Hi loyal readers of the Sin Bin. I am the newest contributor so KG doesn't have to bear the full load of writing all the time. I think too this will make it easier on him and we can get the traffic up by potentially doubling the posts of the Sin Bin.
My name is Alyson as Kevin pointed out in his introduction. I met KG freshman year at GU and we bonded over our love of the Avalanche, pro wrestling and other things. We have watched plenty of games together and imbibed our fair share of adult beverages.
Unlike KG, I do like basketball and baseball which should be fun to post more on those sports for the site. I am an avid fantasy sports fan and play the four major sports which KG does play hockey and football in the leagues I run. My favorite teams are the Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Supersonics(the Thunder do not exist in my mind), Boston Red Sox whom I liked before they were trendy, and of course the Colorado Avalanche. I will post witty fair minded assessments of teams and players and the occasional hater post on someone like Kobe Bryant. Looking forward to the fun future ahead.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
New Member of The Sin Bin
After almost a year of writing this blog, I've decided that it might be a fun thing to add another point of view to the site. So, I'm adding a friend of mine as a contributor. I've known this person since college, and have always enjoyed some great sports banter with. We've always had a pretty good connection, and share an obsession with the Colorado Avalanche because it is the right thing to do!
I'm sure that the two of us will be commenting on each others blogs as blogs as we go along, and will include some banter and debate between the two of us. I definitely see that happening a lot once football season comes about, and we will compete with our picks.
So, without further ado, I introduce my good friend, A-Mac! She'll be posting as we go along, and will give herself her own intro very shortly. So, I hope you enjoy this addition to The Sin Bin!
I'm sure that the two of us will be commenting on each others blogs as blogs as we go along, and will include some banter and debate between the two of us. I definitely see that happening a lot once football season comes about, and we will compete with our picks.
So, without further ado, I introduce my good friend, A-Mac! She'll be posting as we go along, and will give herself her own intro very shortly. So, I hope you enjoy this addition to The Sin Bin!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Golf Journal: Littleton Golf & Tennis Club
I went out golfing today with my buddy Scott at the Littleton Golf & Tennis Club. It was a very fun day, and quite interesting for me, as I have never played this course before. When I got there, I was kind of surprised to find that this was not your regular old par 72 championship golf course. This was a par 63, executive golf course. Still a full 18 holes though, which was nice.
Now, this was a much better round from my last time out. Best of all, I had my own clubs. Now, I wasn't terribly certain how much of a difference my own clubs would actually make while I was playing, but I felt so much more comfortable today than I did in Alaska that it was crazy, and it showed right away. First hole, which was a mere 283 yard par 4, I nailed my 3 wood straight down the middle of the fairway, and hit my pitching wedge into the green. It landed about 5 - 8 feet from the hole, and had the greens been softer, wouldn't have rolled off. Quick two putt to par the first hole. I was a bit surprised.
The other thing that made me so much happier about playing with my own clubs was hitting MY driver. I don't know what it is about these Taylor Made Burner Drivers, but I hit that thing so straight that I can hardly believe that it is me hitting it. It is so nice to have that kind of confidence off of the tee. Granted, I don't hit things very far, still, but it is nice to feel like I can put it in the fairway every single time.
High point of the day came on the only par 5 on the front 9, yes there was another one on the back. I was laying 2 in a pretty good position, and just didn't quite get all of my 3rd shot and landed about 15 yard from the green. So I pulled out my pitching wedge, chipped it up, thought that I had hit it way too hard until I saw where it was going. My mood changed quite a bit as it fell down for a birdie 4. That was my only birdie of the day, but what a way to get it. I had a few more pars, and shot a 39 on the front. Don't get too excited, remember that this is a par 63 course. Par on the front was 31, but still respectable. I was a bit more inconsistent, especially with my putting, on the back 9, but still finished with a 41 on the back (which was a par 32). Grand total of 80. Again, this would be way more exciting if I was on a par 72 championship course, but 80 is +17 on the par 63 course. So that roughly translates an 89, very roughly, if you were to go 17 over on a par 72 championship course. Either way, I still felt very good about the day.
The only bad thing was my putting today. I had some good holes, but the greens were very tricky and totally owned me. Some of the greens were faster than others, and then there were quite a few that I just plain misread. There were quite a few 3 putts that I could have easily eliminated simply by making a stinking 2 foot putt, but I guess that's why people practice.
This is probably going to be one of my last rounds for a while as my wife and I will be moving down to the Springs pretty soon here and money is definitely tight. Hopefully there will be some folks in the Springs that can help me find a reasonably affordable place to golf. All in all, great day, and hopefully I will be able to get out again soon. Any tips or advice on places to play, in Colorado, or anywhere, would be great! I do love to travel.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
The World Cup Finale!!
Well, now that I'm writing pretty consistently again, I figure I should go ahead and actually say something about this one. So, allow me to begin!
