Friday, October 28, 2011

My Letter to Sports


Dear Sports,

Why do you do this to me? You’ve drawn me into your net of deceit by promising me championships and glory only to deliver me to agony time and time again.  I am sick of your silly games – your baseball and your football, your tournaments and your bowl games, your last second buzzer beaters and your fatal collapses.  Only a fool would stick around through all this misery, only a fool would allow themselves to think that one day this will all get better, one day I will get my championship.

It all started on a Saturday in December, 2005.  I was lonely freshman in college sitting in my vacant dorm room watching the ACC championship game.  My #5 Virginia Tech Hokies were coming off of earning the ACC title the year before and were out to make it two in a row.  We were facing an unranked Florida State team and looking forward to another Orange Bowl appearance.  However, as you would have it, that day was meant to be for agony and bitterness.  Florida State won that game and the heartbreak was just beginning.  Later that night the Virginia Tech Basketball team had a date with #1 Duke in Cameron Indoor.  You brought us back from 11 pts down to take the lead with 1.6 seconds left; a sure victory in our hands! You gave me hope that you were going to make up for the agony from earlier.  “One set of fans couldn’t handle that much pain in one day,” I thought.  Obviously, I was wrong.  Sean Dockery received the ball at half court and shot it immediately.  It seemed like the ball was in the air for hours, then “clank”, then “screaming”.  He had done the impossible.  My heart sank.  I hated you and promised I would never again let you hurt me like that.

Yet, I couldn’t stay away from your lure.  Just 2 years later I fell back into your trap and went crazy for my Hokies who were hosting Boston College on a raining and very cold Thursday night.  Lane Stadium was rocking, we were ready to knock the #2 Golden Eagles back to earth.  The game was sloppy due to the rain and my Hokies had a 10-0 lead with 2:11 left.  I was ready to rush the field and had already started moving down towards the sideline from my perch in the upper east stands (row 5Q to be exact!).  Then you struck; you decided to break my heart once again.  Matt Ryan worked his miracle and somehow escaped with a win.  Wet and miserable I found my way home and again promised to get off the your drug.  I never wanted that feeling again. 

My love of the Hokies didn’t fade, I just somehow accepted that they wouldn’t be able to fulfill that dream you promised me.  Then I moved to Dallas and found a new love.  You gave me radio to listen to, scores to check, and articles to read.  I was hooked and fell in love with the Texas Rangers.  I thought that this would be different.  It’s a new team, new place – “I can dream again!”  We won the division, then the ALDS, then the ALCS.  You had me in your grasp and I had you.  This was going to be the year.  This was going to be the chance for me to finally get that elusive championship.  Then like always you broke my heart again.  You failed me.  I had a glance at glory twice! I was one strike away in the 9th and 10th innings and you failed me.  I hate you sports and only fools would let themselves continue.  Yet, as the night gets closer and Game 7 nears, I am going to give you one more chance.  You have one more chance to come through in the clutch, one more chance to add glory to the already excellent drama.  One more chance, before I move on.

Ah, what empty threats those are.  You have monopolized my heart.  No reality show or primetime drama could ever fulfill your shoes.  I cannot move on.  I am stuck.  I have fallen into your trap and will never get out.  The truth is, I really don’t even want to get out.  The trill of victory will keep me going and the agony of defeat will only be a hurdle, but its times like these that I wish you were more kind to my often broken heart.

Love,

A Passionate Fan

Thursday, October 27, 2011

College Football Picks: Week 9

After going 8-3 last week, I’m ready to keep the good times rolling this week.  But first let me quickly recap some highlights from last week’s thoughts. 

The Good (pick):
Miami over GT – This game had upset written all over it and Miami came through and crushed GT 24-7. 
The Bad (pick):
Northwestern over Penn State – Penn State seems to be way better than a 16-10 win over Indiana would indicate.  I like Penn State this week, see below.
The Ugly (pick):
Wisconsin over Michigan State – Even though this game was won on a fluke play at the end of regulation, I thought that Wisconsin would be running away with the game at that point. 

