My favorite sport has changed many times in my life. My first love was baseball. That lasted until I was about 8 or 9. Then my favorite sport was basketball. It was the sport I played more than any other and it's my dad's favorite sport. Football became my favorite sport in high school. Bill Parcells was the coach of the Jets when I was 13-15. That and the Madden video games got me really into the Jets and the NFL. I stayed a huge NFL fan after the Parcells years. As soon as I went to Notre Dame, the Notre Dame football team became my favorite of all the teams I rooted for, but I still liked the NFL better than college. Over the last five years or so, I rediscovered my love for baseball. Baseball is once again my favorite sport. And the NFL has now dropped behind baseball and college football.
So how did that happen? It really has nothing to do with Notre Dame's success this year. It's because of the Jets. Here's a conversation I actually had with somebody (I don't remember who I was talking to, but I remember the conversation):
Me: I hate the Jets.
Other Person: Which football team do you like?
Me: The Jets.
My anger with the Jets started in 2008 when they traded for Brett Favre. I admit it was worth a shot. It almost got the Vikings to the Super Bowl. But Brett Favre was one of the most dislikeable players in the NFL. He was one of my favorite players when I was younger, but once he started with the whole I might retire, I'm retiring, I might not retire, I'm not retiring routine, there was no way to like him anymore. Late in his season with the Jets, he did all sorts of dumb Favre things and I was happy to be done with him. But then the Jets drafted Mark Sanchez. I just could not embrace a player from USC, Notre Dame's biggest rival. I put up with him for two years when he got the Jets to the AFC Championship Game in back to back years, but these last two years have been a disaster. I just want him gone, but I'm worried that they'll keep him for salary cap reasons (which would be really dumb).
And the other reason that I can't stand the Jets is Rex Ryan. The Jets are clowns. And their general clownery (I just made that word up) starts with Rex Ryan. I don't know how many times he predicted they'd win the Super Bowl. He didn't this year, but he said this was the most talented team he's ever had. Just shut up and win. Then talk all you want. He's motivated other teams to beat the Jets. The Giants made fun of the Jets after winning the Super Bowl (and the Jets totally deserved it). The Jets are all about getting headlines (Favre, Rex Ryan saying ridiculous things, Tebow). Some franchises are all about winning (Giants, Patriots, Steelers, Packers, Colts). You can't be surprised when Santonio Holmes and other guys like morons when the head coach acts like a moron.
Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan have made it very difficult to root for my favorite NFL team. Today I was just happy that their season is over. I want the two of them gone, along with Mike Tannenbaum. Tannenbaum will probably be gone, but I think at least one of Sanchez and Ryan will be back, and I wouldn't be shocked if both were back. Also, all that matters in the NFL is making the playoffs. As the Giants have shown, just get into the playoffs and anything can happen. I still have my issues with college football, but it has the best regular season of any sport because every game is so important.
I have never had trouble rooting for Notre Dame. Sometimes I knew we were in terrible shape, but nothing could make me stop loving Notre Dame. I have actually given thought to just rooting for whatever team drafts Manti Te'o. I won't abandon the Jets, but I'll be a lot more excited about rooting for them in 2013 if Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan are gone.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
12 Bars of Christmas
There was a dream that was 12 Bars of Christmas. I first thought of this idea six years ago. I'm pretty sure I was in the computer lab at the library at Notre Dame and I was IMing Vin. He put one of my IMs as his away message with the comment "Probably why he goes to Notre Dame." I wanted to do this for a long time, but I could never get everybody together for it. Last year, I tried with Pete and Darryl. We got to six bars, but we made three stops at Christopher's (all Darryl's fault). So it was like eight stops all together. Respectable, but well short of the goal.
This year, my friends and I finally made it happen. It was a Sunday night. I was a little worried about the bars closing early. It was the night before Christmas Eve, so the fact that people didn't have to work the next day was in our favor, but still, it was a Sunday night. I had a strategy. First, I drank lots of water during the day to pre-hydrate. Once we got to the bars, my plan was to start with mostly Guinness (only 4.2% alcohol and not a ton of calories), maybe mix in a Sam Adams or two, and then switch to Bud Light for the second half. Let's go through the 12 bars:
1. Canterbury Ales. My brother Sean dropped Pete and I off in Huntington. I hadn't seen Pete in almost a year. We had a good talk. I expected to be joined by Darryl and Molly. Molly also brought Vin and John (I expected Vin to join us at some point, but I was not expecting John, that was a pleasant surprise). Later John's friend Sean joined us. I had a Guinness.
2. Christopher's. Thankfully, this was our only stop at Christopher's. I think I ordered a Sam Adams, but they were out, so I think I had another Guinness.
3. Finnegan's. Pete's favorite bar, but he wasn't happy about the country music playing. I had another Guinness. John and Sean smoked cigars outside. Vin, Pete, and I also went outside. At this point, time was becoming a concern. We were moving too slowly. I figured we were going to slow down as the night went on, so I wanted to move fast early in the night. We actually probably moved faster later in the night.
4. Sapsuckers. The beers on tap are too exotic for me, so I just had a Miller Lite. I drank fast because I wanted to speed up the process. I think this is where we started talking about the possibility of halftime at Little Vincent's, which was a great idea, but it didn't fit in with our route.
5. Mary Carroll's. They had Sam Adams Octoberfest on tap. I was pretty excited about that.
6. Rookies. Now the memory starts to get fuzzy. I think I had a Guinness. I think this was a quick stop.
7. Finley's. For some reason, there was a $5 cover. My friend Pat was bartending. This picture is the only reason I know I had a Guinness at Finley's:
8. Katie Mc's. This bar is severely underrated. I think the last time I was there was an Easter Eve with John. He was asking the bartender about what you could float Guinness on top of. The bartender said Bud Light would not work. I was probably drinking Bud Light for the rest of the night at this point.
9. Nag's Head. I don't remember much about this stop. We checked F.H. Riley's after leaving Nag's Head, but it was closed. We were getting close, but the bars closing was becoming a concern.
10. Tavern. We ran into Vinny 2 and Odie. I'm sure the story of how Vin and I were cheated out of the beer pong championship at V2's house came up. I think V2 was unbuttoning my shirt.
11. Meehan's. It was closing right as we got there. The bartender was really cool and kept it open for us. Vin told him some story (I think it was about one of biggest/smallest fears Vin's fears) and then asked what the most messed up story he ever heard as a bartender was and his response was something like, "The one you just told me." The last bar I had on my list was Honu, but it was closed, so for the final bar we went to...
12. J.T. Carrington's. I had never been there. John once told me that if I ever walked in there, it would be like one of those scenes in a movie where the music comes to a screeching stop and everybody would look at me. It was well worth going in there to complete the 12 Bars of Christmas.
After that, we got Little Vincent's. I had been drinking too long to appreciate it. I would have really appreciated it if we had done halftime there, but whatever. Vin got a pie and we got down to one slice and we talked about how many bites it would take for Vin, John, and I to finish it. John said five and Vin said three. Vin and John took huge bites and then I dropped the ball. Vin finished it with the fourth bite.
Big thanks to Pete, Molly, Darryl, Vin, John, and Sean coming out. This is one of my proudest drinking accomplishments. Molly was really a trooper and put up with us all night even though she wasn't drinking. She drove us all home. I don't remember much about the ride home other than Pete falling asleep. He fought the jet lag admirably, though. I hope everybody had a good Christmas Eve. I was not hungover amazingly, but I slept for a lot of the day. I also watched The Dark Knight Rises and enjoyed Anne Hathaway's performance (so hot). If anybody else remembers anything good from the night, leave a comment.
Merry Christmas!
This year, my friends and I finally made it happen. It was a Sunday night. I was a little worried about the bars closing early. It was the night before Christmas Eve, so the fact that people didn't have to work the next day was in our favor, but still, it was a Sunday night. I had a strategy. First, I drank lots of water during the day to pre-hydrate. Once we got to the bars, my plan was to start with mostly Guinness (only 4.2% alcohol and not a ton of calories), maybe mix in a Sam Adams or two, and then switch to Bud Light for the second half. Let's go through the 12 bars:
1. Canterbury Ales. My brother Sean dropped Pete and I off in Huntington. I hadn't seen Pete in almost a year. We had a good talk. I expected to be joined by Darryl and Molly. Molly also brought Vin and John (I expected Vin to join us at some point, but I was not expecting John, that was a pleasant surprise). Later John's friend Sean joined us. I had a Guinness.
 |
| First bar of the night. The pictures get much crazier as the night goes on. |
2. Christopher's. Thankfully, this was our only stop at Christopher's. I think I ordered a Sam Adams, but they were out, so I think I had another Guinness.
3. Finnegan's. Pete's favorite bar, but he wasn't happy about the country music playing. I had another Guinness. John and Sean smoked cigars outside. Vin, Pete, and I also went outside. At this point, time was becoming a concern. We were moving too slowly. I figured we were going to slow down as the night went on, so I wanted to move fast early in the night. We actually probably moved faster later in the night.
 |
| I didn't realize Pete was in this picture. It looks like he's throwing up. Fortunately, that did not happen. |
4. Sapsuckers. The beers on tap are too exotic for me, so I just had a Miller Lite. I drank fast because I wanted to speed up the process. I think this is where we started talking about the possibility of halftime at Little Vincent's, which was a great idea, but it didn't fit in with our route.
5. Mary Carroll's. They had Sam Adams Octoberfest on tap. I was pretty excited about that.
6. Rookies. Now the memory starts to get fuzzy. I think I had a Guinness. I think this was a quick stop.
7. Finley's. For some reason, there was a $5 cover. My friend Pat was bartending. This picture is the only reason I know I had a Guinness at Finley's:
8. Katie Mc's. This bar is severely underrated. I think the last time I was there was an Easter Eve with John. He was asking the bartender about what you could float Guinness on top of. The bartender said Bud Light would not work. I was probably drinking Bud Light for the rest of the night at this point.
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| This might be my favorite picture from the night. |
9. Nag's Head. I don't remember much about this stop. We checked F.H. Riley's after leaving Nag's Head, but it was closed. We were getting close, but the bars closing was becoming a concern.
10. Tavern. We ran into Vinny 2 and Odie. I'm sure the story of how Vin and I were cheated out of the beer pong championship at V2's house came up. I think V2 was unbuttoning my shirt.
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| It had been a long time since I had seen Vinny 2. It was good to see him and Odie. |
11. Meehan's. It was closing right as we got there. The bartender was really cool and kept it open for us. Vin told him some story (I think it was about one of biggest/smallest fears Vin's fears) and then asked what the most messed up story he ever heard as a bartender was and his response was something like, "The one you just told me." The last bar I had on my list was Honu, but it was closed, so for the final bar we went to...
12. J.T. Carrington's. I had never been there. John once told me that if I ever walked in there, it would be like one of those scenes in a movie where the music comes to a screeching stop and everybody would look at me. It was well worth going in there to complete the 12 Bars of Christmas.
 |
| Last stop. We did it. Great night. |
After that, we got Little Vincent's. I had been drinking too long to appreciate it. I would have really appreciated it if we had done halftime there, but whatever. Vin got a pie and we got down to one slice and we talked about how many bites it would take for Vin, John, and I to finish it. John said five and Vin said three. Vin and John took huge bites and then I dropped the ball. Vin finished it with the fourth bite.