First, to all Americans who hear people around the world to refer to the game as football, and then try to correct them, please stop. We are the only country in the world, except for possibly Canada, that refers to this as soccer. Just live with it and accept it as one of life's funny little quirks, or just another self-serving reason that you give yourself as to why America is "better" than everybody else. Settled? Awesome!
Next, I have to say that I never really liked soccer all that much until I went on a trip in high school. It was 1998, and I was part of People to People Student Ambassadors. For any of you who don't know about that program, you can check out that link, but it is essentially a way to get youth in the states to get a chance to visit other countries and experience a culture other than their own. Well, part of my experience was a home stay in the Netherlands. This, I hardly need to remind you, was right in the middle of the World Cup that year! As part of my experience, my host sister brought me to one of the local pubs to watch the round of 16 game between the Netherlands and Yugoslavia. Again, I had never watched soccer before in my life, but the intensity of everybody was insane! I loved the game, and have, ever since, been at least a casual fan of soccer, a fan of Dutch soccer, and have stopped bashing it as a boring game. It is not boring in the least. So that's my back story.
Now, this year we have heard a lot of things about the World Cup, mostly revolving around the horrible officiating, and the ridiculous gamesmanship (I mean come on, what a panzy play to just flop like that. Let's introduce that guy to Bob Probert, give him a reason to flop like that) but we have also been treated to some great games. Both Semi-final matches were incredible! The Dutch score fest and Uruguay rally, followed by an amazing nail biter between Spain and Germany. That is what the World Cup should be remembered for, not insanely botched calls that have a long lasting effect on the game. Luckily, the great play has been towards the finale, which will leave a longer lasting memory in our minds, in my opinion.
As for the final itself, I have to stick with my heart. I have loved the Dutch ever since I visited the Netherlands, so I am going to say that the Orange Crush will win the day, and capture their first World Cup Championship ever.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!
Had to be done.
First, to all Americans who hear people around the world to refer to the game as football, and then try to correct them, please stop. We are the only country in the world, except for possibly Canada, that refers to this as soccer. Just live with it and accept it as one of life's funny little quirks, or just another self-serving reason that you give yourself as to why America is "better" than everybody else. Settled? Awesome!
Next, I have to say that I never really liked soccer all that much until I went on a trip in high school. It was 1998, and I was part of People to People Student Ambassadors. For any of you who don't know about that program, you can check out that link, but it is essentially a way to get youth in the states to get a chance to visit other countries and experience a culture other than their own. Well, part of my experience was a home stay in the Netherlands. This, I hardly need to remind you, was right in the middle of the World Cup that year! As part of my experience, my host sister brought me to one of the local pubs to watch the round of 16 game between the Netherlands and Yugoslavia. Again, I had never watched soccer before in my life, but the intensity of everybody was insane! I loved the game, and have, ever since, been at least a casual fan of soccer, a fan of Dutch soccer, and have stopped bashing it as a boring game. It is not boring in the least. So that's my back story.
Now, this year we have heard a lot of things about the World Cup, mostly revolving around the horrible officiating, and the ridiculous gamesmanship (I mean come on, what a panzy play to just flop like that. Let's introduce that guy to Bob Probert, give him a reason to flop like that) but we have also been treated to some great games. Both Semi-final matches were incredible! The Dutch score fest and Uruguay rally, followed by an amazing nail biter between Spain and Germany. That is what the World Cup should be remembered for, not insanely botched calls that have a long lasting effect on the game. Luckily, the great play has been towards the finale, which will leave a longer lasting memory in our minds, in my opinion.
As for the final itself, I have to stick with my heart. I have loved the Dutch ever since I visited the Netherlands, so I am going to say that the Orange Crush will win the day, and capture their first World Cup Championship ever.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!
Had to be done.
Bob Probert, King of the Rink
About a week ago, there was very sad news in the world of sports. Bob Probert, best known for his time with the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks, passed away at the age of 45.
First, let's back up. Bob Probert, outside of the NHL, is not a well known individual. Bob Probert is remembered as possibly, and in my opinion as well, the greatest NHL enforcer in the history of the game. This guy never backed down from anybody, and you knew to watch yourself when he was on the ice. Every other tough guy dreamed of fighting Probert because if you could last against him, I don't say beat him, because nobody really beat Probert, then you knew that you were worth your salt. All you need to do is read this story and listen to the remarks of other enforcers who played with him or against him to see how respected he was. Most fans probably hated him, unless he played for your guys, but every single player seems to speak well of him.
