And Now For Something Completely Different...

I'm going to take a brief break from hockey for a baseball post. While I was doing laundry at the laundromat today - did you know when you own a house and an appliance breaks no one pops over to fix it for you?! - I saw a scroll on the bottom of the TV screen that said Greg Maddux had announced his retirement today. In true Greg Maddux fashion, I had to dig around to find a halfway decent story about it on the internet. Low key and underrated to the end. Here's something I wrote about Greg on my very first blog back when he won his 300th game. Some of the details within are different now but the sentiment remains the same.

Dear Greg,

Thanks.

Thanks for being the kind of player who I could love even when I really, really hated the team you played most of your career with. The Braves handed my team, the Pirates, the most crushing loss of my life as a fan, and at the end of the day, I still really liked you.

Thanks for wanting to win and being super competitive without throwing bats at people and storming around the field like a madman. You've always done your talking with your arm and glove and not with your mouth. In some circles, that's pretty rare today.

Thanks for embracing the role the of The Professor, something most most athletes would hate. Thanks for wearing your glasses when you're not pitching. Hey, it's a small thing, but this bespectacled girl thought it was cool (and still does).

Thanks for being friends with the pitching staff that you pitched 10+ years with. I don't expect every athlete to be bestest friends with their teammates, but it is awfully nice when it does happen. Can I come golfing with you, Tom, and John some time?

Thanks for not really caring that people tend to overappreciate Roger Clemens and underappreciate you. Roger's heat is more attention-grabbing than your pinpoint control and pitch variation, but I don't think you care. Most people say they would take Roger as a starter over you, but I don't think you care about that either. When Roger got win number 300 we had weeks of countdowns, constant media coverage, and story after story in magazine after magazine. When you got close to 300 we didn't get much at all. When you GOT 300 you STILL didn't get much at all. But I don't think you care because in the end, your team got the win that day.

Thanks for being so great for so long. Sure, some of that is beyond your control - you've only been on the DL ONCE in your career! But here's a couple fun facts that you might not even know. Not one player who played in your first win (Sept. 7, 1986) is still playing. None of the other 12 winning pitchers that day is still pitching. You've had sixteen (!) 15 win seasons. For nine straight seasons you had a walk ratio lower than 2 per nine innings. Amazing.

Thanks for not coming out to tip your hat after your 300th win because it wasn't your home ballpark and you didn't think it was respectful to the other team's fans. I don't know that they really would've had a problem with it, Greg, but most athletes wouldn't have been able to see that moment as anything but theirs so you definitely get points for thinking beyond yourself.

And most of all - probably above all else - thanks for just being a good guy. I've never had to read a story about your sexual escapades, your adventures with drugs and alcohol, your anger management problems, or your cancerous attitude in the clubhouse. Your coaches seem to like you, and your teammates seem to like you even more. You've always gone out to the mound, thrown the ball, and then gone home and I love you for it.

Thanks,
Heather


Now that Roger Clemens is buried in a pile of steroid allegations, I think Greg Maddux is hands-down the best starter of his generation. You can disagree but you'll be wrong.

Next Up... Real Hockey!

I wish I could say I was attentively watching the Sabres and taking meticulous notes but I really wasn't. I was partly distracted by the Bills-induced moaning and crying coming from the other room and partly just... distracted. It was nice to actually see a preseason game but in the end it's still a preseason game, you know? I'm a firm believer that you can't place too much importance on what happens in a preaseason game. For example, no way Ryan Miller gives up that crap ass goal in a real game. Right, Ryan?

The important thing is this: Henrik Tallinder was in the top six where he belongs. Looking at the pairs I think it's probably likely that he and Teppo Numminen are currently the third pairing but I'm fine with that. Lindy, you were pushing it but I'm happy to say that I'm not going to use the firelindyruff.com domain that I bought after all. It's there though, Ruff so stay on your toes.

So let's talk about some other sports:

- Wow, I'm guessing everyone who ran around looking for an antenna so they could watch the Bills game is real happy they did so. When I first met Mark I thought the "Buffalo is cursed" thing was kind of ridiculous but I don't know. It's one thing to lose your starting QB. Hey, it happens. But to start the season 4-0, getting everyone's hopes up, and THEN lose your starting QB? That's harsh, dude. In J.P. Losman's defense however it's hardly his fault the defense wouldn't have been able to stop me from scoring today. Hopefully this is not a Tim Connolly fall off the face of the earth level concussion.

- I'm way behind but I've been thinking about this for a while. People are being awfully harsh on Vince Young. I guess I understand why but I don't know, isn't it possible that he's realized that he just doesn't really want to play football? And is it that bad if that's how he feels? Don't people go out into the workforce after college and realize they kind of hate their chosen field all the time? I'm totally speculating here, I know, but if that's what's happening, how hard do you think it is for a still young kid who has probably gotten a whole lot of what he has in life because he was a great football player to realize he might hate playing pro ball? I guess if I was a Titans fan I might be frustrated but some of the criticism of Young has been a little much, I think.

- I've watched more of the first round of the baseball playoffs this year than I have in the last few years but I don't know why because it's been a pretty boring round so far. I was really pulling for the Angels to beat the Red Sox - as I'm writing this we're in the 11th inning of Game 3 so I don't know if the series is over yet or not - but I am pretty happy that Jason Bay has had such a good series. I'm sorry it's not in a Pirates jersey but when he was traded I heard a lot of grumbling that it was one thing to be good in Pittsburgh where he got very little attention and another thing to be good under the bright lights of playoff baseball in Boston. So far he's doing all right for himself.

- I haven't made a final decision yet but I think I might be pulling for the Rays and their itty bitty payroll to win the whole shebang.

I Told You I Was Bored

One of my favorite random, goofy things on the internet is Batting Stance Guy. BSG is, as you might have surmised from the name, a guy who's really good at mimicking baseball players' batting stances and swings. Some of them are a little over exaggerated but they're crazy accurate. Well, glory days are here again, and BSG has finally gotten around to the Pirates. Probably three people will actually watch this but I'm posting it anyway. You'd probably miss it if you're not looking for it but at the beginning of his Andy Van Slyke he shrugs his shoulders and gives the sleeve of his front shoulder a little tug. I do that to this day when I step in to hit, even if it's just gym class. I'm sure it started out as a direct copy of Andy but it eventually worked its way into my routine and now I don't even think about it. (If the video screws up your screen please let me know. I got a couple of complaints the last time I embedded a YouTube video. Which yeah, isn't stopping me from attempting it again. I'm such a good blogger.)

