It's been a while

Due to the end of this past school year, I have not had to write a blog in forever. However, I have began to compile a list of topics that have been on my mind. First being the Chinese gymnastics team. The IOC cleared them from all questions of them having girls underage competing on the team. I believe that the IOC should be ashamed of themselves for their lack of effort in their investigation of the team. They said that there was no evidence no evidence to determine that the one gymnast was underage. That's because the Chinese government issued her a new passport and destroyed all other evidence that she was 13. Another topic is the NL MVP. ESPN's Buster O'Malley said that he feels Albert Pujols should with out a doubt be the MVP. Wait what? Are you talking about the 4th place St. Louis Cardinals? Pujols however, did put up impressive numbers batting .357, had 37 homeruns and also collected 116 rbi's, but did he carry his team, did he bring his team to the playoffs. No. The true MVP is without a doubt Ryan Howard. The big man did struggle in the beginning of the year, but had one of the greatest September's in baseball history. He finished the regular season with 48 homeruns, 146 rbi's and a average of .251. Not only did he play well, he carried the Phillies on top of his shoulders and led them into the playoffs for the second time in two years.

Mariners Charge First

Whenever a sports event takes place, there is always the thought of their being a fight. Pushing and shoving takes place every game, in hockey after every whistle, football after every down, basketball after every foul. But, in baseball there aren't as many. When there is a fight its always, I hate to say it, but exciting. The first baseball fight took place yesterday in a game between the Texas Rangers and the Seatle Mariners. Rangers pitcher Kason Gabbard threw a high pitch to Richie Sexson. Sexson is 6 foot 8. Sexson threw his bat to the side and charged the mound, all 6-8 of him. He then threw his helmet at Gabbard and tackled him to the ground. The dug outs and bullpens cleared and came on to the field. The game ended with the Mariners on top of the pile literally winning 7 to 3.

Spy Gate Coming To An End

The New England Patriots over the past 8 years has established a very strong franchise. The Patriots have won three out of four Super Bowls they have been in. The latest this past season. Bill Belichick is well known for his sweatshirt with the cut sleeves, and his awkward news conferences. Belichick this past season got himself into a huge hole that keeps getting deeper. In the first game of the season, Belichick hired Matt Walsh to video tape the New York Jet's deffensive coaching signs. A few weeks after that game Walsh was caught on tape taking video of the other teams signs. The Patriots were heavily fined and lost draft picks. But the question now is, if Walsh video taped the St. Louis Rams walk through before the Super Bowl in the 2001-2002 season. Walsh sent tape signs into NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the 2002 walk through was not on there. Since I am very passionate about my Philadelphia sports I believe that somebody filmed the Eagles' walk through before the 2004 Super Bowl. Every time the Eagles went to run the ball the Patriots were in run coverage, and every time McNabb went to drop back for a pass, they read it like they knew what was coming. What ever the case may be Walsh and the Patriots will have the hammer dropped on them sooner or later by Goodell.

"Down The Stretch They Come"

The 134th Kentucky Derby was an exciting one. One of the favorites Big Brown pulled through with a 5 length finish. Big Brown was the first horse to win the derby in the 20th position since 1929. However after this victory tragedy struck. The second place winner Eight Belles collapsed after finishing the race. Moments after Eight Belles fell doctors rushed to the scene. Eight Belles broken both its front ankles. This fatal injury resulted in Eight Belles being euthanized. This was a sad way to end the most exciting two minutes in all of sports.

Ethics In Sports

In class we have discussed ethics in journalistic pieces of the past 20 years. One example was "Jimmy's World" by Janet Cooke, another was Stephen Glass's several made up quotes and sources for the New Republic. When it came to my ethics in writing my sports blog, I caught myself several times contemplating over saying a few things about some Phillies players. I try not to put down players, but there are some players I have grown to dislike. Not so much on the Phillies, but around the league, so I try not to blog about them. There are two examples of unethical journalism sports that have become very vivid to me. The first is the poor interviewing of now ESPN host of Jim Rome is Burning, Jim Rome. In an interview with now former NFL quarterback Jim Everret, Rome called Everret, Chris. Chris Everrt was a women's tennis player Jim Everret corrected him several times, but Rome kept on saying it. Everrret told Rome if he did it again, that he would hurt him. Rome did it again and Everret attacked him. This is an example of unethical journalism.