Strangely enough, I have a couple of Bob Probert stories! None from my own point of view, but second hand, from some of my acquaintances and friends. Firstly, I heard about this story when I was playing golf up in Anchorage last week. One of the guys I was playing with, a friend of my father in law, used to play summer league hockey. He once fought Bob Probert in a summer league. Yes, he lived to tell the tale, but he said that he definitely felt silly for going with him once things were all done. The other story I have comes from one of my very good friends in Alaska. He used to be a goalie and played for some of the under 18 US teams. He was quite a sought after prospect, but had a career ending knee injury. He was telling a story of a time they were in Detroit and were practicing right after the Red Wings. Probert was still on the ice when he got out and was warming up. There was some playful banter, that ended with Probert betting him that he couldn't stop his slap shot. My friend agreed. Probert came up, took his shot, and shot the puck directly THROUGH his catching glove. More banter. "I caught it." "No you didn't, it went right through!" In the end, Probert caught up with him after practice, and handed him a couple of hundred dollars, "to get a new mit," according to Probert. In both our opinions, not only just because he ruined his catching glove, but because he respected that an 18 year old kid could catch an NHL slap shot. And that is something that you could never deny about Probert. He respected the game, and the people that play it. Sure, he knocked people's heads off, but he knew when it was and wasn't appropriate to fight. And, as you see in the videos, there are a couple of times when his opponents fall to their knees for a second and he could seriously clobber them, and he doesn't. He lets them get back up.
As a fan, I hated his guts because he always beat up the goon on my team, but as a guy who appreciates hockey and the sheer toughness and determination the game takes, you can't help but respect and appreciate what Bob Probert did for the game.
RIP, Bob Probert
First, let's back up. Bob Probert, outside of the NHL, is not a well known individual. Bob Probert is remembered as possibly, and in my opinion as well, the greatest NHL enforcer in the history of the game. This guy never backed down from anybody, and you knew to watch yourself when he was on the ice. Every other tough guy dreamed of fighting Probert because if you could last against him, I don't say beat him, because nobody really beat Probert, then you knew that you were worth your salt. All you need to do is read this story and listen to the remarks of other enforcers who played with him or against him to see how respected he was. Most fans probably hated him, unless he played for your guys, but every single player seems to speak well of him.
Strangely enough, I have a couple of Bob Probert stories! None from my own point of view, but second hand, from some of my acquaintances and friends. Firstly, I heard about this story when I was playing golf up in Anchorage last week. One of the guys I was playing with, a friend of my father in law, used to play summer league hockey. He once fought Bob Probert in a summer league. Yes, he lived to tell the tale, but he said that he definitely felt silly for going with him once things were all done. The other story I have comes from one of my very good friends in Alaska. He used to be a goalie and played for some of the under 18 US teams. He was quite a sought after prospect, but had a career ending knee injury. He was telling a story of a time they were in Detroit and were practicing right after the Red Wings. Probert was still on the ice when he got out and was warming up. There was some playful banter, that ended with Probert betting him that he couldn't stop his slap shot. My friend agreed. Probert came up, took his shot, and shot the puck directly THROUGH his catching glove. More banter. "I caught it." "No you didn't, it went right through!" In the end, Probert caught up with him after practice, and handed him a couple of hundred dollars, "to get a new mit," according to Probert. In both our opinions, not only just because he ruined his catching glove, but because he respected that an 18 year old kid could catch an NHL slap shot. And that is something that you could never deny about Probert. He respected the game, and the people that play it. Sure, he knocked people's heads off, but he knew when it was and wasn't appropriate to fight. And, as you see in the videos, there are a couple of times when his opponents fall to their knees for a second and he could seriously clobber them, and he doesn't. He lets them get back up.
As a fan, I hated his guts because he always beat up the goon on my team, but as a guy who appreciates hockey and the sheer toughness and determination the game takes, you can't help but respect and appreciate what Bob Probert did for the game.
RIP, Bob Probert
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Miami Bound
So, after a gigantic circus and everybody saying he's going to go here, he's going to go there, we now finally know that LeBron James is heading to Miami. Now, I don't personally care because I'm not really a huge basketball fan, but it is worth talking about.
This season we really began to learn a lot about the real LeBron James. For years, all people could do was talk about how perfectly he has handled everything, but then some things began happening. It all really started when LeBron got dunked on at his own skills camp. Suddenly nobody is allowed to see it, all the tapes are seized, and we have to watch things from way behind the action and can barely tell that it's him anyways. Rumblings of primma donna syndrome begin. But, can we tell that it's actually James, or was it Nike making sure that their golden boy is not publicly shown up, so we kinda let it go.
Then, all they hype about his contract year. We see all this stuff with Jay-Z and LeBron, everybody start talking about how LeBron is totally going to go to New York and be with his boy Jay-Z. But the worst part about things didn't come until the playoffs where LeBron pretty much quit on his team against the Celtics. After he got eliminated, started talking about his "team", refer to a previous blog post I wrote right after the Cavs were eliminated, talking about the offseason. Said he hadn't thought about the offseason, but had already made comments to people about wanting to be the highest paid free agent EVER. Clearly, he's not referring to the Cavs when talking about his team.
Then, all the hoopla. I mean, it makes sense that he didn't decide on the first day of free agency. He knew that he absolutely had the power in all of this. Nobody is disputing that, this whole hour long special on ESPN to announce something that would take a grand total of 20 seconds. I mean, what happened to the kid who accepted his first NBA MVP trophy back at his high school? All of this doesn't project somebody who is playing because he loves to play. This is all showing people a ham who wants to stay in the center of the spotlight for as long as humanly possible, knowing that he has everybody at his beck and call.
