Tuesday, April 26, 2011

I Think McNot.

Throughout life there are many things that change: you move to a new place, you meet people, you lose contact with people you were once close with, and you end relationships you thought would last. But as my life has gone through these changes I’ve always had one thing that I could count on to stay the same: The Los Angeles Dodgers.

People always say that being a Dodgers fan is genetic, that it gets passed down from generation to generation. That’s certainly the way I came into becoming a fan, as my father has never once wavered in his undying love for that team. One of his favorite adages is that the Dodgers are “Like a girl-they toy with you and toy with you, but they only break your heart in the end.” Through the good times and the bad he’s never once hesitated in being a Dodger fan.

Naturally, I picked up on his love of his team. I went through a stage of rebellion as I got older where I thought I would be a Boston Red Sox fan, but eventually I gave in and they became my team as well. When I came home from a long hard school day, I could always count on the Dodgers game to help me relax and enjoy my evening. The Dodgers quickly became the best way to spend a summer afternoon or a summer evening, and I considered Dodger Stadium heaven on earth.

So I make no secret that I am about as rabid a Dodger fan as they come. So naturally, as they have struggled on the diamond the past few seasons it has been hard for me to watch. So, when Major League baseball took over daily operations of the Dodgers recently from owner Frank McCourt, I was curious and hopeful.

I was hopeful because I knew the McCourt’s financial situation was hindering the team. Frank and Jamie McCourt had been going through a huge, costly divorce and were infamous for their lavish and expensive lifestyles, not leaving general manager Ned Coletti with enough to go out and sign a big name free agent. While I knew all about the well documented financial troubles, the question that I had was this:

How were these people allowed to buy a team in the first place?

Its not like they bought Rays or anything, these are the Dodgers! Baseball royalty with a long history of winning and great players. They showed no regard for the prestige of the team and treated it like their very own cash cow to fuel their ridiculously vain and lavish lifestyle, basically reducing the franchise's equity to dust. They used up all their money to buy the team, and it quickly ran out on them.

But in the end, I think this situation is probably what's best for everyone involved. The McCourts can go regroup their losses and Dodger fans have a light at the end of the tunnel.

(Picture courtesy of thelfp.com)

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Nice Try "Champions"

Kershaw provided the perfect opening to both the baseball season and the first series of the year against the World Series "champions" of last year, the San Francisco Giants. In his opening day outing Kershaw went seven innings and amassed 9 strikeouts, allowing just four hits and one walk. Matt Kemp scored on a Buster Posey throwing error in the 6th inning, coupled with several other Giant fielding errors all lead to a 2-1 victory for the Dodgers.

The Giants continued to shoot themselves in the foot in the next game, adding two more errors bringing their season total to 5 in two games. Chad Billingsley took the mound and gave up three runs and five hits in 6 innings, with four strikeouts and one walk. Matt Kemp had a solid day scoring on one run and with one RBI, along with runs by Rod Barajas, Aaron Miles, and Chad Billingsley, giving the Dodgers the 3-4 victory.

Ted Lilly took the mound in the third game and just proved that he is clearly not worth all of the money he is being payed. The Giants won that game 10-0, needing no explanation.

Hiroki Kuroda got the nod for game four which saw the Dodgers take the 7-5 win. Kuroda went 7 innings and gave up 3 earned runs on 6 hits, including a home run by Pablo Sandoval. Matt Kemp hit a homerun off of Barry Zito's moustache early, and Rafael Furcal, Aaron Miles, Jamey Carroll, James Loney, and Tony Gwynn Jr. all scored as well.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The Boys are Back in Town

Clayton Kershaw needs to open the season with a bang. Beating Timmy in our house would be nothing short of awesome and would finally shut the annoying and seemingly large mouths of Giants fans. Tomorrow can not come soon enough!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Because we all want a Dodgers Sleeved Blanket, Don't we Barry Bonds?



Normally, I would ignore the stuff about Barry Bonds trial all together. However, I came across a headline about his new defense that was just too stupid to ignore.
Really? You didn't know they were steroids? When your trainer started injecting you with stuff you didn't once stop and ask what they were? When your head increased in size and your
batting average sky rocketed you didn't once suspect anything? I can't fault him too much, he did spend his career with the Giants and that will ruin anyone. But there's stupid, and then there's just ridiculous.

In other ridiculous news, I came across this video on dodgers.com this morning: http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=13262171
As if the Dodgers didn't look desperate enough, they add to the misery.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The Madness of March

Spring is in the air, the winter weather is finally receding, the school year is winding down, amateur bracketologists come out from the rocks they’ve been hiding under.

Just a few ways to tell that March has come around.

As far as this year’s bracket goes, no one is a real stand out to claim the championship making each matchup that much more intense. All teams have shown weaknesses at one point or another, including the number one seeds, meaning that in reality anyone could go down at any time to anyone. As far as my own bracket goes, here’s what I’m thinking.

CHAMPION

Any one of the following teams could be holding the trophy at the end of it all:

DUKE: The Blue Devils are no strangers to championship contention, and they retained

most of the core players from last year’s championship run. Lead by senior Kyle Singler, the Dukies might just give their crazy fans something to cheer about again.

KANSAS: After last year’s disastrous turn of events, the Jayhawks are out for blood lead by the Morris brothers.

OHIO STATE: Rebounding/points in the paint machine Jared Sullinger pushed the Buckeyes to the overall number one seed in the tournament, but they have shown some possibly fatal flaws at times.

SYRACUSE:

CONNETICUT: Lead by player of the year candidate Kemba Walker, the Huskies finally have all the pieces in place to make a run at a title.

MY PICK: Duke vs. Kansas in the championship game, with Duke as the victor.

SLEEPER

Belmont:

Utah State: Lead by the best player you’ve never heard of-Tai Wesley, the Aggies by no means played a difficult schedule this year leading many to underestimate the mere 12 seed. But if they get enough confidence going and with Wesley, the Aggies can be just as dangerous as anybody.

Washington:

Richmond:

BYU: If you consider a 3 seed a sleeper pick, than look no further than the Cougars of Brigham Young. With otherworldly guard Jimmer Fredette in their arsenal and out for blood, the Cougars are looking to rebound from years of tournament futility to finally assert themselves in the conversations for champion.

MY PICK: Watch out for Belmont and Washington as giant killers.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Thursday, March 10, 2011

An Ode to a Cap









An ode to the best accessory for any outfit. I personally have grown very fond of my dad's worn in Dodgers one that I adopted.