Asking for Autographs as an Adult

     As stated in the title of my blog, I may not be an expert on all things sports, but there is one thing I  am absolutely an expert on, which is the embarrassment of getting autographs as an adult.  This is by far the most demeaning thing I willingly do.  While my wife was reading this post before I published this, she felt obligated to remind me that she has had to stand by my side while she shared the embarassment of these incidents with me.
    

     The worst, and most embarrassing thing about asking for autographs is when you are competing with children for the autographs.  There is nothing I hate more than standing next to a 5 year old kid trying to get an autograph at a baseball game.  Kid beats adult in this situation every time.  Not only do they have the  cute and emotional advantage, but they seem to be able to sneak themselves in between you and the athlete in any scenario to cut in line. 

     One of my most upsetting autograph experiences was just a few years ago.  I went to a 3-game series when the Angels came to play the Washington Nationals, and was determined to get Torii Hunter's autograph in his first season with the Halos.  In the first two games there was never really a good opportunity, but in the third game I got myself in premium position right next to the visitor's dugout when Torii was coming over.  It was basically me and another guy using this strategy.  At some point, Torii acknowledged us, and gave the nod that he would be coming over shortly.  There was a kid, about 10-11 years old behind me, and an old man behind me, but I had good position on these two and did not anticipate a problem.  What I didn't know at the time was the guy positioned next to me was from Torii Hunter's hometown of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and had a Pine Bluff Little League baseball for Torii to sign.  I was obviously losing out to this guy, but still had good position for the next one.  This is when the old guy behind me asked me who was signing, and being the nice guy that I am, I turned around to tell him it was Torii Hunter.  When I turned around, the kid snuck in front of me somehow, and got autograph #2 on a Washington Nationals baseball.  Torii Hunter was not on the Washington Nationals, in fact he's never been on the Washington Nationals.  This kid did not care about Torii's autograph, it could have been the 3rd base coach and this kid would not have known the difference.  I guarantee this ball ended up in the sewer wherever this kid played baseball like the minor league autographs me and my brother used to get at Prince William Cannons games.  As I turned around to see this kid commit this unforgivable act, the old guy who I had to tell that Torii Hunter was signing autographs snuck around me on the other end to get the third and final autograph that Torii Hunter would be giving out this day.  I was inconsolable until about the 6th inning of that game.

Torii robbin' em, what he does best



     There are a lot of good opportunities for autographs if you pay enough attention.  Most teams have some kind of day celebrating the opening of the season, or some similar event where the players are signing autographs that day.  I went to the one last year at Maryland, called Maryland Day, which was a combination of the football Spring game, and where other parts of campus are open, and the Maryland basketball team also signs autographs.  This is the event where I got my picture with Gary Williams on the front page of this blog.  This was great for me because there were organized lines, so I did not have to compete with kids for autographs, and also the event was free.  Maryland also does not have a huge fan base, so I could get as many autographs as I wanted, and didn't have to wait in crazy lines.  Everything about the event was going smoothly until I came to one sad realization.  I was 26, and the autographs I was getting was from college students.  It was a sad moment once I realized I was going all crazy over 19 year olds signing a football for me.  Keep in mind though that I will be going again this year, so I wasn't too embarrassed about this.

Me and Jordan Williams at Maryland Day



     eBay however is not a good alternative to avoiding the shame of getting autographs with children.  First of all, even if you are really sure, you are never 100% convinced this is a real autograph you've paid for.  Also, even if you do feel really good about the authenticity of the autograph, the fact that you didn't get it signed yourself really ruins it for you.  When I see some of the autographs I have gotten, I remember the story of getting them, and when I see the few I have gotten from eBay, I don't have that same feeling.

     In summary, to truly enjoy your autograph, don't buy it on eBay, don't get suckered into compromising your position based on old people or kids, and do your best to live with the shame of obssessing over getting someone to sign their name on an object of your choosing.

My Thoughts on Tiger Woods

     It's Masters week, the greatest golf weekend of the year.  You could argue that the 2 open championship majors are better, but I'll take the Masters any day.  First of all, it's the first major of the year, so if a good golfer wins, you can start wondering what if he wins all four, which never happens but it's still okay to hope.  Secondly, Augusta has more history and pageantry than any other golf course in the world. 

