait. For a stats and football junkie this is one of the highlights of the sports year for me. For some it is a snoozer, but I enjoy nearly every minute of it. So many intriguing possibilities. Now I will admit that I am not into as much as I was last year when the Falcons set at #3 and we were under our first year with Thomas Dimitroff and Mike Smith calling the shots for the draft. We were not sure what they would do or who they would select, but I trusted these guys from the start to make the right pick. I never really seriously questioned (my friend did) the selection of Matt Ryan as the QB with the first pick, that has turned out fabulous so far. I am intrigued with what they will do with their 1st pick at #24 this year. I have a feeling it will be a defensive player, whoever their highest rated player is when it is time for them to make their pick. Defense will be the major theme this year, but I do expect them to address the Offensive Line as well sometime in this draft. With the recent addition of Tony Gonzalez at TE, I think we are as close as we can be to be set on the offensive side of the ball for 2009. Gonzalez had a solid year last for the Chiefs, hauling in 10 TDs and racking over 1000 yards in receptions. Good numbers, lets hope he can come close to that this year and become the missing link to our offense.

One last tidbit before I let you go. Tomorrow will be my last practice as a Lees-McRae Bobcats (pause for mourning.............). It just might have to be an all black day tomorrow on the run. This also will probably be my last day running here at school as I plan to take about about a month off from running. This will be the longest time I will go without running, non-injury related, in 8 years. I am looking forward to the break to rest my mind and body and prepare myself for the next phase in my life. As I have mentioned before I plan to continue running on a semi-regular basis, barring anything catastrophic. I have given a lot of thought to this matter and was not sure how seriously I was going to take running in the future. Obviously it will be less serious as I will only have to worry about myself and not my place on a team. I will not over stress trying to squeeze a run in. I will do it more because of a want than a need. I am scheduled to run the Peachtree Road Race(10k) in Atlanta on July 4. So I would like to be in some reasonable kind of fitness for that and plus I have to have something to keep up my appetite and retain my dominance as the most fit member of my family. The rest of the family has started up running, so I can't slack too much. It serves as a lot of my motivation to keep running, can't let the little sister out do me. Be looking for a retirement speech sometime this weekend as I run my last races as a collegian on Saturday. Sorry that was longer than a tidbit, but now I am done so you can stop reading, no seriously you can stop reading I am done for the day. Peace.

Mb

Why I Run?

2009-04-21T18:29:00.003-05:00

So as I wind on down the road towards graduation and the end of my collegiate running career. A lot of thoughts have crossed through my crowded mind. One recently that has, and I am sure one question that has been addressed by many is, Why do I run? Why do we do anything? Is it by choice? Is it by free will? There are a lot of reasons behind why we do certain things. Some of them are more prevalent than others. Some reveal themselves at different times and in different manners. Sometimes you do not know even why you did something to begin with. Sometimes you just get caught up in the moment and before you know it you are acting upon an action.

The question of why do I run or why did I choose running as a sport I wished to pursue competitively. Probably starts like most things, from humble beginnings. I can take this way back to the days and months that I first started walking. You know back in the olden days, the 80's. I do not really remember the 80's, all I know of is the music rocked, the hair was long, and people wore weird looking glasses. I have been told and this story has been confirmed to me that in order to get me to go to sleep at night my uncle, who was babysitting me at the time, would get me to run laps inside the house in the hope that I fould fall asleep. Needless to say, despite the compensation (rumored to be about 25 cents), this tactic rarely worked. Unknown to him, that my endurance was in top form even from a young age. God blessed me with a little something even from the beginning. From running inside the living room to running local fun runs in town or at the elementary schools. I would always do pretty well for my age group, finishing in the top 2-3 in most races. It was just for the pure fun of it I guess. There was no real training involved, other than playing baseball or soccer year round. This probably helped the fitness levels a little bit. My seventh grade year, way back in the spring of 2000, I decided to try out for the track team and to my surprise I did really well as I was one of the top finishers in the 2 mile and 1 mile runs. It was surprising because I had tried and failed to make the teams in football or basketball. It was cool to belong to something meaningful. I ran really well that year, had a mile time somewhere under 5:30, and a 2 mile of 11:38. I won my first races that year in the two mile. It was becoming something that I wanted to do long term and was pretty successful at. My 8th grade year we got some new kids in who were better than I was at the 2 mile. So I retired from that event, never to run that event in track until college. I dropped down to the 800 and ran 2:20 that year as well as running in the low 5:20s for the mile. Cross country was a new and different experience for me, beginning in the summer of 2001. It was a different pain and a different kind of training than anything I had ever done in middle school. Running for 45-50 minutes a day 6 days a week, are you kidding me? What is this? Made a lot of friends during my four years of running. Some I still keep in touch with, others not as much. Nearly all of my friends in high school were on the cross country. It is a unique bond that all of us runners shared together. It is not a sport you do to get the recognition. There are countless amounts of miles you have to put in to be good in this sport. While talent does reveal itself, it usually takes a few miles for that talent to be evident. With running comes a lot of alone time. There is not always someone to go out on a run with, so you have to be willing to put in the miles by yourself. It takes a certain amount of dedication to see the long-term reason behind why you are going to go out for an 80 minute run when the longest amount of time you will do in race is 36 minutes or so. It is all about building that base so you can become stronger and do those workouts at the times you could not do before. I have learned so much about the sport from when I began it 10 years ago. The different ways to approach training. What terms like tempo, fartlek, intervals, really mean and what paces you should be running them at. Learning the meaning behind every workout and what purpose they serve. The amount of mileage you should be doing and the pace that your runs should be at. That so much of running is just based off how you feel. You do not need to go fast on every run, there is a time and a place to go fast. Learning how to approach races from a mental approach is one thing that took a long time for me to completely understand. How much pain and suffering do I want to put myself through on this day? In running there is nowhere to hide, your fitness level and your toughness is evident every time you step out on the course or the track. It is a true individual sport. You do it to see how far your talents will reach and what your potential is. If you do well you get the credit and vice versa. It is a true measure of your competitiveness and your will to push yourself to your limits. I guess these are the reasons I chose to pursue running. There was a many a time I considered quitting running or asked myself why am I out here doing this run? I could be out doing something else. I could be sleeping. I could be having a good ole time doing anything else but this. This sport takes a lot of sacrifice. It has to be something you are willing to do if you want to do well. You do not go out on a Saturday night as much. You have to go to bed at a reasonable time. You have to watch what you eat. You have to do other stuff other than running to be good such as weight room work or core workouts or pool workouts. It is something that I accepted and just realized that that was the deal I got myself into when I accepted this as my part time job in college. I will never forget all of the van rides and places I got to visit over all of my years of running. Being able to run at places such as Charleston, SC, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, to name a few.

These are the experiences I will not soon forget. The things said and done on these trips would not be considered appropriate for most people out there, but it is normal for us. This is why I ran. For the fun of it, for all of the laughs, for all of the good times, and for all of the struggles. It has taught me dedication, accountability, resilience, and most of all gave me a life long activity in which to do for the rest of my life. Thank you running for all of the blessings you have gave me even if it took some soul searching to realize that in the end.

M

Weekend of Contrasts

2009-04-19T21:56:00.003-05:00

This has been a weekend of contrasts. Began with the excitement of watching some great races this weekend here at school where we hosted the first annual Conference Carolinas Championship track meet. The men won by 117 points, while the women came in third. So, congrats to all those who put in the work to make that happen. That lasted from late Friday evening all the way until about 5pm in the afternoon on Saturday. Pretty much everything after that this weekend has been on the downslope of enthusiasm. The food in the cafeteria that evening was unspeakable, not even worth mentioning. Then that evening, with no Braves game to watch there was not much going on other than watching Star Wars. Which is fine by me, but can bore other people to death, especially those who do not understand what is going on. It is not what most 19-22 year olds want to do on Saturday night. It does not bother me either way, I do not have to go out and party or go out and do stuff. I am just fine sitting contently in my place of residence, chilling and relaxing. I do not like when people say it was or it is a waste of an evening. Find something to do, do not wait for something to come to come to you. I don't like when people complain and then proceed to do nothing about those complaints. If you are bored, I really do not want to hear about it.

There was also a contrast in how the Braves played this weekend against the Pittsburgh Pirates. On Saturday they lost 10-0, but on Sunday somehow they managed to win 11-1 with essentially the same lineup with one notable exception. Chipper Jones made a return to the lineup and suddenly everyone stopped pressing and everyone started to hit. It is weird how that happens, but we need to learn how to win when he is not in the lineup. They have the talent to do so it is just a matter of changing their mental approach at the plate. The last of the weekend contrasts for me this weekend was going from doing no school work on Friday and Saturday to spend nearly three hours working on an Operations Management Excel Project. Tons of fun and tons of frustration. It is not something you want to start your day off with because it will just put you in a bad mood. Which is what happened with me as I worked on it from about 10-11 this morning, got through one problem and had to put it away for fear of my head exploding away. So I put it away and watched the Braves take care of business to put me in a better mood. Than after dinner I got to work with a guy from class and we put our heads together and finished that sucker. Than right after that I got to watch the Hawks completely dismantle the Miami Heat 90-64. A total team effort on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. The Hawks got up by 20 at the half and never relented. Hopefully they can keep it up because you know Wade and the Heat will find ways to bother and cause some problem for the Hawks. Oh by the way my NBA Finals pick is the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Los Angeles Lakers.

That is all from "the stache" tonight. Take care and drive home safely.

Mb

Talent and Potential

2009-04-17T21:55:00.003-05:00

Talent and potential, these are two words that are synonymous with each other and two words that we are all familiar with. We all know of people who have a certain knack for doing certain things very well with what seems to be little effort. Sometimes these people are putting forth a great deal of effort but are just so physically efficient in that particular activity that they make it look it easy. Sometimes it is the hard work that they have put in, so what may seem difficult to you it is really pretty simple or easy for them where they do not appear to be working as hard as you think you are. This is good because it can help to push you to a different level. What I am trying to say is that, especially in running, some people can work equally as hard as another and not produce the same results. It is just a fact of life. They just do not have the talent, the ability to suffer through pain, the ability just to tough it out, the actual natural physical ability that there born with, their genetics, mental toughness. I feel that everyone in this world has the ability to do something really extraordinary. Whether its the ability to run really fast, solve complex math problems, or have an outstanding ability to memorize certain things. We all have a gift or the potential to do something with extraordinary skill in our lives. It takes some of us longer than others to realize or to find that true talent that makes us unique from our neighbor. I also feel that while we may only be limited by what our mind tells us we can or cannot do. I feel that we all have certain limits inside of us. I feel that it is an obligation that he have as human beings to find out what that limit is. To test the boundaries of our potential. Take risks and work as hard as you possibly can at whatever you are doing is how you will realize your true potential. No one really knows what our limits are and it is up to us to find that out. I know for one, that while God gave me the ability to run decently, be duralbe, and be able to handle a lot of the physical stress that comes with the pounding of running, but I realized that no matter how hard I worked or how many miles I put it in. It just was not going to be easy for me to run as fast as others. I have to be flawless in everything I do, I cannot afford to be injured or I will get left behind. I have to be careful in the pacing of my runs so as to not waste any excess energy that I may need at different points in my training. I really cannot afford to not run that extra mile because of my ability. I am not trying to cop out or anything like that or give myself a reason for not running as fast as I probably could have. I always feel like I could go faster. My mental toughness could have been better in many races, but I always tried to give my best in everything that I did. Mental toughness is so important in running and in many things that we do. Some people are just born tougher, some people have to develop that toughness, and others never do. I feel like I got the most out of my ability while competing in college with the tools and the training resources I was provided with. I hope to continue to see how fast I can do in certain things, but you never know what twists life will bring you and I do not know if I will be able to maintain that passion to train and put in the miles to run fast. Sometimes I feel a little jealous of guys who can make it look so easy, but then I realize that these guys put it in the work like I do and I drop my jealousy. I only hope that they can realize their potential and not waste it. That is what angers me, people who half ass it and still do well in whatever it is that they do, not just in running. You eventually get what you deserve and by not working hard, that will eventually catch up to you. I just want people to not waste their time by not putting forth a good faith effort, but in the end it is their decision whether they want to do well or not, not mine or anyone elses.

