Katie The Female Sports Fan

I Sometimes Hate My Gender. Seriously.

2009-03-23T19:54:00.006-04:00

Sheesh, it's been a while. March Madness has begun (I have no clue who I have picked this year), and the NBA playoffs is upon us once again. I have a close friend, Curtis, whom I met through my college roommate, Liz. Curtis and I discuss sports once in a while, and we keep an eye on each other's blogs and all that good stuff. He writes his a bit more than I do, though!

Anyways, he sent me a message on facebook today pointing out another blog that he came across asking for my opinion. Here's the link:

http://www.girlsguyde.blogspot.com/

He pretty much asked for my opinion on the content of the blog: was it a blog that empowered chicks or made them look like idiots? After reading about 3 sentences, I wanted to punch someone.

Now, I am no sports expert. I could never do sports Jeopardy, nor would I be able to really hold my own in the NFL version of Trivial Persuit. However, I do know something: what not to just come out and say. This blog is doing one thing and one thing only--they are making fun of women....or they are at least doing their best to prove to the world how stupid women really are when it comes to sports.

Honestly, could a blog be more offensive? At first glance you think "Oh, that's nice, these girls are trying to DUMB down sports so the mere housewives of America know who Joe Montana is. I dig that, whatever"....but upon further review, I want to choke them and their probable-skinny selves and their probable-blond haired heads. I will outline breifly with three main points as to why these women make me hate my gender.

1. "Anyway, for the most part, the hot guys and even the not-so-hot guys, will be talking about all the highlights and anything noteworthy or weird that happened, so we have decided to dissect two ESPN recap articles. Now, I know ESPN articles can be intimidating, but have no fear, we've marked them up and explained the weirder, sports-geekier things mentioned in each so you can now participate in the water cooler conversations with all of your hot co-workers. And that's the whole point anyway, right?"

Are you stupid? Actually, cancel the question and make it a statement: YOU ARE STUPID. The point of loving sports and understanding sports is JUST THAT: Understanding them and loving them. I have never EVER in my existence wanted to know about highlights so that I could score with some hot guy at the water cooler. How desperate are you and how desperate do you think every woman on the planet is? Find yourselves a delorean equipped with time circuits, and join us in 2009. Newsflash: WOMEN CAN VOTE, TOO!

Somewhat frustrated, but still trying to be open, I scroll down to see their opinions on trash talking, which brings me to my second point:
2. "Being a pro-active trash talker is going to be a little tricky if you don't know much about the teams. But it also provides you the perfect opportunity to talk (okay, flirt) with that new guy you've been eyeing."

Oh. my. god. Get yourselves to the closest pharmacy. Find out if they sell cyanide by the tablets and just take the whole bottle. Chase it with any kind of 80 proof liquor you may have. Please. Trash talking is not a way for sheepish, stupid women to flirt with guys and get a date. IT'S TO TALK TRASH BECAUSE WE KNOW WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. Good lord. Women have brains and YOU are the reason why so many men make jokes about women only being allowed to be in the kitchen. Scratch that, it should apply to you.

So, now I'm somewhat annoyed but I keep reading. Maybe they do a couple girlish articles but then actually redeem themselves. Oh no. Reason 3 why they fail at life: Explaining the members on a basketball team: BY COMPARING THE POSITIONS TO MEMBERS OF BOY BANDS. Just a sample:
3. "There are 5 guys on the court at any one time and you know what else always has 5 guys? Boy Bands. That's right, boy bands. In any given good boy band, there are 5 guys on the stage. I say good so no one gets on me about 98 degrees, etc. Not that I have anything against them either, however, Nsync, Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block fit this analogy a little bit better."

I can't take it any more. I am at only the third post, and I have already come up with three reasons why these women should have their uteruses (uteri? whatever) removed in hopes to not pass on the ignorant moron genes to any one else. I'm so humiliated.

THIS is why no one takes a person with ovaries seriously when it comes to sports. Now I fully understand why I get weird looks when I tell people that I have tons of jerseys but not many pairs of shoes. Why I get eye-rolls when I say I like green, navy blue, silver and red more than pink and yellow. Why a guy will order me a fruity drink rather than a beer at a sports bar. Why I REFUSE to own any sports gear that isn't team colors and/or throwback.

I am trying so hard to not send these useless double-X'd chromosomed humans hate mail. Oh, and seriously, they need to change their biography to "We are dumb ho-bags who like making fun of our own gender and their obvious inability to talk about anything other than shoes, gum and flirting with boys. Cuz, liiiike, that's the REAL real reason why we "like" sports! Tee hee hee hee LOL! I hope Justin Timberlake's new video comes out soon! Tee hee hee!!"

I sometimes hate my gender. Seriously.

Steelers v. Cardinals in the Super Bowl: Who Cares?

2009-01-20T08:48:00.004-05:00

Okay, so I know the title of this blog entry is somewhat harsh, but I figured it would be an interesting topic to vaguely go over. First off, this is my first entry in a while, so I had to pick something current and non-Boston related. Second, I figured this is a topic that everyone has some kind of opinion on, whether or not they are a Steelers or Cardinals fan.

Yesterday, I got a phone call from my mom telling me about the crazy-fun weekend that she, my dad and my sister had with some relatives that came up to Maine for the weekend from Florida. Maine got a huge snow storm, so everyone from FL was VERY excited, to say the least. Well, she was telling me about how they went cross country skiing, driving the car on the frozen lake (which, I found out, at 18 inches thick, can hold up to 10,000 pounds in one spot. thanks, dad), and other random fun winter stuff. Then suddenly, she says, "By the way....Steelers v. Cardinals? Who cares? Did Arizona fans even know their state had a team last year? Honestly, this might be the worst Super Bowl in the history of the NFL". To which, I quickly reminded her that Tampa Bay v. Oakland was pretty abysmal, but she has a point. She then made her usual comment of "How is Arizona even allowed there? They were 9-7 and WON their division, and New England beat them 47-7!!!". Her voice gets a bit louder now when she not only says the final record of a team (especially if it's worse than New England's was) but also when she says 47-7.

I think this is an interesting question, though. Who does care? We have an old guy (Edge) v. a guy who hasn't cut his hair since Reagan was in office (Polama-what a doucher). We have a QB who likes to smash his face into trucks without wearing a helmet v. a bunch of "who the heck is that?"'s. The only famous Cardinal that pretty much anyone knows is Cuba Gooding Jr. from "Jerry MaGuire", and even he wasn't all that great as a WR. I mean, it took how long for him to get a contract??? Plus, he almost died at the end and thought "show me the money" was the best catch phrase ever. More like, "For the love of god, how does Arizona have any money to even have a team?". That's a good catch phrase.

Honestly, though, I see this Super Bowl going one of two ways: It's going to be so boring that I will actually want to see Lifehouse and Rihanna perform at the half-time show...or, I'm going to come up with some genius way to make the time pass, like random bets on how long it takes Kurt Warner to need a cane.

In addition, I have heard a rumor that there are "fun" bets in Vegas about this, because no one is actually going to pay attention to the game itself. I read somewhere that people are putting bets on the halftime show, giving odds for how likely it is that Bruce Springsteen will pull Courtney Cox up on stage at some point. That's a serious low for Vegas betting (20 bucks on no). And what is with this 1 second commercial rumor that I've heard about Miller High Life? What's it going to be, the logo with "So Crappy, only rednecks and college kids will drink!"?

Though, I guess we can all look forward to getting together with friends, wings, beer, a hopeful wardrobe malfunction and Ben Roethlisberger getting his head ripped off by an Arizona D-player. Not surprising that I can't name anyone, because who plays for them anyways?

This is Brilliant Editing. Just Genius.

2008-10-22T13:53:00.001-04:00

So I was stumbling around YouTube this afternoon, and I came across a Sarah Palin video. Thinking that it was just the Katie Couric interview, I clicked on it to see if it was anything special, because it had "Terry Tate" in the title. I was not disappointed.

GENIUS.

Fun Stuff I Couldn't Address with Sheffield

2008-09-23T11:08:00.003-04:00

Yeah, I know, two posts in one day.......holy moly! Is the world coming to an end? Not so much. I just didn't really feel like discussing fun sports-related things in an entry about idiots in MLB.

Anyways, I saw this picture on a site I visit frequently, and it's the first funny thing of the day:

hahahahahahahhaha!! This is hilarious because 1. it references National Lampoon's Vacation, and 2. it's just funny.

Secondly, I need to do a quick follow-up on the entry I had about Chad Ocho Cinco and his horrendous decision to legally change his last name. My mother asked me if it'd be totally cool for her to change her last name to Cinco Cinco, because she is a fan of Junior Seau. No mom, because then I'd have to do an entry about you and how I'm embarrassed. Actually, cancel that, in the world of sports, my mom can do whatever and she'd still be cool.

According to many news sources and sports experts, it has been determined that Chad Ocho Cinco will have to play the 2008 season with "JOHNSON" on his jersey. At first, I thought that the NFL was doing this just to stick it to the guy, but upon further review, it's because of all the jerseys that have been made with "JOHNSON" on the back. Apparently, the Cincinnati wide receiver (who is doing crap this year, so glad I drafted him in two fantasy leagues....useless) would have to purchase every single "JOHNSON" jersey in order for them to make Ocho Cinco jerseys. Now, while COC is pretty rich, it would run him about 1/2 a million dollars to do it. Sorry buddy, looks like you're stuck with a shirt that doesn't repeat itself for one more season.

And finally, just for fun, I'm posting this in honor of my sister. I'm going up to MA this weekend to sleep at her house (YAY!) and to see New Kids on the Block in concert with her, my mom, and my aunt. I can tell you're probably jealous.

What a hottie:

Until next time!

Gary Sheffield Loses More Points with Me; If That's Even Possible

2008-09-23T10:39:00.003-04:00

So a friend of mine brought an interesting article to my attention today. He found it on espn.com, and it addresses the issue of the fight that took place between Cleveland pitcher Fausto Carmona and Detroit bonafied a-hole with a batting stance like a epileptic gorilla, Gary Sheffield. It was a typical fight-starter: Carmona hit Sheffield, Sheffield charges the mound, the benches clear and it's an all-out brew-ha-ha between the two clubs. It was one of those fights where, if it had taken place between the Sox and the Yanks, my grandmother would have called me to let me know about it, whilst she cheers over the phone for Jorge Posada to get punched upside the temple by Jacoby Ellsbury ("he's gonna be a STAH!").

Because of the fight, Carmona has been penalized by being suspended six games, while Sheffield gets four. In addition, Cleveland catcher Victor Martinez and infielder Astrubal Cabrera were each given a three-game suspension, as well as a fine, which was not disclosed.

Okay, that's fine...not a huge deal. If you're a grown man and you get in a fight, just deal with the consequences and move on. Hey, at least you're not going to jail for assault or anything like that. I agree with MLB's decision to punish these guys, but at least there's no harm done in terms of injuries.

But then, as I read further and investigated, Sheffield reminded me why I generally hate anything that has ever had to do with the Yankees. According to ESPN, when asked about the punishment for the fighting, he was quoted as saying:

"I don't care about what the league thinks or what they do," he [Sheffield] said. "I've got enough money to pay any fine they've got. Trust me."

I'm sorry, but WHAT?!?!? Are you serious?!?! How much of a jerk do you have to be to literally come out and say, on the record, that you really don't care what MLB does because you're so damn rich you can pay anything they make you pay? Really? Oh my gosh. That's it, I no longer hate Clemens the most when it comes to baseball, Sheffield just won that one. Oh, but it gets so much better. He then further goes on to explain how much of a good guy he is and how much he respects other players:

A day after the brawl, Sheffield seemed particularly peeved at Martinez, who pointed at the Tigers veteran as he was being pulled from the pile.

"He hasn't done anything in this game," Sheffield said then. "He's had a couple of [good] years. When you have a catcher chirping like he's something special ... like he's done something. He hasn't done anything."

Wow, Gary, you sure are one heck of an awesome guy.

I understand that it has to be tough and somewhat bruising to a guy's ego when he is collectively bitch-slapped not only in a bench-clearing brawl, but also what results from that...but give me a break. This kind of attitude should not be tolerated whatsoever in my opinion. You want to be cocky, you want to think you're god's gift to the world of sports, that's fine. But keep the comments that make you a blatant moron to yourself. It's incidents like this that make me unable to understand why this guy has been passed around the league more times than Paris Hilton at the Play Boy mansion.

Although, I guess we can't REALLY blame the guy for having this sort of attitude. I'd probably be just as bitter if I had been totally owned by a backwards Southie transplanted from Billerica back in 2005 at Fenway.

That's It, I'm Changing My Last Name to Quatro-Uno

2008-09-03T13:35:00.003-04:00

What is wrong with Chad Johnson?
Of course, other than the obvious being: A LOT.