On Derek Jeter

In part 3 of 100 Things, I wrote a short list of things and people I thought were overrated. Included on this list was Derek Jeter. A fella by the name of Seth took great offense to that and let me know it in the comments. My response to him was getting very long so I thought I'd just throw it up here as a quick weekend post. As a set-up, here's Seth's comment:

You all need to start backing up this Derek Jeter overrated b.s. A-rod? Fine. Overrated. In fact, bag on anyone else on the Yankees (except Rivera, and maybe Jorge) and I'd be hard pressed to argue. But to just float out there that Derek Jeter is overrated is unacceptable. A career .316 hitter, closing in on 3,000 hits, 1996 Rookie of the Year, 3-time gold-glove winner, World Series MVP, World Series Champion (3x), Captain of the Yankees, and dater of hot women. That's not overrated, that's Hall of Fame.
Need more proof?

The Flip

and

The Dive

Okay, first of all, let me say this. Jeter is probably a Hall of Famer. When all is said and done, he'll be remembered as one of the most prominent players of his generation. "Overrated" does not equal "terrible at baseball." My beef with Jeter is the over saturation. The level of discourse about him and the tenor of that discourse is way out of whack for the player he is and it often leads to the ignoring of other players. Seth mentioned Rivera and Posada and they're a perfect example of the latter. They were every bit as important to the recent Yankee dynasty as Jeter but they hardly ever get talked about the in same way as Jeter. Jeter is a Born Winner. Those other guys are just his teammates, happily tagging along.

The one area where I will absolutely argue that Jeter is overrated is in the field. Gold Gloves are often won on reputation and I definitely feel that's the case here. As Seth suggests, let's go to the tape. I think the two following plays have done more to contribute to the myth of Derek Jeter than anything else.

In the first video (linked above), Jeter shows remarkable hustle and heads-up play. But to give him all the credit, which the announcer on the clip does, ignores the fact that one, the right-fielder who is NEVER called by name in the clip, made a near perfect throw down the line that probably would've gotten to Posada even without Jeter's involvement and two, Posada set up perfectly, fielded the flip, and placed the tag, a tough play that he made look easy. (It also completely ignores the fact that Jeremy Giambi was an idiot not to slide in that situation but that's beside the main point.)

The second video (also linked above) is the play where Jeter tracks down a pop fly, catches it, takes a bunch of steps, and then dives dramatically into the stands. Ummm... great? Jeter definitely does a godd job of sticking with the ball and he covers a lot of ground, but is he the only player to go into the stands in an effort to make a defensive play? The only player to bleed on the field? Listen, at risk of upsetting even more Jeter fans, that little swan dive wasn't entirely necessary. He had plenty of room to start slowing down and bring himself to a stop against the railing. Maybe his momentum takes him over the railing a little. But three rows into the stands? Really, Jeter? If this were hockey he would've gotten two minutes on that play. I could spend fifteen minutes on YouTube and find fifteen catches more impressive than that one, ones where the player leaves his feet because he has to in order to get to the ball.

By almost every measure - range factor, zone rating, actually watching other shortstops in the league - Jeter is a below average defensive shortstop. The question about his defense isn't, "Is he good or average?" The question is, "Is he slightly below average or terrible?" He's not even the best defensive shortstop on his side of the Yankees' infield. Hey, quick joke for you. What do you call a ground ball to Jeter's left? A single up the middle! Wocka, wocka, wocka!

At the plate his numbers are more impressive but even then they don't justify his deification. As a quick comparison, we'll use Lance Berkman of the Houston Astros. Jeter's career batting average is 12 points higher right now but that still makes Berkman a .300 career hitter and Berkman has a higher OBP, slugging %, and OPS. Berkman hits into slightly fewer DPs per season. They average exactly the same number of strikeouts per season. Berkman averages more home runs, more RBIs, slightly more doubles, and a couple fewer triples. So they're pretty comparable. But Jeter plays under the bright lights of New York City for a team that drafted well early in his career and always has one of the highest payrolls in baseball while Berkman plays in the middle of the U.S. for a small market NL team that hasn't shown a propensity to draft well OR spend a lot of money. Berkman has spent a number of seasons as one of the few consistent bats in the Astros line-up whereas Jeter has always been surrounded by offensive talent, including one of the very best hitters in baseball. Jeter is always the center of conversation in every Yankees game that's on national TV. He gets tons of glory when he's playing well and tons of glory when he isn't playing well. He gets very little criticism. Berkman doesn't get much national attention at all regardless of how he's playing.

In conclusion:

Very good at baseball: Lance Berkman AND Derek Jeter
Underrated: Lance Berkman, Overrated: Derek Jeter.

Your mileage may vary. Obviously.

(By the way, Alex Rodriguez is not overrated. Lacking in personality and not that much fun to watch? Definitely debatable. Overrated? No, I don't think so. Jeter has had 7 post-seasons where he hit above .400 but he's also had 7 post-seasons where he's hit under .250, mostly the more recent ones. The Yankees not producing in the last few playoffs is not solely on Rodriguez. He doesn't hit for everyone else and he doesn't pitch. They might not have even made it to the playoffs last season if not for him. The amount of crap Rodriguez has taken from Yankees fans during his time there is crazy.)

* All statistics cited were taken from Baseball-Reference. And for the record, I also think Derek Jeter is totally average looking while Lance Berkman is as cute as a bug's ear. Jeter dates hot women? Yeah, what single professional athlete doesn't? Berkman is married to his college sweetheart, dotes on his three little girls, goes to church every week, drinks chocolate milk, and says things like "Good gracious!" So even off the field Jeter is overrated while Berkman is underrrated.





(Thanks for the comment, Seth! I love when people express their disagreement in a thought-out and reasonable manner.)

Top Shelf Watches the All-Star Game

Here we go...

PREGAME

Let's get this out upfront. I'm a National League girl. I grew up cheering for the Pirates while living in Braves country. We got the Braves on TBS and the Cubs on WGN. Since those were the days before interleague play, I rarely saw an AL team play outside of the postseason. I hate the Yankees. I hate the Red Sox just a little less. I'm really tired of the American League winning even though yes, they are totally better. Go, National League, go!

Pretty cool how they're introducing the Hall of Famers by position and then bringing out tonight's starters. Dude, Wadge Boggs in the Yankees hat? So not right. I don't care if he and the Red Sox hate each other, I'll always see him in a Boston hat.

Over at Inside Pitch Mike Harrington talked about how cool it was to be able to talk to some of the Hall of Famers assembled here. If I had 40 minutes with these guys, I think I'd hit up Bill Mazeroski, Ryne Sandberg, Mike Schmidt, Ernie Banks, Willie Mays, Tony Gwynn, Hank Aaron, and Yogi Berra. Not sure in what order though.

Okay, I'll be honest, I was kind of dreading the long drawn-out intro but that was pretty nice. I'm sure the rest of the night will be so drenched in "Stars and Pinstripes Forever!" that I'll be ready to throw my laptop through the TV but for now, I'm okay.

FIRST INNING

Three up, three down for the NL. Even Lance, my little chunky monkey. Jeez, no wonder we never win.