At any rate, we FINALLY learned that LeBron is going to Miami, who just signed Chris Bosh and re-signed Dwayne Wade. This is definitely one of the most potent combinations to come into the NBA..well, ever. The last time there was a group this potent, just the group of 3, had to be Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippin, and Tony Kukoc. Obviously you have to favor the Heat in the Eastern Conference with these three guys leading the way. But again, I don't really care.
Obviously, lots of people in Cleveland are going to be absolutely livid about this. And you just have to feel bad for Cleveland. I mean, if it wasn't for Michael Jordan, the Cavs probably would have had like 3-5 titles in their chest. The Browns get moved, and then come back as pretty much the NFL's whipping boys, LeBron comes and gets the Cavs so close to winning titles, and then up and leaves them. He says that Akron will always be home, but really, I don't think his home will be very welcoming whenever he does decide to come back. But, at least we know, and we can stop making a huge deal about this. I mean, why talk about this when we can all agonize and annoy each other over whether or not Brett Favre will come back?
This season we really began to learn a lot about the real LeBron James. For years, all people could do was talk about how perfectly he has handled everything, but then some things began happening. It all really started when LeBron got dunked on at his own skills camp. Suddenly nobody is allowed to see it, all the tapes are seized, and we have to watch things from way behind the action and can barely tell that it's him anyways. Rumblings of primma donna syndrome begin. But, can we tell that it's actually James, or was it Nike making sure that their golden boy is not publicly shown up, so we kinda let it go.
Then, all they hype about his contract year. We see all this stuff with Jay-Z and LeBron, everybody start talking about how LeBron is totally going to go to New York and be with his boy Jay-Z. But the worst part about things didn't come until the playoffs where LeBron pretty much quit on his team against the Celtics. After he got eliminated, started talking about his "team", refer to a previous blog post I wrote right after the Cavs were eliminated, talking about the offseason. Said he hadn't thought about the offseason, but had already made comments to people about wanting to be the highest paid free agent EVER. Clearly, he's not referring to the Cavs when talking about his team.
Then, all the hoopla. I mean, it makes sense that he didn't decide on the first day of free agency. He knew that he absolutely had the power in all of this. Nobody is disputing that, this whole hour long special on ESPN to announce something that would take a grand total of 20 seconds. I mean, what happened to the kid who accepted his first NBA MVP trophy back at his high school? All of this doesn't project somebody who is playing because he loves to play. This is all showing people a ham who wants to stay in the center of the spotlight for as long as humanly possible, knowing that he has everybody at his beck and call.
At any rate, we FINALLY learned that LeBron is going to Miami, who just signed Chris Bosh and re-signed Dwayne Wade. This is definitely one of the most potent combinations to come into the NBA..well, ever. The last time there was a group this potent, just the group of 3, had to be Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippin, and Tony Kukoc. Obviously you have to favor the Heat in the Eastern Conference with these three guys leading the way. But again, I don't really care.
Obviously, lots of people in Cleveland are going to be absolutely livid about this. And you just have to feel bad for Cleveland. I mean, if it wasn't for Michael Jordan, the Cavs probably would have had like 3-5 titles in their chest. The Browns get moved, and then come back as pretty much the NFL's whipping boys, LeBron comes and gets the Cavs so close to winning titles, and then up and leaves them. He says that Akron will always be home, but really, I don't think his home will be very welcoming whenever he does decide to come back. But, at least we know, and we can stop making a huge deal about this. I mean, why talk about this when we can all agonize and annoy each other over whether or not Brett Favre will come back?
Monday, July 5, 2010
Golf Journal: Eagle Glen
I played Eagle Glen today, up in Anchorage, Alaska. It was my first round of 18 holes this year, and I didn't really feel that great. I shot a 107 which, by my standards at the moment, isn't all that bad, but I feel I could have done better. A few things were not to my advantage right away.
First, I had never played the course before, and right away I was caught guessing on the first hole, not knowing exactly where the multiple water hazards were. Second, I had to rent clubs. My wife and I traveled up to Alaska from Denver, and I wasn't able to bring my clubs with me. For a great portion of the day I just didn't feel great about how I was lined up, and how the clubs felt. I don't think I would have done a great deal better with my own clubs, but there is definitely something to say for familiarity. Third, right from the get go, the group in front of us was really slow. I'm usually not one that gets fussy about the group in front of you playing a bit slow, but these guys were ridiculous. On pretty much the whole front 9, they let their kids, there were 2 young kids, play a good deal of the holes. Not to anybody teaching their kid the game of golf, good for you, but teaching them how to swing is something you should do on the driving range, not on the 18 hole course. The last thing didn't really happen until hole 14, but on this par 3, I caught my tee shot fat, and it felt like my body was still trying to go through, but the club caught in the ground. My back felt kinda weird the entire rest of the round, and still does.
