our golden boy

I don't know about you, but I think it's high time our first baseman, Kevin Youkilis, gets recognized for something other than his amazing ability to get on base and hit for power. Sure, he's up there right at the top ranking in terms of extra-base hits, OBP, SLG, and OPS for all 1st baseman, but it's about time he should get recognized for his glovework. Ladies and gentlemen, Kevin Youkilis has not made an error at first base since July 21, 2006. Lemme say that again, JULY 21, 2006! That is freakin' unreal. If there isn't at least SOME talk of Youk for the Gold Glove Award by the All-Star Break, I will be sending some angry emails. Yeh yeh, I know that first base is on the wrong end of the defensive ability specturm, but still. If voters look towards those players who are also well rounded, then look no further than Youk.

Youuuuuuuuuuk!

Tonight Youkilis continued his 18-game hit streak, as well, hitting .443 in that span. And yeh, he didn't make an error.

Sox up 11.5 games on the Yanks after tonight's win. Thank you, L.A.!

And it seems Bonds has cooled off quite considerably from his blistering pace early in the season. The Bonds HR Pool Countdown could get interesting in the coming months...

Currently Drinking: Milk(it does a body good)

Top 10 Tuesday returns!!

Again, keeping with new tradition, here it is, the list of My Top 10 Sports Sounds

#10 a college football tackle

Sure, the NFL players are bigger and probably stronger, but you can’t say that they go after every play with as much emotion as a college football player. When they hit, they’re doing it for the pride of their school and the pride of themselves, and you can tell by the replays, especially when they are mic’d up. The sound of 250+ lbs. hitting another poor soul on the college gridiron is like a well composed orchestra for the ears….except with more broken bones and casts.

#9 Whitney Houston singing the National Anthem at Super Bowl XXV

The Anthem gives me chills no matter when I hear and who sings it, but this version is just breathtaking, to say the least. Considering that the Gulf War was at its peak and thousands of American soldiers were overseas instead of at home with friends watching the big game, the song took on an added meaning and purpose. And I don't care what you say about Whitney's personal life, but that woman can SING. If you have never heard this Whitney's performance of the Anthem, then please, I beg you: do your ears a favor.

#8 CBS SEC football opening theme

This is the sound I look forward to hearing most come fall(except of course the sound of a Red Sox Championship Parade through Boston, but I digress). When you hear it, you know you are about to watch an uber-physical matchup between SEC teams on a Saturday afternoon. It gets you kinda pumped up about it, too. (Click the title to hear it)

#7 a perfect NHL pass

NHL games are fun as hell to go see, but part of what makes it great is the sounds. The sounds of bodies thrown against the boards, the sounds of skates hitting a fresh sheet of ice, and the sounds of a puck hitting the stick right on the tape. Not really sure why, but this sound has always appealed to me. You hear it, and you immediately know the pass was dead on, and if you hear several of them in succession, you know that someone is in prime position to score or either moving the puck extremely well in the offensive zone. Pretty cool that you can tell all that just from listening to passes, eh?

#6 cowbells at an MSU football game

Sure, we’re not the best in the conference, but damn do we love our Dawgs when they’re on the field. Bring in a visiting team like Florida, and the cowbells are found in all corners of Davis-Wade. Yeh, they’re illegal to bring in, but even some of the gate-workers allow them in sometimes, knowing deep down they like the sound of a thousand cowbells rung simultaneously as the road team is going for 3^rd and long.

#5 FOX MLB opening theme

The theme is awesome in the regular season, but when they play it before a postseason game(especially a postseason game featuring the Sox), it’s absolutely impossible not to get pumped up. (Click the title to hear it)

#4 a batter hitting the meat of the bat on the ball

Few things are sweeter than the sound of a David Ortiz jack or Manny Ramirez bomb as it’s leaving the batter’s box at blistering speeds. That initial CRACK of the bat lets you know by sound alone that the ball is going somewhere….far, and that it was hit……hard.

#3 Sweet Caroline at Fenway

I’ve been lucky enough to see 3 games at Fenway so far in my life. They won 2 out of those 3 games, and I can honestly say that hearing the crowd sing along Sweet Caroline in the middle of the 8^th inning in both of those games was aural euphoria. The smartest fans in baseball know when things are going right, and they let it be known by screaming(sometimes accompanied by belching) the lyrics to Neil Diamond’s song at the top of their lungs.