Cue the Derek Jeter love fest. Joe Buck: "Jeter has done nothing but win since coming to the Majors." Tim McCarver: "When the Yankees last won the World Series in 2000..." I'm not sure he meant to point out that it's been 8 years since the Yankees won a championship but I'll take it.

When I see the previews for Tropic of Thunder I'm torn between my hatred for Ben Stiller and my love for Robert Downey, Jr. I think RDJ as a white actor playing a black guy is going to win out in the end. Oh, wait... Is the first inning over?

SECOND INNING

Our first base hit! Ugh, Chipper Jones. I hate that guy! Well, I guess I'll take it. When did he get to be 36, by the way? He and Derek Jeter are just baby-faced youngsters, right?

Matt Holliday bounces a dribbler down the first base line but Chipper goes to second. Runner in scoring position! Come on, Ryan Braun! Annnnd he strikes out.

A Budweiser commercial that splices together a lot of famous home runs over the years was just on and that little glimpse of a hobbled Kirk Gibson pumping his right arm as he rounds the bases after his home run in Game One of the 1988 World Series gives me chills. When I look back on my life as a sports fan, that moment is so vivid it's like I was just watching it last night.

As Manny Ramirez walks back to the dug-out after striking out, Buck says, "And Ramirez will be thinking about that at-bat." Somehow I doubt that. I'm not convinced that Manny thinks about his at-bats while they're actually happening which is fine with me. Since he's not on my time, I find him pretty amusing. I particularly appreciate how he can swing from looking like an entire comedy troupe to looking like a Gold Glover in left field over the course of two plays.

Man, what is with the stolen bases? I know it's an exhibition but maybe you guys could attempt to hold the runners a little closer to first base?

Fox has put a lot of stupid stuff on my TV screen over the years but one thing I do kind of like is the Hot Zone where they break the strike zone up into 9 sections and show the batter's average for each location. I can't reel off a ton of stats or anything but I do enjoy that baseball has a stat for just about everything. If I wanted to find Berkman's average from the left side against right handed pitchers in at-bats that take place after 9:34 p.m. under a three-quarter moon, I'm sure I could.

THIRD INNING

One of my favorite things about Yogi Berra is that he was (so I hear) such a good bad ball hitter. I was always kind of a sucker for high pitches so I feel like we're kindred spirits. I love hearing old baseball players tell their stories. As much as I've come to love hockey, if you told me I could sit down with a Hall of Fame hockey player or a Hall of Fame baseball player, I'm taking the baseball player. Those are the guys I was fascinated with as a kid, its their grainy footage and photos I pored over and I think there's something forever special about that childhood link.

Ha ha. Jeter hits into a double play. Man, I know I complain about this thing being too long but it's cranking along. Too bad it's REALLY BORING!

FOURTH INNING

Very cool footage of Mariano Rivera showing Roy Halladay and Scott Kazmir how he throws his cutter. I love seeing stuff like that. But while we're looking at that footage let me say, what is the point of American/National League jerseys when they don't even wear them in the game? And thank god they don't because those gray NL hats are pretty awful.

Albert Pujols hits a long shot into the corner of right field but gets nailed trying to stretch it into a double. I think he was actually safe, but it was a perfect throw from Ichiro who McCarver just compared to Roberto Clemente. I don't know... That's hallowed ground where I come from. COME ON, NATIONAL LEAGUE! WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?

I've never heard of this movie The Perfect Game but I already adore the scene where the kid catches the pop fly, all his teammates pile on, and the ump comes out to say, "Coach, there's more than one out in a baseball game?" Totally cute. (The trailer on the website is much more dramatic than the TV spot.)

Ha ha. Alex Rodriguez - I hate the nickname A-Rod and refuse to use it - struck out.

Manny Ramirez's Hot Zone looks a lot like Mauer's - both are weaker low and on the inside corner but McCarver disagrees. "Manny is not hitting .160 low and in." Tim, it's a stat. You can't argue it. You can say that it doesn't really matter since he hits well pretty much everywhere else, but you can't say it isn't true.

Milton Bradley is picked off at first. I told you guys to hold the runners. Nice.

FIFTH INNING

Matt Holliday puts the NL on top with a home run to right field! I believe Matt Holliday is Lee's boy so go, Matty!

I'm bored so here's Heather's Favorite Baseball Players, Childhood Edition

1. Andy Van Slyke
2. Jeff Bagwell
3. Mark Grace
4. Ryne Sandberg
5. Greg Maddux (but I wouldn't admit it until years later because he was a dirty, rotten Brave)

Honorable mention: Jay Bell, Mike LaValliere, Craig Biggio, and Kirby Puckett. Jay Bell should really probably be in the top five but I couldn't figure out who to bump so consider him 5b.

Berkman actually doesn't look that chunky right now. I think he's slimmed down some. I don't think I like it. Ooh, Nate McLouth is in! There is a Pirate on the field!

Two runners on, two outs, Jeter at the plate. If Jeter puts the AL up here, I'm not going to be happy. I will have to conclude that the Baseball Gods still hate me, even after all these years.

Jeter bounces out to the pitcher! The Baseball Gods love me! The Pirates will be in the World Series, count on it!

SIXTH INNING

Hanley Ramirez gets a base hit. Thank goodness because I was really starting to fall asleep. Tim McCarver's latest piece of wisdom: "It's a fallacy to believe pitchers get the pitch exactly where they want it every time." Does anyone really believe that?

Another hit! Runners on first and third with Lancelot at the plate. Come on, Berk, give us some insurance! Yes! Deep fly to center that gets the runner in. Way to go, Big Fat Elvis Puma!

Pujols singles up the middle! Wow, it's like a real baseball game all of a sudden!

McCarver and Buck start talking about George Steinbrenner and I have to admit, as much as I hate the Yankees, it was pretty sad to see him looking so unwell when they carted him out on the field earlier. George should be sitting in the owner's box and saying obnoxious things to the media. Something's not quite right in the baseball world when that's not happening. I might be pretty bummed when he finally leaves us.

Joe Buck is really trying to get all his Hamilton talking points in, but Hamilton's at-bats aren't lasting long enough. This time around we do learn that Hamilton is tested 3 times a week as part of his reinstatement which I already knew. It is pretty remarkable that he played something like 15 minor leagues games over the past six years before popping into the Majors again. It's clear why he got drafted out of high school.

SEVENTH INNING

Okay, seriously, I'm so ready to shuttle God Bless America in the seventh inning stretch. The All-Star Game should feature Take Me Out to the Ballgame for crying out loud! My favorite version of Take Me Out to the Ballgame is Carly Simon's. I actually have two versions by her and I love both of them. I like that this one includes the verses - which are about how much a girl loves baseball, by the way - but I can't find the other version which I like a little better. It's very slow and it's just Carly's voice and then a piano.

J.D. Drew ties up the game with a two run home run. Boooooo! Every year I think the NL might finally win and every year the AL comes back toward the end of the game. I hate the AL!

