Hot/Not

The Kansas boys are fond of posting these sort of things on RSD. Here is a take of my "Open Club Men's Nationals!" experience in hot vs. not form.

Hot: Beachhouse large enough to house the entire team
Not: Waking up early to clean beachhouse large enough to house the entire team

Hot: Winning spirit award with The Van Buren Boys (take that RSD!)
Not: Going 0-7.
Really Not: Thinking that spiking the wooden spirit disc would be funny, cocking my wrist back to spike the disc, and clocking Rob Mooers in the face. The blood cleaned off.

Hot: Giving Machine a scare.
Not: Getting my quad pounded by Wooten. Imagine a 6'6''/200lb muscle roller. It happened on Friday, it's now Tuesday and my quad still oscillates between pain/soreness.

Hot: Winning some in-and-out box in the ocean.
Not: Giving Jake a black eye playing in-and-out box in the ocean.

Hot: Undefeated boat racing at the Beer Garden.
Not: Puking in your friend's car on the ride home. You know who you were.

Hot: Sleeping out on the deck in the cool Florida evenings.
Not: Being covered in bug bites from sleeping out on the deck.

Hot: Talking about future ultimate plans less than 4 hours after the end of the season.
Not: Finding out that a lot of players already have plans for next year.

Hot: Partying with your teammates every night.
Not: Going to a hot, overcrowded bar with lots of people apparently looking for fights.

This nationals experience was the most fun I've had. With CLX, we had fun, but with The Van Buren Boys, we tore the house down every night, really, Lou and I wrastled a little and tore a seam in the drywall. Matt walked through the closed screendoor. Some dishes were broken. Wimer set off some smoke alarms. Friday night was a little wild, featuring some swimming. Most people went down in streeclothes that turned into impromptu swimming clothes as people were dragged down to the water.

I had some great conversations over the weekend with X, Swartie, Icepick, Amy, Jimmy, Mr. Regionals, and Stu. Got to hang out with Beckified Nation and Doegefied Nation, Wimer, Ross, and others. That Ross, not much of a wrestler. All in all, it was great hanging out with everybody. Oh yeah, include a Barrett/Kevin cards victory over Joe/Lou. Lou, that guy can take some crap, which is good, because I dish some crap. Thanks Lou, it was a lot fun this year.

I don't have too much to comment on about the tournament itself. We went 0-7, probably could have won 2 or 3 games, but didn't pull them out. The Machine game was certainly winnable, we lost 15-12, but had some wide-open drops that kept us from winning, among other things, I suppose. The Ring game was 15-12, too, but I'm not so sure that one was winnable. We were in it the whole time, but it would have taken more than just cleaning up a few bad mistakes. The GOAT game was an offensive showdown, until they scored 5 in a row to end the game against us. Our defense rarely got the disc and when we did, we rarely scored, which was frustrating as a defensive player. We didn't even get our first break until the second half of the Ring game. I think we were down at half 8-5 against Ring, Doublewide, Rhino, Machine, and Pike. 8-6 against GOAT. It wasn't until we played Rhino on Saturday that we had our first lead.

Well, that's about it. It was really fun to get back to Sarasota after not going last year and playing with this group of guys all year. We may not have ruled the school, but we gave it our best shot.

Secret Agent Man

Well, I can't be a special agent of the FBI, not yet anyway.

Lana has been researching possible career fields and she watches a lot of TV shows like Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Without a Trace. We've seen random episodes of Cold Case, Criminal Minds, CSI, etc. So in her job search, she came across the FBI Special Agent information page for new recruits. On it, she found out about the physical fitness test a person must pass in order to be considered for employment.

The test was split into 4 individually scored segments, those being sit-ups, push-ups, 300 meter run, and 1.5 mile run. Each event had its' own specific protocal. To pass the physcial fitness test, a minimum score or time was required in each segment, in addition to needing a combined score above the cut-off line.