That is all "the stache" has for tonight. I hope you enjoyed this latest installment. Take care and I will catch you on the flip side.

Mb

Randomness

2009-04-16T17:06:00.003-05:00

Sorry about not posting recently. I've been caught up watching the Braves get swept by the Florida Marlins and doing some school work. I would like to mention that we here at Lees-McRae are hosting the inaugural Conference Carolina's Track and Field Championships this Friday and Saturday. It should be a good one to see. I would also like to give a shout out to Craig McPhail and the black socks today. You are truly inspiration for all of us out there that sport those fine creations. I do not know where I would be today if I did not have the courage to go public about my fondness for the high black socks. Thank you and I hope that you will inspire more to follow in your footsteps.

As we speak, we sit 37 days from G-Day. The day I finish up with school and go into the cold, harsh reality of the real world. I wonder if there will be any jobs out there for me. If anyone is reading this still, I am still on a search for something to keep me occupied for the next few months at least. At this point I do not care what it is, as long as I am not sitting around being a lazy bum. Which is really tempting to do, after all of this school and running shenanigans, but I need to move on and try to break myself of this laziness streak I have been on recently.

So, my thoughts on the Braves. I agree with what my friend said recently about this club, "Braves look like pretenders." I am hoping that the Marlins are just a really good club, and they probably are, and we just got beat by a superior club. I really like the Marlins pitching staff and if they can keep getting big hits from guys like Hermida and Bonifacio than they will be a formidable club all year long. Josh Johnson may win the Cy Young for them, and win a guy who threw a no hitter a few years ago is your number 5 starter (Anibal Sanchez), than you do not have many things to concern yourself with if you are them. If there defense can hold up, they can make a run deep into the postseason. I think the Braves need Tommy Hanson more than ever right now. I know you do not want to rush a guy, but I think he is ready for the big show. Throw him in the rotation and see what he has. He has the potential to dominate. I see some potential holes on the pitching staff, especially in the bullpen where the only reliable guys right now seem to be Jeff Bennett and Rafael Soriano (we will see how long this lasts with his history for blowing up sometime in the middle of the season). They just are not throwing strikes and locating their fastballs. Blaine Boyer needs to be sent down, a guy with his stuff should not be pitching as poorly as he has been. A guy his age (27), should be figuring it out by now and he looks as clueless as ever. Our starters are not going much past the 6th inning, which is a problem when you have leaks in your pen. We do not have any really truly dominant aces, a lot of solid veterans who will keep you in the ball game. Vazquez had a good game the other night striking out 12 in 6 innings, but because of the amount of pitches he threw and plus giving up six runs he had to relent to a bullpen who could not keep it close. Our offense is good but it cannot keep fighting an uphill battle against a pen that struggles to throw up some zeroes. Speaking of the offense, I like what we are doing for the most part. I would like for certain guys to be a little more selective at the plate (Yunel Escobar) and to be able to stay healthy (Chipper Jones, Garrett Anderson). By the way the Anderson signing is not looking real good right now. He has been plagued by a calf injury over the last month or so. I mean seriously, a calf, come on now. He swings a decent bat, but he is basically a DH playing LF for us. He has become a defensive liability, dropping two foul balls the other night that led to some runs being scored. I really like the way Kelly Johnson has started the season off in the leadoff spot, and Jeff Francouer has shown some positive signs of breaking out of his funk from 2008. He drove in the Braves only 2 runs today with some clutch 2 out hitting. He has looked a lot better in the field and is not as heavy and clumsy as he was last year. Matt Diaz looks trim and is ripping the ball, like always. Taking the most awkward looking swings that a human being can take and still make good contact. Schafer in CF looks like a keeper, if he can just play some solid defense and hit about 15 HR and hit around .270 this year. I think that is all you can ask out of him this year. He reminds me of Steve Finley, for those of you who remember who he was, a pretty darn good ball player.

In the famous words of Bill Simmons, happy halter top day today to you out there. The weather is looking fine and some of the ladies are not too bad either. Peace.

Mb

Beauty

2009-04-13T19:29:00.002-05:00

(*editors note: there may be some mushiness and tender words in this blog, so proceed with caution)

Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? Yeah, that's probably true. There are so many different things that are beautiful to different people. Us, guys know when we see a beautiful looking woman. Some men may favor the blonds, others like myself, favor brunettes in just pure looks and nothing else. We all know the cliche that it is not what is outside, but what is inside that counts. That is true for the most part, if you cannot get along with someone and the personalities clash than it will never work out. Physical attractiveness is only a step of many other things that lead to long-term relationships. Although I am far from an expert on this matter, I think most would agree with this sentiment. People can show their beauty through the kind acts and deeds that they perform on a day-to-day basis. Now some people like to tell others that they are doing good things. Others tend to let their actions speak for them, they do not want the recognition that comes along with doing a good deed. I think their mentality is why should I be recognized for something so basic as doing the right thing. It is embarrassing for many of them.

Beauty can come in other forms, such as in nature. For instance, this weekend at The Masters. Most would say this a beautiful place to be this time of year, and I would agree. Something about the flowers blooming, the birds chirping, and golf being played on a big stage is something to be remembered. The mountains are beautiful to look at from both the bottom and the top of them. The view from the top of any mountain is pretty damn cool if I do say so myself. You have that feeling like you are on top of the world and it also gives you a perspective, a peace can settle over you and you realize how small you are compared to everything else. The ocean, a lake, a river, all are nature's beautiful wonders to be appreciated. Going to the beach and just relaxing, listening and watching the waves roll in, puts your mind at ease. Usually when you are at the beach you are on vacation so its twofold in the amount of carelessness that is about. In all of these places it is best to be surrounded by silence, so that it all can be taken in.

Beauty also can take form in athletic performances. A graceful runner, an explosive jumper, a shifty running back, a perfect swing, are all things that people appreciate about sport. For many of us, we can only dream what it would be like to possess that kind of skill and grace. When someone mentions the word graceful in athletics there is usually an image or a person that comes to mind. Some things can look beautiful by accident; someone who is not usually a fluid athlete performing a fluid action that occurred because of either accident or just pure hard work and guts. One of the reasons I watch sports is to witness these kind of performances. The thrill of watching sports is seeing something that you have never seen before on each day. You never know what will happen next.

Thanks for reading and putting up with some of the mushiness today. "The stache" appreciates your support. Tune in later this week because who knows what will come across my desk next.

"Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?"

"After all... tomorrow is another day."

Mb

Top 5 Sports Movies

2009-04-11T20:54:00.003-05:00

Good evening from "the stache" on this Easter Saturday. Where the Braves continue to play well, sitting at 4-1 early on in the season. The bats look hot and the starters are doing their job as well. I wish I could see more of the games, Banner Elk does not carry Peachtree TV or pick up the game on the radio, so I have to rely on ESPN Gamecast to get my updates. NBA playoffs start in a week. The Hawks have clinched the 4th spot after a recent 3 game win streak. They will either be taking on the Heat or 76ers in the first round, not sure which is a better matchup, but I like that we have home court advantage on our side. They have really played well at home this year. Also, less I forget, we have the Masters heading into Sunday with Kenny Perry (0 majors won) and Angel Cabrera( 1 U.S. Open won). Also lurking is Chad Cambell and Jim Furyk not too far off the lead. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson both sit 7 shots off the lead. While far off, anything can happen on the back 9 on Sunday at the Masters. I am going to temporarily abandon my "word of the day" and return to my Saturday top 5, in hiatus for 2 weeks. It will return and I think it will be something you will enjoy. Again its a subjective list, that is totally biased in favor of moi. Without further ado my top 5 (drumroll please............) Sports Movies of all time.

1. Hoosiers (1986)
2. Rudy (1993)
3. Cinderella Man (2005)
4. Bull Durham (1988)
5. Field of Dreams (1989)

Honorable Mentions: There are a plenty of these. I am a big fan of sports movies so there are a lot of movies I could have strongly considered for these top 5 spots. The Natural, Raging Bull, CaddyShack, Jerry Maguire, and Chariots of Fire.

The Breakdown: Hoosiers is great, I could watch it anytime. Indiana high school basketball based in the 1950s, based on a true story, playing team basketball, the right way. Favorite scene is where they are in the state championship gym the day before the game and they measure the goal to see that it is still 10 feet off the ground. Same game, just a different arena. I love the music that goes along with it to help set the mood for the movie. Rudy is a truly inspirational movie about an underdog, much like Hoosiers. True story on this kid who was too small, too slow, too dumb to make it at Notre Dame. His work ethic is absolutely ridiculous. Love the music in this one as well. Cinderella Man touches my heart in a different way than these other movies I think. I am not one to cry when watching movies, but I have came close in this one. Story of a boxer who starts out well, hits a run of bad luck, the Depression strikes the country and he become dirt poor. Very moving and inspirational how he battles back to the top once again. His humbless throughout is something to marvel at. I love the history aspect of it as well. Good movie. Bull Durham is a classic in every sense of the word. A Kevin Costner flick starring Susan Sarandon among others. A good story about baseball in the minor leagues. Talks about in a unique way the many aspects of the game and what it takes to be successful. A lot of good quotes in this one such as "Charlie hear comes the deuce and when you speak of me, speak well." Field of Dreams is another Costner flick about a man trying to ease the pain of his father in the cornfields of Iowa. Just as a baseball fan this is great because wouldn't it be cool to see old players that are dead come alive on a field in your backyard. James Earl Jones is a great part of this movie. Another classic.

I Hope you enjoyed this list. I am sure that there are many of you who disagree with some of these, but its my list, so there. Take care.

Mb

The Masters

2009-04-09T20:33:00.002-05:00

"The stache" returns with some back-to-back blogs for the first time in awhile. Track workout today has me feeling a little frisky.

You know spring has arrived with you hear the music and see the grounds of the Masters. A tradition like no other. So there we have it, today's "word of the day" is the Masters. If I said that word to just anybody they would know what I was talking about. Everything just feels right in the world when you get to see one of the most beautiful places in the world on your TV screen. The Green Jacket, given to the winner is just a part of the history of this wonderful place. I hope to one day be able to witness this tournament on those hallowed grounds. A place that is so rich and lush with history. I would not even know where to begin. I guess I could start with Bobby Jones, an amateur who was one of the co-founders of this tournament. Originally called the Augusta National Invitation, it debuted in 1934 with Jones coming out of retirement to play. Jones is the only man to this day to have won all four majors in a single calendar year. The Grand Slam is what it is referred as. Quite a feat. By 1938 the tournament came to be known as The Masters and the name as stuck ever since. It is such a prestigious tournament and golf course to be a part of. Only members of the Augusta National Club and certain selected individuals are allowed to play the course.

It can be one of the most challenging courses, especially when the temperatures are up and the winds are howling. The greens become fast and the ball starts doing funny things. The pine trees that line many narrow fairways throughout the course to help to add to the difficulty of the course. You have Amen Corner on holes 11-13 that have given and still give many golfers fits.

My first memories of really watching golf, start at this tournament. In 1997 when a young Tiger Woods completely obliterated the field and laid his claim to the become the best golfer in the world. A global icon who is now one of the most famous athletes in all of the world. He is the reason so many people have been turned on to golf recently. He is a special player who has helped to elevate the game of golf to levels that are unprecedented. Assuming his body holds up he will capture the most majors won all-time. He currently sits at 14, 4 away from Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major tournaments won. He is a larger than life figure. I remember Phil Mickelson's first Masters victory back in 2004. His first major victory that lifted a huge monkey off his back for all the times he had "choked" in previous major tournaments. He has since gone on to win two other majors, a Masters win in 2006 and the PGA Championship in 2005. I remember the joy that was evident in him as he sunk a putt in on the 18th hole to win in 04. He jumped like 2 inches off the ground but the image will always be ingrained in my head. The azaleas in bloom, the Green Jacket, the excitement of the gallery, and the major season is underway. You know spring is here and that summer is not too far away when you see the Masters. The music the networks use is so peaceful and it never gets old, at least not to me. This is one of "the staches" favorite sporting events and one that he wishes he could attend. A tradition like no other.

Thank you Verne Lundquist, Jim Nantz and others for making me feel like I am there with you at The Masters.