#2 MSU basketball crowd just before tip-off/after victory at the Hump

I will agree wholeheartedly with Trevor in saying that there really is no other place like the Hump on gameday. And there’s nothing like hearing the 2000+ student section singing the Hey Song all by itself long after the band has stopped playing it. When you watch the Dawgs on tv next year en route to their Final Four berth, turn the volume up a notch right before tip-off, and you will hear school spirit at its finest.

And when the game’s over and we’ve won, well it gets even better as the students once again take the reigns from the MSU band and continue singing Na Na Hey Hey through the final buzzard and until the teams depart the court.

#1 MSU basketball player introductions accompanied by the Bulls warmup theme

I’ll say it right now. It doesn’t get any better than this. Although they’ve since changed the player introduction theme to some Metallica shit, we all keep hoping they will once again return to the song we to which we grew accustomed during our first few years of college. The lights go down, the spotlight turns on, and the track begins rolling. One by one, the starting 5 Dawgs are introduced, and the crowd goes absolutely apeshit. It’s a combination of music, crowd, and personal yelling that make this the best sound in all of sports.

Comments, suggestions, ideas of your own favorite sports sounds?! Something I left out?? Leave us a comment!!

Currently Drinking: Water(apparently, I was dehydrated earlier this week)

10

My Ode to the No. 10





10 by Trevor


you are how many toes and
fingers given me
and how high I can count
on each of these
for a first down you must win
the fight of ten yards
and ten is the number of games behind
the stupid Yankees are

Top 10 Tuesday

I really like this idea. Hope Horne doesn't think I'm stealing his thunder but I want in on the action. There will probably be some similarity but hopefully some stark differences as well.

Trevor's Top Ten Sports Days/Events of the Year. *with one exception




#10 MLB Off-Season

Baseball is far and away the sport I pay attention to the closest now a days. Besides everything about the Sox I try to keep up with what players are hot, who's not, who's hurt, etc... all season. But I'd be lying if I said that stopped after the World Series. I easily keep up with trade rumors, retirement (and out of retirement) moves, and all the mud slinging that takes place in the winter.

#9 Superbowl

Of course this is going to be on here. I like football, and grew up a football fan most of all compared to the other sports but in the last couple of years, it just seems that it is going the way of the NBA (which didn't make the list at all). It's becoming a very single player sport and I hate that. I have to admit I got a little caught up this year with four teams duking it out for an undefeated season (only lasted 8 games) but it got me interested and when it came to the Superbowl there I was like half the country in a friend's apt eating 47 pounds of chips and dip watching the game.

#8 Nadal vs Federer

I love tennis. It might be my favorite sport to play along with soccer and watching tennis is surprisingly fun too. I love the singularity of it. Emotions in this sport are top notch. Really any grand slam event would suffice but after last week's events I had to put what is now the biggest rivalry in the sport. Federer is unstoppable... unless he's playing Nadal. A week or so ago they scheduled a crazy looking game on a half grass, half clay court to see who was really the better player (Federer wins everything on grass, Nadal wins everything of clay). Federer has reached that point where he's so good you have to not like him a little bit, so when Nadal takes the court sporting his ever present head band and capris and defeats Federer it feels great.

#7 Any Game at The Hump

Humphrey Colosseum. One of the best college basketball venues in the country relative to its size. We don't have extreme numbers the likes of Duke or UK but man do we bring the house down. Every game is post season intense whether we're playing Alabama Birmingham at Montgomery or Florida. Despite smaller numbers Bulldog fans easily get as loud as some of the largest arenas (and that's without our obnoxiously loud cowbells). If you ever have a chance to see an SEC basketball game at MSU, take the opportunity.

#6 BCS

Horne's right. The BCS (despite her flaws) is a great series. No other sport comes close to the number of high profile games. Not too mention the refreshing break from a play-off post season. Just Bowl games baby! All over the country for a period of a two weeks there are vast numbers of people painting themselves and wearing stupid hats for their Alma Mater. Every game is important and each game feels it. Even if your school didn't make it to a bowl you still have teams you want to win and lose in almost every game. The Outback bowl is still a piece of crap though. Don't ask.

#5 Sox vs Yanks

Who saw this coming? I'll be as impartial as I can. Despite my allegiance to those who don red socks, this is still a great series every time. Their truly isn't a bigger rival in pro sports and is right up there with UNC / Duke basketball and Ohio / Michigan football. Compound that with the complete opposites of the team members, staff, and owners and this series is heart-throbbing. Every pitch you sit at the edge of your seat, with every swing you are either hoping it sails 500ft or praying it doesn't. And it's not over till out 3 in the 9th, as this series has proven time and again.