Big thanks to Pete, Molly, Darryl, Vin, John, and Sean coming out. This is one of my proudest drinking accomplishments. Molly was really a trooper and put up with us all night even though she wasn't drinking. She drove us all home. I don't remember much about the ride home other than Pete falling asleep. He fought the jet lag admirably, though. I hope everybody had a good Christmas Eve. I was not hungover amazingly, but I slept for a lot of the day. I also watched The Dark Knight Rises and enjoyed Anne Hathaway's performance (so hot). If anybody else remembers anything good from the night, leave a comment.
Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
The Death of the Big East
I was not much of a college sports fan growing up. When it came to college sports, there were two things that I paid a little attention to (emphasis on little): Notre Dame football and Big East basketball. One of those things came back to life this year and the other one died today. The Big East is dead.
The Big East was St. John's, Georgetown, Syracuse, UConn, etc. Now that the Catholic schools are leaving, this is what the Big East is going to be if it continues to exist: UConn, South Florida, Cincinnati, Temple, Houston, SMU, Memphis, Central Florida, Tulane. Yikes. Throwing in Boise State, San Diego State, East Carolina, and Navy for football doesn't help much. The Catholic schools have the power to dissolve the conference. I hope that's what they do. It's over for the conference that I grew up with. It makes me really sad. Madison Square Garden said this week that it could get out of it's deal with the Big East. It's hard to see them not wanting to get out of it now. The only fans that will show up are UConn fans. So yeah, I really want the Catholic schools to dissolve the conference because the Big East shouldn't exist without St. John's and Georgetown (anything can exist without Syracuse and Jim Boeheim and I'm fine with that).
I really think this year will be the last year of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden. It's about as great as a meaningless event could be (it only matters for seeding and for teams that aren't going to make the real tournament as an at large team). But it's Madison Square Garden, classic basketball teams, and four games in a day. You can't beat that. Last year I went for the first time in a while. I went one night with my friend Vin and the other night with my dad. It was great. I would have gone the next night also to see Notre Dame in the semifinals, but I was flying to Las Vegas. I was planning to go to every session this year if I didn't get a job. Of course, that's out. But I will go to every night session that I can. I think I might have to stay late at work one of those nights, but I still might be able to go that night, just a little late. So I hope to get there for at least two nights again this year, even if Notre Dame isn't playing at night.
I'm curious to see what the future holds for Madison Square Garden. I would love to see them get the ACC tournament for obvious reasons. As we can see, Jack Swarbrick made a great move by leaving the Big East and going to the ACC. While I knew it was a good move at the time, I was sad that Notre Dame wouldn't be playing in Madison Square Garden anymore. The ACC has moved their tournament around, but 48 of their 59 tournaments have been in the state of North Carolina. I think they should move into the Garden, but I don't see that happening. I'd be happy with them going to the Barclays Center every so often too (although I'd prefer Madison Square Garden because it's easier to get home from there).
I'm also interested to see what the Catholic schools will do. They could form their own conference and add Xavier and St. Joe's and some other schools possibly. It would be interesting and maybe they could have their tournament in the Garden. That would be cool, but it won't be the same.
RIP Big East.
The Big East was St. John's, Georgetown, Syracuse, UConn, etc. Now that the Catholic schools are leaving, this is what the Big East is going to be if it continues to exist: UConn, South Florida, Cincinnati, Temple, Houston, SMU, Memphis, Central Florida, Tulane. Yikes. Throwing in Boise State, San Diego State, East Carolina, and Navy for football doesn't help much. The Catholic schools have the power to dissolve the conference. I hope that's what they do. It's over for the conference that I grew up with. It makes me really sad. Madison Square Garden said this week that it could get out of it's deal with the Big East. It's hard to see them not wanting to get out of it now. The only fans that will show up are UConn fans. So yeah, I really want the Catholic schools to dissolve the conference because the Big East shouldn't exist without St. John's and Georgetown (anything can exist without Syracuse and Jim Boeheim and I'm fine with that).
I really think this year will be the last year of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden. It's about as great as a meaningless event could be (it only matters for seeding and for teams that aren't going to make the real tournament as an at large team). But it's Madison Square Garden, classic basketball teams, and four games in a day. You can't beat that. Last year I went for the first time in a while. I went one night with my friend Vin and the other night with my dad. It was great. I would have gone the next night also to see Notre Dame in the semifinals, but I was flying to Las Vegas. I was planning to go to every session this year if I didn't get a job. Of course, that's out. But I will go to every night session that I can. I think I might have to stay late at work one of those nights, but I still might be able to go that night, just a little late. So I hope to get there for at least two nights again this year, even if Notre Dame isn't playing at night.
I'm curious to see what the future holds for Madison Square Garden. I would love to see them get the ACC tournament for obvious reasons. As we can see, Jack Swarbrick made a great move by leaving the Big East and going to the ACC. While I knew it was a good move at the time, I was sad that Notre Dame wouldn't be playing in Madison Square Garden anymore. The ACC has moved their tournament around, but 48 of their 59 tournaments have been in the state of North Carolina. I think they should move into the Garden, but I don't see that happening. I'd be happy with them going to the Barclays Center every so often too (although I'd prefer Madison Square Garden because it's easier to get home from there).
I'm also interested to see what the Catholic schools will do. They could form their own conference and add Xavier and St. Joe's and some other schools possibly. It would be interesting and maybe they could have their tournament in the Garden. That would be cool, but it won't be the same.
RIP Big East.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
A Great Weekend
I've always enjoyed Thanksgiving weekend. I loved the night before Thanksgiving seeing old friends again. Then I went out two years ago on Thanksgiving Eve and it was miserable. All I did was stand in line everywhere. I said I was never going out on Thanksgiving Eve again (I lied). I loved idea of football Thursday through Sunday. Football can be ruined when you have performances like the Jets in 2007 or Notre Dame in 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2011. This weekend was the best. It had a little bit of everything, great football, terrible football, people I hadn't seen in ten years, one of my best friends threatening to murder me, you know, usual stuff.
Thursday night I went out very early with Darryl and Molly. We went out early and beat the crowd. Eventually Vin joined us. Darryl disappeared, Molly drove us home, and unlike last year, I didn't have to go back to Huntington after getting dropped off to pick up Darryl. So this was the best Thanksgiving Eve in a while.
The football on Thanksgiving was interesting. We saw terrible coaching from Jim Schwartz, the Cowboys being the Cowboys, and the Jets with the performance that will hopefully mean the end of Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan. I was dozing off during the first half of the Jets game. I didn't sleep that long. The score was 7-0 and then I opened my eyes again and it was 28-0. The Jets are a disaster. Let's move on.
Friday was my ten year high school reunion. I hadn't seen most of the people there since high school. It was actually more fun than I thought it would be. Darryl and Molly were in Huntington at the same time. Darryl texted me from Molly's phone and said that if I didn't meet up with them, he would murder me. I never met up with them. He didn't remember that threat the next day.
Saturday was the day I've been waiting for. It was the fourth time in my life that Notre Dame went into the last game of the regular season undefeated. In 1988, they beat USC and then went on to win the National Championship. In 1989, they lost to the forces of evil in Miami. In 1993, they lost to Boston College (one of my first memories of college football). And we've been wondering in the desert since then. Now, 19 years later, we had a chance play for a National Championship once again. It was fitting that we had to go through our biggest rival, USC. The 2005 game at Notre Dame was the most exciting sporting event I've ever been to. But USC's cheating cost us the game and a shot at a National Championship. I loathe Pete Carroll and Reggie Bush to this day for what they did. I had been waiting 7 years, 1 month, and 9 days for revenge for what happened that day.
I felt confident all week. Then yesterday came and I felt nervous (this was the exact opposite of how I felt going into the Oklahoma game). My hands were shaking as I texted my friends in the first quarter. Anyway, it was quite a game. Theo Riddick played the best game of his life. Kyle Brindza outscored USC 16-13. And Manti Te'o picked off another pass. He is the best player in college football. HeIsManti. We took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and held on for the whole game. We won it like we've been winning games all season, with the best defense in college football. Marqise Lee is the most dangerous player we've played all season. Our defense did a great job on him. For most of the game, whenever he got the ball, we tackled him right away. We took a few pass interference penalties, but I was fine with that. A 15 yard penalty is better than a 50 yard gain or a touchdown. Finally, in the fourth quarter, he made a big catch to set up a first and goal with USC down 9. Eventually, two straight pass interference penalties gave USC a first and goal at the 1. Then Lane Kiffin decided it would be a good idea to try to run up the middle against Louis Nix and his friends. Of course, we stuffed USC just like we stuffed Stanford. It got to fourth down and for some reason Lane Kiffin decided to go for it. Lane, you needed 10 points to win. Three would have helped you, but thanks for being a moron in addition to being a huge d-bag. The incomplete pass on fourth down just about sealed it for us. At first it looked like it might be complete, but when I saw the ball on the ground, I yelled, "No! Yes!" No as in it's not a touchdown, and yes as in this is awesome. We got a first down, took some knees, and then had to punt with about 20 seconds left. We held on for the 22-13 win. I finally got the revenge I had been waiting for since 2005. We are going to Miami on January 7 to play for the National Championship. My friends and I have already been discussing travel arrangements. It was the best day of my life.
After the game, I got a call from my old friend Tommy. I met up with him and his friends in Huntington. I wore my Rudy jacket and got lots of comments from people congratulating me. Tommy was quite entertaining. The best part was his plan to find a wife. I won't give it away, but let's just say it involves a suit with a microscopic checkerboard pattern. I finished off the day with a couple of Victory Guinnesses. Life is good. One more game to win.
Thursday night I went out very early with Darryl and Molly. We went out early and beat the crowd. Eventually Vin joined us. Darryl disappeared, Molly drove us home, and unlike last year, I didn't have to go back to Huntington after getting dropped off to pick up Darryl. So this was the best Thanksgiving Eve in a while.
The football on Thanksgiving was interesting. We saw terrible coaching from Jim Schwartz, the Cowboys being the Cowboys, and the Jets with the performance that will hopefully mean the end of Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan. I was dozing off during the first half of the Jets game. I didn't sleep that long. The score was 7-0 and then I opened my eyes again and it was 28-0. The Jets are a disaster. Let's move on.
Friday was my ten year high school reunion. I hadn't seen most of the people there since high school. It was actually more fun than I thought it would be. Darryl and Molly were in Huntington at the same time. Darryl texted me from Molly's phone and said that if I didn't meet up with them, he would murder me. I never met up with them. He didn't remember that threat the next day.
Saturday was the day I've been waiting for. It was the fourth time in my life that Notre Dame went into the last game of the regular season undefeated. In 1988, they beat USC and then went on to win the National Championship. In 1989, they lost to the forces of evil in Miami. In 1993, they lost to Boston College (one of my first memories of college football). And we've been wondering in the desert since then. Now, 19 years later, we had a chance play for a National Championship once again. It was fitting that we had to go through our biggest rival, USC. The 2005 game at Notre Dame was the most exciting sporting event I've ever been to. But USC's cheating cost us the game and a shot at a National Championship. I loathe Pete Carroll and Reggie Bush to this day for what they did. I had been waiting 7 years, 1 month, and 9 days for revenge for what happened that day.