To give a scoring example, male sit-ups (60-second time limit) were scored as follows:

-2 points--fewer than 31 situps
0 points--32-37 situps
1 point--38 situps
2 points--39-42 situps
3 points--43-44 situps
4 points--45-47 situps
5 points--48-49 situps
6 points--50-51 situps
7 points--52-53 situps
8 points--54-55 situps
9 points--56-57 situps
10 points--more than 58 situps

Each event had its' own scoring scale which can be found at http://www.fbijobs.gov/11131.asp. To even be considered for special agent status, one must score at least one point in each category and have a minimum of 12 points total across the four categories. I believe I saw that it is recommmended you be able to score in the high 20s to low 30s for serious consideration.

So, Lana and I went out around noon to be if we had what it took to be special agents, at least as far as physical fitness is concerned. The order of events were situps, 300-meter run, push-ups, then the 1.5 mile run, with minimal time in between each event.

First came sit-ups. Lana went first. She went at a steady pace, but it was too slow, as she only had 15 at the 30-second mark, she hurried up the pace and ended up with 34 in 60 seconds, one short of scoring the necessary point to pass. She scored zero points. I went next and was able to do 39 in 60 seconds, scoring two points.

After one event: Kevin 2, Lana 0.

Next we did the 300-meter run. I wasn't sure what to expect here, I sometimes feel lighter than air when I am sprinting, other times it feels like I'm running in slow motion. Lana went first and was really cruising along running the first 200 meters in a little over 30 seconds, but ran the last 100 meters in a little over 20 seconds, getting 54.??, and scoring 5 points, a good score. I went next, didn't feel too fast, tried to stay on my toes as much as possible but ended up on my heels. I came in at 45.50, also scoring 5 points. My gluts and hammies felt like they were on fire, my quads drained of any energy.

After two events: Kevin 7, Lana 5. I might pass this thing!

The third event was push-ups, something I am not strong at. From time to time in my life I have tried to do push-ups as part of working out, but fall off the schedule after about two weeks of them. My dad told me that in college he could do 60 pushups in 60 seconds, and won a fair amount of fraternity bets with the trick. At one point, I tried to be his equal, but I think the most I ever worked up to was in the low 50s. Today, I'm lucky if I can do 20 in a row. The thing about push-ups in this event is that you have to have continual motion, no pausing in between push-ups to gather strength or will power, you just have to keep going. Lana went first again and did 23, although the form was slipping at the end, and scored 3 points. She only had to do 19 to pass, whereas I had to get 30 to even get a single point. I did 17 or 18 really quick, then fought through a few more and maxed out at 22. I think I could have done a few more, but when I realized I still had to get to 30, I figured why make it to 25 or 26 just to quit when I can quit now. Maybe that's just my excuse for not doing as many push-ups as Lana. 0 points.

After three events: Lana 8, Kevin 7. Technically, neither one of us can pass at this point because we failed to score in an event, but we still wanted to see if we could get the 12 point minimum.

The last event was the 1.5 mile run. Abs tired, quads tired, arms tired, butt sore, but I need to get 10:34 or better to get 5 points to finish with 12. Lana simply needs to run a 12:29 to get 4 points to finish with 12. How did the drama unfold? I ran my first lap in 1:27, things were looking great, I was on pace to run under 9 minutes, good for 10 points! Second lap came in at 3:08, off pace, but still looking to score a lot of points. Third lap at 4:50. Slowing down. Had to walk a bit in the fourth lap, it felt like my ribs were going to separate. I was at 7:30 with two laps to go, averaged about 2 minutes per lap and finished at 11:33. Oh yeah, Lana passed me somewhere in there and she got 11:01. I scored 3 points for my time and Lana tallied 8.

Score: Lana 16, Kevin 10

So, I thought I might do fairly well, then didn't even meet either of the two minimum requirements, failing in the push-ups segment and failing to score 12 points total. I guess I have some work to do, but I don't really want to be a special agent, so no worries.

Lana tried the situps again, going at a faster pace the whole time and she did much better, doing 38 situps, bettering her previous total by 4. She went at a much faster pace early, then had some trouble late. It seemed like she could have done a number in the low 40s if she hadn't been fatigued from the previous events and having done situps earlier. So, in her second attempt, she did 38 situps, scoring 2 points, and passing all of the events.

I could have tried pushups again, but there was no point.

Final adjusted score: Lana 18, Kevin 10.

Lana passed. Congratulations Lana!

