Fading Sun?

I'm torn.

Steve Nash is one of my favorite athletes of all time. He's hilarious, incredibly talented, supremely intelligent, very classy, well spoken, and has defied all the odds to become one of the most respected players in the league. I feel honored to have had him on my team the past 8 years.

So what happens now that he is becoming a free agent? He's been quoted recently saying he will leave Phoenix if they do not make improvements and showed interest in playing with the Heat.

Obviously I would like him to stay but I understand completely should he decide to leave. The only thing he lacks is a championship and the Suns, at this point in time, don't have a real shot at giving that to him. He has preserved himself incredibly for his age, but let's be honest; his time is fading.

Does he take less money and pursue a championship while "selling out" to the hometown fans? Or does he cap off an amazing career by getting paid and "going down with the ship" (without a 'Ship...)

Normally I would have a strong opinion about a matter just as this but this time its different.

Steve should do whatever Steve wants to do.

He deserves it. In the end, that's what's going to happen anyways.

I will always root for Steve Nash no matter what he decides.

Playing Catch(up)

During one of my classes a couple week ago we had the privilege of listening to Dave Burns of Sports Radio 620 KTAR. He talked about not being able to take breaks on Saturdays because he'd be behind the eight ball and be out of the loop later on. That's how I feel after taking a week-long break from writing anything during spring break.

Payton has a new home in Denver, Tebow's a Jet, there were several upsets and now the Final Four, several trades took place in the NBA, and the Saints lost their head coach for the year.

If you don't keep your head buried in the sports sand you might miss a thing or two.

I mean, I stopped watching Sportscenter for a few days a couple months back and then didn't even know who Jeremy Lin was after he had started two games...

The sports world is becoming as ADD as the rest of the media world. Someone posts a clever video on Youtube that gets 50,000,000 views in a week then no one talks about it again cause there is something better and newer to talk about 3 seconds later.

If you duck your head down and take a break from what is happening in sports, the minute you come up for air you will be completely lost.

I won't duck my head any more.

Madness

March is a great time. Spring training starts, the weather starts warming up, I get a birthday party...

And oh yeah- The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament begins.

Every year people put their sports knowledge to the test to try and correctly guess the result of 64 basketball games. It's basically impossible to do so, but the joy is in the chase in this case. To correctly guess the final four, or the national champion is a feat in and of itself,

Which is why it is always entertaining when those who predict the most accurate bracket happen do do it by pure chance- whether its random or they base it in mascots or jersey colors. Anyone can be an expert in March because even the experts are proved wrong.

Everyone loves a Cinderella story. It's hard to choose upsets. On paper there's no way some teams should beat certain teams, but paper doesn't matter when the game is on the line.

I think I enjoy the tournament so much because it gives me someone to root for in every game. I am invested in each game because I have a desired outcome. In any other game or sport, if my team us not playing I am indifferent or even uninterested because I couldn't care less about the outcome. That is all different in NCAA Men's hoops.

Try your hand at it. If you've never done a bracket before here's how and here's where. Believe me, you'll get interested in the games real fast.

Payton

I don't really know what the Colts think they are doing. They sent pretty much the only piece of their team that made them competitive packing. They saw what happened this past 2011-2012 season without him and decided they want to make a habit of it? That doesn't make sense.

To put all of your eggs in one basket is just ridiculous. Andrew Luck was a phenomenal college QB, but college players don't always live up to expectations. I mean, look at Tim Tebow. Maybe the opposite of Tebow's story will happen to Luck. You never know.

I wouldn't mind seeing Manning in a Cardinals jersey, but I don't think that's where he'll end up- even though there are some out there who think there's a chance he'll go to Arizona.

We'll just have to sit back and relive "the decision" all over again. I just hope Manning doesn't get "burned" like LeBron did for his choice...

New MLB Playoffs?

So Major League Baseball has switched things up when it comes to the Postseason this year. Instead of the normal 8 teams that make it to the playoffs, there are now ten teams that make it.

I have decided that I don't like it. Having 2 wild card teams in each league play a 1 game playoff to face the division champ with the best record cheapens the hard work put into a long arduous season of baseball. 

Maybe if the two wild card teams played a 3 game playoff I would feel a little better about it, but I really don't see 1 extra game as "making it to the post season". I would honestly hate it if my team played 162 games and won the (1st) league wild card only to play one more game and be kicked out of the playoffs if they lose. Baseball is much too unpredictable a game for anything to be decided by just one game. 

But why do I think this way?... my team (the D-backs) just barely won the NL West and I truly enjoyed being part of the playoff picture. This new setup just increases the team's chances of going to the 'ship every season. I understand why MLB did it, this will keep more fans invested for a longer period of time. 

 I like the idea of more teams going to the playoffs, I just don't like the idea of cheapening regular season play. Non-baseball fans complain that each game doesn't mean much- this just fuels their argument's fire. 

Yeah everyone will say "win your division and you won't have to worry about that ONE game". Well you can't always win your division and I think being the winner of the 1st wildcard is much more respectable than the runner up wildcard. 

Maybe it's just because of the abruptness of this change that the wild card playoff is one game instead of three, but Bud Selig should definitely consider changing that aspect in 2013 and beyond.

Life Dreams

Ever since the 5th grade I've had the goal of visiting every US State in my lifetime. That has thus since been replaced by a different endeavor:

 Visit every MLB stadium.

 It's the perfect plan- baseball's season is during the summer when I can take vacation time, many of the stadiums in the east have ballparks with geographic locations near each other (some cities even have multiple teams), and essentially it'll help me visit every state!

 I came up with this idea when I realized I had been to more basketball arenas that I had baseball. I've been to US Airways Center, Energy Solutions Arena, and wherever the Wizards play). I've only been to Chase Field (formally known as Bank One Ballpark) and whatever the Giants' stadium is called now (it was SBC stadium at the time).

The idea further took shape as I visited Buffalo, NY this past summer and realized I was 1 1/2 hours away from 3 or 4 different stadiums. It solidified when I saw a documentary right before the All Star Game in Phoenix (which I attended) about two guys who drove to every ballpark and visited every stadium in less than a two month span. I wanted to do what they did, but across a longer span of time.

 Just think of baseball. All the history. All the tradition. All the rich culture. I want to experience all of that. That is why these are the first two picture entries of my bucket list journey. Twenty eight more picture to come...

Chase Field 2011

SBC Park (now AT&T Park) 2004