Saturday, May 31, 2008
Click to help me win!!
Link didn't work and that's ok. Thanks if you tried. I do have the new Weezer and overall it's real good. I haven't listened to it too much but the 1st 3 songs are real real good and am still working through the rest. www.weezer.com is a link and it has some previews of the songs if you like weezer you can get some pre sounds before you get it or not. Anyway, just wanted to get the links off since they didn't work.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
More Lakers Spurs
So before the Lakers wrap up the Western Conference tonight, I thought I would add a few thoughts from last game. These aren't necessarily my own opinions (I'll let you know when I am stealing them) but some are recycled from sports talk shows.
1st - The last play of the game 4: While it could have been called a foul and sent Barry to the line for 2 that could have tied the game, they made it a no call. This is where many people don't like the NBA with their no calls and star treatment. However, if you look at other leagues the same thing happens, especially in the NFL. Get a reputation as a shut down corner and holding and PI are not called etc. If you were unhappy about the last call then you should also be unhappy with the previous no call. (recycled opinion here) On the play where the ball got kicked out of bounds by Horry and left the Lakers 2 sec. on the shot clock, the ball actually hit the rim and the refs didn't get it. If the shot clock had been reset the Lakers would have had to have been fouled and that would have changed the ending.
2nd - (own opinion here) While Barry had a good game what in the H**** is he doing taking the final shot for the Spurs? Was Duncan unavailable for a 2 pointer to tie the game? Was the flying Frenchman not able to shoot? Even though Ginschnozley had a bad game, don't you want him shooting? Where was big shot Rob? So there are 4 options not including Bowen who actually hit 3's in the game and could have taken the last shot. Sooo, like the Spurs coaching staff, the fans need to take that and just realize you are slower, older, and just not as good as the team you are playing. I will give you this, the Spurs should be playing the Lakers in the Finals, not just the Western Finals as the East is Terrible.
GOOOO Lakers!!! (especially since the Dodgers are driving us crazy in Dodger town)
1st - The last play of the game 4: While it could have been called a foul and sent Barry to the line for 2 that could have tied the game, they made it a no call. This is where many people don't like the NBA with their no calls and star treatment. However, if you look at other leagues the same thing happens, especially in the NFL. Get a reputation as a shut down corner and holding and PI are not called etc. If you were unhappy about the last call then you should also be unhappy with the previous no call. (recycled opinion here) On the play where the ball got kicked out of bounds by Horry and left the Lakers 2 sec. on the shot clock, the ball actually hit the rim and the refs didn't get it. If the shot clock had been reset the Lakers would have had to have been fouled and that would have changed the ending.
2nd - (own opinion here) While Barry had a good game what in the H**** is he doing taking the final shot for the Spurs? Was Duncan unavailable for a 2 pointer to tie the game? Was the flying Frenchman not able to shoot? Even though Ginschnozley had a bad game, don't you want him shooting? Where was big shot Rob? So there are 4 options not including Bowen who actually hit 3's in the game and could have taken the last shot. Sooo, like the Spurs coaching staff, the fans need to take that and just realize you are slower, older, and just not as good as the team you are playing. I will give you this, the Spurs should be playing the Lakers in the Finals, not just the Western Finals as the East is Terrible.
GOOOO Lakers!!! (especially since the Dodgers are driving us crazy in Dodger town)
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Good follow up --
So in a follow up to last post about umpiring (or any type of officiating) I am already hearing complaints about the fouls or lack of fouls called during the Laker/ Spur game last night. If the Spurs fans are complaining about this explain how the referees made it possible for the Spurs to not be able to hit a basket. It's probably the same reasoning I was speaking up against at the TV with the refs missing calls against the Spurs and especially 2 Spurs - Duncan and Bowen (with the reputation as a great defender which means he can cheat and the refs don't call it). However I remembered my blog and my thoughts and knew the Lakers weren't down 20 because of the refs.
Spurs fans feel so slammed by people because they don't talk about the great team they have and all the championships they have won. I will give them that as truth. But, the refs didn't lose the game for you last night it was lack of shooting/converting the shots. Ask Manu G. what was worse, the 7 hour tarmac nap or the refs? I suppose that the NBA made sure their plane couldn't get parts as well to make sure they had the worst trip to LA possible.
Now, I love conspiracies and I am all too aware that the best finals match up is going to be LA Boston so I will pay attention to see if there is something going on but as for last night, chalk it up to the plane ride and not the refs!
Spurs fans feel so slammed by people because they don't talk about the great team they have and all the championships they have won. I will give them that as truth. But, the refs didn't lose the game for you last night it was lack of shooting/converting the shots. Ask Manu G. what was worse, the 7 hour tarmac nap or the refs? I suppose that the NBA made sure their plane couldn't get parts as well to make sure they had the worst trip to LA possible.
Now, I love conspiracies and I am all too aware that the best finals match up is going to be LA Boston so I will pay attention to see if there is something going on but as for last night, chalk it up to the plane ride and not the refs!
