- RSSJackie Robinson Day!
By Eric Bryant | April 15, 2008
Filed in Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB
Today is Jackie Robinson Day in Major League Baseball! One of the best moments in Dodgers history was certainly the introduction of Jackie Robinson into the major leagues, the first African American player. The challenges he faced and endured paved the way to create a more integrated sports world and even more importantly a more integrated society.
Check out one of the most remarkable plays in sports history: Jackie Robinson Stealing Home Base Against Yogi Berra
Rays Win! Rays Win!
By Eric Bryant | April 5, 2008
Filed in Fringe Sports
For the first time in 4 years of baseball, my son Caleb’s team truly won a game!
In the first two years during teeball, the league doesn’t keep score. There are no winners or losers in teeball. Last year Caleb’s team won one game out of 19. We only won that one because the coach of the other team decided to use that game to let his outfielders play infield and vice versa. We are still grateful. This year, we have started off 0-5 in the Tiny Division (7 and 8 year old boys).
Today, we came back from a 4 run defecit in the bottom of the last inning (3rd) to win 8-7! Christian got a hit with two outs which scored two runs to win it!
CALEB AT THE BAT!
Our season has had some highlights for Caleb. He caught a pop fly at 2nd base in one game. He has gotten a grounder and thrown out the batter running to first (once from 2nd base and once from right field)!
He has also pitched for the first time ever. The first time he threw his “sinker” pitch every time as he struggled to even throw the ball far enough to get to the catcher. It came in like an underhanded softball pitch and dropped out of the sky. Not one kid on the other team got a hit or even a foul tip. Unfortunately, he walked 4 guys, hit one kid in the head (he was wearing a helmet), and struck out three (thanks to a very generous umpire). This past Thursday night, he pitched again throwing only fast balls which were consistently getting over the plate. He got one strike out and one kid hit a single off of him before time ran out ending the game. The funniest part of his second pitching experience was the way he would shake his head as if agreeing to the signs from the catcher. There were no signs being given!
Baseball History
By Eric Bryant | March 30, 2008
Filed in Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Lakers, MLB
We were at the Dodgers exhibition game last night against the defending National Champions, the Boston Red Sox at the Los Angeles Coliseum along with 115,300 other people! We set the record for most well-attended baseball game in world history and helped raise millions of dollars to fight cancer with Think Cure!
The Coliseum is normally the home of the USC football team and the original home of the Dodgers when they moved from Brooklyn, NY.
Check out the crazy field and lineup!
DODGERS INFIELD AT THE COLISEUM
Notice the 201 feet long left field line, the 60 feet tall “Screen Monster,” and the 5 infielders. Our center fielder Andruw Jones played just above 2nd base and actually had two chances to tag out a stealing baserunner coming into 2nd.
DODGERS OUTFIELD AT THE COLISEUM
Notice the huge crowd which created the loudest and largest “Wave” we had ever experienced!
DODGERS FANS AT THE COLISEUM
This stadium was built in the 1920s and hosted the 1932 and 1984 Olympics. At one point during our game, the Olympic Torch was lit up!
25,000 people purchased “standing room only” seats!
We had a great time and quite an adventure. Since there was absolutely no parking, we paid $25 to park in some guy’s driveway along with 7 other people which meant we were all waiting for about an hour for one car to back out to let us all out! We spent more time in the car on the way to and from the game then at the game!
At the beginning of each inning, they had special guests throw out a “first pitch.” The absolute best one was Kareem Abdul Jabaar, the former Laker great. The ball didn’t make it all the way to the catcher so he asked for it back and proceeded to throw a hook shot at the catcher!
The Dodgers lost, but we had a great time!
A couple of observations on the 2008 NCAA tourney
By Dan Staifer | March 17, 2008
Filed in Baylor, California - Los Angeles, Clemson, Connecticut, Duke, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kansas State, Kent State, Miami (FL), NCAA, North Carolina, Southern California, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech
The NCAA tournament bracket is out and now the fun can start. While I did not get to see live what the selection committee decided were the best 65 teams in the country, I liked the fact I could actually look at the bracket with my own eyes before listening/reading any experts analyze it. Here are some of my initial thoughts.
The Lucky Ones:
North Carolina - If the Tar Heels do not advance to the Final Four with their talent and their home cooking, it would be shocking. Playing in Raleigh and Charlotte is definitely an advantage.
UCLA - The Bruins are in the easiest bracket. While Duke is the two seed, they have been under achieving for the last half of their ACC schedule. UConn is in the same boat. The hottest team in that bracket is Georgia (which by the way is the craziest story of the weekend).
Kansas State - One of the few 11 seeds with a home game. They are playing USC in Nebraska. I wonder who will have more fans at the game? The same could be said for Davidson and South Alabama, teams playing their first round “road” game in their home state.
Baylor - I’m surprised they made it into the Tourney. Eric did a good job explaining their case as for the sympathy votes but they played horribly down the stretch.