I felt confident all week. Then yesterday came and I felt nervous (this was the exact opposite of how I felt going into the Oklahoma game). My hands were shaking as I texted my friends in the first quarter. Anyway, it was quite a game. Theo Riddick played the best game of his life. Kyle Brindza outscored USC 16-13. And Manti Te'o picked off another pass. He is the best player in college football. HeIsManti. We took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and held on for the whole game. We won it like we've been winning games all season, with the best defense in college football. Marqise Lee is the most dangerous player we've played all season. Our defense did a great job on him. For most of the game, whenever he got the ball, we tackled him right away. We took a few pass interference penalties, but I was fine with that. A 15 yard penalty is better than a 50 yard gain or a touchdown. Finally, in the fourth quarter, he made a big catch to set up a first and goal with USC down 9. Eventually, two straight pass interference penalties gave USC a first and goal at the 1. Then Lane Kiffin decided it would be a good idea to try to run up the middle against Louis Nix and his friends. Of course, we stuffed USC just like we stuffed Stanford. It got to fourth down and for some reason Lane Kiffin decided to go for it. Lane, you needed 10 points to win. Three would have helped you, but thanks for being a moron in addition to being a huge d-bag. The incomplete pass on fourth down just about sealed it for us. At first it looked like it might be complete, but when I saw the ball on the ground, I yelled, "No! Yes!" No as in it's not a touchdown, and yes as in this is awesome. We got a first down, took some knees, and then had to punt with about 20 seconds left. We held on for the 22-13 win. I finally got the revenge I had been waiting for since 2005. We are going to Miami on January 7 to play for the National Championship. My friends and I have already been discussing travel arrangements. It was the best day of my life.
After the game, I got a call from my old friend Tommy. I met up with him and his friends in Huntington. I wore my Rudy jacket and got lots of comments from people congratulating me. Tommy was quite entertaining. The best part was his plan to find a wife. I won't give it away, but let's just say it involves a suit with a microscopic checkerboard pattern. I finished off the day with a couple of Victory Guinnesses. Life is good. One more game to win.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Number 1
This is my drunkest blog post ever so I apologize if it doesn't make much sense. Notre Dame is number 1. This day was definitely one of the ten best in my life. If we beat USC in a week, that will easily be the best day of my life. And it will be bumped down to number 2 if we win the National Championship on January 7.
I am so incredibly happy for the seniors. It was great seeing the first three touchdowns scored by Cierre Wood, Tyler Eifert, and John Goodman. I wanted Theo Riddick and Robby Toma to get into the end zone as well, but I'll get over it. I can't imagine ever liking a player more than I like Manti Te'o. He deserves this. He is an incredible human being. I mentioned on facebook the story of Te'o taking the picture with the two little girls after the Oklahoma win. I've read the posts on NDNation from the father of those two girls. You could tell how much that meant to the whole family. One of my friends from camp is a big Notre Dame fan. Today he posted on facebook that he would buy a Te'o NFL jersey no matter what team drafted him. I commented that I would do the same thing as long as he wasn't drafted by the Patriots, Dolphins, or Raiders. Now I'm reconsidering that. I might buy his jersey no matter what. He will be missed. But he has two games left to win.
I've said before that I wanted Brian Kelly fired. Unlike a lot of Notre Dame fans, it wasn't for his performance, it was for the uniforms we wore against Miami. I hadn't given up on his coaching abilities, but still, I'm an idiot. We haven't been 11-0 since Lou Holtz was the coach. At worse, this is our best season since 1993. And we're doing this with a quarterback who hadn't played a snap before this year. Kelly is clearly our best coach since Lou Holtz (not saying much, but still).
As great as this year has been, you never know if you'll get back there again. Lou Holtz won a National Championship in his third year and then never did again (although he was cheated out of it in 1993). So let's win these next two games and win a championship.
We have two games left to win. USC next week and then if we beat them, the SEC Champion. It feels right that we have to beat USC. In my first year at Notre Dame, the Bush Push cost us a shot at the National Championship. Now we have a chance to get to the Championship Game by getting through them. Let's do it.
Many Notre Dame fans believed this day would never come again. I believed that we could do it, but I never thought it would be this year. My friend Jon is in law school at Notre Dame. He sent me a text saying that he wished I could be there tonight. Me too, but whatever. I just want to be anywhere for a National Championship win. I looked up flights for Los Angeles for next weekend. I probably won't go, because we have one more game to win after that, and I'd rather go to that game. If we beat USC, I will do whatever I can to get to Miami on January 7. I will have no budget. But first, we have to beat the Trojans.
How am I supposed to teach for three days this week? I'm going to wear a Notre Dame tie every day. My kids want a party. Let's win the National Championship and make it happen.
I was very worried when Kansas State threw that interception at their own 1. They were still up by 11 after Kansas State scored (I think), but I didn't feel good. They actually dominated from that point and Stanford took care of business and now Notre Dame is number 1.
Manti Te'o deserves the Heisman Trophy. I don't know if he'll win it, but I'll settle for a National Championship.
Go Irish! Beat Trojans!
I am so incredibly happy for the seniors. It was great seeing the first three touchdowns scored by Cierre Wood, Tyler Eifert, and John Goodman. I wanted Theo Riddick and Robby Toma to get into the end zone as well, but I'll get over it. I can't imagine ever liking a player more than I like Manti Te'o. He deserves this. He is an incredible human being. I mentioned on facebook the story of Te'o taking the picture with the two little girls after the Oklahoma win. I've read the posts on NDNation from the father of those two girls. You could tell how much that meant to the whole family. One of my friends from camp is a big Notre Dame fan. Today he posted on facebook that he would buy a Te'o NFL jersey no matter what team drafted him. I commented that I would do the same thing as long as he wasn't drafted by the Patriots, Dolphins, or Raiders. Now I'm reconsidering that. I might buy his jersey no matter what. He will be missed. But he has two games left to win.
I've said before that I wanted Brian Kelly fired. Unlike a lot of Notre Dame fans, it wasn't for his performance, it was for the uniforms we wore against Miami. I hadn't given up on his coaching abilities, but still, I'm an idiot. We haven't been 11-0 since Lou Holtz was the coach. At worse, this is our best season since 1993. And we're doing this with a quarterback who hadn't played a snap before this year. Kelly is clearly our best coach since Lou Holtz (not saying much, but still).
As great as this year has been, you never know if you'll get back there again. Lou Holtz won a National Championship in his third year and then never did again (although he was cheated out of it in 1993). So let's win these next two games and win a championship.
We have two games left to win. USC next week and then if we beat them, the SEC Champion. It feels right that we have to beat USC. In my first year at Notre Dame, the Bush Push cost us a shot at the National Championship. Now we have a chance to get to the Championship Game by getting through them. Let's do it.
Many Notre Dame fans believed this day would never come again. I believed that we could do it, but I never thought it would be this year. My friend Jon is in law school at Notre Dame. He sent me a text saying that he wished I could be there tonight. Me too, but whatever. I just want to be anywhere for a National Championship win. I looked up flights for Los Angeles for next weekend. I probably won't go, because we have one more game to win after that, and I'd rather go to that game. If we beat USC, I will do whatever I can to get to Miami on January 7. I will have no budget. But first, we have to beat the Trojans.
How am I supposed to teach for three days this week? I'm going to wear a Notre Dame tie every day. My kids want a party. Let's win the National Championship and make it happen.
I was very worried when Kansas State threw that interception at their own 1. They were still up by 11 after Kansas State scored (I think), but I didn't feel good. They actually dominated from that point and Stanford took care of business and now Notre Dame is number 1.
Manti Te'o deserves the Heisman Trophy. I don't know if he'll win it, but I'll settle for a National Championship.
Go Irish! Beat Trojans!
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Basketball in Brooklyn
It's Senior Day at Notre Dame today. I thought about making the trip for Manti Te'o's last home game, but decided not to. Hopefully I'll go to our bowl game. Instead of travelling to Notre Dame last night, I was watching the basketball team in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center. I was also there the night before for Celtics-Nets.
My roots are in Brooklyn. My dad was born there. I'm a Dodger fan because my dad was a Brooklyn Dodger fan. And I've spent just about no time there. I've driven through it a few times when I was going to or from school in my Georgetown days. And I think I was in Brooklyn on a field trip during seventh or eighth grade, but there's a good chance that I'm just thinking of being on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge. The only part of New York City that I've possibly spent less time in is Staten Island. But I spent the last two nights there for basketball.
First, it's nice to have an alternative to Madison Square Garden for basketball. Especially with the Knicks being good (for now at least), tickets for the Nets are going to be a lot cheaper. Also, it's almost as easy to get to as Madison Square Garden with the Long Island Railroad going to the Atlantic Terminal (although getting home can be trickier). I would love it if the ACC tournament came to the Barclays Center. The worst thing about Notre Dame joining the ACC is not being in the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden (still, definitely the right move).
The Barclays Center was built where Walter O'Malley wanted to build his new stadium for the Dodgers. As much as I would have loved having the Dodgers in New York, everything really worked out for the Dodgers. O'Malley wanted a dome. That stadium would have been like Shea Stadium, but worse. Dodger Stadium is a million times better than the stadium O'Malley wanted to build in Brooklyn. But Brooklyn is a good home for the Nets.
The Nets really screwed up with their name/uniforms. Either change the name and change everything, or keep the name and come up with good uniforms. The Nets had red, white, and blue (you know, the greatest color combination in world history) and they couldn't come up with good uniforms. These new black and white uniforms are incredibly bland for no reason. You could say that the Celtics have bland uniforms (still not as bland as the Nets, green isn't as bland as black), but there's good reason for it: their incredible history and tradition.
Anyway, my dad and I were sitting almost exactly at mid-court way up high. The Barclays Center is built very differently from Madison Square Garden. The slopes in the area are much steeper than Madison Square Garden. I felt very high up, but also closer to the court than I would be in comparable seats in the Garden. As for the atmosphere, it's no Madison Square Garden. I would say it's like everything Notre Dame fans fear about putting a jumbotron in the stadium. Very loud and the PA guy was pretty annoying. I guess most NBA arenas are going to be like that. The one thing that really stood out to me was how the fans chanted the word Brooklyn in the same tone that Red Sox fans derisively changed "Roger" when Roger Clemens would pitch in Fenway Park as a Yankee. I didn't get that.
I've seen the Celtics play the Nets one other time in person. It was February 2010 in Boston with my friend John. I was supposed to take a bus on a Friday night for a Saturday afternoon game. Unfortunately, a snow storm cancelled all the buses that Friday. So I had to get there on Saturday and I had to get there early since the game was at 1:00 or something like that. So I took a 6:30 bus on Saturday morning. The only train that got me to the city on time got in around 5:00 in the morning. Let me tell you, there are few places as depressing as Penn Station at 5:00 on a Saturday morning. Anyway, the Nets were really bad that year and the Celtics played like crap and lost to them. I thought the Celtics were going nowhere that year, but they ended up making it to the Finals. So I assume seeing them lose to the Nets on Thursday night is a sign that they're going to the Finals this year. Rondo didn't play, which was disappointing since he's definitely their most exciting player, but it also made me less upset about the loss.
