Category: Sports

Sports for people who don’t generally like sports!

Posted in Sports

Your mom’s like a postcard

Posted on by Scarface

Something I find a little… funny actually in sports, is how players get traded from team to team, state to state, city to city.

I don’t like it for a lot of reasons, I can just imagine having a family and all of a sudden having to completely change lifestyles because your coach doesn’t want you anymore. It’s absolutely a crazy thought, professional athletes are away from their family a ton as it is. It’s kinda funny because it’s so simple. A coach can just say he doesn’t want a living human being and easily send them away, it’s just so easy. I can’t imagine doing that to someone either, telling them they have to go live a world away and work for a guy they don’t know. I hate that, athletes lives are so unstable.

But the funny thing is I actually think it’s right. Athletes are obviously paid big bucks, a lot of people get traded to places where they’re gonna make more money anyway. It’s what they asked for, sports are extremely extremely unstable, nothing is set in stone. It’s the entertainment industry too, if they’re going to get a team more money by getting more people to go to the games then that’s it, it’s their job.

I don’t like it because I just wouldn’t want that to happen to me, it’d be so hard on a family. But the long and short of it is that it’s the world of sports, people have to get traded. They took the job understanding the risks, their jobs have cons too, not just pros. Trades are part of the game in my opinion, what’s yours?

This is Scarface signing off.

Posted in Sports

Hoop it Up

Posted on by Scarface

The NBA season is kicking off today!!! And for those of you that don’t know what that is, it’s the National Basketball Association. I like basketball, I’m really good at it, I have some insane skills. It helps when you’re 6’1″ and can shoot lights out. But I don’t play anymore, I quit so I can concentrate on school. But anyway, I still watch basketball, it’s a REALLY exciting sport to watch, especially in person.

A lot of people don’t like sports because of how slow some can be and how little action there is. Yet you don’t have to normally worry about these problems with basketball, it’s extremely fast paced and full of action.

Especially with the NBA, there are a lot of great athletes that play. It’s great to watch because it’s full of high flying stunts in mid air and mind boggling dribbling skills. The crowds are very loud and the athletes are easy to see, unlike football where they wear helmets. I KNOW that people who don’t normally watch sports can atleast bear basketball, Bri did it.

So turn on the TV and switch to a game, it won’t hurt you to try it out.

This is Scarface signing off.

Posted in Sports

It’s October!!!

Posted on by Scarface

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.

Posted in Sports

Kick it with your foot!!!

Posted on by Scarface

That’s about the smartest thing I say when I’m at a soccer game, I don’t completely understand the rules. So our boys soccer team just lost AGAIN, this time on senior night to our cross town rival. I went to a total of four games this year and our team did not score a single goal in any of them, unless you count the two we scored on ourselves one game. I kid you not, scored on ourselves not once, but TWICE in one game.

So since I’m a sports guy I pretty much can watch whatever sport and be entertained. I don’t know a lot of people who watch soccer or can even stomach it, but a lot of kids go just because it’s a school thing and the stadium is pretty sweet.

I’d have to admit the game is a little boring at times, there aren’t many goals normally. However, the game only stops once (half-time), so atleast the action is constant. In high school there are two 40 minute halves with a 10 minute half-time break, which is really needed.

But even though it can get boring, I can’t help but notice that it really does take a lot of skill to play. At a competitive level, you have to be conditioned like a beast in order to stay in the game. It may look easy, but kicking a ball with accuracy is really really difficult. Even pros, the best of the best, miss tons and tons of possible goals, it’s just not an easy thing to do. Not to mention goalies, they take a beating out there. My ex-girlfriend is a goalie and she told me how many hits she’s taken.

It’s also extremely team oriented, 11 players on a field is a lot. In order to score a goal the defense normally has to stop the other team and get control of the ball, which in itself could take four players. Then the ball has to be moved up the field without losing the ball, the ball gets stolen a lot. Then a PERFECT pass has to somehow be wedged into a tiny space, followed by a perfect kick or header into the goal. That’s a lot of things that need to all mesh together!

