Take me out to the ball game!

Photo: Opening Day by:Nystarsandstripes.com

I’m so tired of Blake Griffin being all over ESPN and waiting for the news of this lockout to get settled. Finally, I have Opening Day to look forward to. Only two more days!

I’m excited! Who doesn’t love baseball season? The sound of a wooden bat as it hits the ball out of the park, the smell of popcorn and fresh cut grass that fills the air and of course lets not forget the view of the players that are spread throughout the field. It doesn’t matter if your young or old, a boy or a girl baseball is America’s favorite past time and can be enjoyed by everyone.

However, Opening Day is not like any other day. Hall of Fame pitcher Early Wynn, said it best, "An opener is not like any other game. There's that little extra excitement, a faster beating of the heart. You have that anxiety to get off to a good start, for yourself and for the team. You know that when you win the first one, you can't lose 'em all."

Opening Day marks the beginning of a new Major League Baseball season. Many feel that the occasion represents a newness or a chance to forget last season, in that the 30 major league clubs and their millions of fans begin with 0-0 record.

This one day is important to baseball fans everywhere, because it has not only made an impact in the history of the MLB, but it has also made an impact on the loyal fans.

Photo: Opening Day Astros by Blwarren713, CC Approved

Historical Events of Opening Day

1876-1989 The MLB first recognized the Cincinnati Reds and awarded the franchise the privilege of the “opening the Openers.”

1907 The New York Giants opened against the Phillies. After falling 3-0 the disappointed fan at Polo Grounds began to throw snowballs, which disrupted the game. The fans then fled the field caused the umpire to call a forfeit in favor of the Phillies.

1910 Opening Day has also become a "political pitcher's" arena for U.S. Presidents to show their "stuff." On April 14, 1910, President, and baseball enthusiast, William Howard Taft attended the home opener in Washington D.C. Since then, eleven sitting U.S. presidents have tossed out the season's ceremonial first pitch.

1939 Ted Williams was a .449 hitter in openers, with three home runs and fourteen runs batted in during fourteen games. "Teddy Ballgame" also boasted at least one hit in every Opening Day game he appeared in. Williams' first Opening Day was especially noteworthy as he faced the rival New York Yankees and Lou Gehrig, who was playing in his 2,123rd consecutive game.

1940 The most famous pitching events as Cleveland ace Bob Feller and White Sox hurler Eddie Smith went head-to-head. Smith blinked, but Feller remained in control and tossed the only Opening Day no-hitter in Major League history.

1974 Hammerin' Hank Aaron ignited the crowd at Riverfront Stadium on his first swing of the 1974 season when he tagged Cincinnati Reds for his 714th career home run to tie Babe Ruth on the all-time list.

Opening day has and always will be a historical and monumental day for baseball fans. Let's wait and see what happens April 1, as the teams face off for the first time of the regular 2011 season.


Sources:
Wikipedia.com
BaseballAlmanac.com

Moms and Managment

 

(Photo: pink money by: Lezgetreal.com)

So imagine, your sitting in your room doing your homework like the good little college student we know you are and your mom calls you and right as you answer she starts yelling. She says she is looking at the credit card bill, or BILLS (psssh…who is really paying attention). She tells you she is so disappointed in you and of course you give her all the excuses in the book.

     “I did good on my last test and I wanted to reward myself!”

     “You know I shop when I’m homesick!”

     “All of that was so I could look cute when I go visit you mom!”

This time she doesn’t buy it and she is not budging. She wants you to learn your lesson. She cuts you off, and it's no more spending for you. Now what the heck are you going to wear downtown tomorrow (probably peering into a closet full of clothes)?

Well try this scenario times a thousand or a billion. The recent N.F.L. lockout has had some negative consequences on the players in the league. Top management (or in our case Mom) has cut them off until an agreement can be made between the owners and the players. The players have to do a series of cut backs on there spending as well.