#4 ALCS

Continuing with baseball. The American League Championship Series is usually better than the World Series itself. Aside from the fact that more often than not it can end up being the previous stated match up of Sox & Yanks but aside from what every National League fan will tell you, the American League is just better. True, the NL puts out a good team or two every year with real aspirations for the ring but the AL always has a minimum of about four that are each as good enough to go to the World Series and that's where the ALCS comes in. There is an in house hatred for other AL teams. Sure you play with all your heart at the WS but it's usually against a team you haven't played all year or at most one series with. The ALCS is a time for vengeance, revenge, or continued domination. There is just something different in the air.

#3 NCAA Basketball Tournament

My favorite month is definitely March when it comes to sports. Opening Day was a contender for the list but The Tournament is bigger still. Technically it should probably be first on my list but I cheated with #2 and am extremely biased when it comes to #1. The NCAA Tourney is as good as it gets as far as play offs are concerned. So many teams each having to fight through one to get to the other, and all for the glory that comes with being the BEST in college basketball. Pro sports could learn a great lesson watching grown men cry at missing a free throw or the immense jubilation from nailing a three-pointer as the red light cuts on. The loyalty players feel towards their colleges, and the loyalty us spectators have to our respective college is something pro teams can't hardly compete with. Brackets are incredibly enjoyable to make out and follow. You end up competing with friends as the teams compete on the court. This tournament is the epitome of what sports is suppose to be all about.

#2 The World Cup*

Okay, I know the topic is Sports Events of the Year but I have to include this, sorry. This is like the NCAA Tourney on super steroids. Loyalty to a college doesn't compare to the patriotism of these players. The US is still a baby when it comes to the world's sport. Point in case, soccer IS the world's sport and the Cup proves that time after time. Near the top of the "Things to do in my lifetime" list is go to an overseas World Cup game. Whew... I can't imagine it. I love this thing, and I think the hiatus between Cups in part has to do with it's allure. In pro sports here, you get a year of bragging rights tops unless you can repeat. With the Cup you have years to enjoy while others sulk and plot their triumph. The World Baseball Classic is trying but the World Cup, if only for a span of a month or so, really unites the entire world and enjoys a game. How powerful is that. Watch some of the Cup commercials. They really are moving when you think about it.

#1 The Egg Bowl

I know it hasn't been that exciting for a while now, but the Egg Bowl is still the most important day of the year to me. I was born with maroon and white blood and taught to hate those that bore the blue and red of Col. Reb. In no other collegiate sport is the match up more important than in football and the Egg Bowl proves that. It's quite queer that even in a 4 or 5 win season, you really can justify it if you just win the Egg Bowl. Sometimes it's actually even sweeter when the dawgs haven't done that well and the rebels have and then to upset them in the last game of the season. Everywhere you go for a period of about a month, whether it be church, grocery store, the mall, you can hear people singing Hotty Totty or Go to Hell Ole Miss. It might not be the biggest rivalry in college football, but it sure is as far as I'm concerned.


You'll notice the increase in length of the descriptions as you move down the list. I think that in and of itself is a good representation of just how much each of these events mean to me. Please comment or leave your own abbreviated top ten list.

top 10 tuesday

I figured I might try to start a new thing on here. So I thought a Top 10 list would do the trick. Maybe it will be a weekly thing, who knows. So without further adu, I present my Top 10 Sports Days/Events of the Year:






#10 Wimbledon

I could have easily put any of the other Grand Slam tennis events on here, but this is THE premier tournament. Hell, it even has the subtitle "The Championships," so you know it's a big deal. It's during the summer, so it's hard to miss, which is probably why it's the one I watch the most.

#9 Super Bowl

I've never had an NFL team, nor do I think I ever will. But man, I can't help but get caught up in the hype with this game every year. Come game time, I know every side story, every injury, and every player's college. It's fun as hell. And hey, sweet commercials always help.

#8 Avalanche/Red Wings

This would be much higher had all(or most of) the networks not dropped their NHL broadcasting contracts after the strike. It's hard to catch an NHL game now if you don't have the Vs. network or NHL Center Ice. These games used to be every other night on tv when it wasn't baseball. But still, when this matchup happens to be on the NBC Game of the Week or on at someone else's house, I have to watch. The rivalry may not be as fierce as before, but it's still played with tons of itensity and fanfare. I love it.

#7 Stanley Cup Playoffs/Finals

The Stanley Cup Playoffs is the best postseason tournament out there in terms of absolute difficulty. Four rounds, each a best-of-seven. Wow. And best of all, no more shoot-outs. You play overtime until someone scores. You wanna talk about intense, then you want to talk about a triple-OT Game 7 of a Conference Championship between two bitter rivals. It's really hard to beat that.

