Hannukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa in October!

Oct6

October 6, 2010.  The date the Yankees begin the 11 game trek to accomplish Mission 28, i.e. winning world series title 28 in the team’s history.  It is also just hours away from the start of the NHL season.  Or better, the campaign for the defense of the Stanley Cup by the Blackhawks.  As a baseball addict and huge lover of the Chicago Blackhawks, this is such an exciting time.  I don’t necessarily care who wins the World Series — well as long as it is not the Minnesota Twins, but post season baseball is the bomb.  The eight teams that make the post season have a fresh start and anything can happen.  Particularly when in the first round when it is a best of 5 series.  You get a team that is firing at all cylinders and they can be dangerous.  Add a top flight pitching staff with potential aces as your 1-3 game starters and it could be amazing.

Even though my team is out of the playoffs this year I still will find someone and something to root for.  Whether it is the Texas Rangers getting to the playoffs and the amazing story of Josh Hamilton, Dusty Baker leading the Cincinnati Reds to the playoffs and being only the 2nd manager to lead 3 different teams to the playoffs, the Yankees going for it again, etc., there is always something fun to see.  I am hoping to see some amazingly pitched games as well as stellar defense to back up the pitching.  A few magnificent runs would be great as well.  Whatever happens, it will be fun guaranteed.

As for hockey season beginning, it is going to be fun.  Even though the Blackhawks lost a lot of key players due to salary cap issues after winning the Cup in June, I still like the way the team looks. There is still depth there and the core is still there.  It is going to be an exciting season to watch.  It will be a little sad seeing some of the former Blackhawk players on other teams, but such is the business of sports where you can’t keep everyone you would like to.  That can be for a number of reasons, but generally they can all be summed up as due to the almighty dollar.

My guess is that I won’t be fully engaged in the hockey season until the baseball post season is over, but that is ok.  I wasn’t fully engaged in baseball until the Stanley Cup had been decided.  Here is to an exciting post season coming up as well as a phenomenal start to the hockey season for the Blackhawks.

ENOUGH ALREADY!

Oct4

I love animals.  I would love to have a dog, preferably a beagle because I find those dogs to be very cute.  Maybe even a cat, although I am probably more of a dog person.  I don’t have a dog however because I live in an apartment building where the only pets allowed are cats.  (Cue the sad face . . . ) Oh, and there is the whole not being home much.  I feel that if I had a pet, it would be cruel and unusual punishment to never be around my pet and was neglecting it.  And as you probably know from reading this blog, I love sports.  A great deal.

So why would a girl’s perspective on a boy’s game need to talk about animals and sports?  Two words:  Michael Vick.  In case you don’t know who he is, Michael Vick is the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles.  He also was convicted of federal felony charges (in connection with a plea agreement) for an illegal interstate dog fighting ring.  He ended up serving 21 months in federal prison and then later being on home confinement.  Dog fighting is a disgusting practice (in my opinion) that is big in some Latin American countries as a hobby for some to enjoy.  Those who engage in dog fighting can earn big bucks.  In any event what ever the reasons people enjoy it, I find it deplorable and it makes me enjoy a song even more because I do think most times animals end up suffering because of us humans.

This is all relevant because in week 4 of the NFL season, Vick was given the starting qb job for the Eagles.  Earlier in the young season, Kevin Kolb got hurt and was taken out of the game.  At the time, the Eagles were playing fairly bad and when Vick came in to relieve Kolb, the team went on a bit of a “tear” and started to look good.  In fact, Vick looked really good and the questions came up as to how the team could go back to Kolb if Vick played that well continually.  Especially if the team wanted, to you know, WIN.  In the game against Washington, Vick took a pretty bad hit that left him with bruised ribs.  At first it appeared that he had a broken collar bone and possibly a much worse injury.  When this happened, my twitter time line exploded with comments about Vick getting what he deserved, would he be taken out back and shot, dog killer, dog murderer, etc.

As much as the next person is disgusted by what Vick did, I am extremely annoyed with all of the continued bashing about what he did.  In no way do I excuse what was done, but from what I can see, it seems more people are concerned and railing about what happened with what Vick did than what some other players in the NFL have done to ACTUAL PEOPLE.  If you follow much football news, you probably know that one of the names the NFL has aside from what it actually means is that it is the “No Fun League.”  Roger Goodell, the commissioner tends to come down fairly harshly on players when they engage in conduct that is not what the league wants to reflect to the public.  Personally, some of the punishments he hands down I find downright ridiculous as it seems to do nothing as a behavior modification or deterrent.  Other times, I don’t think he comes down hard enough on players for things. And let’s be honest, the people who tend to play football at the professional level are probably not the most upstanding people there are.

