Ahhhhh! Here we are, approaching Spring! The shortest month
on the calendar has flown by! Although many NFL and NCAA Division I Football fans
would disagree, February is filled with a variety of activity… The tail-end
month of Winter marks the beginning of planting Season. As we plant bulbs and
seeds for an aromatic and colorful Spring, there’s actually quite a bit of
action taking place above the surface.
February is underrated in the bustling events of Sports and
competition. Pitchers, Catchers, oh
heck! The whole team reports to begin the Major League Baseball Season! The
Gladiators we make fools of ourselves
dancing “Gangnam Style” in the stands in baseball fields across the Nation,
migrate for preseason preparation to our Sunshine and Snowbird destinations, Arizona and Florida .
February marks the mid-season for NBA and NHL.
As the overused adage goes for fans of our Pastoral American past time, our hopes and expectations are revived! No where else are the expectation and dreams bigger than in the Bay Area in Northern California, where AL West Pennant winners Oakland Athletics, as well as returning World Series Champions, San Francisco Giants vie to repeat in 2013. There is no easy task for either team separated by a bridge spanning between these two cities. No team in the National league has appeared in back-to-back World Series since theCincinnati
Reds in 1974 and 1975. The Oakland Athletics
have a target on their back, with the California
Angels pumping up their offense adding Josh Hamilton to their outfield,
creating a New Millennium version of the “Bash Brothers”, joining Angels 1st baseman Albert Pujols.
Many questions continue to loom in each dugout. Can Jed Lowry be an everyday producing
infielder? Will Okajima be an effective closer with Balfour out? Will Cespedes deliver on his
promise of being the 40/40 man in the outfield? Is Anderson a 20 game winning Ace? On the flip
side, can Sergio Romo be an every day closer? Or will San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy continue
to run closer duties by committee? Will Tim Lincecum bounce back after
tailspinning off his usual secure performances on the mound? Lincecum’s
velocity has significantly dropped off, where he will need to learn how to use
his pitches effectively with location versus in past Seasons, he easily whipped the
ball by opposing batters. Is Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford ready to step up
their production? Will Hunter Pence become the leading RBI man in the
clubhouse? Can Barry Zito sustain his amazing performance in 2013,that turned all
of Giants Fans around to give him MVP praise in the 2012 post season
outings? All these questions will be
answered in April.
As the overused adage goes for fans of our Pastoral American past time, our hopes and expectations are revived! No where else are the expectation and dreams bigger than in the Bay Area in Northern California, where AL West Pennant winners Oakland Athletics, as well as returning World Series Champions, San Francisco Giants vie to repeat in 2013. There is no easy task for either team separated by a bridge spanning between these two cities. No team in the National league has appeared in back-to-back World Series since the
Aside from baseball, there’s a plethora of sports action
taking place across our diverse landscape. Let’s take a tour of all the
happenings in our sports world in February:
The 49ers losing for the first time in a Super Bowl
appearance seamed to place a curse among Bay Area professional teams competing
to gain position in their respective leagues. The San Jose
Sharks, and Golden
State Golden State Golden State
The 10 games Bogut
participated have been a definite mixed bag. Right now, the Golden State Golden
State
Danica!
Its Nascar Season! Once again America 's premier racing circuit
commenced their 2013 Nationwide and Sprint Cup Season with their Premier
Championship race, the 55th running of Daytona 500! The week leading in to
kicking off the Nascar Season, all fans and media outlets were all a buzz with
the hottest and sleekest stock race car model to hit the oval, the new Gen Six
bodies for Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota (take
a peak). Danica Patrick not only made a splash with current love interest
fellow Rookie driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr, she was the first woman in Nascar
history to snag the Pole Position in Qualifying! It's definitely a dream
campaign for her main sponsor "Go Daddy", with the words every blood
pumping redneck has enjoyed uttering during Daytona Race Week, "Danica....