#6 All-Star Game/HR Derby

The All-Star break gives me a chance to actually take a breather from non-stop score checking, stat tabulating, and game watching that I am doing the first 3 months of the season. I don't care what your opinion is, but you have to admit that the All-Star game is f'in fun as hell to watch now that World Series home-field is on the line. Ok, yeh, if you're a Royals fan, then you probably wont care, but you get my point. The HR Derby is just great, old-school fun. Seriously, it's who can hit the ball the farthest. How awesome is that?

#5 March Madness

Only closely behind the BCS, the March tournament just makes it impossible not get caught up in it. Brackets, pools, and potentially major bragging rights for years to come, this is the best excuse to get into collegiate sports. Seeding doesn't automatically determine success, but the danger of a Cinderella upset is always present, and that adds to the drama, if at all possible.

#4 Bowl Championship Series

By far the best collegiate event in my opinion. The BCS bowls are always fun, but when it comes down to the final two teams from a pool of 350+, it's pretty intense. Like the Super Bowl, you know everything about this game before the first kickoff.

#3 Red Sox vs. Yankees

I doubt that I really need to explain this one. Granted, I wasn't a Sox fan while the Yanks racked up 4 rings in 5 years, but I know that I hate the way they run their organization, I can't stand some of their players, and I am damn tired of their winning the division every year. So is it far fetched to think I anticipate these regular season games more than any others?

#2 October

Yup, that beautiful month when the leaves have already begun to change. It's also when the push towards the World Series begins, and if my team is in it, then the excitement increases exponentially. Each game and at-bat is do-or-die, and there is absolutely NOTHING like a Game 7 in October. Trust me, I've watched a few of them as they happened(and some via ESPN Classic).

#1 Opening Day

My absolute FAVORITE sports time of the year. Everyone gets a clean slate, and everyone starts out tied for the division lead. Hope is in the air, and you have your eyes set on that championship trophy. If you won the title the previous October, then you get your rings today, so that's always a plus. The smack talking is at one of its highest peaks, and you begin to realize what you'll have to do to smack back. You've watched your team play through spring training. You've seen their strengths, and you've seen their weaknesses, but you just want to see how they pan out when games count. It's with this momentum that the season begins, and it just gets more and more enjoyable each year.




So there you go. Agree with me? Disagree? Have your own choices for favorite sports events of the year? Let us know by leaving a comment!!

Currently Drinking: Milk(it goes great with Nilla wafers)

a tale of two Steves

I guess this is a program note more than a blog post, but if you have any interest in the sport of baseball, I highly suggest tuning in to the late edition(post 9:00pm CT) of Baseball Tonight. The host is now Steve Berthiaume, who is probably my all-time favorite Sportscenter anchor. Steve left ESPN a year ago to do some work with the New York Mets television network, but has since returned to Bristol. He does Sportscenter every now and then, but his main job has been the late edition of Baseball Tonight.

Steve is fun to watch/listen because he uses pop culture references all the time in his highlights. In addition to his classic catch-phrases from Sportscenter("Kick save and a beauty...kick save..........anabeaut-y!", "We're playing Name that Molina, and for those of you scoring at home, the answer we were looking for is Yadier. Yadier", "He's open.....for thrae", etc.), he mixes it up with some very clever wording and descriptions. So yeh, if you're ever sitting in front of your tv around 11 pm or so, tune it to ESPN and check out Steve Berthiaume. He's hilarious(and informative).

Now for the Steve I hate. It's none other than Steve "just believe the opposite" Phillips. He is quite possibly one the biggest idiots in the history of baseball. Seriously, whatever he says on tv, just go with the opposite. You really can't go wrong. I distincly remember his saying that Dice-K would not settle on a contract with the Red Sox, he'd then return to Japan and go to the Yankees the next year, and the Sox would have to push for Roger Clemens. Yeh, good going there, Steve-o. He may have been a good GM(he DID draft David Wright and Jose Reyes while with the Mets), but his "insight" into the game of baseball is just retarded. So be warned; if you tune into Baseball Tonight, you may get the good Steve(Berthiaume), but you may also get the bad Steve(Phillips) to go along.

Sorry for no pictures of these guys. Hardly any on the internet.