Superstitions

I finally figured out that whatever I write about here ends up getting back to me in a bad way. I once wrote about how good of a player Alexander Ovechkin is and now he is versing my Flyers in the playoffs. The day I wrote how I thought the Houston Rockets would extent their winning streak to 23 games, they lost to the Boston Celtics. I wrote how I thought the Phoenix would be unstoppable with Shaquille O'Neal, but they had a ruff end of the season going into the playoffs. So considering that the Flyers are in the playoffs I have chosen not to write about them. Check out some of these superstitions.
Curses! Thirteen Super Sports Superstitions

What A Time To Live In The City

With the Flyers in the playoffs and the Phillies kicking off their first meeting at home with the New York Mets, the city has been packed. At one point during this past week the Flyers and Phillies were playing at the same time, about 300-500 feet apart from each other. That means that there had to be no parking in any lots. That equals angry fans. Whatever the case may be the Philadelphia fans are still the Philadelphia fans. My friend called me up after Jose Reyes' head collided into Chase Utley's knee when he stole second. He said he was mad at me because the fans cheered as he layed on the ground hurt and booed when he got back up.

It's Not Like The Rivalry Was Heated Enough

rivalry started when Babe Ruth was traded from the Red The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox rivalry is the most well known rivalry in all of sports. Bigger than Notre Dame:USC, Phillies:Mets, Michigan:Michigan State. The Yankees, Red SoxSox to the Yankees. Ever since that day the two teams, have had their fair share of moments. Adding to this rivalry was a construction worker working on the new Yankee Stadium, which will open next year. In an effort to curse the Yankees, a Red Sox fan construction worker buried a David Ortiz jersey into the concrete flooring. The jersey was removed after 5 hours of drilling with a jackhammer. The rivalry lives on. Image of the jersey can be seen here http://ap.google.com/media/ALeqM5igXiBiNSFL-aKF4U6hI_cULNpLAA?size=s

It's Been a While

I am sorry that I have not put up 3 blogs this week, but this one has 3 times as much as 1. As a Philadelphia sports fan I have already reached the break point. What is going on with the Phillies and the Flyers. The Phillies are 5 and 6, and the Florida Marlins are in first place. The Florida Marlins! What happened to the Phillies and Mets. The Nationals started out strong, but now have dropped down to 5 games out of first. This past series at Shea, was an exciting one with the Met stealing 2 out of 3 against the Phillies. The Phillies played the the last 2 games of the series without last years MVP Jimmy Rollins. So the Phillies with their excellent minor league programs, bring up one of the dullest performers I have seen. Eric Bruntlett. He's no Jimmy Rollins. The Phillies signed him because he's a "defensive specialist." From what I saw he's nothing close to it. Before I even saw him take a ground ball at short stop I saw one of his at bats. He attempted to bunt. I mean he couldn't even do that. While pinch hitter Cole Hamels comes in a few batters earlier and lays a perfect bunt down the line. The only thing I saw that surprised me that came out of the series was Brad Lidge. I truly had not seen Lidge pitch well, after he gave up that home run in the playoffs a few years back to Albert Pujols, when he was with the Houston Astros. Lidge however looked good. His slider was on and his fastball was ranging from 93-95. Since the Phillies just strated their season, all eyes in Philadelphia have been glued to the Flyers in the playoffs against Alexander Ovechkin. Although the Flyers are versing the Washington Capitals, its basically Ovechkin doing everything for the team. I don't understand how the Flyers could go into the 3 period with a 2 goal lead and lose. We will have to see how it turns out for the Flyers, the only way the will win, is if they stop Ovechkin.

Babe, Bucky, Buckner, Boone and Hawk?

The Boston Red Sox have a had a history of curses throughout its franchise. Like in 1918, when they traded away there number one pitcher Babe Ruth and they didn't win a World Series until 2004. Who could forget the infamous New York Yankee, Bucky Dent home run in the 1978 tiebreaker game, in which Boston lost. Or the error made by first baseman Bill Buckner in the 1986 World Series against the New York Mets. Then in the 2003 ALCS, when Yankee, Aaron Boone hit a walk off home run to send the Yankees to the World Series. Fenway Park is home to many things, Pesky's Pole, the Green Monster and now a hawk. During a tour of Fenway Alexa Rodriguez, was attacked by the hawk, in which she would be ok. The hawk had a nest by the press box of Fenway. The nest and an egg were removed from the stadium.