Last night I went for the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. We sat in the same section as the night before, but this time we were in row two of that section (row 19 the night before). The first game was Florida State and BYU. I will always root for Mormons over Florida State, but more than anything else, I was rooting for a quick game. I was disappointed. There were a ton of fouls called in the first half and Florida State won. They pulled away in the second half and I was starting to nod off due to the lack of sleep the night before (it was after 1 when I got home and I got up for work at 5:25). But I got a second wind when the second game started. It was Notre Dame and St. Joe's. I was really surprised by the lack of Notre Dame fans at the game. There are always a lot of Notre Dame fans when we play at Madison Square Garden, but there weren't a lot of any fans at these games. Tons of empty seats. But St. Joe's fans probably outnumbered us 10 to 1 (they had a lot of students make the trip). I guess we're still worried about football and aren't concerned about basket ball yet. Anyway, we shot the ball pretty well, but our problem was giving up easy second chance points to St. Joe's. I had to leave early to catch a train (not enough train options after a late game, which was why I wanted a quick first game). I left with about five minutes left and we were leading by about 6 points. St. Joe's came back and won in overtime, but I'm going on the theory that it doesn't count if I didn't see it.
Disappointing result, but I think our basketball team will be fine. I can't get upset about it when it's November and our football team is undefeated. Go Irish!
My roots are in Brooklyn. My dad was born there. I'm a Dodger fan because my dad was a Brooklyn Dodger fan. And I've spent just about no time there. I've driven through it a few times when I was going to or from school in my Georgetown days. And I think I was in Brooklyn on a field trip during seventh or eighth grade, but there's a good chance that I'm just thinking of being on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge. The only part of New York City that I've possibly spent less time in is Staten Island. But I spent the last two nights there for basketball.
First, it's nice to have an alternative to Madison Square Garden for basketball. Especially with the Knicks being good (for now at least), tickets for the Nets are going to be a lot cheaper. Also, it's almost as easy to get to as Madison Square Garden with the Long Island Railroad going to the Atlantic Terminal (although getting home can be trickier). I would love it if the ACC tournament came to the Barclays Center. The worst thing about Notre Dame joining the ACC is not being in the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden (still, definitely the right move).
The Barclays Center was built where Walter O'Malley wanted to build his new stadium for the Dodgers. As much as I would have loved having the Dodgers in New York, everything really worked out for the Dodgers. O'Malley wanted a dome. That stadium would have been like Shea Stadium, but worse. Dodger Stadium is a million times better than the stadium O'Malley wanted to build in Brooklyn. But Brooklyn is a good home for the Nets.
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| Outside the Barclays Center |
The Nets really screwed up with their name/uniforms. Either change the name and change everything, or keep the name and come up with good uniforms. The Nets had red, white, and blue (you know, the greatest color combination in world history) and they couldn't come up with good uniforms. These new black and white uniforms are incredibly bland for no reason. You could say that the Celtics have bland uniforms (still not as bland as the Nets, green isn't as bland as black), but there's good reason for it: their incredible history and tradition.
Anyway, my dad and I were sitting almost exactly at mid-court way up high. The Barclays Center is built very differently from Madison Square Garden. The slopes in the area are much steeper than Madison Square Garden. I felt very high up, but also closer to the court than I would be in comparable seats in the Garden. As for the atmosphere, it's no Madison Square Garden. I would say it's like everything Notre Dame fans fear about putting a jumbotron in the stadium. Very loud and the PA guy was pretty annoying. I guess most NBA arenas are going to be like that. The one thing that really stood out to me was how the fans chanted the word Brooklyn in the same tone that Red Sox fans derisively changed "Roger" when Roger Clemens would pitch in Fenway Park as a Yankee. I didn't get that.
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| Our view for Celtics-Nets. |
I've seen the Celtics play the Nets one other time in person. It was February 2010 in Boston with my friend John. I was supposed to take a bus on a Friday night for a Saturday afternoon game. Unfortunately, a snow storm cancelled all the buses that Friday. So I had to get there on Saturday and I had to get there early since the game was at 1:00 or something like that. So I took a 6:30 bus on Saturday morning. The only train that got me to the city on time got in around 5:00 in the morning. Let me tell you, there are few places as depressing as Penn Station at 5:00 on a Saturday morning. Anyway, the Nets were really bad that year and the Celtics played like crap and lost to them. I thought the Celtics were going nowhere that year, but they ended up making it to the Finals. So I assume seeing them lose to the Nets on Thursday night is a sign that they're going to the Finals this year. Rondo didn't play, which was disappointing since he's definitely their most exciting player, but it also made me less upset about the loss.
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| I love the American flag, but this bothered me. Isn't this flag way too long? |
Last night I went for the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. We sat in the same section as the night before, but this time we were in row two of that section (row 19 the night before). The first game was Florida State and BYU. I will always root for Mormons over Florida State, but more than anything else, I was rooting for a quick game. I was disappointed. There were a ton of fouls called in the first half and Florida State won. They pulled away in the second half and I was starting to nod off due to the lack of sleep the night before (it was after 1 when I got home and I got up for work at 5:25). But I got a second wind when the second game started. It was Notre Dame and St. Joe's. I was really surprised by the lack of Notre Dame fans at the game. There are always a lot of Notre Dame fans when we play at Madison Square Garden, but there weren't a lot of any fans at these games. Tons of empty seats. But St. Joe's fans probably outnumbered us 10 to 1 (they had a lot of students make the trip). I guess we're still worried about football and aren't concerned about basket ball yet. Anyway, we shot the ball pretty well, but our problem was giving up easy second chance points to St. Joe's. I had to leave early to catch a train (not enough train options after a late game, which was why I wanted a quick first game). I left with about five minutes left and we were leading by about 6 points. St. Joe's came back and won in overtime, but I'm going on the theory that it doesn't count if I didn't see it.
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| Lots of fans came dressed as empty seats last night. |
Disappointing result, but I think our basketball team will be fine. I can't get upset about it when it's November and our football team is undefeated. Go Irish!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Some Probably Incoherent Thoughts After Our Biggest Win in 19 Years
I don't know why, but I had a good feeling all day today. I kept thinking of the Knute Rockne speech that I put on facebook: "Today is the day we're gonna win." It was our biggest game since 1993. And I believed.
I wanted Bob Stoops after Charlie Weis was fired. He could have been a king, but he decided to stay in Oklahoma. When he turned down the job, I wanted Brian Kelly. I feared that if we didn't hire him, he'd go to Michigan and be great (they probably would have hired him a year later). It's working out pretty well for us. Kelly outcoached Stoops tonight. Oklahoma started the game playing a fast-paced no huddle offense. They were getting good yardage against us whenever they went with that. Whenever they slowed it down, we had the advantage. Why slow it down, Bob? You may have lost tonight, Bob, but least almost one out of every two of your players will graduate.
As for Kelly, I wanted him fired. Not for Navy and Tulsa in 2010. Not for South Florida, Michigan, and USC in 2011. When we unveiled the uniforms for the Miami game back in August, I posted on facebook that I wanted him and Jack Swarbrick fired. I wasn't joking. I still hate those uniforms with ever fiber of my being, but I can live with truly awful uniforms for one game a year if Kelly wins like this.
Then there's Manti Te'o. I remember finding out on signing day during my first year as a teacher that he was coming to Notre Dame. I gave all my kids high fives when I found out. I've always liked him as a person, but he didn't live up to the hype in his first three years. He was really good, but not great. This year he's been more than great. He's the best player in college football. He might not win the Heisman Trophy, but he should. More important than being a great football player is that he's a great human being. He is my favorite player on the team (which is saying something considering Louis Nix is on the team) and my favorite player of all time. He has five more games as a college football player and he deserves to win them all. Whatever happens for the rest of the season, nothing will change how I feel about him. I just hope he doesn't end up on the Patriots, Dolphins, Raiders, or Cowboys next year.
My students know that I love sports. They've also figured out that I dress by mood (just like George Costanza). One of my students that isn't a baseball fan figured out that the Giants won Game 7 of the NLCS by the way I was dressed the following day. She told me she would go easy on me for the rest of the week. I also have to start reading the Hunger Games because I made a deal with her that I would start reading the books if she started watching Notre Dame football. She can thank me later. I told one of my students that I could live with the Giants winning the World Series if Notre Dame won the National Championship in football. That's saying something because they're my second least favorite professional sports team. I don't know if I would say the same thing about the Lakers (I guess I would have to make that deal, but I would be really really conflicted about it). I also told my students that we'd have a party if Notre Dame won the National Championship. I think this was after the Michigan State game. I didn't think it was a realistic possibility at the time, but it might be now. I'll gladly live up to that if it happens.
Tonight was our biggest win since Florida State in 1993. We were cheated out of the National Championship that year, but I hope Brian Kelly teaches the team a lesson about what happened the following week. There really is no excuse for not being 11-0 headed into the Los Angeles Coliseum the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Tonight was an amazing night. Keep winning. Go Irish! Beat Panthers!
I wanted Bob Stoops after Charlie Weis was fired. He could have been a king, but he decided to stay in Oklahoma. When he turned down the job, I wanted Brian Kelly. I feared that if we didn't hire him, he'd go to Michigan and be great (they probably would have hired him a year later). It's working out pretty well for us. Kelly outcoached Stoops tonight. Oklahoma started the game playing a fast-paced no huddle offense. They were getting good yardage against us whenever they went with that. Whenever they slowed it down, we had the advantage. Why slow it down, Bob? You may have lost tonight, Bob, but least almost one out of every two of your players will graduate.
As for Kelly, I wanted him fired. Not for Navy and Tulsa in 2010. Not for South Florida, Michigan, and USC in 2011. When we unveiled the uniforms for the Miami game back in August, I posted on facebook that I wanted him and Jack Swarbrick fired. I wasn't joking. I still hate those uniforms with ever fiber of my being, but I can live with truly awful uniforms for one game a year if Kelly wins like this.
Then there's Manti Te'o. I remember finding out on signing day during my first year as a teacher that he was coming to Notre Dame. I gave all my kids high fives when I found out. I've always liked him as a person, but he didn't live up to the hype in his first three years. He was really good, but not great. This year he's been more than great. He's the best player in college football. He might not win the Heisman Trophy, but he should. More important than being a great football player is that he's a great human being. He is my favorite player on the team (which is saying something considering Louis Nix is on the team) and my favorite player of all time. He has five more games as a college football player and he deserves to win them all. Whatever happens for the rest of the season, nothing will change how I feel about him. I just hope he doesn't end up on the Patriots, Dolphins, Raiders, or Cowboys next year.
My students know that I love sports. They've also figured out that I dress by mood (just like George Costanza). One of my students that isn't a baseball fan figured out that the Giants won Game 7 of the NLCS by the way I was dressed the following day. She told me she would go easy on me for the rest of the week. I also have to start reading the Hunger Games because I made a deal with her that I would start reading the books if she started watching Notre Dame football. She can thank me later. I told one of my students that I could live with the Giants winning the World Series if Notre Dame won the National Championship in football. That's saying something because they're my second least favorite professional sports team. I don't know if I would say the same thing about the Lakers (I guess I would have to make that deal, but I would be really really conflicted about it). I also told my students that we'd have a party if Notre Dame won the National Championship. I think this was after the Michigan State game. I didn't think it was a realistic possibility at the time, but it might be now. I'll gladly live up to that if it happens.
