Best non baseball Moment of the MLB season

Earlier this season I saw a video of one of the funniest things I have seen occur during a baseball game. I know there are plenty of Red Sox fans in this class but I don't know if you all have seen this video or not yet.

*Click the question mark where there should be a pic for the video.*

I will post the link to the video and just be sure to watch the entire thing. Listen to how the guys calling the game forget about the game for an entire inning and break down what has just happened in the stands. This is just great stuff. The announcers cannot keep themselves from laughing during the broadcast, enjoy.

If you didn't enjoy this video you quite possibly may have no soul.

Catastrophic Turn Of Events For NBA.

Today the NBA may have just received its biggest black eye ever. Reports have just surfaced stating an NBA referee has bet on NBA games including games that he had officiated it. Fans have always made comments that the refs throw games and that the games are "given" to certain teams. Well, now former, NBA referee Tim Donaghy may have just given substance to these arguments. The FBI is currently investigating these allegations but this is still a massive problem for the NBA. It is also under investigation if Donaghy has ties to organized crime.

This is a problem for the League that cannot just go away. This is something that could tarnish the NBA forever. If games were thrown this means that no one can truly know how credible all the games were that this ref officiated. This will most likely cause fans to be outraged, especially fans of the teams that could be found to have been harmed by this. I just can't believe how bad this can turn out for the NBA, if games were being thrown this is a serious issue and should not be hidden from the public eye.

The NBA will need to come out and apologize to the teams and fans of the league if this turns out to be true. Also they will have to now seriously look into the other referees and see if this is an ongoing issue still. I feel this is something that the NBA may never be able to recover from. There are some serious side effects that can come out of this. Also, if this is tied to organized crime, this is going to get very ugly. Hopefully the NBA will be able to sort this issue out and return the leagues image to one of a respectable sort.

More to come on this later…

7/18/2007 Facilitation, MLB All-Star Game: Should It Count?

Just a couple weeks ago Major League Baseball had it's All-Star game. Just a couple years ago MLB decided that the All-Star game needed more interest and that it needed to count towards something. They decided that the winner of the All-Star game would decide which league had home field advantage in the World Series that year. The All-Star game for baseball puts the American league stars vs. the National league stars. MLB made this switch in 2003 at the All-Star game in Chicago. Previous to this home field advantage just switched between leagues each year. Now, with the NBA and NHL letting the team with the best record have home field advantage is it fair in MLB if a team has a better record than the opposing one that it not have home field advantage because the other teams league won an All-Star game? Should home field advantage go to the best record or revert back to its previous form of switching leagues each season?

Arguments why the All-Star game should decide home field advantage.
-It adds excitement to the All-Star game, makes more common fans watch.
-It provides a reason for players to want to play in the game because of what is on the line.

Arguments against having the game count.
-It is not fair to a team that did the hard work of achieving the best record during the season to let its leagues All-Star team lose the game and not allow them home field advantage.
-Some players that play on bad teams that have no shot at the world series that play in the All-Star game wont care about the end result because it does not affect their team.

What are your opinions?

NBA Summer League, Not So NBA at all...

With the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League wrapping up it has been bothering me hear from people already judging the players that participated as to how they will play in the NBA. For those that don't know the NBA summer leagues are games held in which NBA teams send rookies and players vying for a roster spot to play, showoff talent, and get ready for the upcoming season. Now with that said, it really bothers me how many people try to take these games, which are run by the NBA not actually NBA level games, and try to prove how certain players are going to dominate or struggle in the League.

For example this summer with Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, Portland and Seattle’s top draft picks, people are already trying to put too much emphasis on these players’ performances. Greg Oden has already been criticized for foul trouble and his offense, even though he was struggling through enflamed tonsils and not even able to play close to 100%, also lets not forget that this is his first time playing with NBA rules and this is the time where he is supposed to learn what an NBA foul is and isn’t. Also the refs are getting ready for the season also, so there is just a lot of work and learning going on.