Other than that, there were some good things. My short game was alright. Most specifically, my putting was quite good. I made a few pretty long distance puts, a few great pars, but the greens were a bit slow and choppy. The balls hopped a lot. At the end, one of the guys I was playing with said his round would have been quite a few strokes better if he had me putting for him. That felt nice. I had some really bad fortune on a couple holes, just plain stunk a few others, and then played a few really well. This is all part of the consistency issue that I'm hoping I'll eventually be able to overcome. I managed to get a par on probably the longest par 5 on the course, where my second shot just managed to get over the creek, took a bit of an extra bound, thanks to the cart path, and sat up for me in the rough. Hit my third shot just off the green, pitched to about 3 feet, and putted it right in. The things that bring ya back!
Perhaps my favorite quote of the day was my father in law cursing the creek on the long par 5. He said that he's never gotten less than a 10 on that hole, and, after putting a couple in the creek from not far away, could probably be heard back in the clubhouse yelling "I HATE THIS HOLE!" I had done not so much better the hole before, knocking two into the creek and getting a 10.
All in all, it was a great day. Gorgeous weather, good company, a bit frustrating. I definitely felt a bit cranky with the really slow group in front of us, and crankiness can affect me. I'll be interested to see how I do the next time I get out for 18. It will be in Colorado, and it will be with my own clubs. Hopefully that will help my confidence and comfort level. But who knows. I'm certain that I will still suck, but will hopefully be able to get out of the 100s. Until next time!
First, I had never played the course before, and right away I was caught guessing on the first hole, not knowing exactly where the multiple water hazards were. Second, I had to rent clubs. My wife and I traveled up to Alaska from Denver, and I wasn't able to bring my clubs with me. For a great portion of the day I just didn't feel great about how I was lined up, and how the clubs felt. I don't think I would have done a great deal better with my own clubs, but there is definitely something to say for familiarity. Third, right from the get go, the group in front of us was really slow. I'm usually not one that gets fussy about the group in front of you playing a bit slow, but these guys were ridiculous. On pretty much the whole front 9, they let their kids, there were 2 young kids, play a good deal of the holes. Not to anybody teaching their kid the game of golf, good for you, but teaching them how to swing is something you should do on the driving range, not on the 18 hole course. The last thing didn't really happen until hole 14, but on this par 3, I caught my tee shot fat, and it felt like my body was still trying to go through, but the club caught in the ground. My back felt kinda weird the entire rest of the round, and still does.
Other than that, there were some good things. My short game was alright. Most specifically, my putting was quite good. I made a few pretty long distance puts, a few great pars, but the greens were a bit slow and choppy. The balls hopped a lot. At the end, one of the guys I was playing with said his round would have been quite a few strokes better if he had me putting for him. That felt nice. I had some really bad fortune on a couple holes, just plain stunk a few others, and then played a few really well. This is all part of the consistency issue that I'm hoping I'll eventually be able to overcome. I managed to get a par on probably the longest par 5 on the course, where my second shot just managed to get over the creek, took a bit of an extra bound, thanks to the cart path, and sat up for me in the rough. Hit my third shot just off the green, pitched to about 3 feet, and putted it right in. The things that bring ya back!
Perhaps my favorite quote of the day was my father in law cursing the creek on the long par 5. He said that he's never gotten less than a 10 on that hole, and, after putting a couple in the creek from not far away, could probably be heard back in the clubhouse yelling "I HATE THIS HOLE!" I had done not so much better the hole before, knocking two into the creek and getting a 10.
All in all, it was a great day. Gorgeous weather, good company, a bit frustrating. I definitely felt a bit cranky with the really slow group in front of us, and crankiness can affect me. I'll be interested to see how I do the next time I get out for 18. It will be in Colorado, and it will be with my own clubs. Hopefully that will help my confidence and comfort level. But who knows. I'm certain that I will still suck, but will hopefully be able to get out of the 100s. Until next time!
Golfing Journal
"Golf is a nice walk spoiled." "When ancient man threw sticks on the ground and screamed unintelligible words, they called it witchcraft; when modren man does it, the call it golf." I think that most people can agree, golf is an acquired taste. A lot of people have a taste for it, a lot of people don't. I happen to have a taste for this game, and I enjoy it quite a lot. Something that I've decided to do as an addition to this blog, is to include my own journal about my experiences golfing.
When I first started golfing, I was a kid. A teenaged who didn't really like it when he wasn't good at something. Naturally, I both liked and hated golfing. I liked the challenge, but hated how bad I was. So naturally, the only thing to do was get better. Around college, I stopped playing. I like to try and pretend that it was because I was focusing on my studies and all that, but I think it was more because I knew how bad I was and didn't care to be reminded of it every time I went out. I did go a few times, saw the clubs in the basement and figured it was better to give them a little bit of use instead of just letting them sit there and collect dust. Let me back up a bit. There was actually a summer, I want to say right after my freshman year of college, where I was actually decent. My best round ever came in that summer, as well as what would have been my best round, had the damn lightning not come in. My best round ever was an 84. Honest to God, 84. Ever since then, I've been fighting to be able to break 90, and sometimes 100.
