Category Archives: Sports

confessions and daily excitement

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At some point today, I:

  • picked my outfit, not based on the weather or on the fact that my boss’ boss was in town, but rather due to my recent lack of shaving and ironing activities.
  • listened to Oil and Water by Incubus excessively. As in at least 7-8 times over the course of the day. Maybe more…
  • found a incomplete assumption made previously that was under-valuing an asset by more than $2 million.
  • wondered if there is an analyst profit sharing program for events like this…
  • subsequently freaked out that I was considering such an extreme recommendation and did a boatload of research to make sure I was correct.
  • had a small heart attack when I proposed it all to the boss.
  • officially did not win my March Madness pool.
  • consciously thought about going to get gelato about 5 times in the afternoon.
  • pondered whether the way my mind works with desserts is similar to the way boys’ minds supposedly think about sex, i.e. constantly.
  • sat in the Senior Citizens section at the Rockies game because the tickets were cheaper.
  • was disappointed by a lukewarm hotdog.
  • overheard a grandma in awe over the boy walking up and down the stairs “while carrying all those cotton candies.” overheard a grandpa who’s probably had a long 50 years say, “it’s not like they’re heavy, dear…”

March Madness Self-Observations

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  1. Highlighting and crossing out my bracket is one of the best parts of the whole tournament.  Even for the online pools, I write out my bracket so I can cross things off.  (I should physically write out my to-do lists more often, I think.  I’m pretty sure I’d get more done.)
  2. When I don’t know who to pick, I choose the team who’s name is either shortest or easiest to abbreviate so my handwritten bracket can stay neat.  This is my entire motivation behind Drake’s win over Western Kentucky.  I briefly considered a Georgetown loss to UMBC.
  3. Despite this philosophy, I am convinced I have picked a winning bracket.  (I think this every year.)
  4. Somehow I have been unconsiously indoctrinated in bracketology while growing up.  After having filled out our brackets separately and with minimal NCAA discussion, my dad and I had picked not only the same winner out of 64 teams, but also the same final two teams as well as the same final four.
  5. More evidence of #3: the only year I’ve ever picked the winning team was my freshman year of college.  However, even then I didn’t win my family pool because my sister in Connecticut and my dad at home had also picked UConn to take it all.  (We seriously don’t discuss our brackets beforehand, I promise…) It was a hollow victory.
  6. If I’m right about #3, then I think I might be bound for a #5 repeat… Either that or we’re all going down together.

Screwed

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A quick quote from The Denver Post:

“Troy Tulowitzki, a whiz defensively at shortstop, lost the NL rookie of the year award because Milwaukiee’s Ryan Braun, the winner, had better power numbers. But slugger Matt Holliday missed out on the NL MVP award because, they say, Philadelphia’s Jimmy Rollins was a better defender. And defense trumps power. Something here is amiss.”

Troy Tulowitzki > Ryan Braun

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I don’t care what the vote says. Tulowitzki deserved to beat Ryan Braun for Rookie of the Year. It just goes to show that a Mountain Time zone and a defensive mindset doesn’t get recognition in the eyes of the nation. Braun is a great slugger, I agree. And we are a nation that loves when you can swing for the fences. But he also fields about as capably as Paris Hilton. Lots of guys hit home runs; how many short stops are credited with an unassisted triple play in their rookie year? Or any year, for that matter? If anyone outside of the Denver metro area had paid attention to this kid before the Rockies post-season run in September, they would have seen a season worth of Golden Golve worthy fielding statistics, gravity-defying acrobatic leaping catches, and off-balance, on-target throws that most players could only dream of.

I was set to diatribe about this for much longer. Instead, I will be content to link to someone at ESPN who’s more qualified to argue the point than me. And then I will go to work on honoring an athlete who deserves more than second place by spending my time building a wiki fan site. Stop by Tulowiki if you have anything to add. Site’s under construction but I’m working on it.

bliss

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Yesterday, I went to the Rockies-Braves game. I honestly can’t think of a better way to have spent the afternoon, but my post-game joy was momentarily stopped short by naysayers. A certain someone responded to my baseball excitement by saying, “You can see the game better on tv, and you can watch for free.” While I had no automatic comeback for that logic, I’ve been thinking about it. Here’s my response as to why sports events can never truly be replaced by television.

Watching at home admittedly has its perks. Replays, commentary chock-full of random statistics, great camera views that do close-up on the players. They are all things that make it easier to watch and follow the game. So why would you pay to go see the same game live and give all that up?

Because watching at home can never match the emotion of experience. At home, you are not going to encounter the guys in the row in front of you who have probably had a few too many that decide to “standing o-boo” (a concept similar to a standing ovation) with every poor play. Unless you are an anomoly, you probably don’t really have the chance to yell “Charge!” or sing take me out to the ballgame during the 7th inning. Instead, you are probably watching car commercials. TV doesn’t let you feel the thrill of a steal in the works as you watch the suicide lead turn into an all-out sprint. The television audience doesn’t get the emotion of a showdown between pitcher and batter when the last 5 pitches have been fouled off. You don’t get to watch the group of little kids a few rows in front of you trying desperately to get on the big screen by dancing around and jumping up and down between every half-inning. You living room likely lacks warm sun and a cool breeze and smell of hot dogs.

It will always be worth it to take me out to the ballgame, because it’s only there that you really get to experience the thrill of the game: a comeback, an extraordinary catch, a key out, the smack of a big hit, the collective groan of the missed play, the fountains that go off with a home run. The comfort of your couch is good, but it will never match watching a game from the hard plastic stadium seats.

MADNESS!

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3 Unlikely Scenarios:
Things I Like to Picture Happening During This Year’s NCAA Tournament1. I think that it would be delightful if Winthrop could beat Notre Dame, simply because I think Winthrop sounds like the name of the kid from middle school with thick glasses, a slight lisp, and an irrefutable knowledge of the Dewy Decimal system. Wouldn’t it be fun to picture a team of said Winthrops taking down a group of Fighting Irish?

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