The SoapBoxers

Being Force Fed?

The 2013 NFL Draft begins tonight in prime time. The real question is, do we all tune into the draft because we are frenzied fans of NFL teams, or because television (namely ESPN and the NFL Network) have crammed this down our throats and but on a multi-day productions that is more pomp and circumstance then actual business?

Borrrrrring!

I have a hard time getting excited for the auction this year, no big name profile players are looking to go early in the draft. From a fan perspective, Offensive and Defensive Tackles look to be the cream of this class. (yawn) These are vital parts to any football team that is trying to build for the future, but is makes for the same excitement as watching infomercials for the sham-wow.

Geno Smith is slated to perhaps be the first quarterback taken, likely going to the Browns at pick #6. But, Geno Smith to me is not a guy to build a team around. He had glimpses of greatness and looked dynamite in action in some games early in the year, and was even listed near the top of the Heisman list – then he played some teams with good defensive schemes and he looked less than pedestrian.

Tavon Austin – one of Smith’s targets and an electric special team player, is also looking like one of the first “non-lineman” taken off the board. Many mock drafts have him in the top 10, with a few I have looked at having him go to the Bills at #8.

One of the more interesting developments for me (which tells you how unexciting the big name promise is in this draft) is that two Tight Ends might be taken in the first round. As more teams try to find the next Rob Gronkowski or Jimmy Graham,- they will likely look toward Tyler Eifert and Zach Ertz could both come off the board in the first round.

Hook, line and Mantei

Everyone thinks I am wrong in the work place, but I think Mantei Teo is going to be a huge bust in the NFL. He has had too much baggage with the whole fake girlfriend episode. Granted he had to endure the media circus, but it does not change the fact that he is a player that was super over-hyped because of the fact that he played for Notre Dame. He put up nice statistics and highlights playing against the sub-par schedule that the Golden Domers faced most of the year. When it came to the title game, and facing real competition against Alabama. He looked slow, missed on many plays badly, and flat out looked horrible.

One game does not define a career, but I am in the belief this exposes him for who he really is. A good player on a decent team, that was way over-rated and will be very average against better competition. Not sure that warrants a high draft pick in the first round. OR it just means that this draft is really that bad.

End of Another Husker Streak?

Not as much to cheer for in Lincoln these days

On the topic of bad draft. Nebraska has had no fewer than 3 players drafted for 44 consecutive years as part of the NFL draft. Read that again…..44 Consecutive years. This is an incredible streak. Many streaks ended for the Huskers under the tutelage of Bill Callahan. But this is a streak that even most ardent Husker fans likely don’t know about.This could be the year that this streak is broken. Husker fans should appreciate the coaching job that Bo Pelini really has pulled off last year….winning 10 games and their division in the B1G 10 with basically little talent that is worthy of the NFL draft.

Until Next Time, Stay Classy Oshkosh, Wisconsin

It’s been more than a week since the bombings at the Boston Marathon. I’d like to share a few random thoughts on the topic.

Shortly after the bombings, I saw a tweet where someone remarked that bomb sniffing dogs were seen BEFORE the blasts – noting how strange this was. Actually, it’s not unusual at all. The next time you are at a major event, pay close attention to the law enforcement presence. It’s very likely that you’ll see dogs.

Why is the younger brother talking? I have no idea. Generally, a suspect agrees to talk in exchange for some sort of plea bargain or leniency. In this case, Dzokhar Tsarnaev is being charged with federal crimes, and the death penalty is a possibility. In fact, I can’t imagine the feds taking the death penalty off the table – there would be a lot of public backlash if they did.

I’ve seen some people say that older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s widow (Katherine Russell) must guilty because she has a lawyer. This seems very naïve to me. If you ever find yourself in a situation where the FBI is investigating you in connection with a major crime, I’d suggest that you hire a lawyer, even if you’re completely innocent. The feds are not like Andy and Barney – they play hardball.

Neil Diamond

The Boston Red Sox had their game canceled on Friday night, along with pretty much everything else on the Boston social calendar. On Saturday, Neil Diamond showed up at Fenway and asked if he could lead the crowd in their tradition of singing “Sweet Caroline”. The 72 year old singer had flown to Boston for the sole purpose of singing at Fenway. Obviously, the Sox agreed. That’s classy, Neil.