So I like soccer, it is the most popular sport in the world. Though I don’t think I could get into it like some people do, like at the World Cup… those people are nuts. If you like constant movement and don’t mind getting bored a little, soccer could be a good sport for you. It’s not on TV all that much in the US, so that’s problematic. But if there’s a soccer game for your school team, maybe go one time. You may find that you love it!

Posted in Sports

Blue Train

Posted on by iridethelines

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of a better 5k time. Is that a bad substitution? Being the only underclassmen competing for the regional/state varsity cross-country team I find myself unpleased with some aspect of each race. “I didn’t P.R.” or “Man, I beat him last week”.

The Blue Train is so tight and fast that we have eight guys under 18 minutes and 10 guys competing for seven varsity spots. Four of these spots have been lost to the regional organization committee, they are already decided and therefore immune from the elimination prospect. This is tough for me, because I can beat two of them, but maybe not some of the non-immune ones.

I guess I’ll just have to see what happens this district race, and hope/try/do/yay-running my best.

For those of you not currently participating in a FMHS running team the blue train consists of seven cabooses(runners) in blue uniforms, periodically they are together, but sometimes there is a “run away caboose”

Posted in Sports

Kill

Posted on by Scarface

Considering our volleyball team plays our bitter cross-town rival in about 15 minutes, in fact I’m going to be late because I’m writing this, I figured I talk a little about volleyball!!!

Now volleyball has never been something I’ve been into mainly because it just isn’t something guys are normally athletes in, but I’ve come to respect it. Volleyball is a big team game that takes a lot of different kinds of players in order for a team to succeed. There’s the blockers and killers up front, then the setters and the people in the back who do something or another…

But the reason I’ve come to like it is because almost anyone can play. Even some of the least athletic kids I’ve seen can play a whole heck of a lot better than me, and I’m a huge varsity athlete. Some of the 5′ girls in my PE classes have been able to whip my butt at it. It kind of pisses me off, but I still think it’s cool that almost anyone can be good at atleast one sport.

It’s also really really fun if you didn’t know. I can’t quite figure out what’s so awesome about it, but it’s just a rush of adrenaline. Not to mention beach volleyball, that’s fun to play too.

So if you don’t like many sports and don’t think you’re very athletic, volleyball could be the right game for you. It doesn’t take running or even jumping if you play the right position. So maybe try it, it could rock your world!

This is Scarface signing off.

Posted in Sports

Love and Basketball

Posted on by Scarface

The biggest reason I’ve observed about people not liking sports is that they just don’t care for the sport at all, even I don’t like some sports. A lot of them are “boring” or “pointless” to a lot of people. However, Scarface has found the one thing that seems to make people appreciate sports more, movies!

As I’ve figured out from a lot of experience with people (including The Bri), it is much more fun to watch a sport when you “know” the people that are playing it. Sport movies do just this. If you’re watching a movie and you’ve got to know the person being portrayed, it is MUCH easier to become interested in what’s happening in the game. In this way, sport movies take out a lot of the boredom in sports.

Another way it accomplishes this is by climaxing the moments in games. This one may be even more important because it absolutely destroys the boredom that happens in most contests. Normally, only the important and exciting plays are put into a film, making it easy to watch without getting distracted.

Through both of those points, movies can make almost any sport enjoyable, even ping pong or figure skating. Because of sport movies, I’ve become interested in watching various sports because I’ve seen them played in awesome movies. I now watch some tennis, soccer, hockey, more basketball, lots more football and plenty of other sports.

So my main point is this: If you don’t like sports very much for whatever reason, try watching a sport movie. They can be inspiring and make you want to get off the couch and go try it. I’m not saying that it’ll work, some people just weren’t meant to like sports at all, that’s just the way it is. But if you feel that you could enjoy sports in some way, flip on a movie about them, you’ll never believe how much they can accomplish.

And if you’ve seen any sweet sport movies then comment and tell me about them, I’d love to see some more.

This is Scarface signing off.

Posted in Sports

OUCH!!!