Mb

Leadership

2009-04-08T21:57:00.002-05:00

I have took the last few days off from the blog to recover from my brief illness. I have been pretty tired lately, taking a lot of naps to get my energy levels back up into peak performance. I feel like I am close to being back to old me, not that its much difference from current me, but I digress. So, I have been doing some thinking on what kinds of things I want to talk about. I know I can talk about sports, but that does not interest everyone and thus does not have a wide range of appeal as compared to other topics that I could discuss. So, the idea I came up with is basically a "word of the day." I will choose a word that I feel has some relevant meaning to it and that I can discuss a fair amount about. Some of the discussions will be centered around sports. Others will deal with non-sports related themes and some topics will incorporate both into the discussion.

Tonight's "word of the day" is Leadership. Something that we all have been associated with in some capacity throughout our lives. We all have opinions on what makes a good leader good and what makes a bad leader bad. There are no set criteria that I feel that an individual has to have to become a successful leader. Now I define successful as someone who can manage the people they are leading well by developing a positive, open culture where people feel like they can communicate freely with one another. Meaning that the leader communicates well and encourages that communication on a consistent basis. I think one of the best traits a leader can have is the ability to listen. To listen and be able to understand where people are coming from is crucial for any leader and for any person in general. I think a good leader should be humble and willing to say that they do not know the answer to everything, but that they could go find the answer from somewhere else or that they could trust someone right below them that might have the answer that they do not have. This is tough for many people because you are swallowing some pride. It takes a lot to admit that you do not know the answer to something. A good leader knows how to manage people, knows when to take charge and knows when to step back and let situations resolve themselves. A good leader can delegate responsibility and recognize where people's strengths lie so that things can get done quicker and most importantly more efficiently with good quality. I think leadership requires self-confidence as well. You have to believe in the mission of your organization. If you do not believe in it than how can those underneath believe in it. You have to be constantly aware that people are watching what you are doing all the time. Actions do speak louder than words and it is important to realize that. I think if people see that you are one of them and that you do not expect special treatment, than they will respect you. If they respect you they will trust you. They will trust that you have their best interests at heart. Some of the strongest leaders in the sports arena, are well respected by their teammates and by their opponents. Micheal Jordan, one of the best NBA players of all time, had respect from everyone who played with or against him. How did he do it? He did it with hard work, toughness, delegating responsibility in certain situations, taking the shots when needed, making the pass to get the easy shot, or playing defense on the opponents best player. He was selfless and wanted to win at all costs. I have heard many people say recently, especially in sports, that leadership is not something where you say I am going to be the leader of this team or this organization today, it is something that is earned. People follow leaders they do not follow titles.

In my Business Ethics class we have talked about many companies that have CEO's and CFO's cooking the books and misleading people into believing that they are making profits, when they are really losing serious money. Companies like Enron and WorldCom caused many people to lose large amounts of money. All because they wanted an extra million or two in their accounts each year. They saw the $$ signs, and forgot the reasons why they got into the business in the first place. They forgot their humble beginnings and let the slippery slope continue on until it became something they could not control. This is frustrating for so many of us out here. These companies openly deceived their investors into believing that things were ok and that everything was going just fine. Men that are in charge of these companies and the accounting firms that do their auditing for them are not leaders. They are just empty titles. These people thought they could slide by and that they were exempt from the rules just because they were CEO's of some major corporation. Well guess what, in the end, you lose. Cheaters can only get away with cheating for so long until they get caught. I heard a statistic recently, do not know if its true, that only 37% of the auditing done by companies on organizations is believed to be truly accurate and truly a reflection upon the companies true financial success. So that means that the auditors done by the accountants are inaccurate as well as the companies are being dishonest about how their business is going. How sad is that? Where are all the honest leaders? I know we live in a free market economy, but it is getting a little ridiculous. If these companies would quit trying to cover these things up and came out with the truth. They would save themselves and so many others a lot of money. It is plain irresponsibility and it is good hard-working folks that have to pay for their selfish greediness.

Well that is all I have to rant and rave about tonight. Let me know what you think of this new format and if you have things you would like for me to discuss. Please feel free to share them with me.
Thanks.

Mb

The Recap

2009-04-06T19:17:00.003-05:00

Opening night was a good sign of things to come for the Atlanta Braves. Welcome to the Monday night edition of "the stache" where the weather is frightful, I am still a little under the weather, and where Derek Lowe proves to be huge against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Up here in the high country of North Carolina, we have experienced a 40 degree drop in temperature in a 24 hour time span. It is just a reminder of how far summer is away up here and around the southeast. Weather likes to tease us this time of year with warm, sunny days one day and cold, blustery days the next.

As stated above I am still a little under the weather as I am battling a combination of a cold/allergies. The nose is no longer running as much as it did the day before, but my energy has been completely sapped out of my system all day today. In my 10 o'clock class this morning I nearly dozed off as my droopy eyelids made it hard for me to concentrate on what was going on in class. I had plenty of sleep last night, but I think some of the pills I have been popping have made me a little drowsy today. Which is fine cause that means I am on the right track to full health again. I took two separate 30-40 minute naps during the day today to help rest my weary body. I hardly ever take naps so I know this is the most tired I have felt in quite awhile. This afternoon's run was very slow even by my standards. It was hard enough to just lift my feet off the ground, much less establish any kind of pace or rhythm on the run. Any hill I approached sapped what little energy I had left in my body. Not to mention the 30-40mph wind gusts that were blowing frozen precipitation all over the place. I hope for tomorrow to be a better day, energy wise, this was a rough start to this week.

Onto bigger and better news. The Braves defeated the Phillies 4-1 last night in a contest that wasn't really much of contest until the very end. Derek Lowe pitched a dominant 8 innings, not allowing a single run, and only surrendering 2 hits with no walks and 4 strikeouts. It was vintage Lowe. His sinker and breaking pitches were left down in the strike zone and when he missed his target, he missed low and out of harm for the batters. He had multiple 1-2-3 innings and made many a batter look silly and unable to get good wood on the ball. Helped by some early offense, Lowe and the Braves never looked back until the 9th inning when things got interesting. Mike Gonzalez, the Braves closer for this season, had trouble finding the strike zone early on and throughout his outing as he allowed 1 run to come across the plate as well as bringing the tying runs up to the plate with Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez coming up to the plate. The powerful, Texas native southpaw mowed down the two slugging lefties with fastballs in the mid to low 90s up in the zone to retire the side and win the ball game for the Bravos. I hope this is not a sign of things to come with Gonzalez as he could provide many a heartache for Braves fans across the land, especially yours truly. Its nice that we got the win but I'd like a little less drama in the 9th, in a game where you had dominated all the way through.
My three stars for the Braves in this game are:

Derek Lowe
Jordan Schafer
Brian McCann

After every Braves ballgame I will list my top 3 stars whether in a winning or losing effort. It's exactly like what the NHL does with their games, except I am going to give the kudos all to one team. Schafer had an outstanding debut, knocking a homer to deep centerfield in his first major league at-bat. Becoming the 99th player to accomplish that feat and the first Braves since Jermaine Dye in 1996. He also had a single and a walk in his debut for the Braves. Expect him to move towards the top of the lineup shortly for this club as he becomes more familiar with the pitching in this league. McCann provided the Braves with their first two runs of the season with a bomb hit into the second deck in right field in the first inning of the game. It set the tone right for this season and gave Lowe some room to work with. Mac also called a good game as he and Lowe seemed to be in sync with the flow of the game.

Some other tidbits from the game. Kelly Johnson looked uncomfortable in the leadoff spot as he seemed to passive in his approach at the plate. Kelly is a player, and the stats prove it, that needs to be aggressive early in the count and look for a pitch to drive into the right-centerfield gap. He is a pull hitter and he needs to recognize this to have a good season this year. He belongs in the 6/7 spot not the leadoff spot for this club. That part of the order fits his aggressive style better than the top of the order. Yunel Escobar looked solid at the plate and in the field as did Chipper Jones who got a hold of a Brett Myers pitch and lined into the gap for a double. This man could roll out the bed and go 2-4 with a 2B. He can flat out rake.

Well that's it for tonight's blog. I hope you enjoyed it and once again if you have any suggestions or recommendations of things you want me to talk about. Feel free to give me a shout. Thanks.

Mb

Opening Night

2009-04-05T17:38:00.002-05:00

Ah, the first day of baseball season is upon us. Welcome to the Sunday night edition of "the stache," where allergies, track meets, Doc Watson concerts, and naps live. If you did not guess it, that is what has occupied me the last few days.

Yes indeed it is Opening Night for the Atlanta Braves as they take on the Philadelphia Phillies tonight at 8pm. So much to look forward to, what lineup will we use tonight? How will Derek Lowe do against this vaunted Phillies lineup. One that he is all to familiar with after having last faced them in the playoffs last year as a member of the Dodgers. Crucial to keep that sinker down, because not only is the lineup powerful and explosive for the Phillies, but it is the small ballpark in Philadelphia that can also be a problem. So we'll see how it goes. I have a group that I am meeting with at 8pm so I will miss the first few innings, but not much more I hope.

Allergies are the one bummer about spring time. The team went down to Duke this weekend for a track meet and I think that is what a few of us on the team have acquired. Stuffy, running noses, snot, and mucus, lovely things to deal with this time of year. Duke was very successful for the Lees-McRae distant squad as several personal records were attained over the weekend. Micheal Davis put up a 4:08(1500M) and a 2:00(800m). Luke Anton ran 4:09(1500m) and 2:02(800m), pretty much equaling his season best in that 2 lap event. Yours truly, had a personal best in the 1500m at 4:21, first PR in about a year. Craig Simpkins ran an easy 15:31 in the 5000m and Nate Trimble lowered his best in the 5000m to 15:54.

Took a pretty epic nap this afternoon, about 2 hours worth. Did some volunteering early this morning for a cycling race and I needed to catch up on some sleep. The Lees-McRae cycling team represented itself well this morning in the road race.

The Doc Watson concert last night was truly special in my mind. This mid 80's aged man played a wide variety of notes on the guitar. Ranging from bluegrass, country, and all the stuff in between. Not to mention his stories on his life and the way that effected the songs that he wrote and the rhythm in which he played those notes on the guitar. Truly amazing talent and gift that he has to pic on those strings. I will keep this one short tonight as to keep my nose from running away from me and to get on with some homework for this evening. Tomorrow I will give my thoughts on the Braves game tonight as well as reveal my thoughts on my fantasy team, I know you cannot wait for that. Until then, keep it classy San Diego.

Mb

American League Preview

2009-04-02T12:05:00.005-05:00

As promised, here is my 2009 American League Preview. Same things apply from yesterdays preview. Once again, I will be available to sign copies of this preview in 6 months, so if you want to go ahead and print out a copy for yourself. I can accommodate you so you can post it on your fridge at home. Without further ado....

"Tales from the stache" Americann League Preview 2009

East
1. Boston Red Sox 94-68
2. Tampa Bay Rays 92-70
3. New York Yankees 90-72
4. Toronto Blue Jays 77-85
5. Baltimore Orioles 69-93

Comments: The best 3 teams in baseball are in this division. If these teams were in 3separate divisions they would all have close to 100 wins but since they aren't one will miss out on the playoffs. The Red Sox have too many good pitchers and hitters to fail. Good balance and young veteran mix with Pedroia, Youkilis, Bay, David Ortiz and Co. on offense. I love their top 3 pitchers in Beckett, Lester, and Daisuke. Papplebon at the back end is just electric. Tampa will not slide back. Their pitching and defense are just too good for them to drop off. Plus the addition of David Price in the middle of the year will only boost a strong rotation headed by Kazmir, Shields, and Garza. Their bullpen is where I worry the most with them, but the talent is there to get it done. Plus a full season of Evan Longoria at 3B will help tremendously. They have speed and power with guys such as Upton, Crawford, Carlos Pena, and the addition of Pat Burrell at DH. The Yankees loaded up in the offseason with a lot of big names. I just don't think it will be enough in the end. I think they are too old and do not have the depth that the other 2 teams do. Burnett will breakdown at some point. Jeter, Damon, Matsui, ARod, all have age and some health concerns to be worried about. They will be in it to the end, but they lack that spark that can get them over the hump when you bring in guys from your own organization instead from the outside. Toronto lacks the pitching behind Halladay to make much of a challenge. They have a lot of unproven guys in both their rotation and their lineup after guys like Vernon Wells and Alex Rios, who are good players not great ones. Baltimore is heading in the right direction, they have some good young players out on the field (Markakis, Adam Jones, Matt Wieters). Their pitching is going to be a big problem this year.

