March is one of my favorite months of the year. Winter is finally winding down and the weather is heating up; I’m able to work and play outside more; the days are getting longer; and my favorite part is the NCAA College Basketball Tournament that takes place in mid-late March. If you have never followed or experienced a NCAA basketball tournament or filled out brackets, you are missing out on one of the most exciting sports events of the year. It is now March 2nd and in 2 weeks the teams that will make the tournament will be revealed. This is when the madness really starts up.
College Basketball is fun to watch all year long, but in March is when the games truly matter. Each college belongs to a conference with several other colleges where their sports teams compete with each other. In college basketball at the end of the season (which is in late Feb), the conference tournaments begin. The teams compete within their respective conferences to see who the conference champion will be. In many of the smaller conferences this winner is the only team that will go to the “Big Dance” (nickname for the NCAA tournament). In the larger, more popular conferences, they usually send 3 or 4 teams depending on their records and strength of schedule. All of these teams comprise the field of 65 teams that will make up the tournament. It was 64 teams, but was changed a few years ago to 65, which means there is one game that takes place before the rest of the games that determines which of 2 teams will be part of the field of 64. The 65 teams going to the tournament will be unveiled on Sunday March 15th this year. It is usually the 2nd or 3rd Sunday in March. Like I mentioned above, once these teams are announced on Sunday March 15th at 4pm MST, the madness has officially started.
If you know what brackets are, then you probably have filled them out for an NCAA tournament before. Once the teams are announced a bracket is created. This bracket is posted on all the major sports websites like CBSsports.com, SportsIllusrtated.com, etc… Each year I go in on that Sunday night and print out a few brackets and fill them out with which team I think will win. There are 6 total rounds which take the field of 64 down to a final team which is the NCAA champion. I study and read articles and spend many hours making sure my bracket has all the right picks. I usually join a couple of groups or pools to have a competition to see who gets the most picks right. It makes the games exciting and fun to watch.
The best part about the Madness is that every year there are huge upsets, last second winning shots, “Cinderella” teams that are winning game after game that they aren’t supposed to, overtime games, and all other kinds of things that will drive you mad if you are a sports fan and are watching your bracket slowly go to waste. So roll up your sleeves, sharpen that pencil, and be prepared because the Madness begins in less than 2 weeks.
Here are a couple of clips from game winning baskets over the years in the tournaments to get you excited:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_8z4uEGGls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAYiG3v60tA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpFOQXIvoLY
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Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday, October 31, 2008
World Series- Tampa Bay vs. Philadelphia
World Series- Tampa Bay vs Philadelphia
For the past week I have been watching “America’s Favorite Sport” each night- The World Series. This year the teams that are playing for the MLB Title are the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies. I am not a big fan of baseball, but I do take the time to watch the World Series each year to see the best teams in baseball face off against one another. This year has been fun to watch. The Phillies are currently leading the Series 3-1 with the rest of the 5th game being played Oct 29th. The 5th game was originally played on Monday Oct 27th, but was unable to finish due to a rain delay and then the decision was made to finish the game 2 days later (which is the day I am writing this article).
The first 3 games of the World Series were close and exciting with the Phillies taking the 1st game 3-2, Tampa taking the 2nd game 4-2, and Phillies taking the 3rd game 5-4. Each game could have gone either way making it very exciting to watch. The 4th game was different with the Phillies hitting HR after HR and beating the Rays by a score of 10-2. Philadelphia was then primed and ready to play Game 5 and try to end the series when the rain started to come down. They played the first 5 innings and the Phillies were leading 2-1 when the Rays hit a ball to left center field driving home a player to tie the game at 2-2. The top of the 6th ended shortly after and that is when the game was called and decided to move it to another night to finish.
Now the teams will take the field in the first postponed game in World Series history to play the last 3 ½ innings. I think that the excitement will be a little more tempered for the Philadelphia fans and team and the Rays will come out and win this game by a score of 4-3 to send the Series back to Florida for games 6 and 7. It should be an exciting final few games of the World Series. I am cheering for the Tampa Bay Rays as they are the underdog and have also never won a World Series.