So, that was a fun workout, something with some goals mixed in with novelty. Planned to throw some frisbee, but it has been raining here for six or seven days in a row, coupled with the hammer toss practice that has occured there in the rain, left the field covered with ankle-deep divots, plus I'll be playing Moustachionals this weekend with Dingwop, so I'll get some frisbee in.

Regionals Pt. 2

Well by now it has been a few days, the RSD chatter has died down and vacation plans are underway. Soon, we'll find out what we are seeded (is it going to be 15th or 16th!).

I'd like to point out a few more players contributions that I seemed to gloss over or forget last time. First, Ross Cram needs a lot of credit. When our offense was bad on Saturday, Ross Cram came in and made it right (okay, there were a few others). When the defense needed to score late Saturday, Ross Cram made sure it happened. When The Van Buren Boys needed a break to finish out halftime against Madcow, Ross Cram let loose a backhand right up the line for Joe Nickels. Oh, and he had a layout D, I believe his only one of the season.

Joe Nickels needs some more talk, too. I don't think I mentioned him in the last blog. Joe played like a warrior. I started calling him Mr. Regionals sometime during the weekend. I remember the pictures of 2007 South College Regionals and the talk about Joe Nickels on RSD, then I saw what he did at 2007 Central Open Regionals. He came up with some big plays, always guarded some baller from the other team, and nearly died on game-point in the Madcow game, then didn't even take the injury sub.

Jake worked wonders on Saturday and Sunday. It's tough to have to call lines, especially in tight games, but Jake handled it very well. Together, we worked out some strategies and came up with some new ideas. Some worked and we went with them. Others didn't, so we went back to the old ways. Without some creativity, some willingness to change, and the stones to take charge, we may have crumbled. There is a fine line in knowing when to stick with players who are underperforming and knowing when to sit guys who aren't getting it done. You don't want to destroy your players' confidence, yet you don't want to keep digging a hole you can't get out of, either.

Without the turnaround of Mike and Barrett, Sunday would not have been possible. If they read this, I don't think it is a surprise to say that they underperformed on Saturday. With Barrett, it seemed to be physical motiviation. With Mike, it seemed to be psychological stress. No matter what it was, they came back big on Sunday when we needed them most. Barrett caught everything underneath in the rain, even the one-handed off-center grabs, and his forehand hucks were always on target. He caught a number of scores, too, seemingly taking part in over half the scores, whether throwing or catching. I'm not sure if Mike was more conservative on Sunday, but he seemed to pick his spots very well and didn't force anything that wasn't there.

I was so happy for a number of players on our team that get to go to nationals. I know it means a lot to Jimmy, Becky, Lou, and Rob. A number of guys on the team have been cut by other perennial nationals teams, so it was great to get some validation. I'm not saying other teams were wrong in not taking them, they know what they need, but it was nice to see everyone who has been cut by other teams be able to have played on a nationals level team, and not only ride the coattails of other players, but play a significant role in getting that team to nationals. I was also excited for BJ, he's been in games-to-go to nationals in three separate years and his fourth will be his first trip to nationals. When CLX abdicated our nationals bid last year, Stu, BJ, and JoeB were all denied their first trip to club nationals. I'm glad Drew and Karl joined the team. I'm glad Ben Lyons get to go to nationals, he has worked so hard this year and improved so much.

I think I have a new top-10 ultimate game, not sure where it would rank up there, nor do I want to go back and find those posts, I think they are over a year old. It's not the Madcow game, but the BAT game. My reasons for including it in the top-10? It was the first time all season that The Van Buren Boys beat a team it wasn't supposed to, and not only that, but in convincing fashion. 15-10 leaves no question as to who the better team was. The team atmosphere was incredible, and the rain just made the game so much more memorable. I felt I played my best game of the season, even though I gave up more breaks than I would like, I tried to pressure Ricky on every throw, to never give him anything easy, to make him work for everything. I did my best to get the offense running during defensive transitions and we picked up some cheap scores that way. So, it had all the makings of a top-10 game: I played well, the team wasn't supposed to win but did, we won convincingly, and it was an important and memorable game.