Central
1. Minnesota Twins 85-77
2. Cleveland Indians 83-79
3. Detroit Tigers 79-83
4. Chicago White Sox 78-84
5. Kansas City Royals 77-85

Comments: Very balanced, very average division. Minnesota gets the slight nod because they play solid in all facets of the game and do not make many mistakes to beat themselves. Solid rotation, good speed and a little bit of power in Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Carlos Gomez, and co. Joe Nathan is one of the best closers in the game. Cleveland bounces back a little from a disappointing 2008, but I think some concerns in the back end of their rotation are pause for concern. If you are relying on Carl Pavano to give you quality innings, you could be in for some trouble. I like the edition of Mark DeRosa to their lineup. Peralta at SS is a good SS, and Grady Sizemore is a dynamite player in all facets of the game (power, speed, and defense). He needs some help and I think he will get a little more than he did last year. Detroit is an enigma to me, they could win this division with close to 90 wins or they could tank it and get old really fast and win about 70 games, so I will go the middle route and figure them for about 80 wins. Verlander needs to bounce back to form for them to seriously contend. I do not trust the back end of their bullpen. The top of their lineup is really good, Granderson, Polanco, Magglio Ordonez, and Miguel Cabrera are dynamite offensive players. They need some support and if they get it they could easily win this division. The White Sox will take a slight step back this year as I think some of their offensive players will began to show their age. Guys such as Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye, and A.J. Pierzynski will determine the outcome for their season I feel. They are another team that has a high ceiling, but something just does not feel right with this crew. Their starting rotation does not have any guys that really wow you, but they have some innings eaters who can keep you in the ball game. Kansas City is a favorite by many to do some damage this year, much like Tampa Bay last year. I think they lack depth in the starting rotation to contend much past midseason. Kyle Davies needs to pitch well for them to be successful. I like their bullpen and some parts of their offense. Alex Gordon and Billy Butler are keys to their turnaround from the offensive standpoint. They have been solid but need to get a little better for this team to reach .500. They are heading in the right direction, but I think next year will be a breakout year for them.

West
1. Los Angeles Angels 87-75
2. Oakland Athletics 80-82
3. Texas Rangers 74-88
4. Seattle Mariners 69-93

Comments: Not quite the 21 game runaway like last year, but the Angels are the class of the division. That is assuming all of their pitching can stay healthy which it is not right now. They play the game the right way and are always there when it counts, so I do not discredit their chances. Oakland is young and intriguing this year. Their pitching is inexperienced but has the potential to do some damage this year. The A's made solid additions in Matt Holliday and Jason Giambi to along with a healthy Eric Chavez (asking a lot here), and a few other pieces this team will be a contender late into the season. I could envision a scenario where they beat the Angels but it is remote and unlikely. The Rangers have one of the best farm systems in the game, thanks largely to John Schuerholz's(Former Braves GM) trade to acquire Mark Teixeira a couple of years ago. They do not have quite the pitching this year(as always it seems), but help is on the way soon. I like their offense (as usual), with "The Natural" a.k.a. Josh Hamilton patrolling CF. Micheal Young, Ian Kinsler are also studs for this club. Jarrod Saltalamacchia at Catcher (switch-hitting catcher from the Braves), Elvis Andrus (a dazzling SS from the Braves) are young players to look for with this squad. Seattle may be slightly better than last year, but there is not much talent on this squad. After Ichiro and Felix Hernandez, there is not much to get excited about with this squad. Erik Bedard, Jose Lopez, and Adrian Beltre are keys for this team to have any kind of success this year.

A.L. MVP: Miguel Cabrera(Det)
A.L. Cy Young: Jon Lester(Bos)
A.L. Rookie: Matt Wieters(Balt)

Playoffs: Boston over Minnesota
L.A. Angels over Tampa Bay

Boston over L.A. Angels

World Series: Boston over Arizona

Boston has too much of everything to not get it done this year. As much as it pains me to say this John Smoltz will play a huge part in this team's success in the second half of 2009. That's it for my season previews. Tune back later in the season as I will give continual observations and opinions on the happenings in MLB, especially the Atlanta Braves.

Nice job by the U.S. team in its 3-0 win over hapless Trinidad and Tobago. Jozy Altidore, the 19 year sensation scored all three goals to give him a total of 4 in the last two World Cup Qualifiers. He is the dynamic presence up front that the U.S. has been searching for forever to find. If Donovan can keep feeding in great balls and play with some toughness this team can make some noise in South Africa
2010. Tim Howard looks like a major improvement in goal over Kasey Keller, who is simply too old to play against top international competition. The squad is off for 2 months until they take on Costa Rica on June 3.

Mb

National League Preview

2009-04-01T17:33:00.004-05:00

As previously promised, today will be my 2009 National League preview. You can hold me accountable for all the picks I miss now, 6 months from now. I will give a divisional standings prediction, followed with a win/loss projection, also I will be picking a few players to look out for and I will have all of my playoff picks as well as the individual awards for the league. I tried to keep bias out of the equation, as I feel this is an accurate representation of how things will unfold by season's end based upon the research I have done. Without further ado, here is the "Tales from the stache" National League preview. (editor's note: at seasons end "the stache" will be available to sign copies of this season preview so you can frame it on your wall and admire it.)

National League East
1. Philadelphia Phillies 91-71
2. Atlanta Braves 88-74
3. New York Mets 86-76
4. Florida Marlins 80-82
5. Washington Nationals 76-86

Comments: The National League East will be a dogfight this year, with as many as 4 teams having a shot at the division if things break the right way. Philadelphia needs for Hamels to be healthy and pitch 200 innings this year. They need to hope he does not run into having a dead arm this year after pitching into October last year. Their offense and veteran leadership is almost too much to overcome. The Braves made a lot of moves this offseason, lets hope for my sake that they lead to a return to the playoffs. I like the depth they have established with a lot of young guys, especially on the pitching staff, waiting in the wings in case a veteran player declines or gets injured. I think a bounce back season for Jeff Francouer will be the key for Atlanta this year. The Mets I anticipate some slippage because of the age of some of their key players, most notably Carlos Delgado and Luis Castillo. I do think they have some of the most dynamic players in the game in David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and Johan Santana, but the mental approach with this team is what I worry about as well. The depth in their pitching staff does not leave much room for error, there is not a lot of help on the way from their minor league system. The Marlins are many peoples out there pick to be a sleeper this year, I am not feeling it. Although they may have one of the best starting rotations in the game, I do not trust the rest of this team. After Hanley Ramirez and the streaky Dan Uggla, there is not much in the offense. Cameron Maybin could be huge for them this year, Jeremy Hermida is needed to fulfill his promise of being a 1st round draft pick back in 2002. Their bullpen is unproven, but talented. Defense was shaky last year, they need that to contend for the playoffs this year. The Nationals are still a year or two away I believe. Not enough talent yet, especially in the starting rotation. They have a lot of corner outfielders with not enough spots to fill out a team. If you filled an outfield with two LF and a RF they would be set. I like Adam Dunn for their offense, boy do they need his pop. Zimmerman the 3B is a solid player, but I am searching for much more with them from an offensive standpoint. Lastings Millege is a key to their success this year.

National League Central
1. Chicago Cubs 95-67
2. St. Louis Cardinals 83-79
3. Milwaukee Brewers 82-80
4. Cincinnati Reds 78-84
5. Houston Astros 77-85
6. Pittsburgh Pirates 67-95

Comments: Average division that should easily go to the Cubs. It is hard to envision a scenario where this team does not make the playoffs this year. Too much talent and balance in every aspect of their game. Their rotation is real solid, but has some health concerns with Rich Harden. I like their bullpen with Gregg and Marmol at the back end with some veterans in support roles. Their offense will lose a little by sending Mark DeRosa over to the Indians, he could play a variety of positions and he could flat out rake. I like the addition of Milton Bradley to the middle of their order, a good compliment to Lee, Ramirez, and Soriano at the top of the lineup. The one concern I do have with them is their defense in the outfield and the health of players such as Bradley and Lee. Is Soto the real deal at catcher? We will see. I like the Cardinals to max out at about 83 wins because of two people Albert Pujols and Tony LaRussa, the manager. Pujols is the best hitter in the game. I like Wainwright to provide a solid presence at the top of the rotation. I just think they play the game the right way and do not beat themselves with dumb mistakes. The Brewers are a potential sleeper if they can get some of their pitchers to step up, mainly Yovanni Gallardo as a potential ace of the staff. They have the offense in J.J. Hardy, Ryan Braun, and Prince Fielder to do some damage in this division. Cincinnati is a lot of peoples pick to rise high this year. While I do think that it is possible. I do not see it likely that they can put it together, too many things have to happen for them to do well. I do not feel their is much depth if their regulars fail. Good young talent, we'll see what they can do. Their is some hope for the Reds. The Astros may have one of the worst starting rotations in baseball after Roy Oswalt their are a bunch of #4 and 5 starters. Their offense, while good, has some holes in it after Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee. I expect a struggle for them. The Pirates are a dysfunctional organization and have been for over a decade now. They just can't seem to put things together. I thought they had some promising young pitchers a couple years ago, but they have dropped off big time in recent years. They could surprise, but I doubt it.

National League West
1. Arizona Diamondbacks 90-72
2. Los Angeles Dodgers 88-74
3. San Francisco Giants 78-84
4. Colorado Rockies 77-85
5. San Diego Padres 60-102

Comments: Two horse race here that will come down to starting pitching and I feel the D'backs have a little more of it than the Dodgers. The Manny Ramirez factor is huge for the Dodgers, but I do not think it will be enough to over come their pitching depth issues. Arizona has one of the top 3 rotations in the National League, along with the Marlins and Cubs. I like the youth of that team to really come to the forefront and help out their offense in a big way. Most notably Justin Upton and Stephen Drew. I like the Dodgers young veterans, Andre Either, Matt Kemp, James Loney, and Russell Martin. It will an interesting division to watch. If the Giants had any hitting they would be a horse in this race, but alas they do not have enough to make up for a very solid rotation led by the Cy Young winner from last year Tim Lincecum. The Rockies lost too much with Matt Holliday going to the Athletics in a trade and Jeff Francis going down to season ending surgery earlier this year. The Padres are going to have the worst record in baseball, they are horrific. Jake Peavy, Chris Young, and Adrian Gonzalez at 1B are the only players you should really worry about with them this year.

N.L. MVP- Albert Pujols(Stl)
N.L. Cy Young- Brandon Webb(Arz)
N.L. Rookie of the Year- Tommy Hanson(Atl)

Playoffs: Chicago over Atlanta
Arizona over Philadelphia

Arizona over Chicago

Arizona has the pitching and the balance in the offense to take the Pennant this year. Cubs have the best team, but they underachieve come playoff time.

Take care, so long for now until tomorrow when I preview the American League.
Go USA beat Trinidad & Tobago tonight.

Mb

April Showers Bring....

2009-03-31T19:53:00.002-05:00

Been doing a lot of surfing the net recently, looking at various things, letting information pour into and mostly out of my brain. It seems the more I learn the less I know, oh well, can't know everything. With April soon being upon us, my how March truly flew by this year, it got me to thinking of what all there is to look forward to this month, especially in the sports world. It is the month that gives us showers that lead to flowers. A month where we can get fooled and a month that gives us Easter. It is the final full month of the scholastic year for me and many others around. Picking a great time to graduate, with the economy struggling and all the other things associated with that, but I believe that things will turn out well in the end for both the economy and myself. This is America, land of the free, home of the brave. Have to be positive, skeptical, and realistic all at the same time. I may not have a job upon leaving college, but in time something will break through and work itself out, only time will tell when that time will be. I just hope it does not involve more school in the near future. Onto other things.

