The Countdown to Pitchers and Catchers Begins!

Well Syracuse basketball held its first official practice the other day in the new tradition of Midnight Madness, so it must mean it’s almost time for college basketball and maybe means I should return from my multi-month hiatus.

Even though my lead was about Syracuse, I think we need to discuss the Yankees first and the end of this season...After all, we will have plenty of time to pour over Syracuse basketball in the coming months.

So...Yes, the Yankee season ended prematurely this past weekend due to an inspired Texas Rangers team that got timely hits and had great pitching. The Yankees on the other hand, have been unable to locate their bats since about the end of August and gave up runs in the first inning in all but two of the games (Game 4 & 5). It’s awfully hard to win when your fighting an uphill battle from the first inning on.

But I don’t even want to talk about the horrendous play on the field. I want to talk about the disgusting fandom I saw during this series. I was lucky enough to go to Game 4 at Yankee Stadium and watch A.J Burnett & Co. implode in the 5th inning after starting off strong and actually making me think we could pull off the win.

So after the demise took place with a combination of A.J., David Robertson, Boone Logan, and Joba Chamberlain, I was disheartened when I heard “boooos” actually coming from the crowd as Logan and Chamberlain walked off the field.

Are you serious? Booing your team? I understand that this is New York, and we like to win, but booing in the playoffs? If you’re booing in October, then I’m not sure you are a real fan. If you are upset about the way some guy is pitching in July or August, OK, let him know. But your team is in the playoffs, fighting for their October lives, and you need to make a statement?! Give me a break. It makes me sick. You came out to watch post-season baseball and cheer on your team. Act like it.

People gives New York fans lots of credit for being “educated fans.” I’m not sure where they come up with this crap. New York fans are typically hard-headed, egotistical, self-centered, stubborn, and think the sports universe should revolve around New York. I’m not saying it shouldn’t sometimes, but I would not give the benefit of the doubt to the large majority of Yankee fans as “educated fans.”

These are the same fans now calling for the head of Joe Girardi. This man won you a World Series last year, and took the team to the Championship Series this year, and now you want him gone? In any other city, there would be no doubt about his future. I know that with the Yankees payroll there are expectations, but is not making it to the final four teams enough of a success? You cannot win it all every year. I know we want to, but that just is not realistic. If it was possible, then why would other teams even take the field?

The bottom line is fans should not be booing their team this late in the season. Obviously the guy knows he has f*cked up in a big situation. In October, the fans job is to help the home team overcome the odds and gain momentum. If you are only going to boo when mistakes are made, they might as well play the whole series on the road.

Food for thought as we now sit around and count the days till pitchers and catchers report for spring training...and wait to see how much money the Yankees are going to throw at Cliff Lee.

Sorry for the you-know-what-grinds-my-gears rant to start things off.

I’m back.

What Do You Mean I Don't Have a Million Dollar Contract?

While spring may signal the beginning of baseball season for the multimillion dollar boys in 30 cities around the country, it also means its time for the amateur ball players around the country to break out the bats, dust off their gloves, and squeeze into baseball pants after a long, dormant winter.

There is nothing better than waking up to a beautiful spring morning, sunlight pouring in your windows and knowing you get to go outside and run around in it for a little bit. I’m not sure there is anything that can compare to the feel of the grass, the smell of the air, chasing down fly balls and the sound of a bat hitting a ball.

You get to feel like a kid for a couple hours, reminiscent of the days of Little League, except hopefully you’re a little better now and can throw the ball a little harder. We still get to the field dressed in uniforms, fool around in the dugout and eat sunflower seeds till our stomachs hurt. But now instead of our moms and dads in the stands, we have girlfriends, and at the end of the game we get to drive ourselves home instead of piling into the back seat of Mom’s minivan. We may not be the best, but it definitely is great to have something to look forward to each weekend and know you’re going to enjoy it.

It makes me want the week to go by that much quicker and gets me that much more upset when the rain gods decide to do their little dance Saturday night/Sunday morning. Just because we may not be the best does not mean we do not take the game seriously. Unlike Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and all the other super stars of the diamond, we dream of diving and running everyday while they live it.



