Nine days from now, the Detroit Tigers open up the season against the Kansas City Royals. They are playing in KC and if it wasn't on a Monday, I would have tried to get tickets to go. Opening Day is one thing I would like to partake in when it comes to sports. It doesn't matter which sport, just one of them and it would be much easier if I lived in a city with a professional team. Baseball, I think, would be the greatest of these opening day events just because of the environment, focusing mostly on the outdoors aspect of the game. If you get a sunny day the weather is cool enough, the smell of spring is in the air, the fresh cut grass just adds to the ambiance.
Break down of the AL Central goes a like this....
Minnesota: Joe Nathan is gone for the year and they don't have to money to pay for a big name closer because Joe Mauer now owns the state of Minnesota and both Dakotas (yeah, his contract was that much and it is deserved). Best of luck Jon Rauch in replacing Nathan. As long as the Mauer contract isn't a huge distraction for the rest of the team and their small paychecks, the Twins will be near the top of the division just like every other year.
Detroit: Good bye Granderson and hello Jackson. Austin Jackson better pan out as a top of the order guy or the trade for him will be an early on bust, but I don't think that the repercussions of this trade will be known for a few years just because Jackson is so young. I liked this trade even though I will miss seeing Granderson roam the expansive center field of Comerica Park just because it allowed Detroit to dump some contract money and get a little younger. They needed help in the bullpen and they got it in Phil Coke and Danny Schlereth, but after their top two pitchers it gets a little sketchy. As long as they don't choke at the end of the season like they did last year, they could be playing more than one hundred and sixty two games this year.
Chicago: I hate them, for always and forever. However, they do have a scary pitching rotation, so props for that. They have speed and power up and down the lineup that opposing pitchers will have to navigate very carefully. The weakness is in the bullpen before getting to Bobby Jenks. Getting to the starting pitchers early and often can exploit the weakness and I hope this happens more often than not, but I don't think it will. If the rotation stays in tact all year, I think the Sox are the dark horse to win the division.
Kansas City: The small market team that never can, but at least they try. They have the young talent to give veteran teams a headache but they cannot ever make it through the entire season. Alex Gordon is on the verge of becoming a bust, but they have talent elsewhere in the field (DeJesus, Butler, Podsednik) to balance out Gordon's three year long struggle. They lost a city and team favorite in Mark Tehan to the White Sox in the off season, but in return they got Scott Podsednik who can steal bases in bunches if he stays healthy. The problem is in the rotation. Zack Greinke can only pitch every fifth day, and Gil Meche and Luke Hochevar aren't exactly the best second and third starters. They will continue to struggle to compete against teams that can pay big name players, but at least they won't finish in the basement of the division because of....
Cleveland: Fire sale and rebuild. It is an ongoing process and the fans of the Indians need to be patient for a few more years. Travis Hafner is way beyond his prime and Grady Sizemore is coming off an injury plagued season. If Sizemore can rebound, he will be the one bright spot in this otherwise dismal team. They remind me of the Tigers of the early 2000's in that no one really wants to go play for them. As soon as one or two big name players go there and start to turn it around for that organization (much like Carlos Guillen and Pudge Rodriguez did for Detroit about six years ago) you will see some competitive baseball return to the state of Ohio, but until then they will continue to compete with the Royals for the bottom of the division.
27 March 2010
19 March 2010
More like March bordum
Every year, I have filled out a bracket for the NCAA basketball tournament since college. I have always just done it for fun and just to somehow draw my interest into the games. Basketball bores me. Watching hockey as often as we did living in Michigan, everything else just seems like a slow game (except rugby and lacrosse), but holy shit basketball drags on. Don't get me wrong, watching the college games is fun just because the majority of them are so close.
This year for my bracket, I had to pay attention to my picks because I got into a bracket pool with a few friends. Nothing crazy, just five dollars. All in all, there are eight of us, so the winner walks away with a thirty five dollar profit. Something fun to do and the winner gets more than bragging rights. Not that goes very far anyways except for about a month after the tournament and the next year because the winner has to 'defend' his crown.
Not only did I pay closer attention to what teams I picked, but I have been watching more of the games. I think that they should move to a system that just has the clock continuously running to speed up the game. Either that or take away the insanely large amount of time outs that each team gets. Seriously, it seemed liked after every shot was made teams were taking time outs. How many do they get? I know that they have thirty second time outs and full time outs, but why not take one or two away from the teams? Look at hockey, each team gets one time out. That's it, and they rarely get used. The beauty of a sport like hockey, just the fact that the clock is always running or only stopped for a short period of time.