Let's review just a second. On August 29, 2008, Chad Johnson legally changed his last name to Ocho Cinco. That's right, friends, he actually now has 85 as his last name. While I think CJ's (sorry COC's) antics are amusing and somewhat hilarious, when does it stop? We get it. You're proud to wear #85. En Espagnol, that WOULD be "Ocho-Cinco". Your last name is JOHNSON.

You don't see Tom Brady demanding that his last name be changed to "There's more to life than being really, really, really ridiculously good-looking", now do you? Come on. There's a difference between having fun on the field and having some hilarious antics and changing your legal last name to reflect on your uniform.

He might as well write "I am stupid" on the back. Does the same thing.

NFL SEASON STARTS TOMORROW!!!!!!

Let's play Catch Up a Bit

2008-07-16T10:36:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Okay, so I'm really sorry that I haven't updated this thing in a while. It has been a crazy couple months between my two jobs, internship, trying to scope out the whole "buying a house" thing, traveling, keeping up with my suffering social life, and other craziness. I'm not sure what I really hope to achieve with this entry, but I have a lot of catching up to do in terms of that.

First things first:

BOSTON CELTICS: 2008 NBA CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!

Seriously, does it get any better than this? Remember the picture I posted a couple months ago with me in the pool with my Celtics Shirt on? I totally went out and bought a new one and I have to rock it from now on. This battle of Good v. Evil rocked my face off. Finally, everyone can start to understand and see that a team of one or two players does not make a championship team. Kobe may be good, but he did not have the support he needed to win this one. I am so excited that Boston is enthusiastic again about the Celtics, and these guys earned every INCH. I love Paul Pierce. He has stuck with the Celtics through a lot of bad times and no love from the fans, and all his dedication and hard work finally paid off. I was so happy that he won the MVP; he deserves that so badly. He could teach Johnny Damon a few things about loyalty, and these guys earned it. GO GREEN!!!!!!!

Second, I have to quickly address the whole Brett Favre issue. What is with this guy? I like Brett Favre, don't get me wrong. He's one of the best QB's of all time and he's overcome a lot of obstacles in his life. He did such a great job with Green Bay last year, almost making it to the Super Bowl, and I just think he's a real stand-up guy. But what is with his retirement thing? Aren't most people EXCITED to retire? My father had a count-down going for about 3 years to his retirement, so what's up with old Bretty Boy?

Luckily, the whole thing has to come to an end by training camp time, or so Green Bay officials say. Do they release Favre and maybe risk him going to another team, or do they hold on to him, forcing him to ride the pine pony or actually retire? If Green Bay was smart, they'd hold on to him like crazy. Talks have been going on in terms of Brett being released and going to Carolina or Washington, which would be a good move by either club....something neither club is known for doing. I was talking to my mom last night, and she mentioned Brett maybe being wanted in Tampa Bay. Yeah, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Washington, MINNESOTA (if he went anywhere, is it bad to say I'd love to see him to go the Vikings? Jackson? Really? How is he actually in the NFL? REALLY?), Oakland, New York (Jets), Arizona, Atlanta and Houston would all probably trade some of their decent guys for a change at getting Favre. Green Bay is even talking about taking trading a first-round pick for the guy.

My advice to Brett is to just run. The pressure is going to be so crazy if he is released and goes to another team. He's going to expect to show up at the franchise, turn the WHOLE program around and at least get them to the playoffs. If he does it, great, he did his job.....but if he doesn't, he'll end his career on a low note. He almost got Green Bay to the Super Bowl this past year; that's the time to walk away.

Finally, and I know this isn't really much of an entry......I may have to do one every day to catch up on what has happened....I would just like to post the commercial that I am currently addicted to, and have been for the past few months. It's a Nike Sparq training commercial, and it's about a one-minute montage of people working out/training hard/trying to kick some butt...and it inspires me. It reminds me of my swimming days when we would have to do things outside of the pool...like crazy runs, crazy medicine ball drills, and ridiculous reflex training. Saul Williams does the song and it's called "List of Demands", and I am telling you.....when you're mid-run, mid-lifting, or mid-punishing yourself, it is one heck of a song to come on your iPod. Saul Williams's other stuff is pretty amazing, too. He does a great version of U2 "Sunday, Bloody Sunday". Definitely check him out. Oh, and check out the cool guys around the 0:49 mark. Johns Hopkins Lacrosse representin'!

My better. Is better than your better.

Finally out of Mourning...and Ready to Update

2008-03-20T10:20:00.006-04:00

So, I super apologize for the lack of updating this thing lately. I've been trying to get over the fact that I had to cancel my pre-order of the Patriots 19-0 season DVD, not to mention cancel my death threats to Elisha Manning. Kidding, I didn't do either of those, but I'm sure there were many New England fans who did. I won't talk about the Patriots, or the fact that I have been hoping to read that Matt Light is now in the unemployment line, or that I think the Giants Defense should have had that MVP and not that girlie boy, Elisha. Nope, not going to talk about that stuff.

I've had quite a few requests for topics of discussion over the past 7 weeks or so. "Katie, talk about the NHL." "Katie, talk about baseball." "Katie, talk about how you have to wear my Yankees jersey because you lost a bet." (Me and my big mouth.) But no. This entry is going to be about something TOTALLY unrelated and completely out of my realm of knowledge in two ways: NCAA Basketball and being girly.

Both these things are pretty much foreign to me. Sure, I can pretend to be girly, when I try to enforce the "on Wednesdays we wear pink" rule around the office, but everyone knows. I'm not a girl. Until I was invited to be in 4 (so far) basketball brackets for the NCAA tournament. So, I figured I'd just quickly go over my strategy, who I think will win, why, and display my embarrassing lack of knowledge in terms of this sport.

Just as a reminder: I attended Johns Hopkins. When you go to a school where the only Division 1 sport is a sport that gets less coverage on ESPN than cheerleading, you somewhat miss that enthusiasm when it comes to Division 1 athletics. Everyone I know is HARDCORE about their college's football team or basketball team, or even hockey team. I missed that. So, when I say that I'm not too enthusiastic about this kind of stuff, it's not because I don't like it, its just that I didn't have the SPORTS college experience that many of my peers have.

Okay, so NCAA time. Since I've only done one bracket before in my entire life and I pretty much got stomped because I went with the "obvious" favorite, I have changed my strategy this year: get in as many pools as possible, pick some random upsets, pick teams that I hate to win (because that seems to happen a lot), have one random crappy team make it to the final four, and have a different winner for every pool. Why do I think this will work? Because every year, and you all know it's true, that random crappy team makes it all the way to the final four. I am rooting for those crappy teams. Xavier...I have no clue where you are, but you better do well.

I have decided to go the visual route, and break down all four brackets. Let's have a look-see:

Now I know what you're thinking. I have no clue what I am doing. And you know what, that's absolutely true. What else is true is that NO ONE knows what the heck they are doing with this so-called "prediction" game. I mean, picking an NCAA bracket and actually doing well with it is like saying you know who is going to win the World Series opening weekend. You have almost no clue. Sure, you can boil it down to maybe 6-8 teams that could possibly win, but I have come to the conclusion that there is no strategy. There are no NCAA experts. People say that about a lot of forms of "fantasy" sports. Yeah, right. There's a strategy to fantasy football, baseball...hell, I bet there's strategy to fantasy curling. There's no rhyme or reason to this.

Which is why I can see myself getting totally addicted.

For I am the queen of "I'm going to cheer for that team because their mascot is HILARIOUS" or "They should win because if you spell that school backwards you get something really funny". This is where my "girly" thing comes in. Ever meet an annoying girl out at a bar and you ask her who she is cheering for, and all she can say is, "Ummmm....I like blue, so the guys wearing THOSE jerseys!" I find I am most successful at NCAA basketball brackets if I pretend to be a total girl and pick based on colors, mascots, and team names. This strategy may/may not work, but eventually, it will work, and I'll be able to carry on as though I actually knew what I was doing and I am the almighty sports god of all things athletic-related.

Special NCAA-Bracket Etiquette Announcement:
While you may think that 4 brackets isn't all that much (and it probably isn't, with some of you sports nuts out there), no one REALLY wants to hear about your 32 brackets. In other words, try not to openly discuss this time of year at work, at parties, in the bathroom with the guy at the urinal next to you, etc. Not many people partake in this sporting "event", and as someone who didn't go to a D1 school, no one really gives too much of a crap of how excited you are. NCAA may be special to you, but Tom Brady is special to me, and people hate the fact that I talk about him all the time. Keep the discussion to a minimal when in public, ESPECIALLY when at work. People are high strung, stressed out (it's the American way) and they don't want to hear you laughing with Bill the copy guy about how you might slit your wrists if Tennessee doesn't make it to the championship game. People will start rooting against Tennessee if you talk about that scenario just to spite you.

Enjoy.

It feels like Someone Shot One of my Family Members

2008-02-05T11:59:00.000-05:00

I'm in mourning from that damn game. Updating on Monday about the horrible tragedy that took place on Sunday around 10:30 pm will take place.

In the mean time, you can look at this. I still love you, Tommy.

When will teams learn to not upset the Patriots the week before a game?

2008-01-10T12:35:00.000-05:00

So I know what you are all thinking, and trust me, it has been VERY hard for me to not just have this huge entry about how the New England Patriots are the best damn team ever. Tom Brady: MVP. Bill Belichick: Coach of the Year. No no, I am going to control myself and not turn this entry into some kind of ranting and raving thing about how Don Shula can kiss New England's collective a**, or how he and his 1972 old geezer dolphins players can now stop being guests on Sports Center and running their mouths about how no one will ever go undefeated again.

God, I might hate Don Shula as much as I hate the Yankees. It's close.

Anyways, I wanted to just ask somewhat of a collective question: are the Jacksonville Jaguars, and their fans, stupid? Yes, I'm actually asking this question seriously. I'm not trying to be wise or smart or whatever else you call it, I'm ACTUALLY ASKING.

A couple days ago, a friend of mine sent me a link to the jaguars homepage. Okay, cool, whatever, I figured it was probably something about the upcoming game, or how Jacksonville suddenly forgot that they lost to a team TWICE that the Patriots beat, but whatever. It was a link to Vic Ketchman's over-inflated ego-driven power rankings for the 2007 on the NFL. For those of you who don't know Vic Ketchman, he runs jaguars.com. He used to work for the Steelers a long time ago, but in '95, he went to Jacksonville. He writes an occasional sports article, is on the radio down in Jacksonville, and is just pretty much the designated homer for that city. Okay, whatever, every city has them.

And then I looked at the link, http://www.jaguars.com/News/powerrankings.aspx
Here's somewhat of a screenshot of the rankings:

Okay, fair enough, the Patriots SHOULD be at the top. But wait, i see a "*" there. Oh what the.....scrolled to the bottom for this:

What the (blank)?!?!?!

Suddenly, I got REALLY annoyed. Wow, yes, you are SOOOOOOOOOOOO funny, Mr. Ketchman. Wow, never saw that before. I've never read the NY Post and seen the asterisk there, or heard that no-good Don Shula talk about how the Patriots should have an asterisk next to their name. I suddenly wanted to find this no-good dirty bum who calls himself "the face of jaguars.com" and threaten him beyond human comprehension. Where does he get off? I'm actually only annoyed with the actual "*", now I'm more annoyed with the fact that it's unoriginal. If you're going to talk smack, don't take someone else's material and think you're funny.

Then I got a glass of wine, watched some Fresh Prince and calmed down. Then I started thinking. Is Ketchman just stupid? Why would he post anything like that to give New England fodder for getting royally annoyed and making it their mission to collectively jam it down Jacksonville's throat?

Does anyone remember what happened to that so-called good safety from Pittsburgh when he ran his mouth about New England? He, and the rest of his bumble bee-color-wearing friends got their you-know-what's BURNED. The game isn't played in the smack-talking before the game, nor is it determined because some non-funny joker thinks he's being clever.

So keep it up, Ketchman. When the Jags lose, I hope you get nothing but hate-email for a good month.

***UPDATE***
Having re-visited the Jaguars site, the asterisk is now gone. Huh. Maybe someone clued him in to the fact that when NE puts 30 points up on Jacksonville, he might want to get a new job.

Not at all Sports-Related....

2008-01-08T11:00:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I know this is a sports blog, but I found this picture online and I just had to share it:

Is it totally nerdy that I find this picture to be ridiculous? I love it.

Quick! Post something sports-related! Tom Brady lovin'!??!?!

Peace out, y'all.

A Blog that isn't about Football or Baseball

2008-01-07T14:03:00.000-05:00

I know, shocker. I'm actually going to write about a sport that doesn't involve how much I hate the Yankess (god, I hate the Yankees) or how excited I am that New England is the first team EVER to go 16-0 in the regular season (HOLY CRAP). Nope, not going to mention those things in this entry.