Tonight was our biggest win since Florida State in 1993. We were cheated out of the National Championship that year, but I hope Brian Kelly teaches the team a lesson about what happened the following week. There really is no excuse for not being 11-0 headed into the Los Angeles Coliseum the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Tonight was an amazing night. Keep winning. Go Irish! Beat Panthers!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
My Worst Travel Experience Ever
My final Notre Dame football game of the regular season was this past Saturday against BYU. In honor of Mitt Romney, Manti Te'o, and our game against BYU, I watched this South Park episode. It's an underrated episode and really summarizes my feelings about Mormons: they believe some wacky things, but they're really good people. I'm really glad that I'm not a Mormon (if you don't already know why, you'll see soon), but I'm glad that Mormons exist and I wish there were more of them.
Anyway, I left on Friday night. The plan was to fly from LaGuardia to O'Hare to South Bend. My flight was leaving from terminal 2 (I think) at LaGuardia. When I got through security, some of the gates had a weather map of the United States. It looked like great weather throughout the country except for the big storms over the Northeast and the Great Lakes areas of the country. Awesome. My 6:00 flight had already been delayed until 7:15. I thought I'd relax and enjoy an age-appropriate beverage. As some of you know, like George Costanza dresses by mood, I like to drink by mood. So I always like to drink a Guinness on a Friday night before a Notre Dame football game. The only problem was there was no bar in the terminal. Where was I? Saudi Arabia? Unlike O'Hare, you can't walk from terminal to terminal at LaGuardia. So I just had to wait. My flight was still scheduled to get to O'Hare in time to make my connection. It turns out that I didn't get on the plane until 7:30 and it didn't take off until about 8:45. By the time I got to O'Hare, it was too late to catch my flight to South Bend.
I got to know O'Hare really well. I can now say that I like Midway a lot better. Sure, it always takes a long time to get through security there and I was once pepper sprayed going through security (a slight exaggeration), but Midway has a significant advantage: Guinness. For some reason, all of O'Hare Airport has decided that it won't serve Guinness. I was hoping to have my Friday night Guinness at O'Hare once I was unable to get one at LaGuardia. It turns out that by the time I got there, all of the bars were closed. But on the way back, I hoped to enjoy a victory Guinness. I walked all over the place and couldn't find a bar that served Guinness.
So that's my rant about O'Hare. I had to figure out how to get to South Bend. United was going to put me on a flight that got there at 12:33. I wanted a little more pre-game time on campus, so I decided to take the Coach USA bus at 5:15. I found the best place I could to lie down and sleep until then. It was weird sleeping overnight in an airport. It was pretty uncomfortable, but I got a few hours of sleep. I got some really solid sleep on the bus and woke up when the bus was about five minutes away from campus. By then I was ready to go.
I met Jon at his room in my former home, St. Ed's. I definitely thought I had spent my last night there, but it was good to be there again. Staying there for the weekend really made me miss being at Notre Dame. I love seeing the golden dome and saying a prayer at the Grotto. I wish I could do it more often.
We did some tailgating with one of Jon's friends and his family and then headed into the stadium. Jon got me in the student section. He graduates from law school next year. So I'll have to enjoy next season, which will be the last year I can watch games from the student section.
Notre Dame had a pretty crappy first half and trailed 14-7 at halftime. The band performed songs from the greatest movie of all time, Back to the Future. Unfortunately, the crowd was dead. The second half was very solid. Our defense was great. The crowd got very loud after George Atkinson scored a touchdown to give us a 17-14 lead. After Danny Spond's interception to seal the game, Manti Te'o got on the field on offense for the kneel down. It wasn't pretty, but we survived. That's all that matters when you're undefeated and ranked number 5.
I had a late flight home on Sunday. It was nice to not have to rush out on Sunday morning. I went to the 10:00 mass at the basilica and received communion from a great man/priest/professor, Father Bill Miscamble. I've said that he should be president of the university (although Father Jenkins has redeemed himself lately). The last class I attended in my last semester was his Australian history class. He ended my final class at Notre Dame by saying, "My friends, get the hell out of here."
For the first time in a long time, I don't have a trip planned. Next month, I'll probably be going to the Barclays Center for three basketball games in two nights. I definitely want to go back to Notre Dame in the winter for a basketball game. I haven't been to a basketball game since the Joyce Center was renovated, so I'd like to see it. I might have another basketball trip before baseball season starts again, but we'll see.
Now we're on to our biggest game since Florida State in 1993. If we beat Oklahoma, we are a serious contender for a National Championship. Go Irish!
Anyway, I left on Friday night. The plan was to fly from LaGuardia to O'Hare to South Bend. My flight was leaving from terminal 2 (I think) at LaGuardia. When I got through security, some of the gates had a weather map of the United States. It looked like great weather throughout the country except for the big storms over the Northeast and the Great Lakes areas of the country. Awesome. My 6:00 flight had already been delayed until 7:15. I thought I'd relax and enjoy an age-appropriate beverage. As some of you know, like George Costanza dresses by mood, I like to drink by mood. So I always like to drink a Guinness on a Friday night before a Notre Dame football game. The only problem was there was no bar in the terminal. Where was I? Saudi Arabia? Unlike O'Hare, you can't walk from terminal to terminal at LaGuardia. So I just had to wait. My flight was still scheduled to get to O'Hare in time to make my connection. It turns out that I didn't get on the plane until 7:30 and it didn't take off until about 8:45. By the time I got to O'Hare, it was too late to catch my flight to South Bend.
I got to know O'Hare really well. I can now say that I like Midway a lot better. Sure, it always takes a long time to get through security there and I was once pepper sprayed going through security (a slight exaggeration), but Midway has a significant advantage: Guinness. For some reason, all of O'Hare Airport has decided that it won't serve Guinness. I was hoping to have my Friday night Guinness at O'Hare once I was unable to get one at LaGuardia. It turns out that by the time I got there, all of the bars were closed. But on the way back, I hoped to enjoy a victory Guinness. I walked all over the place and couldn't find a bar that served Guinness.
So that's my rant about O'Hare. I had to figure out how to get to South Bend. United was going to put me on a flight that got there at 12:33. I wanted a little more pre-game time on campus, so I decided to take the Coach USA bus at 5:15. I found the best place I could to lie down and sleep until then. It was weird sleeping overnight in an airport. It was pretty uncomfortable, but I got a few hours of sleep. I got some really solid sleep on the bus and woke up when the bus was about five minutes away from campus. By then I was ready to go.
I met Jon at his room in my former home, St. Ed's. I definitely thought I had spent my last night there, but it was good to be there again. Staying there for the weekend really made me miss being at Notre Dame. I love seeing the golden dome and saying a prayer at the Grotto. I wish I could do it more often.
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| A beautiful sight. |
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| Yep, I wore my Tommy Rees jersey. He's 2-0 as a starter this year and 3-0 in relief. |
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| Yep, that's a DeLorean |
For the first time in a long time, I don't have a trip planned. Next month, I'll probably be going to the Barclays Center for three basketball games in two nights. I definitely want to go back to Notre Dame in the winter for a basketball game. I haven't been to a basketball game since the Joyce Center was renovated, so I'd like to see it. I might have another basketball trip before baseball season starts again, but we'll see.
Now we're on to our biggest game since Florida State in 1993. If we beat Oklahoma, we are a serious contender for a National Championship. Go Irish!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
My Homework Assignment from John, Part 3
Let's finish this off. These are players from the post-Cold War era, which I have defined as 1988-present. Unlike the first two parts, I've actually seen these players.
9. Jose Canseco (1985-2001). He unintentionally saved baseball from steroids. I read his book in one day as I was traveling from Notre Dame to Chicago and then home for either spring break or Easter in 2005 (I later gave that book to Vinny and never got it back). I think he deserves Hall of Fame consideration for Juiced. I'm not joking. He was the only player who was honest at the steroid hearing in Congress on St. Patrick's Day in 2005.
8 and 7. Torii Hunter (1997-present) and Matt Kemp (2006-present). Torii Hunter's son is going to Notre Dame to play football next year. Matt Kemp has become a Notre Dame fan because of this (he was at the Stanford game and seemed very excited about it on twitter). Also, Torii Hunter was the most enjoyable player to watch in the field in his day. Matt Kemp's 2011 season was the best season I've ever seen from a Dodgers hitter. Kemp should have been the MVP, but some guy using steroids won instead. He's got all the talent in the world.
6. Roy Halladay (1998-present). I love good pitching. I hated the Phillies for beating the Dodgers in 2008 and 2009. When they traded for Halladay, I found myself rooting for them. He's pitched a perfect game and one of two playoff no-hitters. If not for Frank McCourt, the Dodgers might have traded for Halladay. Let's just move on.
5. Mariano Rivera (1995-present). I've already covered him in the blog. He's the best player I've ever seen. I hope he's back next year.
4. Ken Griffey, Jr. (1989-2010). I believe Griffey was just a supremely talented athlete who has the misfortune of being lumped in with all the dirtbags that sullied the game with their cheating. With 630 home runs, he should be fourth all time behind Aaron, Ruth, and Mays. He was a great outfielder. I'd rank him as the second best player I've ever seen behind Rivera. I put him ahead of Rivera on this list because I want to believe I saw one of the game's all time great hitters and that he wasn't a product of steroids. Here's evidence to believe that he was clean (besides that fact that he never got suddenly ginormous like so many others): he had a clear decline after the age of 29. At age 30, he hit 40 home runs. Still a lot, but not what he was doing from 23-29. After age 30, he only hit more than 30 once. Take a look at his career numbers. He was the best player in the game from 23-29 and then he went downhill. An athlete should be at his best from 23-29 and then decline after that. I think I'm right about Griffey.
3. Derek Jeter (1995-present). Another great player that was clean. He won the World Series five times and played the game the right way. He's been great in the clutch. I respect greatness and Jeter has been great. I'd rank him as the third best player I've ever seen (you could come up with some guys that you think should be ahead of him, but they were probably on steroids). I hope Jeter comes back as soon as possible. These last few days gave us a glimpse into the future of the Yankees with no Jeter and Rivera. I don't want that day to come.
2. Clayton Kershaw (2008-present). He's my boy. I'm a sucker for left-handed pitchers. He's the best one I've ever seen for the Dodgers. He's going to be the Dodgers' second best pitcher ever. If he could keep this up for a long time, he'd be better than Koufax as a regular season pitcher. He hasn't been quite as good as Koufax at his best, but Koufax only did it for six years. But it's going to be almost impossible for Kershaw to pass Koufax because of what Koufax did in the World Series. But he's been a joy to watch. Kershaw and Kemp made what could have been an absolutely miserable season for the Dodgers in 2011 into a fun season. His 2011 was the best season I've seen from a Dodgers pitcher. He won the Cy Young last year and I contend that he deserves it again this year, but he probably won't win it. He's only 24 so I would expect that there will be more Cy Youngs in his future. Hopefully his first World Series championship isn't that far off. He's got a good chance to pass the number 1 guy on my last by the time he's done.
1. Orel Hershiser (1983-2000). If I agreed with the standard accepted end of the Cold War, I would have put Hershiser number 2 on Part 2 behind Sandy Koufax. He's number 1 because of 1988. He was the hero of that season for the Dodgers. He holds the record for consecutive scoreless innings. That's a really cool record to have. Of all the great pitchers that baseball has had, Hershiser's 59 consecutive scoreless innings in 1988 is the best such streak ever. He dominated the Mets in the NLCS and the A's in the World Series. I don't remember watching any of those games, but the fact that the Dodgers won the World Series that year is my first sports memory. (I can very clearly identify 1988 as the first year I remember. The 1988 presidential election is my first political memory. Again, I don't remember details. I just remember that it happened and George Bush won. Sadly, I have no memory of Reagan as president.) I went to my first baseball game ever in 1989 and he was the starter for the Dodgers. After 1989, he was never a dominant pitcher again, but he was still a good postseason pitcher for the Indians and Mets (he only pitched 5 and a third innings for the Mets in the playoffs, but he didn't give up a run). For being the Dodgers' best player in their best season of my lifetime, he gets the nod as my favorite player I've ever seen.
