Well it has been a while since I last shared my opinion, but that doesn't mean I have been without one! Actually a lot has taken place since mid-Sept so this will be a interesting post that will resemble a ride on an old wooden roller coaster, so hang on.
The crumbling of the Sox still seems to be somewhat of a bad dream and quite honestly the fall out after their collapse is even more embarassing but they made their nest and have to live in it for better or worse but the hiring of Bobby Valentine seems to take me down the "worse" road instead of the better road. What a fiasco 2012 could be in Beantown. But at least it is the 100 year anniversary of the greatest stadium in the world...so we have that going for us which is nice.
The man cave is finally back in place and thingss are back in order with our house after two hurricanes late in the summer. Nice to have it back and enjoy the sports room especially this time of year.
The Cowboys are pretty much who I thought they would be and should end up 8-8, but at least there are 2 wins over the Deadskins that will always show up in the history books. That is about it for the NFL portion of this post as I don't really spend my football time watching on Sundays, because.....
....the best football of the weekend is on Saturdays with passionate fans, real tailgating, and more games then you can handle. It was another wacky season and with the exception of Nov 5th, it was great seaon for the Tide and hopefully they take care of business on January 9th to bring another title to T-Town. Not sure they are the best team in the nation, but they are definitley in the top 2 and very deserving to be there but I won't get into that rant.
Statler Brothers Christmas Album is the best ever....
I was fortunate to mark two events off my bucket list this year both here in Washington D.C. and both about as American as it gets. Back in June I enjoyed the second round of the U.S. Open at Congressional C.C. and really enjoyed a nice day watching guys hit a ball further than should be allowed. It is amazing to watch those guys play and see do the things they do with clubs and situations. Just last Saturday, Sam and I witnessed the Army/Navy football game and that was pretty fun. A little tailgating, some tradition and good football weather. Sam is not even 7 yet and has been to 3 events that were also attended by the President.
The NBA continues to make me laugh....what a joke of a league they are.
For the first time in about 8 years, the Blues are giving their fans hope of a not only a playoff spot, but maybe even a little run. Hopefully they can stay healthy. STL is a great hockey town and it would be AWESOME to see a deep playoff run for the Blue Note.
Well this post wasn't as creative as I wanted it to be, so I will just end it here. Happy Holidays everyone!
That's what it is in the world of the Sports Grapevine.......
Friday, December 16, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
9-11 Thoughts
With the recent ceremonies surrounding the 10th anniv of that horrible day in 2001, I still find it hard to believe that 10 years have passed. I remember Ronda, our admin person with the Knights, coming into my office and saying the first tower had been hit. Like everyone else I was thinking what a freak accident. Did the pilot have a heart attack or just lose control of a small plane? That question was unfortunately answered minutes later when a second plane attacked on live television. We all know that events that followed so no need to rehash them.
I remember thinking "Wow, this is going to happen across the entire country and I live in one of the top financial cities in the world (Charlotte, NC) and it will probably be a target." Rocky and I had just started dating a few months earlier and my thoughts immediately went to her and that she worked in a large public gathering place that could be a target. Probably the most eerie thing was the deafening silence that now filled the air as all air traffic was grounded. Knights Stadium was located in the landing pattern for Charlotte-Douglas Airport and always had the hum of planes flying over sort of like the old Shea Stadium in NY. When that stopped, it became very real that something wrong was happening and I headed to the comfort of home. The events throughout that day seemed surreal and as more footage became available it seemed like something out of a movie but this one wasn't going away and have a happy ending.
Later in the week Rocky and I were schedule to take a trip up to Baltimore for a weekend series between the Sox and O's as well as meet my dad and Trish up at her brother's house. Dad wanted to see Cal Ripken play and this was going to be a fun trip. We were taking the train and were not sure if train travel was also going to be halted but later found out it would not be. MLB still had not decided if the games that weekend would be played or not when we left and we later would learn that all games were ppd which we were prepared for and understood. The one thing we were not prepared for was the very real picture outside the window to our left as the train rolled past the Pentagon....still smoldering from it's attack.
We look at life much different now, at least I do, but I think it is important to also live your life to it's fullest especially now that we have Sam and Grayson. Life can be taken away at any time so it is important to live and love the things that you have 100% of the time. We can't control many things in life but you can control how much fun you have with your family.
That's what it is in the world of the Sports Grapevine........
I remember thinking "Wow, this is going to happen across the entire country and I live in one of the top financial cities in the world (Charlotte, NC) and it will probably be a target." Rocky and I had just started dating a few months earlier and my thoughts immediately went to her and that she worked in a large public gathering place that could be a target. Probably the most eerie thing was the deafening silence that now filled the air as all air traffic was grounded. Knights Stadium was located in the landing pattern for Charlotte-Douglas Airport and always had the hum of planes flying over sort of like the old Shea Stadium in NY. When that stopped, it became very real that something wrong was happening and I headed to the comfort of home. The events throughout that day seemed surreal and as more footage became available it seemed like something out of a movie but this one wasn't going away and have a happy ending.
