Hats off to the Royals, their city and their fans. That was an amazing series and I'm glad that franchise is relevant against after being the laughing stock of the league for three decades. If it wasn't for the greatest pitching performance of postseason and world series history it very well could have turned out differently. It was an amazing run for both teams but even more amazing for the giants who now have won 3 championships in 5 years and have made their claim as a baseball powerhouse.
Here is my question- this morning the talking heads on espn radio have been debating whether the giants are a dynasty or not. It has been split, many say yes, the other say no. The reasons against have included that the championships weren't won in consecutive years, core players have changed and a punch of other mindless dribble.
Hell yes the giants are a modern day dynasty!!!! Three championships in 5 years for a franchise that went 56 years without winning one! In an era when players are brought up, moved up, traded and released till game 162. When a GM loses his 2nd best player and 2/3's of his outfield due to injuries, 1/2 of us infield for an extended time and still manages to win by trading to get peavy, bringing up panik. Remember when the Red Sox won and those same exact morons at espn were claiming that theo epstein was the best GM in baseball? Hows that working out for the Cubs? Jesus....just look and appreciate what the Giants have managed to do!!! They don't have superstars on this team. Posey, sure but he had a very average year. Bumgarner, getting there after this postseason performance. Pence? Nope. Belt? not even close. So please give me these players that "just win baby!!!" over the puljose, the trouts the entire dodgers and yankees lineup. This franchise has sealed the deal. When you win 3 championships you're a freaking dynasty. I would put them with the yankees of the 90's, patriots/lakers early 2000s.
Whatya think?
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Making new fans
For the second night in a row, I helped put the girls to bed and then came downstairs to watch baseball, but this has raised a question for me. How do kids decide on teams? One told me last night that she wants the Giants to win, but the other picked the Royals ( I'm pretty sure neither really had much concept of any teams other than the Twins until the last week or so). Obviously they aren't just picking my team, so it's not quite that simple (though obviously that pattern is fairly common). Last fall, this fall's Giants fan consistently chose the football team that was playing against my Niners, but now she's on my side. Meanwhile, her little sister has changed course, choosing the Royals even though she historically has liked my teams. So...what's the deal? Is this a phase and an assertion of independence? Did they see colors they liked on the uniforms? Do their friends have opinions that matter in shaping their decisions on this (this is why these two insist on having Washington NFL tshirts)? Are they just choosing opposite sides out of sibling rivalry? I have no clue, and asking them didn't provide one either. Maybe if there is a game they can stay up to watch I will be able to figure it out.
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Percy Harvin - Why he was traded
Percy Harvin is no longer a Seattle Seahawk. Reports from multiple sources of sports news suggest that he was a problem in the locker room. I have no doubts this is true. However, why would Seattle trade a guy with a bunch of talent after giving up multiple draft picks and giving him a huge contract? The answer to this question is very simple. Percy Harvin is not a very good wide receiver. How many diva wide receivers have kept their jobs despite being ridiculous. Anybody remember Chad Johnson/Ochocinco?
Harvin is exceptionally quick AND exceptionally fast. In fact, he is a faster version of Randall Cobb (much faster). However, his career yards per reception is 11.39 (per Pro Football Reference). This is a good YPC for a running back. For a receiver with the physical tools of Harvin, this is a big, blaring warning siren. Having lived in Minnesota for Harvin's entire tenure here, I had the unfortunate opportunity to watch the recent Vikings train wreck. During this time, Harvin made plays that made my jaw drop. He also routinely ran poor routes and struggled to get open down the field.
This seems like I should have to explain myself further, but the game tape speaks for itself. Percy Harvin can't run good routes, so special plays have to be drawn up to get him the ball. Add to that fact that he is a jerk in the locker room, and it is no surprise that he is moving on to a third team.