Anyway, if people are going to be vitriolic with regard to Michael Vick’s behavior, I wish they would show the same level, if not more for when there are situations where NFL players have beaten, raped, etc. their wives and / or girlfriends.  I don’t see extreme anger or anyone saying they wish that Dante Stallworth was run over by a semi.  Stallworth was convicted of manslaughter when he struck and killed a pedestrian in Florida.  I also haven’t heard for people calling for Ben Roethlisberger to get a much longer suspension than what he got.  Big Ben as Roethlisberger is known has been involved in a few incidents of allegedly forcing himself on a couple of women.  No charges were brought in his most recent incident due to not enough evidence to pursue criminal charges.  One incident of assaulting women, I could buy that as a woman potentially looking for 15 minutes of fame.  But multiple incidents, then i think says to me that something is very, very wrong.  The latest incident that led to his suspension to start the 2010 – 2011 NFL season combined with the other situations he has been involved in, make me wish people were a bit angrier.  Instead, it seems that when he has done such things, people just shrug their shoulders and figure “boys will be boys” and go about their day.

I realize that there is a huge difference between Vick and Big Ben in that Vick was convicted and did prison time.  But the lack of outrage by people irritates me because it seems that suddenly animals and their well being is FAR more important than women being assaulted.   This thoroughly disgusts me.  As I have said, I love animals and I do think that animals a lot of times are hurt and harmed because of people.  But when it gets to the point where people feel a need to go ape-shit when an animal is hurt and shrug their shoulders when a HUMAN BEING is hurt, then I wonder where our priorities have gotten screwed up.  It is really that much of a stretch to say that punishment for hurting a human by beating or raping the person is LESS outrageous than a dog that has been harmed?  Because when people are more upset about an animal than a person, that seems to be the message sent.

In all honestly, I would really like to see people get more outraged when an NFL player beats the crap out of his girlfriend or wife than if a player harms an animal.  Not to mention, Michael Vick has SERVED TIME IN PRISON for what he did.  If he has repaid his debt to society, can’t people be angry, but realize that the continued trashing is unnecessary?  Be angry, but show the same level or anger for the other stuff!  Especially when humans being harmed are just given a shoulder shrug as if it is as normal as breathing?  When I see people getting as annoyed, pissed off and angry about the humans who are killed, beaten and possibly raped, then I can get on board with being angry with Michael Vick.  Until then, I really wish people would just drop the wishing of Michael Vick harm.  Or at least get just as ape-shit crazy when humans are hurt.

My King is most likely leaving me

Oct4

Paulie.  The King.  The Captain.  Harvester of Sorrow.  Class Act.  One of the nicest players ever.  Hard Working.  Generous.  Unassuming.  Even keel.

When I think about Paul Konerko, the first baseman for the Chicago White Sox, the above are many of the words that come to mind when I think about him.  And I probably have seen his last game as a member of the Chicago White Sox.  Fortunately, the team ended the 2010 season at home so I was able to go to the last few games and see him play.  As it was the final game, I had to go and am glad I did.  Admittedly, I had thought about not going to the game because I could have done a ton of stuff at home, but given that it could very well be the last time I see Paul take an at-bat in a sox uniform, hear Harvester of Sorrow by Metallica played as his walk-up music.  I had to attend this game.  It was also potentially the last game that A.J. Pierzynski plays as a member of the White Sox as well, but with Paul, it felt more like saying good-bye to a really reliable friend who was leaving.

On thursday, Sept. 30, 2010, Paul had a session with the media where he discussed his upcoming free agency and what the future may hold for him.  The comments that Konerko made struck me as extremely honest and frankly quite refreshing to hear.  Granted, they were not exactly something a long time fan of his would want to hear, but I greatly appreciate his honesty as over the years, I feel that I have come to expect nothing less of him.  A few things that struck me that Konerko said with regard to his free agency had to do with what he was looking for in terms of expectations, the “home town” discount and how to catch the Minnesota Twins.

With regard to catching the Twins: “The Twins are a good team, a great team, and more than that they go about it the right way.  You have to go out and catch them.  They’re not going to come back to you.  With the talent and the people here we can do that if we tidy up some tings and get a little better with some things and move their way, move toward. them.”  With regard to tidying things up and whether that meant on or off the field, Konerko said, “A little bit of both, a little bit of everything.”