Whoops.

So anyways, I just spent about a week and a half in New England, for Christmas and other fun festivities. I forgot how great it is to be in a city/region of the country where their sports teams are winning. It took me almost 4 days to stop saying "GO PATRIOTS!" to every single person I saw in a Pats jacket, scarf, hat, whatever. My sister finally said to me, "Um, stupid, you're in Massachusetts, you don't need to say that crap. Everyone here ASSUMES you like the Patriots even if you don't have the gear on".

Yeah, I know, living in Baltimore makes me forget those things. So, what did I do when I was up there, in addition to eating my weight in cookies, home made ravioli and pizzelis?

I bought me some Celtics gear!

That's right. I was so shocked at the amount of Celtics gear that was readily available for me. I mean, no longer are people ashamed to put on that old BIRD tee shirt or that old McHale limited edition bright green nylon jacket with the elastic wrist cuffs (oh yeah, you know the one I mean, and you love it). I picked up a nice Garnett Jersey, totally forgetting that basektball jerseys don't have sleeves. I can't wait to rock this thing at work and look like a total dork with a white turtleneck shirt on under it. That's how all the boys are going to ask me out.

Oh, for the record, this is the last documented picture I have of myself in Celtics gear.

As you can see, that might be what, circa 1987. Oh man, that's the ticket. Yeah.

So anyways, with this new-found surge of enthusiasm for the boys in green, I am super excited. We never get Celtics games down here in Baltimore, but I've been keeping an eye on the team, kind of watching, and realizing that at 24 wins about a week ago, the Celtics already has as many wins so far this season as they did ALL LAST YEAR. DAYUM.

So, since I will admit that have not been a HUGE NBA freak since before I learned how to add double digits, I am trying my best to re-spark the flame in my head for the love of the Celitcs I used to have. I mean, hello, Donny Wahlberg wore Celtics gear all the time in NKOTB videos, so I loved them when I was 8. Trying to refresh my memory as to what teams were in our division and all that jazz, I went to ESPN to look up the rankings and I saw this:

and this:

Holy crap. Are we seriously ranked FIRST IN THE COUNTRY in Basketball!?!?!?!? Jeeze Louise!! Now I know why all the Piston fans are coming out of the woodwork with the smack talk. That's right, a-holes, the one sport you THOUGHT your team was the best in is no longer the best!

Bets on how long this will last are going to commence on Friday, FYI.

I mean, that is the main question. Can the Celtics hold on to this kind of pace? A pace that has potential to pass the *gasp* 72 wins that the Bulls had in the 95-96 season. Only time will tell. But, if you take MLB, NBA and the NFL, think of it this way: New England teams have only had 2 losses since game 4 of the ALCS. Combined.

I love that dirty water.

I Need to be in Charge of Cingular/AT&T's Marketing.

2007-12-21T13:00:00.000-05:00

I apologize for the lack of blogging lately...things have been so crazy with the holidays and whatnot. A lot has happened in the world of sports since the beginning of November, and I will touch on one main area VERY QUICKLY, and the move on to my main goal of this blog: to make everyone undrestand why I think Roger Clemens is the biggest hack job in Sports.

Quick things:
DAMN, IT FEELS GOOD TO BE A BOSTON FAN.

With that being said, I have most recently been somewhat intrigued by the Mitchell Report that came out only about a week ago. For those that don't know what this gem is, it's pretty much the most anticipated document since that abysmal report on Monica Lewinsky. Wait, who even put that out? Anyways, former Senator George Mitchell launched an investigation into baseball's steroid past about a year and a half ago, and he promised some kind of list which would name players that have been found to use some form of performance-enhancing drugs, prescribed or not.

The bulk of the list was pretty standard, nothing that out of the ordinary, but I have a friend who emailed me asking WHY Jose Canseco was on the list. Dude, the guy could have doubled as the Incredible Hulk. Because looking like you want to kill someone while your veins are popping out of your neck is normal. I mean, the guy only wrote a book about it. So anyways, I was scanning over the list, but my eyes stopped on one name: Roger Clemens.

Let me just remind everyone how much I dislike this man to begin with. When he was with Boston, I don't exactly remember him, but I know he was somewhat liked. Sure, fine, whatever. He starts slacking in the numbers, so he goes to Toronto. He wins the Cy Young award both years up there, so what happens?? That no-talent you-know-what joins the Evil Empire in Pin Stripes. Once someone puts on that jersey to play, I don't care who you are or how many babies you've saved from burning buildings, you are hated by me. So: strike one against this guy. Then, he somehow manages to hang on to his career for a few years, and then decides he's going to retire in 2003. Yeah, we've all heard THAT one.

Oh wait, just kidding. By "retire" he meant "make people think I'm going to do that until some team comes along, willing to kiss my ass for millions upon millions of dollars". So, the Astros are just a bunch of lips to do that. He plays there at a mediocre level for a couple years, and then of course, decides to be the money-grubbing dirtbag that he is and he re-signs back to the Yankees, just in time to crash and burn and help them not win another World Series ring.

So here we are. Clemens has been accused of KNOWINGLY taking steroids. I actually decided to come up with a commercial concept....actually, this is what the AT&T commercial would have been had I been in charge of marketing:

That's gold, Jerry. GOLD!

Back from the Dead, and VERY Opinionated

2007-11-06T14:55:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone! Sorry I have been slacking for the past month or so when it comes to updating this thing. I had surgery on the 23rd of October (yes, everything went well, and I must say, I am a much sleeker design now), and I am just now fully able to add my opinion(s) of what the *deleted* has happened in the past month or so. Okay, let's get this rolling....

The Red Sox Won The World Series!??!!? HOLY CRAP!
Half way through my Oxycodone treatment, when my mom was preparing a delicious pot of beef stew, she said something to the effect of, "You know, the Red Sox could get it in Four...Oh, I hope they get it in Four!" to which I probably replied, "That's it, you just jinxed them". And, well, I was wrong, and after sweeping the Colorado Rockies in the World Series, the entire Red Sox Nation and beyond got to claim that they saw it happen TWICE in their lifetime. Other things that were not so shocking, however, was everyone realizing that Jonathan Papelbon should probably be institutionalized, as though we needed more proof after that display at the ALDS. I am just so ecstatic that the boys of Boston are celebrating their second win in four years, and I think if I had been more coherent, this part of the blog would be a bit longer.
Ohhh, Boston you're my home....

--------------------------------------

And now for the request of many of my friens for this blog entry: The New England Patriots. I am not sure how I am going to break down this entry (which may end up some kind of crazy rant), but I'll do my best to keep it organized.

Dear Don Shula:
SHUT UP.
Love, Everyone

Whether you are a Patriots fan or not, everyone should agree with the above statement. For those of you who don't know, Don Shula was the coach of the Miami Dolphins in 1972, when they set that record of having an undefeated season. There are many rumors going around that every year, members of that team crack open the champagne when the last team loses a game, sealing the record for one more year. I don't know if that's true, but it's pretty funny.

Anyways, Shula has been VERY willing to express his opinion of the "cheating" New England Patriots. He mentioned something about the Patriots' accomplishments have been diminished because of "SpyGate", and from Boston.com, we get this:
"During a radio appearance on ESPN's "Mike & Mike in the Morning" show, Shula, who had been quoted in a New York Daily News piece Tuesday saying Spygate had "diminished what they've accomplished" and mentioned an asterisk being attached to a Patriots undefeated season".

Okay, I'm sorry, but was it or was it not DON SHULA who signed a contract to be a second head coach of Miami after the 1969 season, thus with the signing, the Dolphins were forced to give their first round pick to the Colts. So, unless your reputation as a team/coach/whatever is sqeaky-clean, you need to stop talking. That includes you, DON. Who does this guy think he is anyways? Oh yeah, we forgot, he's the coach of the team whose record could be broken at the end of the year. Forgot about that.

The second issue that I currently have with the Patriots-bashing is the whole "they are unclassy because they have been running up the score" thing. I mean, many people in New England would agree that Bill Belicheck isn't the "classiest" coach out there, but to site running up the score as a backing to that is just pathetic. Comment on how his dress is disrespectful, comment on how he was caught cheating, or even back it up with something like his inabilty to acknowledge another team for winning. I posted a quick blog about this on my ESPN Profile, so I won't compltely repeat myself, but I think a few things need to be addressed:

1. It's the NFL. It's not college. It's not high school. It's not an intramural co-ed league where mercy rules apply. You are being paid to defend that endzone, and if you can't do it nearly as well as the team you are playing, that's your own problem. Don't like losing by 40? Do something about it and stop crying. Everyone in sports today is all about who they can throw under the bus for their faults. Manning does it. Mangini does it (obviously). Numerous fans, coaches, cheerleaders and GMs do it. Oh, it's not a matter of us playing poorly, it's because the Patriots are unsportsman-like and evil. What? Stop your crying and realize that your team is just horrible. I don't hear anyone criticizing Detroit for taking a whoooping to Denver by 37 points. Somehow, that's different?

2. What is a team supposed to do if they don't "run up the score"? I have many people say to me that Brady should come off the field once the Patriots are up by a certain score. Well, if he did that this season, he'd only play about 3 of 4 quarters, and you can't do that. You don't want your starting quarterback to be used to playing 45 minutes, and then when he has to face the Colts, or the Steelers, or the Ravens at home, he can't do the full 60. Pulling a QB any sooner than 1/2 way through the 4th (unless he has thrown 5 INT and has been sacked many times) is moronic.

People need to understand that the likelyhood of the Patriots goign 16-0 is still very small. Any given Sunday, any team can step in and man-handle another team. The Patriots have a tough schedule coming up, and it's not going to be a cake walk, and we all know it. New England has always been known for being classy players. I mean, how much did you hear from the players during "SpyGate"? The only thing you heard, if anything, was that they are just trying to move on and focus on the following week's game. No excuses. No crying. No pointing the fingers at anyone. They just took the punishment and moved on.

I wish the rest of the NFL could do the same.

Although, I find this picture pretty dang funny:

Have a great weekend, everyone. Promise to update more, now that I'm no longer in heavy-duty recovery stage.

We Can Always Count on T.O.-- for Being a Jerk...Plus: NE/Dallas predictions and MLB

2007-10-11T11:55:00.000-04:00

Football season is well on it's way right now, and to be perfectly honest, I have never been happier. Teams that I thought would not be good aren't, teams that I thought might be good aren't, and teams that I thought would be mediocre are currently winning the NFC North division. God, I love this time of year.

As we head into the 6th week of the season, we have three teams that are currently undefeated, standing at 5-0: The Dallas Cowboys, The Indianapolis Colts, and The New England Patriots. That's pretty exciting, considering all three of those teams could potentially be Super Bowl contenders after the next 12 weeks.

Now, this Sunday, at 4:15 pm, New England will travel to Dallas for what might be one of the biggest battle-royales in the NFL this season. Two undefeated teams face each other...Romo v. Brady, Moss v. T.O., Watson v. Witten, Maroney/Morris v. Jones/Barber....the excitement is just so hard to contain that this sports fan might start busting at the seams.

As is expected, the week before any big game (or any game at all), the media is in somewhat of a frenzy. Team locker rooms are swarmed with reporters at designated times during the day, and the players pretty much have a schedule of sleep-eat-practice-interview-sleep-repeat. They don't really get too much of a spare minute, and if they do, they probably talk to fans that manage to watch them practice.

As is expected, the Texas stadium is crawling with reporters and what not, and most gracious players on the team are willing to talk to the media, giving insight, and maybe even talk a little smack. These are normal things; they happen all the time.

But, leave it to our good friend, Terrell Owens, to, well, spice things up a bit. In an attempt to "humbly" talk about who he thinks will come out on top, he decided to tape a lovely note to his locker last night for reporters to discover. Here's what it said:
"Dear Reporters,
Due to the magnitude of this week's game and high volume of questions for the Original 81 about the other 81, I will be taking all questions immediately following Sunday's game.

Sincerely, (followed by Owens' signature)
p.s. Getcha Popcorn Ready."
(thanks, ESPN.com)

Where does anyone begin? Is it somewhat funny? Eh, sure, I'll give him that, but what is he trying to say with something like this? Is he trying to prove to the rest of the world that he is a humble person? That he doesn't compare himself to other people? That he doesn't try to commit suicide? Oh wait, sorry, got off track.

(The "getcha popcorn ready" comment, for those who don't know, dates back to the summer of 2006 when T.O. signed with the cowboys. He said that in a pre-game interview before the opening Dallas game, and he then went on to have a career-best performance.)