There has been a load of hype around Portland and Seattle's top draft picks, but lets not already try to judge their game based on some very meaningless summer games played against some very weak competition. Lets all just wait until the actual NBA season arrives and these players actually get some real NBA experience in under their belts. You don't hear the announcers on T.V. during games talk about how that game that was played in Vegas over the summer really showed us why so and so did not do well in today’s regular season game, so why should we?

The summer leagues are great learning tools for young and unproven talents to work on the game and hopefully land a roster spot on an NBA team. So lets just let it be at that and enjoy getting to watch some of the games when the make rare appearances on FSN or NBAtv. The game is played in the winter, not the summer. Until then we will just have to wait to see how these players will actually turn out.

Bring On The 12!

Well it seems like the off-season has lasted forever. It feels like years ago since the Colts beat the Bears in Super Bowl XLI and even longer since the Seahawks lost their way out of a birth in the NFC championship game for a 2nd straight year to the Chicago bears. I can now, after watching the Hawks lose twice to the Bears, wait for yet another rematch between the two this season. This season it will be better, the Bears will have something waiting for them when they arrive in Seattle and play the game on November 18th.

Seattle's 12th man will be out in full force, ready and pumped for this game. Last year I spent my first full season as a member of the 12th man after getting season tickets. I have been to games at FedEx Field where the Redskins play and M&T Bank stadium where the Ravens play, FedEx being the largest stadium in the NFL, and nothing compares to the noise from the fans at Qwest Field. It truly is no wonder why the Seahawks play that much better at home when they have the full vocal support of 70,000 fans behind them. It is something that really creates an energy I have felt at no other sporting event that I have been to (I have been to an MLB All-Star game, a World Series clinching victory for the Cardinals in St. Louis, and countless Blazers Playoff games.).

After experiencing a full season of this atmosphere I just can't wait for the coming NFL season. The Seattle Seahawks will face one of the toughest schedules in the NFL this coming season facing such teams as the Bengals, Ravens, Bears, Saints, @Steelers, @Eagles, and @Panthers. If they come out of this season winning what seems to be a tough NFC west division this team will be battle tested and could very likely be on their way back to the Super Bowl. Also if this team somehow gets home field advantage through the Playoffs it will be in no question how good the team is after facing the schedule they will. It is going to be a great NFL season and I can't wait for its arrival!

The surprising end that stuns all.

The Seattle Mariners had been in a downfall since their amazing season with 116 wins. Each year since, they had only gotten worse. The team had gone through a couple managers, the most recent Mike Hargrove. It did not take fans long before they were already asking for his head. The team had a huge payroll with players that were not even coming close to their contracts worth such as Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson. Last season the Mariners finished with a record of 78 wins and 84 losses, good for last place in the AL west again. Many fans didn’t assume that he would be fired during the off-season; they expected it. Then came opening day of the 2007 season and Hargrove was still the man calling the shots, that was until a few days ago.

The Mariners got off to a good but somewhat slow start due to many snow and rain outs at the start of the season that halted an entire series in Cleveland that yet has to be completely made up. Still the Mariners started to rise. They finally started to win again and actually put themselves in the race once again for the playoffs. Riding a 7 game winning streak that included a sweep of the Boston Red Sox came an announcement that surprised the baseball world. Mike Hargrove decided to resign. With his club the hottest team in all of Major League Baseball, Hargrove stated he had simply lost his passion for the game of baseball and didn't want to bring the club down.

As a Mariners fan myself that was completely stunned with the announcement and timing, am not all that upset. I only wish he would have made his decision before the season started so that this would not have become a distraction the way it did. Following the announcement the team lost 2 games to the Royals which I believe was do to them still in shock from the move. If Hargrove really lost his passion for the game, for the team, for what ever; that’s fine, get out like you did and go away so the team can move on. If you did not want to hurt the team you should have just kept this out of the public eye and dealt with it for the remainder of the season, that is already half over. It is never good for a team to lose a manager midseason, especially one that is winning. Managers normally leave because they are fired for the team not performing.

Now I wish the Mariners all the best luck on the rest of the season and hope to see them in October. As for Mike Hargrove, you had overstayed your welcome, I’m Glad your gone, Good Bye! Now the Mariners can continue on their path of success and will now hopefully have someone in charge that wants to be there and wants the team to win a World Series.