But we keep our pride, and we still play for keeps. You’ll be hard pressed to find a weekend game where you don’t see one of several things: a player arguing with an umpire, a player cursing (usually at an umpire), and someone getting upset himself for committing an error. We may even take our games a little more seriously and they may stick with us a little longer than with pros. They have the advantage of getting to make up for it tomorrow or the next day at the most. Us? We have to wait six days before lacing up the cleats again and stepping between the lines or picking up a bat.

We get injured probably a lot more often than professional players and take care of injuries a lot worse. Pulled quad? Strained hamstring? Sore arm? Play through them. In a 20 game season, you don’t have time to sit in the bench for two weeks and relax while your team takes the field.

But its one of those things you wouldn’t trade for the world; the chance to keep playing the game you love. You can try softball if you want, but it’s not the same. I played for the summer after my freshman year of college, and it only made me want to play hard ball that much more. Yes, baseball is harder, you have to run a little further between bases, and you play with less fielders, but it only gives you more satisfaction when you succeed.

So go find a team, put on your favorite jersey, pull your hat down way over your eyes, and pretend to be who ever the hell you want to be. Spend 3 hours a week running around, swinging a bat, and having some fun. It does a body good.

The Quest for 28 Begins

Well it looks like spring is upon us and the great American past-time is back. Almost two weeks ago baseball kicked off.

Spring is always a great time. Teams are off to a fresh start. 2009 is now just a memory and everyone has a chance to write a new story in 2010. The Yankees come back as the defending world champions and with a target on their back, as the champs usually do. But it begins another season in the new Yankee Stadium and a chance to add some more history to The House George Built, which quickly had some added last year.

It was nice to see/read about the Yankees getting their rings and finally capping off the amazing 2009 season. Unfortunately I had to do a little thing called “work” all day which prevented me from parking in front of a television and watching the matinée match-up. You could see how excited Alex Rodriguez was to get his first ring, and how fitting it was that Derek Jeter was the last player called out of the Yankee dugout. But I think the part I enjoyed most was Matsui get his multiple standing ovations and ring along with the rest of the team.

I was impressed Jerry Hairston flew cross country for his. Maybe he should have just caught a flight with the Angels because somehow it worked out perfectly so Matsui could be in town and get his too. The way the Bombers stormed Godzilla on the pitchers mound, it looked as if they genuinely missed him. Everyone was happy to see the MVP again, especially The Captain. I think especially from having been at the final game of the World Series and seeing Matsui have his magical game, it was nice to see Matsui get the farewell he deserved. I know he got his parade, trophy and whatever else, but the proper sendoff was on the diamond, between the bases. The fact he had to step out of the box and tip his cap before his first at-bat, encouraged by the always classy Andy Pettitte when he stepped of the mound, was a great moment.


As the Yankees begin their quest for No. 28 I think the most pressing concern is the No.4 starter. Now I’m sure you’re thinking, “What is this guy talking about, that’s Javvy Vazquez.” EXACTLY. Now, I’m not even talking about the fact that he has sucked out the house in his first two starts. I thought this was a terrible move from the very beginning. Vazquez had his chance in New York already (see 2004 http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=134320) and he was terrible. A 4.91 ERA. So what if he had 238 strikeouts and 15 wins last year with a 2.87 ERA? It was the National League, which has been no where near as good as the AL this decade.

Look at Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia. Two very good starters in the AL (who happened to play together in Cleveland) and went to the NL for stints and could have walked on water if they wanted to. Sabathia went 11-2 in 17 starts for Milwaukee with a 1.65 ERA and 128 strike outs. The beginning of that season, when he was with Cleveland, he had a 2.70 ERA in 35 starts. In 12 starts with the Phillies in 2009, Lee was 7-4 versus 7-9 in 22 starts with the Indians. He also had 74 K’s in those 12 starts, while it took him 22 starts in the AL to get 107 earlier in the season. With the pitcher batting, line-ups become dramatically weaker and teams in general are just not as strong period.

