Is it Baseball Season Yet?

The beautiful weather the last couple days got me thinking. Is it almost time for baseball? America's pastime is my favorite game, and I've been itching to get back on the field. Nothing beats a nice summer day going to the ballpark to play a double header. The freshly mowed grass under your feet, the variety of flavors of sunflower seeds in your mouth, and shouting out quick phrases like "here we go kid" all make the summer truly special. Baseball is one of those games that takes the stress out of life and allows you to kick back and enjoy a beautiful sunny day. Baseball has given me some of the best friends of my life and being able to play USSSA baseball with them was the best. We were traveling all around the state and I wouldn't have traded it for anything. I love that baseball isn't very physically demanding and that you can play it for a long time. Going to baseball games is just as fun. Even though the Kernels aren't a very big-market team, they are fun to watch and entertaining. Plus tickets are cheap so it's something I would love to do a couple times a week. Baseball is just one of those sports that is indescribable about how it can make you feel and the enjoyment it brings. Is it baseball season yet?

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl looks to be quite promising this year. You have the traditional power in the Patriots against the underdog Giants. Unlike the BCS Championship game, I'm looking foreword to this rematch. It will be interesting to see how much energy the Patriots come to play with after the Giants ruined their perfect season a couple years ago. I'll also be watching the play of Eli Manning. He shown the ability to show up in big games, specifically the playoffs. Now that older brother Peyton seems to be on the decline, it's time for Eli to step up and show he is the elite quarterback in the league. I'll also be rooting for Tyler Sash of the Giants to make some plays on special teams, and maybe get in a little on defense. He is a former Iowa Hawkeye and this is the second straight Super Bowl to have a rookie from Iowa playing. Last year it was Bryan Bulaga of the Packers, who started at Left Tackle. I always like to see the Iowa guys make an impact on a big stage. I think this will be another great game like the one in 2009. Even though the Patriots defense hasn't been very good at some points this year, they've been to the Super Bowl enough to know that there's no holding back. I think the Giants defense will play really tough, as they have throughout the playoffs. I think the game will come down to who has the ball last and which kicker isn't afraid of the spotlight. This is one rematch I can't wait for. Let the hype begin.

T.G.F.F

T.G.F.F- thank god for fantasy. I really do not like the NBA at all, but because of fantasy I follow it now. A couple of my friends wanted to get a fantasy league going, and I joined because what else is there to do in the winter in Iowa? Now the worst professional sport has some meaning. It's kind of interesting getting to know how each players earns your team points. It gives people a reason for caring about stats in the defense-less NBA. It basically comes down to who can hog the ball most and score the most points. Not really a good reason to want players to do well, but it'll do for now. Fantasy is fun because you're going up against your friends, and nothing is better than being able to talk trash to your friends and beat them in a game. Maybe fantasy will change my mind on the NBA, but probably not. There's too many cry babies that get way over payed for putting a ball in a circle. Thank god for fantasy, though. Visit divisblogtalk.blogspot.com for his input.

BCS Championship

Last night was the "anticipated" rematch between Alabama and LSU. I, for one, was not happy about the rematch. The first meeting was one of the most boring games I have ever watched, with absolutely no offense and terrible special teams from Alabama. The rematch was pretty much take two of the same movie. LSU had no offense, and Alabama couldn't finish a drive to save their life. On the first decent special teams play for Alabama, they lost their playmaker Marquis Maze to a hamstring injury. Ironic, huh? Jordan Jefferson of LSU had a terrible game, not being able to pass at all, which affected his running ability. He also made some bad decisions that lead me to question why Les Miles didn't go to Jarrett Lee. Lee is the better passer and LSU needed to get the ball down field late in the game. I will give credit to the Alabama defense. They were punishing last night and looked very much like an NFL defense. It would be interesting to see how their defense would compare to a mid-tear NFL team. Overall, I was bored out of my mind watching this game. I was more interested in the ESPN film Unguarded on ESPN2. I want the national championship to be a game where it goes back and forth, much like the Rose Bowl between USC and Texas for the national championship. That might be the greatest national championship ever played and unfair to judge against, but really? 8 quarters of play between these two teams this year that ended up with one touchdown and 10 field goals. Talk about a snore fest.

