Sad Day

It’s hard for me to believe it was 7 years ago already. 2606 days. Since I was serving with a ministry team and wasn’t at home I had to watch game 7 of the series on a small black and white TV which was fuzzy. It was a beautiful night though. Angels beat the Giants to win the World Series. They had never even been close to winning the World Series until this night. Since I had become a fan in 1994 the Angels had not even made the playoffs.

This was such a great team though. No huge super stars but just a great group that made an amazing run to the World Series. Then like most things in sports, it had to come to an end. The next year they kept all of their core players around but injuries took their toll on the team. It was the next year that I realized that baseball is a business and eventually a team will get rid of players or they will choose to leave. In 2005, Jarrod Washburn, David Eckstein and Troy Percival left. Percie, was the hardest as he had been my favorite pitcher. Benji Molina in 2006. 2007 was especially hard as my 2 favorite Angels left. Darin Erstad and “The Kingfish” Tim Salmon. K-Rod and Garret Anderson left in 2008.

Still through all of these players leaving there had still been 3 that had remained since the World Series. Up until this week. In a matter of a few days the Angels lost Chone Figgins and John Lackey. Chone wasn’t super hard to lose but Lackey hurt. A lot. He had been the rock of the rotation for 7 years. The bull-dog. The player that as a fan I knew the Angels had to give the ball to in a touch situation. The ace. He was the first player since the early 1900’s to win a World Series Game 7 as a rookie. His emotion was so much fun to watch as a fan. What hurts even more is where he signed. With the Red Sox. A rival that the Angels finally broke through against in the playoffs this past season. Now, the only player left from that great team is Scott Shields. It’s an incredibly sad day to be an Angels fan.

Christmas Wish List

My answer to last week’s question. I think a team of Kobe and MJ would be very tough to beat. I think Malone would get the best of Garnett. Hakeem already took Shaq in the 95 Finals. Although Magic is considered one of the greatest I think he would be only slightly better than Nash. Reggie does give team Clyde an advantage from the outside. I believe Team Brandon gets the win but I think it would be very close. On to this week’s post…

As it’s nearly Christmas I thought I would present my sports Christmas wish list….
1. Al Davis to go away. I don’t want him to die but please just go away.
2. Packers play the Vikings in the playoffs. And win.
3. Instant replay for Major League Baseball.
4. Another Heisman trophy for Tim Tebow. (That’s for your Padre)
5. Ndamukong Suh to actually win the Heisman.
6. Jackrabbit men to make the NCAA tourney.
7. Nebraska win their Bowl Game.
8. Nebraska to score at least one offensive touchdown in the Bowl game. Just one.
9. Beat Ford in our Madden bet.
10. Lakers sweep season series with Cavs.
11. Angels keep Lackey and sign Bay.
12. T.C.U. wins the A.P. National Championship.
13. Win fantasy football.
14. Yankees go bankrupt.

Question of the Week:
If you could receive tickets to any sporting event in the next year what which would it be?

Girls Rule. At least against Me.

So I played some football over Thanksgiving. And I lost. One team had myself and buddies Ford and Miller. Our opponents were my girlfriend Meghan, Ford’s wife Cassandra and my friend Topher. It’s a fair assessment that my team was made up of large men. I’m not saying we are all fat but we aren’t bean poles either. We did not have a lot of speed on our side. As my friend Ford would say though, "Make plays, not excuses." We lost and in my assessment it was not very close.

Growing up I was made to believe that women were inferior when it came to athletics. Again, I’m not saying I believe this but this is what I learned growing up. “You throw like a girl. You run like a girl. I hated these comments. Cause of course it meant that I was not as good as the other guys. I played these sports like girls and or course so I thought girls are never as good as men in sports.

I learned something the other day though. Some girls are good. Really good. Some girls are just plain better at sports then me. I mean this wasn’t the first time I was humiliated by a girl. A few years ago in a 5 on 5 basketball game I was blocked by my friend Corey. Now she is a very good basketball player but my ego couldn’t take it. So I did what any reasonable man would do in this situation. I waved everyone else to the side and I drove on her, 1 on 1. And what happened? I was blocked again. A few years later I was again playing basketball and I was blocked not once but twice by a female who was not quite in the same basketball level of Corey. I proceeded to foul her to the ground the next time she came by me. Not my finest moment.

I’ve played other sports where I was beaten by females but it wasn’t until this past weekend that it really hit me. Maybe there is not a female that can beat Jordan 1 on 1 and I will never believe a team of females could play against an NFL team and beat them but when it comes to me against a few women in sports I will give them the upper hand. Maybe this means I’m turning in my man card or maybe I’m just waking up to the fact that some females are just much better at sports than me. Maybe?

P.S. Congratulations by the way to Meghan, Cassandra and Topher on an impressive win.

Question of the Week:
Which of these teams would win if all of the players were in their prime?

Team Brandon
Steve Nash
Michael Jordan
Hakeem Olajuwon
Kobe Bryant
Kevin Garnett

Team Clyde
Magic Johnson
Reggie Miller
Shaquille O'Neal
Lebron James
Karl Malone