Tuesday, February 24, 2009

What ever happened to...

Jonathan Taylor Thomas

Topic of conversation this morning at work.

I used to love this kid. I had a JTT poster on my wall when I was in fourth grade. I would get Teen Beat and Bop Magazine just for the pictures of him.

After much googling, I have determined that no one knows anything about what he is currently up to.

Check out this blog that I found about it.
The comment stream is awesome!!!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

25 Randoms about me and Baseball

So everyone knows about the 25 Randoms floating all over facebook, but I've seen some baseball bloggers do it and I figured why not.

1. Baseball is in my blood. I'm not joking either. Everyone in my family loves baseball, and I literally grew up on the diamond.

2. I once tried to quit loving baseball. It was my freshman year of college and I thought, I've had enough of this sport and I am going to stop because I am not at home. That lasted until baseball season started and then I was at almost every BYU game that year.

3. The closest I ever got to playing baseball was t-ball, because after that I played softball.

4. I really love softball, but the game is very different than baseball. A lot of people think that it is basically women's baseball, but it's not. Once people realize that they begin to enjoy the sport a lot more.

5. I can think of one vacation that my family went on that was not baseball related. We went to Alaska when I was six years old. Other than that it's always been baseball.

6. I find myself planning vacations around baseball now. For instance I'm trying to plan one to spring training in Arizona and last summer I planned an entire trip around the Angels. I once made a two-day stop at home to catch a Rockies game.

7. I loathe the Boston Red Sox, and their bandwagon friends. Seriously...

8. I think that a salary cap would be good for the game, but that would never happen. Ever.

9. The number of positions on the field.

10. I'm not mad that A Rod admitted to taking steroids. I'm sick of the media talking about it and I think that most fans are too. Everyone wants to close the chapter on the steroids era except the media.

11. I don't like Bud Selig.

12. Ever since doing an internship with the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, I have grown to love minor league baseball and player development. I would love to work in player development. I love watching prospects rise up to expectations. It's so exciting.

13. I'm a master at scoring baseball games now.

14. I'm the kind of fan that really follows players more than teams. Don't get me wrong because there are teams that I like, but I like to see other players do well.

15. I think Josh Hamilton is an awesome role model for kids. I think he is awesome for what he has done and what he has shown the world.

16. I don't understand the love affair with baseball cards and probably never will. The only cards that I own are the 2008 Salt Lake Bees player cards, and that is because they mean something to me.

17. My dream job is working in Major League Baseball. I'm working on it, but it's kinda hard. I need some serious Spanish skills, but I'm pretty sure I was destined to do it.

18. If I start working for the Bees again, I am going to stop writing about baseball here. Conflict of interest. However, you will be able to read my mad blogging skills o the Bees Web site, which features a blog titled BeeWax. Of course that is pending my return for the 2009 season.

19. Catcher is my favorite position. A lot of the work, little glory. Despite my love for the position, I find myself liking pitchers. Also, pitchers are generally crazy.

20. I really like Baseball America. They named Sean McNaughton as the Mountain West Conference Pre-season Player of the Year. I once wrote a feature story on him.

21. One of my favorite players is Ken Griffey Jr., I think Jason Varitek is incredibly talented (even if he is a Red Sox), I love Matt Holliday.

22. When I was in seventh grade I started drinking Pepsi products over Coca Cola because Sammy Sosa endorse Pepsi. I had a crush of him and I began a love affair with the Cubs that has since ended.

23. I think the rockpile was ingenius and it has contributed into my turning my friends into baseball fans.

24. I'm trying to think of my favorite basebal realated moment that I have lived through and it's hard. I think it's when the Rockies went 21-1 to the World Series! That was amazing!

25. Baseball is played during the summer and I love summer. I've been waking up in the mornings and imagining it is warm outside, that I cal put on some shorts or a skirt and sandals and head over to the ball park. Then I remember that it snowed last night so that is not really a possibility.

There you go.

Friday, February 13, 2009

It's Happening

I knew it would, after baseball is a business.

The first player move for one of the players that I really grew to know and appreciate. As I was gearing up for spring training and wondering what players I might see back for the 2009 season (whether or not I myself will be back is yet to be determined) and I on my facebook home page was of my favorite players' facebook page. I soon discovered...... He signed with the Brewers.

It is awesome for him!

He was with the Angels since he was drafted right after his first year of college. He had made his way through the minors and was on the 40-man roster last year, but the Angels needed to free up space to sign free agent Bobby Abreu.

As a top pitching prospect, the Brewers picked him right up. It is probably a better place for him to be because he isn't overlooked because of a different superstar prospect, and he isn't waiting behind a solid starting rotation (although the fifth starter spot hasn't been determined).

I knew the players would eventually scatter to other franchises (some have already signed minor league contracts with other teams) but I was fully expecting to see him this season and to chat while he charted on his off days.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Juices....

Big freaking deal. We can't (and by we I mean the general public) can't really jump all over A Rod from doing this when we knew it was going on for years and sat by and let it happen.

I am saddened because I feel like baseball was finally beginning to move on from the Steroid Era, and now it is just being perpetuated. With new regulations, the number of home runs have decreased. In 2008 there were 2.01 home runs per game, the lowest number since 1993. The AL home run leader had 37 homers, the last time the AL leader had less than 40 was in 1989.

The game has changed since the steroid era ended.

I also want to commend A Rod for coming forward and admitting steroid use from 2001-2003. He made a public statement, he apologized and he did a lot for himself there. He came clean.

I just don't think it's fair that everyone is jumping at the chance to blame all these athletes, when clearly everyone knew it was happening and enjoyed the benefits of it. We cannot change the past, we can only move forward.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Groundhog Day

It must be acknowledged in my blog that the Steelers have won the Super bowl. The biggest sporting even in America. That is all that I will say about if for now. 

I would like to turn my attention to the phenomena of Groundhog Day. 

First off, there is a kick-A movie about the strange holiday. It is one of my dad's favorite movies and it is always on TV. I used to despise watching it, but I find myself tuning into it whenever it is on now. It is funny how we tend to like things that remind us of our childhood, and that movie is just one of those things. 

Secondly, I think it is amazing of this ritual has survived over time. It isn't known exactly how the tradition began, but its current form originates from the early 1800's in Pennsylvania. I love how the tradition stands the test of time. 

I was just reading about about an American immigrant and I marveled at his home country's customs that carried over into his American life. From the food he ate, the company he kept and rights of passage that survived from his former life. As I read about this, I wondered what customs from my culture do I carry with me, there are many but Groundhog Day counts as one of them.

In 2008 14 different groundhogs predicted the fate of the cold winter.  Punxsutawney Phil is the  most famous groundhog and last year he predicted six more weeks on winter. While I realize that it is ludicrous to assume that a small animal can tell how longer winter is going to last, I distinctly remember media day with the Salt Lake Bees on April 1, when it had snowed so much the day before. In my mind a long winter was just the right assessment. 

So tomorrow morning a little groundhog will tell me whether or not I will not need to scrape the ice of my windshield every single morning from now until June. I am hoping that tomorrow is a cloudy day and Phil does not retreat to his burrow because I don't know how much more of the freezing cold winter I can take.