I can only speculate about what he means when he says a little bit of tidying up off the field, but it does make me wonder if the drama off the field between Kenny Williams, the GM for the White Sox and Ozzie Guillen, the manager did actually get to the players and potentially mess with what the players were trying to do.  The off the field drama was in my opinion ridiculous.  I really hope it wasn’t a distraction to the players, despite it keeping the Chicago sports media busy with things to talk about on a never ending basis.  The statement also makes me wonder if there is still some anger in the fact that Ozzie said no to the idea of Jim Thome, who is an incredibly close friend of Paul’s coming back to the sox for the 2010 season.   As much as Ozzie has said blame him for the decision, I think Kenny is to blame just as much since as the GENERAL MANAGER who brings the players to the team to be managed, he could have brought Jim Thome back if he really wanted to do it.  Unless the ultimate motive was to make Ken Williams look as good as possible while throwing his manager under the bus.

In terms of expectations for free agency, I like and appreciate that Konerko is not going into things thinking he should get a particular number of years and / or money to continue playing.  He seems to want to see what the market is for his services and then go from there in deciding what to do next.  Last off season was not kind to veteran players.  Jermaine Dye ended up not playing in the 2010 season because of what he was looking for in terms of position (not keen on being a DH), length of contract, etc.  He had offers to play, but for him the situations presented were not to his liking, so he sat out.  Perhaps he will play again in 2011, but who knows.  Johnny Damon was another veteran who it took some time to sign because of what he was looking for in terms of salary and playing time.  He eventually ended up with the Detroit Tigers, but for only one year.  While things were unkind to veterans in the 2009 off season, I did hear that Konerko could set the market for the 2010 free agent first baseman class.  Either way, I hope he can get what is most beneficial to him and allows him to enjoy playing the game a few more years.

The most surprising of the comments is that money isn’t a huge factor.  In discussing his future, Konerko is very honest in that he has his family to think about since he has a 5 year old and a 2 year old.  Or as he said, real little people walking around.  From the comments, it really seems that he is probably going to leave Chicago, even though he would like to stay.  In his comments he said that even if the white sox give more money / years, he still may end up leaving.  In other words, there isn’t necessarily a home town discount to keep him.  This is because of uncertainty in the direction the team is going, where he would fit into those plans and something that he stressed, but whether there is a need for him from any team.

Overall in listening to his comments, I get the sense that while he feels he has a few more years left to play, he would be ok with not being offered anything this off season.  He said his goal when he was in the minors was to make the majors and play in one place for 10 years at the same position.  He’s accomplished that with 2 additional years to boot.  And as a long time white sox fan, I greatly appreciate everything he has done for the team.  Mainly though, based on everything in total, I feel as though I have seen the last of Paul Konerko playing in a White Sox uniform.  The comments regarding more years / money from sox vs. another team really do it for me.  Surprisingly, I am ok with that.  For some time, I have felt the team needs to move in a different direction to get back to the world series and if in order to accomplish that goal, Konerko and the White Sox need to part ways, then so be it.

He has given me immense joy watching him play with my favorite team and for that I will always be grateful for what he did.  I have never attended Sox Fest so I have never met him, but from those who have, they say he is a wonderful person.   I do have an autographed photo and signed ball by him and I love that I have these items in my collection of white sox stuff.  Thank you Paul for the time you’ve been here and I really do hope things align in the universe so that you can finish your career and retire as a member of the White Sox.  Whenever you do hang it up, I have no doubt that Jerry will erect a statute to commemorate your service on the outfield concourse.

A Female Focused Sports Network?

Oct1

Yesterday, news broke that ESPN was going to be launching a new landing spot in conjunction with its main site that is focused on women. I first learned of it on Twitter and of course, at that time, all kinds of jokes started flying. Jokes made by both men and women.  I even saw one that said they instead of calling it ESPNW, they should call it LESPN.  I’ll leave it to you to figure out what was being referred to.

In any event, my initial reaction was why is ESPN suddenly being condescending toward women?  Why single us out and potentially “pink” up the network?  Were they saying suddenly that the regular ESPN wasn’t really where women should be watching sport?  So many questions I had and admittedly, a bit of anger because it seems a lot of times when people do this, there seems to be an implication that women just aren’t smart enough to “get” what is usually something highly male dominated and it needs to be “dumbed down” for women to understand and appreciate it.  However, after reading more about what was happening and the reasons behind it, I will hold off final judgment until I see things.

