Sunday Reflections (Josh Hamilton edition)

I was going to write a post on the amazing season that Josh Hamilton is having this past week for the Texas Rangers.

For those of you unfamiliar with Hamilton, here’s a quick recap. He was drafted out of high school first overall in the 1999 draft by the Tampa Devil Rays. He was a five-tool player who was projected to be one of the best players ever. However, he dealt with drug addiction and alcoholism and was out of the game for a few years. He hit rock bottom, but found religion and cleaned his life up. Slowly he started playing baseball again and made a nice impact with the Cincinnati Reds last year. He was then traded to the Rangers in the off-season and is leading the major in RBI’s and is having an MVP caliber season. As an exclamation point to his great start to this season, he had a record-setting performance in the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium earlier this week.

OK, you’re caught up. It’s a great story that has inspired a lot of people, even those who don’t follow baseball. However, there are some haters out there.

Some want to see Hamilton stick it out for a while longer before we completely say that he’s cured of his addictions. That’s fair I guess, but those people need to realize that he’s going to be an addict his entire life and he will never be completely cured.

Some are saying that he plays in a hitter’s park and Ian Kinsler and Michael Young are just as valuable to the team. That can also be a fair estimation.

Some are saying that Milton Bradley is having a better season and isn’t receiving the same attention because he’s Black. J.A. Adande of ESPN.com had the nerve to make this statement on First Take.

First, here’s a fair prospective on Milton’s and Josh’s story here: http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/la-sp-star14-2008jul14,0,546313.story

In the end, I realized something.

First, even though a successful Vandy alum, Skip Bayless, is on the show, I need to stop watching First Take.

But I think this is a general commentary on my sports viewing.

I’ve watched less ESPN, CSS, Fox Sports and other sports networks right now than ever in my life and I’m enjoying it a lot. That’s why I want no part of the ESPY’s tonight.

I still go to my five or six sports Web sites, which are usually cnnsi.com, espn.com, foxsports.com, deadspin.com, biglead.com, sherdog.com, mmaweekly.com and a few others. I’ll maybe catch SportsNite on CSS, SportsCenter, PTI and Jim Rome is Burning on ESPN. That’s it.

I used to watch sports channels for hours and hours, but its overkill. I value the opinions of others, but I get overwhelmed. I also got tired of hearing about the steroids in sports and all of the negative things in sports getting way too much coverage.

I understand why all of these shows exist. There’s an interest in it and everyone has an opinion. Heck, some of you are reading my blog for my opinion on sports topics.
This does relate to Hamilton.

Instead of watching the over analysis of a good story, I’m going to just enjoy it on my own and you should too.

For now, here’s Josh doing his thing at the Home Run Derby.

Deadspin_July15
by bsap11

Sunday Reflections

Another award winning edition of Sunday Reflections...

-Busy and slow weekend overall. I spend a lot of time writing for the blog. Friday night was an evening out with the boys and a lady that was detailed in a post. I spend yesterday afternoon at Green Hills Mall, which was cool. Then I spent all of last night writing my advice post, which was the most enjoyable thing that I’ve written so far. Today was a lazy day doing laundry and watching the European Championship finals. Speaking of which…

-Viva Espana! I’m so glad that Spain beat Germany today. I have no beefs against any of the European teams, so I’m completely neutral. However, I want to see open action and aggressive soccer play. Teams like Germany and Italy play in that old school, passive defensive style that turns off potential soccer fans. Those two teams have tons of international tournament success, so you can’t knock it too much.

However, I want to see progressive play get rewarded and the Spaniards winning Euro confirmed this. Spain also played solid defense in today’s final, something Espana has been weak at in the past.

When I think of Euro, I will think of how Holland played the best soccer I’ve ever seen from a national team in their first two matches and then wet the bed in the quarterfinals against Russia. I’ll think of Spain finally breaking through. I’ll think of the classic penalty kick shootout between Spain and Italy. I’ll think of the surprising Russians. I’ll think about how Portugal can have such talent and promise, yet forget how to do fundamental thinks like defensive marking against Germany and that will always be their downfall.

The main thing that I will think about however, is the Turks. Their never give up attitude was inspiring to watch. Turkey went through so many injuries and suspensions, yet kept fighting and made an excellent run. Their wins against the Czech Republic and Croatia were thrilling. Even in defeat against Germany, they tied the score late before the Germans scored in the final minute. I’m now a lifetime fan of the Turks!

-At Green Hills Mall, I saw Vanessa Williams and that was a good sight. She’s smaller and shorter then I thought she would be. It was so weird because I was just walking to the Brookstone store next the Apple store and I see her in a white dress, really no makeup, with her small daughter I’m assuming and two other women. I guess she’s in town filming a movie or something like that.