What's Up With Washington

The Washington Nationals opened their first game against the Atlanta Braves in their brand new, state of the art National Park. This stadium is environmental friendly and is the first stadium to go "green." (http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/was/ballpark/index.jsp) George W. Bush is regarded as one of the greatest presidents to throw the first pitch. He threw that touching first pitch in Yankee Stadium at the 2001 World Series after 9/11 a perfect strike. Today when Bush was announced to throw out the first pitch the crowed was a mix of boos and cheers, but mostly boos. I got very upset that the District of Columbia would do such a thing to the president. I feel that like Bush or not, you don't boo him at a baseball game.

"Shut Up and Drive"

Danica Patrick stormed into the 2005 IndyCar series, breaking down the barrier of men and women. However, since that second place finish at Indianapolis, Danica has not proven to the racing world that she is winning material. After talks of Danica leaving IndyCar for NASCAR, is ridiculous on account she has not won one race. She complains about everything about her car and the company that makes it. She tries to pick fights with other male drivers, and has even gone after them. Last year her car broke down during a race, and she decided to get out and throw a tantrum, kicking her car and cones. Until she wins a race she will officially move up in the sport, because right now she has not advanced.

A Hockey Dad You Don't Want To Mess With

Patrick Roy is regarded as the greatest goalie to play in the National Hockey League. After playing 18 years in the NHL 10 with the Montreal Canadians and 8 with the Colorado Avalanche, Roy won 4 Stanley Cups and was elected to play in the All-Star game 11 times. In 2006 Roy was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. His latest milestone may stand out a little more than some of the other ones, being banned from a junior hockey league. Roy coaches his son Jonathon who plays for the Quebec Remparts. During a game Jonathon continuously hit on opponent after he knocked him to the ground, then another player from the other team left the penalty box and attacked Jonathan. Roy appeared to cheer his son on to attack the other goalie. Now both Patrick and Jonathan are suspended for 12 games.

Dodgers Leave Town Blue

Vero Beach, Florida is not know to many outside of Florida. That's because Vero Beach is overshadowed by the name Dodgertown. In 1948 the Brooklyn Dodgers searched for a new spring training spot. Businessman Bob Holman invited the Dodgers to go down to Vero Beach to have spring training. With the completion of their new stadium in 1953, it was only fitting that the Dodgers name it Holman Stadium. Dodgertown was described as many as baseball heaven. This may be, because of Walter and Peter O'Mally's genius making Dodgertown the first privately owned spring training facility. Many hall of famers went through Dodgertown including Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Tommy Lasorda, Pee Wee Reese and Roy Campanella. Dodgertown saw the team move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. Now the Dodgers are moving their spring training to Arizona. Its a sad day for baseball.

Will the Streak Stay Alive

The Houston Rockets have a 22 game winning streak, and have been playing their best basketball, since Yao Ming left the team with an injury. Tonight the Rockets will face the best team in the NBA, the Boston Celtics. It looks as though Boston is the under dog in this game. The big three is down to two due to a left ankle injury that will sideline Ray Allen for most likely his third game in a row, if he chooses to rest. The Rockets on the other hand are poised to make it 23. Their three point shooting has been looking better than ever, thanks to Rafer Alston, who put up 8 three pointers last game. Shane Battier has been playing some solid defense and has shot 39 percent from the three point line. Also Luis Scola has been grabbing a lot of rebounds in place of Yao. It looks as though Houston has the upper hand in this game.

Q&A With Charlie Weis, Insight to Feature

Q: Mr. Weis am I disrupting you in any way?
A: Well I'm in a coaches meeting, but I can answer your questions
Q: Do any of your players chew tobacco?
A: Not that I know of, but I am sure there are, I know that teens now have shaded away from cigarettes, now they dip
Q: In you opinion does chewing tobacco effect the game?
A: Yes, however my players don't dip during games, from what I know many players are turning to sun flower seeds

My feature will be coming soon.