As a female sports fan of sports other than what is considered as appealing to women, such as figure skating, I think this could potentially be good to broaden sports appeal to women.  After all, anytime attention is brought to “the powers that be” that women ARE interested in sports, it is a good thing.  ESPN, to its credit did do some research to find out who was watching their shows and found that some of their lowest viewing by women was where they did studio shows.  The attempt with the ESPN Women blog and the hopefully eventually tv channel is to cater to the female demographic with the focus on hosts being female and having women give their perspectives on shows.

I can see how an ESPN Women could be beneficial though.  When they talk about that many women are not as passive in their engagement of watching sports as men are, I could see where trying to make it more interactive could help to get more women interested in sports.  And if well done, this could also be a learning tool to help women who know nothing about sports learn something so they can better enjoy it with boyfriends, husbands and friends who are sports fiends, but they don’t get it.  (will do a post later on how to “learn” about sports if you are late to the game).  However, personally I think that ESPN could do all of this without needing to resort to a separation.

The concept is all well and good, but what concerns me is whether there will be some sort of push to get female sports in a separate venue, rather than just part of the larger discussion of sports.  Additionally, it seems that the main network seems to have given up on making what the currently do more engaging for women to want to actually watch the network.  In all honestly, I rarely watch ESPN currently and it is NOT because I perceive some sort of slighting of women or the other things they found which prompted the network to try something to cater to women in general.  I don’t watch ESPN because I don’t live on the East Coast and I find it to be extremely East Coast biased in its coverage of sports or its favorite athlete of the moment (i.e., love fest over Brett Favre or LeBron James).  I know a lot of people, both men and women who feel this way.  I have nothing against the East Coast.  In fact, one of my favorite cities ever is Boston and NY is right up there in favorite places to visit.  I just feel as someone who lives in Chicago, I’d like to hear about my town’s teams from the national perspective as well when I watch shows that are supposed to be national in scope.  Ever since MLB Network debuted in 2009, I spend my sports tv coverage time watching that instead of the baseball shows on ESPN because I feel they do a far better job of covering the sport I love.  These networks, in my opinion cover ALL of the teams and not just the ones located in Boston or NY.  I do the same with NFL Network and NHL Network.

Currently, there are plenty of women who work for ESPN who are on air as hosts and reporters.  A few things I could think of to get women more engaged in the studio shows would be to have a WOMAN sitting in the “big chair” i.e. the host chair.  Currently on many of these shows, the woman is relegated to what appears as a token role where she is there to “look pretty” and only add snippets to the conversation had by the boys.  Sometimes the women are just used as a reporter to talk about a story and then it goes back to the boys talking and leading the conversations about sports.  Female sports fans have a lot to say and are more than capable of hosting a studio show and leading the discussion as the men typically do.  That kind of typical set up almost screams to me that the men don’t value the opinion that women have and therefore women can speak, but not really because they are not fully included in the discussions.  I and probably a lot of other women (maybe men? i can hope) would like to see women leading the discussions.  I think just that small little change would make it more of the interactivity that the research showed that women engage in more.  It has been difficult for women to break in to sports coverage (just look up some of the stuff that was said and written about Inez Sainz when she was in the Jets locker room), but I am hopeful that things will start to change where the guys who are doing the sports talking will see women as just another “guy” in the conversation rather than as a pretty woman or someone the men need to school in the fine art of sports discussions.  Just because we may not play them in the same manner that men do, doesn’t mean we can’t understand and appreciate them in the same manner and with the same passion that men do.

So many things

Sep30

Wow, it has been a busy 24 hours with my White Sox. First there were the comments from Mark Buehrle on the end of this coming season and what he might do after next season. Then, Paul Konerko held a mini presser with media before tonight’s game to discuss his impending free agency. On top of that, ESPN has announced it is coming out with a station for WOMEN. I have so many thoughts on these issues and if I write about them all, it would be one really long post. So, for now, I will give you a taste of my opinions on these things with much more in-depth though in later posts coming this weekend. (because i really am trying to keep up with the blogging and start doing it regularly).

On Buehrle: I don’t begrudge him contemplating retirement, but I did hear some stuff on sports talk radio that he was being a whiny guy for walking away from it if he does given how the economy is right now for a lot of working people.  That was an interesting debate to listen to and frankly those who “don’t want to hear it” from Buehrle, I can see where they may get that from, but I think their irritation is misplaced. Particularly given some of the reasons that Buehrle has given as to why he could potentially hang it up after his current contract ends.