While the Tsarnaev brothers were Muslim, let’s not forget that terrorists can come from any background. James Holmes, Timothy McVeigh – terrorism is not exclusive to Muslims. Let’s also not forgot that Muslim terrorist are extremists and do not represent the vast majority of Muslims. Most Muslims are normal, peaceful people. Their customs and religious beliefs may be a bit different that yours, but odds are that they are looking for many of the same things in life. Don’t judge an entire population by the fringe elements.

Boston Strong.

It’s pronounced “yo lees shah seen”

My Colorado Rockies are off to a blazing hot start this year, with a 13-4 record through 17 games – 2 1/2 games ahead of defending World Champion San Francisco in the NL West.  It’s true that you can’t win a pennant in April, but it’s also true that every game you win in April is one that’s in your pocket come September.

Health is a big reason why the Rockies are playing well this year.  Jhoulys Chacin has the stuff to be an ace, but fought through injuries last year before getting shut down.  Lefty Jorge De la Rosa is just coming back from an injury of his own.  If those two guys are healthy, the rotation becomes much more formidable on the offensive side.  On the offensive side, having Troy Tulowitzki back from injury means that the Rockies have added one of the best all-around players in baseball to the lineup.  Dexter Fowler has seven homers so for this year – more than half as many as he had last year.  Many observers have been waiting for Fowler’s power to develop for a number of years, and this is his age 27 season, which is a breakout season for many players.  Don’t be surprised if Fowler becomes a perennial 25 homer guy – and if he can provide that sort of power with a good on base percentage and quality defense, that’s a damn good player.

Surprises

As we look around the league, which teams surprise me?  Definitely the Angels, who started the season 4-10 before winning their last two games.  With Oakland losing their last two games, the Angels have closed the gap to 5 games – still a horrible spot to be in at this point of the year.  While sophomore Mike Trout is off to a good start (.868 OPS), he only has attempted one steal in 17 games, after stealing 49 in 139 games last year.  Newly acquired Josh Hamilton actually has a negative WAR (wins above replacement) so far this year.

The other LA team (Dodgers) are also proving that your can’t buy success.  Their pitching staff has suffered some injuries and has floundered to a 7-10 start.

Jeter has an owie – out until after the All Star break

The Yankees, of course, have a sky-high payroll and find themselves two games behind the Red Sox.  However, I’d actually say that the Yankees start is surprisingly good, considering how many All-Stars they have on the disabled list.  I can’t really see the Yankees playing this well in spite of missing so many cogs in their lineup.  Sorry, but this team is destined for a fall.

Perhaps the Phillies have been a surprise, but some of their key players are getting older.  Tampa Bay lose two key starters, which can definitely hurt a team in the short term.  Toronto added a ton of talent from the Marlins fire sale, but sometimes it takes time for all the new players to jell.

Looking around the league, I don’t see a ton of other big surprises.  The Royals are hanging tight in the AL Central with the Tigers?  James Shields and Wade Davis were a big upgrade to their rotation, and might have the added impact of showing a young team how to win.  The Braves off to a hot start in the NL East?  That’s just a good team.

Random notes

For years, I’ve been trying to impose the nickname Mickey on Mike Morse, now with the Mariners.  By referring to him as Mickey Morse, you can help me in this quest.  M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-R-S-E.

Matt Harvey of the Mets is really, really good.  He won’t sustain a 0.93 ERA, but he’ll most likely keep it under 3.00.

Oakland’s Coco Crisp is among the leaders in Wins Above Replacement.  He’s hitting .317 with 5 homers and 5 steals.  The steals are legit – he had 39 last year.  His career high in homers, though, is 16 – so expect some regression.  About a dozen years ago, I saw Coco play in low A Peoria when he was using his given name of Covelli.  During the same timeframe, I also saw Albert Pujols play during his brief time with Peoria.

This was one of the crazier Masters of recent memory.

Controversy #1

Tianlang Guan started off the controversy of the week. The 14 year old Amateur from China, was penalized for slow play. This is the first time ever a participant has been penalized for slow play in the Masters, and the first time on a tour event since 2010. Hopes were high in Guans’ home country of China – which is a phoenix rising from the ashes for the future of golf. (my cousin is there working on golf course design literally as we speak).

On Thursday while trying to make the cut, Guan was paired with Ben Crenshaw and the seeming old man from Italy, Matteo Manassero, who is also a young up and coming golfer on the world scene – mainly on the European Tour. The dominoes all started falling on hole #10, when the group was told they were out of position. For you “non” golf followers, this means get your act together and pick up the pace.

