Tag: baseball

To yet again stem an attack on myself by The Bri, I decided to blog today instead of yesterday because our baseball team had our first league game today, and I wanted to blog about that. Continue reading “Victory!!!” →

Sometimes in sports it is difficult to figure out what’s wrong, in anything actually.  You know something is wrong, but discovering exactly what the problem is can be the biggest battle.  It can take weeks or months, or never happen at all.  Finding what exactly to tweak can be a headcase because people often fix the wrong things and just hurt themselves more.  But when you finally figure out what was wrong, the feeling is amazing!  Success is a cure-all, and fixing something yourself is very fulfilling.

Another type of tweaking is not so good though.  Last week I tweaked my hamstring stepping on first-base, it sucks.  I does hurt it too too bad, I can still play.  Yet I have to keep it wrapped in ace wrap and ice it all the time, I hate not being 100%.  Especially considering our first baseball game is on Thursday and my team needs me to perform.  I’m doing everything I can to get better though, injuries are a nasty business.

Well that’s all for now, wish me luck this week!

This is Scarface signing off.

I have two different baseball practices today so I’ll be brief.

You know what I hate about when you follow crowds? I was hitting with a metal bat, and everyone else on the team was hitting with wood, which is better for telling you if you’re swinging good. So it annoyed the heck out of me and I ordered a fresh new wood, which I do love. But the first day I went to preseason practice (today), everyone switched to metal because coach was there…

Following the crowd is soooooooo stupid………..

This is Scarface signing off.

So one of the things I’ve recently learned while taking baseball lessons with my hitting coach is really the secret to success. Relaxation.

A lot of times you’re just struggling, desperately, and you can’t find a way to dig out of your hole. So you try harder and harder, putting all your aggression into it. And it’s normally to no avail.

But what people don’t realize is that aggression in many cases is the problem. Your muscles get tense and you just try and force things to happen. What you need to do is step back and just breathe. Take all the time you need, and refocus that energy to what is gonna fix your problem. Then just relax, go with the flow. Give yourself some flexibility and don’t get so tense. Then you can actually figure out what’s wrong and fix it, instead of maybe succeeding a couple times on pure luck.

Everything’s in your head most of the time, it’s your challenge to control it.

This is Scarface signing off.

And you know (or atleast I hope you know) what that means, the World Series!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The World Series is the championship series, best of seven games, between the two best teams from proffesional baseball (Major League Baseball), from their respective divisions. The AL is the American League, and the NL is the National League. The leagues aren’t split down the middle of the country or anything, there’s teams from both leagues in most US regions. Though inside each league the teams are split into their geographic regions, it’s fairly simple.

Starting with the NL, this year representing are the Philadelphia Phillies, a very old and historic franchise. They haven’t won the WS in quite a while, but they have a good team this year.

As for the AL, the Tampa Bay Rays made it to the World Series this year, barely beating the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. The Rays have never made it to the World Series before as a franchise, but their roster is looking good this year.

I’ll break things down by teams now.

Phillies: Philly is a great team this year, they have a very good lineup with one of the best power hitters in the league anchoring it, Ryan Howard. And infront of him is argueably the best power htting second baseman, Chase Utley. Their defense is pretty solid, Jimmy Rollins is a great shortstop and they great some speed. As for pitching, they have the best starting pitcher in the series in the young Cole Hamels, who has been nothing short of brilliant this postseason. And their bullpen is amazing, with Brad Lidge as their closer, a man who hasn’t blown a save all year! But as for the rest of their starting pitchers, they aren’t that deep.

Rays: The Rays are a very very young team, but with a lot of talent. They have the best power numbers in recent playoff history. B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria (my second favorite player) are the best consistently powerful duo in these playoffs, with a very powerful Carlos Pena in between them. They also have good pinch hitters for key situations. Defensively, they are GREAT! Longoria is soft handed with a cannon at third, Iwamura is very smooth at second, and they have one of the fastest center fielders in all of baseball in B.J. Upton. Their outfielders also have very strong arms, which could prove critical. They have better depth in terms of starting pitching, they have a very consistent rotation of four starters. Their bullpen may be problematic though, they have good pitchers but they’ve been throwing badly as of late.

So going off those stats, and my own personal interests, I pick by a narrow margin the Tampa Bay Rays to win the World Series this year! Who do you pick?

This is Scarface signing off.