So now back to bring it back to the 2010 Yankees, I’m not sure Javvy is going to get the job done and I certainly have my doubts. I’ll give him 11 wins for the season. He has already been booed and is 0-2, giving up 12 earned runs in two starts. Well maybe if he pitched a little better he wouldn’t have to worry about it. Bottom line is he was given a second chance because people in the Yankee front office thought he had turned into some great pitcher. More likely it was the level of competition he faced that made him so much better, but as usual, I hope I’m wrong.

Time will tell, but until then, you’re on notice Javvy Vazquez, and all on New York will be watching your every pitch.

And don’t worry, we’ll let you know when you’re back in our good graces.

The Road Ends Here

Well it looks like we’ve come to the end of the “Road to the Final Four.” This may be the toughest post I’ve had to write yet, but I’m hoping it finally helps give me some closure on this season. It has taken me a long time to get to this point and to be willing to talk about the final moments of the Orange tournament run. Most of the last week has been filled with “lets not talk about it.”

Last Thursday I sat in front of the TV and watched in crystal clear HD as a magical, fun, and exciting season come to a crashing halt all too soon. This was the team bound for the Final Four. Ready to duke it out with a talented Kansas State, but ultimately take it’s rightful place in Indianapolis. This was their year...right?

Well apparently Butler didn’t get the memo. Instead, they outplayed, out-hustled, and and out-smarted a Syracuse team that looked like a shoe-in for the final after laying the smack down on Gonzaga less than a week earlier.

Well as I sat there watching Syracuse dig out of the hole and go ahead by 4, I refrained from getting too excited, knowing we weren’t out of the woods, but thinking the magician was about to pull another rabbit out of his hat like we had seen all season. Only this time instead of finding the bottom of the net several consecutive times and forcing turnovers, they turned the ball over possession after possession and gave the game right back to the Bulldogs.

I sat there afterwards wondering what to do with myself. Was this really going to be the way it ended? Another loss in the Sweet Sixteen, ending the season a week too short. The next couple days were worthless. I didn’t turn on a TV or listen to my usual ESPN podcasts for fear of seeing rerun of the highlights or listening to pundits talking about a lackluster Syracuse squad.

It hurt almost as much as the massacre against Oklahoma, except I had a front row seat in Memphis last year and had just drove 1,000 miles in two days to watch my Orange. But this year I had higher hopes, thinking this would be another convincing win on the road to Indy. I was filled with butterflies and excitement all day, wearing my bright orange dress shirt to work and telling everyone who would listen how Syracuse was going to do their thing that night.

The one safe place for me to visit on the Web was Syracuse.com, home of the Syracuse Post-Standard. While they covered the loss, they were crushed just as much as me and showed compassion in their coverage. I watched the press conference clips of Coach Boeheim, Andy Rautins, and Wes Johnson. I saw the photos of Arinze Onuaku, the biggest man in the room, hiding in a locker with a towel hanging in front of his face. I read about a team in tears, heard the hurt in their voices.

In addition to that, I read this blogger post and i couldn't help but laugh, especially because it fit me so perfectly and all the emotions I went through in those 24 hours. As terrible as I felt, the truth was I knew how much more these players were hurting. They felt they had let down an entire city down and falling short of anything but the Final Four classified the season as a failure.

It may have ended too soon and in tragic fashion, but this season was far from it. It was a great season. Full of amazing games, great highlights, and convincing wins over top competition, not to mention a night of 34,646 people cramming into The Dome for a game, setting a new NCAA attendance record. The team proved to the nation they were contenders, deserving of a No.1 seed.

I go crazy sitting and thinking about what could have been. If Arinze, doesn’t get hurt, the team easily makes it to Indy, overpowering everyone in Salt Lake, and probably any opponent. The fact he couldn’t even compete will probably be something that sticks with him for a long time unfortunately. All because of damn Greg Monroe.