Again they were warned on Hole #12, and Guan was put on the clock. This effectively means you have 40 seconds or less to play your shot, once arriving at your golf ball.

He was warned that he was exceeding the time limit of being on the clock, and received an official warning on Hole #13. He was again warned on hole #16, and finally after exceeding his allowable time on his 2nd shot on hole #17 by what was quoted as “a considerable margin” he was informed that he would be penalized one shot for slow play.

Crenshaw and Manassero both admitted they could have likely stressed the significance of the situation a bit more to him, but they also agreed that there was no question he played very deliberate at times.

Crenshaw and Manessero, both veterans know how to work the system. You get warned, they bring an official over to time you, you pick up the pace of play, and then the official leaves….once that happens you dust back off the tortoise pace and continue on your way with your sun dial 6 ½ hour round that is made for television.

Problem is, Guan is just 14, this is his first big stage event, and hey we are playing Augusta National here…..I am sure he wanted to take a little extra time while playing certain shots. The problem is, he was not well versed enough to know when to kick it into second gear and get the transmission out of idle.

Controversy #2

Where would we all be in golf without Eldrick Tont Woods?

Round #2, right in position where he wants to be, lays up on 15. In a great position, Lets a lob wedge fly….right at the flagstick

WHACK!

Back into the water.

Tiger takes a drop, hits another shot, and gets it in the cup for a bogey. If he misses the flagstick, his golf ball likely ends up mere feet away from the cup and most assuredly would have resulted in a birdie.

And then there is the invention of HDTV.

An anonymous person “calls” in and reports a possible rules infraction of an incorrect drop. It appears that Tiger had mis-applied the drop based on rule 26-1. This applies to a yellow staked water hazard, where you have three options.

1. Play the ball from the drop area – decided against this one, he did not like the angle to the green.

2. Drop the ball, keeping the point where it last crossed the hazard between the hole and the drop spot, with no limit as far back as you can go. Problem here is that the ricochet off the flagstick would make that line much more to the left side of the fairway from where Tiger’s drop took place.

3. Return to the original spot and take a drop as nearly as possible to the original spot from which the ball was last played. – This is what he admittedly did….except….

Tiger freely admitted in a post round interview that he intentionally went back an extra 2 yards.

The Masters Golf Tournament Rules committee reviewed the tape and determined that he had breached the rule, but then imposed a relatively unknown and seldom used rule. This being put in place a few years ago after a similar call in incident disqualified a golfer for signing an incorrect scorecard, after it was deemed –again by a call-in viewer – that a rule had been broken.

There will be a lot of debate if Tiger should have gotten this ruling, or should have been DQ’d. I for one think he should have told the Masters Committee, “thanks for the favorable ruling, but, I need to disqualify myself based on what I see in the footage”

Of course I don’t expect a guy chasing 18 Majors to remove himself from competition in one, but it would have been the right and proper thing to do. In a tournament filled with history, integrity and honor, this would have been the most honorable out.

Instead he played well, but missed a lot of chances, and finished 4 strokes back and tied for 4th place.

Congratulations!

The overlooked story is that Adam Scott, in spite of making absolutely nothing with the long putter until #18 and then again on the 2nd playoff hole at #10 to win the coveted Green Jacket, take home his first major championship, and get the monkey and critics of his inability to win a big one, off of his back.

Likewise, props to Angel Cabrera, who gutted it out down the stretch and hit the best approach of the day on #18 to about 3 feet to set up the tying birdie and force a playoff. Cabrera lost the tournament in my mind when he forced the issue on #13. He hit an iron out of the pine straw and into Rae’s Creek when he really could have hit a lay-up shot and still played an easy wedge into the green and set up a likely birdie opportunity. He had the lead by 2 strokes at the time….and likely did not need to make this play.

But we will never know for sure.

Until next time…Stay Classy Adelaide, Australia.

Boston Marathon

An hour after the first runners cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon, two bomb blasts rocked Boston.  At the moment, two people are reported dead and 22 are injured.  I’d expect the numbers to rise as the day goes on.