Now, I think I'm going to go ahead and give T.O. the benefit of the doubt and just claim that he is completely clueless. Perhaps he doesn't really pay attention to what happens to loud-mouths who are self-proclaimed super stars when they run their mouths before a game with the Patriots. Is Owens good? Yes, he's arguably one of the best Wide-Outs in the game, but the constant reminder from HIM does not make him look like anything other than an ego maniac. In fact, I just got ahold of the new motivational poster that he has decided to sell at Dallas games:

This sports fan is actually (and I'm sure you will all be shocked) going to go with New England on this one. I know what you're thinking: Wait, the NEW ENGLAND fan picked THEIR OWN team to win!? NOOOOO.

Yes. But, I will break it down for you, position by position, NE-v-Dallas-on-paper style...oh are you ready for this?

(I'm sorry it's so small, I couldn't get it to fit otherwise!)

Now, as we see, it looks like a pretty even match when you look at the above categories. I have no clue why I included the kicker, I just thought the fact that Folk made a 53-yarder last week was damn impressive.

So how am I so confident that NE will come out on top. I'm going to go with the "who each team has played and how much they were beat" for the tie-breaker. Let's take a look, shall we?

You might be wondering "Why are the Bills games highlighted, bolded AND italicized?". Simple....in my opinion, this is one of the few actually comparable statistics between the two teams. They have both played Buffalo. New England, as displayed, pretty much embarrassed the Bills, while Dallas had to scramble frantically to win that game, allowing the Bills to score 24 points on them.

So what does this mean for the game? Pretty much nothing, to be honest. Both teams have decent offensive weapons, and both teams have had a defense make big plays when it counted. One thing is for certain though: I'll have a Miller Lite in my Patriots coozie and my sister in a Tom Brady jersey come 4:15 on Sunday afternoon.

Now, Briefly, on to another situation:

This is a sight I like to see. A lot.

The ALCS/NLCS is upon us, and at long last, it will be Boston, Cleveland, Colorado or Arizona that will be our 2007 World Series Champions. Who do you think it will be? Honestly, I think that which ever team wins the ALCS is going all the way to the top. Cleveland is a come-from-behind, barely-hang-on, thank-GOD-Detroit-sucked-at-the-end Cinderella story, and well, to be honest, I didn't think Arizona still had a team. But, with the World Series scheduled to kick off October 24th, the week my mother is in town, I would be very disappointed to have to cheer for a Cleveland-Colorado series. But, that's baseball, and you never know what is going to happen.

I'm just adding this for happy things at the end of a long blog. Manny loves football. And walk-off home runs. Have a great week!!

I Love This Time of Year: Baseball Actually Counts

2007-09-24T11:54:00.000-04:00

Yesterday evening, after I watched the Patriots completely dominate the heck out of the Bills, I was enjoying a bottle of Miller Lite with some friends at a bar in DC, and I couldn't help but care about how the Red Sox were doing. I mean, yeah, I love the guys, I cheer like any other Boston fan does, but I never really FEEL the season until this time of year. I proudly wear my ratty old Bo'Sox tee shirt around town and to Patriots game-viewings at the bar, and hey, even a few people scream out "GO SOX!" as I sit there chatting away. It's good to be a fan of the team that is against another team that 80% of America hates.

We all started getting pretty intense when the Sox got the score within 1 run of Tampa Bay, so as I left, I felt pretty confident that they could pull it out.

Then, I signed on to ESPN.com this morning, and this is what I saw:

OH CRAP.

How is it that Boston had a 14 game lead at one point this past summer, and now THIS. I understandthat Manny is hurt, but COME ON. Can we win the division, PLEASE!? At least I see a "Z" next to the name, and we made the playoffs, but WE NEED A PENANT!!!!!

I think that this is a great example to use if people wonder why Boston fans are the way they are. In general, not many people outside of Massachusetts actually LIKE Boston, they just hate the Yankees. Why? Because of the fans. We are pretty bitter, and you would have thought that the Sox have won the World Series every year for the past 10 years when they actually did it in 2004. We aren't an easily-liked group of people. This is why.

We spend the entire season being able to run our mouths to all Yankees fans (that we unfortunately have to be friends with) that their team is being completely dominated by 14 games and it's after the All Star break. Comments like "14 games out! You guys are DONE!" or "Yankees may not even make the Playoffs" are stupidly flying from our mouths, because, well, it's not like the Sox have ever blown it when it counts. But, for some reason, when we are on our high horses, we forget that the Sox will probably start going downhill as we enter September. I think that's why I never really care too much about the season until that point. I just know that whatever awesome things they do in May won't matter because they probably won't win the division anyways.

Kidding. Sort of. The Red Sox did happen to clinch a playoff berth, which is a good sign, since the Yankees are no longer known as the reliable team in the post season. Well, at least not in this century. I have been trying my best to not bring up the topic of baseball with either my mother or my grandmother. I think they both used the phrase, "This makes me so sick" last week when the Sox played Toronto...and that is not good.

So what are my predictions for the end of this season? I think my slogan for the next week is going to be "don't choke. please?".

The Patriots: We Can't Blame Everyone

2007-09-14T13:52:00.001-04:00

So, I am sure you are all shocked to find out that I'm writing about the whole craziness surrounding the New England Patriots. I figured I would wait until the whole sentencing was finished before I added my two (or 32) cents.

I have heard everything in the past 4 days from my fellow NFL fans. People contacted me asking for the three Super Bowl rings back. Every single come-back to a joke I make has something to do with video taping. I even have been told a few times that I should pick another team to root for, because only jerks would continue to cheer "the biggest cheaters of all time" on to Super Bowl glory.

Those people are idiots, but that's beside the point.

I am not going to make excuses for what was discovered on Sunday. I am not going to dedicate this entry to trying to claim that the Patriots were not in the wrong, nor am I going to waste my time trying to defend the team, when there really isn't anything to defend. They cheated. They were caught. Even though it is a well-known fact that many teams do things like this, they are not dumb enough to get caught. And they will pay the price.

What is the physical price? Belichick has to fork over $500,000.000....The Patriots have to fork over a whopping &250,000.ooo and draft picks. If the team goes to the playoffs, they lose a first round pick, and if they don't, a second and third round. In my opinion, a very large bullet was dodged.

With the acquisition of Randy Moss, and deals made with San Francisco is past year in the draft, we got thier first round pick. So, if the Patriots make the playoffs, damn, they only have ONE first round pick instead of two. Not so much suffering. As for the fine, well, that's the maximum penalty the NFL was allowed to give, and it will sting a bit, but it's not very detrimental when you think of the tens of thousands of dollars they probably make in one game at Gillette Stadium alone. So what is the actual punishment? Reputation.

The Patriots have built their reptuation on the fact that they play as a team, they make magic happen, and they take lesser-known guys and make them into super star athletes. All that is suddenly being erased by this idiotic move by Belichick. Although I don't think that intelligent people will believe all that, but this is what the overall feeling will be in the NFL for a while now. Most New England-haters will jump all over the chance to claim that all their wins are tainted, and that the team didn't earn a single Super Bowl title.

So where does New England go from here?

Belichick needs to learn how to play the game and shut up. He needs to learn to be just as gracious a loser as he is a winner. He needs to use this situation as motivation to go out there in the next 16 weeks and shut up anyone and everyone who is doubting his ability. Since the NFL will probably be watching New England's every move, I am assuming that they will be on their best behavior.

I'm also hoping that they use this as motivation to completely rock every game, and get rid of any doubt that anyone has whether or not they earned those Super Bowls legitimately. I have faith in them. I just hope they have faith in them.

Oh, and for the record, Tom Brady is STILL the hottest QB in the league. Just thought I'd make sure everyone knows I still firmly believe that.

2/3 of the World is Covered by Water...the Other 1/3 is Covered by Asante Samuel

2007-08-27T13:40:00.000-04:00

Monday, August 27, 2007, Len Pasquarelli writes for ESPN:
Franchise cornerback Asante Samuel, who has missed all of training camp and the first three preaeason games, reported to the New England Patriots on Monday and will sign the one-year tender worth $7.79 million.

The four-year veteran could practice with the team as early as Monday. He will attempt to reclaim his starting job, but likely will have to pass the strenuous conditioning test that is administered by coach Bill Belichick to all players before working out with his teammates.

Thank. GOD. I have been closely watching this for the past four days, and I am so damn happy that the Patriots administration decided to PAY THAT MAN HIS MONEY. It's nice to see that the Patriots decided to not be so tight-fisted around their money with this guy. I mean, there is NO reason why they couldn't figure out a way to give Samuel what he deserves. 99% of the time, I am a huge advocate for 'stop complaining, just play', such as in an instance like we had with Ty Law, but in this instance........PAY THE MAN HIS MONEY!!!!!

I mean, what is so hard about doing the right thing and rewarding people for their good performances? For example, Brady Quinn just signed with the Cleveland Browns with a 5-year contract for 20.2 million dollars, 7.5 million guaranteed...and he hasn't even played in the NFL yet! We all know that New England is great at going after championships, and their reputation is almost good enough to have guys want to play for free because they know there is a good chance they will get a ring, but unless New England starts learning how to negotiate and give what is fair, they will find that losing 2 or 3 key guys a year will be much more detrimental than they anticipated.

Now I know that sounds cocky. I'm sure many people out there are thinking "Katie, what the hell? The Patriots Defense is DISGUSTING this year, why be so excited for Samuel? The Patriots would have been find without him." Yeah, I know, but now they will REALLY be able to ram it down the throats of anyone who tries to play them.

Welcome Back, buddy. I missed you.

Oh, and just as a side note, I actually got Samuel to take a picture of how he sees the world, and this is what he happened to send to me:

sweet.

In Other, Just as Important News............

I really need the GB for New York to be in the double digits within the next couple weeks. Not to mention, the fact that the Sox have a great chance of breaking 100 games is fantastic. Yeah, Go Sox.

And Finally......Brady Baby Update: Sources say that Tom's newborn Baby Boy is a Jonathan. Originally, there were rumors that he was named William, but now, Jonathan is floating around as a more reliable rumor. When will we know for sure? C'mon, it's not like anyone other than myself cares!

But it is funny, that's not what I would have named the kid if it had been mine. It would have been named "Tom, stop knocking up old ladies". But, what can you do?

I'm Sorry, What?

2007-08-22T23:16:00.000-04:00

I really don't have much of an entry at all this evening, I just thought that everyone should be aware of this. Was this the same team that won the series against the Sox just a couple weekends ago?

Oh, and bad news for those who bet on the Orioles plus 3 touch downs. You totally got owned tonight.

But, in other not-so-great news: Tom Brady is now a father to a boy. Her-RUMPH.

Katie's Fantasy Football Advice--How to Come Out on Top This Year

2007-08-10T09:38:00.001-04:00

This morning, I logged into my email to find that I had a great suggestion from a good friend saying that he would like to see a Fantasy Football entry. So, I was inspired (considering I signed up for my FIFTH Fantasy League yesterday, and I think I may have a sixth by the end of next week). Yeah, I know, sad, isn't it?

Whenever I tell a friend or close family member about my Fantasy Football extravaganzas, I usually get something like, "Oh, well, you're probably asked because then the guys know that they won't finish last". (sigh) But, I don't take it too seriously, nor do I get offended, because being a female in a Fantasy Football pool is one of the most deadly weapons ever. Two years ago, my friend traded me Tiki Barber and Matt Hasselbeck for Brian Westbrook the week before Westbrook was put on the IR. Suckerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I don't always WIN my leagues, but I usually come pretty damn close...I almost always make it to the playoffs, and once in a while, I do take everyone for what they are worth.

I feel that this blog is going to have two points:
1. To give a few obvious suggestions, then some players that I think will be great fantasy players this year that aren't as obvious, and
2. To go over a couple basic rules of Fantasy Football etiquette.

Here we go.

Obvious Picks. aka Sell Your First Born to Get Them
1. LaDanian Tomlinson, RB - San Diego Chargers: Gross, people, just gross. LT is every Fantasy Footballer's best dream. Get him, no matter what it takes.
2. Shaun Alexander, RB - Seattle Seahawks: Right up there with LT, was the 2005 MVP. Again, strong, fast, determined. He's gross.
3. Stephen Jackson, RB - St. Louis Rams: He houses all. Pick him.
4. Peyton Manning, QB - Indiannapolis Colts: Yeah, I played one year with a guy who had both LT and Manning. How the hell he pulled that off, I have no clue, but I'd love to punch the person who let that take place. Manning will perform.
5. Tom Brady, QB - New England Patriots: He has Moss, Stallworth, Welker, and a disgusting Defense this year. He's going to be my #1 pick and if I don't get him, someone is going down.
6. Drew Brees, QB - New Orleans Saints: Did you see what that guy did for that team last year? He and Reggie Bush are a gross combination.
7. Chad Johnson, WR - Cincinatti Bengals: This guy never drops anything. Ever. He has a big mouth, but if you want points, put him on your team. Carsen Palmer is an up and coming QB, ready to house anyone via Chad Johnson.
8. Marvin Harrison, WR - Indianapolis Colts: He's awesome. He has Manning throwing him stuff. Nuff said.
9. Antonio Gates, TE - San Diego Chargers: I fear him. He not only knows how to completely steamroll over everyone, but he catches the ball at the same time.
10. Julius Peppers, DE - Carolina Panthers: Great Defensive player, and he will be awesome this year, because, well, he's just awesome.
11. Brian Urlacher, LB - Chicago Bears: Nothing gets by this guy, other than Tom Brady. Kidding. Urlacher is one of the best defensive players in the league, period.
12. San Diego Chargers - Defense: Just trust me on this one.