So the fat lady sung, be it early, but she finished her verse and the Orange exited stage right. But you can’t end it all without saying thanks to the guys who made it so much fun.

Wes, I know you said you were leaning towards coming back after the tough loss, and your heart is in the right place, but we all know the truth. It’s OK. Go get yours. Thanks for stopping by, it was a blast. Andy and Arinze, you two came in with me as freshman and I watched you guys go down with injuries and come back better than ever. Arinze came back built like a house and dominated the paint. Andy came back bigger, stronger, more confident and able to shoot the lights out of the gym. He was the guy who made it go this season and it was great to watch him get fired up. I’m glad you guys stuck around. This team needed you both, and I wish you only the best.

Scoop and Joseph, this is your team next year. Kris had a breakout season this year and makes us all excited about what he will do as a starter. Scoop, honestly, you scare the hell out of me, but you make ridiculous play somehow and have some smooth moves when we need it.

Well I guess that’s that then.

Just last night I was talking to a friend about incoming freshman and the 2011 class. Syracuse basketball never gets old. Can’t wait till next November!

Did You See That!?

Phew...I think I’m finally catching my breath from what can only be described as a weekend of incredible basketball. It was full of excitement, buzzer-beaters, major... nay, huge upsets and 16 teams advancing to the second weekend of the Big Dance. On a side note - How screwed is your bracket looking? Yeah, thought it might be.

What happened to the Big East? (More like the Big Easy, Little East, etc, etc.) Eight bids showed the strength and muscle of the conference...until they had to play teams outside the conference. Apparently Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pitt, Villanova and Louisville decided that they could finally take a breather now that they were out of the battle-hardened, bruiser Big East. So take it easy they did, and now they’ll have plenty of time to take it easy as they sit in their dorms and watch Syracuse and West Virginia try to bring some credibility back to the Big East. What happened to the one-bid Pac 10, the conference that should be in the play-in game if the Selection Committee had any stones? What the hell!

And how about the little guys, eh? I’ll start with Cornell. The first Ivy League team to win an NCAA game since 1998 and the first to advance to the Sweet 16 in 31 years. (I also want to note I picked them to advance to the Sweet 16 in my office bracket) Saint Mary’s beat down on Villa-NO-va and the invisible “Mr. Clutch” Scottie Reynolds.



I think that about covers it...

Wait you say! What about Northern Iowa??

I’ve been through Iowa, and I didn’t know there even was a northern part of it. I figured it was all just nameless cornfields...Except for “Worlds Largest Truckstop”. What a game. I was in the city and happened to walk into a bar during the last two minutes or so of this monumental game. It was just in time to see the ballsiest, most daring shot of the weekend. Ali Farokhmanesh pulling up on a breakaway to bury a three pointer and drive the stake into the Jayhawk’s heart. All I can say is “ONIONS!”



Now lets get to The Orange of Syracuse. The pundits were asking bundles of questions about the Orange, having entered the tournament riding a two game losing streak and playing a team they haven’t played since the infamous 2005 game. They were expected to beat those maple syrup lovers, but after that? Who knows.

Well the ‘Cuse flexed their muscles, especially their Andy Rautins and Wes Johnson muscles. People were scared, including myself, about how the team would play without Arinze Onuaku controlling the paint. To add to the anxiety, Rick Jackson picked up his third foul with 8 minutes left to play in the first half. I’m sure that’s not how Jimmy B drew it up.

Well apparently instead of being a death sentence the Orange went on a tear and never looked back, crushing those West Coast hippies (Gonzaga). Wes played like the Big East Player of the Year we all know and love, and Andy shot the lights out of the place. Now with Kansas out of the picture, people are looking at Syracuse as a legitimate contender for the title along with Kentucky. But lets not get ahead of ourselves. There are still plenty of games to go, and now they have to head out to Salt Lake, leaving the cozy confines of Buffalo. On the bright side, the weather in Utah is cold and snowy too, so maybe the players will wake up and think they never actually left Central New York.