Schilling Goes On The 60 Day DL

Curt Schilling's baseball career can be described as very colorful. He went from goof ball in Baltimore, to towel over head in Philadelphia, to MVP in Arizona, to excellence in Boston. However, Schilling's career will be over shadowed by his usual comments and apologies. Every single time Schilling talks about anything, he takes a shot at someone, then the very next day he apologizes. He just might have to put the towel back over his head and not make any comments. Schilling's trip to the DL may cause some problems during the year.

Nails Prevails

Take a look at Lenny Dykstra in his playing days with the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies. He was short, at one point skinny and at one point jacked. Standing at 5' 10" he played with a determination that is arguably not seen in the MLB today. With a wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth and the number 4 on his back Dykstra played in two World Series's, one in 1986 with the Mets and one in 1993 with the Phillies. After his departure from the league, Dykstra trusted his broker with his money. When his broker lost most of his money, he said that it would never happen again. During his playing days Dykstra didn't read saying it would mess up his batting eyes, but after he lost his money he picked up the books, learning everything about there is to know about the stock market. Years went by and Dykstra opened up three top notch car washes, then sold them later for over 65 million dollars. He called them the "Taj Mahal's" of the car washing industry, the only thing is he didn't know what the Taj Mahal was. Now Dykstra is one of the most intellectual and respected men in the stock market. What he says about stocks are taken seriously by investors. What Dykstra did during the playoffs of the 1993 series is one of the best individual performances in baseball, not only did he towering home runs, but fouled off many pitches working the pitchers. Lenny Dykstra also known as Nails proved to everyone who doubted him that he can do anything.

Alexander The Great

Besides Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin is arguably the best player in the NHL. In January, Ovechkin signed a very long time deal with his Washington Capitals for 13 years, 124 million. Not only has Ovechkin signed a big contract, but also the money is paying off. He has scored 54 goals this season, giving him the lead in the NHL. However, Ovechkin wants to take his Capitals into the Stanley Cup playoffs, and right now they are 10th in the Eastern Conference.

Does spring training matter?

Major League Baseball is now in its preseason, and the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues have started. Some sports analysts and fans have said how it doesn't matter how the teams do, as long as they do fine in the regular season. That may be true, however where do the new players learn the ropes and bond with other players? In the preseason. The preseason is where rookies beat out the vets for positions. Also this is where new players come and go.

Whats Next

The NFL free agency market sold its top item in Randy Moss. Randy Moss resigned with the New England Patriots, after his name was put on the market. Moss is the only free agent to return to the New England Patriots, Asante Samuel signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, and Donte Stallworth signed with the Cleveland Browns. The biggest news coming out of today is the retirement of 17 season vet Brett Favre. Favre finally announced his retirement after a year where he brought his team to the playoffs.

Free Agency Top Choices

The teams of the NFL are now shopping for free agents. Some of the players who are still on the market are New England Patriot, wide receiver Randy Moss, who last year broke the single season record for most touchdown catches. Also running back Marion Barber III formerly with the Dallas Cowboys also is on the market. The biggest free agent signed so far is Asante Samuel formerly with the New England Patriots. The corner back signed yesterday with the Philadelphia Eagles. Andy Reid, head coach of the Eagles, said that Samuel will get the starting job, so that means Lito Sheppard is on his way out. Rumors have been flying around that the Eagles may trade Sheppard to the Arizona Cardinals for wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

Who's coming into the NFL strong?

The National Football League (NFL) combine is where players who either graduated or left early from college show their skills in front of NFL scouts. Over three hundred players were there including some of the best. The combine is held at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana, where the Colts play. Each player does a series of skills consisting from bench pressing, to foot work, to dashes. The player that stood out the most was Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, who ran a 4.33 4o yard dash. Also Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan had an impressing outing at the combine. Both Ryan and McFadden are looking for top spots in the upcoming NFL draft.

The girls equivalent to the Super Bowl

The red carpet rolled out for the 80th Academy Awards yesterday bringing stars from all kinds of movies in the past year. All women were most likely glued to the television in awe of the glamor and style of the celebrities. Its hard to imagine that the men sat in front of the television for up to four hours listening to the same five words "and the Oscar goes to..." My guess is that the men were watching the rolling of a different red carpet, one leading to the Detroit Pistons and the Phoenix Suns game. The best supporting actor went out to Rasheed Wallace of Pistons, who scored 22 points in a Detroit victory. The biggest surprise was not what so and so was wearing, it was that the Suns are now one and two with Shaquille O'Neil.