Harvin is exceptionally quick AND exceptionally fast. In fact, he is a faster version of Randall Cobb (much faster). However, his career yards per reception is 11.39 (per Pro Football Reference). This is a good YPC for a running back. For a receiver with the physical tools of Harvin, this is a big, blaring warning siren. Having lived in Minnesota for Harvin's entire tenure here, I had the unfortunate opportunity to watch the recent Vikings train wreck. During this time, Harvin made plays that made my jaw drop. He also routinely ran poor routes and struggled to get open down the field.
This seems like I should have to explain myself further, but the game tape speaks for itself. Percy Harvin can't run good routes, so special plays have to be drawn up to get him the ball. Add to that fact that he is a jerk in the locker room, and it is no surprise that he is moving on to a third team.
Friday, October 17, 2014
A Giants fan abroad
I have been a Giants fan for 33 years.
I was laying on the floor in front of the TV when the Loma Prieta earthquake interrupted the lead-up to Game 3 of the 1989 Giants-A's World Series, and there again when the Series resumed, Carney Lansford (of the A's, but I remember this) sporting the full beard he grew in the interim.
I was sitting in an apartment in Berkeley with a blasted Angels fan of a roommate when the abomination that is the Rally Monkey repeatedly violated the screen, K-Rod violated Giants batters, and Dusty Baker violated good sense in the 2002 Giants-Angels showdown.
For 7 years I withstood the horrors of Southern California baseball--the obsession with the Dodgers (and one reluctant trip to an admittedly wonderful Dodger Stadium), the abomination that is the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" (two cities?! "The Angels Angels"?! DUMB), and the weird apathy of anyone inclined towards the Padres.
I spent a year in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, a Barry Bonds home run's distance away from Lake Bemidji and the stream that's the Mississippi that far north, watching the 2010 World Series on one of two TVs in an Irish pub, the clincher in the same bar full of patrons...every single of one them but me playing pub trivia. And it was here that I tasted, at long last...victory. It was a lonely triumph, acknowledged by a nod from the Minnesotan who'd attended law school in Berkeley and whose daughter had just bought my truck with its California plates and whose trivia team included my supervisor and who therefore knew that somewhere in town was a Californian, and possibly a Giants fan. I stepped outside and called my dad to share the moment, my brother after that. A few weeks later, a World Champion t-shirt arrived in the mail--Dad was reveling in not the Giants' first title of his lifetime, but their first in San Francisco.
Two years later I found myself another half country removed from my team's home, watching games at a sports bar* in Northern Virginia, the diverse origins of its patrons no consolation given the conspicuous dearth of Giants fans even in Greater DC. A sympathetic bartender named Dan noted my hat, my shirt, and the fact the orange and black does not always indicate an Orioles fan, and made sure the nearest TV showed my game. When I threw up my hands after the final pitch, he gave me a high five and brought me another Sierra Nevada, and that was that. I walked home elated, and called my brother on the way. It was sweet but bittersweet, Dad having passed away earlier that year, and I called Mom to make sure she'd seen that the Giants won, and she had.
*Just for the record, I didn't have home TV in either of these places, which is why it seems I spent an inordinate amount of time in pubs and sports bars.
And another two years on, I've not left Virginia, but I've brought family to me, my partner and our two girls and an arthritic yellow lab (Twins fans to a one) having settled in a house on a hill with some woods at our back, and, yes, finally I will watch this series at home.
I was laying on the floor in front of the TV when the Loma Prieta earthquake interrupted the lead-up to Game 3 of the 1989 Giants-A's World Series, and there again when the Series resumed, Carney Lansford (of the A's, but I remember this) sporting the full beard he grew in the interim.
I was sitting in an apartment in Berkeley with a blasted Angels fan of a roommate when the abomination that is the Rally Monkey repeatedly violated the screen, K-Rod violated Giants batters, and Dusty Baker violated good sense in the 2002 Giants-Angels showdown.
For 7 years I withstood the horrors of Southern California baseball--the obsession with the Dodgers (and one reluctant trip to an admittedly wonderful Dodger Stadium), the abomination that is the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" (two cities?! "The Angels Angels"?! DUMB), and the weird apathy of anyone inclined towards the Padres.