The timing of the bombing was no doubt well planned.  An hour after the first runners finish is a time when the number of runners crossing the finish line is going to be growing larger by the minute (very few runners can run a marathon is less than three hours).  A marathon is also a pretty soft target – it’s just hard to completely secure both sides of a 26 mile route.  It’s always been my fear that a major sports event would be targeted by terrorists, simply due to the large numbers of people that attend these events.

Let’s do all we can to assist those who suffered due to this tragedy, and give law enforcement assistance and support in apprehending the terrorists who perpetrated this act.

The playoff hopes of the Dodgers were dealt a serious blow Thursday night when Zack Greinke broke his collarbone – and injury that will keep him out two months.  With the Dodgers winning 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning and the count at 3-2, Greinke hit Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin with a pitch.  Quentin charged the mound, and Greinke braced himself for the collision by leading with his left shoulder – resulting in the broken collarbone.

Did Greinke hit Quentin on purpose?  Most likely not.  Quentin gets hit by pitches a lot, because he crowds the plate.  It’s part of his game – it gives him better coverage of the outside of the plate, and he gets on base when he gets hit by a pitch (which happens at the rate of one every 25 times he comes to bat – an incredibly high rate).  Sure, Greinke had hit him two other times in his career, but he’s not the only pitcher who has plunked Quentin three times.

Then there’s the game situation.  It’s a one run lead late in the game.  You’re trying to protect the lead, not give the opposing team free baserunners.  And even if you are going to hit a batter, you wouldn’t take the count to 3-2.  You’d hit him with the first pitch and save the wear and tear on your arm.

None of my analysis is different than anything else you’re seeing on the internet, of course.

Rockies on a roll

While most pundits have predicted gloom and doom for the Rockies (with ESPN’s Keith Law predicting 53 wins), the Rockies have blasted 20 homers in the first eleven games of the season (15 homers in eight road games) en route to a 7-4 record.  Center fielder Dexter Fowler is leading the team with six homers.  Another player to watch is catcher Wilin Rosario, who blasted 28 homers in his rookie season last year, but was completely overlooked amidst all the Trout/Harper media hype.  Rosario’s power is real – the big question is whether he can improve enough defensively to stick behind the plate.

Astros improving?

The brains behind an Astros rebuild?

After getting off to a horrible whiff-laden start, some of the Astros hitters actually seem to be improving, to the point where a couple of them actually look good.  Is it possible that the Astros won’t be as bad as we originally though?

Nah, they,ll still be horrible – the larger sample size of a full season will bear that out.

However, help is on the way.  Kevin Goldstein, formerly of Baseball Prospectus, is now the director of professional scouting – so expect some astute trades.  Just look for the fedora.

Kobe tears ACL

Lakers star Kobe Bryan became the second LA star to suffer a significant injury in as many days when he tore his ACL Friday night.  He’ll be out 6-9 months, which means he might be ready for the NBA Finals (sorry, but the NBA playoffs ARE really long).  The Lakers currently hold a one game lead for the final playoff spot with two games left in the season.  Regardless of whether they make the playoffs this years, they have almost no chance of making the playoffs in 2014 without Bryant.

Disclaimer

The following is a true story. The names have been changed to protect privacy and because I have not verified some of them.

Background

My mother is a two time cancer survivor who, at the time of this writing, is 79 year old and fighting Parkinson’s. She is a fighter and is determined to live life to the fullest as long as she has life to live. Her battle with Parkinson’s is especially difficult since she is exceptionally intelligent with an excellent memory and predilection to learning and reading. Parkinson’s slowly reduces brain function but first affects motor skills resulting in the patient becoming trapped in a body that will not do their bidding.

In addition to the fight with Parkinson’s, my mother recently had hip replacement surgery. For quite a while she has had difficulty walking. This difficulty was written off as a symptom of the Parkinson’s. First looking at the knee, then at nerves, and all the time struggling with communications between a Parkinson’s patient and doctors, the hip was determined to be the problem. Since it took a long time to isolate the problem, the hip was severely deteriorated, but still repairable.

The surgery was successful, yet she continued to drag the affected leg. Meetings with the surgeon just confirmed the success of the repair, but could not address the continued lack of functionality. My parents took this to mean that although the pain had been relieved, the possibility of walking free of aides was not in the offering. Resigned to that fact, they purchased a new scooter and made sure that the walker was in good repair.