I will spend the next few nights watching the rest of game 5, and if needed games 6 and 7. The games have been exciting and for a guy that doesn’t watch baseball all year, it has been a nice change of pace from basketball and football. As for the phrase “America’s Favorite Sport” being used for baseball so much, I would have to say that this no longer applies, because football has become the sport of choice for most fans. I will always be a football first fan, with basketball being second, and baseball coming in at third.
***Update***
The Phillies won Game 5 to win the World Series 4 games to 1 over the Tampa Bay Rays. After the rain delay, the final 3 ½ innings were finally played at Philadelphia. The Phillies pulled out the victory by a score of 4-3 winning the MLB title for the first time since 1980.
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For the past week I have been watching “America’s Favorite Sport” each night- The World Series. This year the teams that are playing for the MLB Title are the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies. I am not a big fan of baseball, but I do take the time to watch the World Series each year to see the best teams in baseball face off against one another. This year has been fun to watch. The Phillies are currently leading the Series 3-1 with the rest of the 5th game being played Oct 29th. The 5th game was originally played on Monday Oct 27th, but was unable to finish due to a rain delay and then the decision was made to finish the game 2 days later (which is the day I am writing this article).
The first 3 games of the World Series were close and exciting with the Phillies taking the 1st game 3-2, Tampa taking the 2nd game 4-2, and Phillies taking the 3rd game 5-4. Each game could have gone either way making it very exciting to watch. The 4th game was different with the Phillies hitting HR after HR and beating the Rays by a score of 10-2. Philadelphia was then primed and ready to play Game 5 and try to end the series when the rain started to come down. They played the first 5 innings and the Phillies were leading 2-1 when the Rays hit a ball to left center field driving home a player to tie the game at 2-2. The top of the 6th ended shortly after and that is when the game was called and decided to move it to another night to finish.
Now the teams will take the field in the first postponed game in World Series history to play the last 3 ½ innings. I think that the excitement will be a little more tempered for the Philadelphia fans and team and the Rays will come out and win this game by a score of 4-3 to send the Series back to Florida for games 6 and 7. It should be an exciting final few games of the World Series. I am cheering for the Tampa Bay Rays as they are the underdog and have also never won a World Series.
I will spend the next few nights watching the rest of game 5, and if needed games 6 and 7. The games have been exciting and for a guy that doesn’t watch baseball all year, it has been a nice change of pace from basketball and football. As for the phrase “America’s Favorite Sport” being used for baseball so much, I would have to say that this no longer applies, because football has become the sport of choice for most fans. I will always be a football first fan, with basketball being second, and baseball coming in at third.
***Update***
The Phillies won Game 5 to win the World Series 4 games to 1 over the Tampa Bay Rays. After the rain delay, the final 3 ½ innings were finally played at Philadelphia. The Phillies pulled out the victory by a score of 4-3 winning the MLB title for the first time since 1980.
Return to the Neighborhood and while you're there, subscribe to our fantastic newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the LDS newsletterbrings you LDS articles, LDS products, LDS services, LDS resources and LDSinterviews from around the world-all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.LDS Newsletter Subscriptions are FREE, and joining is easy.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Sports Criminals
In today’s sports world it is not uncommon to read a story weekly or even daily about an athlete that is in trouble with the law. We have all heard about the steroid use in Major League Baseball, drugs used in the summer and Winter Olympics, and all kinds of criminal activity in the NFL and NBA. This trend of behavior has got to slow down because at this rate, all the professional sports programs will be obsolete in 5 years because all of the athletes will be in jail or suspended from the sports programs.