For those arguers out there, I’d definitely like to hear your take on this.

Umpires, the “invisible men” some call them. So many of our major American sports are directly affected by the calls umpires or referees make. Some calls are obviously questionable, others make me want to punch the TV set. I’m hoping you’ve all experienced this kind of feeling before, if you haven’t, you probably almost never in your entire life even talked to a single person about sports.

They go through a lot of criticism, a lot of it unneeded. However it is in their job description so they got themselves into it. But isn’t there a line that should be drawn? Some arguments with umpires last even 20 or 30 minutes and take away from what everyone was intending on watching, the game.

So why in some sports, baseball for example, do we allow such insane behavior, even spit to a man’s face? I’ve seen umpires with dirt kicked all over them, even some coaches throw huge bags at umpires, knowing it won’t change a thing.

For whatever reason, be it decency or selfishly taking time from the game, do you think arguing with referees should be allowed?

If you don’t then great, if you do then I agree with you, I think arguing to a point is part of the game. It is sometimes even needed, referees do get a little high on themselves especially if they can completely mess with a team they don’t like. For those of you who don’t even watch sports I’m sure you can relate somehow. So tell me, do you like arguing in sports?

This is Scarface signing off.

With preseason already in gear, the NFL regular season is starting to weigh heavily in many fanatics’ minds. Being a fan of the game myself, my adrenaline is rushing to watch some high contact sports. Many are fans of multiple teams, and many could really give a hoot about anyone but their own team. I have three favorite teams, though I’m afraid to say none of them are looking to be contenders for the Superbowl.

To start this off, I understand that many people that I know, not only girls but guys as well, don’t watch football because they don’t understand the rules of the game. I can sympathize with you too, football is not a very simple sport. So if you’re one of these people that think you’d enjoy watching football a bit more if you more fully understood the rules, then just comment and ask for an explanation and I’d be happy to assist you.

Football is a pretty violent sport, just last year I watched a player get paralyzed from the neck down during a collision. I’ve also seen a couple hyper-extended knees, a few elbows as well, concussions, broken ribs, all sorts of disgusting injuries. Actually my dad hyper-extended his elbow in high school trying to tackle someone, his arm looks a little weird now but has a pretty awesome scar. So for those of you who can’t stand to watch because of the violence, I understand.

However, I love to watch football because of how much of a team game it is. On any given play, every player on the field (there are 11 per team) must do a specific job to make it all work. The players have to learn dozens of plays and memorize exactly what they must do for each one, or almost surely the weakness will be exploited. In baseball, basketball, or even soccer; there is a player standing around for almost every play, which is not what football is about.

It’s also very nerve racking and filled with pressure, suspense can be built throughout the game. And some of the players make absolutely AMAZING plays. It’s also fun to see how hard some of the collisions are, if you’re into that atleast. There’s even a show called “Jacked Up” on ESPN every Monday night during Monday Night Countdown before the scheduled game. It shows all the best hits of the week, but only one’s where no one got seriously injured.

There’s also what’s called “Fantasy Football.” It’s where before the season a group of friends form a league and draft their teams with all the major offensive players, as well as a team defense. Each week the real NFL players play and their stats are used in Fantasy Football. For a touchdown the player earn a certain amount of points, as well as for yards and such, for the person’s team. They also can lose points for fumbles or missed kicks. Teams are matched up each week and the points are counted. Whoever’s teams has the most points wins obviously enough. It gets the fans really into watching different teams because they can have a quarterback, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, and kickers all on different NFL teams.

Anyway I thought I might throw down some predictions since this isn’t necessarily a controversial blog. I always pick three teams to win it all before the season starts (I do the same with Survivor and Amazing Race).

1. Cincinnati Bengals- I doubt they’ll win it but they’re probably the best of my three favorite teams

2. Dallas Cowboys- I’m not a huge fan of the team but Terrell Owens is a force and their defense should be good. If Tony Romo continues to mature, they definitely should be coming out of the NFC strongly

3. New England Patriots- I HATE, and when I say HATE I mean I HATE HATE HATE the Patriots as well as Tom Brady, their quarterback. But I do like Randy Moss and they have a great team if their defense plays well

So there you have it, the NFL season is just around the corner and I’ve made my predictions. If you have any questions about the game or any teams or players, feel free to comment and ask me. For Bri and all of us here at Bri’s Own World, this is Scarface signing off.