So, the Madcow game. Not a top-10 game. By the second half rolled around, I was a little out of it. I was a little jaded by all of the calls and had dissociated from the game a little. That and I was fairly ineffective on defense, using most of my energy in the previous game. After playing a point in the second half, my arms and fingers were tingling, as was my toes and scalp. Couple that with lightheadedness and I felt it probably wasn't a good thing for me to go back into the game. I became a spectator as I mentioned before, having to watch each excruciating offensive turnover and the resulting defensive drama and eventually offensive scores.

There were also too many calls in that game, too much arguing for it to have been an enjoyable game, thus a top-10 game. Before observers, I believe Madcow's main argument with us were two close up/down calls that we retained possession on. They did have two marking foul calls that retained possession for them that we argued. Beyond that, there was the ongoing drama of JoeB v. Kevin Ryan (Willis). Willis gets injured, observers come in, score is 5-5. It seems as if calls were the reason we were winning the game, that from this point, we should be outscored. We weren't. We outscored them 10-8 from this point. Well, I wrote some other stuff, but erased it, it seems like beating a dead horse at this point.

Finally, making nationals meant a lot to me, too. This has been a tough season for me on many fronts, obsessively worrying about the team, trying to call earlier season lines, taking care of administrative duties, all why trying to stay in playing form with a body that is past its' prime. Oh, and I didn't put myself on the O team, and I love offense. Jake helped a lot by agreeing to take over line calling.

This season reminded me of a jigsaw puzzle. Just as with an old puzzle, finding all of the pieces is the first goal, you can't start arranging them until you have them all there. Recruitment wasn't too tough, but we were adding and subtracting guys until CHCs. Then you have to start fitting pieces together, a lot by trial and error and slowly at first. These were our early season tournaments. As the picture comes together, the puzzle moves along faster, and some pieces you thought fit in one area actually go in the opposite corner. By the end, you just throw the final pieces in and admire the picture. That's what I'm doing now, I guess.

Seriously, though, it was tough. The team wanted me to tell them what to do on offense and defense. What can I tell you? How can we design an offense when only half the guys come to any given weekend practice, and we only hold four or five weekend practices? That and tournament attendence is never high enough to work on things there, either. I tried to develop an offensive system that would start with certain given variables, then rely on free-flow and creativity until either a score or turnover happened. It is by no means revolutionary, but it got everybody on the same page and could easily be described to players who weren't there at practices. It was difficult to use zone defenses during the year because every player learned it slightly differently in different areas on different teams. Early in the season I tried to get the defense to run off of a turnover instead of waiting to set up an offense, but some early season mishaps had them thinking the slow set-up is the way to go. So, at regionals, I became a handler and decided that when the situation called for it, I just ran to the disc and immediately put it into play, whether the cutters were ready or not. It made for some quick scores and it made for some confused offensive possessions, too.

Anyway, it was a tough, tough, year. I thought I had wasted a lot of players' time and money putting this team together. I felt a little guilt, a little dissappointment, some feelings of failure, but those all started to melt away as we that deficit against Illinois melted away. It was a wild ride this season, but the end result has been worth it. But hey, it isn't over yet... not yet.

Nothing/Everything to Lose

The tournament that was Central Regionals is now over. The Van Buren Boys are heading to Sarasota, Florida. That...just...happened.

It wasn't pretty and it wasn't easy, but we fought through some early tournament funk to finally play like the team we were supposed to be.

The fourteen-team format had us playing 6 pool play games to 11, one erroneously to 13, and three bracket games to 15. It made for a lot of points of ultimate. It started at 8:30 on Saturday, when we went to 13-9 against Rawhide from Tulsa. They scored more on us in this game than in all of the others combined. I don't remember much of this game. I don't think we were up to par, but nothing to think that we were in trouble, just a rusty first game.

We knew the second game would be the most important of the day, but as it is, so did Machine. We came out slow, unenthusiastic, and ready to lose. Machine jumps out to a 5-0 lead, we make it 6-2 by halftime, but overall, don't get anything going. Final score 11-4. This was a very demoralizing game, as we were outmatched in every way.

Subzero was next. I talked with a few players about bagging the game, and we all thought it was a good idea, but in the end, decided not to follow through with it. Zero scored the first two, we got the next three, and zero got the next 9. So, it was simply a game of runs.

So, three games into the tournament, things aren't looking good. The offense is struggling, some players in particular, and it looks like the spiral of the season is making its' final descent down the drain.