Later in the week Rocky and I were schedule to take a trip up to Baltimore for a weekend series between the Sox and O's as well as meet my dad and Trish up at her brother's house. Dad wanted to see Cal Ripken play and this was going to be a fun trip. We were taking the train and were not sure if train travel was also going to be halted but later found out it would not be. MLB still had not decided if the games that weekend would be played or not when we left and we later would learn that all games were ppd which we were prepared for and understood. The one thing we were not prepared for was the very real picture outside the window to our left as the train rolled past the Pentagon....still smoldering from it's attack.
We look at life much different now, at least I do, but I think it is important to also live your life to it's fullest especially now that we have Sam and Grayson. Life can be taken away at any time so it is important to live and love the things that you have 100% of the time. We can't control many things in life but you can control how much fun you have with your family.
That's what it is in the world of the Sports Grapevine........
Friday, September 2, 2011
Rivalries
This week's Sox/Yanks series has brought back some great memories of this storied rivarly since I became a Sox fan in the mid 70's. It's always fun, dramatic and usually with a lot on the line with these two teams. I know the rest of the country is sick of this rivalry and understandibly so. "Big Media" has created a monster by overshowing this series as it does with everything else. It is what it is in todays media and social world.
With that said, I have been fortunate to have lived in several parts of the country thanks to Minor League Baseball jobs around the country and other reasons so I have been able to be around a lot of pretty intense rivalry games that mean just as much to those people in those part of the country. Some of these are obvious, some of them not. Some you are grossly underrated and some are overrated, but they are all rivalries and make for good conversation. Here a just a few to get us going...
1) Sox/Yanks......enough said already but still the best bang for the buck especially when they meet in post season
2) Alabama/Auburn.....365 days of hatred that you just can't understand unless you are a fan...Roll Tide
3) Clemson/South Carolina..... (see Bama/Auburn justs move the fight two states to the east) I onced witnessed these two teams at the end of awful seasons strap it up in front of 85,000 fans who thought they were at the Super Bowl. Intense.
4) Bama/Tennessee.....as the saying goes "We hate Auburn because we have to. We hate Tennessee because we want to".....uh yes that would be a rivalry and it is actually older than the most believe. 3rd Saturday in October always meant one thing for close to 70 years...Crimson vs Orange
5) Cardinals/Cubs.....quite possibly the most underrated rivalry in sports. Classic fans who travel to both cities.
6) Blues/Blackhawks..... for some of the same reasons listed in #5 but revved up just a notch because it is hockey. As it was put when one Italian-Chicago fan of the hawks was quipping about how the STL is a shitty sports town, so bad they couldn't keep an NFL team (post Cardinals and pre-Rams) the response from a blue fans was "Hey you wap...we can't help it our football team wasn't as big as your nose!!" Game On!
7) Illinois State/Bradley....mostly a basketball rivalry but a fun one none the less.
8) Iowa State/Iowa.....for the Cy-Hawk trophy. In a state where there are no pro sports teams other than minor league ones, this rivalry tops everything, even the state fair and the Iowa Caucus.
9) K-State/Kansas....only event where I witnesses a live animal sacrificed.....seriously!
10) Capitals/Penguins.....regular season or playoffs....these two teams and fan bases just hate each other beyond comprehension. Now they both have mega stars at the forefront who also don't like each other.
11) NFC East....This is the one division in all sports where all four teams are truly rivals of the other. Great history, legendary matchups and star players. Any combo of teams and it spells RIVALRY
....and so on and so on.
That's what it is in the world of Sports Grapevine.....
With that said, I have been fortunate to have lived in several parts of the country thanks to Minor League Baseball jobs around the country and other reasons so I have been able to be around a lot of pretty intense rivalry games that mean just as much to those people in those part of the country. Some of these are obvious, some of them not. Some you are grossly underrated and some are overrated, but they are all rivalries and make for good conversation. Here a just a few to get us going...
1) Sox/Yanks......enough said already but still the best bang for the buck especially when they meet in post season
2) Alabama/Auburn.....365 days of hatred that you just can't understand unless you are a fan...Roll Tide
3) Clemson/South Carolina..... (see Bama/Auburn justs move the fight two states to the east) I onced witnessed these two teams at the end of awful seasons strap it up in front of 85,000 fans who thought they were at the Super Bowl. Intense.
4) Bama/Tennessee.....as the saying goes "We hate Auburn because we have to. We hate Tennessee because we want to".....uh yes that would be a rivalry and it is actually older than the most believe. 3rd Saturday in October always meant one thing for close to 70 years...Crimson vs Orange
5) Cardinals/Cubs.....quite possibly the most underrated rivalry in sports. Classic fans who travel to both cities.
