Sunday Reflections

Some Sunday Reflections while watching the NBA Finals:

-The Euro 2008 Tournament has been excellent so far. I know that some of you may not be soccer fans, but you have to give this tournament a try. The play has been amazing, especially from the Dutch. Holland is looking scary good right now. Their dismantling of France was a thing of beauty. Spain got incredibly lucky yesterday in their game and I saw the best comeback of the year, maybe ever, when Turkey scored three second-half goals against the Czech Republic. You have to look up the highlights of that game. I picked Portugal to win the title, but I can see Spain, Holland or even Turkey pull it out.

-I’m now a golf fan. I usually don’t like watching golf on TV because I find it boring. Yet, I love soccer, strange. Anyway, I decided to give the U.S. Open a chance this weekend and I was riveted. I watched some of the action on Saturday and the last three pairings on Sunday. Amazing stuff. I was pulling for someone else to win besides Tiger Woods, but that man is a beast. I guess Tiger has had knee surgery and is still recovering, but he manned up and gutted out a tie. He did blow the lead, which isn’t good. I would watch someone like Rocco Mediate or Lee Westwood miss a putt on the 12 or 13th hole and say to myself that they lost the tournament. However, they kept their composure and were in it until the end. That putt that Tiger made on 18 to force the playoff, incredible. I was riveted by the drama. I’m mad that I can’t see the 18-hole playoff on Monday because I will be traveling to South Carolina, however, when the next major comes on TV, I will watch the final day. I can’t commit to watching all four days of coverage of a major and I definitely won’t watch all of the no-name tournaments, but this is a start. Also, wondering out loud, why does Phil Mickelson always finish either terrible for his standards in a major or be in contention to win. I’m not a golf expert, but it seems that he should be a better golfer then he is according to all of the experts that I hear. If someone can give me an explanation, I would appreciate it.

-Kennesaw, Ga. is the same as it ever was. I’ve spent the last few days in Kennesaw with the family and everything looks the same as when I was here a few months ago.

-I love watching the Baseball and Softball College World Series. I should have mentioned this a few weeks ago, but I love the College World Series. I always watched the baseball one, ever since I was a kid. It was the early to mid-1990’s when LSU used to win it almost every year. I always had a soft spot for Cal. State Fullerton and Long Beach State for some reason. I never liked Miami because they seemed cocky and didn’t like Stanford because of the uniforms. Yes, that’s a pathetic reason to not go for a team. I’ve grown up and now have evolved thoughts on the teams. I think UNC will win it all, but unfortunately as a Georgia Tech fan, watch out for Georgia.

Softball is a different deal for me because I didn’t grow up around it. I do respect it and would like to head to Oklahoma City to check it out one day. It looks like a good time and I have grown to like softball from CofC and Belmont now.

-People may think I have a beef with Kobe because I’ve never liked him, but it really isn’t personal. The thing about it is that in our society, especially in sports, we are always trying to compare someone to something. If you hear a song on the radio, people say that sounds like Zeppelin or the Stones. If you watch a TV show, people compare it to Cheers or M.A.S.H or Seinfeld or something. In sports, if there’s a good hockey player, he’s compared to Gretzky. If there’s a good baseball player, they get compared to Willie Mays. Finally, in basketball, if someone shows any skills, they always want to bring up Michael Jordan. I get so tired of the media and fans trying to compare every perimeter player to Jordan. We can go down the list from Harold Miner to Grant Hill to LeBron James to now Kobe Bryant of all the people that get compared to Jordan. Michael was the greatest player ever and they’re will never be another player like him. Just like they’re will never be another Kobe, Magic, Bird, Miner, Hill, LeBron and everything in between. I think I get tired of Kobe because gets stuffed down our throat. If the Lakers win this series, good for them. If the Celtics win, good for them as well. Just leave the comparisons alone, please.

-I’ve watched less and less sports channels and loving it. I made a decision a few weeks ago to not watch so many sports channels like ESPN and just watch the games. I get oversaturated with information and it makes the experience of watching a game less enjoyable. The over analysis of sports has gotten out of hand. I’ll elaborate on this more another time.