What makes April so great in the sports world is many, many things. WE have the end of the NCAA Tournament this weekend. We have Opening Day and the beginning month for MLB. We have the Masters Golf Tournament in my home state of Augusta, Georgia. I can just hear the CBS music now, ah the wonderful sounds of spring. The Azaleas in bloom, the grass is green, the bees are buzzing, very nice indeed. April also gives us the beginning of the NBA and NHL playoffs. When your team is in it, like the last two years, it makes it just that much better. Also, we have the NFL Draft, one of my favorite events to watch because it is all about projections, projections on how this player will help this team and how the future shapes up for your favorite organization(Atlanta Falcons). Its a stat geek, NFL nerds dream come true.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention the U.S. Men's Soccer team who scored two goals late Saturday evening to tie El Salvador and remain on top of the CONCACAF for the World Cup in 2010. Looks like there is some promise on this team with young players such as Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, Tim Howard(although not as young but still new to the squad this year) and returning veterans such as Demarcus Beasley, Clint Dempsey, and Frankie Hejduk. They have a game tomorrow taking on Trinidad and Tobago. Looking forward to that one to see if we can continue the momentum.

Now I leave you tonight, so I can get back to watching one of the greatest movies of all time, Godfather Pt. 2. Have a good one. Stay warm. Hugs and handpounds.

Mb

Monday Musings

2009-03-30T10:24:00.004-05:00

A little review from this weekend's NCAA Tournament action as well as some other thoughts going through this gradually warming up of a Spring Monday in Late March. Welcome to the Monday edition of "the stache," where busted brackets live, and Opening Day for the Bravos is a short 6 days away.

I only got 1 team correct on the Final Four (UNC). I am a little upset with myself over Michigan State, because I had them tabbed to make the Final Four in my initial bracket but got scared and decided to go chalk with Louisville instead. Whoops! The Spartans played solid defense and really shut down a powerful Louisville team who scored over a 100 points in their previous game. Good for the Spartans though, they are a solid team, and it will be interesting to see if they can stay with the Huskies of Connecticut. Who I should have known better to pick over Memphis in the West region, who completely flamed out against a very good Missouri Tigers team. Memphis just fell apart on the defensive end and could not a complimentary player to the great Tyreke Evans. A dazzling point guard who looked unstoppable at many points during the game. Connecticut has looked outstanding in the tournament so far. I should have known better with them. They have consistently been one of the top 2-3 teams in the nation. Shame on me for not picking them to make the Final Four. North Carolina cruised their region, as predicted by me and many out there. They look like the odds on favorite to cut down the nets in Detroit. Lawson has made all the difference for them. Their tempo and defensive pressure has been key to their success. Villanova beating Pittsburgh on a last second shot by Scottie Reynolds was a typical Big East slugfest with the two teams exchanging blows over the full 40 minutes. Nova just had the ball last and made a play while the Pitt defenders stood around like statues on the last play not wanting to move their feet at all and force an outside shot. I am thinking a UNC-UConn final is in store for us a week from today. An interesting matchup, with two very explosive, talented teams.

Ah, you smell that? It is the smell of Opening Day within sight, in what seems like an endless spring of speculations of how teams will do. Six days from now it all begins with the Braves taking on the Phillies Sunday night at 8pm on ESPN2. Derek Lowe will be making the opening day start and debut for the Braves that evening. Here's hoping he throws a good one and can get us started on a positive note for this season. Still not sure who the Phillies will be trotting out, but I am sure it will be fun, regardless. All indications are pointing towards Jordan Shafer being the starting CF opening day for the Bravos. I hope he does because he can bring a lot to the table that Josh Anderson just simply cannot bring. Both players are fast, but Shafer possesses a little bit more power and a stronger arm. It will be interesting to see what happens to Anderson if he does not win the job. Will he clear waivers or will he be sent down to AAA or does he get traded (edit: Josh Anderson just traded to Detroit)? Coming in a couple of days I will break down the upcoming season and give my predictions on how I think things will unfold this year.

Once again I hope you enjoyed this latest installment. Feel free to offer suggestions on things you would like to read about hear on "the stache." I would be glad to listen to what you have to say. A guest blog appearance may be on the horizon soon. So if you are interested, let me know and I should be able to accommodate you. Take care and drive safely.

Mb

Top 5 Distance Runners

2009-03-28T17:16:00.003-05:00

On this wet, and dreary day I was doing some thinking on the topic for today's top 5. Since we are in the beginning stages of the outdoor track season, ideas began to formulate as to the list I would complete. So after much research, thought, and careful consideration. I am going to list my top 5 U.S. distance runners of all time. These rankings are subjective and based upon certain criteria that I feel are important. I value longevity, fast times, victories in major races, and how good they were in their era, usually in that order but not strictly limited to those criteria as it is my list, my choices. I define a distance runner as being anything from the mile all the way up to the marathon. So without further ado...

1. Frank Shorter- He along with Steve Prefontaine really started a running boom in America. Won the Olympic Marathon in 1972 and finished 2nd to a drug cheat in the 1976 games. He was a 4 time U.S. Cross Country champion. From 1971 to 1973, was ranked number 1 in the world at the marathon. From 1971 to 1976 he was number one in the United States. Six separate years in the 70's he was ranked number one at the 10,000m. Personal Records (PR's) of 13:26(5k), 27:45(10k), 2:10.30 (Marathon).

2. Jim Ryun- He was the first high schooler to run under 4 minutes in the mile. His high school record of 3:55.3 stood for 36 years until broken by Alan Webb in 2001. He holds 5 of the 6 times ever run by a high schooler. Received the silver medal in the 1500m at the 1968 Olympic Games to the great Kip Keino of Kenya. He held the world record at the mile and 800m. PR's of 3:51.1 in the mile and 3:33.1 in the 1500m. In 1966 and 1967 he was ranked number in the world at the 1500/mile distance.

3. Steve Scott- He held the U.S. record in the mile for 26 years at 3:47.6. Finished 2nd in the 1500m World Championships in 1983. Ran sub-4 in the mile 136 times. Holds the U.S. indoor record in the 2k at 4:58.6. Was the first American to run under 3:50 in the mile, the 5th ever in the world. Finished 5th at the 1500m at the 1988 Olympics. Has PR's of 3:31.7 (1500m), 3:47.6 (mile), 7:36 (3k), and 13:30 (5k).

4. Steve Prefontaine- The legendary "Pre" held every American record from the 2k to the 10k at one point in his brief career. Finished 4th in the 1972 Olympics at 5000m. A noted front runner he only lost 3 times in his collegiate career at the University of Oregon. Won 3 NCAA Cross Country titles in 4 years. Holds PR's of 7:42 (3k), 13:21 (5k), 27:43 (10k). Career was ended prematurely in 1975 after a car wreck ended his life at the age of 24. Which is why he does not rank higher on this list.

5. Bill Rodgers- Four time winner of both the Boston and New York City Marathons. Ranked number one in the world at the marathon in 1975, 1977, and 1979. He won 22 marathons in his career. Holds the American records at the 15k, 20k, 25k, and 30k distances. Held the American record at one time in the Marathon with a 2:09.27 in 1979. Made the Olympic teams in the Marathon in 1976 and 1980 (U.S. boycotted these games). Finished 3rd at the World Cross Country Championships. Ran a 28:04 on the track for 10k and a 28:16 on the roads.

I feel like this is a good representation of the top distance runners that have represented America in its history. Some honorable mentions include Craig Virgin(13:19 5k, 27:29 10k), Bob Kennedy (12:58 5k-U.S. best), Bernard Lagat (lacks longevity as an American), Marty Liquori (3:36 1500m), Ryan Hall (2:06.17 in the marathon, 59:43 in the half-marathon, huge potential to enter this list in a couple years if he can remain healthy and win some big races), and Alan Webb (U.S. record holder in mile, 13:10 5k, 27:34 10k, lacks big race wins, more of a time trialer I think). If others were left off, I apologize, as I am sure there are plenty of other good runners that I have not mentioned. For all of you runners and former runners out there, I would gladly like to see your thoughts and opinions on this list. If you do disagree, give me some stats and facts to back it up. I'd be glad to hear them. Have a good day.

Mb

Daily Snippet

2009-03-26T21:00:00.003-05:00

Good evening from the halls of Bentley Dormitory on the campus of Lees-McRae College. Just chilling here this evening, watching some basketball, and relaxing from a busy academic and athletic day. Began around 7:30 this morning with a rather sluggish and begrudgingly rise out of bed after a restless night of sleep. Had another uneventful, bland breakfast this morning. Some french toast, eggs, OJ and something else that does not really stand out in my mind. Same types of breakfasts I have had over the last 4 years, while sometimes it is the best meal of the day at McDonald Dining Hall, it has never changed and always makes me long for something more.

Academics began with Business Ethics which consists of a student teaching and leading a discussion on the WorldCom/MCI accounting fraud that occurred a few years ago. Basically they were putting their expenses and assets in places that they should not be, creating a false sense of how well the company is actually doing. The CEO Bernard Ebbers tried to play off him self as a folksy, good ole boy from Mississippi who would wear cowboy boots and jeans to work. Interesting in how he kept trying to sell the company even after it was down to nearly $2 a share after peaking around $60. He said if it were up to him he would gamble on WorldCom. Really you would? This was a man who would spend millions and millions of dollars on yachts, multiple houses with large tracts of land. These were all backed by loans and stock options, which is OK if the stock is high, but very risky when stocks get low. He was basically a greedy SOB, who loved to micromanage, even charging his own employees to drink coffee from the coffee machines owned at their business, and is currently serving a 25 year sentence for securities fraud which will put him in jail until he is 88 years old.

After this class, I had about an hour and a half to chill while preparing for my 11 o'clock class. Spent this time listening to some tunes, surfing the net, catching up on the latest gossip, and doing some prep work for a role play in Professional Selling. This particular role play included a 3 person group where one person was the observer, one person was the buyer and one person was the seller. This was the second time we had done this in this class. Each person has to play each role. The seller was trying to solve a problem where the buyer's company had a leakage in their fertilizer and the seller had to make sure it was taken care of and also had to sell them a new product based on the needs of the buyer. As the seller you had to pay close attention and actively listen by asking the right questions to find out what the buyer was looking for. It was important to establish good dialogue and see if you can sell a new product or service to them. I came up with the service of actually laying down the fertilizer at their place of business based upon the dialogue we had established.

After this I ate some ham, mashed potatoes, peas, and peaches for another stellar, bathroom calling meal in the cafeteria. 1pm saw the departure to Johnson City for a small track meet hosted by Milligan College. I, along with the rest of my teammates competed in a 1500m duel, where times were unspectacular but competition was fierce. After that saw 5 guys off to do battle in the 3000m. Again competition was solid, and bragging rights were determined. 800m was not fast, but those competing, competed pretty well for the most part. The highlight to me was seeing Brad Tanis run a 1:58 800m after never having ran it before in his track career. All in all a good preview of things to come as we wind on down the road of track season. That's all I got for now. I hope you enjoyed this snippet into my daily life activities. Good night.

Mb

Top Pitchers

2009-03-25T19:21:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I told you I was going to preview the National League, I lied. That comes next week. Today will be all about the pitchers. A list of the top 20 starting pitchers in the league this year is what I have on today's menu. So without further ado, here we go......

1. Johan Santana (30)- New York Mets
2. Roy Halladay (31)- Toronto Blue Jays
3. Jake Peavy (27)- San Diego Padres
4. C.C. Sabathia (28)- New York Yankees
5. Brandon Webb (29)- Arizona Diamondbacks
6. Tim Lincecum (24)- San Fransisco Giants
7. Cole Hamels (25)- Philadelphia Phillies
8. Cliff Lee (30)- Cleveland Indians
9. Jon Lester (25)- Boston Red Sox
10. Roy Oswalt (31)- Houston Astros
11. John Lackey (30)- Los Angeles Angels
12. Daisuke Matzuzaka (28)- Boston Red Sox
13. Dan Haren (28)- Arizona Diamondbacks
14. Derek Lowe (35)- Atlanta Braves
15. Scott Kazmir (25)- Tampa Bay Rays
16. James Shields (27)- Tampa Bay Rays
17. Felix Hernandez (22)- Seattle Mariners
18. Ervin Santana (26)- Los Angeles Angels
19. Chad Billingsley (24)- Los Angeles Dodgers
20. A.J. Burnett (32)- New York Yankees

First off, this was really hard to pick. Harder than I imagined it would be. The top 6-7 are the elite pitchers in the league who have established themselves as top notch pitchers over the last few years. The top 3 or 4 are interchangeable at the top. Guys like Lester and Lee are really good and I like the way they go about their business. They just need a few more consistent years under their belts. All the rest of these guys are a mixture of vets and young guys who are consistently in the mid 3's with their ERA's. They usually pitch close to 200 innings and if they don't they are usually big time strikeout guys. If Kazmir could stay healthy he could rise up the charts and if Felix Hernandez continues to grow as a pitcher his potential is limitless. The bottom few could easily be replaced by some others on the outside who I did not have a good feeling about yet. Guys like Edinson Volquez of the Reds, Zach Greinke, Matt Cain, Ryan Dempster, Matt Garza are some of the other guys I considered for the last few spots, as well as Josh Beckett, who could be on this list if he could stay healthy. He is an amazingly clutch pitcher come postseason time and he has the stuff to create some havoc.

