Fantasy Update

I think that it is high time for an update on my fantasy baseball teams. For one, the Ducks are surviving relatively well right now as we are riding the arm of Ubaldo Jimenez to second place in our division. I pleasantly had an excess second baseman since I had both Ian Kinsler and Casey McGehee. Therefore, I dished Kinsler for Roy Oswalt hoping for that trade that will get him out of Houston into the Land of Run Support. We have also pleasantly had an excess of outfielders, but we are surviving pretty well and are hopefully ready to move up the ladder.

My next team TCWT is holding down third out of a league of 10. The problem there however is that I was loaded with shortstops but both Jimmy Rollins and Troy Tulowitzki are both sitting on the DL. Rollins will be back soon, but until then I'll have to suffer with lower production. Other than that, this team is doing very well recently with Mark Reynolds mashing home runs and a pleasant surprise from rookie Andrew McCutchen in the outfield.

Finally, the Perpetual Blogging Co. team in a Battle of the Blogs has been dominating as far as pitching goes. When you have a pitching staff highlighted by Ubaldo Jimenez again, Roy Oswalt again, Chris Carpenter, and Mariano Rivera coming out of the bullpen, you should do pretty well. However, I have had an interesting time filling some spots with Troy Tulowitzki and Mark DeRosa on the DL. However, Justin Upton and Colby Rasmus are holding on with my offense and hopefully everyone else will carry us on.

Photo by kevindooley on Flickr

Excited!

Again, today's blog is probably a no-brainer. In about an hour and a half, I will be entering my giant tan van to head southeast toward Durham, New Hampshire for my first official power soccer game as a member of the Vermont Chargers. I think that this will be a good experience for all of us since it is much different to play during practice than in a game. I know from watching many basketball practices over the years that the intensity is not always there like it is in a game. So, hopefully we will be able to get right into the right mindset to play aggressively as well as cleanly. By clean, I mean fair of course, but I have never doubted our team's ability in this area. The clean that we need to work on is turnover free soccer. With only three players on the court, everyone is pretty much used to attack when you are in possession of the ball. Therefore, any turnover means a fast-break on the goalie one-on-one or maybe even two on one. Of course, as they are in basketball, fast breaks are almost always goals.

On the defensive side, we need to play tough one-on-one defense since you are not allowed to double-team. The only way to make sure that you do not give up a goal is to shut down whoever happens to be in your zone or who you assigned to in man-to-man. However, to use the basketball analogy again, there needs to be help defense if someone gets beat. However, if I'm focusing on my man or woman, how will I know if one of my teammates gets beat? The answer is communication. We need to talk and make sure that we are willing to help each other. I just need to pay attention because I might get so into the game that I might not pay attention.

With these ideas in mind, wish us luck, and I'll update you all tomorrow on how we do!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jemsweb/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Hot Start

Every year, the Phillies started out slowly. Inevitably, we would end up far behind the Mets or Braves then have to fight back for the rest of the year only to end up just short. However, what has happened this year? At 5-1, the Phillies are already ahead of the division driven forward by an amazing offense that has consistently hammered away at the battered pitching staffs of the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals. Before we get too excited about the Phillies' hot start, remember that we only beat the Nationals and the Astros, and wins are wins. You need to win the games that you are supposed to win, and if you can manage to win half the games that are evenly matched, you should have pretty good success. I tend to fall into the trap of believing that the Phillies should win every game and therefore wonder why they don't always win. Much of this is probably due to the natural variation inherent in baseball. When a given team throws somewhere between 100 and 200 pitches, on a bad day any number of these pitches could be terrible and get hammered 500 feet. However, some days every one of those pitches will hit its intended target just like the Phillies have been doing. Boy I hope that they can keep this up for a while longer to build up a lead on the way to a third straight World Series.
Photo by dameetch on Flikr

Winning

Okay, I am changing up the story for this week. Don't worry, I will return to the business world in a while, but right now enjoy another new installment of Fiction Friday!

How to make it to the goal effectively, how to somehow deke their goalie, and how to put another point on the board. These questions rotated through my head at intervals that were so regular I felt like I was watching the stock report on Bloomberg. I had been in somewhat of a slump lately. Coming off of my fifth consecutive game without a point, I felt like my hockey mates were expecting more from me. Granted, I expected more from myself too. I'm not exactly what you might call "a good loser." I am out there to win; as Vince Lombardi said, "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." This may not sound at all healthy; I probably sound insane to most of you, but it seems like I have some unquenchable thirst for victory. Winning makes me feel good; it makes me feel like I have fulfilled the hopes of my teammates. I don't want to win just for myself. I have seen my teammates break down in the locker room following a tough loss and have seen the pain they have gone through. My teammates are my brothers, and I will not allow family to be in pain. We need to watch out for each other and each other's best interests. That is why I must save my teammates from this; you would save your family from sorrow and disappointment, so I save mine. If only I was able to start dominating once again.
Photo by Chase N on Flikr