We have to pick ourselves back up and go play Hustle. Our offense gives up some breaks and we don't take half, trailing 6-5. Defense comes out and plays good enough to win in the second half and we end up winning 11-9. This game marks a change in the season where our sidelines are loud and the players on the sideline seem very involved in the game.

After a bye round, we played the Illinois college team. They came out with nothing to lose, hucking at will and coming down with them. We coldn't stop them. They took half 6-3 and we were suddenly looking at taking fourth in our pool. In the second half, our defense comes out firing, we waste no time scoring when there are turnovers, and we don't allow the offense back onto the field. The sidelines are loud and may have been imtimidating to the younger college players. We win the game 11-6. We survived, but for how long?

Early Sunday morning we finished out the day against Dingwop. The game was a continuation of the Illinois second half. We came out fired up and intense, winning 11-2.

Next game went just as well. Games were now to 15. General Strike plays a 5 or 6 handler set with one dominant cutter, it seemed. We did our best to cut off breaks and swings, shut down upline dump cuts, and poached deep. It worked great. We took a 5-0 lead, took half 7-2 or 3 and won the game 15-4 or 5. Things were going great.

Our next opponent was Big Ass Truck, or BAT. They commonly make nationals and certainly planned on going back this year. We play the game in the rain, sometimes sprinkling, sometimes pouring, and are able to use it to our advantage. A couple of short field turns for them are converted into easy scores for us. We take a 8-6 halftime lead. The offense is playing incredibly well, catching everything in the pouring rain, sending up great hucks, and throwing some good breaks. At times it seemed as if we were playing in normal weather and they were playing in the rain. A 30-minute storm delay worked out to our advantage, as we stayed warmed up and they didn't. We ended the game on a 6-1 or 2 run to win the game 15-9 or 10. It was our most decisive victory of the year and our best played game. The defense was great, collecting six or seven breaks over the course of the game. The offense, while not flawless, was only broken once. They had a large amount of turnovers, but their defense always got the disc back. There were some incredible layout defenses by Jon and Mike, in particular. Players were coming up with big grabs deep and the hammers were flying.

They was a long break before the last game against Madcow. I think it started at 5:15 or so, after the tournament was supposed to be over in the first place. We start on offense, which had been a problem for us this tournament. Offense turns once or twice, but is able to score. They don't turn and score. We make it interesting again, while they don't turn and score. All in all, our offense scored on 7 of 7 opportunites in the first half, even though they had about 10-15 turnovers. Our defense only gets the disc two or three times, but makes good on one of the opportunites to get the break before halftime. 8-6 Van Buren. I suppose I should mention the wild start to the game where it seemed like it was a national final. There were many off-disc cutting fouls, travel calls, up/down arguments, marking fouls, etc. Madcow was screaming over and over about observers. So what did we do? The Van Buren Boys went and asked for some observers. The game settled down and none of our calls were overturned, so I was pleased about that.

The second half was the tensest half of ultimate I've ever experienced. I've played in some tense games before, having to win at regionals to qualify for nationals, playing in semifinals and finals at nationals, etc, but late Sunday was almost too much for me. The tension seemed to grow with each point and with each successive failed defensive effort, the burden on our offense grew larger. They just kept responding. If they failed to score, their defense would simply not allow the other team to score. Ellsworth made some incredible defensive plays. From 11-10 or so, we traded offensive points until the final 15-13 score.

-Wimer said there was something magical about Sunday that he just didn't understand. He knew about CLX and some of the drama that had unfolded over a number of years, but had never experienced anything like it. I kind of attribute it to our playing style that developed late Saturday. At the one point in the season when any single mistake could be the end of our year, we suddenly played as if there was nothing to lose. The hammers flowed, the hucks flew, the big grabs abounded, risks were rewarded, players who didn't lay out all year were suddenly picking up layout D's, the jersies were dirty, and the marks were stiffling. We were playing because we loved the game and wanted to achieve something together, playing as the team we were supposed to be.

-The entire team effort it took to qualify made winning so enjoyable. Our defense kept us in the tournament against Hustle and Illinois. They started us off right against Dingwop and General Strike and played their best game of the year against BAT. It may have taken a lot of pressure off of the offensive squad, or it may have allowed them to rest, but they seemed to run out of gas in the Madcow game. The offensive squad picked up the slack and scored on all but one of their possessions.