EIGHTH INNING

I hope Robert Patrick and James Cameron made an ass load of money for handing over Terminator 2 to DirecTV commercials because otherwise there is just no excuse. Years later Patrick totally freaks me out in that role and it's tough to take him seriously after watching that stupid commercial over and over.

Tim McCarver says he thought Jonathan Papelbon's remarks about Mariano Rivera were respectful and he just doesn't understand what the problem was. Well, Tim, it's like this: Yankees fans are jackasses. They're giving Papelbon a really hard time, starting up an O-VER-RATE-D chant which stops immediately when he strikes out a batter with a high fastball clocked at 95 mph. Still, the NL goes back up (yay!) and he gets some hearty boos as he walks off the field.

Brian Wilson is pitching for the NL. Really? Never heard of this guy unless we're talking about the Beach Boy. I'm really enjoying the footage we keep seeing of Joe Girardi warming up pitchers in the bullpen. Once a catcher, always a catcher. I really liked Joe during his initial run with the Cubbies so I'm rooting for him in New York although not if it means the Yankees winning. Which is tricky.

Evan Longoria ties up the game again. If I stayed up to watch the AL win this thing again, I'm going to be annoyed. I should be in bed right now.

NINTH INNING

Corey Hart? If you're going to share a name with a musician, Brian Wilson is a much better choice.

I can't believe that Fox just cut away from Mariano Rivera's entrance from the bullpen. The game is in Yankee Stadium, one of their most beloved players with one of the most famous entrances in baseball is coming in, and Fox cuts away. Francona probably brought him in in the middle of the inning so he could get his big entrance and Fox cuts away. Fox is stupid. I hate the Yankees - have I mentioned that? - and even I love a good Mo entrance.

Listen, I don't know if I can do extra innings. I really need to go to bed. I have a long day of chasing kids and dodging furniture ahead of me. I'm not sure I'm that invested in who wins this game.

TENTH INNING

I'm telling you, I'm out of here at midnight.

Heather's Favorite Baseball Players, Current Edition

1. Lance Berkman
2. Roy Oswalt
3. Travis Hafner
4. Jason Bay (although I have one eye on Nate McLouth)
5. John Smoltz

Honorable mentions: Jason Varitek, Mariano Rivera (shhh, don't tell), Jake Peavy (Man, too many pitchers!)

Holy cow! I don't know what inning it is anymore because I'm really trying to edit this and get to bed, but Nate McLouth just made a beautiful throw from center field to Russel Martin at the plate who made a great tag/block to keep the game tied. That was very, very nice. Forget home runs, I could watch plays like that all night long. Um, except for tonight. Because I'm going to bed now. Sorry.

Top Shelf Reviews: God Save the Fan and Saved

But first! I'm really not a huge fan of the Home Run Derby. Home runs are not my thing. I think it gets pretty boring watching them after a few minutes and the Derby seems to get longer every year. Something that would be a fun little 30-45 minute exhibition is forced into being some kind of spectacle and it doesn't work for me. But I tuned in this year to watch Lance Berkman and thank goodness I did because Josh Hamilton's display in the second round was amazing. I won't repeat his whole story here because chances are you've heard it, but if you're not familiar with Hamilton I highly recommend this recent Sports Illustrated piece. He's an amazing story. I admit it, watching Hamilton stand at home plate with an ear-to-ear grin on his face while the crowd went crazy made me a little teary-eyed. Just one of those fabulous moments where you're watching so much more than just a sporting event.

Okay, moving on...

It's the off-season and I recently had a week off from work - Regents exams gypped me out of my usual two weeks this year - so I had a little bit of time to sit down and read a few books. A couple of the books I read were sports-related so here are a couple of reviews for your enjoyment. While I fully endorse you reading all the hockey blogs you want, especially this one, you should think about reading a book too, especially if you haven't done so recently. It won't hurt, I promise.

First up is God Save the Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (and How We Can Get It Back) by Deadspin.com founder Will Leitch. (I actually started reading this a few days before school ended but it was tough to hide that cover from the kids.) Before I get into the review I'll admit that I have mixed feelings about Deadspin. Obviously, I'm pro-blogs and blogger, and I think Leitch and company have done a tremendous job of providing coverage for fans who didn't feel like they were getting what they wanted. I think the site is often well-written and funny. But I'm not a regular reader for a few reasons. One, I never got over their site re-design, requiring you to click through to read every single thing which is just a weird quirk I have.* Two, you have to wade through a lot of basketball and football which I don't particularly care for to get to the baseball and hockey. Three, its target audience is clearly very male. So while I was definitely interested in reading this book, I'm not a huge Deadspin devotee.

The book is a group of essays, some shorter than others, split into four groups: Players, Owners, Media and Fans. Each section concludes with a glossary that goes along with that section's theme. As an example, here's the entry for Buffalo Bills fans: "Still shell-shocked from those four Super Bowl losses, now happy to just have the team hanging around to make living in Buffalo at least slightly interesting. That is, until the team leaves for San Antonio or Los Angeles. Thinks O.J. is innocent."**

I hate the glossaries. I read every entry and while a few of them are really funny, most of them are space-fillers and a lot of them repeat something Leitch already made a point of in one of the essays or in a previous glossary. If he was really attached to this idea, it should have gone at the end of the book, I think.

Unfortunately, I think the essays are pretty hit and miss too. Again, some of them are very funny and occasionally insightful, but most of them are only mildly amusing and they don't really say anything that hasn't already been said, especially if you're a Deadspin reader. Only one of the essays is a direct rip from Deadspin.com (the very amusing John Rocker interview) but most of them are ideas and thoughts that have been expressed there so there's nothing that feels new or different here. You're not really reading a print copy of the blog... but you kind of are.

The one essay I remember a couple of weeks later is entitled "What Athletes are Talking About When They're Talking About God" and while I'm always interested in hearing about how pro athletes weave their religious and spiritual beliefs into their very unorthodox and temptation-filled lives, I think part of the reason it stuck with me is because it seemed so un-Deadspin. Leitch writes about Zach Johnson, the unexpected winner of the 2007 Masters, and how immediately after the win he said, "Jesus was with me every step of the way," and then started crying. Reporters groan and wait for him to say something interesting and fans roll their eyes and complain that no one ever thanks God when they lose and that God doesn't care who wins or loses and I admit, I fully expected the essay to go right along with that idea. Leitch went completely the other way on me though:

While we (non-Christians) see someone acting as if he won because Jesus Christ decided he deserved to win more than the other guy - as if Jesus said, "Hey, Johnson's a nice guy, let's move his ball closer to the cup on that drive" - a Christian sees it as something else entirely - that is, a humble acknowledgment that nothing any person does can be attributed to themselves. It's a guard against pride... Just because they believe Jesus was with them while they won, that doesn't mean they believe Jesus was only with them... Why this bothers us more than, say, LeBron James flashing his Nike logo every time he talks to Jim Gray is bewildering.