I think what first got me back into the game was my father in law. He is an avid golfer, and probably the most honest golfer that you will ever see. What he puts on his score card is absolutely, positively, exactly what he shot. He knows every rule there is, and applies every penalty that happens to a pro, to himself. He kind of sounds like the type that might really annoy people to golf with, and I suppose to some people, he might be, but I, personally, love golfing with him. You'd have to meet him to fully understand, but if you want a truly irreverant good time, then you'll have to play with him. True, he takes it seriously, and gets mad at himself, but both of you can't really help but laugh when he swears like crazy, and then the next hole it's like it never happened. I definitely felt more comfortable, knowing that if I wanted to just let an f-bomb fly when I got mad at myself, I could and it wouldn't matter. It started to help me relax. Since then, I have done my best to make sure that I go golfing with a buddy or a relative, somebody I'm comfortable with, which is really the best way to golf anyways, in good company.
I've been out a couple of times this summer, and am going with my father in law again tomorrow. Played a par 3 course with a friend of mine that I'm trying to teach the game, and a 9 hole executive course with my dad on father's day. Good company, nice and relaxing. I'm actually at a point where I can expect that I can shoot a few pars each time out. I'm excited to get out and play 18 for the first time this summer. My hope is that I can hit it in the 90s. Only issue is that I'm up in Alaska and don't have my own clubs. This is both good and bad. When you rent clubs from a place, you usually get some really nice clubs from the pro-shop, but it's hard to know. I'm quite comfortable with my clubs, especially my driver and my putter. It's hard to change those up. I'll let you know how things go.
To conclude my first entrance of this, I am a big fan of golfing. I think I've developed the right attitude towards approaching it, and just go to enjoy myself. As long as I'm enjoying myself, I'm sure I'll get better. My eventual goal, I want to get my actual handicap figured out, and move towards breaking 80. Long term goal, definitely, but I'm hopeful that it can happen.
See ya on the links!
When I first started golfing, I was a kid. A teenaged who didn't really like it when he wasn't good at something. Naturally, I both liked and hated golfing. I liked the challenge, but hated how bad I was. So naturally, the only thing to do was get better. Around college, I stopped playing. I like to try and pretend that it was because I was focusing on my studies and all that, but I think it was more because I knew how bad I was and didn't care to be reminded of it every time I went out. I did go a few times, saw the clubs in the basement and figured it was better to give them a little bit of use instead of just letting them sit there and collect dust. Let me back up a bit. There was actually a summer, I want to say right after my freshman year of college, where I was actually decent. My best round ever came in that summer, as well as what would have been my best round, had the damn lightning not come in. My best round ever was an 84. Honest to God, 84. Ever since then, I've been fighting to be able to break 90, and sometimes 100.
I think what first got me back into the game was my father in law. He is an avid golfer, and probably the most honest golfer that you will ever see. What he puts on his score card is absolutely, positively, exactly what he shot. He knows every rule there is, and applies every penalty that happens to a pro, to himself. He kind of sounds like the type that might really annoy people to golf with, and I suppose to some people, he might be, but I, personally, love golfing with him. You'd have to meet him to fully understand, but if you want a truly irreverant good time, then you'll have to play with him. True, he takes it seriously, and gets mad at himself, but both of you can't really help but laugh when he swears like crazy, and then the next hole it's like it never happened. I definitely felt more comfortable, knowing that if I wanted to just let an f-bomb fly when I got mad at myself, I could and it wouldn't matter. It started to help me relax. Since then, I have done my best to make sure that I go golfing with a buddy or a relative, somebody I'm comfortable with, which is really the best way to golf anyways, in good company.
I've been out a couple of times this summer, and am going with my father in law again tomorrow. Played a par 3 course with a friend of mine that I'm trying to teach the game, and a 9 hole executive course with my dad on father's day. Good company, nice and relaxing. I'm actually at a point where I can expect that I can shoot a few pars each time out. I'm excited to get out and play 18 for the first time this summer. My hope is that I can hit it in the 90s. Only issue is that I'm up in Alaska and don't have my own clubs. This is both good and bad. When you rent clubs from a place, you usually get some really nice clubs from the pro-shop, but it's hard to know. I'm quite comfortable with my clubs, especially my driver and my putter. It's hard to change those up. I'll let you know how things go.
To conclude my first entrance of this, I am a big fan of golfing. I think I've developed the right attitude towards approaching it, and just go to enjoy myself. As long as I'm enjoying myself, I'm sure I'll get better. My eventual goal, I want to get my actual handicap figured out, and move towards breaking 80. Long term goal, definitely, but I'm hopeful that it can happen.
See ya on the links!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Free Agency: NHL Style
I am definitely well aware of the fact that I am late on starting this, but that is not a problem. I must also apologize for not writing in quite a while. My wife and I have been quite busy moving. I got a new job up in Colorado, HOME STATE BABY!, and we have been quite busy packing and such. So that is why I have taken quite a while in updating this. So again, my apologies.