On the Beloved Paul Konerko:  He is such a classy guy on the field and seems that way off the field.  I won’t go so far as to say he is, because 1) i don’t know him and 2) i don’t want to live in a fantasy totally in believing he is a great guy when he just might not be and hides it well.  Please don’t misunderstand that I am slamming him because I LOVE Paul Konerko, the first baseman for the White Sox for the past dozen years.  I just have to be realistic about how a guy may be off the field and how I am not privy to how he may behave otherwise.  His comments on pending free agency are understandable, especially given the fact that no one knows what direction the team is going and if he is indeed tired of the off the field drama that has occurred this season, I can’t blame him for wanting to go to an organization that doesn’t have those issues.  If he chooses to not come back to the White Sox, I would be sad, but completely understand.  I am so thankful for his years of service and the entertainment he has provided me since he has been a member of this team.

On ESPN Women:  Dear 4-letter network buffoons:  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?  Are you now implying that women aren’t smart enough to watch your regular networks?  Are you implying that you need to have a channel focusing on women so you can show stupid commercials, pink up the viewing, etc. to get women to watch?  Am I not allowed to watch your regular stuff and understand?  This has got to be the dumbest idea ever.  I suppose I could “give” it a shot, but really I am just feeling insulted that somehow I need to have my sports catered to me, in the same way that clothing manufacturers figure that if they make my favorite teams’ attire in pink, I will happily buy & wear it.  Never mind that 1) my team’s colors are NOT pink and 2) I want to wear my team colors in flattering sizing!

Those are my very brief initial thoughts on the day’s news that struck me.  In the next couple of days, I will have much longer posts on each of these things and hopefully, I can reconcile my feelings with what has been said and discussed.

Kiss and Make Up

Sep27

On September 27, 2010, the white sox brass had a meeting and apparently it was decided that Ozzie Guillen, the current manager of the White Sox will be back for the 2011 season.  All season long, there has been a bit of a battle between Ozzie the manager and Ken Williams, the GM, with Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner playing dad between his two squabbling sons.  Many things have gone on during the season to make the relationship between Oz and KW bad, including the whole twitter-gate controversy, the drafting of the youngest Guillen son by the White Sox in what was perceived as way too low for his talent, Ozzie’s desire to have a rotating DH while KW wanted to have one specific player at DH, whether to bring Jim Thome back among others.

Ozzie is under contract through 2011 and he has an option for the 2012 season.  Lately, it seems that Ozzie wanted further assurances that he would be with the Sox beyond 2012.  The 2012 option automatically kicks in if the White Sox win the AL central in 2011, but even if they don’t Oz could still be back.  Sadly of late, this whole drama ended up being the story of the white sox season.  It was getting so bad that many started to take sides and demand either Oz or KW should be gone because the relationship was so damaged and seemingly unworkable.  There has even been speculation that with the amount of managerial turnover about to occur in MLB, Oz might have been trying to get himself fired so he could go manage another team since he was under contract.  If Oz was / is trying to get fired for potentially greener pastures, I am not a fan of that.  Call me crazy, but I feel that if you have a contract and a commitment to do something, you should follow through, no matter how bad things may get at times, especially if you personally are contributing to the atmosphere you are working in.

Personally, I haven’t really made up my mind fully as to whether a continued Oz and KW romance for putting together a winning baseball team is ultimately what I would like to see for my team.  I do think Oz is a good manager, although he has issues.  I also think for the most part that KW has been a good GM.  However, with the two strong personalities, I am not sure it can last much longer and be for the good of the team to bring another championship to the White Sox.  It has worked for the most part, but all good things must come to an end and I am starting to think this has reached the boiling point, despite what has happened of late. While it seems the two children have made up from their feud that had gotten quite ugly during the season, I feel I need to see more before I can say they truly have kissed and made up.  This latest news just says that the off season will be more entertaining and potentially volatile than I can remember in a really long time.

Thank You

Sep25

Pre-season hockey has begun and the Blackhawks roster has a bit of a different look to it.  The team won the 2010 Stanley Cup Championship and immediately after the celebrating began, the team had to be dismantled.  Now before anyone gets crazy and thinks this is a situation like the Florida Marlins went through in 2003 where the owner purposely dismantled his championship team.  This was a situation where this dirty little thing called a Salary Cap required that ownership shed salary, which meant a lot of players were going to have to leave the team.  Some of the notable names gone from the roster include Kris Versteeg, Andrew Ladd, Dustin Byfuglien, and Brent Sopel.  These guys were traded.  Also leaving were Adam Burish through free agency and the beloved Antii Niemi.