-Each section of the offensive squad played very well. Mike, Jon, Wimer, and Stu played very well on Sunday, having very few short field turnovers. It wasn't easy in the rain, but the breaks were flying all day, especially in the second half of the Madcow game. Jon's three high-release forehand breaks come to mind in the final point.

-Dave and Barrett played great together, dominating the middle of the field, cutting deep when necessary, and hucking lights out. Barrett was a part of many scores, whether busting out a 50 yard forehand, or reeling in the score over a few defenders. Dave and Barrett are our gunslingers. You send the disc to them and see what they can do. These two guys are so important to the team and we will always have a chance to win if they are playing big.

-Our deeps, whether Ben, Matt E, Matt B, Drew, Wes, or Josh played great. We were even getting quality hucks from these guys in important situations. They played their part and came up with some big grabs. Having Berkseth back helped switch Drew and Wes into some defensive situations, too, which really helped our defense.

-The defense played great early Sunday, setting the tone for the entire day. Ross produced the miracle throw point after point starting late Saturday. We moved him to the defense to create some scoring opportunities and it may have been the best change made all year. Brendan was nearly flawless in the handler position and everybody played well, moving the disc even in poor weather. Jimmy had some key hucks in vital situations, too.

-Our big guys far exceeded expectations. I had felt like Drew, Wes, and Josh hadn't been performing to their capabilities at spots during the season and all three of them played great at regionals. Josh played his best tournament since Minneapolis, making some big grabs and adding to the defense. Wes had a layout D in the Madcow game! Drew played dominant in the deep position and his aggressiveness early in the tournament set the tone for our offensive cutters. I was really happy for these guys.

-I could go on and on, so I should stop. I can't really believe we are going to nationals, I was certainly not expecting to go. I don't know what to expect from nationals. If we play like we did on Sunday, we could surprise some teams looking past us and who knows what could happen from there.

-Oh yeah, I cried like a baby when we beat Madcow, I couldn't help it.

Thank you to all those who have supported The Van Buren Boys this year, your support has meant a lot to me and to the rest of the team.

Baseball

More than any year I can remember since fifth or sixth grade, I've been into baseball. I've always loosely followed the standings and league leaders as the season progresses, but this year I've sat down to watch a number of games and late in the season have made it a point to check ESPNs Gamecast updates.

As a kid collecting baseball cards and baseball books, I used to know a lot of stats and records about the game. Although there are so many statistical categories that each year some of them are broken or some oddity occurs, there were several this year of note. Curtis Granderson and Jimmy Rollins became the third and fourth players in the history of the game to have 20 doubles, triples, home runs, and stolen bases. It had happened twice in over 100 years, and now two guys did it this year. Curtis Granderson also nearly became the first player in the history of the game to have over 500 at-bats and NOT hit into a double play all year.

A number of players passed milestones this year. Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, and Alex Rodriguez hit their 500th home run. I believe Sammy Sosa bested 600, and of course Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's all-time record. Craig Biggio collected his 3000th hit and Tom Glavine picked up his 300th career win. Was there another pitcher to get 300 wins this year? I should have done my homework.

I think Ryan Howard set the single season record for strikeouts. Homework...

Alex Rodriguez nearly became the second or third player to score 150 runs and drive in 150 runs in the the same season. I think Mickey Mantle did it back in the 60s. Again...homework. Also, in one of the last games of the season, Rodriguez both scored his 1500th career run and collected his 1500th career RBI. If Alex Rodriguez has the drive and the desire to play another eight to ten years and stays uninjured, he could easily break the all-time home run record, RBI record, and runs record. Some are predicted he will hit 800-900 home runs. He would definitely have more hits than Saduhara Oh. Beastie Boys reference for you. Saduhara Oh was a Japanese baseball player who hit over 800 home runs. But the all time RBI and runs scored records are both below 2300. With Rodriguez averaging well over 100 of each every season, he will break both records in seven or eight years. Oh, and collect roughly 3750 hits.