For the second straight week, we have 6 ACC games involving all 12 schools.  There are also two top 25 matchups to pick and then I’ll round it out with a few other games I think are interesting and an upset pick. 
The ACC Week 9:
Virginia Tech over Duke – Last week I talked about how Bonner was going to make a difference in last week’s game and boy was I pleased.  Virginia Tech’s strong defense shines strong and takes care of business against Duke.  However, I could easily see VT struggling again in the first half and my prediction is that they go into halftime down 14-10.  However, like always, they turn it on in second half, tighten down on defense and figure out how to play offense and win 34-17.
Miami over UVA – After beating GT last week Miami is looking like they are going to be on a roll for quite some time (I could see them easily winning out).  Also UVA looks to be going in the wrong direction after losing to NC State.  The mistakes will pile up in this game for UVA and Miami will win big on Thursday night.
Florida State over NC State – At first glance, this one seemed like a no brainer pick for FSU.  However, after a little research I am beginning to think that NC State puts up a bigger fight than expected.  I still think FSU wins, but it’s closer than expected.
Boston College over Maryland – BC finally puts a full game together and wins their first game in ACC play. 
UNC over Wake Forest – This was a toss-up for me and I’m just going with UNC as the home team.
Clemson over Georgia Tech – Last week I said that I thought this might be the game that Clemson loses.  It had all the markings: playing a top 25 team on the road who can easily keep up with all the scoring.  Then GT decided to be awful.  They lost to UVA then only scored 7 pts against Miami! Clemson takes care of business and wins big in Atlanta.   
Top 25 Week 9:
Oklahoma over Kansas State – Oklahoma is #4 in the nation in passing offense and #27 in rushing defense.  K State is 19th in rushing offense and 87th in passing defense.  What this means is that Oklahoma’s strength is passing the ball and will face little resistance against a bad Kansas State pass defense.  And, on the other hand, K State’s strength is rushing the ball and that is where Oklahoma excels on defense.  The Wildcats lose at home to an angry Sooners bunch.  (I really wanted to go Kansas State here… but just don’t see it happening).
Michigan State over Nebraska – MSU got lucky last week and will lose some momentum in Lincoln.  However, Nebraska isn’t as good as their #14 ranking and will lose a close one at home.
Other Week 9 Games:
Oklahoma State over Baylor – If OKState loses, then this weekend will be miserable for me… I’ll be at their homecoming with my fiancĂ©e (a die-hard Cowboys fan!). 
Penn State over Illinois – To make up for last week, I’m going to jump bandwagons and hop on with Penn State.  With the #4 defense in the country, you have a chance at beating almost anyone.  And with Illinois coming off of a bad loss to Purdue, Penn State wins this one at home.
Rutgers over West Virginia – My upset pick of the week! Rutgers at home with the #9 defense in the country rallies behind Eric LeGrand for the win. 

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

A Game of Wits

In today’s sporting world, I have seen that victories are earned more often by the team that can make “smarter” decisions than the team which boasts the strongest and fastest athletes.  For example, Butler can make two consecutive final fours with subpar “athletes”, Wes Welker can become a top 5 wide receiver in the NFL and even the brilliant Tony LaRussa’s Cardinals can be defeated by a team that seems to be playing consistently smarter all over the field. 
I saw this come to fruition last night in the Ranger’s 4-2 win over the Cardinals.  It was a great example of how much the mind can affect a game that is determined by physical exertion.   The story of Game 5 has been plastered all over the internet today.  See “GAME 5 SUMMARY” if you want the back story.  But to quickly summarize, the Cardinals made crucial mental errors the each of the 7th, 8th and 9th innings.  In the 7th and 9th, Craig should not have been stealing.  And in the 8th, Motte should have been ready to pitch to Napoli.   These errors are in sharp contrast to what I wrote last Thursday about Elvis Andrus and the 3 “smart” plays that he made in the 9th.  We saw last night how crucial it is to remain mentally sharp on the field.  No matter how strong or fast you are, if you lose concentration for just one play, you will likely be outmatched by your opponent. 
Before I continue, I want to make a few disclaimers.  I DON’T want to imply that the Ranger’s physical abilities were not essential to last night’s game.  They scored 4 runs on 2 homers and a double.  Also, the lack of ability shown by the Cardinals by going 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position played an equally crucial part.  I also DON’T want to imply that Tony LaRussa is not a smart person or manager.  He is one of the greatest and most brilliant managers of all time. 
It just seems that throughout history the athlete has unjustly earned the dumb jock stereotype, when in reality being a successful athlete requires a greater amount of mental prowess than most people understand.  And, with the advent of more and more complex defensive systems in both football and basketball as well as increased stats and sabermetrics in baseball, being able to think quickly on one’s feet as both a coach and player is becoming an even more sought after trait.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Was Derek Holland's Dominate World Series Performance Wasted?