6) Blues/Blackhawks..... for some of the same reasons listed in #5 but revved up just a notch because it is hockey. As it was put when one Italian-Chicago fan of the hawks was quipping about how the STL is a shitty sports town, so bad they couldn't keep an NFL team (post Cardinals and pre-Rams) the response from a blue fans was "Hey you wap...we can't help it our football team wasn't as big as your nose!!" Game On!
7) Illinois State/Bradley....mostly a basketball rivalry but a fun one none the less.
8) Iowa State/Iowa.....for the Cy-Hawk trophy. In a state where there are no pro sports teams other than minor league ones, this rivalry tops everything, even the state fair and the Iowa Caucus.
9) K-State/Kansas....only event where I witnesses a live animal sacrificed.....seriously!
10) Capitals/Penguins.....regular season or playoffs....these two teams and fan bases just hate each other beyond comprehension. Now they both have mega stars at the forefront who also don't like each other.
11) NFC East....This is the one division in all sports where all four teams are truly rivals of the other. Great history, legendary matchups and star players. Any combo of teams and it spells RIVALRY
....and so on and so on.
That's what it is in the world of Sports Grapevine.....
Monday, August 29, 2011
Birthday Week review....with a little sports worked in
To say that my birthday week had some excitement in it would be an understatement. First and foremost I am blessed with the greatest family in the world and my birthday was great because of them. Cool gifts from cool peeps and it wouldn't mean a thing without them.
The rest of the week was awesome as we headed to Williamsburg for a little mini-vacay before Sam goes back to school. I am a history person so I was looking forward to going down there for that reason but this was also all about fun at Busch Gardens and Water Country with a little bit of history worked into the schedule as well. With G-man only being 2 we were not sure how he would do at both places but he was great. We only were able to get about 3 hours in at both places on Mon and Tue but plenty of fun had by all. Good rides, touching snakes (Sam that is), lots of things to see at Busch Gardens and then plenty of funfilled water rides on Tuesday at water country. Sam loves water parks and G-man loves to be in the water so it was a good combo.....an then an earthquake hit. Seriously WTF!
Craziness but all was good. We just went home and took a nap then played mini golf. Isn't that what you are supposed to do after an earthquake? Had a great dinner at Sheilds Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg and then chilled our last night there.
Enjoyed some nice weather and a couple of days off at home and nice little tour of the White House on Friday which was a cool way to wrap up the week. Still amazing to me that the public is able to tour that place, but not complaining. Thanks to Justin and Mo for the historical facts along the way other wise it would have been just another tour of a big house. Seriously, that is all that it is unless you have someone there telling you some of the cool stuff.
.....and then Hurricane Irene hits. Yes an earthquake and a hurricane all in the same week! We lost power 16 hours and had about an inch of water in our basement, but it could have been a lot worse. The family was safe and we were fine so I am thankful for that. We had cell phones to communicate to family and friends who were worried which was great, but for the most part it wasn't too bad other than lack of sleep.
Well September is almost here and the Sox are still in first place and Bama starts off against Kent State on Saturday which will be nice. Back to the work week.
That's what it is in the world of the Sports Grapevine.....
The rest of the week was awesome as we headed to Williamsburg for a little mini-vacay before Sam goes back to school. I am a history person so I was looking forward to going down there for that reason but this was also all about fun at Busch Gardens and Water Country with a little bit of history worked into the schedule as well. With G-man only being 2 we were not sure how he would do at both places but he was great. We only were able to get about 3 hours in at both places on Mon and Tue but plenty of fun had by all. Good rides, touching snakes (Sam that is), lots of things to see at Busch Gardens and then plenty of funfilled water rides on Tuesday at water country. Sam loves water parks and G-man loves to be in the water so it was a good combo.....an then an earthquake hit. Seriously WTF!
Craziness but all was good. We just went home and took a nap then played mini golf. Isn't that what you are supposed to do after an earthquake? Had a great dinner at Sheilds Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg and then chilled our last night there.
Enjoyed some nice weather and a couple of days off at home and nice little tour of the White House on Friday which was a cool way to wrap up the week. Still amazing to me that the public is able to tour that place, but not complaining. Thanks to Justin and Mo for the historical facts along the way other wise it would have been just another tour of a big house. Seriously, that is all that it is unless you have someone there telling you some of the cool stuff.
.....and then Hurricane Irene hits. Yes an earthquake and a hurricane all in the same week! We lost power 16 hours and had about an inch of water in our basement, but it could have been a lot worse. The family was safe and we were fine so I am thankful for that. We had cell phones to communicate to family and friends who were worried which was great, but for the most part it wasn't too bad other than lack of sleep.