For many Blackhawks fans, the leaving of Antii Niemi was especially painful because it seemed to take forever to solidify the goalie position, which is the most important position and oh, HE WON A STANLEY CUP!  The main reason Niemi ended up leaving was because the San Jose Sharks made an offer sheet to Niklas Hjalmarsson.  This was huge because The Hammer, as Nik is known is a really good young defenseman that the Blackhawks couldn’t really afford to lose.  Because there was the offer sheet, the Hawks either had to match or let The Hammer walk.  Once that happened, and Niemi was going to arbitration for a higher salary, it was pretty much a situation where he might be all but gone because of the salary cap crunch.  This was more a problem because of the amount of money that was awarded to Halak in arbitration and he didn’t even get to the Stanley Cup finals.   Well, the arbitrator made an award to Niemi of roughly $2.5M and given that number the Blackhawks decided to just walk away.  This was ok for them becuase of following the Detroit Red Wings model of having an adequate goalie with really good defense in front to not have your goalie be a liability.

In some ways, I think that Niemi and his agent miscalculated his worth by going to arbitration now and in all honestly, Niemi was good, but in my opinion, not so great that he deserved what he was looking for in terms of salary.  Ironically, San Jose did sign Niemi because they let their goalie, Evgenie Nabokov go (he is now back in Russia) and Niemi is once again in a battle for the starting goalie job.

So far, I am feeling ok about the reconstituted Blackhawks.  We have Marty Turco in goal, who is someone that people wanted to trade for at the deadline last season and the core of the team (Kaner! Keith, Toewes, Seabrook) is still here.

But most importantly, THANK YOU 2009 – 2010 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS for bringing the Stanley Cup back to Chicago.  It will be weird seeing some of the guys who helped do this on other teams this season, but I am looking forward to the 2010 – 2011 season.  Go Blackhawks.

Fan complex over attendance?

Sep25

Clearly, I have been highly neglectful of my blog.  Why?  Because of being busy at work doing stuff and watching baseball.  In any event, I have to talk about a few things that bugged me this past season in baseball and there were a few.  Sorry if the next few posts will be about old things, but once I get those out of the way, I hope to have new opinions and perspectives on things.  So much has gone in the world of sports, so I need to get caught up so I can stay on top of the sports happenings.

The week of August 9th was interesting. My White Sox began a 6 day home stand against our biggest division rivals: the Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers. These series were both huge in terms of standings. The White Sox had gone on a tear in early June and by the All-Star break were in first place. After the break, they continued playing relatively well and winning games. At the start of the current home stand however, they had fallen into a tie for 1st place with the Twins because of the Twins having a hot streak and the White Sox losing 3 of 4 to the Baltimore Orioles, the WORST team in baseball. The O’s however, had gotten a new manager, Buck Showalter and had been playing their best ball of the entire season.

In any event, during the 3 game set against the Twins, a curious thing happened.  Instead of people talking about how 2 teams were battling it out for first place and focusing on the baseball, were more into discussing the lousy attendance at the games.  Truth be told, the sad attendance we had at those games was appalling to me, especially since I attend most games and the more fans that are there, the more fun games CAN be at times.  In listening to sports talk radio (which probably is not good for my sanity), I heard lots of interesting excuses for why fans were not going to the games.  These ranged from: the only seats available are in the upper deck and those seats are horrible, the tickets cost too much, the team is bad, food and drink costs too much, there is nothing to do around the park after the game, etc.  I will be the first person to NOT argue with a person who does not feel a need to spend the extra income they may have on a baseball game.  In this economy, the money spent for a ticket and food / drink could easily pay for a meal for a family.  Not to mention, there are many who don’t even have a job to think about going to a game.
To the fans who complain about the bad seats, I would guess those are people who have not been to US Cellular field since the renovations in 2003.  Before the renovations and the ball park was a pitcher’s park, the upper deck was not a great place to see a game.  The area was very steep (although, not steep like Soldier Field where the Chicago Bears play) and you felt very far away from the game.  Now, however, it is not nearly as steep, unless you are in the very top rows, and that only happens for sold out games.  I have heard some complain about the price that is charged for tickets in the upper deck.  When people complain about that who say they would go, except for the amount of those tickets and they can’t sit in the lower deck, I don’t feel bad.  Make no mistake that I am complaining of how people are spending money.  This irritation is directed at those who would go, but for inability to sit in the lower deck.  First of all, there are no bad seats in the upper deck.  In fact, I think you have a BETTER view of the game because you can see everything happening on the field.  You also get a better read on balls hit so you know whether it will be a home run or not.  I’ve sat all over the ball park and really the only bad seats are in the LOWER DECK near the foul poles because you have an obstructed view there. I know some like sitting there because you are “closer to the action” and I don’t begrudge that, but don’t say you won’t go to games because you think the upper deck is so bad, especially if you haven’t sat there since before 2002.
As for ticket prices keeping you away, well, the cubs actually cost more.  I recently went to a cubs game (because I am an awesome friend) and purchasing tickets for the 400 level was nearly $55 dollars going through the cubs website.  Luckily I saved a lot of money because I went on stubhub to get the tickets for at least $25 less.  In any event, I do think it is ok for people to say “i prefer to watch the game at a bar or in my living room than going to the ball park” rather than coming up with some excuse that when really examined is just lame.  Own up to real reason for not going to the games.  If the sox can only draw 20,000 fans regularly, so be it.  Eventually they will find a way to draw more fans and sell out when there are huge series against a division rival when the division lead is on the line.  Maybe not while things are bad, but eventually.  at least i can hope.

