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.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
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?
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?
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
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
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
Monday, November 23, 2009
Perfection
Perfection. It’s something so great. Whether it’s a walk on the trails of Camp Gray on a beautiful 45 degree day. Biting into a Sloppy Pat when you get a mouthful of the beef, bacon, Canadian bacon, cheese, peppers, mushrooms and bbq sauce. Drinking a Jamison and Coke, while sitting in a hot tub overlooking the Smokey mountains.
In line with all of these is Pat’s Perfect football weekend. There is a formula for this. Okay maybe not a formula but a list of things that has to go right for this perfection to work. First thing that must go right normally happens on a Thursday or Friday night. The Washington Warriors, my high school football team has to win. While they didn’t play this past weekend they recently won the state title. Next comes on Saturday. THEE South Dakota State Jackrabbits have to win. They did and with it made the Football Championship Sub-Division playoffs for the first time. Go Jacks! Next Nebraska has to win. Not only did the Huskers win this weekend, they also won the Big 12 North. Something that has not happened a lot recently. To do it against K-State makes it even better. It’s not uncommon for the Warriors and Huskers to win.
What’s a lot more difficult is my NFL team. The Raiders. They don’t win a lot. Especially against good teams. I was a little shocked when they beat the Bengals this weekend. It’s even more surprising in the way that they did it. The Raiders have made a living out of losing close games in a crazy ways. They turned around and had the Bengals lose to them in that way. (Bruce Gradkowski is my new hero by the way.) So the Warriors, Huskers and Raiders all win. That is a great weekend. When some of my other favorite teams win it’s also great. OSU Cowboys, Packers, Patriots all win. Colorado, Notre Dame (Loved it!!) and Oklahoma Sooners all lose, which makes the weekend even sweeter. (Side note. One of my favorite things in the whole world is to watch Bob Stoops pout when Oklahoma loses.)
It’s not perfection though. There are a few things that have to go wrong for perfection. A few select teams have to lose. One of them being the Denver Broncos. It just so happened this weekend that the Broncos not only lost, I’m not sure they even showed up. 32-3. Sweet. Only thing better is if Mike Shannahan was still coaching.
Everything was near perfect. Just one other thing had to happen for Pat’s Perfect Football Weekend. The Vikings had to lose. Didn’t happen. Not with “The Man” playing for them. I will admit it’s been a little hard to cheer for him this season. I cannot deny though that he’s doing freakishly well this year. I never would have imagined that it would be my favorite player preventing me from having the perfect weekend. Thanks Brett.
In line with all of these is Pat’s Perfect football weekend. There is a formula for this. Okay maybe not a formula but a list of things that has to go right for this perfection to work. First thing that must go right normally happens on a Thursday or Friday night. The Washington Warriors, my high school football team has to win. While they didn’t play this past weekend they recently won the state title. Next comes on Saturday. THEE South Dakota State Jackrabbits have to win. They did and with it made the Football Championship Sub-Division playoffs for the first time. Go Jacks! Next Nebraska has to win. Not only did the Huskers win this weekend, they also won the Big 12 North. Something that has not happened a lot recently. To do it against K-State makes it even better. It’s not uncommon for the Warriors and Huskers to win.
What’s a lot more difficult is my NFL team. The Raiders. They don’t win a lot. Especially against good teams. I was a little shocked when they beat the Bengals this weekend. It’s even more surprising in the way that they did it. The Raiders have made a living out of losing close games in a crazy ways. They turned around and had the Bengals lose to them in that way. (Bruce Gradkowski is my new hero by the way.) So the Warriors, Huskers and Raiders all win. That is a great weekend. When some of my other favorite teams win it’s also great. OSU Cowboys, Packers, Patriots all win. Colorado, Notre Dame (Loved it!!) and Oklahoma Sooners all lose, which makes the weekend even sweeter. (Side note. One of my favorite things in the whole world is to watch Bob Stoops pout when Oklahoma loses.)
It’s not perfection though. There are a few things that have to go wrong for perfection. A few select teams have to lose. One of them being the Denver Broncos. It just so happened this weekend that the Broncos not only lost, I’m not sure they even showed up. 32-3. Sweet. Only thing better is if Mike Shannahan was still coaching.
Everything was near perfect. Just one other thing had to happen for Pat’s Perfect Football Weekend. The Vikings had to lose. Didn’t happen. Not with “The Man” playing for them. I will admit it’s been a little hard to cheer for him this season. I cannot deny though that he’s doing freakishly well this year. I never would have imagined that it would be my favorite player preventing me from having the perfect weekend. Thanks Brett.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Back to the Sports
I'm back! Like Lance Arstrong, MJ, Favre, Lisa Leslie, Art Shell....I was away for awhile but now I'm back and hopefully here to stay.
So a lot has happened since I left....
Raiders are still a joke (Yet I STILL love them)
My alma mater South Dakota State University played at a Big Ten school. And almost won.
Kobe won anther title. And Lebron didn't
Angels had a great regular season. Again. They then blew it in the playoffs. Again.
Nebraska beat the cry baby. Finally.
Jay-Z road in the Yankee Parade. Why?
I threw the winning touchdown in a pickup football game. Sorry Doug. You lost.