Do the players in the NBA try?

From what I have watched in the past year or so, the players in the NBA don't look like they try. Watch any college basketball game and you will see them play for pride, the NBA they play for money. College basketball is dominated by the players defensive skills, but in the NBA you see less steals. The only time you will see the players play to their potentials is in the last few minutes or in the playoffs.

Story ideas for the paper

Josh Shields playing with the Foo Fighter, as a make a wish foundation wish that he made when he had leukemia.
Dodge ball is back for a second time this year, what comes out of the game we will write
Senioritist are underclassmen getting a disease for only seniors?

Phillies have a productive offseason

The Philadelphia Phillies have to open their eyes and make some kind of deal. Oh I forgot they did pick up Brad Lidge, Pedro Feliz, So Taguchi and Geoff Jenkins. In my opinion the Phillies should have resigned Aaron Rowand and finalized a deal with Mike Lowell, but both slipped away. Now the Phillies have to offer a better contract to Ryan Howard, which they will hold back as late as possible. The only transaction attempt the Phillies made this past offseason was to fake trade Kyle Kendrick for the former hotdog eating champ from Japan. I wish the Phillies had the desire to go out a better themselves, but apparently that’s out of the question.

The NBA is making a comeback

Due to big name trades this season, the NBA's ratings are shooting up. Big names like Kevin Garnett, Jason Kidd, Shaquille O'Neal all changed jerseys this year. The newest transaction made was Jason Kidd going from the New Jersey Nets to the Dallas Mavericks. The Dallas Mavericks already have a well rounded team, and with the addition of Jason Kidd, they will be big competitors in for the playoffs. As for the Nets, they got 3 million in money and several veteran players.

Patriots go 19-0 for Nicaragua

Even though the Patriots did not go 19-0, poor children in Nicaragua believe they did. After the Super Bowl shirts saying 19-0, Super Bowl champs were sent down to the children including hats to top it off. This is a nice donation form the Patriots, but they need to tell the kids the truth.

South Hampton Sam

On the cruise I met Sam for South Hampton, England. He told me about life in England and what he does everyday. I talked to him about sports, and told me he plays rounders and rugby. What? Rounders, Sam said is mix of baseball and cricket. When he told me he played rugby I was shocked to hear that younger kids play rugby.

For the love of the game

While on a cruise ship this past week, witnessing sports came about every day. However it was one event that brought the reality of soccer to me. On the sports court on deck 13, there was a 5 on 5 soccer tournament. In one of the games two teams from different parts of the world went head to head. During this "friendly match" one player slide tackled everybody on the opposing team. When one of the cruise directors called a penalty, the player flipped out and was about to fight him. Both teams argued and the game ended in a tie. This showed how much the game means to so many peoples.

Is Shaquille O'Neal bigger than the border?

Now that Shaquille O'Neal is a Phoenix Sun, another team is going after him. This team is not one that dribbles basketballs, but one that cathces illegal immagrants coming into the United States. Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, a county near Arizona, said that Shaq's unifrom is waiting form him. While in Miami, Shaq was part of a squad in Maimi, now he will be rounding up illegals at the boarder. Shaq is definitely ready for Phoenix.

The sun shines brighter in Phoenix

Yesterday in the NBA (National Basketball Association) the Miami Heat got burned. With a 9-37 the Heat traded one of their key players Shaquille O'Neal to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. This trade takes the heat out of Miami, and makes the sun shine brighter. Although Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks are well rounded players, the Heat suffered a huge loss. I think based on this trade, the Suns will most likely make the playoffs. Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal, this may become the new "big three."

The Super Bowl

This past Super Bowl featured the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. Even though the Giants pulled one of the biggest Super Bowl upsets of all time, their win will always be over shadowed as the game when the Patriots went 18-1. There were multiple chances for the Patriots to escalate on the MVP Eli Manning's mistakes. If that ball did not go through Asante Samuel's hands, who knows what would have happened. Also I found that Giants linebacker Kawika Mitchell, threw two hands on top of Tom Brady's helmet while making a tackle near the Patriots own end zone. The penalty should have been called. The Giants deserved this win they definably outplayed the Patriots, but the game will always be remember as what could have been for the Patriots.

Brand New

Hi, I am Ken and I will be writing on this blog about sports. My upcoming blog will be about this past supper bowl.