This year for my bracket, I had to pay attention to my picks because I got into a bracket pool with a few friends. Nothing crazy, just five dollars. All in all, there are eight of us, so the winner walks away with a thirty five dollar profit. Something fun to do and the winner gets more than bragging rights. Not that goes very far anyways except for about a month after the tournament and the next year because the winner has to 'defend' his crown.
Not only did I pay closer attention to what teams I picked, but I have been watching more of the games. I think that they should move to a system that just has the clock continuously running to speed up the game. Either that or take away the insanely large amount of time outs that each team gets. Seriously, it seemed liked after every shot was made teams were taking time outs. How many do they get? I know that they have thirty second time outs and full time outs, but why not take one or two away from the teams? Look at hockey, each team gets one time out. That's it, and they rarely get used. The beauty of a sport like hockey, just the fact that the clock is always running or only stopped for a short period of time.
18 March 2010
About that cocaine...
Ron Washington, manager of the Texas Rangers, tested positive for cocaine half way through the season last year. It is being touted as not a real big deal because it is a first time offense and it won't happen again (allegedly). He is also being patted on the back because he went to his bosses and to Major League Baseball and told them that he was going to fail the drug test because of this. I don't think that cocaine is a one time only kind of drug. It is a hard drug. You don't roll up to a party or hang out with some people and think, 'you know what sounds like a good time? Snorting coke.'...or maybe you do, but if it was a 'one time thing' and a 'moment of weakness' you don't. You have to be going down a very dark road or dealing with some huge personal demons to want to do this. I think anyways.
Shouldn't the managers of baseball teams be held to a higher standard? If you want to lead a team of young men who look to their manager as a mentor, what does this say about the Rangers organization? I think that the Rangers are letting this one slide but are going to hold this over his head for as long as he is the manager. If the team doesn't win their division or make the wild card this year, he is done. Game over. And he won't be managing again for a long long time, or ever again.
There was no suspension for Washington last year, no punishment, and it took all this time to make the news. If a player did this....he would be drawn and quartered. People can make the argument that the players are out on the field and how can they play if they have drugs in their system. But how can a manager make decisions for the team if he has drugs in his system? There is no difference here people. It's the same. Washington should have been suspended for the remainder of last season and should have lost his job and his pay. It is a ridicules situation.
Are there going to be charges drawn up against him, can there be? This isn't a man getting a drunk driving ticket, this is a man using an illegal substance! There are law enforcement teams that spend their entire careers trying to stop the distribution of drugs and they are going to let this slide just because a man admitted using it and as a one time thing? People go under cover and put their lives on the line to bust drug dealers. If there was ever a time for the government to get involved in baseball the time is now. Where are the useless congressmen wanting to control baseball's drug use now? Oh, it is different because this man isn't using steroids to be a better performing player, he was using another illegal drug, but it's okay because he isn't hitting an insane amount of home runs.
Shouldn't the managers of baseball teams be held to a higher standard? If you want to lead a team of young men who look to their manager as a mentor, what does this say about the Rangers organization? I think that the Rangers are letting this one slide but are going to hold this over his head for as long as he is the manager. If the team doesn't win their division or make the wild card this year, he is done. Game over. And he won't be managing again for a long long time, or ever again.
There was no suspension for Washington last year, no punishment, and it took all this time to make the news. If a player did this....he would be drawn and quartered. People can make the argument that the players are out on the field and how can they play if they have drugs in their system. But how can a manager make decisions for the team if he has drugs in his system? There is no difference here people. It's the same. Washington should have been suspended for the remainder of last season and should have lost his job and his pay. It is a ridicules situation.
Are there going to be charges drawn up against him, can there be? This isn't a man getting a drunk driving ticket, this is a man using an illegal substance! There are law enforcement teams that spend their entire careers trying to stop the distribution of drugs and they are going to let this slide just because a man admitted using it and as a one time thing? People go under cover and put their lives on the line to bust drug dealers. If there was ever a time for the government to get involved in baseball the time is now. Where are the useless congressmen wanting to control baseball's drug use now? Oh, it is different because this man isn't using steroids to be a better performing player, he was using another illegal drug, but it's okay because he isn't hitting an insane amount of home runs.
16 March 2010
Saint Patirck's Day
Tomorrow people will flock to the bars (more than usual anyways) in honor of Saint Patrick's death, which took place some time between 420 and 460. Forty years is quite a gap, but when you think about how long ago this was, it isn't bad. At what point did close records on people's deaths take place? Certainly not at that time. Oh well, it was long long ago in a country across the ocean.