Is on the Pole!"... Not only was this a dream scenario for the "Go
Daddy" driver and her owner Tony Stewart Racing, it has been a dream bump
in Nascar ratings. 30% more viewers watched Danica finish 8th, be the first woman to
lead a Nascar race under a green flag (versus caution laps), and primarily stay
in the top 5 during the 200 laps. Danica’s performance in the Daytona 500 was
so historic, her name is now linked with future Sprint Cup race promotions
along with Jimmy Johnson's (the winner at Daytona) surge and quest for a 6th
Driver Championship. The casual fan may roll their eyes, not realizing
the significance of this achievement means for Nascar. Racing is one of the few
sporting events known where men and women compete on equal playing fields (the
other is equestrian). Although there are ( I'm sure) drivers and fans alike that
have mixed reactions to Danica's surge in the Nascar racing platform, its been
nothing but positive for added exposure and padding everyone's wallet involved
with Sprint Cup Nascar Racing.
Te'O of the Tape...
The National NFL Combine took place in Indianapolis Lucas
Arena late February, and once again, there was the "Manti
Te'O" side show I personally felt was unwarranted. I disagree
with NFL Network analysts regarding an inflated draft value of Senior
Notre Dame Linebacker Manti Te'O. Between Steve "The Mooch"
Mariucci, and Rich Eisen, there seems to be more than one person with
admiration of Te'O's supposed "Talent" and "Skills"... I'm
not convinced. Quite honestly, if I were a GM or NFL coach, not only would I
not draft him in the 1st round, I am not sure I would waste a draft pick on the
Linebacker from Notre Dame. Aside from the fiasco of a significant lapse of
judgement (or ignorance), as well as suspect maturity, Manti's
talent, size, and speed he would potentially bring to the NFL field is questionable.
Out of 26 Linebackers who competed at the National Combine, Manti Te'O was
20th in the 40 yard sprint, clocking in at 4.82 seconds. I would
think LB coaches are looking for sub 4.7 times. He didn’t even participate in the bench
press exercise, which the NFL utilizes to display power and potential
explosiveness. His size is average, 6'1" and 240 pounds. The foot
work and drills performed on field with LB coaches were okay,
nothing particularly stood out. On top of disappointing results from #5 of
Notre Dame lore, is a glaring game tape of his performance in
the 2012-2013 BCS Championship game, where he was constantly two
steps behind and had a front row view of Alabama's running backs running the
ball in to the "Fighting Irish" End Zone all.... game.... long....
In my humble opinion, Notre Dame shouldn't have the top
tier power ranking it currently possesses in NCAA Division I
Football. Thier strength of schedule does not hold a candle to the likes
of such conferences as Big 10, SEC, Big 12, or even some teams in PAC 12.
Notre Dame did not win the game against Stanford last year. Stanford scored to
win in OT, and the last call was royally botched. Pitt had Notre Dame on the
ropes all game long, leading at one time by 20+ points. I'm still scratching my
head on how Pitt allowed Notre Dame back in to the game, as if a slide of palms
took place at half time in the locker room. Truly, I'm not sure what algorithm
BCS uses specifically for Notre Dame; there is no way it's the same used for any
other NCAA Division I team. If you view Notre Dame as an overrated program,
then one can understand the subpar numbers displayed by Manti Te'O in the
Combine, and in the BCS National Championship game versus Alabama . I understand how tackles and sacks
statistics can become inflated when your competition is Boston College, Navy,
Pitt, a rebuilding Michigan and Michigan State squads. I'm going to call it
like I see it... I personally feel he is going to be the next bust... Remember
Steve Emtman from the National Champions UW Huskies? Bust! Remember the
hyped up Brian Bosworth from National Champions Oklahoma Sooners? Bust! I believe Te'O is
headed down this same path... Instead of risking a precious draft pick on a
questionable aggregate in hopes of improving any NFL Defense, I would
instead, invite Manti Te'O to try out for my team, and see if he can step
up and put the "Big Boy" pads on and truly compete with the
brightest, fastest, and most powerful we enjoy watching on any given
Sunday in the NFL.
The first woman to compete at a regional Combine may have
flopped, there were two other female phenoms making the spotlight!
A dynamo cheerleader has a half court trick shot that left
the Harlem Globetrotters slack jawed:
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