Katie's 2007 "Sleeper" Fantasy Team Picks
I know that most people say "Running backs running backs running backs" when it comes to their top choice, and while this is generally good advice, what happens if you aren't one of the lucky people in your league to have a top 3 or 4 pick? If there are 10 of you in your league, and you get lucky #10, your dreams of having LT, Alexander, Larry Johnson, Jackson, Addai or even Manning or Brady are shattered. So who do you pick? What are some key guys that will help you get the points you need to even think about keeping up with the lucky bastards that got the players who will score many points a game? These guys (not really in any particular order, though), that's who:

1. Willie Parker, RB - Pittsburgh Steelers

Does this seem obvious? Not really. Roethlisberger does not really have the receivers this year, and I think that Parker is going to be influential in getting some first downs, and I could even see him having a great year TD-wise. He's entering his fourth year in the league, and that's the perfect amount of time to really learn the trade of the game, and I think he's going to do an excellent job of helping the Steelers chase for the Division Title this year.

2. Laurence Maroney, RB - New England Patriots

Last year, I had both him and Dillon on my team (Maroney was a backup for Dillon) and they both actually had very close numbers; and it was Maroney's rookie season. Maroney is FAST, and when I say fast, I mean holy CRAP he's fast. He has a way of seeing the pocket open up, and even if one doesn't he will dig and dig and run over anyone and anything that gets in his way. In 2006, he had 745 yards with 7 touch downs, and he wasn't even the starting RB for the Patriots. He's going to be key this year, despite the fact that the Patriots have beefed up their receiving core, and I could see him having at least 10 touch downs and almost 1,000 yards in '07.

3. Willis McGahee, RB - Baltimore Ravens

Yeah, he used to play for the Bills, but now he has invaded Ravens country, and Baltimoreans should be extremely happy. With the lost of Adalius Thomas during the free agency, Baltimore should be focusing on having to put points on the board, rather than being able to rest solely on their defense to keep them out of trouble. McGahee is an excellent addition to this team, and if he can play as well as he did the first year he was in Buffalo, the could have 10+ TDs with the Ravens, and over 1,000 carrying yards.

4. Steve Smith, WR - Carolina Panthers

Most people, when getting to choosing their Wide Receivers go for Marvin Harrison, Chad Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald or Roy Williams. If you can, snag Steve Smith. He has never let me down when on my fantasy team, unless he is injured. He is a favorite target for Delhomme, and his average is over 14 yards a catch. He's one of those hidden gems, because lots of people forget how decent of a receiver he really is. He won't ever put HUGE numbers up for you, but he'll be consistant throughout the season in '07.

5. Randy Moss, WR - New England Patriots

Four Words: Bill Belichick. Tom Brady. Tommy has taken pay cuts two years in a row with the promise of having decent receivers in return. Last year, he was totally hosed in that area, and this year, his palms are itching to put it in the endzone quite a few times. I believe that Moss will do very well in New England---he wants to win, he wants to catch, and he wants to put some lifetime best numbers up. I think he may come close this season.

6. Anquan Boldin, WR - Arizona Cardinals

This is the guy, who, at the end of every season, I wish I had drafted for my second WR. He had over 1200 receiving yards last year, being consistantly good in adding a few extra points to any fantasy team. Plus, this year, it looks as though Arizona is going to be a bit better than they were last year. The picked up an OT from Penn State in the first round of the draft, and Leinart has a bit more experience than he did last year with the big boys. Keep your eye on Boldin.

7 Tony Gonzalez, TE - Kansas City

Okay, the guy is 31, but damn, he's good. He has started almost every single game he has played in, and last year, he had 900 yards with 5 touch downs. Goznalez is a hidden gem, and Kansas City should be decent this year. I like Gonzalez again, because he is one of those consistant guys who always puts numbers up on the board, and he still has the ability to go for the long pass.

8. Keith Bulluck, LB - Tennessee Titans

Oh, awesome Linebacker of the Earth, I bow to you and your ability to tackle pretty much anything that moves. Keith Bulluck is an amazing defensive player, and he is going to help the Tennessee Titans be contenders this year in the AFC South. Bulluck had 99 tackles last year and 2.5 sacks. Nothing gets by this guy, and if you have to choose a defensive player or two, try your best to get Bulluck.

9. Sean Jones, DB/SS - Cleveland Browns

The Browns put full speed forward into their offense this year, and Sean Jones will be right there to help on Defense. In 2006, he played in all 16 games in the regular season, which was his third in the league, and boy, did he shine. 70 Tackles and 5 interceptions is definitely enough to make anyone keep an eye on this guy in the 2007 season. He should help the Browns gain a bit more respect in Cleveland, and make the AFC North a tough conference.

10. Chicago Bears - Defense

This is an obvious pick for anyone having to choose a defense on their Fantasy team. I often find myself wishing that I could have been an NFL player, but then whenever I watch any game that involved the Bears, I somewhat thank god I'm not. These guys know how to pressure a QB, and completely manhandle anyone with the pigskin. Any team whose offense can have no problem snapping an inside lineman's forearm in half has to have a gross defense. Go with Chicago, and you will not lose points.

Finally, Just some Etiquitte and Information in Regards to Fantasy Football
For some people, they are getting into the Fantasy thing for the first time this year. This is actually really common, and I am happy that so many more people are embracing the pseudo-crack that Fantasy Football is in terms of Fan-age. Being that this is the case, I thought that a few simple guidelines might be in order, just so you aren't making anyone really mad in your league. Because, as we all know, Karma can be such a pain.

1. The Actual Draft
Depending on how your league is set up, you will either have an automatic draft, or a live draft. An automatic draft means that you list your players in the order you want them, and at a certain time, the computer will just automatically assign players to the teams, based on those picked. It's usually the easiest, especially if the league has a few new people. On the other hand, the draft may be live, where people are given draft numbers (like in real life), and you have to be present for the draft, whether it is online or in person. If it is in fact a live draft, you must be present, or the computer will make your choice for you. If you cannot make it to a live draft, make sure you tell the commisioner of your league this (the one who set it up), and understand that you ARE NOT allowed to complain about the players to which you are assigned. It's football season, so saying you have to go to some lame dinner and can't make it to the draft, is not complain-worthy.

Also, if you are at a live draft at someone's house, please, OH PLEASE, know how to pronounce the name of the guy that you are about to draft for your team. Just, whatever it takes, don't be this guy:

(Say it with me, Hoosh-man-zah-deh.)

2. Defensive Playing is Allowed, but Don't be Stupid About It
For some reason, I am a huge fan of having one guy a season who is really good, and then just benching him so that no one else can have him. However, this only works if you have one person in the league that just has horrible players, and you have enough good people where even if you played the guy, it wouldn't make a difference. This is usually a great tool for when you want to do some kind of high-end trading in the middle of the season. Remember how I said at the beginning that a friend of mine asked for Westbrook in exchange for Barber and Hasselbeck? Yep, this was an example of a good player I benched in hopes of getting two better guys. Oh, and did I mention that was the week before Tiki had his 200+ rushing yards game? Oh yeah.

3. Bragging Rights and Trash Talking
Trash talking is often encouraged. In fact, it's almost required. However, you cannot bring someone else's actual real-life team into it. I can't heckle some poor Arizona fan in regards to the Cardinals; only in regards to his or her fantasy team. Also, if you are victorious against someone, try to keep the boasting to a minimum. Say one thing and move on. One year, I ran my mouth so hardcore to one of my friends because I killed him in week 3, and the guy ended up winning the whole thing. Whoops.

4. Don't Be a Sore Loser
Fantasy football is supposed to be first and foremost fun. You are learning about different players, cheering for guys that you vowed never to cheer for, and playing a game against your friends. If, for some reason, your fantasy team goes 1-15 during the season, there is no need to be upset or get mad if someone pokes a little fun at you. Poke fun at yourself! Make crazy trades and see what happens. Try to always remember that this is just for fun, it's not like you actually own the teams. Anytime I feel bad about any of my fantasy teams, I just think to myself: "What if I actually owned a team that was 1-15?" Grab a beer, chill out, and make some changes.

So there you have it. Fantasy Football in a nutshell. I may have to post another blog at some point to continue this. I love this sport.

Some of the Best Awesomely Bad Products to be Pushed by Pro Athletes...and a Birthday Wish

2007-08-03T12:04:00.001-04:00

So, per usual, my friend Greg was talking to me today, demanding that I write another blog. For some reason, he might be one of the few people that actually checks this thing on a regular basis, and he probably does so because he knows that he might be mentioned.

Anyway, we were talking about something, and I brought up the idea that Pro Athletes are really getting into endorsements, which is totally fine, but recently, I have noticed that they are pushing HORRIBLE products. Or, rather, they are doing it rather poorly and in such a cheesy way. And I'm not talking cheddar cheese, I'm talking cheese-in-a-can cheese. There are only a few that really stick out in my mind, but hopefully you will agree when I say: What Were They Thinking?

1. NBA Ballers: Phenomenon
I love sports video games. Hell, the only game that I know how to play on PS2 is Madden. It's an amazing concept, and as far back as I can remember (hells yeah, Techmobowl!), sports video games have been very popular. We may not be able to actually step out onto the Field at Fenway, but we can pretend that we will via entertainment means.
But then you get a game like this. Everyone is constantly talking about the negative connotation that comes with most of the NBA in terms of legal matters and "street cred", and then Midway Games comes out with this game. What is it?
Wikipedia Explains:
It is the sequel to NBA Ballers, which featured Stephon Marbury and Chauncey Billups. In this game, celebrities such as Jin, Ludacris, Trikz, Hot Sauce, and Chingy can be played. The main story is based on the friendship between the player and Hot Sauce. One day, Hot Sauce signs up for a one-man street baller organization and steals the player's girlfriend. The gamer must then get back at him by showing off his streetball skills. The game features four divided sections of Los Angeles: Hollywood, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Los Angeles International Airport. An extra disc containing the soundtrack comes with the game. There are 20,000 customization combinations, with options including haircuts, headgear, tops, bottoms, shoes, jewelry, backpacks, knee pads, elbow pads, watches, shoes and glasses.
This is the Cover:

Okay, first of all, why does Chauncey Billups look like he not only wants to kill me, but he has a sense of street credibility? He's from DENVER. I have never actually been to Denver, but something tells me it's not very-well known as a city that has tough areas, yo.
Second, if the NBA hates the stereotype that they have many players that get in trouble with the law and are not upstanding citizens, why do they let video games like this? Not only can your player bling-bling himself out, but he can also has to show how good on the court he is at LAX?
What were they thinking?

2. Eastern Motors
Before I even talk about this, I must say one thing: I love these commercials. They cheer me up almost every single time I see them on TV. Just awesomely horrible.
With that being said, many people are probably not familiar with the commercial for Eastern Motors, a car company in the Mid-Atlantic area, which I think serves cities like DC, Baltimore and Annapolis. Just watch.

Have you stopped laughing? No, okay, let me know. Good? Awesome.
I didn't think that many NFL guys could even be in the same commercial? Did anyone else catch Clinton Portis's dance behind the steering wheel? If I was ever driving down 95 and saw that, I would lose it and probably crash into the guard rail.
I love this commercial twofold:
1. It demonstrates the fact that Redskins Players will literally do anything to be on TV in a way in which they are not having slews of 4-letter words shouted at them. I mean, it's not like anyone takes them all that seriously on the field, so why not go with that and be a part of the most low-budget commercial that is being broadcast in the middle Atlantic seaboard? Fantastic.
2. I'm pretty sure that none of them got the memo that only Carlton Banks should be the only black guy in a sweater vest. I know that sound really lame and girlie, but honestly. I'm assuming that this commercial was taped back when Laverneus Coles was still on the Redskins, so wouldn't you think that he would want to wear something that would make him look a bit more serious than something straight out of the closet of a kid who worships Tom Jones? It's not like Coles was some kind of superstar when he played in Washington. Not to mention Kevin Jones. What the hell is he doing in a commercial that targets this area? Isn't he from Detroit? And Brendan Haywood? Isn't he in the NBA? Oh, this just gets so much better.
What Were They Thinking?