The Story

Because of the Parkinson’s, my mother has a quarterly meeting with her “Brain” doctors. These experts have been working with my mother for close to ten years. They have tried various cocktails of medications to restrict the progress of the Parkinson’s. They have also monitored her remaining functions and recommended exercises to maintain as much mobility as possible. Once a year, an MRI is performed to map her brain and locate any additional damage from the disease. The quarterly appointment that follows the MRI is generally a more extensive meeting that includes discussions with both of my parents to assure that they understand what is happening and what to expect.

This year showed that there was a retardation of the progress of the disease, which is wonderful news. The older doctor of the practice spent talked with my parents for almost an hour, showing them the MRI pictures, pointing out the areas of damage and explaining the functions that are affected by that damage. The younger doctor then spent some time with them basically agreeing with all that his older partner had said.

As he prepared to leave, he asked if my parents had any questions. My father decided to use this opportunity to ask about the dragging of the leg even after the hip replacement. One of the physical therapists had suggested that there was possibly nerve damage or that my mother had suffered a mild stroke. The doctor immediately changed his demeanor and started an additional evaluation.

This evaluation included having my mother lay back and raiser her legs individually and together, bending her knees and performing simulated stomach crunches. Then he had her stand up and try to balance, lifting one leg at a time, holding arms out and even trying to touch her nose with her finger with her eyes closed. All of this resulted in his diagnosis that there was not nerve damage nor had there been a stroke.

The doctor had my mother sit back down and started to talk. “Mrs. Shaw, you need to regain you confidence in your body. You have had a lot of pain for a long time, but now that pain is gone. You have feared falling due to the weakness of your leg, but that weakness is gone. You need to trust that you can use that leg.” My father hoped that the doctor’s speech would have an impact, but it seemed identical to what the therapists had suggested during the hip rehabilitation.

At this point the doctor stepped back. “Mrs. Shaw, you need to step proudly, lift your knees high, keep your chin up and focus on your destination. Concentrate on not shuffling.” He lifted his chin and raised his leg high as if marching in place, then lifted the other. As he lifted that leg, his pant leg rose to expose a metal rod. The doctor was an amputee. His leg from the knee down was a metal rod. Both of my parents were shocked. There had been no evidence of this disability in the ten years they had been working with the doctor. There could not have been a better instructor for my mother.

Although she still used the walker, she marched out of that office with her head high, My father had trouble keeping up with her as she moved across the parking lot to the van. Over the next few weeks, she increased her mobility with her own therapy. She still needs the walker for major outings, but can navigate around the house with just a cane or by using furniture and walls for steadying. Her goal is to graduate to just the cane when out shopping or going to get the mail. The freedom that she has gained since the doctor showed her how to overcome adversity by example, has let her work in her gardens and simply enjoy the outdoors.

The Parkinson’s is still progressing and many of the things she enjoyed are not available to her anymore, but mobility is not currently as severely restricted as it once was. All victories in the fight with Parkinson’s are worth celebrating. I personally want to honor the doctor who has had his own fight with adversity and had used that adversity to help others.

After a long off-season, players finally took to the field for baseball’s opening week. Good storylines were all over the place.
Yu Darvish of the Rangers had a perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning. The next batter lined a single through Darvish’s legs and past shortstop Elvis Andrus for a clean base hit. There have been a total of 23 perfect games in the long history of Major League Baseball. While they are never predictable, the matchup of a good young pitcher facing a young and very bad Astros team definitely created a good environment for one.

The Rangers starters in the three game series against Houston all set or tied their career high for strikeouts in a game. The Astros could make a strong run at 120 losses this year, and are a lock for 100 losses.

Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus himself made history earlier by signing an eight year contract extension worth $120 million. That’s a ton of money for a 24 year old, especially one whose game is predicated on defense and speed. However, teams now seem to be valuing up the middle defense, and Andrus is a good fielder. Also, as his body matures, he may add a bit more power. How long he will stay at shortstop, however, is an open question. He is currently blocking Jurickson Profar, the top prospect in baseball. At some point, second baseman Ian Kinsler is going to be forced to a different position and Profar and Andrus are going to be at second and short.

(What is this, A Rangers blog?)

On Wednesday night, Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay struck out 9 batters in 3 ½ innings. However, Halladay also gave up six hits, three walks, five runs, and threw 95 pitches. The Braves continued to whiff against the Philadelphia bullpen, striking out a total of sixteen times … in a game they WON 9-2. Halladay’s fastball velocity was down significantly during spring training, and it doesn’t seem that he has regained that velocity yet. Is this a bump in the road – or time for the Doc to hang up his stethoscope?