     I thought since this was Masters week, it would be a good time to write about golf.  And if I am going to write about golf, who better to write about than Tiger Woods.  I am not real happy about the Tiger Woods situation that went down beginning on Thanksgiving Eve of 2009, but I think I probably feel like that for different reasons than most people.

     Tiger Woods is not a saint as it turns out.  I hope I'm not ruining your perception by saying this, but most athletes aren't.  Athletes cheating on their spouses is not unusual, partly due to their celebrity and money, but also due to the fact that they are constantly on the road.  I'm not saying this is an excuse, I'm just saying it happens.  A lot.  The reason it was as big of a deal as it was, is because it was Tiger Woods.

     My biggest problem is that all of these things he did to satisfy his own needs, ruined his golf game.  Taking the time off of golf ruined what was supposed to be the world watching the greatest golfer of all time.  Now it's gone.  Tiger Woods was not only the best golfer in the world, but what people who didn't watch him might not realize, is how feared he was by his competitors.  Great golfers used to fold just because they played in the same group as Tiger.  I don't have the stats behind this, but Sergio Garcia played his absolute worst golf whenever he played with Tiger. 

     The best of Tiger Woods was when people used to talk trash about him in the media.  Whenever anyone would say the slightest comment that could be thought of as negative in anyway, Tiger would take that out on the course and just dominate everyone.  Stephen Ames once said he doesn't know how Tiger Woods wins golf tournaments for how bad he hits the ball, not long before he was going to play him in a match play tournament.  For those who aren't familiar with golf, instead of playing against everyone like a normal tournament, in a match play tournament you are matched up against one person, and if you win more golf holes than the other golfer, you advance to the next round of the tournament, until there is only one golfer left.  When a golfer is leading in holes by more than the amount of holes left to play, the match is over.  So if a golfer wins a match 2&1, that means they are 2 holes up against their opponent, with only 1 hole left to play.  So Stephen Ames decided to make these comments about Tiger Woods right before he was matched up against Tiger.  Tiger then went out and beat him silly, winning 9&8.  If you're keeping up with the math, this means they only played 10 holes, and Tiger won 9 of them, and they tied 1.  This is as big of a beat down as you can give someone in match play golf.

    Golfers now talk trash to Tiger all of the time, and there's nothing he can do about it anymore.  Ian Poulter called him #2 soon after losing his #1 ranking in golf which he held for about 10 years during a dispute on a putting green.  Young golfers are talking about how beatable Tiger is, which would have been unheard of 3 years ago.  This was supposed to be about the time Tiger was beating Jack Nicklaus' record of 19 majors won, but instead he's reduced to being demeaned by a bunch of young guys who haven't even won anything yet.

     So I know most people are upset about what Tiger did, and they are certainly justified.  I am more upset because I feel robbed of what should be watching the greatest golfer in history.  I don't expect Tiger to do well in the Masters this weekend, because he just seems to be having too much trouble putting 4 good rounds in a row together, and is not putting well.  Golfers I am looking to do well this week are Phil Mickleson, Graeme McDowell, and Dustin Johnson.

The Mistake of Following College Sports Recruiting

     I'm a big sports fan, and as a big sports fan, I try to get any kind of information about any of my teams at the earliest possible time.  As technology continues to be a larger factor in sports information, reports and rumors from inside sources seem to be more available than ever.  These reports range from what player your NFL team is considering drafting, to in-race twitter reports form NASCAR race teams, to rumors websites about all the latest trade rumblings whispered about your favorite baseball team.

     One of the more popular sports insider information web sites is subscription sites that offer inside information on the athletes deciding where to play in college.  These sites charge a monthly fee to access a message board, run by a moderator whose job is to follow and report on any high school athlete being recruited by a particular school.  Following college recruiting is something I regret starting, because now that I started it, I can't stop.  College recruiting can be fun if your team consistently signs top caliber athletes such as Duke, Kentucky, and North Carolina in basketball, or Ohio State, Alabama, and Texas football.  If your team does not happen to one of those top end schools, recruiting can be very frustrating.  Athletes are ranked on a 5-star system, where 1 star is the lowest level prospect, and 5-star prospects are the top high school athletes in the country.  Top end schools get so many 5-star recruits, that some of them don't even start.  This leaves some of the second tier schools to fight over 3 and 4-star recruits.