I actually enjoyed writing these a lot. I picked 22 players and had at least one at every position except for catcher (edit: read the comment I wrote, I'm an idiot). So let me add Roy Campanella and Mike Sciosia as honorable mentions. That gets us to 24. I'll add Don Drysdale as an extra arm that we could put in the bullpen and our 25th player and we have the All-Jim Team. Thanks for the idea, John.
9. Jose Canseco (1985-2001). He unintentionally saved baseball from steroids. I read his book in one day as I was traveling from Notre Dame to Chicago and then home for either spring break or Easter in 2005 (I later gave that book to Vinny and never got it back). I think he deserves Hall of Fame consideration for Juiced. I'm not joking. He was the only player who was honest at the steroid hearing in Congress on St. Patrick's Day in 2005.
8 and 7. Torii Hunter (1997-present) and Matt Kemp (2006-present). Torii Hunter's son is going to Notre Dame to play football next year. Matt Kemp has become a Notre Dame fan because of this (he was at the Stanford game and seemed very excited about it on twitter). Also, Torii Hunter was the most enjoyable player to watch in the field in his day. Matt Kemp's 2011 season was the best season I've ever seen from a Dodgers hitter. Kemp should have been the MVP, but some guy using steroids won instead. He's got all the talent in the world.
6. Roy Halladay (1998-present). I love good pitching. I hated the Phillies for beating the Dodgers in 2008 and 2009. When they traded for Halladay, I found myself rooting for them. He's pitched a perfect game and one of two playoff no-hitters. If not for Frank McCourt, the Dodgers might have traded for Halladay. Let's just move on.
5. Mariano Rivera (1995-present). I've already covered him in the blog. He's the best player I've ever seen. I hope he's back next year.
4. Ken Griffey, Jr. (1989-2010). I believe Griffey was just a supremely talented athlete who has the misfortune of being lumped in with all the dirtbags that sullied the game with their cheating. With 630 home runs, he should be fourth all time behind Aaron, Ruth, and Mays. He was a great outfielder. I'd rank him as the second best player I've ever seen behind Rivera. I put him ahead of Rivera on this list because I want to believe I saw one of the game's all time great hitters and that he wasn't a product of steroids. Here's evidence to believe that he was clean (besides that fact that he never got suddenly ginormous like so many others): he had a clear decline after the age of 29. At age 30, he hit 40 home runs. Still a lot, but not what he was doing from 23-29. After age 30, he only hit more than 30 once. Take a look at his career numbers. He was the best player in the game from 23-29 and then he went downhill. An athlete should be at his best from 23-29 and then decline after that. I think I'm right about Griffey.
3. Derek Jeter (1995-present). Another great player that was clean. He won the World Series five times and played the game the right way. He's been great in the clutch. I respect greatness and Jeter has been great. I'd rank him as the third best player I've ever seen (you could come up with some guys that you think should be ahead of him, but they were probably on steroids). I hope Jeter comes back as soon as possible. These last few days gave us a glimpse into the future of the Yankees with no Jeter and Rivera. I don't want that day to come.
2. Clayton Kershaw (2008-present). He's my boy. I'm a sucker for left-handed pitchers. He's the best one I've ever seen for the Dodgers. He's going to be the Dodgers' second best pitcher ever. If he could keep this up for a long time, he'd be better than Koufax as a regular season pitcher. He hasn't been quite as good as Koufax at his best, but Koufax only did it for six years. But it's going to be almost impossible for Kershaw to pass Koufax because of what Koufax did in the World Series. But he's been a joy to watch. Kershaw and Kemp made what could have been an absolutely miserable season for the Dodgers in 2011 into a fun season. His 2011 was the best season I've seen from a Dodgers pitcher. He won the Cy Young last year and I contend that he deserves it again this year, but he probably won't win it. He's only 24 so I would expect that there will be more Cy Youngs in his future. Hopefully his first World Series championship isn't that far off. He's got a good chance to pass the number 1 guy on my last by the time he's done.
1. Orel Hershiser (1983-2000). If I agreed with the standard accepted end of the Cold War, I would have put Hershiser number 2 on Part 2 behind Sandy Koufax. He's number 1 because of 1988. He was the hero of that season for the Dodgers. He holds the record for consecutive scoreless innings. That's a really cool record to have. Of all the great pitchers that baseball has had, Hershiser's 59 consecutive scoreless innings in 1988 is the best such streak ever. He dominated the Mets in the NLCS and the A's in the World Series. I don't remember watching any of those games, but the fact that the Dodgers won the World Series that year is my first sports memory. (I can very clearly identify 1988 as the first year I remember. The 1988 presidential election is my first political memory. Again, I don't remember details. I just remember that it happened and George Bush won. Sadly, I have no memory of Reagan as president.) I went to my first baseball game ever in 1989 and he was the starter for the Dodgers. After 1989, he was never a dominant pitcher again, but he was still a good postseason pitcher for the Indians and Mets (he only pitched 5 and a third innings for the Mets in the playoffs, but he didn't give up a run). For being the Dodgers' best player in their best season of my lifetime, he gets the nod as my favorite player I've ever seen.
I actually enjoyed writing these a lot. I picked 22 players and had at least one at every position except for catcher (edit: read the comment I wrote, I'm an idiot). So let me add Roy Campanella and Mike Sciosia as honorable mentions. That gets us to 24. I'll add Don Drysdale as an extra arm that we could put in the bullpen and our 25th player and we have the All-Jim Team. Thanks for the idea, John.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
My Homework Assignment from John, Part 2
I tackled my favorite players from before World War II in Part 1. Now we're on to the Cold War. And that brings up an interesting historical question: When did the Cold War end? This actually affects one of my players for this part and the next part. Most historians would say 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the satellite nations breaking away from the Evil Empire. Some might say 1991 with the breakup of the Soviet Union. I was a history major in college and studied this period of history extensively, and I have a different answer: May 1988. On May 31, 1988, Ronald Reagan delivered a speech at Moscow State University about the greatness of the American system. This is one of my favorite quotes: "Freedom is the recognition that no single person, no single authority or government has a monopoly on the truth, but that every individual life is infinitely precious, that every one of us put on this world has been put there for a reason and has something to offer." I once wrote a paper in college where I called this the Cold War Victory Speech. When the President of the United States could say something like this at Moscow State University, the Cold War was over. We won.
I know a lot more about the players from the Cold War than I do about the players who played before World War II. I'm going with nine players for nine innings. So here are my favorite players from 1945-1987:
9. Stan Musial (1941-1944, 1946-1963). He missed a year for the war. I think he's a very underrated player. When he retired, his 475 home runs was sixth all time. His career batting average was .331 and he's fourth all time in hits with 3630. Great, simple nickname: Stan the Man.
8. Gil Hodges (1943, 1947-1963). He played in one game in 1943 and missed the next three years to serve in the military. Gil Hodges was second in the Majors in the 1950s with 310 home runs. He belongs in the Hall of Fame.
7. Johnny Podres (1953-1967, 1969). 4-1, 2.11 ERA in the World Series. He pitched a complete game shutout at Yankee Stadium in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series.
6.Pete Rose. Just kidding. I loathe Pete Rose. He bet on baseball and lied about it. He doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame.
6. Joe Torre (1960-1977). This is entirely because of his career as a manager. I loved the guy. He deserved better than managing a team owned by Frank McCourt in his last season.
5. Duke Snider (1947-1964). He hit the most home runs in the 1950s with 326. He's either the second or third best Dodger of all time. He's the Dodgers' all time home run leader with 389. Snider was very good in his six World Series appearances. In 36 games, he hit 11 home runs and drove in 26 runs.
4. Hank Aaron (1954-1976). He's the all time leader in RBIs with 2297 and the legitimate home run king with 755. There is no greater tragedy in baseball than what Barry Bonds did to forever taint the greatest record in the game. Can we all agree that Hank Aaron is still the record holder?
3. Ted Williams (1939-1942, 1946-1960). I covered Ted Williams in my post about San Diego, so this will be a lot shorter than it could be. I've heard people say that Ted Williams is the greatest hitter ever. He wasn't, but he's somewhere from second to fifth. Let's compare Ruth and Williams. Williams hit .344, Ruth hit .342. Ruth hit 714 home runs, Williams hit 521 (but as I explained, if Williams hadn't missed time because of the wars and if he had played at Yankee Stadium, the gap would be a lot narrower). Williams had an on base percentage of .482, Ruth was .474. Ruth has a big edge in slugging percentage, .690 to .634 (Williams was second all time, but that's a big gap). The big difference is the era in which they played. It's hard to pick the best season for Ted Williams, but you could make a good case for 1941. Williams led the league with 37 home runs. The league average for a team was 83. It was an amazing season, but it wasn't Ruthian. In 1949 (an MVP year and another contender for Williams's best season), he hit 43 home runs and the league average for a team was 107. The other contenders for second best hitter of all time are Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby, and Ty Cobb. I'd put Cobb behind the other three because he didn't hit home runs the way they did.
2. Jackie Robinson (1947-1956). Jackie Robinson is right there with Duke Snider for second best Dodger of all time. I like him because he went to UCLA (under the enemy of my enemy is my friend theory). He played baseball, basketball, and football, and ran track. Of course, Robinson is most famous for being the most historically significant baseball player of all time. He broke baseball's color barrier before Harry Truman integrated the military and before Brown v. Board of Education. I feel like I didn't learn about Jackie Robinson in school and I should have (of course, I knew all about him anyway). I teach my kids about him. Another thing that I absolutely love about Jackie Robinson is that he retired when the Dodgers traded him to the Giants.
1. Sandy Koufax (1955-1966). He's the greatest Dodger of all time and the greatest left-handed pitcher of all time. He only played 12 years and wasn't really anything special for the first half of his career (ages 19-24). Then he went nuts. In his last six years, he was 129-47 with a 2.19 ERA and 1713 strikeouts. In his last four years, he was 97-27 with a 1.86 ERA and 1228 strikeouts. He led the league in ERA in each of his last five years. He pitched four no hitters, including one perfect game. And then there's what he did in the World Series. He edges Mariano Rivera for best postseason pitcher ever. Koufax was in the World Series four times (he was on the Dodgers in 1955, but didn't pitch in the World Series, it would be five if you count 1955) and pitched in eight games. Surprisingly, he was only 4-3. But in 57 innings, he had an ERA of 0.95. He was the World Series MVP of the 1963 and 1965. In 1965, Koufax lost Game 2. Then he pitched a complete game shutout in Game 5 and then again on two days rest in Game 7. It's a shame arthritis cut his career short. If not for that, Koufax probably had at least five more years and 100 more wins.
God Bless America!