I spent a year in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, a Barry Bonds home run's distance away from Lake Bemidji and the stream that's the Mississippi that far north, watching the 2010 World Series on one of two TVs in an Irish pub, the clincher in the same bar full of patrons...every single of one them but me playing pub trivia. And it was here that I tasted, at long last...victory. It was a lonely triumph, acknowledged by a nod from the Minnesotan who'd attended law school in Berkeley and whose daughter had just bought my truck with its California plates and whose trivia team included my supervisor and who therefore knew that somewhere in town was a Californian, and possibly a Giants fan. I stepped outside and called my dad to share the moment, my brother after that. A few weeks later, a World Champion t-shirt arrived in the mail--Dad was reveling in not the Giants' first title of his lifetime, but their first in San Francisco.
Two years later I found myself another half country removed from my team's home, watching games at a sports bar* in Northern Virginia, the diverse origins of its patrons no consolation given the conspicuous dearth of Giants fans even in Greater DC. A sympathetic bartender named Dan noted my hat, my shirt, and the fact the orange and black does not always indicate an Orioles fan, and made sure the nearest TV showed my game. When I threw up my hands after the final pitch, he gave me a high five and brought me another Sierra Nevada, and that was that. I walked home elated, and called my brother on the way. It was sweet but bittersweet, Dad having passed away earlier that year, and I called Mom to make sure she'd seen that the Giants won, and she had.
*Just for the record, I didn't have home TV in either of these places, which is why it seems I spent an inordinate amount of time in pubs and sports bars.
And another two years on, I've not left Virginia, but I've brought family to me, my partner and our two girls and an arthritic yellow lab (Twins fans to a one) having settled in a house on a hill with some woods at our back, and, yes, finally I will watch this series at home.
Saturday, October 11, 2014
List of dislike
What is your top ten list of least favorite teams or any sport? Mine is as always
10. USC/Stanfurd
9. Yankees
8. Dallas Cowboys
7. Texas Football
6. Duke Basketball
5. La Lakers
4. Alabama Football
3. She-cocks
2. Notre Dame football
1. La Dodgers
and......................go!!!
10. USC/Stanfurd
9. Yankees
8. Dallas Cowboys
7. Texas Football
6. Duke Basketball
5. La Lakers
4. Alabama Football
3. She-cocks
2. Notre Dame football
1. La Dodgers
and......................go!!!
Rant
Todd Gurley was caught signing autographs for a memorbilia dealer for reportedly $8-$25 per autograph. I went to espn and their question of the day was should Gurley be deemed ineligble and there were three answers: Yes
No, but he should be suspended
No.
Yes 30%, No but suspended 34% and No 36%. I found this very interesting. Basically the poll is spilit into 70% don't think he should be suspended, and 30% do...why do i find this interesting?? 70% are essentially saying they don't agree with the ncaa's rule that a player can't profit off his own likeness...I thought this was all cleared up during the o'bannon lawsuit. Ok, so the school can make money off a players likeness, a store can make money off a players likeness but a player can't? I don't really understand why the ncaa has this rule, never have? Can a college player trademark his likeness? like the Jordon logo? Does the ncaa have a rule against this? What if a player trademarks his own logo and puts it on anything that's not whatever sports jersey he plays in...they are being entrepeuners and have their own business...I get the not paying of college athletes, they do get a lot and the ones that "starve" and "struggle" please give me a freakin' break...big college programs, get 5 star food, 5 star gyms, coaches, access to doctors/trainers/physical therapists/nutrionists/counselors/tutors/online classes/stipends and free equipment that sponsors donate to them but I don't see how it's legal for one nor constituional for the ncaa to say you can not profit off your likeness...they need to find a loophole and get the ncaa out of here.
No, but he should be suspended
No.