-I’m going to meet up with Ms. Smith on Tuesday! Your boy is looking forward to catching up with Alicia. If you need a recap of who she is, check this out: http://pourtoutpancakes.blogspot.com/2008/05/facebook-and-feeling-yes-at-same-time.html Yeah, looking forward to it.

That’s it from me. Have a good week.

Sunday Reflections

My Sunday Reflections

-I woke up today at 10 am to do some laundry and to catch some of the French Open final between Federer and Nadal. Well, turned on the TV and I literally catch championship point for Nadal. Federer hits a shot wide and the match is over. Nadal just dominated Federer in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, and 6-0. Sick. I expected to at least catch the final three sets, but Rafa dominated for his fourth consecutive French to match Borg. Now, I’m not the biggest tennis fan out there, but I can appreciate skill and Rafa is a freak on clay. And Borg even said afterwards that he thinks Nadal is going to win Wimbledon in a few weeks. I can’t argue against that after the way he played today.

-Enjoyed all of the college baseball that took place this weekend. I love the super regionals and the World Series even more. I like it when there’s a balance between west coast, Midwest and southeast teams. So far, it’s leaning towards the southeast with the ACC representing strong. But, FSU, Miami and UNC have been the best teams all year, so that’s not shocking. I’ve always secretly been a fan of Fullerton for some reason, so to see them lose to Stanford was a bummer. Rice did its thing and frickin Georgia is going to Omaha. Not a fan of the Bulldogs because they beat Georgia Tech every year. I’d like to see LSU come through against Irvine, if for anything for good karma after that BS hidden ball trick yesterday.

-Looking forward to heading to Atlanta in a few days to see the family. It’s nice to catch up with them.

-Had a good conversation with Daniel at the Beaman today, just discussing life. We talked about relationships with women and family things. It’s always good to have people in your life that you can talk with about things. I’m fortunate to have that in my life now.

-Watched the NBA Finals tonight and it was good. Leon Powe, that was tremendous. I’m going to look up the profile they did of him at halftime and post it on this blog. It needs to be seen by everybody. People talk about all of the negatives when it comes to professional athletes, but there are some good people out there. Watching Powe’s story was amazing and dare I say inspirational. And the fact that he had a career night made it even better. Good job Leon.

-I had my cheat day today and I feel like crap. All week I’ve been eating right, drinking plenty of water and working my butt off in the gym for six straight days. I felt great about it and my body felt so clean and pure. However, I gave myself the day off and decided to lax my diet for one day, aka a cheat day. I had mashed potatoes with butter and salt, baked cookies and chips. Good times, not so much. Its midnight now and I have an upset stomach. Point being, be careful with your cheat days. I’m looking forward to going to the gym tomorrow and getting back to work.

-I think that lesson applies to life as well. If you lead a clean life, continue to do it. Don’t have a “cheat day” moment and ruin it all. Don’t have that drink. Don’t take that drug. Don’t do that crime. Don’t have sex with that person, especially dirty girls. Please, please watch out for those dirty girls. Many of us lead good lives but we sometimes reach that moment of truth where we can continue to be good or cheat. However, the biggest person you’re cheating is that you end up cheating yourself in the end.

-If you need any more advice, I’m available for a monetary fee.

-I didn’t watch the UFC pay-per-view this weekend because it honestly didn’t inspire me. I guess its good Alves won, even though he needs to stay away from the buffet and make his weight before he gets another big fight. I heard Matt Hughes looked average, but that’s been the case for the past year. I respect Hughes, but I’m not his biggest fan.

-Finally saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall and was disappointed. It had one or two laugh moments, but it just felt flat to me. I love the movie series from the producers and writers of FSM, but this one was just a whiff for me. And my top-five girl Mila was in it. She did look hot, but that only goes so far in a movie.

Post to look forward to this upcoming week:
-Is this Supposed to Offend Me, Part 3
-Brothers don’t like rock music, really?
-Obama vs. McCain, broken down ‘Pancakes’ style
-Analysis of the NBA Finals so far
-Probably something about a girl, hopefully not
-etc.

Have a good week, peeps.

I leave you with Fade to Black, maybe my favorite Metallica song ever. This song will make the wedding music rotation when I get married and will be played at my funeral. No lie.