We can now chalk up the first weekend of March Madness in the books. Some promise the second weekend will bring back sanity to the tournament, while others believe the chaos will continue. Others are dreaming of a Mid-Major Final Four...

God I hope not. I may be a college basketball fan, but I’m an Orange fan first.

I just hope all this possible continued chaos doesn’t involve my boys from Syracuse.

What Comes After February? Madness!

Okay, so once again I took an extended break from writing my “weekly” blogs. Sorry about that. Life has been hectic. But instead if wasting your time writing about why I haven’t been writing, lets get right into it...

It’s March, baby! Time for the Madness, and you know what that means for this Syracuse fanatic. Hanging on every game, moment, and write-up I can find about Syracuse, the West bracket, the Final Four, and championship predictions.

So about 2 weeks ago I was as high as a kite after driving to Syracuse to watch the Orange crush Villanova in front of a record-setting 34,616 orange-crazed fans. It was glorious to watch Cuse hand Nova it’s worst defeat of the season and see Syracuse ascend to #1 in the polls two days later. Well Cuse had a bit of a slide after that and people panicked about if the Orange would be a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.



So now lets fast forward to Sunday evening and the selection show. They get to the South bracket, played in Houston and the expected home of the Orange, only they announce Duke is the No.1 in the region. I was stunned to see this, and then watch the Orange be names as the No.1 in the West, going out to Salt Lake.

Some suggested it was wrong because Syracuse was a better team and should get to play closer to home. Honestly, that doesn’t mean crap. I doubt throngs of Syracuse fans were willing to make the 1,600 mile trek, but decided to pass on the 2,000 mile journey to Salt Lake. It s a difference of 400 miles, and if you were committed to going to Texas, I doubt you will let that stand in your way.

The REAL reason Syracuse should have been in Houston was because they are just better than Duke, plain and simple! The NCAA Selection Committee came out last week and said they would not put as much weight on the last 10 games of the season as in past years. So then when Mike Slive, head of the Selection Committee, came on CBS and was immediately asked why Duke was put over Syracuse, his answer was something to the extent of “because they won their conference tournament.”

Funny how that works. But I’m actually torn over whether I’d have preferred Syracuse to stay as a No.1 seed or fall to a No.2. Now hear me out, then you can curse all you like. Yes a No.1 is nice, and certainly a status symbol, but is a No.2 that much worse? Instead of facing the worst team in your region, you face the second worst.

I also believe it may have re-ignited a fire under the Orange I’m not sure they have maintained since gaining national notoriety and being No.1 in the polls for a week. There is a lot of pressure on 1-seeds to make it deep into the tournament, and anything less than, I’d say, the Elite Eight is a failure, major upset and will ruin ESPN and my favorite shows for at least a week (till the next round is played).

But I also read on another Syracuse blog that maybe the fact people even doubted if Cuse should be a No.1 and being ranked lower than Duke may be enough to fire them up. I sure as hell hope so, especially with Arinze Onuaku missing the first game and most likely the first weekend.

So now the field is set, and it seems the Selection Committee is not without a sense of humor either, those sons a bitches. I’m sure it went something like this...”Hey guys, lets make Syracuse play Vermont, har har har, that’ll be great.” Yeah, hilarious guys, give yourselves a pat on the back for that one. If we don’t make maple syrup seep out of their eyes and ears, I will be thoroughly upset.

So one of the most exciting parts of March Madness is filling out brackets, no? I read on another blog that if you “have stones,” you use the same bracket in every pool you’re in. I couldn’t disagree more with that statement.

The whole fun of the tourney is to see all the different combinations you can come up with. I try to do that and I still end up with the same teams in the end! But don’t you like playing around with upsets, being brave instead of always playing it safe, and having a chance if a Final Four team in one bracket gets eliminated you don’t suck in every other bracket also? At least I think it is.

Well I could go on forever about the tourney, but I’ll save it so I have more to write about soon (as long as Syracuse doesn’t decide to exit the tournament early). But I’m back!

Lets Go Orange!