Yes 30%, No but suspended 34% and No 36%. I found this very interesting. Basically the poll is spilit into 70% don't think he should be suspended, and 30% do...why do i find this interesting?? 70% are essentially saying they don't agree with the ncaa's rule that a player can't profit off his own likeness...I thought this was all cleared up during the o'bannon lawsuit. Ok, so the school can make money off a players likeness, a store can make money off a players likeness but a player can't? I don't really understand why the ncaa has this rule, never have? Can a college player trademark his likeness? like the Jordon logo? Does the ncaa have a rule against this? What if a player trademarks his own logo and puts it on anything that's not whatever sports jersey he plays in...they are being entrepeuners and have their own business...I get the not paying of college athletes, they do get a lot and the ones that "starve" and "struggle" please give me a freakin' break...big college programs, get 5 star food, 5 star gyms, coaches, access to doctors/trainers/physical therapists/nutrionists/counselors/tutors/online classes/stipends and free equipment that sponsors donate to them but I don't see how it's legal for one nor constituional for the ncaa to say you can not profit off your likeness...they need to find a loophole and get the ncaa out of here.
Monday, October 6, 2014
letter to sports illustrated
Dear Sports Illustrated-
I have had a subscription since I could read. I’ve kept dozens of memorable issues from championship covers of my favorite teams, to galvanizing topics such as sports after 9/11, the steroid era and other social issues of importance. My favorite thing, when I was younger, was getting your season preview issues and seeing the power rankings of players, seeing who signed with different teams and who you predicted to win. However lately I have been upset with the topics you’ve chosen to cover and those you haven’t.
The season previews no longer have player rankings and you’re predictions have become so ghastly it’s at times unbearable to look at. I stopped reading ESPN the magazine because the level of journalism was relatively low and the magazine focused on stories that I really had no interest in (I.e. Tebow).
In the most recent issue I received had a MLB playoff preview. Being a life long San Francisco Giants fan I was extremely disappointed to have skimmed through and noticed you omitted any mention of them at all. Even in 2010 and 2012 when they won the world series your analysis pointed squarely against the Giants. Not that this was any different than many other publications but at least your journalists wrote with attention to detail and told a story rather than just report like a newspaper.
I miss the stories where you broke stories rather than cover them. No mention of Goodells shoddy news conference, hardly any mention of other recent controversial topics, instead…another article on Kobe Bryant.
If you decide to return to what made your magazine so great I will renew my subscription once again but right now I’m not. I used to receive a renewal every Christmas as a gift from my parents and growing up I now wish I can do the same to my own son some day…
Best Regards- Brennan Sellers
I have had a subscription since I could read. I’ve kept dozens of memorable issues from championship covers of my favorite teams, to galvanizing topics such as sports after 9/11, the steroid era and other social issues of importance. My favorite thing, when I was younger, was getting your season preview issues and seeing the power rankings of players, seeing who signed with different teams and who you predicted to win. However lately I have been upset with the topics you’ve chosen to cover and those you haven’t.
The season previews no longer have player rankings and you’re predictions have become so ghastly it’s at times unbearable to look at. I stopped reading ESPN the magazine because the level of journalism was relatively low and the magazine focused on stories that I really had no interest in (I.e. Tebow).
In the most recent issue I received had a MLB playoff preview. Being a life long San Francisco Giants fan I was extremely disappointed to have skimmed through and noticed you omitted any mention of them at all. Even in 2010 and 2012 when they won the world series your analysis pointed squarely against the Giants. Not that this was any different than many other publications but at least your journalists wrote with attention to detail and told a story rather than just report like a newspaper.
I miss the stories where you broke stories rather than cover them. No mention of Goodells shoddy news conference, hardly any mention of other recent controversial topics, instead…another article on Kobe Bryant.
If you decide to return to what made your magazine so great I will renew my subscription once again but right now I’m not. I used to receive a renewal every Christmas as a gift from my parents and growing up I now wish I can do the same to my own son some day…
Best Regards- Brennan Sellers
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