...That Shady California Baseball

You've got to be kidding me!?! I guess they were watching Rookie of the Year. At least the pitcher was off the rubber, because if he was on, that would've been a balk. Thank you Belmont baseball coaching staff for the knowledge...he was safe though.

So the Bruins are done, so sad

So, the Belmont baseball team fell today to Gardner-Webb and its season is over.

I feel bad for the players and coaches and the support staff that puts a lot of effort towards making the team a success. It’s been fun traveling with them and having the chance to interact with them. I’m not happy or sad that the guys lost the game. I’m not disappointed in them and proud of them more than anything.

The thing about it is that if they lost two straight games here at the Tournament or won the entire thing, I would have had the same emotions I have now.

The main reason for this is that I had no control over what happens. My biggest and I mean biggest pet peeve is when fans or people who work for a team use “we.” When someone asks me a question about the Belmont baseball team, it’s always “they.” Do I throw any pitches? No. Do I hit any balls? Absolutely not.

I hate when people say that we need to win some games when you’re sitting in the stands. You’re not a part of the team. That goes for everyone. Unless you’re a coach of the team or actually playing on the team, don’t use “we.”

This also ties into the times that people come to me and say who my favorite player is on Belmont? The answer, everyone. Who do I want to pitch in a tough situation? Anyone.

Do I have a favorite player? Of course I do. Do I think that some pitchers are better than others? Definitely. You can’t watch a team for an entire season and not develop opinions. However, trying to get that out of me isn’t happening.

I do love each guy on the team, but as a knowledgeable sports fan, I know who’s good and isn’t.

Some may think that I’m cold with my emotions when it comes to the teams that I cover. Some think that I don’t care whether they win or lose. In some ways that’s true, because I’m the same after a win or a loss.

My job entails as an SID that I practice neutrality even though I work for an athletic department. I must be a statistician for the games and show no favoritism to anybody. I must operate press boxes and press rows where cheering isn’t allowed because we have to be respectful of representatives from the visiting school at the games.

The funny thing is that I’ve always been this way, even as a kid. I always had my favorite teams like the NY Giants, Knicks, NY Rangers, the Mets and I still care for those teams. However, the one type of fan I hated was the ignorant fans. I hated those people who would only follow the local teams and know nothing about the rest of the league. Yeah, I love the Giants, but what about the Broncos or the Rams. The Knicks are cool, but I want to learn more about the Nuggets or Clippers.

That’s why I hate watching ESPN and all they talk about are the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets for baseball. I like the Mets, but tell me more about the Orioles, Rays, Pirates and Rockies, seriously.

So as a kid, with the advice of my mother, I made sure that I knew everything about every sport. Hockey game, I’m watching. Tennis match, I’m looking. Soccer, I’m all over it. That’s the way that I operated and became a fan of the game just as much as the teams.

Long story short, I learned to detach myself from being an ignorant and narrow-minded fan of my teams and became a studier of the sport. That’s why I could and still can tell you just as much about the Tigers just as much as a Met, or break down the Giants just as well as the Dolphins. That’s how I roll and challenge anybody to take me on.

How does this relate to being an SID? In my current position, I will always cheer for Belmont teams to win because I like the coaches, the players and honestly, it’s easier to write a story about a win than a loss. However, the tasks and responsibilities of my job force me to be neutral, an arbiter if you will, for the operation of my events. I think growing up following sports like I did made me prepared for this job.

I think that’s why I do my job well.

However, I sometimes miss being a fan of a team and living and dying with every one of the games they play. The Mets are losing a lot of games now and my reaction is whatever. The Giants won the Super Bowl and I smiled for a little bit and went to bed and went to work the next day like nothing happened.

I have to stay detached from Belmont sports and even my favorite teams for that matter because they will lose and I have to be a professional. I have to be a professional and do my job just as well if Belmont loses a game in the last minute or if they win the national title. That’s what a good SID does.

So, when Belmont lost to Gardner-Webb today, I wrote my story, posted the stats and moved about my day as if they won a chance to play in the College World Series. It’s just the way that I’m trained.

I will miss traveling with the guys though, but life is full of disappointment and random happy moments that you have to embrace. Working with the baseball team was one of those happy moments.