Derek Holland's brilliant performance last night in Game Four has me second guessing Ron Washington’s decision to move Holland down to fourth in his World Series rotation.  I am not usually a big fan of second guessing; but after examining the decision a little more carefully, I think that if the Rangers go on to lose the series in seven games this could be a major storyline.
Heading into the playoffs, to no one’s surprise Holland had been named the number two starter (over Lewis and Harrison) due to his superb regular season in which he led the team in wins (tied with Wilson with 16) and shutouts (4, three others tied with 1).  He also finished with a 9-1 record after the all-star break, the best on the team.  I would say that most people would have agreed that Holland had earned his place in this position. 
He went on to start Game 2 and appear in relief in Game 4 of the ALDS and then to start Games 2 and 6 of the ALCS.  And sadly, he seemed to struggle a little with the added pressure.  We didn’t see the dominate Derek Holland that we saw during the regular season.  He gave up 8 runs in 13.2 innings and looked surprisingly off his game in Game 2 of the ALCS against the Tigers, going only 2.2 innings and giving up 3 earned runs and walking 4 players.    
Because of this, moving Holland down to start Game 3 would have been easily explainable in my mind.  Colby Lewis, who had pitched well in the playoffs thus far and had been excellent on the road the entire season, would be able to use his experience from last year’s World Series to pitch on the road for Game 2.  This would have left Holland to pitch in front of his home fans Game 3 and then have the opportunity to dominate, like he had all season, in Game 7 if needed (see 4 shutouts mentioned before and 8 1/3 innings pitched last night). 
However, was Washington’s confidence shaken so much that he would rather have Matt Harrison in a decisive game 7?  For some reason it seemed to be.  Washington who has become known as a coach with will stick with his players (see “leaving Michael Young hitting 4th in the ALCS”) didn’t stick with his guy who had rightfully earned his place as the 2nd best starter on the team.
Now, we will just have to wait and see.  Will the Rangers miss out on using the pitcher who gave us one of the most dominate World Series performances in recent history for a second game?  How Matt Harrison performs in Game 7 (if necessary) will only tell us if Washington’s move paid off.  For now, I’m excited for Derek and how excellently he performed on such a grand stage; but, I have to say, I would much rather see Holland and his grotesque mustache take the ball in Game 7 instead of Harrison. 
Check out this pick of the DutchOven wearing his DutchOven shirt! http://yfrog.com/h02k7noqj and buy one here! http://store.makeitgraphic.net/24-benandskin

Sunday, October 23, 2011

From Prayer to Chaos: Week 8 Reactions


Let the Chaos Ensue

Before going into this week, I was pretty confident that 6 teams would finish the season undefeated (Winner of LSU/Bama, Winner of OKState/OU, Wisconsin, Boise St, Stanford, Houston) and BCS outrage would ensue.  I was not confident that Clemson could keep winning and thought Wisconsin and OU were better than they were.  Yet, for some reason, college football seems to somehow always amaze us.  It amazes us with the chaos that it always creates.  This week showed us that even the teams that we thought were unbeatable are beatable (even when they are 4TD favorites at home).  For the good of us all, lets hope that this week is just the start of the chaos that makes College Football so great!