The Shafted Ones:
Kansas - The Jayhawks are in the hardest bracket. Clemson is playing well. Wisconsin and Georgetown are really solid teams. Vandy has had some big wins this year. Gonzaga, Kent State, and Davidson are some of the better mid-majors in the tourney. Not to mention, Kansas State and ‘Nova are solid 11 and 12 seeds. Plus, their regional is in Detroit, the farthest regional site compared to where the other one seeds have to travel . Good Luck Kansas!
Indiana - With Sampsongate, I understand the reasons they dropped to an 8 seed. They will be playing a tough Arkansas team. If they win, UNC will be waiting for them in Raleigh. This team is too talented to not playing in the Sweet Sixteen but it looks like they won’t make it out of Raleigh.
Virginia Tech - How Miami got in over the Hookies is beyond me. I know Miami had a better overall record but VT took UNC to the buzzer and beat the Hurricanes up over the weekend. Plus, VT had a better conference record. Just my opinion. . .
My final four: Georgetown, UNC, UCLA, and Stanford with the Tar Heels beating the Bruins for the National Championship.
Baylor Bubble Breakers!
By Eric Bryant | March 16, 2008
Filed in Baylor, NCAA
I cannot believe it! The Baylor Men’s Basketball team made the NCAA tournament!!
For the 4th time in the 102 history of Baylor basketball, our men’s team had 20 wins in one season (it would usually take a couple seasons of wins added together to get that many). This is the fifth time Baylor has ever even made the tournament (1946, 1948, 1950, 1988, and 2008). I still cannot believe we were selected as one of the 65 best teams in college basketball!
What makes all of this more amazing is the fact that the Baylor men’s basketball team went through one of the most horrific tragedies ever faced by a sports team of any kind: one player killed another in June 2003.
In the investigation into the murder ended up revealing all sorts of unethical decision-making and rules violations by the coaches. Still under probation until 2010 and with the former coach in essence banned from the NCAA until 2015, Baylor was incredibly close to receiving the “death penalty” like SMU’s football program, but the administrators acted swiftly to impose punishments while cooperating with the NCAA’s investigation. The former basketball coach, athletic director, and eventually the president of the university were all fired or forced to resign.
The new coach, Scott Drew, was 32 years old at the time he was hired to rebuild a terribly devastated program. Now, we have the chance to play for the championship! How was he able to turn the team around so quickly? He recruited fantastic players with a simple promise: if you come to Baylor, you will get to play. A promise easy to keep when the talent pool is so thin.
Will the Bears go as far as the women’s team did in 2005 and win the national championship? Our men’s team lost to Kentucky in the championship game in 1950, so we have had to rely on our women for most of our national championships. I doubt they will win the whole thing, but this is certainly a huge step in that direction!
A Sad Day for Football Fans Everywhere
By Jason Allen | March 4, 2008
Filed in Green Bay Packers
You don’t have to be a Green Bay Packers fan to lament the announcement of Brett Favre’s retirement. Not only has he been an amazingly gifted QB over the last 17 years but he is just so fun to watch. Here are two quick things I think we will miss in the post-Favre era.
1. You cannot help but watch Favre play and see a 10 year old boy just running around the field having fun. There’s just a childlike innocence about Favre’s play. I’ve never been a huge Packer fan. But I have always loved watching Favre play.
2. It is not very often that we see such high profile players commit to the same team their entire career. In the era of free agency it is very unlikely we will see this happen very often. Maybe no one else cares but I find it really cool that Favre played for the same team his entire career.
(Update: yes I know Favre played 2 games for the Falcons in 1991 but I think he still qualifies as a single team player… feel free to disagree, that’s fine… if you want to be wrong.)
Baseball’s Sad Winter Continues
By Jason Allen | February 16, 2008
Filed in MLB
Will we ever be able to look at the Bond’s/Clemen’s Era with respect again? Can we trust that there was any single player (who accomplished much) on the up and up during this era?
On a related note: John Rocker says in 2000 he and others playing for the Rangers including Alex Rodriguez were advised by team doctors on how to effectively take steroids. He never says any other player actually juiced up though.
A Little Life Changer
By Brenton Mumford | February 1, 2008
Filed in Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA
Like the rest of the regular contributors, I’ve been really busy. Too busy to do much of anything besides, you know, the things that have been keeping me busy.
But I have had time to bask in the beauty of ESPN’s latest gift to sports fans everywhere: the Video Edition of the Daily Dime. It’s a 7 - 10 minute highlight package from the previous night in the Association, along with most of the quality break-ins that the NBA analysts do, and also occasionally featuring awkward commentary from John Hollinger and Marc Stein, who are good writers.
Even in these busy times, I can still stay on top of the Association. And folks, if you are not staying on top of the Association, I want to tell you something: LeBron is on the cusp of being the most dominating player in many, many a year. You need to be paying attention to him. He’s really, really incredible.
Alright, fans, now let’s go out there and have a good Super Bowl!
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