Friday, May 16, 2008
2 takes on umpires
So I umpired last night and then I felt I should update my whatever this is so I thought I would present my two viewpoints on it: 1. as an umpire and 2. as fan or coach.
1. As an umpire (at least in little league) I try to have a liberal strike zone because no one benefits from an 80 walk game. However, it is hard to stay consistent so I find myself tightening the zone a bit from what I initially thought I would have. I have to keep some things in mind and just be the umpire because I want to do the following:
Coach - tell the catcher he is too far back (this not only causes more pass balls but makes it harder for me to call accurate balls and strikes), tell the batter to move off the plate or closer to the plate as I see issues there. Then, I want to call strikes no matter where the ball is when there is a batter that ducks on pitches an inch inside or backs out on every pitch (I have these same kids on my team as well) to teach them to stay in and try and hit. However I resist these temptations and relish when it actually is a strike.
Be a Jerk - Not to the kid and this is what saves me but, when a coach is doing the passive aggressive arguing I want to call everything against him.
Also, the league we umpire which is farm, umpires our games so I have seen coaches that umpired our game and did horrible and I want to return the favor. But, again, I don't. Like last night, one of the assistant coaches was an umpire for one of our games and some of the aggregious things he did were to stand 5 feet behind the catcher as he called balls and strikes - he said I don't have a cup on so I want to stay safe. Unbelievable! The second would be to make calls before the play or pitch was over. Calling strikes before they crossed the plate etc. Oh, and, on a ground ball on the foul line he called it foul as the ball was still rolling and not picked up. It was close to the line and the field had a wierd baseline that was lower than the grass surrounding it so it could have gone back fair. It didn't but came within an inch of being on the line.
1A. Now umpiring is not easy and in baseball there are so many rules and in little league they add more so knowing everything is impossible. I have a respect for umpires that you can tell give an honest hard effort. I just don't like the guy with the "Hey I'm just a volunteer" attitude. We are all volunteers buddy. Still do the most you can.
2. Coach - As long as they are consistent I am fine. If I hardly remember the umpire: Great Job! But, I have on occasion not really liked an ump as I felt the kids were shorted opportunities to learn and progress because of the effort put in.
3. Fan - I am way harder on officials as a fan. If an umpire will consult with his comrades or even admit to a blown call that's way better than the guy with the I am the official and my word is law.
So, in summary - If I never had to umpire again, I would be fine with that. I know and try to remind myself and players that the official doesn't make or break a game (with a few exceptions Tim Donague (sp)). Even with bad calls I can usually pick out a ton of errors the team made the if not made would have added to our score or taken from their score. If you ever wondered what I think now you know. But you didn't and you still know.
1. As an umpire (at least in little league) I try to have a liberal strike zone because no one benefits from an 80 walk game. However, it is hard to stay consistent so I find myself tightening the zone a bit from what I initially thought I would have. I have to keep some things in mind and just be the umpire because I want to do the following:
Coach - tell the catcher he is too far back (this not only causes more pass balls but makes it harder for me to call accurate balls and strikes), tell the batter to move off the plate or closer to the plate as I see issues there. Then, I want to call strikes no matter where the ball is when there is a batter that ducks on pitches an inch inside or backs out on every pitch (I have these same kids on my team as well) to teach them to stay in and try and hit. However I resist these temptations and relish when it actually is a strike.
Be a Jerk - Not to the kid and this is what saves me but, when a coach is doing the passive aggressive arguing I want to call everything against him.
Also, the league we umpire which is farm, umpires our games so I have seen coaches that umpired our game and did horrible and I want to return the favor. But, again, I don't. Like last night, one of the assistant coaches was an umpire for one of our games and some of the aggregious things he did were to stand 5 feet behind the catcher as he called balls and strikes - he said I don't have a cup on so I want to stay safe. Unbelievable! The second would be to make calls before the play or pitch was over. Calling strikes before they crossed the plate etc. Oh, and, on a ground ball on the foul line he called it foul as the ball was still rolling and not picked up. It was close to the line and the field had a wierd baseline that was lower than the grass surrounding it so it could have gone back fair. It didn't but came within an inch of being on the line.
1A. Now umpiring is not easy and in baseball there are so many rules and in little league they add more so knowing everything is impossible. I have a respect for umpires that you can tell give an honest hard effort. I just don't like the guy with the "Hey I'm just a volunteer" attitude. We are all volunteers buddy. Still do the most you can.
2. Coach - As long as they are consistent I am fine. If I hardly remember the umpire: Great Job! But, I have on occasion not really liked an ump as I felt the kids were shorted opportunities to learn and progress because of the effort put in.
3. Fan - I am way harder on officials as a fan. If an umpire will consult with his comrades or even admit to a blown call that's way better than the guy with the I am the official and my word is law.
So, in summary - If I never had to umpire again, I would be fine with that. I know and try to remind myself and players that the official doesn't make or break a game (with a few exceptions Tim Donague (sp)). Even with bad calls I can usually pick out a ton of errors the team made the if not made would have added to our score or taken from their score. If you ever wondered what I think now you know. But you didn't and you still know.
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