     Something that's difficult to remember sometimes, is that these athletes being recruited are just kids.  The beginning of the recruiting process for the majority of high school athletes starts in their sophomore year of high school.  That means these kids are about 15 years old at the beginning of this process.  It is not a good moment when you realize you are getting all bent out of shape over where 15 and 16 year olds decide to go to college.  Like most teenagers, these teenagers tend to change their minds often.  It is not uncommon for a high school recruit to have a big ceremony to announce what school they have chosen to go to, and then days later announce that they have changed their mind and are going to a different school.

    Recruits do not automatically guarantee success however.  VCU and Butler just advanced to the Final 4 of the NCAA basketball tournament, and each team had one 4-star recruit, and two 3-star recruits as their highest rated players coming out of high school.  This can be especially difficult for teams who don't get many highly rated recruits to begin with, to have one end up being a bust when it comes time to perform on the field.

     It is also generally accepted that college recruiting is a very dirty business.  Some of the top coaches of the top programs in the country have been caught breaking the rules about providing recruits with some kind of monetary or other types of benefits, which is illegal for amateur athletes.  This kind of thing can ruin a program.  Just ask Southern Methodist University, whose football program was one of the tops in the country, until repeated recruiting violations sent them into years of recruiting sanctions, which lead to the demise of the program.  These violations were highlighted in the recent ESPN 30 for 30 documentary "Pony Excess".

     Because of these reasons, and because it's too late for me, if I were you I would just enjoy the players you get once they get to your school, rather than agonize over the college recruits that never end up coming to your school.

MLB Monday: 2011 Season Predictions

     It's almost time for meaningful baseball!  My last MLB Monday leading up to the regular season will be about my predictions for the season this year.  I feel like this is a good time to remind everyone that I am in no way, shape, or form, an expert, and these predictions are sure to be terrible.  But I do invite everyone to make your predictions in my comments section.  So here goes nothing...

AL division winners

Boston Red Sox
Detroit Tigers
Los Angeles Angels

NL Division Winners

Philadelphia Phillies
Cinncinnatti Reds
San Fransisco Giants

Wild Card Teams

New York Yankees
Atlanta Braves

First Round Playoffs

Boston def. Los Angeles
Detroit def. New York
San Fransisco def. Philadelphia
Atlanta def. Cincinnatti

Second Round Playoffs

Boston def. Detroit
Atlanta def. San Fransisco

World Series

Boston def. Atlanta

American League Awards

MVP- Robinson Cano
Cy Young- Jon Lester
Batting Champion- Robinson Cano
HR Champion- Jose Bautista
Comeback Player of the Year- Mark Reynolds

National League Awards

MVP- Troy Tulowitzki
Cy Young- Cliff Lee
Batting Champion- Troy Tulowitzki
HR Champion- Albert Pujols
Comeback Player of the Year- Carlos Beltran

Surprise Teams of the Year

AL- Baltimore Orioles
NL- Milwaukee Brewers

     There are my picks, let me know yours!

My Favorite Players Who Aren't On My Favorite Teams

     When you watch a lot of SportsCenter, you start to see a lot of players who you normally wouldn't see from just watching your own team.  Sometimes, you see these players do so well, you want them to be on your team.  During baseball seasons, I always used to have a running list of 3 or 4 players who I used to follow who weren't on my favorite team.  The first player I was really like this for was Torii Hunter, then of the Twins, and I was lucky enough to see him sign a 5-year contract with my favorite team a few years ago.  I started taking this concept to other sports too, and eventually I started to have quite a few players I followed across several sports who I liked to keep track of.  Here are some of my current favorite players not on my favorite team, and a brief description on why I like them.

Jason Heyward, OF, Atlanta Braves:

Associated Press



     These days, baseball prospects are a dime a dozen.  Every team seems to think they have the next great baseball player.  Most of them don't.  Jason Heyward had a huge amount of hype on him last year in his rookie year.  I made a point to watch the Braves opening game so I could see him.  The baseball world was anxiously waiting his debut, and for most people that pressure would be a lot to handle.  So what did Heyward do in his first at-bat?  Hammered a pitch over the right field fence.  It may have just been one pitch, but it was enough for me to know I liked this guy, and was ready to see more.  He had a decent rookie year batting .272 with 18 HR and 72 RBI, but he is poised to be a 30 HR and 100 RBI type of guy every season.