Now, I'm going to focus my attention on my hometown boys, the Colorado Avalanche, for the vast majority of this. Now, Greg Sherman, Avalanche GM, has made it abundantly clear that they are committed to a "build from within" style of management. Looking to "not take any shortcuts through trades or free agency." In general, I'm a fan of this idea, but there are some negatives. The good about it being that you are going to put your faith in your players, and allow them to prove themselves. You keep a core of guys together that you know work, and that ensures some great chemistry, and a pretty low payroll. We saw that promoting Joe Sacco was a great success for the Avs, as were many of the players that he brought up with him from Lake Eerie, the Avs AHL affiliate. The problem with this being that they are absolutely refusing to even consider making any signings out of free agency.
Don't get me wrong here, I understand the concept of not really wanting to shell out insane amounts of dollars to players that don't really deserve the contract, and I understand that the Avs have been guilty of that before (i.e. Ryan Smyth, Scott Hannan), but there were/are 2 players that I desperately wish the Avs had pursued during this time period. First, and most obviously, Ilya Kovalchuk. The Avs have slightly more than 30 million dollars worth of cap space this offseason, and could totally use a legit, all-star, sniper left wing that everybody has to pay attention to. Yes, his contract demands (10 million per year for 10-12 years) are pretty ridiculous, but the Avs are one of the teams out there that could actually afford this and still have some space left. I'd be happier with the whole 8 million a year for 8 years, but Kovy, and apparently the Avs, seem to have different plans. The other guy I really wanted, and is a totally moot point so I won't go too deep into it, was Anton Volchenkov. Just a beast of a shot blocking defensemen who is far more physical than any of the D-men we currently have on our roster. Oh well, I suppose that even though both of these guys are good LONG TERM options who are still quite young, Sherman believes that this is shortcutting, and would hurt the team in the long run. I call BS on that.
So far, 3 days into free agency, I'm most surprised at how crazily busy the Vancouver Cannucks have been. They have signed all kinds of folks, including coveted d-man Dan Hamhuis. This is a team that has won the NW division the last 2 seasons, and 3 out of the last 4 years. The NW is usually one of the most competitive in the NHL, and the Cannucks are showing that they realize this. I honestly think that they are the most likely to win it again, and have shown their fans that they are committed to getting better. What are the Avs showing? I'm not entirely certain yet. I'll let the year play out before I decide that this build from within strategy is bogus or not. But I can't imagine that the exact same guys are going to be THAT much better from one year to the next. Especially since we gave up so many shots last year, and Andy can't be as amazing as he was all the time. Eventually, he'll get tired of being peppered every single night.
So far, I give the Avs a D- for their performance during free agency.
Now, I'm going to focus my attention on my hometown boys, the Colorado Avalanche, for the vast majority of this. Now, Greg Sherman, Avalanche GM, has made it abundantly clear that they are committed to a "build from within" style of management. Looking to "not take any shortcuts through trades or free agency." In general, I'm a fan of this idea, but there are some negatives. The good about it being that you are going to put your faith in your players, and allow them to prove themselves. You keep a core of guys together that you know work, and that ensures some great chemistry, and a pretty low payroll. We saw that promoting Joe Sacco was a great success for the Avs, as were many of the players that he brought up with him from Lake Eerie, the Avs AHL affiliate. The problem with this being that they are absolutely refusing to even consider making any signings out of free agency.
Don't get me wrong here, I understand the concept of not really wanting to shell out insane amounts of dollars to players that don't really deserve the contract, and I understand that the Avs have been guilty of that before (i.e. Ryan Smyth, Scott Hannan), but there were/are 2 players that I desperately wish the Avs had pursued during this time period. First, and most obviously, Ilya Kovalchuk. The Avs have slightly more than 30 million dollars worth of cap space this offseason, and could totally use a legit, all-star, sniper left wing that everybody has to pay attention to. Yes, his contract demands (10 million per year for 10-12 years) are pretty ridiculous, but the Avs are one of the teams out there that could actually afford this and still have some space left. I'd be happier with the whole 8 million a year for 8 years, but Kovy, and apparently the Avs, seem to have different plans. The other guy I really wanted, and is a totally moot point so I won't go too deep into it, was Anton Volchenkov. Just a beast of a shot blocking defensemen who is far more physical than any of the D-men we currently have on our roster. Oh well, I suppose that even though both of these guys are good LONG TERM options who are still quite young, Sherman believes that this is shortcutting, and would hurt the team in the long run. I call BS on that.
So far, 3 days into free agency, I'm most surprised at how crazily busy the Vancouver Cannucks have been. They have signed all kinds of folks, including coveted d-man Dan Hamhuis. This is a team that has won the NW division the last 2 seasons, and 3 out of the last 4 years. The NW is usually one of the most competitive in the NHL, and the Cannucks are showing that they realize this. I honestly think that they are the most likely to win it again, and have shown their fans that they are committed to getting better. What are the Avs showing? I'm not entirely certain yet. I'll let the year play out before I decide that this build from within strategy is bogus or not. But I can't imagine that the exact same guys are going to be THAT much better from one year to the next. Especially since we gave up so many shots last year, and Andy can't be as amazing as he was all the time. Eventually, he'll get tired of being peppered every single night.