Since moving down here to Wichita, I have given up on going out for St. Patrick's day. The bars are too busy, decent Irish bars are too far in between. The one nice thing about the Irish bars here are that they are small and quaint, like they should be. The problem is this: when there are only two or three in a city of over four hundred thousand, they get packed. Quick. And the service just goes down hill from there. I just like sitting at home on this day and drink some whiskey or a stout (this year it'll be whiskey for that is what I have). I may even get a little crazy and listen to some Irish music.
Éire go Brách!
Since moving down here to Wichita, I have given up on going out for St. Patrick's day. The bars are too busy, decent Irish bars are too far in between. The one nice thing about the Irish bars here are that they are small and quaint, like they should be. The problem is this: when there are only two or three in a city of over four hundred thousand, they get packed. Quick. And the service just goes down hill from there. I just like sitting at home on this day and drink some whiskey or a stout (this year it'll be whiskey for that is what I have). I may even get a little crazy and listen to some Irish music.
Éire go Brách!
11 March 2010
Spring weather, fall trip
When we got back from our vacation, the snow was gone. It was kind of nice to see. Snow here in Kansas in the month of February is a little depressing because it is only here for a short while. You get your hopes all up for sustained winter weather and atmosphere only to have the temperatures rise a few days later and melt all the nice looking snow and leave the ugly gray snow that has been piled up in parking lots or on the sides of the road.
Last week it got up into the sixties. There was a three month stretch (roughly) when the temperature did not hit at least sixty degrees. It was a record of some sort. It didn't bother me. But when we did have those three days straight of sunny and sixty degree days, I was hopeful for spring. And then it got cloudy and started to rain. It could be a sign for this spring and summer, it could be a wet few months. Rain is fine with me. As long as it is a warm weather rain. I despise rainy weather when it is cold outside. Warm weather rain is just....nice.
Speaking of rain: Seattle! My brother is getting married in September. Our family has been in the beginning stages of planning for the big trip. Every time we talk about it, I get a little more excited about heading out there. We visited him close to two years ago and it was only for a long weekend. It wasn't enough. This time the plan is for an entire week. Outside of the wedding and the correlating events, we want to get out and explore the city. Go see things we didn't get to see the last time we were there. We hit the big sights while we were there, but I would like to just walk around downtown and take some pictures and enjoy being in a different city.
Last week it got up into the sixties. There was a three month stretch (roughly) when the temperature did not hit at least sixty degrees. It was a record of some sort. It didn't bother me. But when we did have those three days straight of sunny and sixty degree days, I was hopeful for spring. And then it got cloudy and started to rain. It could be a sign for this spring and summer, it could be a wet few months. Rain is fine with me. As long as it is a warm weather rain. I despise rainy weather when it is cold outside. Warm weather rain is just....nice.
Speaking of rain: Seattle! My brother is getting married in September. Our family has been in the beginning stages of planning for the big trip. Every time we talk about it, I get a little more excited about heading out there. We visited him close to two years ago and it was only for a long weekend. It wasn't enough. This time the plan is for an entire week. Outside of the wedding and the correlating events, we want to get out and explore the city. Go see things we didn't get to see the last time we were there. We hit the big sights while we were there, but I would like to just walk around downtown and take some pictures and enjoy being in a different city.
06 March 2010
Beer cubed
I went out and bought my third case of beer for 2010 (that's two thousand ten, not that twenty ten bullshit the government wants you to call it. That's right, it's a conspiracy! They have your houses bugged and every time the words twenty ten are uttered, the tapes start in the hope that they will record something. Wake up people!). It is Leinenkugel's spring brew, titled 1888 bock. A bock beer. It is tasty. I didn't know what to expect because I hadn't heard anything on it. Once again, it was a choice of quality or quantity. I must say, it is a better beer than their red beer.
While I was home, my friend Matt convinced me that Old Style is a great cheap beer and I had it in my head to go and buy it. One problem...I couldn't find it. I went to two liquor stores and didn't feel like trekking all around Wichita to find it. I'm sure that some liquor stores close to the college sell it, but those stores have bars on the windows and well...I don't roll like that.
So maybe next time I will scour the city for it.
While I was home, my friend Matt convinced me that Old Style is a great cheap beer and I had it in my head to go and buy it. One problem...I couldn't find it. I went to two liquor stores and didn't feel like trekking all around Wichita to find it. I'm sure that some liquor stores close to the college sell it, but those stores have bars on the windows and well...I don't roll like that.
So maybe next time I will scour the city for it.
03 March 2010
Got home....eventually.
We set off from the Soo on the morning of the twenty seventh heading to Detroit to fly back to Wichita. We arranged our flight back to leave in the evening so we could spend as much time with our families as possible. The flight didn't leave until six at night so all we had to do was get up a little early and drive for six hours. Not bad, it goes by quickly. We even had time to stop by the grandparents house one last time for a quick coffee. The drive down was great, the weather cooperated and we caught just a little bit of snow.