I know a lot more about the players from the Cold War than I do about the players who played before World War II. I'm going with nine players for nine innings. So here are my favorite players from 1945-1987:
9. Stan Musial (1941-1944, 1946-1963). He missed a year for the war. I think he's a very underrated player. When he retired, his 475 home runs was sixth all time. His career batting average was .331 and he's fourth all time in hits with 3630. Great, simple nickname: Stan the Man.
8. Gil Hodges (1943, 1947-1963). He played in one game in 1943 and missed the next three years to serve in the military. Gil Hodges was second in the Majors in the 1950s with 310 home runs. He belongs in the Hall of Fame.
7. Johnny Podres (1953-1967, 1969). 4-1, 2.11 ERA in the World Series. He pitched a complete game shutout at Yankee Stadium in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series.
6.
6. Joe Torre (1960-1977). This is entirely because of his career as a manager. I loved the guy. He deserved better than managing a team owned by Frank McCourt in his last season.
5. Duke Snider (1947-1964). He hit the most home runs in the 1950s with 326. He's either the second or third best Dodger of all time. He's the Dodgers' all time home run leader with 389. Snider was very good in his six World Series appearances. In 36 games, he hit 11 home runs and drove in 26 runs.
4. Hank Aaron (1954-1976). He's the all time leader in RBIs with 2297 and the legitimate home run king with 755. There is no greater tragedy in baseball than what Barry Bonds did to forever taint the greatest record in the game. Can we all agree that Hank Aaron is still the record holder?
3. Ted Williams (1939-1942, 1946-1960). I covered Ted Williams in my post about San Diego, so this will be a lot shorter than it could be. I've heard people say that Ted Williams is the greatest hitter ever. He wasn't, but he's somewhere from second to fifth. Let's compare Ruth and Williams. Williams hit .344, Ruth hit .342. Ruth hit 714 home runs, Williams hit 521 (but as I explained, if Williams hadn't missed time because of the wars and if he had played at Yankee Stadium, the gap would be a lot narrower). Williams had an on base percentage of .482, Ruth was .474. Ruth has a big edge in slugging percentage, .690 to .634 (Williams was second all time, but that's a big gap). The big difference is the era in which they played. It's hard to pick the best season for Ted Williams, but you could make a good case for 1941. Williams led the league with 37 home runs. The league average for a team was 83. It was an amazing season, but it wasn't Ruthian. In 1949 (an MVP year and another contender for Williams's best season), he hit 43 home runs and the league average for a team was 107. The other contenders for second best hitter of all time are Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby, and Ty Cobb. I'd put Cobb behind the other three because he didn't hit home runs the way they did.
2. Jackie Robinson (1947-1956). Jackie Robinson is right there with Duke Snider for second best Dodger of all time. I like him because he went to UCLA (under the enemy of my enemy is my friend theory). He played baseball, basketball, and football, and ran track. Of course, Robinson is most famous for being the most historically significant baseball player of all time. He broke baseball's color barrier before Harry Truman integrated the military and before Brown v. Board of Education. I feel like I didn't learn about Jackie Robinson in school and I should have (of course, I knew all about him anyway). I teach my kids about him. Another thing that I absolutely love about Jackie Robinson is that he retired when the Dodgers traded him to the Giants.
1. Sandy Koufax (1955-1966). He's the greatest Dodger of all time and the greatest left-handed pitcher of all time. He only played 12 years and wasn't really anything special for the first half of his career (ages 19-24). Then he went nuts. In his last six years, he was 129-47 with a 2.19 ERA and 1713 strikeouts. In his last four years, he was 97-27 with a 1.86 ERA and 1228 strikeouts. He led the league in ERA in each of his last five years. He pitched four no hitters, including one perfect game. And then there's what he did in the World Series. He edges Mariano Rivera for best postseason pitcher ever. Koufax was in the World Series four times (he was on the Dodgers in 1955, but didn't pitch in the World Series, it would be five if you count 1955) and pitched in eight games. Surprisingly, he was only 4-3. But in 57 innings, he had an ERA of 0.95. He was the World Series MVP of the 1963 and 1965. In 1965, Koufax lost Game 2. Then he pitched a complete game shutout in Game 5 and then again on two days rest in Game 7. It's a shame arthritis cut his career short. If not for that, Koufax probably had at least five more years and 100 more wins.
God Bless America!
Monday, October 15, 2012
My Homework Assignment from John, Part 1
John being the teacher that he is gave me a homework assignment the other night. Either he or Vinny asked me who my favorite baseball player ever is. I had a hard time answering it, so John had a solution to this: I had to do a blog post on my favorite baseball players ever, broken down into three eras. First, we have the pre-World War II era, then the Cold War era, and then the modern era.
So let's start with the pre-World War II era. I do know a lot about the history of baseball, but not surprisingly, this is the era I know the least about. I wasn't alive and neither was my dad. The Dodgers didn't win a World Series until after the war, so there are no Dodgers for me to love, with the possible exception of Zach Wheat (the Dodgers' all-time hit leader).
I came up with four players, all very obvious choices, in reverse order:
4. Grover Cleveland Alexander (1911-1930). First of all, great name. He's one of the top ten pitchers of all time, with 373 wins (tied for third all time) and a 2.56 career ERA. In the 1926 World Series against a Yankee lineup featuring Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, he pitched a complete game in a 10-2 win in Game 6 on October 9. On October 10, he pitched the last two and a third in the Cardinals' Game 7 win by a score of 3-2 at Yankee Stadium. So that's 11 and a third innings in two elimination games in back to back days against a lineup with two of the greatest hitters of all time.
3. Lou Gehrig (1923-1939). I always thought Gehrig was underrated. After his final home run in 1938, his 493 home runs was second all time behind Babe Ruth. In third place was Jimmy Foxx with 429 and in fourth place was Mel Ott with 342. He dominated the game in a way that nobody had until that point with the exception of Babe Ruth. He hit .340 in his career. He's fifth all time in on base percentage at .447. The guy was amazing. Also, the Iron Horse is a great nickname.
2. Walter Johnson (1907-1927). He's the greatest pitcher of all time. 417 wins, 2.17 career ERA, 3509 strikeouts. I haven't really researched it, but I can imagine that his 1913 season was the best ever for a pitcher (36-7, 1.14 ERA). In the 1924 World Series, he pitched 24 innings in three games. He actually lost both of his starts, but two days after pitching a complete game in Game 5, he pitched the last four innings of a 12-inning game without allowing a run in the Senators' Game 7 victory over the Giants. Another great nickname with the Big Train.
1. Babe Ruth (1914-1935). He's the greatest player of all time and it's not even close. I got really mad some years back when people would suggest that Barroid was at all close to Babe Ruth. Even if Barroid had been clean, he still wouldn't be close. In basketball, I would say Bill Russell is the greatest player of all time. A lot of folks would say Michael Jordan. Whoever you think it is, the gap between the two is fairly small (although I would say there's a big gap between 2 and 3). The gap between Babe Ruth and whoever comes next is huge. He's one of two players to ever legitimately hit 60 home runs in a season. He's one of two players to ever legitimately hit 700 home runs in a career. In 1919 (the first season in which Ruth played more than 100 games), he hit 29 home runs. That might not sound special, but the league average for an entire team that season was 28 home runs. The next year, Ruth hit 54 home runs. The only teams with more than that in 1920 were the Phillies (64) and the rest of the Yankees (61). When Ruth hit 60 in 1927, the league average for teams that weren't the Yankees was 51 (Gehrig hit 47 that year). This year, the league average for a team was 164. So when somebody starts hitting 150 home runs in a season, then we can compare him to Babe Ruth. Also, everybody has the image of Babe Ruth as a fat guy (including fictional George Steinbrenner in Seinfeld: "Babe Ruth was nothing more than a fat old man, with little-girl legs. And here's something I just found out recently. He wasn't really a sultan."), but he also had 136 triples in his career. He was a career .342 hitter, he was second all time in on base percentage at .474, second all time in RBIs with 2213, second all time in home runs with 714 (I don't recognize Barroid), and first all time in slugging percentage at .690 (well ahead of Ted Williams, who is second at .634). And if all that wasn't enough, he was a great pitcher early in his career. His career record was 94-46 with an ERA of 2.28. If he hadn't been a good hitter and continued his pitching career, he might have made the Hall of Fame as a pitcher. And his World Series numbers were also amazing: (41 games, 15 home runs, 33 RBIs, .326 batting average, .467 on base percentage, .744 slugging percentage, 3 games as a pitcher, 3-0, 31 innings pitched, 0.87 ERA). And a cool bit of trivia about Babe Ruth: the last uniform he ever wore was a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform (as a coach).
This post is long enough, I'll get to the Cold War era later in the week. But it gave me an idea for another post: Who is the second best baseball player of all time? I think I have two good candidates in this post (Gehrig and Johnson). But if you have any thoughts on that topic, leave a comment.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Another Great Saturday
Notre Dame had another great win and I met my friend John's son.
Brian Kelly's play calling sometimes leaves me scratching my head (like the play calling that led to Stanford's only touchdown when Golson's fumble was recovered in the end zone), but the dude can coach. He's done a great job of recruiting on the defensive side and that's the biggest reason that we're ranked number 5 right now. It took until his third year, but he's got this team headed in the right direction.
Everett Golson wasn't particularly good yesterday, but is touchdown pass to Eifert on third and 18 was a ginormous play. Without that touchdown, we probably lose.
Tommy Rees is probably the perfect backup quarterback. He shouldn't be a starter, but he's got a lot of experience and knows what he's doing out there. He's now helped us win three games in his role as a backup. I'm really happy to see him contribute this year.
The defense continues to be amazing. We haven't allowed a rushing touchdown all season. It was beautiful to see us stuff Stanford on four straight running plays to end the game. It was nice to see another hard-fought game featuring good defense. I wish our offense was better, but it is enjoyable watching football where it's not just touchdown after touchdown. Our pass defense looked like it was going to be very shaky because of the inexperience in the secondary and the way we played against Navy and Purdue, but it's turned out to be very good as well.
I absolutely detest college football's overtime format. Football has kickoffs, punts, and a clock. Why are all of these things taken out of the game in overtime? You have to earn good field position, but now suddenly you get the ball at the other team's 25. After two overtimes, you have to go for two if you score a touchdown. These rules are as stupid as it would be if you started the 10th inning of a baseball game with runners on the corners and you only got two outs or something. Why change a fantastic game so much? Despite its stupidity, college overtime does create excitement.
The call on the review of the last play was correct. The officials had blown the play dead. An official runs in from the side to mark the ball and Te'o let up. But even if they hadn't, there was no conclusive angle to say it was a touchdown. You simply cannot tell if Taylor's elbow touched the ground before he crossed the goal line. You can't see his elbow and the best shot wasn't right down the goal line anyway (making it impossible to tell exactly when the ball crossed the goal line).
This is the first year since 1988 that Notre Dame has beaten Michigan State, Michigan, Miami, and Stanford. That was a pretty good year.
There's a lot of football to be played. Oklahoma and USC will be very tough. Next week, we take on the Mormons. BYU could give us trouble if we're looking ahead, but I think Kelly will have the team focused. And we have the best Mormon, so hopefully it will be another great Saturday. It's been a lot of fun so far, but we're not done yet.
 |
| Manti Te'o deserves seven more wins. |
The good news about not going to the game was that I got to see John, Liz, Vinny, and Tommy. The last time I saw all of them, John and I ended up walking home from Huntington at 2 in the morning. This was a much less eventful evening.