Bowl Mania Update

We are through 4 games this bowl season and there's been lots of excitement. Ohio had a thrilling comeback to beat Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise. Trailing the whole game, Ohio scored with under a minute left. Louisiana Lafayette nearly let go a big lead late to come back and beat San Diego State with a 52 yard field goal as time expires. This is why I love bowl season, every team plays like it's their last, playing their hearts out until the final whistle. It's awesome to see the little schools get some attention they rightfully deserve. Plus, I'm 3-1 on picks on ESPN's Bowl Mania. With confidence points involved, I currently have 47 points, with Temple being my big winner, giving me 31 points. My loss wasn't bad at all, I had San Diego State as my 2 confidence pick. There are still plenty of points yet to give, and some noteworthy games will either make or break me. I have West Virginia over Clemson with a confidence pick of 34 and Kansas State over Arkansas with a point value of 28. It's the most wonderful time of the year, let us rejoice and be glad!

Bowl Mania

It's the most wonderful time of the year. No, I'm not talking about Christmas, although it is my favorite holiday. Tis the season of the college football bowl games, the last chance for teams to salvage a season or make it magical. The hype of having 35 bowl games in 23 days is more than hype, it's a great time to sit back, stay inside next to the fire, and watch some good old fasion football. It's like Thanksgiving and March Maddness combined! Like March Maddness, you can pick the winners and even go further and give how confident you are on the outcome. It also puts teams against one another that usually wouldn't play (execpt for the BCS Championship this year). You don't see Penn State and Houston play very often, neither do you see Wyoming play Temple. It brings new matchups that are hard to predict and always seem to be entertaining.  I like the bowl system rather than a playoff system because it gives more teams a chance to be noticed on national television. It does wonders for recruiting, allowing the top players to see their top college choices play within a couple days and possible influence their decision. It's also good for a lot of teams like Iowa, who are a bowl game's dream. They play hard, clean football, their fans travel well, and they are never involved in blowouts. Iowa is one of the best teams in the country in preparing for bowl games and it allows them to salvage a season. I like that like March Maddness, upsets happen more regularly, making for exciting games. Who wouldn't like to see a team from the Mountain West or WAAC beat a team from the SEC or PAC-12? It makes for good television and something to do during Christmas break. The playoff system might be the best for college football, but the bowl games truly are the best time of the year.

The NBA: Who Cares?

The NBA lockout is over now and the worst professional sport is on again. Sorry to all the NBA fans out there, but the NBA is the least entertaining sport I've ever watched. I can't sit down and watch a game because all it is are superstars taking shot after shot and no one plays defense. Plus, there's not a lot of run and gun, making the tempo slow and puts me to sleep. I honestly may watch one game of the Finals, usually the clinching game, and that's it. Lebron, Kobe, and all the other stars are going to own the show every night, so there really aren't any surprises. In baseball you at least have a new pitching matchup every night and the chance for a perfect game or no hitter. The NBA, like a lot of other professional sports, are full of babies. They're complaining about not getting more money even though they already make several million dollars a year. If I could make bank like that, I definitely wouldn't complain. How could you not like making that kind of money?! It's not just the players that contribute to the sorry reason for a professional sport. David Stern has made some questionable decisions that make the league even worse. A couple years ago he banned tights, something Lebron tried to get popular. I honestly couldn't care less if my player wore tights or anything else during the game. Why make such a big deal about the littlest things? Then he blocked the Chris Paul trade to Los Angeles. Paul clearly said he wanted out of New Orleans so why would you deny his trade? He didn't deny the Big 3 forming in Boston and Miami, so why block the Paul trade? Lamar Odom wanted out of LA, so it's not like the the Lakers would be building some kind of unstoppable team. The NBA through the years has continued to make itself look bad and provide lackluster entertainment. I was really hoping the NBA would have been canceled this year, it's a boring waste of time.