3. Go Gebco!
So, when I'm not cheering for the Patriots, I find myself liking the fact that the Ravens might be decent this year. I mean, I live in Baltimore, so if I don't love the Ravens, I may get shot because of it. Now, I am sure you all are familiar with GEICO car insurance, but I bet you didn't know that us Maryland-dwellers can also get GEBCO car insurance. Check it out:

For those who were too busy wondering what the hell you just saw, I'll break it down.
1. Lady hits Jonathan Ogden with her POS Chevy Cavalier, causing him to single-handedly mess up the whole front all the way to the engine block. He, of course, asks the woman if she is okay. Oh, you are so silly.
2. The woman then gets out of the car, blaming Ogden for the accident. Listen lady, if you ever so much as even thought of parking that thing NEXT to Elmo, I'd yell at you for such a horrible thought.
3. Then, Ogden is told that he needs to get GEBCO insurance...he daydreams about it....ALL THE WAY INTO A FIELD WHERE SWARMS OF HAMDEN SINGLE MOTHERS DANCE AROUND HIM IN SHORT SHORTS!!!
4. You gotta get Gebco.
I think this might be one of the reasons why I sometimes am slightly happy when I get the stomach flu and have to stay home all day from work. This commercial is probably shown 10 times an hour when you're watching Jerry Springer or The Price is Right. For good reason. I wonder if Jonathan Ogden really NEEDED to do this, and I can't imagine what kind of feedback he gets from the guys in the locker room. Good job, Jonny boy, and sweet dance moves.
What Was He Thinking?

Well, there you have it, the few hilariously bad advertisements for random products that may/may not be successful.

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY, TOM BRADY!!!!

Today is my hero and idol's 30th birthday. Despite the unwanted drama that Tom has in his life right now, he deserves to have a great birthday! From the rumors (that are FALSE, people!) that he is a yankees fan, to having to put up with an overrated attention whore of a girlfriend....to the stress of having his first born child coming right around the corner....Happy, Happy Birthday to #12.

Tom, seriously, dump the zeros and get yourself a Katie. :)
Until next week, when I discuss Athlete Wives, and the rules to be one!

Marrying an Athlete Has to be the Toughest Thing Ever

2007-08-02T14:25:00.000-04:00

So, for those people who have never really met me in real life, or not had much of an interaction with me on a one-to-one level, I will come out and say this straight up: I'm not what a normal person might call a girly-girl. I mean, yeah, I own about as many shoes as God, and I do try to enforce the "on Thursdays, we wear PINK" rule around my office, but other than a few basic things, I am pretty as guy-ish as any girl can get. So, it's not uncommon for 90% of my blogs to have that guy-appeal to them. Not that everyone who reads this will think I'm some kind of mastermind when it comes to sports, but I doubt there are very many Paris Hilton-like girls who know what the Peske Post is. For Example:

Are we clear?

With all that being said, this post may end up falling into the 10% of entries that show my feminine side. Still sarcastic, of course, but I think that I need to discuss one of my biggest pet peeves in sports. No, not the Yankees or their fans. No, not the recently acquired lack of eyesight in NFL referees. I'm talking about Athlete Wives. I don't so much intend to have this be an entry to complain, but more of an entry to appeal to the girls that may be reading this. Please, ladies, follow these rules, and if you find yourself saying "I do" to a famous athlete some day, just remember them. These are rules that every woman should live by, but especially when they are marrying a pro athlete.

Rules to Follow when Marrying/Dating a Pro Athlete:
- Being an athlete's wife does not entitle you to 100% media attention at all time. Just because you are married to a great 3rd baseman in MLB does not mean that the rest of the country should automatically give a crap about you 24-7. Start some charities, donate your 1500 dollar Gucci shoes to a homeless fashion victim in your city. Don't flagrantly display yourself by any means possible and then get really mad when people would rather read up on how many DUI's Lindsay Lohan has to date.
- Just because your husband is a huge star and really rich, that doesn't give him the right to treat you like crap. Sure, he can be involved in a sex scandal and pretty much be known as the biggest jerk in the NBA, but unless you dump him instead of accepting a huge diamond ring for compensation, you are a joke to the female gender.
- Being the wife of an MLB player doesn't mean that you should automatically be allowed to run your mouth to a point where your husband gets traded to Baltimore. Ladies, if you find yourself turning down an offer from Playboy because it's not enough money, but then showing up at the company Christmas party wearing almost nothing but a smile, don't get mad when you get labelled as Satan in a hot woman's skin.
- If you happen to be a gorgeous blond American acress and you end up somehow getting married to arguably the best athlete and most popular sports icon in the history of modern sports, try not to be a complete traitor to your country. I mean, if this same husband of yours is responsible for the Olympic Canadian Hockey team becuase, well, he's the great one, and they play the USA in some kind of final brew-ha-ha of a game in, say, the Olympics, don't cheer for the Canadians just because your husband is from that nation. People rarely take women seriously in sports, and no one will take you seriously if you start off by being a complete Benedict Arnold.
- It is okay to be normal with your pro-athlete husband. This is generally true if you yourself are athletic. This is usually true when you and your husband are into the same type of sport, say, he's a surfer and you're a beach volleyball player. I think that some of the best couples are made of two generally down-to-earh people. For example, Victoria Beckham could be the biggest pain on the planet, but she isn't. Why? Because she is already a super star and knows how to be classy in front of the camera...hence, why her and Becks probably get along so well. She has no problem sharing the spotlight with her spouse. Learn, ladies!
- If, in your younger years, a popular hair metal band chooses you to sit on a car and be labelled "the (insert band here) chick", that doesn't mean you should then try to kick the crap out of your husband in the same kind of transportation mode 20 years later. The mark of a good athlete wife is one that can keep her cool, no matter how many different kinds of medication she may be on, or how many times she flips out on Florence Henderson on "The Surreal Life".
- It's okay to wear your hubby's sports gear. That's showing support. However, if your man switches teams from one year to the other, don't wear his old jersey just because it has his name on it. You can afford the 60 bucks and buy another.
- If you are a potential wife to be of the hottest athlete to ever grace the face of the planet...do not bitch and moan because his baby's momma might deliver his first born child on your birthday. It's so tacky. Just thank your lucky stars that he knows who you are in the first place. In seriousness, though, be supportive of your man. It's not uncommon that professional players pay child support to someone they aren't married to. Is the guy an all American-type? Does he have 3 Super Bowl rings? Yes? Then be patient, especially if you are the most overrated super model on the face of the planet.
- I know I have to make a rule about potential or wannabe athlete wives: Don't try to use a pregnancy to trap a man into a marriage. It's just not cool, unless you're trying to get on the Jerry Springer Show.

Now, does that seem so hard? I didn't think so! Athlete wives, pay attention!
Until Next time....

A-Rod, Asante, and All Dogs Go to Heaven--Even if They Work for Vick

2007-07-17T10:24:00.000-04:00

Since it's been a while since my last entry, and a lot has happened in the world of sports, I figured it was time to buckle down and post some random thoughts of my own.

So, as I was sitting in the Manchester Airport on Sunday, waiting for my slightly delayed flight, I gave my parents a call to let them know that my flight was delayed. My mother answers the phone, asks me if I'm home, and right after I say no, she shouts, "A-ROD MIGHT BE GOING TO THE RED SOX!!!" as though I am 3 miles away. I'm sorry, what?

A-Rod Rumors in Regards to the Red Sox
It's true, people, talks of A-Rod heading to the Red Sox were a-brewin' this past weekend. On July 14th, MSNBC reported that A-Rod may become a free agent this fall, and New York is not willing to see what they can get for him--they'd just cut him loose. Of course, since the Red Sox have decided to not be completely stingy when it comes to decent pick-ups and trades, they would be all over that, probably offering him anywhere from 180 to 240 million dollars for a 6 to 8 year deal. Luckily, those rumors have somewhat died since Sunday, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to touch on it.

I think I speak for most of the Red Sox nation when I say that we do not want him. I mean, yeah, he's a good player, and yeah, he has hit over 30 homeruns this season so far, and he would definitely add to the offense as well as the defense...wait, why don't we want this guy? Oh yeah, because then I would have to cheer for A-Rod. Yuck.

Yankees hatred aside, though, this does seem like a good business move for the Red Sox in terms of beefing up the hitting a bit. However, the pitching on that team is finally starting to be all it can be, and they feel the need to pay top dollar for a guy that isn't really NEEDED at this point. One person does not make a team. Although, if A-Rod did end up going to Boston, I would give anything to be at that opening day game.

I guess we'll find out 10 days before the World Series comes to an end, though. And hopefully, A-Rod will be playing golf at that time. (Sorry, I had to!)

Asante Samuel Did NOT Come to an Agreement With The Patriots

Yesterday, July 17th, was the deadline for franchise players to sign multi-year deals. As many of you are probably well-versed, one of the most anticipated players in this situation was Patriots Cornerback, Asante Samuel...who did not come to an agreement with the Patriots franchise. Although, I am not exactly an expert when it comes to this, but I think I speak for the entire Patriots (or NFL?) nation when I say: What the hell?

Let's look at this from a logical standpoint: Samuel, drafted in 2003. After Law and Poole injuries in December of 2004, Samuel became the stater, and has started in every single game since. He was a key player in the Super Bowl against the Eagles, and had he not been on the Patriots this past year, well, I think the AFC championship would have been just disgusting. He is beyond amazing at coverage and he is a VERY important part of the Patriots defense. Let's all say it together, like we did last year: "PAY THAT MAN HIS MONEY".

Why is it so hard for the Patriots franchise to loosen their grip around their money and pay someone what they clearly deserve? It's not like the guy is demanding an insane amount...he is asking for what he deserves. How many key players have the Patriots lost due to the lack to recognize when they have someone good?

I pride the Patriots on being the franchise who can take lesser-known athletes and turn them into stars, but then when that happens, shouldn't they reward the athlete for stepping up and being all they can be? I feel like I'm some kind of commercial for the army! But what will it take for Kraft to understand that spending money on an awesome player who is clutch in so many situations is well worth the investment.

Who Let the Dogs Out?
Dear Mr. Vick:

We understand that your family is well-versed in the whole "what can I legally get away with because my last name is Vick" policy, but this time, buddy, you have gone too far.

Love,
The Feds

As I'm sure many people have heard by now, Michael Vick has been indicted by a grand jury on Tuesday, July 17th. This question has been around for a while, though, when rumors of a supposed dogfight ring started a few months ago. Apparently, it was rumored that Vick was holding dogfighting operation at his home in Virginia. Translation: Vick could be screwed.

Does anyone else think that this is one of the most randomly ridiculous things they have ever heard? Not because I think the charges are false, but what kind of a person has a dogfighting operation in their home? Honestly! I mean, I could see if you were doing something illegal that was cool, like, I don't know...something illegal that is actually cool. But a dogfighting ring? What is that?! It reminds me of Little Jerry Seinfeld being taken to a ring by Kramer, not knowing that cock fighting was illegal, and they weren't going to box with little gloves, but peck the crap out of each other. At least hilarity ensued with that, but having your own private dogfighting operation? Oh man, that's just beyond words.

I hope Vick gets what he deserves. And for some reason, I think he will.

Don't Be That Guy

2007-06-25T11:17:00.001-04:00

Since I haven't done a blog in over a week, and a lot has happened in sports in that time, I figured I would just to a random, non-related topic today, and then on Friday, tackle a couple issues that have taken place in the past 10 days or so.

Anyways, I was talking with a friend this morning about sports, bandwagon fans, and other such stuff. For the record, he is a Detroit fan, and damn, there is nothing any less bandwagonish than a Detroit fan, so he gets mad props for that. The conversation soon switched to which fans you do not want to find yourself sitting next to at a sporting event. Now, as you all have hopefully picked up, I am a die-hard Boston/New England sports fan. Other than the period where Drew Bledsoe totally blew me off at training camp and I swore off the Patriots for a few years because of it, I have loved the Patriots forever. With that being said, I am going to make this list as un-biased as possible. Hear me out; and please, if you find yourself in a section with any of these people at a sporting event, you will not be blamed for moving to another seat.

BOSTON RED SOX FAN

I think I would be doing the sports world some kind of injustice if I didn't at least mention these people. While they are my homeboys/girls, they/we can be quite the bunch of pricks. Okay, so the "Sawks" won it all back in 2004...so, with that record, I whould expect to see it happen again 3 months before my 109th birthday. Was it the best run that MLB has ever seen? Yeah. Was it FANTASTIC to go to the World Series after coming back from an 0-3 series defecit to the Yankees, causing them to suffer the biggest choke that MLB had ever seen? Of course. Is it grounds to be obnoxious for the rest of your lives? Maybe, but probably not.

