Avoiding Temption

Josh Hamilton has to be one of the smartest men in Major League Baseball. I read a story last night that talked about the Rangers winning their division. Of course, following this victory, there was the customary drenching of the locker room with champagne. Now, most of you may know that Hamilton is a recovering alcoholic. Many years of drug and alcohol abuse hindered his career, but once he finally broke the habit, he broke out and became the All-Star that everyone knew he could be. Now, I am not an alcoholic and I've never even drunk alcohol (which is good because I am underage), but from what I've heard alcoholism is incredibly slippery slope that is easy to slide back down even if you have kicked the habit for a while. So, Hamilton did the intelligent thing even if it might not have been fun. He left the party. In fact, he never even went in. According to the story I read, he even changed in the trainer's room to avoid the temptation. Congratulations Josh, you showed rare intelligence to avoid the trap and not fall into it again. Awareness of your own faults is a huge step that everyone must make everyone to improve.
Photo by Keith Allison on Flickr

Kick-Off Literally

The NFL had an interesting opening weekend. First, the Eagles had quite the game out of Michael Vick after Kevin Kolb went down with a concussion. Vick looked like his old self scrambling all over the field and moving the ball down the field with his arm as well as his feet. Also, I bet all those Cowboys fans are pretty furious that the final touchdown pass from Tony Romo got called back due to a holding call. After seeing the replay on ESPN this morning, it was most definitely a hold, so those fans cannot be too mad. Conversely, if you are Redskins fan, not only are you incredibly happy about that call, but I bet you're pretty happy that you signed Donovan McNabb away from the Eagles. Similarly to Vick, he looked a lot more mobile than he had been recently and his arm was looking good. Another stunner went down as the Colts got beaten by the Texans. We will see what happens with both of these teams down the road. So, it was an interesting opening week for the NFL. Unfortunately, I'm not playing fantasy football this year, but now I can just root for Philadelphia and be a fan for once.
Photo by Jayel Aheram on Flickr

Demotion

Okay, today is Fiction Friday as you probably assumed. The countdown is at nine days until the Vermont Chargers hold a power soccer clinic at the University of Vermont. The Phillies will do better than they did last night. Now that I've said all that, on with the story.

"Hey Joe, Skip wants to see you."

As these words came out of the mouth of our pitching coach, my heart sank. Somehow I knew that this wouldn't be a happy talk. Why did I feel that way? Well I had been pitching badly, and since I was always aware, for good or for the bad, of my rearview mirror, I knew that there were a few guys in AA who were racking up wins and strikeouts.

I stepped away from my locker and walked across the room. Of course all my teammates knew where I was headed. Some of them probably didn't want me to go, some of them were probably ready to ship me to the farthest away team they could find. I didn't really care about them though; I just didn't want to take that step back. After working so hard to make AAA, one step away from the big leagues, I was about to be two steps away. But I knew that I had to open that door and face the music.

Photo by salvez on Flickr

Big 12 Survives

Well, it is all but certain that the Big 12 will remain a conference. To be honest, I had my doubts when there were rumors flying around that Texas or Oklahoma might be moving, but now it seems like only being down Colorado and Nebraska will not hurt the conference that much. However, it is odd that now the Big 12 has 10 teams in the Big Ten has 12 teams while the Pac-10 has 11 teams. Whatever, maybe it's just like some very complex upper level math where things aren't really what they are because they have been applied using a different system.

So what does this mean for the Pac-10? USC has fallen into some problems as of late, so maybe Colorado do well in football. What does this mean for the Big 12? Well, I don't really think it matters that much because you always have Texas and Oklahoma on top anyway. What does it mean for the Big Ten? More quality competition from Nebraska, but I don't think it will totally upset the power balance. Whenever we see a major turnover like this, I always wonder about the amount of money that is involved. If it is financially beneficial, I think any team will leave the conference. Money talks.
Photo by Ed Yourdon on Flickr

Shady Dealing

I forgot to write fiction yesterday; my bad. So, even though there is still much to write about today, I will backtrack to yesterday and give you a piece of fiction.

Glancing stealthily around the corner, Ben Wolfson wondered why he was even here. What on earth had possessed him to abuse the privilege to access the Commissioner's Office? He knew the answer to that one; he was being paid a lot of money. He knew that that wasn't enough reason to rig the draft, but somehow he justified this in his mind. He knew that what he was doing was a blatant abuse of his position. He was supposed to be there to make sure that the draft was fair and that every team got their appropriate level of first position chances. However, sometimes things change. For Ben, everything changed when he met Joe. Joe, who never liked his last name mentioned, came up to Ben in a bar, offering to buy him a drink and pulling up a chair. Not seeing anything wrong with this guy, Ben humored him and accepted the offer while initiating conversation. They chatted for a few minutes about the perceived common interest of basketball. Gradually, Joe drove the conversation toward the upcoming NBA draft. Feeling comfortable now, Ben talked about the important role he had in determining the eventual outcome. A slight smile came over Joe's face; he knew what he wanted this to go.

Remember, this is total fiction. Names, situation, and everything else is entirely fictional.

Photo by josh.liba on Flickr

What Does It Take to Become Your Best?

Nothing irritates me more than people who use their circumstances as a simple excuse for not becoming all that they can become. Nobody can accuse Kevin Laue of this. Laue is a 6 foot 10 "senior" at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia who has overcome more adversity than most other players would. Kevin has been without his left forearm since birth yet decided that he would still become a basketball player. Who would have thought that he would excel in a sport where from an early age youngsters are encouraged to dribble with both hands and are almost required to be proficient with both hands by the time they make high school varsity? How did he do this you might ask? Very simply, Kevin is extraordinarily athletic, had adopted his playing style to emphasize his talent, and has an amazing work ethic. I will admit that I was surprised when I turned on the TV and saw Kevin's recruitment, but I began wondering why I should have been surprised. He has the natural gift of height which often makes recruiters come calling. He is extraordinarily athletic as I mentioned before and is definitely not a center who will be limited to the post. Also, becoming an NCAA Division I caliber athlete requires an amazing work ethic. There are approximately 300 Division I colleges that each have somewhere between 10 and 15 players. To be ranked among the top approximately 4500 basketball playing students in America is difficult enough, and there are plenty of obstacles that can stand between a player and that goal. Many people would feel that losing one forearm would be reason enough to give up on basketball and pursue something else. However, Kevin followed his passion to rise to his place as one of the better basketball players in America right now. I would imagine that he ran into some naysayers along the way who told him that basketball would not be in his future simply because there had never been a college player with only one arm. Apparently, Kevin worried less about whether or not he was following someone else's trail; he created his own. Watch this YouTube interview with Kevin, and you will find that adversity only becomes a problem if you allow it to become one.