2 BCS schools from the ACC?

In the 12 years that BCS has been in existence the ACC has never had 2 teams in the BCS.  Could this be the year? Well, there is really only one serious scenario for this to happen.  Clemson and VT would both have to win out.  At that point Clemson would be a guaranteed to be a top 3 team in the BCS (LSU or Bama have to lose).  VT would be a top 10 team.  VT would need to beat Clemson in that game and Clemson would then need to get the at large bid.  This is also contingent upon Stanford beating Oregon.  In this scenario LSU, Alabama, OKState, OU, Wisconsin (who beats MSU in the BIG10 championship rematch), Stanford, Big East Winner (who really cares about this), Boise State (who will finish the season in the top 4 and be guaranteed a BCS bowl), VT and Clemson would be in BCS games

Clemson looks good while GT struggles

Georgia Tech is falling hard after their lost last week to UVA.  They looked terrible against Miami this week and have Clemson and VT as their next two matchups.  I could see GT losing both of those games and crashing from their #12 ranking just 2 weeks ago.  On the other hand, Clemson looked like they might be able to handle the pressure of being a top 5 team.  Tajh Boyd is good and if Clemson keeps winning he may make a case for the Heisman trophy. 

So what that MSU won…

Let’s all remember that the game was tied! This was not a Hail Mary, not a case of win/loss, and not a “Flutie-like” pass.   Yes, it was a great play and incredible play but I’m not ready to place it up there with the all time great last minute plays.  This ranks for me up there with the Crabtree TD over Texas a few years back.  If anyone remembers, Tech was trailing by 1 pt at the time of the play and would have had a chip shot field goal to win the game.   Yes, it was a great play, but not life or death!  Everyone praised Crabtree for his TD, but the game was already won he just got the glory for it.  

Friday, October 21, 2011

College Football Picks: Week 8

We’ll see how this goes, but for now I think I’ll pick the ACC games, top 25 match-ups and a few of the games that seem to be popular around the internets:
Virginia Tech over Boston College – Not sure there should be much debate here on this one.  BC is bad this year and any team that loses to both Duke and Northwestern (who is actually decent this year, but more on that and my man crush on Dan Persa later) just can’t come into Lane Stadium and put up any sort of decent showing.  Also note that All-American CB Jayron Hosely is going to be out for the game, but I don’t think this will matter much against the 105th ranked scoring offense in FBS.  Look to Detrick Bonner to replace him.  Bonner had a decent game against Wake and should continue against a weak BC passing attack. 
Clemson over North Carolina – Clemson playing at home with a healthy Tajh Boyd coming of the spectacular comeback performance will win easily.  Boyd and Clemson impressed me last week with their heroics (Boyd has 4 TDs in the game), but I still wonder if they are just the same old un-clutch Clemson team.  I do think that Clemson will struggle again this season before the ACC championship game.  Look out for GT next week in Atlanta. 
Wake over Duke – I’m not basing this on much other than Duke history and their inability to ever get any better at football.  I mean they lost to Richmond… AGAIN!
Florida State over Maryland – Barely! Florida State is giving 18 points to Maryland in most books and I could see MD and their atrocious unis making this a one possession game.  EJ Manual looks to be slightly back on track, but this team never deserved their top 5 ranking to begin with.
UVA over NC State – UVA has finally found ways to win football games.  Mike London has his team poised to finally be able to compete with VT again.  (Thank God! It’s just sad to beat up the wimpy kid…) Last week’s win over GT amazed me, but looking at UVA’s schedule this year, they have been close in every game and I see them improving.  Hopefully they don’t have a letdown at home. 
Miami over GT – I saw major flaws exposed in GT by UVA last week and Miami is a better team.  I’d look for this game to be close and think Miami pulls in out in the end.  Jacory impressed me against VT and looked good again against UNC.  This one comes down the final possession.
Now for the three matchups between top 25 teams:
LSU over Auburn – Even without their 3 suspended players, LSU at home is just too good.  I don’t think Auburn is deserving of their ranking and will struggle mightily.  They have the 106th ranked passing offense!
Stanford over Washington – No real reason, don’t follow the west coast teams… But Stanford plays smart and will find a way to win.
Wisconsin over Michigan State – I have always believed that the secret to success in football is in the quality of your offensive line.  Wisconsin is huge up front and despite the quality of MSU’s defense, Russell Wilson’s consistency and the quality of Wisconsin’s running game will win in the end. 
A few others:
Oklahoma State over Missouri – Missouri is going to be a lot better than people expect in this game.  This will be the best defense that OKState has faced this year; Mizzou has only allowed 7 TD’s passing all year (that’s 21st in the country).  Also, the game is in Columbia and after seeing how the Cowboys struggled in Austin last week; this will be a close one.  However, Papa Weeden will pull this one out (just like he did at A&M and UT). 
Northwester over Penn State – I LOVE DAN PERSA! He is one of the smartest football players I have ever seen play the game.  I know he has struggled in the past two weeks, but I’ll blame that on injury.  This game is at home and I just think Persa pulls it out. 