Tommy and I entertained John and Vinny with our discussion about how much we love Adam Richman. Vinny theorized that we both wished we could be Adam Richman. There's some truth in that, but I'd never want to do the spicy challenges. I'd want to enjoy what I'm eating.
We watched the Yankee game. The Yankees made an exciting comeback in the ninth, but lost 6-4 in extra innings. Unfortunately, Derek Jeter's season came to an end with an injury. I hope Jeter and Rivera come back strong. The day is coming when Jeter and Rivera won't be around anymore. I don't want that day to come.
The highlight of the night was meeting John's son, Jack. Jack was born on September 5 so he lives in a world where Notre Dame has never lost a football game. It was the first time that I got to see the baby of one of my friends. I know he's only a little over a month old, but I was surprised by how tiny he was. It was hard to believe that I was once that small. I got to hold Jack for a few minutes. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of me holding him. The first thing I said to Jack when John handed him to me: "Can you say Rajon Rondo?" John and his wife Liz live in Massachusetts and he's cool with Jack being a Celtics fan. It was great to meet the little guy and to see John, Liz, Vinny, and Tommy. It was another great Saturday.
Why I Love Baseball, Part 8
The St. Louis Cardinals.
I'm not a Cardinals fan, but I have to admire them. Busch Stadium is very high on my list of stadiums to get to next season (it's probably the one that I haven't been to yet that I want to get to the most). They have great fans and they're a great franchise. You might not realize it, but the Cardinals are probably the best franchise of the last ten years. During that time, they've made it at least as far as the NLCS five times. They've been to the World Series three times and won two.
What they've done the last two years has been amazing. I was rooting for the Rangers in the World Series last year, but I had to appreciate the way the Cardinals won. Twice in Game 6, they were down to their last strike. They came back to win Game 6 and then they won Game 7. I was rooting for the Nationals in the first round of the playoffs this year, but again, the Cardinals won in amazing fashion. They fell behind 6-0 and I figured the Nationals had it. They clawed their way back to 6-5. It looked like it was all for naught when the Nationals tacked on a run. Twice the Cardinals were one strike away from elimination again, but they fought back to win 9-7.
That's the perfect way to win. There's nothing like a hard fought win. I dream that I'll get to see that from the Dodgers some day.
On the other hand, you have the Nationals. I feel bad for their fans, but it shouldn't be too easy. They might as well have been an expansion team. They moved to Washington in 2005 and had finished in last every year except for two (4th in 2007 and 3rd last year). I was surprised to see that they were 81-81 in 2005, but they were still in last place. This is the first time that they're legitimately good. Now their fans know what the frustration of being a baseball fan can feel like. It's all part of loving the game. They have a young team and should be good for a little while, but winning a World Series won't be easy.
So the Cardinals are back in the NLCS again. I need to root for them now to prevent the Giants from making it to the World Series. Go Cardinals.
I'm not a Cardinals fan, but I have to admire them. Busch Stadium is very high on my list of stadiums to get to next season (it's probably the one that I haven't been to yet that I want to get to the most). They have great fans and they're a great franchise. You might not realize it, but the Cardinals are probably the best franchise of the last ten years. During that time, they've made it at least as far as the NLCS five times. They've been to the World Series three times and won two.
What they've done the last two years has been amazing. I was rooting for the Rangers in the World Series last year, but I had to appreciate the way the Cardinals won. Twice in Game 6, they were down to their last strike. They came back to win Game 6 and then they won Game 7. I was rooting for the Nationals in the first round of the playoffs this year, but again, the Cardinals won in amazing fashion. They fell behind 6-0 and I figured the Nationals had it. They clawed their way back to 6-5. It looked like it was all for naught when the Nationals tacked on a run. Twice the Cardinals were one strike away from elimination again, but they fought back to win 9-7.
That's the perfect way to win. There's nothing like a hard fought win. I dream that I'll get to see that from the Dodgers some day.
On the other hand, you have the Nationals. I feel bad for their fans, but it shouldn't be too easy. They might as well have been an expansion team. They moved to Washington in 2005 and had finished in last every year except for two (4th in 2007 and 3rd last year). I was surprised to see that they were 81-81 in 2005, but they were still in last place. This is the first time that they're legitimately good. Now their fans know what the frustration of being a baseball fan can feel like. It's all part of loving the game. They have a young team and should be good for a little while, but winning a World Series won't be easy.
So the Cardinals are back in the NLCS again. I need to root for them now to prevent the Giants from making it to the World Series. Go Cardinals.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Why I Love Baseball, Parts 6 and 7
Part 6: How hard it is to make the playoffs.
I love playoffs in all sports. But baseball's playoffs are the best because only 10 teams make it. And really it's only 8. I can't really count a team that only plays one playoff game as being in the playoffs. In basketball and hockey, more than half the teams make the playoffs. In 2011, the Pacers won 45% of their games and made the playoffs. And even in the NFL, we had the Seahawks make the playoffs with a 7-9 record. You don't get nonsense like that in baseball.
Because so few teams make the playoffs, the regular season matters. The only sport where it matters more is college football. Sure, any one game doesn't matter all that much when almost every team is going to win at least 60 games and lose at least 60 games. But the Dodgers missed the playoffs by two games this year. I could easily find three random games that they lost in the middle of the season that could have been the difference (the game where the dude on the Padres stole home comes to mind).
Besides the fact that it's harder than any sport other than college football (2 teams, soon to be 4) to make the playoffs, you also have to earn it. There's no getting in on tie breakers. If you finish tied with somebody, you have to beat them in a tie breaker game. Obviously this would not be feasible in football, but why not in basketball? If two teams were tied for the last playoff spot, make them play one game to get in.
I'm pretty sad that the regular season is over and the Dodgers didn't make the playoffs, but still, the playoffs are awesome.
Part 7: The return of pitching to baseball.
I hate the steroid era in baseball with every fiber of my being. Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, and others made a mockery of the numbers that were sacred in baseball. I'll never forgive them for that. The problem hasn't totally been solved. The 2011 NL MVP and 2012 NL home run leader was on steroids. We could have had a batting champion on steroids this year if Melky Cabrera hadn't done the right thing (after doing the wrong thing, of course). But in 2000, the league's ERA was 4.77; this year it was 4.01. Clearly we're moving in the right direction.
The home run is exciting, but when it happens all the time, who cares? The coolest thing that can happen in a baseball game is a no hitter or perfect game. That involves great pitching. There were a lot this year, but they're always riveting. I'd rather watch great pitching any day over a 10-8 game.
Speaking of great pitching, I have some thoughts on the NL Cy Young this year. If there was a pitcher who led the league in ERA (by 0.2, a pretty big margin), WHIP, and on base percentage against and finished second in the league in innings pitched, strikeouts (one behind the leader), batting average against, and slugging percentage against, that guy has a pretty good case for Cy Young, right? I'll even throw in WAR for the stat geeks (I think that's a silly stat. Show me WAR. You can't.) and this pitcher led the league in WAR. He was first or second in all these categories. The other guy who was first or second in each of these categories was R.A. Dickey, Gio Gonzalez, Matt Cain, or Johnny Cueto. All those guys had very good years, but they weren't as good as my guy. Who am I talking about? Clayton Kershaw. But he's not going to win the award because he won last year and the Dodgers didn't help him win enough games this year. If the Dodgers had helped him win three more games, he'd probably win the award easily.
But back to how pitching has returned from the dead. We should never forget who saved baseball from steroids. If I had a Hall of Fame vote, I would never consider voting for anybody who used steroids, with one exception. That's right, Jose Canseco. I don't know if I would or not. And it may not have been intentional, but the man saved baseball. Remember the hearings in Congress on St. Patrick's Day in 2005? It was probably the greatest random sports day of all time (the steroid hearings, the first day of the NCAA basketball tournament, and Shaq vs. the Lakers). And we had a bunch of clowns lying and/or pretending not to speak English. But Jose Canseco told the truth. And he saved baseball. Thank you, Jose.
I love playoffs in all sports. But baseball's playoffs are the best because only 10 teams make it. And really it's only 8. I can't really count a team that only plays one playoff game as being in the playoffs. In basketball and hockey, more than half the teams make the playoffs. In 2011, the Pacers won 45% of their games and made the playoffs. And even in the NFL, we had the Seahawks make the playoffs with a 7-9 record. You don't get nonsense like that in baseball.
Because so few teams make the playoffs, the regular season matters. The only sport where it matters more is college football. Sure, any one game doesn't matter all that much when almost every team is going to win at least 60 games and lose at least 60 games. But the Dodgers missed the playoffs by two games this year. I could easily find three random games that they lost in the middle of the season that could have been the difference (the game where the dude on the Padres stole home comes to mind).
Besides the fact that it's harder than any sport other than college football (2 teams, soon to be 4) to make the playoffs, you also have to earn it. There's no getting in on tie breakers. If you finish tied with somebody, you have to beat them in a tie breaker game. Obviously this would not be feasible in football, but why not in basketball? If two teams were tied for the last playoff spot, make them play one game to get in.
I'm pretty sad that the regular season is over and the Dodgers didn't make the playoffs, but still, the playoffs are awesome.
Part 7: The return of pitching to baseball.
I hate the steroid era in baseball with every fiber of my being. Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, and others made a mockery of the numbers that were sacred in baseball. I'll never forgive them for that. The problem hasn't totally been solved. The 2011 NL MVP and 2012 NL home run leader was on steroids. We could have had a batting champion on steroids this year if Melky Cabrera hadn't done the right thing (after doing the wrong thing, of course). But in 2000, the league's ERA was 4.77; this year it was 4.01. Clearly we're moving in the right direction.
The home run is exciting, but when it happens all the time, who cares? The coolest thing that can happen in a baseball game is a no hitter or perfect game. That involves great pitching. There were a lot this year, but they're always riveting. I'd rather watch great pitching any day over a 10-8 game.
Speaking of great pitching, I have some thoughts on the NL Cy Young this year. If there was a pitcher who led the league in ERA (by 0.2, a pretty big margin), WHIP, and on base percentage against and finished second in the league in innings pitched, strikeouts (one behind the leader), batting average against, and slugging percentage against, that guy has a pretty good case for Cy Young, right? I'll even throw in WAR for the stat geeks (I think that's a silly stat. Show me WAR. You can't.) and this pitcher led the league in WAR. He was first or second in all these categories. The other guy who was first or second in each of these categories was R.A. Dickey, Gio Gonzalez, Matt Cain, or Johnny Cueto. All those guys had very good years, but they weren't as good as my guy. Who am I talking about? Clayton Kershaw. But he's not going to win the award because he won last year and the Dodgers didn't help him win enough games this year. If the Dodgers had helped him win three more games, he'd probably win the award easily.
But back to how pitching has returned from the dead. We should never forget who saved baseball from steroids. If I had a Hall of Fame vote, I would never consider voting for anybody who used steroids, with one exception. That's right, Jose Canseco. I don't know if I would or not. And it may not have been intentional, but the man saved baseball. Remember the hearings in Congress on St. Patrick's Day in 2005? It was probably the greatest random sports day of all time (the steroid hearings, the first day of the NCAA basketball tournament, and Shaq vs. the Lakers). And we had a bunch of clowns lying and/or pretending not to speak English. But Jose Canseco told the truth. And he saved baseball. Thank you, Jose.
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