Posted on by Scarface

Sometimes I honestly believe that people don’t think about things…

This week’s subject is about injuries and not toughing them out.

First of all, I’d like to point out that pro sports are for the best of the best, the elite. When athletes get hurt, they aren’t the best of the best anymore, during most injuries they’re just AVERAGE.

If an athlete plays hurt, especially in a dominantly team sport such as football, they’re doing more bad than good. Because they’re average, the other team exploits that and destroys the team with the injured player. Like yesterday, Ladainian Tomlinson attempted to play hurt. If you don’t know, LT is one of the best running backs in the NFL. He attempted to play hurt and rushed for a mere 26 yards, his longest being only 6 yards. And in the process he reinjured his toe. Wow, double whammy.

Not only is this short term but it’s long term. If an injured player plays and hurts themselves further (which happens ALL THE TIME), their team is now without them for an even longer time than before. Last year Steven Jackson, another one of the best running backs in the NFL, tried to play hurt at the start of the season, and was injured further for the entire remainder of the season, putting up embarrassing numbers while the Rams struggled.

So, next time a player sits out because they’re hurt, don’t get mad, get glad!

This is Scarface signing off.

Posted in Sports

Hey, Blue!!!

Posted on by Scarface

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.

Posted in Sports

The Americans Win!!!

Posted on by Scarface

The Olympic events in Beijing have come to a close, and what an amazing celebration of athletic ability it was. I watch the Olympics for two reasons:

1) To watch my favorite athletes compete in sports that I like to watch

2) To watch athletes support their country and see what amazing pressure they are put under and succeed under

Many Americans have HUGE expectations for our country, probably because they either think we’re superior, or because we have a pretty huge population of people to compete, not to mention how good our training facilities are in the US. But it really doesn’t matter to me who wins, honestly. Sure I’ll root for people, but I just love to watch athletes compete. What’s amazing to me is even though we have huge expectations, a LOT of other countries have bigger expectations on certain people. Many country’s people, maybe even China, absolutely are devastated after their athletes lose. They almost hate them just because they got the silver… talk about pressure. It is a little hard for me to watch sometimes because that thought pops up into my head, but if they succeed it’s sweet to see the look on someone’s face when they win the gold.

Besides that I like to see the shapes of people this world has. As an example I watched some gymnastics because they were on a lot. And as I watched, it was amazing to see how the athlete’s bodies have actually become somewhat deformed from their event, their bodies are shaping themselves from the shapes the events put them in. It’s funny to watch some of the gymnasts walk, they walk with a style that they developed from gymnastics.

However there are some problems that arise in the Olympics, namely bad situations between people from different countries. As you may have heard, a chinese man actually stabbed and killed an American coach and seriously injured his wife. These sort of things happen sometimes, maybe the worst time being the Munich games when a group of Arabs killed an entire team of Jews, which actually brings tears to my eyes.

It absolutely kills me to see these kinds of things happen!!! I don’t see why people feel the need to crash one of the few times the world’s countries come together for a time of should be peaceful competition. All athletes are trying to do is represent their countries, and all most fans want to do is support them, so why do people have to ruin it for everyone?! They’re so selfish!!!

On a happier note I did get to watch a bunch of the events, including a few of Michael Phelps’ historic races. And let me tell you one thing, they lived up to their hype. Even I, a person who could give a crud about swimming, could feel the energy and couldn’t resist cheering for the man as well as his team if that was the case. A few of the races were so close I was on the very -edge- of my seat, it was INSANE! He even won a race by the smallest margin possible to measure, now that’s close. I also watched a few of the great basketball games that the American team compete in and triumphed. Also, I even found myself enjoying watching some of the track races. One man, Usain Bolt, a man that competes for Jamaica set world records in the 100M dash AND 200M dash, that doesn’t happen very often. And to top it off, he won both by the biggest margin since the Olympics began keeping time in races, how amazing is that?!?!?!

So my point is you don’t have to be a fan of the event, or even sports. Just watch it and see, you might find yourself loving it!!!