Anyway, I didn’t place her at first and then I said to myself, is that Vanessa Williams? Very attractive and you know the love I have for older women. I’m supposed to say that she could get it or CGI at this point, even though I’ve never turned down a girl. She actually may crack the bench on my top-five, speaking of which…

I recently saw this picture of Ciara and she once again confirmed why she will always be a member of the top-five. Ashley is still the GM/head coach. For old time’s sake…




I will have an updated top-five list soon.

-As sucky as the Mets have been playing lately, they are only four games out of first place. That’s the beauty of baseball, the season is so darn long. The Mets have fired a manager, the clubhouse doesn’t get along, players want to get out and they are still in contention. Good stuff. Also…

-The Rays are coming on strong and are in it for the long haul. I LOVE that the Rays are contending and are actually in first place now. I get so, so tired of hearing about the Yankees and the Red Sox all of the time. I don’t have a big beef against either team, I just get tired of the media coverage of them. Detroit is also only five games out as well. Maybe my AL West champions Seattle can recover and make a run…maybe not.

-I’ll have my updated MLB predictions/review at the All-Star game in a few weeks.

-I must tell you that I’m a sucker for the Olympics, both Winter and Summer. I’m going to elaborate on this more in a future post. For now, I was watching the trials for Track and Field as well as Swimming. I don’t know all of the athletes names right now, but I just love the competition. Tyson Gay and Michael Phelps are freaks, btw. I also checked out the gymnastics one a few weeks ago as well.

-I was driving around town over the weekend and I began to thing about my career and what I would like to do with it. It was a reflective moment and I was glad to have it.

-I recently joined a cool Facebook group called “If you remember the 90’s…” Great group and going over the information on there brought back so many memories. Here’s the link: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2204285338

-I watched 60 Minutes today and there was a story on Will Smith in anticipation of his new movie, Hancock. Such a down to earth guy. I’m a big fan of his and Fresh Prince of Bel Air was essential viewing. In West Philadelphia born and raised, on the playground is where I spend most of my days…Y’all know what I’m talking about.

Here are some potential post topics for the next week (I will try to not write a post about women or dating.)

-Does this offend me, Part 3. Its coming, I promise
-Olympics
-Fourth of July memories
-So Black people don’t like rock music?

I heard this Bush song at a bar on Friday night and it brought back some memories. Actually, it was the cover band at Tin Roof. I was a HUGE fan of Bush back in the day. Have a good week.

Sunday Reflections

This was an interesting week for me because I spent the entire time away from Nashville and in Atlanta and South Carolina seeing the family. I will say that I’m looking forward to heading back to Nashville and getting back into my routine. However, it’s important to see your loved ones when you have a chance in the sports industry because once August comes around, I’ll be back on the grind, which I like.

I want to talk about funerals, but I have to hit on some other thoughts.

-I haven’t followed baseball as much as I usually do because I’ve been away from home dealing with family stuff, but I like the balance of things right now. I get tired of hearing about the Yankees and the Red Sox all the time. I like seeing the Rays, the White Sox, Angels, A’s, Phillies, Cubs, Brewers and Diamondbacks having solid seasons. Hopefully the sports networks will acknowledge this and cover these teams more.

I have a cousin who lives in Tampa and if the Rays make the playoffs, it’s on. War Rays!

-Euro 2008 has been an excellent tournament, but the quarterfinals had some interesting results. Germany took care of business against Portugal because Portugal forgot to play defense. I haven’t seen an elite team mark so bad defensively in my life in a major tournament. Also, why don’t you look around and fake another ankle injury Ronaldo, you Wanker. I actually missed the Turkey game, but I heard it was a classic. The Turks find another way to comeback and get a win. Russia made Holland look like amateurs. What is it about the Netherlands that they look like the best team in the world for two matches and then they play like ass in the next one. Holland has so much talent but they always underachieve. I will never trust them again in a major tournament.

I was so happy that Spain beat Italy today. I have no beef against the Italians, but the way that they played today was pathetic. It was so bad that I fell asleep during the game. That’s how uninspired I was watching the game. Italy has always been a boring squad to watch as a fan, but they win a lot of times obviously. However, if this tournament has taught us anything is that aggressive play is usually awarded. Italy just played passive and in the end, the aggressive and more deserving Spaniards won the game on penalties.

Good riddance to Greece, Italy and boring soccer in general.

-One show that I’ve gotten into this week is America’s Best Dance Crew on MTV. I just like seeing those crews dancing and showing off their skills. Mario Lopez is earning a paycheck, which is always good. A.C. Slater needs the work. BTW, Mario, how do you break up with Karina Smirnoff, she’s a winner. Also, how do you screw up that relationship with Ali Landry? Questions that I will never receive the answer to.

I’m going to place my funeral post separately. I leave you with some Mars Volta. Have a good week.