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MLB General

JDWC’s 2007 MLB Preview…Fashionably Late

Can you smell it? It’s the smell of fresh cut infield grass, Gatorade, and newly-oiled leather. Can you see it? The dusty cleats, sunflower seed-covered dugout floors, and brand new jerseys. Can you hear it? The sounds of popping mitts, cracking bats, and Barry Bonds denying. If you can do all these things, well congratu-frickin-lations, you don’t have allergies.

Even though my nose is stuffed up, my eyes water and my ears are plugged, I can still feel the baseball season starting, and that’s all that matters. Also, as far as I know, my allergies do not affect my brain, so I can still put together my annual predictions. So here goes; better late than never right?

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MLB General

Sifting Through Baseball’s Breakout Stars

Every season, the first week holds a mystical excitement, a throbbing urge to anoint many young players as breakout stars. However, each season holds a bag of tricks and treats, and more than not are tricks.

Categories
Boston Red Sox

Spring Training and the Future of Red Sox Pitching

I can still remember the day I stopped being a baseball fan.  It was the day Tony Tarasco’s career was snatched away by a boy named Jeffrey Maier.  It was the day that my beloved Orioles led the AL East wire to wire only to fall to the Yankees.  The Yankees became a dynasty of champions.  The Orioles became a dynasty of losers.  Baseball was never the same for me.  Innocence lost around the time I turned 11.  I’ll tune in for a couple playoff games if the teams are interesting or the game is close in the late innings but the love is lost.  I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

Somehow ten years later I find myself watching a Boston Red Sox spring training game.  Flipping channels I saw that Daisuke Matsuzaka was pitching.  Apparently hype does work.  The hundred million dollar myth from Japan had piqued my interest.

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MLB General

Strange Tale from Spring Training- 2004

Surprise, Arizona. A city with a name befitting of Paradise.

Like Boring, Oregon. Lovely, Kentucky. And Hell, Michigan.

Surprise… As in Surprise! We came here for spring break instead of Mexico?!?

My friend McWhite and I had this brilliant idea for an adventure. We would drive non-stop from Seattle to Las Vegas, spend three days there with little sleep, and then head east to Arizona for spring training, the blazing sun, and the Monastery Too.

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San Francisco Giants

Breaking Down the 2007 San Francisco Giants

Could this be the first year since 1954 that the Giants take the crown?

From 1997 to 2003, the San Francisco Giants made General Manager Brian Sabean look good. Damn good. His GM skills took the Giants to seven straight winning seasons and playoff appearances, even a World Series appearance which was taken to seven games. But in the last three years, the team that was once best in the west, has taken huge steps backwards and has missed not only the playoffs, but also a winning record. Luckily for the fans of the Bay Area, the Giants play in the best ballpark in the world. So with all that money from the countless sold out games, they had the resources to make a push at the pennant this year. Here is my break down of the 2007 Giants.

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MLB General

Native American Prospects Hold Key Between Past & Present

Although Native Americans entered the world of professional baseball 50 years prior to African Americans, who competed in the Negro Leagues, until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier by signing his minor league contract with Dodgers in 1945, there have been less than 50 Native Americans of full Indian ancestry to compete in the Major Leagues since 1897.

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College Basketball

Why Kevin Durant Should Stay In School

by Trevor Freeman

For the next month and a half, Kevin Durant will be inundated with people whispering that he would be a fool to not declare for the NBA Draft.  They will tell Durant about the $70 million that Nike will throw at him.  Agents will give him the same treatment that “Vinny Chase” got when he cruelly decided to explore the option of replacing “Ari Gold”.  Writers will talk about how if the goal of college is to get a great education so you can get a good job, that Durant has already done enough to accomplish this goal.  What nobody has done is articulate the other side.  The reasoning for why he should stay in school.  That’s where I come in.  So Kevin, if you’re reading make sure you take the following five things into account before voting “yes” on the money and “no” on Texas.      

Categories
NBA General

30 More Reasons to Watch the NBA in 2007

The Best Storylines Going into the Playoffs

Well, we are entering the home stretch of the NBA season.  The playoff picture is beginning to solidify and the Oden – Durant lottery is all but set.  So here are the last reasons to watch the NBA before the playoffs.

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MLB General

Opening Day

By Billy Fellin

After seven months of anticipation, more steroid talk, the drama out of the Bronx and the roulette game that is free agency, Opening Day has finally arrived. Opening Day is arguably one of the greatest days in a sports fanatic’s life, such as mine. There’s just something about Opening Day, the anticipation of it and the aura surrounding the first pitch, the first home run or the first win of the year.

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Cincinnati Reds

The Last Thoroughbred

It’s all illusion, the accolades, awards and accomplishments. These aren’t etched in stone, untouchable by time.

Seconds stop for nobody.  

Perseverance is found on the field, never peace.

No matter the amount of success, or degree of failure, our competition will always return, different pitches and arm angles, different stances and strategies.

Adjustments become worthless, effort expended, and than, at breaking point, talent rises above, for a fortunate few.