That's it for now. I hope you enjoyed my latest Baseball Wednesday. Feel free to comment about this and other blogs and give me some feedback and suggestions. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Mb

Random Thoughts

2009-03-24T13:23:00.003-05:00

Just some random notes for you today. Enjoy the weather for today, "the stache" forecasts some rain coming down from the skies, so be wary of that.

Over the spring break, got a chance to visit the King Tut museum at the Civic Center in downtown Atlanta. It was really neat, had a lot of cool artifacts that were thousands of years old. The actual King Tut section had some cool stuff like his actual bed that he slept on. It is amazing thing to see when you put it all into perspective.

We have two months til G-Day, graduation day May 23. Looking forward to it like nobodies business, if that makes any sense.

This weekend saw the debut of outdoor track for the Lees-McRae Bobcats. Some notable performances by the distance squad, Craig Simpkins (bowl cut twin)with a 15:44 5k, Chris "Critter" Holstein 15:50 5k (a few seconds off his personal best of 2 years ago), 15:58 5k for Nathaniel Trimble, aka baby Jesus, first time under 16 minutes for the 5k, and a 16:05 personal best for Jordan Gillespie (bowl cut twin) in the 5k as well (which if you are unfamiliar with the distance is 3.1 miles, 12.5 laps on your standard track.) Luke Anton, Transylvania's finest, with two real good races this weekend with a 2:02 800m and a huge PR of 4:10 in the 1500m, defeating the legend Critter Holstein in a 1500m duel for the ages. Also props go out to Micheal "MC Hammer" Davis for his solid performances this weekend, 2:02 and 4:10 as well. Also this cat named Matt Barrett ("the stache") had some decent performances with a 4:23 1500m (about a second off a personal best) and a 2:07 800m, a mere 3 seconds away from tying a personal best. I forecast good things to come for the Bobcats distance squad.

Props go out to the Atlanta Hawks for their 8th straight home win over the hapless Minnesota Timberwolves, who have not been much of a factor since Al Jefferson went down with a season ending injury about a month ago. They currently hold the 4th spot in the Eastern Conference, a 3.5 game lead on the Miami Heat with 11 games left to play. The key for the recent success has been a balanced offensive approach and a more close attention to the defensive side of the ball.

This week sees the end of the World Baseball Classic and the return of Chipper Jones, Brian McCann and Garrett Anderson to the Braves lineup. These guys are going to be in the heart of the order for the Bravos this year. So it is key they stay healthy. With 12 days until opening night in Philadelphia, there are still a couple spots up for grabs. I would personally like to see Jordan Schafer in CF over Josh Anderson, who is out of options, but possesses a lot of speed. They would have to trade him if he is not on the roster opening day, assuming he does not clear waivers. Some spots in the bullpen are up for grabs, depending upon the health of Peter Moylan, Rafael Soriano, et al. I am curious to see how we use Tommy Hanson, Jo-Jo Reyes, Charlie Morton, and James Parr this year. Most if not all will be in a Braves uniform sometime this year. A lot of quality depth on this squad.

Do we need to make trades to clear up some space in the outfield and pitching rotation? This next week or so should reveal how the roster will look on opening day, which will look a lot different come summer time.

What is the Braves ideal lineup? That is an intriguing dilemma for Bobby Cox and his staff. I would like to see Shafer, Garrett Anderson, Kelly Johnson, Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Francouer, Escobar, Kotchman as the lineup but I doubt it will come out that way.

Tomorrow's edition I will breakdown the National League and give my predictions on how the season will turn out. Take care and drive home safely. Remember to keep it classy out there and be nice and respectful to others. Peace.

Mb

Saturday Top 5 on Sunday

2009-03-22T13:52:00.003-05:00

Busy day yesterday kept me away from the computer for most of the day. After having one of the best sleeps I have had in several days, I will give you the traditional "Saturday Top 5," on Sunday. As well as sharing some other random thoughts that have crossed through my mind recently. Without further ado, here is the top 5, from something that is close to my heart, well more like my stomach, my top 5 favorite foods to eat...

1. Steak and Potatoes
Need I say much here? Those that know me well know how fond I am of this delicious meal. While at home this is the meal we partake in nearly every Sunday evening after church. How do I like my steak cooked? Mooing and blood red of course. This allows for all of the flavors to soak in the steak and in your mouth. My dad cooks one of the best around, and we can thank our local meat "guy" for providing us with quality steaks. Potatoes with some butter and cheese is an excellent compliment for the meat. Providing a delicious and satisfying meal.

2. Lasagna
Absolutely delicious, makes my mouth water just talking and thinking about it. It is at its best when the cheese, noodles, and sauce all melt together in your mouth. It is served best steaming hot and not solidified but more like a mixture of liquid and solid, if that makes any sense. A perfect compliment to this is any type of bread or role. A lot of times at the house we will have homemade bread served with this, that just melts in your moth. Excellent meal.

3. Hot Wings
Any kind, any day of the week with these fellas. At restaurants, sports bars, best at the house, where my dad puts them on the grill with a special hot sauce. Mouth watering and mouth burning describes these suckers the best. Again carbohydrates find its way into the discussion, french fries are the best compliment to serve with wings. It helps to cool down the mouth a little to give yourself a break from the hotness of the hot wings.

4. Ribs
Notice a trend here? More meat. These are a great late spring/summer food to be served with some type of your favorite vegetables. A good, sitting out on the deck and chowing down to enjoy as you watch the sun set on another warm southern evening. When I think of ribs I think of a couple things. One, you can be sloppy with these suckers. If you like them with BBQ sauce hot off the grill like I do, there is not much better. I like to eat these without utensils, using only my fingers and my mouth. The other thing I think of is, 4th of July, seems like the ideal meal on this great day. Corn on the cob, buttered up is the ideal compliment but others are acceptable.

5. Pizza
Ah, the traditional favorite food by many of us out there. One of my lifelong favorites. Melting cheese, sauce, and bread in combination together. I like it many ways, thin crust, thick crust, somewhere in between. Pepperoni is probably my favorite. There is no ideal compliment to have with a slice of pizza. Usually served separate, you do not need much to compliment with this other than a cold beverage.

I hope I made you hungry. I know it did for me, too bad I have to be at home to enjoy most of these foods. The quality, or lack thereof, of food in the school cafeteria makes you really appreciate the good food that you do get the pleasure of having.

Random thoughts from the last few days. Glad to see the Hawks positioning themselves for a home court first round playoff series. This would be huge for us to get and great to see the development of this squad from the one a few years ago that only won 13 games. Some surprises in the tournament include Dayton knocking off West Virginia (so much for that being the 1st round lock of the tournament), Cleveland State over Wake Forest, and that is pretty much it in my book. Everything else I could see coming. Opening day for the Bravos is 2 short weeks away. It will be interesting to see if we make any moves with the roster we currently have. With the outdoor track season in full swing now, I look forward to the speeding by of these next few weeks until the end of the school year. In two short months from now I will be done and on to the next phase of my life. Where and what will that be? Only God knows the answer to that, and that will come in his time, not mine. Anticipation, anxious, and relief are the best ways to describe the emotions I am feeling about this.

Take care out there. I am going to leave you some song lyrics to one of my favorite bands and songs. Make you want to take a road trip out to where ever and whenever with the sun beating down on our head and the windows open, ready to take on whatever comes your way.

America: "Ventura Highway"

"Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger than moonshine
You're gonna go I know

'Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair
And the days surround your daylight there
Seasons cryin' no despair
Alligator lizards in the air, in the air"

The Glory Years

2009-03-20T21:55:00.003-05:00

This will be another quickie, as it is late I am tired from a long day at the track down at Wake Forest. Which is by the way a very nice track facility. Is there anything that makes you feel more helpless than when you are stuck in a van with no headphones and intolerable music blaring on the radio? Welcome to the Friday night edition of "the stache." Where my bracket currently is sitting at 24-4, with only one substantial loss, thanks West Virginia, the lock of the first round my butt.

On the way back from today's race, I was under the extreme misfortune to have to listen to about 30 minutes worth of country music. How miserable is that. My Ipod mysteriously quit working about 2 months ago so I had nothing to save me from this insanity. I mean there was no rhythm or anything good about the music we were listening to. It sounded like nails on the chalkboard, I mean it was that bad. There is some country I can stand, but that extends to about half a dozen songs, but what were listening to was just pure misery. It was awful. There that clears that up for ya. You do not realize how powerful headphones can be until you are without them on a 2 hour bus ride.

One thing good did come out of this trip back to school. Once Rip Van Winkle woke up, a.k.a Luke Anton, we had a nice chat about old school NBA from the 90's. It was fun recalling some of our favorite teams, the late 90's Indiana Pacers with Rick Smits, Chris Mullen, Mark Jackson, and Reggie Miller to name a few. I could name some other key contributors but that would probably bore you to death. A lot of lefties, a lot of white guys and a lot of clutch guys. They were coached by the great Larry Bird. Some other teams of note, the Seattle Supersonics, Gary Payton, Hersey Hawkins, Detlef Schrempf, and Shawn Kemp, led by the great George Karl. Kemp was a powerful player back in the day before he got fat and slow. Also reminiscing about some of the players on the late 90's Atlanta Hawks, back when they were good before they sucked for a decade until reemerging the last 2 seasons. Players such as Mookie Blaylock, Steve Smith, Dikembe Mutumbo, Christian Laettner, to name a few. We even had the great Rasheed Wallace for one game in the earlier part of this decade before shipping him off to Detroit in a three way deal with the Celtics, that gave the Hawks Bob Sura the incomparable Zeljko Rebraca and Chris Mills. Other teams of note, the Milwaukee Bucks, with Ray Allen (Jesus Shuttlesworth), Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson, and Sam Cassell. The Detroit Pistons with the teal uniforms and Grant Hill, Joe Dumars, Theo Ratliff and Co. Those were the days I began to watch the NBA and begin my fascination over the memorization of rosters. One of the first NBA Finals I remember was the 1995 Finals that pitted Shaquille O'Neal vs. one of my favorite players of all time Hakeem "the dream" Olajuwon. Those were just a few of the names and teams from this era of great NBA basketball. I would be remiss if I did not mention Stockton to Malone the New York Knicks of Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Charlie Ward. Also the NBA on NBC with Bob Costas and Co., with the all time best theme music to go along with it. If you watched basketball in this era you know what I am talking about.

I hope you enjoyed the latest edition of "the stache." I know I did because it brought back memories of my childhood where innocence rained supreme in my mind and body. Take care and keep it real out there. Stay classy San Diego.

Mb

Spring Anew

2009-03-19T21:56:00.004-05:00

What an exciting first day of the tournament we have had so far. I'll keep this post relatively short, as it is late and I am tired from the trip up to school today. Pretty impressed with myself for not having to stop at all today, covering the trip in just over 5 hours, really good time. My all time best over my four years of traveling back and forth was 4 hours 45 minutes. That time will never be topped, cops are all over the interstate now, they have caught on to my expedient travels.