The Yankees have stumbled out of the block. This isn’t surprisingly, with Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, and Curtis Granderson all on the DL. Oh, and did I mention that Sabathia, like Halladay, has lost a few mph from his fastball? As the veterans line up for their AARP cards, the window for the Yankees is closing … and if they allow second baseball Robinson Cano to leave as a free agent, the window will slam shut on Joe Girardi’s finger.

The low budget Marlins made new by adding 20 year old Cuban exile (and pitcher) Jose Fernandez to their roster. Fernandez is a bona fide top prospects, and he has maturity beyond his years, but many observers question the wisdom of bring him up, consider his lack of high level minor league experience.

The Curse of Goodman?

In last week’s article, I made a number of predictions about various NCAA Basketball teams on both the Men’s and Women’s side of the tournament.

I did not mention all the teams nor all of the games….but the few teams I did mention did not fare well at all.

Here is a quick recap.

• Ohio State – LOSS
• La Salle – LOSS
• Baylor Women – LOSS

I did mention that Indiana was over-rated in my opinion, and they were shown the door. So far, I have not cursed Louisville…although they did have a player go down with one of the most freakish basketball injuries I have ever seen in my entire lifetime of watching games on the Hardwood. Fortunately Kevin Ware has had successful surgery and appears to be doing quite well.

No more picks for now.

Substantial Cash Reward?

When news of this hit the first thing I thought of was Darth Vader, speaking to the bounty hunters in the Empire Strikes back. It appears that there may be some explaining to do by the head of Pac – 12 Officiating.

The story was reported by Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com. According to “anonymous source” (one can ascertain it is a referee that was part of this meeting that is going officially off the record) Pac-12 coordinator of basketball officials – Ed Rush – who also happens to be a former NBA referee – told a group of referees a few weeks ago on the Thursday of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas that he would give them $5,000 or a trip to Cancun if they called a technical foul on Arizona Head Coach Sean Miller. The words that are quoted being used are either “rang him up” or “ran him” meaning to charge Coach Miller with a technical foul or toss him out of the game. Rush then reiterated during a Friday morning meeting, according to one referee in attendance, that officials should take similar action against Miller if he did anything on Friday in the Pac-12 semifinals against UCLA.

As it so happened, referee Michael Irving — who sources confirmed was in the room with Rush on Friday — hit Miller with a technical late in Friday’s game…and UCLA ultimately won 66-64.

Did I mention that the technical foul was called exceedingly quick? Did I mention that Miller had not been called for a “T” all year prior to this point? Did I mention that he did not use any profanity? Trust me, if you are a remote lip reader at all and have watched the NCAA tournament, you have seen plenty of profanity and also excessive whining done by a number of so called “prominent coaches”. Tom Izzo, Mike Kryzezewki, most notably come to mind.

Since the Pac 12 Tournament was closely followed by the NCAA tournament, this likely did not get the steam that it should have right out of the gate. But it appears to be picking up more momentum and now more of the general public is wanting answers.

Pac 12 Commissioner Scott told CBSSports.com that a review of the matter concluded that Rush did indeed make these comments, that the comments were “in jest and the officials in the room realized they were not serious offers”, and that steps were taken to ensure that such an occurrence would not happen again.

If these statements are true, this represents collusion against one team and one coach. The Pac-12 should instantly fire Ed Roush, no questions asked. Referees are in place to try their best to uphold the integrity and rules of the game. This would be blatant disregard ethics, and the spirit of basketball or any other game for that matter, and simply cannot be tolerated – period – end of story.

How soon we forget the scandal that hit with NBA with Tim Donaghy just a short time ago. Fans constantly complain of officials deciding games. I am usually in the other side of the argument. My opinion is a foul is a foul, and travel is a travel, and it should not matter at what point in the game you are or how much time is left.

Call the rules of the game the way they are written.

Baseball Starts!

I will not proclaim to be a huge baseball fan, although I am a lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox and also have once again jumped the shark and entered not one, but two fantasy baseball leagues and also a new-fangled baseball simulation league. Last night I already found myself tuning in to MLB Network to catch highlights. I am hopeful that my fantasy teams, and my Red Sox stay competitive and that I pay closer attention to baseball then I did in the past year.

Until Next Time, Stay Classy Kemmerer, Wyoming