ANY KIND OF NASCAR FAN
I tend to be very forgiving when it comes to sports, especially if it has to do with a certain area of the country. Obviously, people in, say, Mississippi, are not going to be avid ice hockey fans; they are probably going to be bull-riding fans or mud wrestling fans, or fans of that sport having to do with eating pies at the county fair. However, there is NO excuse for being an avid NASCAR fan. Do you really want to be associated with this:

Am I the only one who is COMPLETELY disgusted by this? This guy has got to be a total tool shed to actually WANT something like that SHAVED INTO HIS BACK. Also, the woman sitting next to him was probably the poor sap that got talked into doing it for him; further proving what an ass he is. He probably promised her a brand new Miller Lite hat and matching coozie. Seriously, NASCAR is nothing but a bunch of a**holes.

THE PINK SPORTS GEAR WEARER FAN
Okay, we get it. "I can be GIRLIE and be taken seriously in sports, too! I have the Jersey to show it!" Only problem is, stupid, it's bright pink. Unless you are my mother, and only one of you is, you will NOT be taken seriously in any kind of pink sports gear. (My mom completely redeems herself because she knows almost every single statistic of every single Red Sox player to ever step up to the plate. If I was ever on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and the question had to do with Fenway Park history and/or any kind of obscure Boston reference pre-1996, she would be the one I would call. I'd probably call her before I called Theo Epstein, no joke.) I don't care if you know who Carl Yastrzemski is, or how many consecutive games Cal Ripken Jr. played, your stupid self is in pink. Showing up to a game, getting completely wasted, having to ask a million stupid questions of the "hot guys in your section" doesn't show how hardcore you are; it shows how useless you are, and that you're taking up the seat of someone who actually wears, well, not pink. Unless you play for Milwaukee, are named Bill Hall and are playing in the actual Majors with a pink bat for Mother's Day, don't wear it.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS FAN
Yeah, I know a few, and actually, they are pretty cool people. We joke, we laugh, we poke fun each way, and it's fine. However, when I think Colts fan, I think of this:

Oh, I bow to you, captain of the idiot fans. I am all for showing your enthusaism, but anyone who spray paints hulk gloves gets honorary idiot of the year. I bet he hangs them up right next to his Tony Stewart NASCAR jacket. They think that because their team has won ONE Super Bowl, that means that they are somehow the most amazing team to hit the planet. They should be in Baltimore, and will always be the BALTIMORE Colts to any true football fan, but yet they don't understand that. Their QB is a total hackjob, therefore they are guilty by association. Why don't you call up your boy Peyton and see if he can put you in one of his 84084 commercials, red neck? God, I hate Peyton Manning.

NEW JERSEY DEVILS FAN

Self-Explanatory.

But seriously, wasn't it this team's mascot that was fired back in 1993 for practically molesting three women while in costume? Okay, if your mascot is being a complete jerk, then your fans have to be just as horrible, if not worse.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS FANS

Considering Kobe Bryant just might be the biggest jackass on the face of the planet, anyone who cheers for him and/or chooses to cheer for the team he plays on, is automatically a jackwagon. LA Lakers fans always feel as though their team is the best, but in actuality, they seem to forget that we are not currently in the 1950s, and the team is in LA, not Minnesota. Honestly, no need to be some kind of jerk when it comes to Kobe, and there is no justice in defending him for any reason. "Oh, he is such a nice guy! Oh, everyone cheats on their wife! Oh, he's not that bad and he's a great player!" No, losers, he's a horrible person, and he's a ball-hogging attention whore. Plus, I think he's from Philly, so that's strike one against him just for being born.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES FAN (and damn, this was a close one)

Is it just me or does every stupid Eagles fan think that their team is going to the Super Bowl every year? And then, not only that, they are actually going to win it. Now, let me see here, the last time they made it to the big dance, they LOST to a team that actually knows how to play the game, and before that, it was Super Bowl XV, and well, the Raiders had other plans. It is because of this fan-dom that I have actually grown to HATE the city of Philadelphia, and I want them all to shut up.
The Eagles are not even going to win their division this season. The Eagles could be 1-15 in a year, and their fans will STILL INSIST that they didn't get to the playoffs because 1/2 the team was sick, or didn't play up to what they should have. No, dummy, they just aren't good. Why is it that the entire NFL understands this except for Philadelphia morons?
(For the record, any team whose fans have to spell out the name of the team as their main cheer is just worthless. See also: Jets Fans.)

NEW YORK YANKEES FAN
Seriously, it doesn't get much more a**holish than this, people. As horribly annoying as any drunk OR sober Boston fan can be about their win 3 years ago, a Yankees fan is an infinite amount more annoying, because they will ALWAYS come back with, "Yeah, but uhhh, like we have 26 rings. Yeah" as some kind of lame excuse for a rebuttle. Your team having 26 rings doesn't take away from the fact that you are part of the biggest jerk-fan base on the planet. Personally, I will go to a ball game at Camden Yards when the Yankees are in town just to see what kind of douchebaggery I can get them to pull off. Nothing annoys Yankees fans more than an avid Red Sox fan at a stadium where the Red Sox aren't even currently playing. Just sitting in a Ramirez tee shirt has gotten me numerous death threats shouted at my way. And to be honest, nothing makes me smile more.

There you have it. The complete list of the biggest a**hole fans in (North American) sports. Disagree? Agree? Don't see a team on there that should be there? Let me know!

AA Baseball Managers and Why I Think it's About Time we See This

2007-06-12T13:36:00.000-04:00

So last night I had a conversation with a friend, and he told me that I am not allowed to spend more than 50% of my time talking about the Patriots. I just want to assure everyone out there that I do NOT plan on making this a blog about my favorite sports team(s), so you all can rest easy. Tom Brady's butt chin will not be discussed in this post.

But, on to more hilarious things...things that Em suggested I write about, and come to find out, the girl was just reading my mind!

I Love Phillip Wellman
By now I am sure you all have heard some kind of version of Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman putting on quite the display last week after an umpire ejected pitcher Kelvin Villa for supposedly using a foreign substance, whatever the hall that means. Well, for those of you who missed it, this is what took place:

(from wdef.com, posted on youtube.com)

Is it wrong for me to say that this guy might be one of my new heros? Wellman has been suspended for three games, I believe, but who really cares? I haven't seen such a great/hilarious performance since Joe Mikulik of the Asheville Tourists around this time last year. In fact, Wellman's act seemed somewhat originally hilarious until I re-watched the footage from Mikulik's performance and Wellman imitates him to a T. Wanna see?

(thanks, ESPN and YouTube.com)

I honestly think that this is what AA ball needs. Not some guy disrupting the game, persay, but a manager that is really into the game, really into his team, and is willing to jazz things up a bit. It was nice to read something having to do with AA baseball other than how "great" that sellout Clemens is going to be for the Yankees. I think if more people got into AA ball like this, we might pay more attention to the potentials in that league. How has Wellman hurt the league? I don't think he did at all. People have been talking about it all weekend, some people probably now know that the Braves have an AA team, AND I now know exactly where Chatanooga is.

I think the only reason why Wellman was suspended was so that someone could just placate those that actually thought it was a jerk move/actual act of insanity. I hope he pulls something like this again...furthering it, or taking it to yet another level. It's not like the guy punched anyone, or really caused THAT much of a delay of game. And the grenade thing with the powder bag? Oh gosh, so great.

So, it's the opinion of this girl that Wellman should act on. HE ROCKS!

Moss, Stanley, and Why LeBron James May be the new Professional Product Pusher

2007-06-08T17:37:00.000-04:00

So, as my habit of trying to make a blog at least once a week about the important happenings of the 7 days before, some of you may begin to figure out what sports I am not too good at keeping up with. I mean, I have a general sense of what's going on, who is beating whom in what series, and other such details. Also, no matter how much I actually know about the game itself, I will have an opinion about any kind of controversial situation that comes up in the sport.

So, on to this week's top highlights, as I see them.

Now that's a sight I like seeing
(Picture Courtesy of ESPN.com)
Could anyone and everyone who uttered the words "Randy Moss is going to be a cancer to the Patriots" PLEASE raise their hand. You big fat liar, I said raise your hand.
How does it feel to be completely WRONG? Apparently, now, the entire NFL/ESPN/SI world is completely jumping on the Randy Moss bandwagon. I am just wondering where these people were almost two months ago, when I was jumping up and down in my kitchen screaming my head off at the news. Even my sister's boyfriend, Eric, can testify to this, because he called me up and I was mid-scream. He and I both were beyond excited, for the record.
But then we were faced with everyone on the planet talking about how they didn't understand why NE would make this move. Ummm, the team made it to the AFC Championship last year without a WR...without someone that they could fully rely on to catch the ball when it was a game-deciding point. The Patriots could have signed ME as a WR and I'm pretty sure the six NE states would have been jumping for joy.
I am really glad that the rest of the sports world is finally catching up with the excitement that Moss (and Stallworth, I might add) is going to bring to the team.
To the other 31 teams in the NFL: You be screwed.

Quack.........Quack.......Quack.......Quack.....
Congratulations to the Anaheim Ducks in their 6-2 Victory over the Ottawa Senators!!!!

Wow, it seems like just yesterday I was asking a co-worker how Buffalo was doing in the Stanley Cup race, and now, the Ducks are the winners of the whole thing! Congratulations to Anaheim!

With the reults of the Stanley Cup Finals finally coming to a head, I am really beginning to notice the lack of interest in the NHL. I mean, I don't really claim any kind of loyalty other than location to any kind of NHL team. Hell, I'd probably be more likely to cheer for the Oilers than the Bruins because of Gretzky (Wait, are the Oilers even around still, or did they suffer a similar fate as the Houston Oilers? SEE! I have no clue!). With that being said, though, I don't want people to think that I don't like hockey. In fact, it is a fantastic sport. The voilence, the politics, the fact that some of those guys are pretty darn hot...all very good reasons to love hockey. Hell, I used to love going to watch the Worcester Ice Cats...there'd be at least 4 good fights in the first period! And we are not talking simple, "Hey your mom was bad last night" kind of fights, we are talking the kind of fight that Russ's brother taught Kenny Woo in the second Mighty Ducks movie.
("When a guy comes at you like I just did, you do this: Stick......gloves...shirt.")
We are talking shirt up over the head, blows to the face, screaming, yelling, swearing, awesomeness. That's why hockey is so fantastic and should be loved by all Americans!

And yet, it is not. Why is this? We don't like toothless guys? Nah. Not violent enough? Um, hello! No one can keep their eye on that damn puck? Nope. I think it has to do with the fact that the games are on at such horrible times! Who the heck is going to invite a bunch of their buddies over for some Molson, eh, at 9:00 pm on a Wednesday night? Other than your creepy uncle Joe who also is trying to make to AA meetings, no one! If game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals had been, say, tonight at 8:00, yerdamnright I would have tuned in and not almost had a heart attack when a friend informed me that the Ducks won. C'mon networks, we all do love baseball this time of year, but we can put a game on hold for one night so that we can watch the Stanley Cup finals. (By the way, did you see Schilling almost had a no-hitter last night if not for ONE?!?! GAH, I hate you, Oakland! Oh, and A-Rod hit another HR, further proving my theory that he may be roiding??? I love baseball.)

And now, this all brings me to this guy:

(Picture courtesy of hoopsvibe.com)

Ah, LeBron James. Cute, isn't he? I think so. Anyways, the San Antonio Spurs are currently sticking it to James's team, the Cavaliers. Okay, not really sticking to it, but they aren't doing the Cavs any favors by stomping on their faces.
Now, everyone is saying that James could be the "savior" for Cleveland, in terms of keeping with the "one guy comes in and turns the team around" theory in the NBA. Now personally, I'm not a huge fan of the NBA mainly because the players in it cry more than a room of 20 women watching some chick flick...but nonetheless, I still find it somewhat interesting....especially when some jackwagon decides to punch some spectator's lights out for no apparent reason. Oh, Indiana, you inspire all your players to be the best.

Anyways, back to my boy, LeBron. Now, underneath the whole "Savior" thing that people have going on, another topic has come up: is this kid going to be worth more than God if the Cavs actually win this? Watch out, Peyton, your title of "biggest commercial whore on the face of the planet" just might be in jeopardy. If the Cavs beat San Antonio, I might have to start finding out if James has any cute brothers or cousins in the Baltimore area. I think experts are estimating that he will end up making about 10 million dollars more a year in endorsements than he already does if Cleveland goes all the way.

All I'm gonna say, though, is that LeBron's Nike commercial where the different guys are sitting by the pool is absolutely hilarious.

I guess the point of my LeBron rant is just this: Why is it that when someone wins a championship, they aren't just being called a great team player...people start to speculate how much they are going to be worth in endorsements? I guess it is all about the Benjamins....