So far, I give the Avs a D- for their performance during free agency.
Friday, May 14, 2010
"king" James
Yeah, I think that's fitting. Because really, how is one truly a king if they have never fully made it to the mountain top? How is one truly a king if they quit on their team in the middle of a pivotal game in a series, and then not take their share of the blame after? To me, and to most people who have either watched sports or ever studied history, a king is a leader. Something that most people were always willing to say that Lebron James was, until recently.
After game 5, Lebron made a rather..., no an incredibly arrogant comment. "When you have 3 bad games in 7 years, it's easy to pick on them." No saying that he didn't play as hard as he needed to. No saying that it was on him for not picking his teammates up. No saying that he would work harder, and be better than anybody else for the rest of the year. Just saying, well what did you want me to do? Well, I bet most of your fans and the city of Cleveland wanted you to act like the leader that you think that you are, and play like you care more about winning a title than getting the highest bid in the offseason.
But there's the rub, that is the thing that he cares the most about. No, not the title, the being the most coveted free agent in his generation. Again, Yahoo Sports has been talking about this as well, and I have to agree with their take 110%. I watched clips of his post game interview, and a couple of times makes mention of approaching things with his "team", and implementing a game plan with his "team" over the summer. Now, to most people, they might think, "Oh, he's still planning to work things out with his team in Cleveland." But I don't think so. To him, his team is Team James. His agent and his "possee". This game plan regards free agency. If you even thought he cared about what happened in this game, just look at his body language during the post game interview. Questioned about the game and what happened, he almost deflects the questions. Little waves of the hand, as if to say the fact that they are now out of the playoffs is no big deal. But then quite serious when asked about his offseason plans. At one moment he says he hasn't really thought about it, but then makes a comment about how he and his "team" have a game plan that they want to execute. All of this paints the picture of a very different Lebron than most people are used to.
This Lebron is one that is, for lack of a better term, kind of a jerk. That kid from high school who has sort of had everything given to him on a silver platter, and knows that people will bow to his whims because he is capable of putting a ball in a basket. A prima donna who is more concerned about playing for the name on the back of the jersey, not the name on the front of the jersey. So, until he shows himself to be the kind of leader that made people call Wayne Gretzky The Great One, 4 time Stanley Cup Champion, that made people look up to Michael Jordan, 6 time NBA champion, and Magic Johnson, 5 time NBA champion, he'll always just be "king" James. Because the thing that all of those people have the Lebron doesn't, and that they all desperately wanted more than him, are championships. But only Lebron can decide what his priority is.
After game 5, Lebron made a rather..., no an incredibly arrogant comment. "When you have 3 bad games in 7 years, it's easy to pick on them." No saying that he didn't play as hard as he needed to. No saying that it was on him for not picking his teammates up. No saying that he would work harder, and be better than anybody else for the rest of the year. Just saying, well what did you want me to do? Well, I bet most of your fans and the city of Cleveland wanted you to act like the leader that you think that you are, and play like you care more about winning a title than getting the highest bid in the offseason.
But there's the rub, that is the thing that he cares the most about. No, not the title, the being the most coveted free agent in his generation. Again, Yahoo Sports has been talking about this as well, and I have to agree with their take 110%. I watched clips of his post game interview, and a couple of times makes mention of approaching things with his "team", and implementing a game plan with his "team" over the summer. Now, to most people, they might think, "Oh, he's still planning to work things out with his team in Cleveland." But I don't think so. To him, his team is Team James. His agent and his "possee". This game plan regards free agency. If you even thought he cared about what happened in this game, just look at his body language during the post game interview. Questioned about the game and what happened, he almost deflects the questions. Little waves of the hand, as if to say the fact that they are now out of the playoffs is no big deal. But then quite serious when asked about his offseason plans. At one moment he says he hasn't really thought about it, but then makes a comment about how he and his "team" have a game plan that they want to execute. All of this paints the picture of a very different Lebron than most people are used to.
This Lebron is one that is, for lack of a better term, kind of a jerk. That kid from high school who has sort of had everything given to him on a silver platter, and knows that people will bow to his whims because he is capable of putting a ball in a basket. A prima donna who is more concerned about playing for the name on the back of the jersey, not the name on the front of the jersey. So, until he shows himself to be the kind of leader that made people call Wayne Gretzky The Great One, 4 time Stanley Cup Champion, that made people look up to Michael Jordan, 6 time NBA champion, and Magic Johnson, 5 time NBA champion, he'll always just be "king" James. Because the thing that all of those people have the Lebron doesn't, and that they all desperately wanted more than him, are championships. But only Lebron can decide what his priority is.
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