The Land of the Delta Blues

So since there was nothing major this past week in sports (Super Bowl to come), there was nothing I felt passionate about to spend the time writing on. I could have always written about Syracuse basketball, but it’s a little early to start day dreaming about the post season possibilities for this years team. Instead, I wrote about this.

Have you ever stared out the window of a moving vehicle, be it a plane, train, or automobile while listening to some song and began day dreaming about a movie montage depicted in much the same way? You know, like then suddenly several old scenes from the person’s life play out while the actor stares off into the distance?

Well I’m not saying it has happened to me, I’m just saying…

…It happens…

Well it’s funny because people always associate music with moments in the lives, whether they are good or bad; songs an ex loved so you hate, songs that remind you of summer, of winter, of certain holidays, and moments you’ll never forget.

It never happens on purpose or by design. By pure chance a song happens to be playing, and it isn’t until later on, when you hear the song again, that you realize just what has happened. The song is now imprinted in your memory right along with the images, feelings, and sounds of the moment.

Last week I got a text message from Linz who said she was listening to “Walking in Memphis” on the radio and thought of me. The song became the official anthem for Linz, Susan, and I during our Sweet 16 road trip to Memphis in April. Although, in this case, I’m pretty sure we knew the song was eventually going to reach this level. Every time we stopped the car, for no matter the reason, Marc Cohen’s famous song was the first one played when everyone piled back into the car. We did it to remind ourselves of the mission at hand.

The images usually consists of random things like driving through the “hairy hills” of Kentucky, passing by “The World’s Greatest Flea Market” and “Dinosaur Land,” and especially walking down Beale Street and sipping on a beer at B.B. Kings while listening to some live blues music.

Sitting with the two of them in there crystallized the whole trip as we watched this great old band, featuring a 79-year-old on lead/rhythm guitar, belt out some tunes. Afterwards we stuffed ourselves with authentic Memphis BBQ, which we still talk about to this day. It was one of the most disgusting and delicious meals we’ve ever experienced.

We were all starving and decided to order an appetizer for all of us, BBQ nachos, but these weren’t just any nachos. This plate was piled high with chips, packed with chunks of BBQ chicken and dripping with two melted cheeses on top. Looking back, I’m not sure how our hearts did not stop beating right then and there. But luckily they did not and in our frenzy we cleaned the plate. Finishing our main dishes was a challenge after and I’m not sure anyone did, but we didn’t care. Those nachos were a little slice (huge helping) of heaven.

To go along with the greasy food binge, we ate fast food almost every day, including at least 2 stops at Sonic on the way down and back up to Syracuse. We still talk about that too…But not with the same fondness of the BBQ dinner.

But I think what I’ll remember most from my first road trip was traveling with two amazing friends and having a blast; touring the Gibson Guitar factory, painting the windows of my car with Otto, “Memphis or Bust,” and “Go Orange!,” Linz’s spider hand jumping around the car, and having the girls wake up to me screaming “Where the fuck are we, Janet?!” as we rolled back into Syracuse at about 3 in the morning (for the record, Janet was the GPS). I’m also reminded of our adventure every time I step into my car, christened Lucille, after our whirl-wind trip to Tennessee and back.

It was a trip that solidified a relationship, and created an amazing friendship.

If you stop and think about it, I’m sure everyone has some songs they can associate memories with. I now always put “Remember the Name” by Fort Minor with Big East basketball, and the 2006 Big East Championship where Gerry McNamara took the Orange on his back and led them to the title on an inspired run that will never be duplicated. “Running Down a Dream” by Tom Petty is my song for summer. I only picture rolling south on the highway toward Long Beach, windows down and music blasting. And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention “Stronger” by Kanye West and the thought of Derek and I (aka Team Hollywood) dominating in beer pong.

I’m not a music aficionado by any means. I like loads of different music even though in conversation I say I listen to classic rock to make things easier, and can’t really tell you why I like one band and not a very similar band.

I just go by what my ears tell me.

But I think the most special songs are the ones when you can close your eyes and they do the telling all by themselves.