Oh, and Um, I think I just need to leave you with this kick-assed-ness

I <3 You, Gordon Bombay

A-Rod, "Bad sportsmanship", and This week in Sports Fashion

2007-06-01T12:06:00.000-04:00

For those of us who somehow have to check up on our sports teams every day (sometimes in the form of a fantasy league), I don't think there are very many things that are TRULY annoying in sports. I mean, sure, your team might be in extra innings in game 7 of the 2003 ALCS only to have a mediocre player hit a walk off home run, crushing all hopes of them getting to the WS, but that's not exactly ANNOYING. (Actually, as a true Red Sox fan, it was more expected up to the 2004 season.) But things that are annoying to this female sports fans are rules that are across the board ridiculous, usually fueled by one person or a few persons having a complete tantrum over the fact that they aren't very good.

Yesterday, I was checking my usual MLB scores on ESPN, and I came across this from the Canadian Associated Press:

Jays angry at A-Rod's antics in loss
TORONTO (CP) - The next time the Toronto Blue Jays face the New York Yankees, Alex Rodriguez shouldn't get too comfortable in the batter's box.

There are things that shouldn't be done on the field and the superstar third baseman crossed the line Wednesday night when he apparently shouted ''Mine'' on an infield fly as he rounded the bases in the ninth inning

With the way MLB is making this situation out to be, you would have thought that A-Rod drove to the Toronto Manager's house, took his dog, brought it back to the field, and shot it on the pitchers mound while rounding the bases. I am NOT in any size, shape, or form an Alex Rodriguez fan, nor am I ever the type of person to recognize something against him as ridiculous, but I think this is getting blown way out of proportion.

Even if A-Rod had purposely shouted out "MINE!" as he was running the bases, that doesn't excuse the fact that Toronto sucks. Was it sneaky? Sure. Was it maybe not the kindest thing to do? Sure. Was it maybe some poor sportsmanship? Ehhh, possible. Was it so bad that someone should take a bat to A-Rod's face? No. Someone should explain to the entire Toronto team that if they can't play with distractions or pay attention to where their teammates actually are, then they should opt to sit on the pine pony for the rest of the season.

Even when A-Rod smacked the ball out of Arroyo's hands in the ALCS in 2004, it wasn't even that big of a deal then.

(I love that picture, and I just felt like posting it, seeing as how we are on the topic of A-Rod.)

I think that MLB just needs to step back and deal with the real issues of this season so far: like how the Yankees are completely sucking and how it is ALMOST impossible for them to make it into the playoffs. Almost, though, not completely. If officials feel as though they need to make a big deal out of something that is so insignificant, then that's fine, but don't blame us if it isn't received very well. Something tells me that come September, one Toronto loss is not going to make the difference between them and making the playoffs.

I think this should have been the picture published by the Canadian Associate Press:

Like that paint job I did? Thanks.

Pull that Escalade over, Your Ass is being Arrested by the Sports Fashion Police
So, I have decided to maybe implement some kind of "girlie" factor in the sports world. I am not what one would call a typical chick: Hell, I know NFL players better than any kind of clothing designer and I'd much rather invite Tom Brady to a slumber party than, say, Vera Wang. No, I am NOT a fan of all that pink baseball crap that girls seem to make them look like they are a fan, for the record. My mother might be the only person on the face of this planet that I would ever take serious in pink Red Sox stuff; that woman knows more about baseball than any guy I know.

With that, this is the first installation of "What the hell were they thinking putting that on?"
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES NEW THROWBACK JERSEYS
Okay....so, I don't want to be some kind of traitor to the NFL and all, but seriously, what is with these uniforms:

(Picture from philadelphiaeagles.com)

Kearse, you should not be dancing or have a smile on your face, no matter how mocking it looks. You should be at your house crying yourself to sleep over the fact that you have to face Detroit wearing those things. I guess the Eagles have realized that since they are going to suck more than the combined power of 10 Dirt Devils, they are going to make sure that they have absolutely no pride come January. Hell, they might as well just throw any pride out the window that they have; even if we are more than 3 months away from opening kick-off. I thought that the early Seattle uniforms would always take the cake for ugliest, but I guess I've been proven wrong.

What the hell were they thinking putting that on?

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Bandwagons, JHU, Lacrosse, and Why I Hate most Networks

2007-05-29T11:47:00.000-04:00

Before I start the first of what I hope to be MANY thoughts about various games, sports personalities, and "I really loathe you, Steinbrenner" scandals, I want everyone to know that I AM NOT a band wagon sports fan, and that is one of the biggest insults I think anyone can shoot my way. I loved the Patriots when they were HORRIBLE (Rod Rust, seriously...I could have done it better and I was only 6 years old..and I have the damn Starter Jacket to prove it!), I have a huge fan of the "Well, maybe next year" for the Red Sox, and yes, I sometimes cry myself to sleep thinking of the wonder years that was Bird/McHale/Lewis. Granted, the glory days of the 80s in terms of the Celtics are not days that I actually remember, but I do vividy remember the tee shirt that I had which was sporting cartoon characters of the starters. Yeah, you know you had that tee shirt when you watched "Cheers", giggling at the fact that a main character was actually called Woody. Or, maybe it was just me?

Anyways, all that being said, I am an alumni of Johns Hopkins University, and I still attend Graduate school there....as well as work at the hospital. For anyone who has any ideas about what Hopkins is "like", you are probably pretty accurate. The people are very hard core study-holics, rarely have time for fun, and almost every sport is D3, except for Lacrosse. Please don't read that as me saying the sports at JHU are bad; D3 athletes have the utmost respect from me, and I think they work just as hard as D1 athletes without being handed an A so they don't lose their scholarships.....which don't exist.

Now, yesterday was the NCAA Division 1 Lacrosse Championships at M & T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. Johns Hopkins vs. Duke. The "underrated sport" game of the century. Or, the year, but whatever. Now, when you go to Hopkins, you are force-fed lacrosse like the coverage of Rosie O'Donnell's leaving "The View". It's one of those things that everyone having to do with JHU gets really excited about, even if your only love of the game is to get drunk at 11:00 am to then stumble to the Lacrosse Field to harrass the poor goalie of whatever school is at JHU that weekend. (Sorry, Julian, Princeton isn't the same without you, and I swear, I didn't mean ALL I said about your mom that night in 2003.) We have homecoming in the spring, and Graduation is always on a Thursday, in case the team makes the tournament. I know, crazy.

So, I was in the middle of a wonderful by-the-pool tanning session around 1:00 when the game started, so I didn't tune in until the 2:00 warning left in the first half. Hopkins was up 10-4. Sweet. I took a shower during half-time, after talking to my grandmother who tuned in as well and seemed to have forgotten that I went to JHU and am currently still going there. I sat down with a Miller Lite to see how much JHU would slaughter Duke in the second half.

Or not. Some guy with the number 5 on the back of his shirt, Peter Lamade, was firing them at the goal and almost every one he shot went in! Before I knew it, the score was 11-10 JHU with only a couple minutes left to go! My grandmother called me back asking me what is with all the Frenchmen in Lacrosse. She then asked me if they introduced the game to the US. No, Gram, France is not trying to take over the US one preppy boy at a time. The last 3 minutes of this game were so freaking intense. Slashing penalties! Off sides! Duke has a 2 man advantage! OH CRAP!!! 11-11!!! JHU scores making it 12-11 with only over a minute left! Duke calls a time out....they get back in there, man advantage! He shoots to tie it! And misses completely...it bounces back towards midfield and time runs out!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOP! The field is a huge mess of yelling PJ's Veterans, Blue helmets and screaming males, hugging, kissing, and talking about how they all think the Duke boys really did it. What a great day for Hopkins sports! Now, if only more than 0.8% of the US gave a shit, I might really be excited.

However, my joy over the game was shadowed by my joy for the fact that people will now be able to shut up about the whole Duke thing. Nothing makes me happier in this world when a team is hyped up beyond all holy hell, and then they lose (See: 2001 Super Bowl; 2004 ALCS). Is it somewhat "odd" that I would think that? Sure, but I guess it comes with the territory of being a Boston fan.

Which brings me to my next point: The past week has really strengthened why I generally cannot stand most sports networks. I am sure we are all well-versed in the 2006 Duke Lacrosse Scandal. Did those guys pull some shady business? Sure. Is Crystal Gail Mangum a lying sack of you-know-what and deserves punishment? Of course. Are we all really that surprised that she won't ever get it? I know that I'm not. With all this being said, I find it completely ridiculous that networks made out this Duke team to be some kind of bunch of heros.

They overcame great adversity! They got back out there and made it to the final game! Let's just give these boys anything they want because hey, they deserve to be handed everything in life on a silver platter because they went through this! I am getting so sick and tired of people trying to make a story where there really isn't one. I made it to regionals with a broken hand and had to swim a leg of a relay for my team with a popsicle stick practically super glued to my thumb. Did I have all of ESPN jumping up my ass because I knew how to "overcome" an obstacle and make it through? Hells no! Tillman was killed in the line of duty, did we get beat to death about stories saying how the Arizona Cardinals not giving up on their season means they deserve some kind of special cookie? I didn't hear much about that, other than what FOX news deemed important enough to make the current regime look good.

I wish that there was a cardinal rule where networks (and society) start holding people accountable rather than turning it into some kind of Cinderella story to get ratings. You don't see networks asking why they were having a raging party full with strippers during the season in the first place, now do you? If you are a Division 1 program, and you're having that kind of party when you should be focusing on more important things, and you end up getting screwed for it, then whose fault is that? I'm not saying college kids shouldn't party; lord knows that I sure needed a few (read: hundred) beers to get through school and that's the time to do it, but how about pointing the finger at the irresponsibility of those coordinating the party. When you get people/things from a shady establishment, don't be surprised when shady things go down. And then don't use it as a crutch to get pity fans when you play up to par the following year.

I am very happy that the Duke team was able to place so well, but not because of what happened to them, because they played a great season, regardless of anything else. I'm just really glad I decided to not go anywhere near any JHU Campus Bar last night.

The Beginning: Welcome!

2007-05-29T11:10:00.000-04:00

Hey all, this is going to be my first of hopefully many blogs, so I just think I'll take this one to introduce myself and explain the point of this site. I think it will just be a matter of whether or not I am able to keep up with maintaining it. Seeing as how I want to someday work as a sports writer, let's hope this is a good test to see if I can stick with it!

First off, in case you don't know, my name is Katie and I am a sports nut. It's not so much that I pride myself on knowing a lot of random things about a lot of athletic competition, it's more my passion that I like. I may not know who the third base man for Toronto is, or even who plays goalie for Anaheim, but I will probably have an opinion on how those guys play their games.

I was born and raised in a small town in north central Massachusetts. I know what you are probably thinking. Great, awesome, another jerk Boston fan who thinks that their New England teams are the best thing to ever grace the sports world. What I have to say to that is: You're G.D. right! Just kidding. While I do eat, sleep, think, live and talk constantly about my main boys, the New England Patriots (I have multiple Tom Brady Jerseys, and I have even threatened this very large man who lives in my apartment building with death because I caught him wearing my Tom Brady tee shirt that I know he stole out of the community dryer), I am beyond opinionated of all teams, whether or not they come from the best state in the nation. That'd be MA, in case you were wondering.

I was a competative swimmer from the age of 8 until 19. If I have any personal opinion of a certain city, it's because I could only tell you what the Doubletree Hotel and the main pool is like there. Need to know what the pool is like in Nashville? Montreal? Buffalo? Let me know, and I can hook you up. The sport pretty much took over my life for 11 years, and it taught me much about dedication, pain, joy...and that hard work always pays off in the end. It also taught me that no matter what you want, no matter how silly it may sound, if you really have it in you to reach a goal, you will reach it. It also allowed me to pretty much be able to bench press more than the starters on my High School Football team; which was always fun for a few bets during gym classes.

So enough about my boring-ass life, and back to the main point of why I am starting this blog site. When you think about sports sites and gurus, what gender do you think of? Men, right? (God, I love you, Bill Simmons.) How many women are in sports and taken seriously? Yes, I know, you love what's-her-face who gets to stand in front of the camera for 30 seconds every quarter during every NFL game who just looks good and regurgitates the scrolling marquee under the camera, but let's get real here, guys. Is she usually taken seriously? Not really, especially when she runs after the coach of the team that is losing at halftime, asking what it's like. "Awesome, lady, this is actually where I was hoping we'd be at this point. Our QB has pretty much broken his leg in half, and we are about to blow the most important game of the season..but we were actually hoping for that". C'mon now. I'm actually surprised there hasn't been more coach-on-token-pretty-sideline-lady crimes. It's a good thing I'm not a coach, because I would have almost no problem smacking those chicks across the face.

I don't want anyone to think that I am some kind of sports femme-nazi, though. Nor am I saying that sideline girls don't hold a special place in sports...I just wish that for once, a strong woman could stand up, say "HEY! I have a valid opinion about this game!" and people turn to listen.

So hopefully this goes well...I can figure out how to post pictures in my blogs, and maybe even add some "advanced" features to this thing.

Stay tuned everyone!