DeMarcus Ware, LB, Dallas Cowboys:

Greg Nelson/SI



     I'm a Redskins fan, so I'm not supposed to like DeMarcus Ware, but he seems to be the ideal kind of football player to like.  He's a physical beast, he plays through injuries, and he plays harder than any player in the NFL.  He's also good for at least 10 sacks every year, and is one of the most dominant defensive players in football.  From all the reports I've heard, he's also an incredible person too.  Unfortunately, it seems more rare than ever than an athlete is a good person too.  So I hope the best for DeMarcus Ware, just not against the Redskins.

Rick Ankiel, OF, Washington Nationals:

     Rick Ankiel came up through the minor leagues in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.  Except he came up as a pitcher.  He was a top pitching prospect too, and a pretty solid starter for a couple of seasons for the Cardinals.  Ankiel developed a control problem, to the point where he started setting Major League records for the amount of wild pitches he threw.  It started getting in his head, and he never could fix his control issues.  So once he got to the point where it was clear he would not be a major league pitcher, he talked the organization about back down to the minor leagues about being an outfielder.  It took him 3 years to return from his last season pitching to a major league outfielder.  For those who aren't very familiar with pitchers in baseball, they can't hit at all.  Even the ones who can hit, can't really hit.  So for Ankiel to make the majors as a pitcher, and then again as an outfielder was amazing to me.  Also, I really am holding out hope his team gets into an emergency situation where they run out of pitchers, and they bring him in from the outfield to pitch.

Tim Tebow, QB, Denver Broncos:

     I like Tim Tebow for a couple of reasons, but the first is a reason most people like a player not on their team.  This reason is of course, he's on my fantasy football team.  So mostly I like him because I want to win the caysh, but also I hate when a player does great in college football, and all of the expert analysts say they cant cut it in the NFL.  I had the same thoughts when they said Charlie Ward, the Heisman trophy winning QB from Florida State couldn't cut it because he was too short, or Eric Crouch, the Heisman trophy winning QB from Nebraska, couldn't cut it because he ran the option offense in college.  Tim Tebow got to play a little toward the end of this season, and he looked exactly as good as he did in college.  Playing quarterback by running and throwing the ball, and taking big hits in the process.  Tim Tebow being successful in the NFL could be huge for the sport, and maybe some of these college-style quarterbacks will start looking better to NFL scouts.

Any former Maryland football and basketball player:

     I realize this one isn't quite the same as the other ones, because at one point they were on my favorite college team.  I like to follow the guys through their pro careers though, because good players from a school only does good things for the program, and also because I rooted for these players very heavily in college, and I'm in general just not ready to stop rooting for them. 

Honorable Mention Favorite Players:

Cliff Lee, SP, Philadelphia Phillies
Travis Hafner, Cleveland Indians
Manning brothers, QBs, Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants
Nick Markakis, OF, Baltimore Orioles
Josh Hamilton, OF, Texas Rangers
Brian Vickers, #83 Red Bull Toyota driver
Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints
John Wall, PG, Washington Wizards

     If you have any players you like who aren't on your favorite team, write about them in the comments!

MLB Monday: AL Central race

     The division race I am most excited about watching this season is the AL Central.  The general consensus is that the Minnesota Twins will win the division again from what I have seen so far, but I think some other teams will be just as good this year.

     The Twins have the best catcher in baseball Joe Mauer.  The Minnesota native is virtually a lock to contend for the highest batting average every season.  When healthy the Twins first basemen Justin Morneau also is one of the best players in baseball.  Morneau is coming off a season where he missed more than half of the year from a nasty concussion, and apparently was still feeling the effects recently.  The Twins have a relatively unkown infield other than Morneau, but the Twins seem to be one of those teams that play well no matter who they put in the lineup.

     The Detroit Tigers are the team I think will have the best chance of knocking off the two-time defending division champion Twins.  The Tigers have proven veterans and power hitters in outfielder Magglio Ordonez, first basemen Miguel Cabrera, and catcher/DH Victor Martinez.  They also have two young up-and-coming superstars in outfielder Austin Jackson, and flamethrowing starting pitcher Max Scherzer.  With their offense and strong bullpen, I think the Tigers could end up being the team to beat in the Central.

Robin Buckson / The Detroit News

    The Chicago White Sox could be the darkhorse team to watch in this divison this year.  The addition of Adam Dunn will bring some power to the lineup that already includes homerun hitters Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin, and could be dangerous to opposing pitchers.  Like the Tigers, the White Sox also have a budding superstar in second basemen Gordon Beckham.  The problem with the White Sox is their starting rotation is pretty shaky with potential injury prone pitchers.  If the pitchers stay healthy though, they could be one of the best in baseball.