Not a Game for Idiots!

For those of you that watched the World Series game last night you saw one of the things that I love most in sports.  Smarts! Elvis Andrus made three, straight-up, smart plays in the 9th inning last night.  Maybe they weren’t the most “brilliant” of plays, but he made the right play when he needed to and didn’t try to do too much. 
The first of these was not bunting when Kinsler was stealing second.  That may not seem like a lot and I know that these guys are pros, but let’s look a little more at the situation.  We know that Wash didn’t put on a “hit and run” or anything there and that Kinsler decided to take off on his own.  (A play that I’m not too sure I agree with; but since it worked, I’ll back off Kins for now).  But, we do know that Wash did have Elvis up there bunting (he already tried twice before) in order to move the runner up to second.  In those sacrifice situations the usual case is that the hitter is concentrating so much on getting a quality bunt down that it is acceptable if not expected to ignore everything else.  However, Elvis was able to react in milliseconds and make the correct decision.  If he bunts, or even fouls off the pitch, Kinsler doesn’t steal second and we have an entirely different game. 
The second and third remarkably smart plays were advancing to second and then to third respectively. In advancing on the mishandle (that has now been ruled an error) by Pujols, if Elvis isn’t immediately ready to move as soon as that play is made, he is out at second.  And again, we have an entirely different ball game.  Now, advancing to third is a much easier play, but we just have a situation where the right play was made in a split second of decision making. 
Let’s remember that Elvis is only 23 years old!!! He’s still a kid making the right decision when he is called upon to do so.  Also, don’t forget the amazing defensive plays that he made in the 4th and 5th innings.  Go RANGERS!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

What's a Hokie?

Ever since moving to Dallas from Virginia about a year ago, I have finally realized what it is like to live in a pro market.  It is incredible.  I can just decide to head out to a baseball or football game whenever my heart desires.  Now, I’ll get into the price of sports at some time later, but I am thoroughly enjoying the opportunity.  In the past year I have lived in the city that hosted the World Series (twice), Super Bowl, and NBA Finals.  I have seen the Cowboys, Stars, and Rangers all play in person.  But, the problem with all this is that fans of professional sports can never compete with the fans of college teams.  Pro Fans, just don’t seem to get it most of the time.  I actually SAT DOWN during the entire Cowboys game! That is unheard of during College sports! As a matter of fact, I have never sat down during live action of the first three quarters of Virginia Tech football game.  EVER! All I’m trying to say is that it seems to me that there are people who are fans of professional sports but then there are people who live college sports. 
A college team can become an identity, whereas a pro team will rarely reach that stage.  I am a Hokie and not a Cowboy, Ranger or Brave.  You might be a Cavalier, Longhorn, Wolverine, or Tar Heel.  But I don’t know anyone who would call themselves a Redskin, Red Sox or Laker.  It just doesn’t happen that way; and that’s why college sports have always been and always will be superior.  There is much more risk in being a fan of a college team; when my team loses, I lose… But, when my team wins, it is without a doubt worth the reward. 
That being said, I love all things sports and for the past several years I have thought that the best job in the world would be to be a Sports Analyst.  You get to watch sports for your job, you can meet the people you “idolize” and finally, and maybe most importantly, people will take your horribly biased ideas and thoughts way more seriously.  Now, because I don’t have a degree or credentials and I can’t really just hop onto football fields whenever I want.  So, I’ve conceded to starting a blog where I plan to write about just about everything from the sporting world that I find interesting.  I will write a bunch of opinion on recent games and what I saw with them.  I also want to try my hand at picking games and see where that goes.  I just want to use this as an outlet for my love of all things sports!  Thanks for reading.