And while it's possible that yes, I just quoted the one essay in the book that the average sports fan might not care about, I think the book could've used more pieces like this. It's a perspective we haven't heard over and over about an issue that doesn't get as much press as how much ESPN sucks. I understand why so much of the book deals with why so-and-so and such-and-such suck - that's what the Deadspin Empire is built on - but it's all very been there, read that. But like I said, I'm not a huge devotee of Deadspin and therefore probably not the target audience for God Save the Fan. If Leitch had wandered too far from what got him to this point it's possible that I would've really liked the book but everyone else would've hated it.

Back when I first started watching hockey, I immediately went out looking for hockey books of any kind. I didn't know anything about how the game worked, I knew very little about the sport's history, and I didn't know any of the characters beyond the obvious stars of my youth so I had a lot of catching up to do. (Note to writers: More hockey-related books, please!) My favorite out of that first batch of books I read - maybe my favorite still - was Jack Falla's Home Ice: Reflections on Backyard Rinks and Frozen Ponds. It's pretty much what the title suggests and has nothing to do with the NHL, but I loved it almost immediately. I've never set foot on a backyard rink - although we did have a frozen pond once, just for a few days - but it made me feel like I had and the feeling that I really needed to learn to ice-skate started way back then. If you've never read Home Ice I highly recommend it. It's one of those books that's about sports on the surface but really about something deeper - how sports can connect us to the people and places we love even years later. It's really lovely.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find Saved, Falla's first novel on the new book shelf at the library not that long ago. Saved is the story of veteran goalie J.P. Savard and his best buddy and Boston teammate Cam Carter. Both guys are veterans who know their window for winning a Stanley Cup is just about to close. Nothing earth-shattering happens and chances are you might figure out some of the plot points before they come but that's okay because the book is funny and sweet and tough and seems realistic. Falla covered hockey for Sports Illustrated among other places and his characters and the situations they find themselves in are totally believable. My only complaint would be how every character uses sports cliches and references in their daily life. One of the characters, newly married, says he and his wife are going to enjoy themselves for a while before "pulling the goalie." Maybe athletes really do talk like that but if so, well, thank god I didn't marry one because I don't think I could handle that. It's a minor complaint though. Saved won't change your life but it's perfect for a nice, relaxing read while on vacation or wrapped up in a quilt on the couch.

* - In addition to hating having to click through to read complete posts, I also hate those links that show little pop-up images of the site being linked to. Ugh.

** - Not true. When my brothers-in-law went to Canton for Jim Kelly's Hall of Fame induction they took a picture of one of them strangling O.J.'s bust. I think most Bills fans think of O.J. (allegedly) murdering his wife as one more example of why God hates them.

Wah, Wah, Wah (This Has Nothing to Do With Hockey)

You guys, I can't remember the last time I was so happy to see the weekend. Summer school started this week and I started in a new classroom, first and second grade. They are criminally cute - absolutely adorable, everyone of them. But they're all really explosive and they're all runners. At breakfast I chased one of them around the outside of the building, before lunch I was herding most of the kids out of the classroom while dodging the chairs the other kid was throwing and I had already physically removed every one of them from the room, after lunch I chased another kid around all three floors of the inside of the building, and the last time I escorted a kid from the room I got bit. Eight hours later I can still see little red teeth marks. And that was just today.

I really like the kids and things are going fairly well (yeah, you'll just have to trust me on that one) but I am exhausted. The last two nights I've basically come home and crashed in the bedroom, resting until bedtime. The only difference between "resting" and "sleeping" by the way is that I rest in my regular clothes and not my nightshirt. I fully intended to watch the Pirates-Yankees game tonight but I rested through most of it although I did see all the important stuff like say, the Pirates winning. Let's go Bucs! Let's go Bucs! (Lee, there's your baseball talk for this week. What's the deal with the Pirates? Their offense has looked pretty good in the games I've seen. Is their pitching that bad?)

I meant to have a couple more posts up this week. The only reason I had the skating one up was because I had it mostly written last week. I have two or three half-written that will hopefully go up this weekend after I crash for a long nap tomorrow.

So yeah. Carry on. I just wanted to complain for a few minutes before bed. Since you were kind enough to listen to me, please enjoy a few of my favorite baseball photos.

This photo would be funny anyway but the little bubble he's blowing pushes it over the top for me.

Todd Helton celebrates a trip to the World Series. That skyward look of jubilation gives me chills.

Baggy and Bidge forever!

How can you not love a guy who poses for a baseball card in a sumo wrestler costume?

Obligatory anti-Yankees photo. Jeter and Rodriguez "stretch."

Heather and Mark Do Buffalo: 3rd of July With the Bisons

With special guest star, Mom B!

(I really want to say that I ended up writing much more about the actual game than I intended but I'm going to assume that if you keep coming here you've pretty much realized that long-winded and meandering is the name of the game. Right?)

Mark and I were reminiscing today and one of our first official dates way back in... uh... let's see... 1997, I believe, was a Bisons game. When we moved back to Buffalo we went to the July 3rd game every year for quite a while but somewhere along the way we got out of the habit. We decided it's been a couple of years since we went to a Bisons game which is pretty sad on our part. We love baseball! Well, I love baseball. Mark deals with it once in a while.

We just bought our tickets a few days ago so we were quite a bit down the right field line but it wasn't a bad view of the field at all. Mark complained here and there that he couldn't see the batter very well but honestly, I think it was usually me leaning forward and blocking him.


We missed the top half of the first because we were running late from dinner but we got there just in time to see Todd Linden - who we called Trevor, originally by accident and then on purpose, all night - tie up the game with a solo HR.

Touch 'em all.

The Bisons have probably been wearing the current uniform for five years without me noticing but I'm in love with the primary logo, the standing buffalo over the baseball. It's very simple but I like that about it. For some reason I also had a lot of affection for the buffalo on the fence where the distance markings are. He's pretty cute.


Morgan Ensberg! Holy smokes, what happened to that guy? After I gave up on the Pirates I had an intense two or three year affair with the Houston Astros. They had a nice mix of veterans I already loved - especially Jeff Bagwell (don't even tell me Baggy isn't a first ballot Hall of Famer because I have a prepared speech and I will not hesitate to give it to you) - and younger guys who I also really loved. Lance Berkman (favorite current Major Leaguer) and Roy Oswalt were at the top of the list but Morgan Ensberg was in there too. It really seemed like the team was going to become his and Berkman's after Baggy and Craig Biggio retired. Man. I couldn't get a good picture because my camera didn't like the score board but in his roster photo Morgan even has a "How did I get here?" look about him.