Folks we are in prime time sports peakness (is that even a word). We have the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, NBA is about a month away from the playoffs, baseball starts in a little over 2 weeks, spring football has started at many colleges and universities, and outdoor track is heating up all over the south east. This time of year is all about opportunity. Opportunity to make up for poor performances and opportunity to do things that you have not had the chance to do in the past. Spring gives opportunities for so many new things to happen. Opportunities to do so many things are abundant among us. Spring Break is a time used by many students to rejuvenate themselves as they hit the stretch run of the scholastic year. For us seniors out there, it is a time to regroup and make one last final push. The finish line is soon approaching, what will meet those of us when we leave these places we have called home over the last 4-5 years. Spring is in bloom in many places around the country. My optimism is at an all time high, well at least in the last year plus or so. I feel good about so many things, not just in sports, but in life in general. Spending time driving in the car by yourself is good therapy for your mind as it allows for you to think about so many different things. I enjoy these trips for the most part, as long traffic is not too bad, and people do not drive too slow. It is a good time for reflection, and if needed, vent and yell scream some of your favorite songs as they blare on out on the radio. You can let a drive stress you out or you can embrace it and look for the opportunities that it offers to clear your head and spend some quality time with yourself. Look for the positive in any situation. Spring is a great time to clean yourself up and start anew. When one door closes another one opens. Stay positive. Take care and stay cool out there. The weather is warming, the bees are buzzing, Spring is here at last.

Mb

The Outfielders

2009-03-18T20:39:00.004-05:00

Good evening, from the kitchen table of our house in Douglasville, aka DVille, aka DVegas, aka DMoney. Before I get into my baseball rankings, I would like to touch on one last thing before the NCAA Tournament begins tomorrow afternoon. The tournament does not need to expand by any amount. There are already enough average teams in there that would not win the title anyways, so we do not need any more average teams in the tournament. If we do that it will turn into the NCAA Football bowl system where teams are rewarded for going 6-6. Not every team in the country needs to play in the postseason. I think we are too worried about pleasing as many people as possible, instead of doing the right thing, the tough thing. I like the system Jay Bilas has proposed about doing away with all the automatic bids and just selecting the best 64 teams, but I still like the smaller conference tournaments. The bigger ones have lost some of their luster I think. Just my two cents on that. Now onto baseball. Tonight I will go through the rankings of the outfielders, RF, CF, LF. Parentheses equals age on April 1, 2009.

Right Field
1. Vladimir Guerrero (34)- Los Angeles Angels
2. Magglio Ordonez (35)- Detroit Tigers
3. Ichiro Suzuki (35)- Seattle Mariners
4. Nick Markakis (25)- Baltimore Orioles
5. Brad Hawpe (30)- Colorado Rockies
6. Jermaine Dye (35)- Chicago White Sox
7. Milton Bradley (30)- Chicago Cubs
8. Alex Rios (28)- Toronto Blue Jays
9. Corey Hart (27)- Milwaukee Brewers
10. Hunter Pence (25)- Houston Astros

One thing that has jumped out at me is there are a lot of old geezers at this position. Some of that has to do with that these players are just that good, another thing it tells me is that there are a lot of younger players who have not established themselves as consistent threats. A few names to look out for our Jeff Francouer, Jay Bruce, and Justin Upton. Guerrero has consistently been at the top of his position for most of the decade, while his numbers have slipped recently, he is still a threat. All of the years he spent on the Olympic Stadium turf have really beat up his legs, which has hurt his speed and has led to a lot of times at DH and on the disabled list. Magglio Ordonez has really stepped it up the last couple of seasons for the Tigers. Ichiro is one of the most dynamic players in the game, their is nothing he cannot do on the baseball field. He has the best arm in the game, great range, great base runner, if the two other guys had not put up great numbers the last 2 years he would be number 1. Markakis is one of the few young guys on this list. A really solid player for the Orioles. Him, Hawpe and Dye are in that second tier of RF after the big 3, and ahead of the rest because of their consistency and ability to stay healthy. Bradley is a really good player but he cannot seem to stay on the field. The top 10 is rounded out with some youth. Hart and Pence are both young, fast, dynamic players, who are exciting to watch.

Center Field
1. Carlos Beltran (31)- New York Mets
2. Josh Hamilton (27)- Texas Rangers
3. Grady Sizemore (26)- Cleveland Indians
4. Torii Hunter (33)- Los Angeles Angels
5. Curtis Granderson (28)- Detroit Tigers
6. B.J. Upton (24)- Tampa Bay Rays
7. Shane Victorino (28)- Philadelphia Phillies
8. Vernon Wells (30)- Toronto Blue Jays
9. Nate McLouth (27)- Pittsburgh Pirates
10. Matt Kemp (24)- Los Angeles Dodgers

This position does have some youth and I like it a little bit more than RF. Multiple Gold Glovers on here, a lot of speed and dynamic players as well, headed by switch hitter Carlos Beltran. Consistent power threat and stolen base threat, he helps the Mets offense churn in the heart of their lineup. Josh Hamilton, he is "The Natural, Roy Hobbs" reincarnated. His display at the All-Star Game HR Derby was something to behold. I can only hope he stays healthy and away from the things that have haunted him in the past. He could become the best player in the game today. Sizemore is a helluva athlete and the catalyst for the Indians. A 30-30 guy last season (HR and SB), who also happened to win a Gold Glove, great young player. The next few guys are just a little below the top few, not quite the consistency and explosiveness as the top 3, but still really good players. Hunter, Granderson, Upton, Victorino can all go get it and can all play great defense in center. Upton has the potential to rise if he can regain some of the power he lost last season. McLouth is an outstanding defensive player with good power. Kemp has a lot of potential to great things. I love watching these guys play.

Left Field
1. Manny Ramirez (36)- Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Matt Holliday (29)- Oakland Athletics
3. Ryan Braun (25)- Milwaukee Brewers
4. Alfonso Soriano (33)- Chicago Cubs
5. Carlos Lee (32)- Houston Astros
6. Jason Bay (30)- Boston Red Sox
7. Bob Abreau (35)- Los Angeles Angels
8. Carlos Quentin (26)- Chicago White Sox
9. Raul Ibanez (36)- Philadelphia Phillies
10. Carl Crawford (27)- Tampa Bay Rays

This position is pretty solid, a variety of players on this list, from the pure sluggers to the speedsters to the guys who can do a little of both. Manny despite all of his shenanigans is one of the best hitters to walk the planet Earth. .314 career average, 527 HR, 1725 RBI (12 out of last 14 last seasons over 100 RBI). Holliday and Braun are tremendous offensive players, really exciting to watch. Soriano is one of my least favorite players, what a showboat and "me" guy, but he can hit and he can run. The rest of the guys on the list are really solid offensive players, some players are know for their offense, guys like Crawford known for their speed and defensive ability. Abreau and Lee are really consistent .300-100 RBI guys. Overall solid position.

Hope you enjoyed these latest rankings. Next time you hear from me I will be in the mountains of North Carolina. TTFN. Ta ta for now.

Mb

Bracket Breakdown

2009-03-17T18:46:00.003-05:00

First I would like to give a shout out to a few local teams in the area. The Atlanta Hawks, who are on a five game winning streak, looking to extend it to 6 tonight against the hapless Sacramento Kings, the Atlanta Thrashers who are currently riding a 6 game winning streak, the longest in the history of the franchise, and the Georgia Bulldogs who begin spring practice today. Too early for serious football talk, but I will begin to filter that in as the NFL draft approaches next month. Now onto the heart of the matter, tourney talk. Today's blog entry will give all of my picks, I know you are dieing to see them,so after much deliberation and careful thought, here they are...

Midwest Region
1st round
Louisville over play-in game winner
Siena over Ohio State
Arizona over Utah
Wake Forest over Cleveland St.
West Virginia over Dayton
Kansas over North Dakota St.
USC over Boston College
Michigan State over Robert Morris

2nd round
Louisville over Siena
Wake Forest over Arizona
West Virginia over Kansas
Michigan State over USC

Sweet 16
Louisville over Wake Forest
West Virginia over Michigan State

Region Final
Louisville over West Virginia

Breakdown: This is the top region in the tournament in my opinion. It is also the one that has given me the most trouble in deciding who will come out of this part of the bracket. I strongly considered Wake Forest, but I think there inconsistency outweighs the talent that they have. I also strongly consider the Spartans of Michigan State, but I think they have too many injury concerns and some confidence issues to deal with. Those are the two teams that I can see giving the most pause for concern. I do think West Virginia will make a solid run because of the matchups they face with inexperienced Kansas and questionable Michigan State. They could lose to Kansas in the second round, but we shall see soon enough.

West
1st round
Connecticut over Chattanooga
Texas A&M over BYU
Purdue over Northern Iowa
Washington over Mississippi State
Marquette over Utah State
Missouri over Cornell
Maryland over California
Memphis over CS Northridge

2nd round
Connecticut over Texas A&M
Washington over Purdue
Missouri over Marquette
Memphis over Maryland

Sweet 16
Connecticut over Washington
Memphis over Missouri

Regional Final
Memphis over Connecticut

Breakdown: I cannot see too many pitfalls preventing UConn and Memphis from reaching the regional final. Memphis while untested through the regular season, is talented, well coached, and strong defensively. Something about UConn seems off recently, I think a lack of a big time scorer in clutch time is what hurts them and plus if some team has some interior presence to be physical with Hasheem Thabeet than the Huskies could be in trouble. The one matchup I had trouble with is the Washington-Purdue matchup in the second round. I went back and forth several times. I like Purdue because they just won the Big 11 Tournament and they seem to be healthy finally. I like Washington a little more because their first 2 games will be played in Portland, Oregon, giving them a home court advantage so to speak. I worry Mississippi State could give Washington trouble, but we'll see soon. Missouri plays up tempo and I think they can get past gritty Marquette who has struggled some since losing their PG. I do not think that Marquette has the fire power to go very far. Cal-Maryland is intriguing, Maryland has beat some good teams this year so they could be a sleeper to look out for. This region is solid in the middle but the cream will rise to the top in this one. I would be surprised to see anything other than UConn-Memphis in the region final.

East
1st round
Pittsburgh over ETSU
Tennessee over Oklahoma State
Florida State over Wisconsin
Xavier over Portland State
UCLA over VCU
Villanova over American
Texas over Minnesota
Duke over Binghamton

2nd round
Pittsburgh over Tennessee
Florida State over Xavier
Villanova over UCLA
Duke over Texas

Sweet 16
Pittsburgh over Florida State
Villanova over Duke

Regional Final
Pittsburgh over Villanova

Breakdown: I think this region is pretty weak. I think Tennessee has an outside shot at knocking off Pittsburgh, but their inconsistency and their lack of discipline worries me. I anticipate Florida State making a run with Toney Douglas and company, but I also worry that Wisconsin could give them trouble by slowing it down and playing physical. Villanova plays there first 2 games in Philadelphia, and this should give them a huge advantage in their first r rounds. Another game I struggled with was UCLA-VCU, VCU pulled the upset on Duke a couple years ago, but I like UCLA because of their experience and success. They are well prepared and have a great point guard in Darren Collison. Duke is an interesting case, they are not the same teams of the Dukes of yester year. They have lost some luster, but this team is tough defensively. They could make a run at the Final Four but if their shots are not dropping they could be put out by Texas in the second round. If Pittsburgh can figure a way to keep DeJuan Blair on the floor they will be a serious threat to win the whole shebang.

South
1st round
North Carolina over Radford
LSU over Butler
Western Kentucky over Illinois
Gonzaga over Akron
Temple over Arizona State
Syracuse over S.F. Austin
Clemson over Michigan
Oklahoma over Morgan State

2nd round
North Carolina over LSU
Gonzaga over Western Kentucky
Syracuse over Temple
Oklahoma over Clemson

Sweet 16
North Carolina over Gonzaga
Syracuse over Oklahoma

Regional Final
North Carolina over Syracuse

Breakdown: Some unpredictability and a lot of upsets I foresee in this region. LSU-Butler should be an interesting matchup. North Carolina should roll the first 2 rounds. Gonzaga will give them some problems, I think, they have a lot of skilled players that can make some plays but I do not think they have the defensive ability to knock off the Heels. Western Kentucky over Illinois because of some questions on the health of the Illini and I just do not think they are that good. Syracuse, my new favorite team, will make a strong run, and if they get through the first weekend unscathed, I can see them giving North Carolina a run for the money. Oklahoma could lose to either Clemson or Michigan, they have been struggling recently since the Blake Griffin return. If Lawson is healthy the Heels should be in Detroit in April.