I enjoyed watching sports as a child. I remember the great players in basketball- Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Dr. J. I remember the awesome football players- Joe Montana, John Elway, Tony Dorset, Eric Dickerson, and the great Chicago Bear’s defense. I am not much of a baseball fan, but I do remember watching Reggie Jackson, Roger Clemens, and Pete Rose play. What I don’t remember as well is all of the legal and criminal trouble that we see in today’s sports. I know that Michael Jordan got in trouble with gambling, but that arose when his career as a sports player had ended. I know that Pete Rose got in trouble for a similar problem. I don’t remember players being investigated for murders, robberies, assault and battery, illegal dog fighting matches (Michael Vick), drugs, steroids, and all kinds of other illegal and criminal activity.
While reading this list, you start to forget about sports and start thinking you are reading a New York City police arrest report!
My biggest problem with this type of behavior is that these athletes are rich! They don’t need to rob a store because they are out of money! They aren’t living in the ghetto! They are getting paid to play a sport! They are given millions upon millions of dollars to shoot baskets, throw footballs, hit baseballs, run. These are things that most of us enjoy doing on the weekends with our friends. We can’t even imagine being paid for it, let alone get paid millions. The biggest problem with today’s athlete is that they have turned into spoiled adults. If you think a spoiled kid is a problem, wait until you meet a spoiled adult. This is someone who gets a lot of money, spends it on a lot of frivolous things, has too much time on their hands, gets into trouble a lot, and basically can’t find any happiness because they still haven’t learned the old adage that money can’t buy happiness.
The biggest problem with athletes in trouble with the law is that they have the money to hire the best lawyers money can buy. Money may not be able to buy happiness but I think we have all witnessed it buying an athlete’s freedom. Remember the football player by the name of OJ? He was found innocent of the murder that he was on trial for, but I think most of us think that he was guilty.
I think that most fans would like to see a return to the old days when the biggest criminal offenses were gambling related. Those seem rather minor compared to today’s crimes. I don’t know that this will ever happen but I do know that if the current rate of criminal activity continues, the future of sports will change for the worse. Which reminds me of another old adage; crime doesn’t pay (unless you’re an athlete).
Return to the Neighborhood
I enjoyed watching sports as a child. I remember the great players in basketball- Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Dr. J. I remember the awesome football players- Joe Montana, John Elway, Tony Dorset, Eric Dickerson, and the great Chicago Bear’s defense. I am not much of a baseball fan, but I do remember watching Reggie Jackson, Roger Clemens, and Pete Rose play. What I don’t remember as well is all of the legal and criminal trouble that we see in today’s sports. I know that Michael Jordan got in trouble with gambling, but that arose when his career as a sports player had ended. I know that Pete Rose got in trouble for a similar problem. I don’t remember players being investigated for murders, robberies, assault and battery, illegal dog fighting matches (Michael Vick), drugs, steroids, and all kinds of other illegal and criminal activity.
While reading this list, you start to forget about sports and start thinking you are reading a New York City police arrest report!
My biggest problem with this type of behavior is that these athletes are rich! They don’t need to rob a store because they are out of money! They aren’t living in the ghetto! They are getting paid to play a sport! They are given millions upon millions of dollars to shoot baskets, throw footballs, hit baseballs, run. These are things that most of us enjoy doing on the weekends with our friends. We can’t even imagine being paid for it, let alone get paid millions. The biggest problem with today’s athlete is that they have turned into spoiled adults. If you think a spoiled kid is a problem, wait until you meet a spoiled adult. This is someone who gets a lot of money, spends it on a lot of frivolous things, has too much time on their hands, gets into trouble a lot, and basically can’t find any happiness because they still haven’t learned the old adage that money can’t buy happiness.
The biggest problem with athletes in trouble with the law is that they have the money to hire the best lawyers money can buy. Money may not be able to buy happiness but I think we have all witnessed it buying an athlete’s freedom. Remember the football player by the name of OJ? He was found innocent of the murder that he was on trial for, but I think most of us think that he was guilty.
I think that most fans would like to see a return to the old days when the biggest criminal offenses were gambling related. Those seem rather minor compared to today’s crimes. I don’t know that this will ever happen but I do know that if the current rate of criminal activity continues, the future of sports will change for the worse. Which reminds me of another old adage; crime doesn’t pay (unless you’re an athlete).
Return to the Neighborhood
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