At the Beautiful Ball Park

Jul1

I love, love, LOVE going to baseball games. The atmosphere, fellow fans, the smells, lazing around at the park; it is all heaven to me. Usually, any game will do (save for cubs games because i just cannot focus when i am at their ballpark and i will refrain from ripping it). I always end up meeting new people and having a great time talking baseball with them. However, there are things that occur at the ballpark that will drive me absolutely nuts. I don’t have a terribly long list of things that annoy, disturb and make me want to hurt someone at the ballpark, but there are a few.

1) The Wave: this is probably my number one pet peeve. It doesn’t belong at a ballgame. PERIOD. If you are going to the ball park, you should probably watch the game. Personally, I think the fools who start it should be shot, dragged out of the ballpark and banned from ever coming back. Why so much vitriol for the wave? Because every time morons do it, the game is really close and the fans should be cheering for their team and not engaging in the wave.

2) Not waiting until at least between at-bats to leave your seat: this annoys me probably because I have a seat close to the aisle and people will naturally be climbing over me at every turn. It also annoys me because I am trying to watch the game and having people stand up while a pitch is being thrown is annoying. The people never seem to notice they are blocking my view. Most annoying is when something is said, these folks have the nerve to get angry because I want to watch the game. The worst however is when the half inning is over and once a player comes up to the plate to start the other half of the inning when someone feels the need to leave their seat. These same folks never can be bothered to say excuse me or sorry for blocking my view. Personally, I’d prefer it if people waited until between innings to get up from their seats, but I can deal with between at-bats. And before you go asking, I do follow this myself, even waiting until between innings. Something related to this: if you are at the game to just enjoy the atmosphere and not actually watch the game, then please go somewhere in the park where you aren’t climbing over fans. Most ballparks have places for fans to lounge around, talk about stuff other than the game and generally hang out while not watching the game. I know you want to have a good experience at the ball park, but that doesn’t give you the right to ruin my experience by being an idiot and blocking my view of the game.

3) Wearing attire of a team not on the field: Every time I see someone at US Cellular Field wearing Cubs attire, I want to beat that person to a bloody pulp. Not just because I am not a Cubs fan (that is part of the reason), but mainly because it seems rude to me to wear clothing of a team no on the field. If a person does that, it says to me, they have nothing else in their closet to wear, which is bogus to me. It is like going to a person’s house and having dog shit on your shoes and your smearing it all over that person’s home. I know some people who think that even wearing the opposing team’s attire at the ball park is wrong, but I can’t go that far. If you are at a visiting ball park to support your team that is PLAYING ON THE FIELD, you should be able to wear that team’s attire to support your team.

