Archive for the Sports
I saw on Yahoo today that Laker great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has leukemia. Specifically, he was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, which is supposedly a rare form of the disease. According to the Associated Press, Kareem’s doctors have informed him that this disease shouldn’t be life-threatening, and should be controlled by proper medication and monitoring. Read More.....
My son’s Select 12-under baseball team got knocked out of yet another tournament today. And it just makes me wonder what exactly are these coaches thinking? Now I’ve been around baseball pretty much my entire life, and while I’m not a pro scout, I can spot when a kid has talent. I’m also not one of those whiny parents who complain that my kid with no talent is not getting his fair share of playing time. There are twelve kids on this team, and my son sat out the entire game for two out of the three games they played this weekend. I know for a fact that he doesnt deserve this. Granted, he is the new kid on the team, but he is as good (or better) than at least half of the kids on the team. Read More.....
Another great day for baseball in Austin, TX. The temp stayed around 80, give or take a few. It was mostly cloudy with a little wind, but didn’t feel too bad. The boys came out playing flat, and got into a 3-0 hole. The Head Coach who also runs the organization, Cookie, was nowhere to be found. He had his two assistants coach the kids, and they didn’t seem to do anything to light the fire in the kids. Now, Cookie not showing up to coach his own team kinda upset several parents, and rightfully so, as each kid’s family is paying a few hundred bucks a month for their child to play and should be entitled to the whole package, not just the assistants. Regardless, the kids hung close for most of the game, despite getting down by three early on in the game. Read More.....
So my son played in a Select 12-under baseball tournament today in Austin, TX. It was a beautiful day. Temps warmed up to the high 70s, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and there was a slight breeze. His team played two games today to determine seeding for tomorrow’s games on the way to the championship. They won their first game 7-6 and their second game 6-1. It’s great to watch the kids play. It really seems like they have a great time together. My son was a little nervous (you could totally tell), but you can’t blame him because he’s only practiced with this team twice and only knows a few of the kids on the team. He did great, though. Went 0-3 in four at-bats, but got hit by a pitch, and smoked a ball to right field but must have been playing target practice because he hit it right to the fielder. Towards the end of the second game, he really seemed to be settling down, and getting more comfortable with his new team. I hope he continues this tomorrow, as it’s much better as a parent to see your son relaxed and enjoying himself than to see him all uptight and nervous. As for the chances of bringing home the Championship, only time will tell. They play pretty good ball for 11 and 12 year-olds, but I wasn’t able to see many of the other games today to judge the talent for the rest of the teams. I think that if the kids give it 100% and limit their mistakes, that we have a good shot.
Read More.....Tonight was yet another disappointment for Dodger fans, with them getting spanked by the Phillies 10-4, eliminating them from the playoffs. I honestly don’t know what happened to them in the playoffs. They ended the year with like 90-something wins, first in the division (even though they let the Rockies get too close at the end, in my humble opinion), supposedly a superior pitching staff mixed with young studs and seasoned veterans, a pretty stacked lineup from top to bottom, and an awesome closer in Jonathan Broxton. Well, in the 2009 MLB Playoffs, those Dodgers never showed up. The pitching staff gave up way too many walks, letting the Phillies kill them with 3-run homers. The hitters, who were mostly non-existent, took way too many pitches…most of the time letting all of the good pitches go, while having to settle for junk. It seemed to me that the Phillies hitters were always in 2-0 counts, while the Dodgers were constantly in the hole 0-2. You can’t win ball games like that. I thought we had a chance to tie the series in game 4, with the Dodgers up by two in the 9th inning, with their closer on the mound. But Broxton blew the save, opening the door for the Phillies to go up 3-1, virtually deflating the tires on the once fine-tuned machine called the Dodgers. Just like a car that won’t run on four flat tires, the Dodgers, with all of their flat tires, couldn’t hang with the Phils. As for us True Blue Dodger fans, we’ll skip the World Series this year, which looks like it will be the Phillies against the Yankees, who I also hate (but that’s another story)…and wait until next year, hoping for a better result.
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