Between innings we got all kinds of little games and races. I didn't get a picture of it but my favorite was probably the dance contest that paired up various mascots with fans just because the Key Bank mascot's costume is designed so that all he can really do is flap his lower arms around. In this game the fan got one lottery ticket for every ball he got in the target in 60 seconds. First of all, lottery tickets? Lamest prize ever. I'm demanding a free hot dog at the very least. Second of all, they stopped him at ten. Come on, that's even more lame. You can't give away twelve tickets instead?


At the top of the fifth we all decided we really needed some ice-cream and then spent TWO INNINGS in line. Geez louise. I don't know if the lines are always like that at Dunn Tire or if it was just because of the crowd - the poor guy in front of us must've spent a fortune just trying to keep his small children from getting too restless before the fireworks started - but it was painfully slow moving.

While we were waiting, Jennie Finch cut through the line right in front of me. Jennie Finch! (For those of you not in the know, Jennie is one of the best women's fastpitch pitchers of all-time. I'd take Lisa Fernandez in her prime first, maybe Cat Osterman second, but Jennie would probably be third.) Her husband plays for Rochester which I didn't even realize. (I knew he pitched but didn't know where.) I might have gone after her and asked her for a picture but she seemed to be by herself and she had her son with her. I hated to ask, "Could you please put down your small child and take a picture with me, a perfect stranger?" (Her kid's name is Ace. And it's not a nickname. I get that mom and dad are both pitchers but come on. Cheesy.) We missed a great diving catch in left field but I did manage to catch it on the TVs over the ice-cream stand.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a Katebits sighting! I just happened to look over where the BPO was setting up and there she was! Look at her just surveying her people! I'm pretty sure that Kate went and got the HR ball that Matt Macri hit to put Rochester up, 5-2. Careful, Kate! Someone is always watching :P


We got a big kick out of these people who we noticed late in the game. Hey, why buy a ticket when you can sit on the side of the highway for free? By the time the fireworks actually started there was quite a little group of people over there.


In the 8th inning, things were not looking good for our Buffalo Bisons. One runner got held at third when I think he probably could've scored. Another batter fouls out to the left fielder who then throws out the runner on third who tagged on the play. The rally, it is killed. In the top of the ninth, catcher Chris Gimenez makes a bad throw and Rochester takes a 6-2 lead.

(Side note: Earlier in the game when Mark noted that Gimenez had a horrible batting average but hadn't had too many at-bats yet I gave him a brief lecture on Gimenez and how he'd just been called up from the Eastern League because he was hitting so well whereas the Bisons catcher, who was sent down to AA, wasn't and how since the switch was made the former Bisons catcher has been hitting really well and Gimenez has been a train wreck. He looked at me, slightly stunned and said, "... I had no idea you actually followed these guys." I don't, I just read and retain well. Thanks, Mike Harrington for making me look super smart!)

Anyway, things got interesting in the bottom of the ninth when the Bisons managed to load the bases with no outs. Their offense had not been inspiring tonight - or most of the season judging by some of the stats on the big board - but maybe it's a night of miracles. (Mark said, "I see this game ending in true Buffalo fashion - a triple play." Cynic!) At this point there were suddenly beach balls all over the stands and therefore all over the field. I can only assume they came from the Bisons since there were so many of them but dude, what the heck? It's the bottom of the ninth and the bases are loaded. I'm trying to watch a game here!

Bases loaded, no outs. Dare we hope?

Lots of stuff happens - look, I didn't take notes, okay? - and the Bisons tie up the game. Mark and I both think they should have won but the third base coach holds up a runner we thought probably would've scored. I guess I can see why he did that. I think there was still only one out at the time so it wasn't necessary to take the chance. (I still clearly remember Bobby Bonilla making the first out of a big inning in the playoffs at third base and I was pretty grumpy about that because instead of a runner on second with no outs, we had no runners on and one out. From second, he would've scored on the next hit and instead we got no runs that inning. I really think the Pirates tried to kill me on more than one occasion. They were good practice for the Sabres.)

The crowd that was just pumped up and into the game began to get restless as we realized this might take a while. Innings ten, eleven, and twelve pass and everyone kept looking at the clock. One of the girls in the very loud obnoxious group behind us threatened to leave at 11 no matter what and I said a small prayer that she would. These girls were mildly amusing at first - when one of the pitchers was called on a balk, one of them said, "Like a chicken?" and they had a half inning discussion on whether we were sitting in right field or left field. When I learned that one of them has a pink and white Sabres jersey and one of them has a Derek Roy jersey I became more concerned. These are not my people. (I love Derek Roy but he does not seem to attract the brightest fans in the world.) By the time the fireworks started I was pretty close to punching them all in the nose and I'm not a confrontational person. Trying to rush the BPO through a Jungle Book medley and loudly complaining about how long everything is taking and how late it is is one thing but trying to rush them through the Armed Forces tribute is sad. Shut your yap and let the rest of us enjoy the show or you know, leave. I don't think the Bisons locked the doors behind us. Ugh. Hated those girls so much. The small children in front of us were better behaved.

Mark and I were really into the game for the most part but even we were getting a little winded.

Getting... very... sleepy...

Some Rochester guy hit a homerun in the top of the 13th and I admit it, there were quite a few cheers around me. Bring on the BPO and the fireworks!

Before the show started we got a little video recap of some of the past year's events and a tribute to Jimmy Griffith and Tim Russert. The BPO also played O Danny Boy for them. My favorite part of the video was the crowd booing the image of the New England Patriots with 18-0 and then immediately cheering at the next image: the New England Patriots with 18-1. The Stanley Cup hoisting Red Wings got some hearty boos as well while the Ice Bowl and Ryan Miller got a big cheer.

We got a couple of medleys from the BPO including a Star Wars medley. That's what I'm talking about. There were characters on the field and it's kind of cheesy and not very easy to see with the dimmed lights but dude... Star Wars! Even when it's cheesy it's awesome.

After a couple of medleys, we got to my favorite part of the show. I love the Armed Forces tribute where they play all the branches' theme songs and have people in the crowd who served in those branches stand. I always get choked up seeing the older gentlemen stand as straight and proud as they can when their songs start. As each song played, a few soldiers from that branch marched across the field toward a large American flag near the pitcher's mound.

The guy next to me got his hand in my way but since he was standing up as an Air Force vet, I think we can let it slide.

And then Stars and Stripes and the fireworks. The fireworks were lovely as always, far lovelier than the picture below suggests. My batteries were dying by this point so I only got a couple of shots. This, sadly, is the best one.


Just before midnight, the show finally ends. Fittingly, Lady Liberty guides us back to our car (sadly, those pictures were terrible too), another night in Buffalo (finally) over.

Happy Fourth of July!

Mark and his mom wish you a happy 4th!

Why I Love Hockey: All in the Family

Since I've spent the past few days closing my eyes and reminding myself, "I do love hockey! I do love hockey!" I figured it was time for the next Why I Love Hockey. But before I get to that, a few random thoughts.