4) Potty Mouth Fans: So, this is a slightly odd one for, as I can swear with the best of them. However, it drives me crazy when there are children around and some idiot drunk is swearing up a storm. I am all for freedom of speech. You should be able to say whatever you please and need to to express your feelings. However, in case you hadn’t noticed, ball parks try to be family friendly and kid oriented places. As such, many places, such as US Cellular field will have days that are specifically catering to children to be at the ball park. With that in mind, is it really that hard to temper the foul language around kids? I am hardly saying you should change your language to the ridiculous baby-talk some people employ with children, but no reason to insist upon using @$$, f&*k, $87T, etc. when you are annoyed by an umpire, plays made, etc. Not to mention, when used enough, using foul language just makes you look like an idiot. This is especially true of the drunks who can’t handle their liquor. Oh and you parents who insist upon using that language with your kids, well, yeah, I’m judging you. Whether you are at the baseball game or elsewhere.

5) Leaving the game before the 27th out: this is just a small annoyance. I am a firm believer that anything can happen in outs 25, 26 and 27. I have seen many times where amazing things have happened and lots of people missed it because they though the game was over before those last 3 outs or they just wanted to beat traffic getting out of the ball park. You can do what you want, but sometimes amazing magic happens in those last few outs. Just ask the 2004 Boston Red Sox. Additionally, I like to view baseball games as a way to relax and have some leisure time in life. If you are rushing to leave the game before it is actually and truly over, you aren’t enjoying it to the fullest in my opinion. I feel that if you in that big of a hurry, you should enjoy the game at home.

I am sure there are probably more things that go on at games that are super annoying, but these are the ones that drive me bonkers. Wondering if there are any others that people might have an issue with.

Roller Coaster

Jul1

The White Sox are on an incredible run. Beginning on June 8, 2010, they started to get great pitching. Sadly, they lost that game to Detroit, but then they went on an amazing run. They took the next 2 games against Detroit and then went on a feast of National League playing. 2 of 3 from the Cubs and the last game in that series against the Cubs was amazing. Next up, a sweep of the Pirates, Nationals and coming home to sweep the Atlanta Braves. Finally, another series with the Cubs and there again, they take 2 of 3.

During this amazing streak, the white sox climbed to back over .500 and more importantly, found themselves right back in the AL Central race, trailing the Twins by only a couple of games. This is all great, but there is one thing that seems to be off to me and that is all the fans who are ready to print world series tickets today. That attitude really drives me nuts because those same people were on the panic bus day 2 of the season and were calling for the team to be blown up. I’d even hazard money that those people weren’t even going to games.

Don’t get me wrong, I love that the Sox are playing super well. It is also nice that now the GM Kenny Williams is in the market to buy and not sell players. This is all good and fine, except as i look around at possible available players, there just doesn’t seem to be much out there that will make THE difference in my opinion. Names tossed around are Adam Dunn of Washington, Lance Berkman of Houston, Luke Scott of Baltimore and of course, Adrian Gonzalez of San Diego. All would be nice lefty bats, and while they would make a difference, I don’t think we would get past the first round if any of those guys were added.

Adam Dunn: Lefty bat, strikes out a TON, but his production is predictable. He also can play the field, but to me, he seems like a limited Jim Thome (no slam on Jim as I adore him). Mike Rizzo, GM of the Nationals, has already stated that the price for Dunn would be steep. From the White Sox perspective, that means giving up a TON. May even include Beckham in addition to Daniel Hudson, Jordan Danks, etc. As much as I don’t really care for prospects who are unproven, I am kind of tired of never giving the prospects a chance to develop, not to mention constantly depleting the minors so that when you desperately need someone, you can’t because you refuse to develop talent.

Lance Berkman: Lefty bat (switch hits), aging, has had recent injury issues and while he would agree for a trade, he really wants someone to pick up his option. Injuries and what Houston would want in return just doesn’t place the balance in his favor in my opinion. Mainly, Berkman is not a choice for me because of injuries and I don’t need that on the team (despite having Herm Schnieder aka Dr. Pain to repair our guys).

Adrian Gonzalez: Lefty bat, plays good first and well, he is beyond proven. Amazing power for a guy pitching in PETCO park, i.e. he hits bombs a ton in a pitcher’s park. Why he is a pipe dream? The Padres are in 1st place and *if* the Padres were to trade him, they would want a ton, much the same that Mike Rizzo would want.

I do want the Sox to pick up another bat, but I don’t want it to be someone who causes issues that the team was trying to get away from in the past of having a base clogger, who strikes out a ton and is streaky and the hot streaks are not coming enough or at the right times. I know I can take solace in the fact that the Twins and Detroit pitching staffs are weaker than what the Sox have when they are going well. Also, the hitting for the Sox is coming around. I hope things continue to go well, but unless they are going all the way guaranteed, I just can’t get overly excited about the team playing the way they should have been playing all season long.