We got to the airport about two and a half hours early. We had little to no traffic that interfered with the trip. Instead of going off somewhere and possibly losing track of time, we just had my parents drop us off. Sitting in a larger airport like Detroit isn't bad. There is stuff to see and do and walking around provides for great people watching. So there we sat, right by the gate. Reading, listening to music, talking, eating. All the while, it got foggier and foggier. It snowed for ten minutes and I started to think 'what if we get grounded here?' Our plane was twenty minutes late getting in, no big deal. We had an hour layover in Chicago. Maybe they are having some weather issues (come on, its Chicago!). The plane was unloaded, and then loaded. No sweat, just thirty minutes late now. Still time to run like hell to the next gate. And then....
'Uh folks, this is the captain. We are getting ready to head out we are just gonna make a stop to get some de-icer for the plane. It'll take about ten minutes' Shit. We sat behind several planes that had pilots that had the same idea.
I know it is important and I get it. Safety first, thankfully, not let's get in the air as soon as possible. We sat in that little plane for an hour before taking off. An hour! We were behind this group of college going to alternative spring break. They were off to save the world and were annoying as hell. The only bright spot was getting free alcohol from the airline for being patient with the delay. Andrea hooked me up with her free booze too. That was the best free whiskey I have ever tasted. Finally in the air I looked at my watch. The only thing that would save us would be a delay leaving Chicago.....
But no luck. We got off the plane only to find out we missed our connection by twenty minutes. Andrea collected her plane side checked bag and we talked to some flight person to find out about our options. By now we had been up for close to twelve hours. The next flight to Wichita wasn't until the next morning. We decided to get a flight to Kansas City and drive back home from there. What the hell. What's another three hours of driving. One problem. The luggage...
How was it going to get back to Wichita? We were told it would be put on the flight the next morning and we could pick it up when the flight got in. So off we went to board the plane to KCI. A little bit of a break in this now bleak day of travel. The flight went smoothly. No problems, no hitches, no plane de-icer. After landing in KC, we rented an over priced car and we drove. And by we, I mean me. Which is okay, I enjoy driving. We rolled into Wichita at two in the morning. I fell right to sleep. Dead tired. Only to have to wake up six hours later in order to return the rental and pick up the baggage, which did arrive. In one piece.
All in all, we were up and traveling for nineteen hours.
We got to the airport about two and a half hours early. We had little to no traffic that interfered with the trip. Instead of going off somewhere and possibly losing track of time, we just had my parents drop us off. Sitting in a larger airport like Detroit isn't bad. There is stuff to see and do and walking around provides for great people watching. So there we sat, right by the gate. Reading, listening to music, talking, eating. All the while, it got foggier and foggier. It snowed for ten minutes and I started to think 'what if we get grounded here?' Our plane was twenty minutes late getting in, no big deal. We had an hour layover in Chicago. Maybe they are having some weather issues (come on, its Chicago!). The plane was unloaded, and then loaded. No sweat, just thirty minutes late now. Still time to run like hell to the next gate. And then....
'Uh folks, this is the captain. We are getting ready to head out we are just gonna make a stop to get some de-icer for the plane. It'll take about ten minutes' Shit. We sat behind several planes that had pilots that had the same idea.
I know it is important and I get it. Safety first, thankfully, not let's get in the air as soon as possible. We sat in that little plane for an hour before taking off. An hour! We were behind this group of college going to alternative spring break. They were off to save the world and were annoying as hell. The only bright spot was getting free alcohol from the airline for being patient with the delay. Andrea hooked me up with her free booze too. That was the best free whiskey I have ever tasted. Finally in the air I looked at my watch. The only thing that would save us would be a delay leaving Chicago.....
But no luck. We got off the plane only to find out we missed our connection by twenty minutes. Andrea collected her plane side checked bag and we talked to some flight person to find out about our options. By now we had been up for close to twelve hours. The next flight to Wichita wasn't until the next morning. We decided to get a flight to Kansas City and drive back home from there. What the hell. What's another three hours of driving. One problem. The luggage...
How was it going to get back to Wichita? We were told it would be put on the flight the next morning and we could pick it up when the flight got in. So off we went to board the plane to KCI. A little bit of a break in this now bleak day of travel. The flight went smoothly. No problems, no hitches, no plane de-icer. After landing in KC, we rented an over priced car and we drove. And by we, I mean me. Which is okay, I enjoy driving. We rolled into Wichita at two in the morning. I fell right to sleep. Dead tired. Only to have to wake up six hours later in order to return the rental and pick up the baggage, which did arrive. In one piece.
All in all, we were up and traveling for nineteen hours.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)