First of all, a quick non-hockey note. Cry me a river, Roger Clemens. I'm not going to say you're a steroid user though I wasn't particularly impressed by your Mike Wallace interview, but have you been paying attention for the last few years? Fans have been throwing needles at Barry Bonds and people have been talking about putting asterisks on every record he owns. During that time, any mention of you in conjunction with steroids was shot down pretty quickly. That? Was you getting the benefit of the doubt.

Second of all, if you haven't read the comment thread on the previous post, you really should do so (if I do say so myself). I think there's some interesting stuff there, some varying opinions, and hey, everything managed to stay all polite and civil! Don't you guys know that's not what the internet is for? Thanks to everyone who participated. In addition to making for some interesting reading, it killed off an entire day for me.

One of the topics that came up on the outskirts of the conversation was Lindy Ruff and I've been thinking about Lindy a lot over the past couple of weeks. I kind of hate the idea of changing a coach just to make a change when the only people that can be blamed for piss-poor effort are the ones on the ice, but I do get that not every coach is a good fit for every team and it's much easier to fire a coach than a bunch of players. I will also state for the record that I'm in no way endorsing firing Lindy - I adore him and quite frankly I might prefer firing all the players - but I am a little bit surprised that he isn't getting more out of the team since in the past he's always seemed to be very good with young players and shown the ability to get hard work out of players. I'd be curious to know how he's handling the team behind closed doors. Calm and encouraging? Screaming and flipping furniture? A little of both?

As much as I love Lindy, my mind does wander back to the beginning of the season and his first comments on this year's team which were not very positive. I really think that was a mistake. Even if that was how he felt, the players who were still here didn't need to hear that, especially since he'd been silent on all the off-season stuff until then. Even if he didn't believe it yet, they needed to hear, "Screw those guys and screw you for considering the season lost before it's even started. We still have plenty of talent here and we'll be fine." He seemed to come around within a few weeks and again, I'd like to think professional athletes would be capable of playing for themselves no matter what anyone else says, but I do find myself wondering if maybe Lindy's losing or lost the room. I hope not. Just something I've been thinking about.

Okay, moving on!

Why I Love Hockey #34 - Ringing Family

When I fell in love with Mark, I was pretty lucky to fall in love with his family too. There are a lot of them (he's the baby of seven) and they are a friendly, funny, slightly crazy, loving bunch. One of my favorite things about them is the tradition of ringing each other during Sabres games.

We were sitting in Mark's apartment back in Birmingham the first time I experienced it. The phone rang once and then stopped. Mark jumped up off the couch and ran to the computer.

"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I think the Sabres scored!" He pulled up the game recap on NHL.com or whatever site updated scores back then and pumped a fist. "Yes!"
"How'd you know that?"
"Because my mom just rang me. That's what we do."

And it is what they do. When the Sabres score, everybody calls everybody else, lets the phone ring once, and then hangs up. It's like a long-distance high five and to me, it's totally adorable. As Mark remembers it, one of his brothers spontaneously decided to ring one of the other boys every time the Sabres scored just to mess with him and it spiraled from there. It doesn't happen during Bills games even though we all watch them too. It's strictly a hockey thing. I turned the TV off on Sunday after the score of the Atlanta game was 3-1 and despite that, I knew when the Sabres scored their second goal because Mark rang me from his mom's house. (I did not know however that the Thrashers had scored a fourth goal so that took the wind right out of my sails and the TV went right back off.) The one ring is ingrained now and any time it happens - on TV, in a movie, at home but not during a game - one of us will say, "Sabres scored."

There have been a few people that have made me consider taking the tradition outside of the family. I've thought about ringing them to see if they figure out what's going on. But I don't know, I never have. I'll be honest, it's partly because of caller I.D. I don't know want any of my friends thinking I'm stalking or pranking them. But it's also because I enjoy the B. family having this kinda dumb but entertaining tradition. Hopefully in 50 years our kids and grandkids will be ringing me and Mark when the Sabres scores.

Uncluttering My Mind (Keep Reading, There is Hockey Eventually)

A few non-hockey complaints:

- I cannot believe how much Christmas cards cost. I found these awesome Where the Wild Things Are cards but it was $16.95 for ten cards! That's highway robbery! I bought some dinkier cards and they still cost me $17 but atleast I got a lot more of them for my money. Also, they were a pain in the butt to open! What's wrong with a regular ol' box, card manufacturing people?

- I was unpleasantly surprised to discover that the lowest denomination gift card McKinley Mall offers is $20. I'm only supposed to spend $10 on my Secret Santa! I'm a fabulous Secret Santa because I ended up just spending the $20. I was too lazy to even think of somewhere else to go much less actually get in my car and go there. (Enjoy, Ralph!)

- Hollywood, can we please get on with this whole strike thing? Pay the writers already. YOU NEED THEM and I'm not going to be happy if Lost gets pushed back for your crap. I'm enjoying the plethora of pro-writer websites and videos out there. Let's face it, in a P.R. battle between producers and writers, writers definitely have the advantage. Here's my favorite video, "A World Without Writers," which takes a look at how some of our best movies might have fared without real writers. The lines from Gone With the Wind and Citizen Kane are my favorites. Although the Blade Runner one is good too.



- Not shocked about Roger Clemens and not buying his denials, disappointed that Andy Pettitte didn't come clean when his name first came up a year or so ago, relieved that Jeff Bagwell is still clean as far as we know. His name is the only one that would really devastate me. Also, someone please make John Kruk shut up.

And now a little hockey:

- I'm not down with this whole Scott Niedermayer thing. I think Scott is a great player and he's wonderful to watch and I understand that Brian Burke told him to take his time and think about what he wanted to do... but just because Burke gave him that option, it didn't mean Niedermayer had to use it. If he wanted to retire, he should have said, "Thanks, but I really want to move on." If he didn't want to retire, he should have been ready to go when the season started. No one player - no matter how talented he is - should be more important than the other guys on the roster. I suppose his teammates might all be fine with him only playing part of the season and with the team having to shuffle everything around and move players to make room for Niedermayer's return, but I don't know, it strikes me as unfair in a pretty severe way. I hope this doesn't lead to older players regularly playing partial seasons.

Oh, who am I kidding? I drafted Scott Niedermayer in my fantasy draft and he totally screwed me. Unlike his real-life management, I'm not forgiving him any time soon.

- I'm going to the Flyers game Friday night. I have very mixed feelings about this. At first I totally wanted to go because I wanted to be there for Marty Biron's first game back but then Daniel Briere went and muddied everything up by signing with Philly. The family is going though so I got roped into it. I'm not entirely sure how Danny will be greeted and I'm not entirely sure how I want him to be greeted. I don't think I want him to be cheered like a conquering hero. He left and really he wasn't even here that long. I kind of want to feel like everyone's (finally!) moved on. But he did give us a couple of really special years and he was, by all accounts, wonderful in the community so I'm not sure I want him to be booed mercilessly either. If you see a confused looking woman in the 300s who looks like she can't quite decide whether to boo or cheer, that'd be me. I am clear on one thing though: No video tributes. Seriously, can we just stop talking about that?