Currently Drinking: nothing, but I am seriously eyeballing the newest batch of Newcastle my father has made. Still weeks away :(

Quite the Intermission

It has been a while since my last post and while there are no excuses I have had finals, my friends' graduating, a trip to TN, moving home to Madison, preparing for Mother's Day, and getting ready to see Miss Rookie and Horne off for the summer for their respective internships and thus have been busy to say the least. I was gearing up for a post on the Clemens deal but my colleague has beaten me to it.

Let the record show that I could not be happier about Roger "will do back flips for a dollar" Clemens is going to New York. Bill Simmons (the closest thing to Red Sox god besides Peter Gammons) said he has having a hard time working up disdain for A-rod and Posada anymore and now that The Rocket will be back in pin stripes he has a legitimate reason to hate the Yanks again. I'm with you Bill.

we don't need him

As all of you no doubt already know, our old friend Roger Clemens has decided to come out of retirement(again) to sign a 1-year, pro-rated $28M deal, with the New York Yankees.

At first glance at that sentence, you all probably think that I was mad, jealous, or at the very least mildly upset upon first hearing this via my brother’s text message on Sunday. But the very first thing I sent back to my brother (who has lived in Boston for years now) was “we don’t need him anyways.” That sentence really surprised me after I sent it to my brother and thought about it. Here was a 7-time Cy Young Award winner, a 345+ game winner, a 2-time 20 K in a game pitcher, and a 2-time world champion. And I didn’t care that he wasn’t coming to the Fens to bring his career full circle?

It’s weird, but yeh, I honestly couldn’t give a crap about it. Our team is SOLID, and we aren’t even near our peak yet. Our top 3 starters are mowing them down left and right(with Cy Young candidate Josh Beckett leading the way), while Wakefield is 2^nd in the AL in ERA. And we all know that Lester is mere weeks away from his first start of the year after recovering from cancer. That was it right there; our rotation was already star-studded and packed from front to back. I really don’t want a 6-inning(at most) pitcher with a history of groin problems screwing that up.

Clemens says he didn’t come back to the Yankees for money or to prove anything. He says he just wants to bring NY another championship. And to that, I call BULLSHIT. Everyone knows that Boston is in the best shape right now to win the World Series. You live and die in October by pitching, and you cannot say we are unequipped in that aspect. Can you imagine a 5-game series in which the opposition could face a barrage of Schilling-Beckett-Matsuzaka-Schilling-Beckett?! Are you seriously kidding me?! The Yankees will be lucky if any of their current starters(and one more that is coming in the next few weeks) will be standing on his own two feet come September. It also doesn’t help Clemens’ argument in that both the Red Sox and Astros wanted Roger to have a longer buildup time before coming back to the majors. They each wanted him to eye for a July return, which would of course mean less money, which was something we know Roger really really didn’t want.

So the countdown has begun until Sox/Yanks series at Fenway begins on June 1st. Clemens is expected to return by then, and one of those days could easily be his first start of the year. Can you imagine what the reception will be in Boston for the Rocket?! My god, he is going to get absolutely reamed by Sox Nation, and I can’t wait to hear it.

And speaking of that game, I think I am with Eric Wilbur on this one. It is entirely plausible that Jon Lester could be making one of his return starts that very same weekend in Boston, meaning he and Clemens could match up. How awesome would it be if the Sox gave Lester the #21 jersey(what Clemens wore with them)? Like Clemens back in the 80s, Lester is the prized, most celebrated young prospect in the organization, so why not give him the number and give Clemens the ultimate slap in the face to say “we don’t care anymore”?

I can honestly say I’m uber-pumped about the return of Lester. We need a lefty in our rotation, and his stuff his FILTHY. He can also dial it up to 96-97mph when needed. He was rolling at 7-2 last year before going out with cancer. He is going to be a staple of our rotation for years to come, and it’s gonna be fun to watch.

Other stuff that has had me talking…

This whole Schilling/Bonds ordeal. I love Schiller to death, and I know he likes to have the spotlight on himself, but man, why did he say that? Even worse, he didn’t even get his facts straight, nevermind that he talked about Bonds’ family and such. It was completely stupid, and I’m glad Curt apologized today on his blog. Maybe we can get this past us.

It all makes me now think of that mid-June series when the Giants visit the Red Sox. What kind of circus is it gonna be if Bonds is at 755 when he steps into Fenway(entirely possible at this point) on a day when Schilling is pitching? To be honest, it kinda scares me. I absolutely do not want one of my boys to go down I history as one that gave up the meatball to-end-all meatballs to Bonds. I just hope he breaks the record way before he gets to Boston or way after.

Currently Drinking: My dad’s own home-grown brew!

this is why we rock

And you wonder why people say that the SEC is the best football conference out there.