Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Were The Writers Write?

This month the Baseball Writers gave out some awards that will be remembered in history. Today Dustin Pedroia was named AL MVP who definitely deserved it. Justin Mourneau was his runner-up. Ever since the year when Mourneau and Mauer were voted for the most a couple of years back and Johan won an AL Cy Young that the writers favor the Twins.

Pujols. NL MVP 2005 and 2008. Albert put up fantastic numbers with a 357 average and 37 homers but Ryan Howard was the HR and RBI leaders and led the Phils to a title unlike Pujols who took his team nowhere. Howard was the real MVP but his average killed him.

Tiny Tim and Cliff Lee. The Cy's of '08. I thought K-Rod and CC deserved it . They took their team to the playoffs and put their names in the record books. K-Rod had the single season save record and CC pitched a no-hitter. Another writers mistake.

I was fine with Manager of the Year and Rookie of the Year but was irritated that the awards aren't based on the postseason results. Philadelphia won it all and Howard got no love by not winning WS MVP or MVP. The writers just like the sports need to change. Fast!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

The Real Story of Basketball: Continued

Number 68 was not on the list and my tryout was only pain to my legs. Tryouts were tough and I guess I wasn't as good as the 14 names that are on the team. Many people, including myself, disagreed with some of the coach's picks. The coach took about 5, seven-footers (or maybe 5 foot) and totally changed the way he wanted his team to look. Coach Murphy said he wanted a ball-hog free team but of course took ball-hogs. Coach Murphy also said he wanted leaders but left out one of the best ones in town, me. I know I am not the best player on most of my teams but I could average good numbers, with a big impact on the team and play my 100%, never give up, pump up the team, and straight up, lead the team better then anyone. After this extremely exhausting tryout, I now know that I have to work harder to make next years team. There is a lesson embedded in this post. Never give up.

My younger brother us following my footsteps in being a leader. His hockey team was down 7-2 and he pumped them up and brought them right back in the game. It excites me to see that someone is following me and I always used to say he would be a better athlete then me just by watching me. He might already be faster and stronger then me and you might have to add leadership to that list. It feels good when someone looks up to you and I hope for his number to be on Murphy's list in the near future.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The Real Story of Basketball


"They made that shot look easy."

In NBA history, 38 players have won the NBA Finals MVP Award. Those 38 players have worked their butts off to help win a title. In the 62 years of NBA history tons of players have played in the NBA.

This week I tried out for my school basketball team. I was running over 15 laps a day and about 8 suicides down the court. I was aching and still aching with all the laps. When you sit and watch a professional basketball game and some 6 footer hits a three pointer, everybody says, "They made that shot look easy." I wish people could say that about me this week. I put so much effort into making this team like millions of kids who set a professional sports goal and well, it turns out they did it for nothing. I have a 1 in 35 chance in making this basketball team, if I don't make the team then I truly worked my butt off for nothing. If I asked Kobe or AI how much work it took to be where they are they would say, "Well a lot!" People who love watching basketball, but don't play truly don't appreciate how much hard work and effort it takes to put a ball in a ring. They think that is all basketball is. Those people don't think about the 100 laps a week and 45 suicides for every missed lay-up. If that was what my coach did I may still be running now. Say if you ran out to the park tomorrow morning and counted how many baskets you make out of a hundred you could be surprised if you only make 12. It is a tough thing that requires a lot of different things like energy and athleticism which some people just don't have in their genes.

Tomorrow at 8:00 AM, Coach will post the team on the Boys Locker Room Door with a list of 14 numbers on it. Hopefully 68 is on their and when you watch Lebron James tonight against Denver, think of how much work he put into his career and that one little jump shot from 12 feet away.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

How Long WIll It Take 'Till We're Chanting Fire D'Antoni?

After a horrible loss, cursing, and even putting a former superstar on the inactive list, Mike D'Antoni hasn't exactly started off on the right foot. I can already picture me blogging in January when the Knicks are 1-50 and saying fire Mike. So how long will it take?

The Knicks suck and will suck and we all know that. Marbury and Curry are benched and they can score 10 a game even with their problems. I want the Knicks to be a better team but not get a new coach but as a Knick fan I have to think about my "Fire Mike" article but it won't be his fault. The Knicks are not a good team and it's not D'Antoni's problem.

More stuff is going to happen where the guys that matter, the players, not the fans (who don't matter really), hate D'Antoni because they do in week one already. But us the fans are just going to have to watch the Knicks suck, pick Hansbrough at number one and win a g-d damn championship in '10 where LJ23 is wearing orange and blue.