                                                      (Photo: NFLlockout logo by: predominatlyorgange.com) 

A little background info to what is going on. The collective bargaining agreement, which is the process used to negotiate work terms between labor (the league) and management (the owners), has expired and neither the players nor management have settled on an agreement. Two groups had to divide $9 billion in revenue fairly. This hasn’t been a problem the past few years, but with the agreement expiring, the owners decided that they were losing money and wanted a larger share of the profits. To gain more money the owners discussed adding games to the season to increase revenue in ticket sales and television dollars.

                                                                      Video from YouTube

The players were not too happy about this agreement. They would be playing more games for less money, and series of rules changes seemed to be forcing fines (and threats of retirement) on them.

The deal offered by the league before talks broke down and moved into this early litigation phase was as follows:

·       Maintaining the 16 regular-season games and four preseason games for at least two years, with any switch to 18 games down the road being negotiable.

·       Financial disclosure of audited league and club profitability information that isn’t even shared with the teams. That was proposed by the NFL this week, and rejected by the union, which began insisting in May 2009 for a complete look at the books of all 32 clubs.

·       Instituting a rookie wage scale through which money saved would be paid to veterans and retired players.

·       Creating new year-round health and safety rules.

·       Establishing a fund for retired players, with $82 million contributed by the owners over the next two years.

So back to our scenario, just like the argument between you and your mom the lockout is a result of too much money being spent, and no compromise. What she says goes, and now what do you do? 

YOU	N.F.L Player
*Get a job	* Hope the wife could support the family for the time being
*Budget your money. No more careless spending on shoes or Starbucks coffee	*Budget their money. Cut themselves off from donating money, and buying expensive cars.
*Shop at vintage or thrift stores	* Shop retail rather than high-end boutiques

As of right now the N.F.L is still disputing with the league in court and is waiting on some sort of negotiation with the league as to what will happen this coming football season, and what both sides will settle on in terms of money and games.

After all this we would hope our mom and in the players case management sees improvement, and there is a settlement between the two. It could take time and there would be guidelines, regulations and of course salary cuts; but never the less we would have our new clothes and Monday Night Football. 

Sources:

nytimes.com

Dr.Jay.com

Cleaveland.com

Dancing the Month Away

(Photo: Nike Dunk High Heels, Bayareakick.com)

The big dance is here, but before you get out your dancing heels get out your basketball shoes, because ladies I’m not talking about the Spring Fling dance; I’m talking about March Madness, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1 Championship tournament. 

The month of March becomes a month full of bubbles, brackets and dances. Doesn’t that sound like a Cinderella story waiting to happen?

So ladies let me break it down for you, and let you know how the dance works in a guy’s world.

The Big Dance is the NCAA Basketball Tournament, also known as March Madness which is the season-ending tournament divided up into four regions and 65 college teams.

Selection Sunday is known as the day when the NCAA Official Selection Committee announces the 65 teams that get to go to the NCAA Championship tournament. The selection committee consists of ten Division I athletic directors or conference commissioners from around the country. 31 teams out of the 65 are given automatic bids depending on their Conference Title.

The bubbles or bubble teams refer to those teams that are not guaranteed a spot in the tournament. Those teams are “on the bubble” because their dreams of being in the tournament may be popped depending on the outcome of the first game during the series or the committee’s thoughts on the team.

The team’s status’s are followed during the month by the use of brackets. The brackets are an outline of the divisions made between the four regions: East, West, Midwest and South. There are 16 teams in each region and each team is given a ranking from #1-16, from the best to worst also known as seeds.

Finally, "The Dance" is the road leading up to the Final Four, which consist of the best teams from each region. Sometimes, there is a Cinderella team, which is the team that no one thought would make it, but despite ranking that team surprises everyone and dances to the top.

So there you have it ladies! The low down of the big dance! So for this month leave your evening gown at home, and air out the mesh of those jerseys and root your favorite team onto victory.

Source:
Stiletto Sports Magazine
NCAA.com