I have never been a fan of the National League, but I have to say that it was incredibly exciting this year down the stretch. The first playoff spot wasn't decided until the second to last day of the season. The NL East was decided on the last day of the season, while the wildcard needed an extra game to be determined. What an incredible game. Jake Peavey gets knocked around for San Diego, Matt Holiday misses a catch that could have won the game for Colorado, a questionable non-home run call is made when a ball bounces off a wheelchair back into the playing field, Trevor Hoffman blows a save for the Padres, and Colorado wins it on a sacrifice fly in the 12th after a questionable home-plate call. It is unclear whether Holiday touched home-plate or not, but he was called safe. It was confusing why he never tagged home plate while the catcher lost the ball on the collision, leaving the umpire no doubt on the call, but as it was, I guess the umpire had already made his decision.

People say baseball is a boring sport to watch and I agree to a certain extent. Regular season baseball can be tedious, but playoff baseball is something entirely different. I've always been excited to watch baseball later in the season when division races get tight and the playoffs near. There is just as much down time between pitches as there is between plays in football, so get over it.

The NL MVP race should be interesting to watch. Prince Fielder and Matt Holiday seem to be the frontrunners, but a large number of players deserve consideration including Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Hanley Martinez, Jimmy Rollins, Jake Peavey, and some dude from the Mets, can't remember the name. Many more could receive votes.

The AL MVP seems all but determined. Magglio Ordonez had a great season and Carlos Pena finished incredibly strong, but neither of their teams made the playoffs and Alex Rodriguez had much better numbers. Rodriguez could possibly be a unanimous selection.

Predictions:
NL MVP--Matt Holiday of the Colorado Rockies
AL MVP--Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees
NL Cy Young--Jake Peavey of the San Diego Padres, although there are many here who deserve credit, there is only one winner
AL Cy Young--C.C. Sabathia of the Cleveland Indians (who will get rocked by the Yankees)
NL Rookie of the Year--Tulitzsky or whatever his name is from Colorado
AL Rookie of the Year--Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox

AL Championships: Yankees vs. Boston (old school matchup/AL East matchup)
NL Championships: Arizona vs. Colorado (expansion team matchup/NL West matchup)
World Series: Yankees vs. Colorado
Champions: The New York Yankees

My favorite team is the New York Yankees. I've never really hated the Yankees like most do, but when they acquired Alex Rodriguez I started following their team and learning more about all of their players. The Yankees seem to be disliked for two main reasons. First, they compete at a high level almost every year, which people tend to dislike, unless they are from that city. Second, they buy a lot of talent to help them win championships. It's funny that the Boston Red Sox seem to be universally liked about as much as the Yankees are vilified, yet Boston competes at the same level and has the second highest payroll in baseball. They are the Yankees, they just don't do it as well.

I don't necessarily agree with buying talent to win championships, either, so I was glad to see the emergence of some farm-system players for the Yankees. Over the past three years, the Yankees have developed Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Shelley Duncan, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and several others.

It seems like the Yankees have a number of payroll busts, but that is a gamble they are willing to take. Carl Pavano was making 8-10 million this year to be injured in the first week of the season. Jason Giambi made something like 16 million to hit .225 and not even play a position most of the year. Kyle Farnsworth was paid about 6 million to do nothing in the bullpen. Bobby Abreu was somewhat of a bust, especially at 16 million. Kei Igawa made 4 million to play in the minors most of the year, while Johnny Damon and Mike Mussina had less than stellar years to make about 15 million and 11 million, respectively. Even Roger Clemens was paid more than a million dollars per start this year. While his contributions to the clubhouse may have been invaluable (or valuable, see: 1 million dollars per start), his pitching was less than stellar. This happens all around baseball, where guys are paid outrageous salaries to produce little for the team, but the Yankees take it to a whole new level.

Well, if you've read this far, you must be a baseball fan too. I won't take up more space talking about steroids, BALCO, the infield fly rule, asterisks, why Roger Maris is the most underappreciated Yankee and perhaps professional baseball player of all-time, why Babe Ruth should always be considered the best baseball player of all time (even if Alex Rodriguez breaks all those records, Ruth can always scoff and say "Yeah, but can you pitch?"), why the Devil Rays will never ever win anything, and why Steve Bartman is my hero and I will never care about the Chicago Cubs.