Well September is almost here and the Sox are still in first place and Bama starts off against Kent State on Saturday which will be nice. Back to the work week.
That's what it is in the world of the Sports Grapevine.....
Monday, August 22, 2011
Phans......
Okay, I must preface this with a couple of comments. 1) I worked for the Phillies for 3+ years and some of the nicest people in the world. 2) I have numerous friends who are Phillies fans and I still pull for Jimmy Rollins who is a Boll Weevil alum ('97).
.......but man Phillies fans are an obnoxious bunch. Sam and I have been to 5 Nats/Phils games in the last two years and it is the same thing each time. Phans booing the home team and just coming into the park as if they are the second coming of the greatest fans in the history of sports. I am TOTALLY okay with coming in as a visiting van and supporting your team, but not to the level to where it is uncomfortable for the home fans and the neutral fans.
If Nats fans only come to 9 games a year, they should make sure it is the 9 times they play Philly in D.C. to keep the folks from Broad Street out of the ball park. Bad for D.C. tourism but good for baseball fans.
That's what it is in the world of the Sports Grapevine......
mv
.......but man Phillies fans are an obnoxious bunch. Sam and I have been to 5 Nats/Phils games in the last two years and it is the same thing each time. Phans booing the home team and just coming into the park as if they are the second coming of the greatest fans in the history of sports. I am TOTALLY okay with coming in as a visiting van and supporting your team, but not to the level to where it is uncomfortable for the home fans and the neutral fans.
If Nats fans only come to 9 games a year, they should make sure it is the 9 times they play Philly in D.C. to keep the folks from Broad Street out of the ball park. Bad for D.C. tourism but good for baseball fans.
That's what it is in the world of the Sports Grapevine......
mv
Friday, August 19, 2011
The First One.....
You gotta start somewhere so here is the first post of the SG. These will get better along the way I am sure, but it is what it is.
Since Sam's birth in 2004 (magical year of 2004 - Married, Sam born and Red Sox finally end the curse) he and I have enjoyed many different sporting events. Most of which will probably be detailed at some point on this site in the future.
The most recent of these was on Wednesday of this week as we took in the Reds/Nats game here in D.C. Sam is a member of the Nats kids club which has some benefits and because I still have a few connections in the game, hewas able to go down on the field to take in batting practice forever now referrred to at BP. BP was always my favorite part of the day when I worked in baseball. It was always peaceful, pure and a true learning experience that was fun to watch. Sam also enjoys watching BP but for him I am sure it has to do with the image of his favorite players "hitting the dog snot" out of ball numerous times.
Although we are a BoSox fam, we go to about 10 games a year locally between Nats and Orioles games as it is nice to enjoy the game of baseball and teach the boys the game rather than 16 hour days of working in the game. Sam has become a big Michael Morse (Nats) fan this year and got to meet him on the field after batting practice and get his autograph. Morse could not have been better with the 10-12 kids that were there and spent about 10 minutes talking with them and signing autographs. These are the things that make baseball great and leave lasting images in the minds of young baseball fans. Sam was grinning from ear to ear and then about five minutes later was given one of the baseball laying around and smile grew even bigger. That is what it is all about folks. Simple things like that.
Kudos to the Reds players also who far and away did the best job I have seen from any team in a long time when it came to signing autographs.
And that's what it is in the world of the 'vine
mv
Since Sam's birth in 2004 (magical year of 2004 - Married, Sam born and Red Sox finally end the curse) he and I have enjoyed many different sporting events. Most of which will probably be detailed at some point on this site in the future.
The most recent of these was on Wednesday of this week as we took in the Reds/Nats game here in D.C. Sam is a member of the Nats kids club which has some benefits and because I still have a few connections in the game, hewas able to go down on the field to take in batting practice forever now referrred to at BP. BP was always my favorite part of the day when I worked in baseball. It was always peaceful, pure and a true learning experience that was fun to watch. Sam also enjoys watching BP but for him I am sure it has to do with the image of his favorite players "hitting the dog snot" out of ball numerous times.
Although we are a BoSox fam, we go to about 10 games a year locally between Nats and Orioles games as it is nice to enjoy the game of baseball and teach the boys the game rather than 16 hour days of working in the game. Sam has become a big Michael Morse (Nats) fan this year and got to meet him on the field after batting practice and get his autograph. Morse could not have been better with the 10-12 kids that were there and spent about 10 minutes talking with them and signing autographs. These are the things that make baseball great and leave lasting images in the minds of young baseball fans. Sam was grinning from ear to ear and then about five minutes later was given one of the baseball laying around and smile grew even bigger. That is what it is all about folks. Simple things like that.
Kudos to the Reds players also who far and away did the best job I have seen from any team in a long time when it came to signing autographs.
And that's what it is in the world of the 'vine
mv
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