Final Four
Louisville over Memphis
UNC over Pittsburgh

UNC over Louisville

The two best teams will meet and the versatility, speed, and experience of the Heels will get them their title. Louisville is playing well, but I think Lawson makes the difference in the end.

My Top 5 games for the first round
1. UCLA vs. VCU
2. Clemson vs. Michigan
3. Boston College vs. USC
4. Arizona State vs. Temple
5. Oklahoma State vs. Tennessee

Enjoy the games. I will be back tomorrow with some baseball talk, ranking the outfielders for you. Thank you for reading.

Mb

Bracket Monday

2009-03-16T11:08:00.003-05:00

Wow there was a lot to digest over the weekend. The unveiling of the brackets, the end of championship week, NBA heating up into the home stretch, and baseball less than 3 weeks from starting off. Good time to be a sports fan. The main focus today will be, however, the brackets. The "stache" will breakdown the regions for you and give you some hints on who to pick and give you some idea into my final brackets for this weekends beginning of the NCAA Tournament.

I'll begin with the Midwest Region, headed up by the number one overall seed, Louisville. Obviously the selection committee liked how the Cardinals won both the regular season and Big East tournament final. At initial glance I thought this was a pretty tough region, but looking at it again, I saw many top teams with some flaws. Michigan State, while dominant in the regular season, struggled in their conference tournament. They have some veterans and some returners off of last year's Sweet 16 team. They have a veteran head coach in Tom Izzo, who has won a NCAA title recently, and always seems to have his teams ready to go. I expect them to make a good run out of this region. There are a lot of quality coaches in this part of the bracket, Kansas' Bill Self, the defending champion team, brings a young team into this tournament led by Sherron Collins. They are an interesting case because of their youth it is hard to project how they will do. Wake Forest may be as talented as any team out of this region and in the tournament in general, but they have been maddeningly inconsistent at the end of this season. They play a lot of close games, and rely a lot on their defense and Jeff Teague's ability to make plays on the offensive side of the ball. The number 5 seed for Utah seems high and I think Arizona will give them all they can handle and more in the first round. West Virginia is dangerous because they come from the rugged Big East and will not be intimated by anybody. They can knock down the 3, and are well coached by Bob Huggins. Boston College-USC may be one of the more intriguing match ups of the 1st round, USC has a ton of talent but has not been healthy this year. Boston College is tough, well coached and has a great player in Tyrese Rice. Look for the favorites to advance through this region, there may be an upset hear or there but I don't foresee anything earth shattering.

The West region is set up for a Connecticut-Memphis regional final, man this would be a great match up to see. Two very talented, defensive minded teams who can also score in bunches if necessary. Before I get ahead of myself, there are a couple of team I like in this region. Missouri plays an uptempo style, and could thwart the UConn-Memphis game. Washington and Purdue have some solid veterans on their squad and could pose a threat to UConn in the Sweet 16 round. Purdue has finished the year strong by winning their conference tournament. I admire Marquette's toughness, but losing Dominic James a few weeks ago, really hurts their cause. It would be a stretch for them to make it to the Sweet 16, unless they really turn up the defensive intensity and some of their key players knock down some shots. Once again I do not project many upsets out of this region. Although Mississippi State should scare you if you like Washington to advance a couple rounds, so keep an eye on them. I don't think this region is very strong top to bottom.

The East region brings us a lot of the tough, blue collar type teams. Teams that are not flashy and they come at you at the defensive end. I really like Pittsburgh's style of play, they seemed to have adapted the persona of their city. Tough minded, hard working, probably comes from their coach Jamie Dixon. This team struggled in last years tournament losing in the second round to Michigan State, after winning the Big East tournament last year. I think by going out early, this team will be fresh and ready to deep in the tourney. If they can keep DeJuan Blair out of foul trouble they should do fine and advance far. The bottom half of this bracket is intriguing with Duke, Villanova, UCLA, Texas, among others representing this region. Duke is an interesting case, they could go out early or they could make it all the way to Detroit for the Final Four. By adding Elliot Williams to the starting lineup, it has given them a more defensive presence and some more athleticism to the squad. Villanova gets to play there first two games in Philadelphia, their hometown. Lets hope they do not slack off because of this. This is a team that relies heavily on its guards and has a lack of NBA talent, so there margin for error is limited more than other teams. UCLA has been to three straight Final Fours, but they face a very tough Virginia Commonwealth squad led by Eric Maynor, who helped to upset Duke a couple of years ago in the tournament. This is another match up I cannot wait to see. UCLA is very tough defensively and has some quality players in Darren Collison and Josh Shipp. Florida State at the number 5 seed is led by all-ACC guard Toney Douglas. The fifth year senior has really developed and is poised to make a Stephen Curry like run in this tournament (Stephen Curry's Davidson squad advanced all the way to the Elite 8 last year.) They are very dangerous. Very interesting region, a number of teams could come out of this region, all depending upon how the ball bounces.

The South region is set up for North Carolina. I do not foresee anyone knocking off the Tar Heels, they may have some tough games but I do not think anyone has the experience, or the versatility to beat them. They start off in Greensboro, NC, very close to their home in Chapel Hill. Oklahoma has really struggled coming down the stretch even after Blake Griffin has returned. They are a pretty weak number 2 seed in my mind. Syracuse is an interesting squad, they may be a bit over seeded at 3, but they nearly ran the gauntlet through the Big East tournament, winning a few games in dramatic fashion. It will be interesting to see whether they have the strength and stamina to advance far. Playing a zone defense helps them a lot because of the amount of energy they can save. Gonzaga has got some really good players, but they have struggled recently in the tournament, they lost to Davidson in the first round of last years tournament. I expect them to do well this time around. Illinois, I would trust them very much at all. I would not trust many Big 11 teams to be honest with you, but I could be wrong. Arizona State has one of the best players in the country in SG James Harden, think Brandon Roy-like of the Portland Trailblazers, formerly of the Washington Huskies. Can do a lot of things to beat you. I am hesitant with this team because of how they finished out the Pac-10 tournament, blowing a lead against USC to lose in the championship game. Clemson should scare the sh** out of you if you are trying to figure out what they are going to do. They have the talent to go to the Elite 8 but they may end up losing to a hungry Michigan Wolverine squad in the first round. Very enigmatic squad to say the least. I expect a couple of upsets in the early rounds of this region, but I expect the cream to rise to the top in this one.

I will be back later this week to give you my picks for each region. I hope you enjoyed the latest edition of "the stache." Feedback is once again, always welcome. Take care.

Mb

Saturday Top 5, Part 3

2009-03-14T20:09:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. I am giving you the pleasure of 2 blogs in one day, so be happy and rejoice full for it. It will not happen all that often. On this wet Saturday I got the privilege of trying out some new trails that were developed last summer in our county for the first time this afternoon. They were pretty cool, all dirt and grass, some in the woods some in the open fields, several miles worth, up and downhill, got nice and muddy. Also enjoyed some basketball this afternoon, although not as exciting as the previous couple of days, it was still was nice to see some hoops in full swing in Mid-March. Now on to the main portion of this evening's blog, "The Saturday Top 5," a weekly tradition on "the stache," where dreams are realized and fantasies come true. This top 5 will be the top 5 places that I want to visit in my life.

1. Ireland- If you have ever seen "The Quiet Man," with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara than you could understand why this would be a cool place to visit. All the green, the countryside, the pubs, I think it would be really cool to visit.

2. Greece- Something about the architecture, the ancient history, the Mediterranean Sea and to visit the place where the Olympics began, would be pretty neat. History has always been a passion of mine, and there is not many places in the world that have the history that Greece has to offer.

3. Australia- The Outback, the kangaroos, the koala bears, and everything else involved with this country/continent would all be really cool to visit. The idea of being so far away from everything else, from home, on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is appealing to me.

4. Egypt- One word, Pyramids. History, the Nile River, Moses and The Ten Commandments. The river that flows North, the longest in the world. Something about seeing something so ancient and still be standing, is just a marvel to behold.

5. Italy- Mediterranean Sea, the Alps, the food, the history, the Godfather, the traditions, the vineyards, Rome, these are all things that I would like to see and be a part of. You can see places all you want on TV but until you experience them yourself then it does not truly resonate with you.

These places are places that I would be at peace with, just taking tours across the countrysides of these countries. I love to travel, and I would love to travel to all these places and many more throughout the world. Places like Germany, Russia, China, South America, Japan, and others all have a place in my heart. Seeing the Alps, seeing the Pacific Ocean, something I have never seen in my life would be exciting, refreshing, and breathtaking all at once. There are not many opportunities to go travel abroad and I hope to get the opportunity to visit, travel and learn a little about the culture of these places. Going on trips of any sort puts things into some kind of perspective. You never know how or what thing or place will effect your life and your outlook on how you approach and look at things. That is all "the stache" has for now. I hope you enjoyed this latest installment. Selection Sunday is soon to be upon us. Enjoy it.

Mb

Basketball Talk

2009-03-14T09:12:00.004-05:00

Welcome to the Saturday morning edition of "the stache." I took yesterday evening off to recover from the travel home as well as to enjoy some more basketball.

Last night at many points during the night, there were as many as 5 basketball games on TV. At one point there was the ACC Tournament game(s), SEC Tournament game(s), the Atlantic 10 semifinals, the Big East semifinals, and some NBA action with the Atlanta Hawks taking on the Indiana Pacers. I had the rotation flowing and the remote hand was in mid-season form. At one point during the night we had Syracuse-West Virginia in a point game with less than a minute to go, Duke-Boston College in a point game with about a minute to go, and Auburn-Florida in a one point game with about 2-3 minutes to go. Did not miss a single finish, as the right thumb guided the way to see all the exciting finishes. Let me start with the Big East. One of the reasons I was so tired yesterday was because I stayed up to watch all 6 overtimes of the Syracuse-Connecticut game, the second longest game in overtime periods in NCAA history, and I believe the longest game from start to finish. The game ended around 1:20 AM Friday Morning. Syracuse never led until the 6th and final overtime when they pulled away from the Huskies. Both teams never stopped attacking, and some players played more than 60 minutes during the game, simply incredible the amount of heart these guys show. It remains to be seen how much Syracuse will have left for the big tournament next week. They may end up knocking off Louisville in today's championship, but at what cost to the team. I know there is a lot of pride to win the Big East tournament in the worlds most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, but recent success in winning this tournament has not led to success in the Big Dance. Last year's winner Pittsburgh was so beat down, they lost in the second round of the tournament to Michigan State. This unsolicited free advice from yours truly about trusting the winner of the Big East, especially if it ends up being Syracuse. This will be their fourth game in as many days after already playing 7 overtimes over their last couple of games. The zone defense they play saves them a little bit and Johnny Flynn may have become one of my new favorite players (the PG for the Orangemen), we'll just have to see how it turns out. This may be a blessing in disguise for the Connecticut Huskies as they will have about a week to rest to recover from the other nights 6 OT game. Then again, no team has won the national title after losing their first conference tournament game. Once again some unsolicited free advice for those tourney pickers out there, be weary of teams such as Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

The ACC tourney has pretty much got straight to form, with 3 out of the top 4 teams in the semi-finals this afternoon. The disappointments being, once again, Wake Forest and Clemson. Georgia Tech nearly spoiled the party by upsetting Florida State yesterday but could not stop Toney Douglas and crew at the end. Trying to attempt what Georgia did last year in the SEC Tournament was just to tough for the Jackets to handle, man it feels good to say that.

The SEC Tournament has been pretty true to form as well, I expect the Auburn Tigers to win the next two games and get the automatic bid from the SEC. My ACC winner is the winner of the Maryland-Duke game, which I am leaning towards the Dukies at this moment. I don't like North Carolina as much because of the uncertainty of PG Ty Lawson, and plus it would be too easy to pick them to win it. The Big East I like Syracuse to continue their spectacular run and beat Louisville in a thriller. In the Big 12, I like upstart Baylor, who struggled in conference play, to knock off Missouri to get the auto and knock an at-large team out of the tournament. Pac-10, I like Arizona State, Big 11- Michigan State, possibly getting a #1 seed in the tournament.

I should be back later today with my Saturday Top 5. In the words of Tigger, TTFN, ta ta for now.

Mb