     These three teams will make the AL Central a fun division to watch this year.  What division races are you excited about watching this season?  Share in the comments.

Going to the game vs. Staying at home

     Through high school and most of college, I would have never thought about this discussion.  I would have said going to the game wins every time.  Nothing beats the game day experience right?  Then I had a friend in college whose father was the former Chief of Police in Washington, DC.  First of all, sports aside, this was great.  He had all sorts of great stories from that time in his career, and most were hilarious.  He was a Redskins fan also, and one day he told me about all the free tickets he was offered when he was Chief.  He told me he thinks he was offered free tickets to every single Redskins home game during his entire time as the Chief of Police.  He then told me he never went to one game.  I didn't understand this, and when I asked him about it he basically told me, going to the game would be nice and everything, but he liked that he didn't have to deal with the parking, the lines everywhere, the traffic in and out of the stadium, and most importantly, he liked that when the game was ready to start he turned the TV on, and when it was over, he turned it off, and he was done with it.  I still credit this line with ruining going to sports games for me, because he was right.  When you go to a game, it is a full day's event.

     Going to games is still fun for me, but I think I am more picky about when to go to games and when not to now.  First of all, if they were free tickets, I would have been at those games, because that's half the battle as far as I'm concerned.  It's hard for me to justify paying for the tickets, gas, parking, and food at a game, when I could watch the same game at home for free (and by free, I of course mean enjoy the sports on the programming I've already paid way too much for).

     Another thing I've found is that with all the new technology in televised games, I miss out on a lot being in person.  I usually like the commentators for games, and I like when an announcer points out something I didn't see.  I have mentioned in a previous post that I saw Navy football play a game using the triple option offense, and most of the time I didn't know who had the ball.  With the cameramen and announcers, I know exactly what is going on.  I also like knowing what is going to happen when a play is under instant replay review.  I could swear, being at a game with an important replay call under review, sometimes it feels like those calls take up to 10 minutes to figure out.  I like pausing games and taking a bathroom break, and fast-forwarding through commercials.  I like checking in on other games/fantasy football players if my game isn't going as well as planned.

     There are other games/events where I feel like television doesn't do it justice.  I have season tickets to Maryland football games.  It makes it easier for me to have season tickets to Maryland football, because they don't sell out games, so it's cheaper for me then it would be for a Virginia Tech fan.  I feel like college football games are an exception to this rule because it's more to me than the game.  Being on campus, and being around the college-aged students makes me feel like a college student again.  Granted, I was a college student longer than most people already anyway, but that's not the point.  Tailgaiting at a college game is a lot of fun for me, because you're surrounded by everyone rooting for the same team as you waiting to get in the gates and take in the college football atmosphere.  I understand you could make the same argument for tailgaiting at pro games, but for some reason the college atmosphere feels different for me.

     My other event that is only better in person is the NASCAR Nationwide Series.  For those unfamiliar with the Nationwide Series, it is one step below the top level Sprint Cup Series, but has many of the same drivers, and usually is the night before the Cup race.  In general, I don't really care who wins the Nationwide race.  I have my rooting interests, but since it's not the Cup Series, it's not a big deal if it doesn't work out.  The reason I feel like I have to be at this race, is because you get all the fun of tailgaiting at a Cup race, but don't have to get too worried about the actual outcome.  I feel like I have to be in front of a TV for the Cup race, because I want to see where my drivers are, hear the analysis from the commentators, and see anything I would miss by not having experts explain it to me.  Let me tell you though, you have not experienced tailgaiting until you have been to a NASCAR race.  You see things which would never be acceptable at a normal sports event.  I have seen people bring garbage bags full of beer into the track (only for me to spend the whole race sneaking them out of their bag).  I have seen people walk around with a beer funnel they pass around for anyone to use.  I have seen my friends partake in this, and my advice to you would be to avoid that all costs.  Bottom line is, if you haven't tailgated at a NASCAR race yet, do it soon.

     I think overall, my opinion is that if I am watching a game because I truly care about the outcome, I'd rather be watching it on TV.  I'd rather sulk by myself if we lose, rather than be surrounded by opposing fans yelling some sort of chant in my face, and I'd rather know all of the information about the event as possible, which just is not happening when you are at a game in person.  If a game is more important for the experience, then I'd obviously rather go.  If you have any thoughts on game vs. home, share them under the comments.