- Mike Harrington totally stole my Patrick Kane headline! Okay, he beat me by 15 minutes or so. But still! Speaking of Mike Harrington...

- ...Since I'm usually complaining about the Buffalo News, I will throw them a little praise and say that I've been really enjoying Mike Harrington's work. He comes across as both knowledgeable and fair which is a nice change of pace. His Sabres Edge blog is good stuff and he seems to really get blogging more than some old school journalists do. The quality of the conversation in the comments is touch and go since it sometimes brings out the crazies (although it's calmed down considerably since the free agency days), but the writing itself is top-notch and he often includes some interesting links to other sites and papers. I found his link to a recent Rochester Democrat and Chronicle bit about an AHL team ganging up on Patrick Kaleta cool since we don't hear much about the Rochester guys. I may be the only person in Buffalo who doesn't really want to see Kaleta in Buffalo any time soon so I thought it was a particularly good read. (ETA: It was actually John Vogl who linked to the Kaleta piece. My bad! The spirit of the above remains the same however.)

- Thanks to everyone who played along with me on the last post. While I hope it goes without saying, I'll state for the record that I love when fans of other teams pop up over here. I think one of the coolest things about the blogging world is getting to know other fans and teams more. I like knowing how other people are feeling about their teams and I like occasionally seeing that hockey exists beyond the Sabres.

I also love how loyal WNY transplants are to their hometown despite where life may take them. All the stuff I said about Buffalo being the kind of city that grabs you by the heart and never lets go was absolutely sincere. It's not a perfect city and it's certainly a place with its share of problems, but it's my home and I love it. Here's a glove tap to all you Sabres fans spread across the country. Wear that blue and gold with pride! LET'S GO BUFF-A-LO!

Why I Love Hockey - Part 4

But first! How lame is the NHL Awards show? Even if you put aside all the scheduling mix-ups, the show is just not good. Every year I get excited about this and every year I zone out fifteen minutes into the show. Last night I watched the red carpet stuff and the presentations of the Pearson and the Selke and then I left the room, got on the computer, and listened to the rest of the show from down the hall. I applaud the NHL for trying to do something different and special with their year end awards but lame jokes and a band no one's ever heard of isn't the way to go. It didn't help that almost no one I wanted to win won. I was pulling for Niedermayer for the Norris, Luongo for the Vezina, and Pahlsson for the Selke and I came up empty. I can't really argue with anyone who did win except for Rod Brind'Amour who was just a terrible choice for the Selke - the least deserving of the three nominees and probably less deserving than some of the other guys in the top ten. Like say maybe Chris Drury.

Why I Love Hockey #4 - Incredible Athleticism
I was a pretty good athlete in my day - and I can still hold my own, thank you very much - and I'm absolutely amazed at the level of athleticism involved in hockey. As much as I love baseball, I can admit that you don't have to be a great athlete to be a good hitter or a good fielder. You just have to be really strong at a certain skill. John Kruk famously said, "I'm not an athlete, lady, I'm a baseball player." Successful hockey players have an unbelievable combination of skills - speed, quickness, flexibility, strength, hand-eye coordination, hand-foot coordination, vision, and balance. And then they need to be able to flip all those skills on in a split second because the game moves so fast. The thing that amazes me most about Maxim Afinogenov is not that he's so fast (though geez louise, the boy is FAST), it's that he can be going full steam ahead and then come to a full stop to make a play or cut in another direction. Andrew Peters get slagged on by Buffalo fans for being the least skilled player on the Sabres, but I would bet a decent amount of money that he's a better athlete than half of the guys in the Major Leagues or the NFL. There are so many games in a season that it's pretty easy to start taking what these guys do every night for granted but we really are watching world class athletes do things most people couldn't dream of doing. Amazing.

Something About Me #4
I have three brothers. My two older brothers are 10 and 11 years older than me, my younger brother is 2 years younger. Despite the fact that everyone automatically assumes this is why I was such a tomboy as a kid, I was the most serious athlete in the family. I played basketball through part of high school but fastpitch softball was really my sport. I played at school and on a travel team in the summers. I probably could've played in college, atleast at some level, but I was burned out by the time I got through high school. Softball was still definitely one of the best parts of my youth though.

Why I Love Hockey - The First in an Ongoing Series

I'm going to steal a page from the Interchangeable Parts book (thanks, Pookie and Schnookie) and pass the off-season by sharing some reasons why I love hockey. The IBP girls are aiming for 118 reasons in honor of the section their Devils tickets were in but that would require me to provide you with 323 reasons. While there probably are 323 reason to love hockey, I'm not sure I can squeeze them all in in the next couple of months. In addition to the exciting reasons I love hockey, I'm going to add one non-hockey fact about me that you probably don't know. I'm going to aim for one post a day, but I'm too lazy to count how many days there are between now and the beginning of the season so here's the first in an unspecified number of posts.

Reasons I Love Hockey #1 - Speed
I was a baseball girl growing up and baseball is, as most people know, pretty darn slow. I don't have anything against that - I love the lazy, monotonous rhythm of baseball. It's part of the beauty of the game, and people who refuse to watch baseball because of the slowness of the sport just don't get it. (Note to football fans: Your game is every bit as slow and boring as baseball. Yeah, it is.) But because I grew up watching baseball, the speed of hockey was completely mind-boggling to me at first and honestly, it still is. A baseball player can stand in right field all afternoon and never touch the ball. A hockey player is guaranteed he'll have to deal with the puck - or a large man with the puck - all day. A baseball player can stand in the outfield and think about what he's going to eat after the game. A hockey player had better be ready to go the second he steps on the ice because the game sure as heck isn't going to slow down for him. Hockey at its best is constant motion, back and forth, up and down the ice, defense to offense at a moment's notice. One team can be dominating and a few seconds later the puck is in the back of their net. The lead can change and the momentum can shift without warning. It is, in a word, awesome


Something About Me #1
When I was a kid I was a huge fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates. I was born in Pittsburgh and even though I was just a wee babe when we moved, I've always had a sentimental attachment to the city - a fabulous city, by the way. That made me a bit of an outcast in Birmingham which was mostly Braves country, especially in the early 90's when the Pirates and Braves met in the NLCS, but I didn't care primarily because I never met anyone who claimed to be a Braves fan until they were the best team in the National League. (To this day, that era of Braves fans is the worst bunch of bandwagon jumpers I've ever seen.) I thought Barry Bonds was a jerk even back then which put me way ahead of schedule and I adored - adored - Andy Van Slyke. Even now I'll watch a few innings of the Tigers when they're on TV just to catch glimpses of Andy coaching first base.