I'm currently training to compete in a apple sauce eating contest.
My friend Topher decided to start watching baseball. He picked the Pirates. Oops.
Lance Armstrong is still a beast.
The Shock Moved.
Favre.
Question of the Week?
What is the most demanding coaching job in all of sports?
I'll post responses next week.
Peace!
"John Glenn is a stunning Ballerina next to Tom Cruise"
Monday, May 18, 2009
Greatest of All-Time
Who is the greatest living baseball player? I was watching Mike and Mike in the Morning last week and they were discussing this topic. I thought I would chime in with my ideas. The first person that comes to my mind is Barry Bonds.* In the entire history of the sport the man is 1st in home runs and walks, 4th in R.B.I.'s, 3rd in runs, has 7 mvp's, is a 14 time All-star, and has 8 gold golves. Of course there is a rather large asterik that comes with him. Because of this it's hard to put him at the top of the list.
The man that would probally get my vote is Willie Mays. While I never got to see him play his stats are pretty amazing. He made the all-star game in 1954 and every one after until 1973. He's 4th in home runs and 10th in RBI's and I don't believe he was ever accused of using steroids. There are a lot of other I thought about but rather than listing off the stats of these other great players I thought I would make up my greatest living team. I would love some comments on players I missed or whether you agree or disagree with the players I did make.
Position Players
1st Base: Harmon Killebrew
2nd Base: Joe Morgan
SS: Cal Ripken Jr.
3rd Base: Brooks Robinson
C: Johnny Bench
LF: Stan Musial
CF: Willie Mays
RF: Hank Aaron
The man that would probally get my vote is Willie Mays. While I never got to see him play his stats are pretty amazing. He made the all-star game in 1954 and every one after until 1973. He's 4th in home runs and 10th in RBI's and I don't believe he was ever accused of using steroids. There are a lot of other I thought about but rather than listing off the stats of these other great players I thought I would make up my greatest living team. I would love some comments on players I missed or whether you agree or disagree with the players I did make.
Position Players
1st Base: Harmon Killebrew
2nd Base: Joe Morgan
SS: Cal Ripken Jr.
3rd Base: Brooks Robinson
C: Johnny Bench
LF: Stan Musial
CF: Willie Mays
RF: Hank Aaron
Bench:
Ricky Henderson
Pete Rose
Mike Schmidt
Starting Rotation
Greg Maddux
Tom Seaver
Sandy Koufax
Bob Gibson
Randy Johnson
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
"The Man" in Purple
I hate the Vikings. I hate their purple uniforms. I hate the dome they play in. I hate the sound of the horn being played every 30 seconds at their games. I have disliked almost every player they have ever had. Chris Carter the most. I hate the name "Purple People Eaters". I hated the pencil that Mike Tice always had above his ear. http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2005/football/nfl/03/08/banks.tice/p1_tice-030805-getty.jpg
I hate the giant Viking mascot that rides a motorcycle. I hate almost everything there is to hate about the Minnesota Vike'queens'. But I love Brett Favre.
I love watching his excitement when he plays the game. I love the term "Gun slinger" when people talk about him. I love way he lit up my Raiders in the wake of his dads death. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/football/nfl/12/23/packers.raiders.ap/
I love living in Wisconsin and seeing what Brett meant to this state. I never understood that growing up in South Dakota. Now the football player I love most might be playing for a team that I can't stand. What now?
If Brett makes it back to play with the Vikings can I cheer for him? I will want to so much but that would mean I am cheering for the Vikes. Maybe I can just cheer for him to do well but not the rest of the team. I'm not sure if that will work. I'm pretty sure though that if he does make it back I will be excited to watch him regardless of what team he plays for. See, I am a Brett fan. No matter what decision he makes or how man times he changes his mind I am sticking with him. If he retires 100 times and comes back each of those times I will be happy. I will be happy that one more time I will get to see Favre being a "Gun slinger". I will get to see him run down the field with his arms in the air. I will get to see my favorite player act differently than every other quarterback playing today. There is only one Brett Favre. Even if he's wearing Purple.
I hate the giant Viking mascot that rides a motorcycle. I hate almost everything there is to hate about the Minnesota Vike'queens'. But I love Brett Favre.
I love watching his excitement when he plays the game. I love the term "Gun slinger" when people talk about him. I love way he lit up my Raiders in the wake of his dads death. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/football/nfl/12/23/packers.raiders.ap/
I love living in Wisconsin and seeing what Brett meant to this state. I never understood that growing up in South Dakota. Now the football player I love most might be playing for a team that I can't stand. What now?
If Brett makes it back to play with the Vikings can I cheer for him? I will want to so much but that would mean I am cheering for the Vikes. Maybe I can just cheer for him to do well but not the rest of the team. I'm not sure if that will work. I'm pretty sure though that if he does make it back I will be excited to watch him regardless of what team he plays for. See, I am a Brett fan. No matter what decision he makes or how man times he changes his mind I am sticking with him. If he retires 100 times and comes back each of those times I will be happy. I will be happy that one more time I will get to see Favre being a "Gun slinger". I will get to see him run down the field with his arms in the air. I will get to see my favorite player act differently than every other quarterback playing today. There is only one Brett Favre. Even if he's wearing Purple.
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