Beard-A-Thon

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Addressing an Issue of Great Proportions

Sports for the most part are tough. The games are rough, and why shouldnt they be in competition? Like they say, no blood-no foul, no pain-no gain. It seems like in every sport, every player pretty much understands that they run the risk of injury. Pretty much all sports are physical to some degree for God's sake. NFL players understand that they could get their head knocked off potentially (especially if you are Dustin keller and are running across the middle against the Ravens...see video). BYW, Dustin Keller returns to his feet by his own power after the hit....and he didnt complain because hes a respectable professional athlete who understands its the nature of the game.



And what about hockey? These guys fight all the time and its part of the game. They lose their teeth and it isnt a big deal. Do any of them complain about getting hurt or fouled? Nope, not really, unless you are Sidney Crosby or Mario Lemieux.

Even basketball is rough and tough, with intentional fouls, face masks, and stitches on eyes because of hard fouls (take a look at Chris Paul right now for the New Orleans Hornets if you dont believe me)

But, there seems to be one major sport which continues to not understand yet that contact is part of sport and rough play will happen so suck it up. This sport is as you all probably could guess because its so obvious is soccer. The unbelievable amount of fake injuries and dives that soccer, its culture and its players have incorporated into the legitimate context of the game has made soccer laughable and quite frankly embarassing. Im sure you all have seen your fair share of these idiots flailing around on the ground holding their face or foot, when in fact nothing is wrong with them at all, they feel just great, all in the name of trying to cheat their way to a free kick. Pathetic. Dont get me wrong, its a great sport, it has just lost my respect greatly due to these actions that the players take.

Heres an entertaining yet aggravating look at these pansies who call themselves professional athletes.

BUCK

No, I'm not talking about venison burgers... June 25: Get out of the cellar and flock to The Yard for Buck Showalter bobble head night.

OPERATION PASS THE BUCK commences 25JUN11 2305Z.

Ignite

2011 Orioles - a haiku by Baltimore Bisk:

Fly out of the nest
Into cellar
Yankees
Hit homeruns
To the moon


We Didn't Start the Fire


"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
John 16:33

Happy Easter!

"May the light of Christ, rising in glory, dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds."

I Will be Watching on Comcast

This commercial was aired yesterday during the Flyers/Sabres game on Versus. For you who have been watching any of the playoffs on Versus this season have seen these "history will be made" commercials. But up to this point they have all been past "great moments" in the history of the NHL. For those of you who do not know, this clip is from Sundays match (one day before the commercial), where the Rangers beat the Caps 3-2, and are currently losing the series 2 games to 1 to Washington.



WTF Versus?

Maybe I'm a little pissed because it was against the Caps, but I think in all fairness I have a point. Why would a TV station that is not suppose to have any bias make a commercial using footage for a game just played Sunday entitled "history will be made." They couldn't dig up anymore Lemieux or Crosby "greatest" moments of those two DBs hoisting the cup? They have to revert to Brandon Dubinsky, and that ridiculous molesteresk mustachio? That is the best playoff moment they could come up with so far this playoffs? Give me a break! It was game 3! the Rangers are still losing! It wasn't even an overtime goal!

I hope the Caps use this commercial as motivation to go out and pummel the Rangers. And would someone (Hendricks or Erskine) please slap that mustache off Dubinsky's smug face!

Game four @MSG, Wednesday 7pm, on Comcast. Be there!

The Draft

So the NFL draft is not too far away, I believe April 28th is the date. Becauae of the whole lock out thing, we havent heard too much about it. But it still is going to happen, although the singing of the players and other things will be different due to the lockout. Im not sure really what those differences are. But anyway the Ravens pick number 26. There has been speculation as to who they will take. The different names which have popped up are Muhammad Wilkserson, DL from Temple, Cameron Heyward DE from Ohio St., Torry Smith WR from UMD, Brandon Harris CB from Miami, Jimmy Smith CB Colorado, Tyron Smith OT from USC, and Akeem Ayers LB from UCLA.

Obviously these things are kind of dumb because who knows come draft day. I dont know what direction the Ravens should go honestly. We need pash rush so a D lineman would be good, but what if Sergio Kindle is cleared to play? We clearly need a CB so maybe thats the best choice, but we also want a WR to grow up with Joe. Also, Ray wont be here too much longer so we need a LB.

Either way, Ozzie and company usually just take the best player available. My feeling is that since there are a lot of very good defensive lineman that one of those guys will be the best available player so we will take a defensive lineman.

Orioles play tonight against the struggling Twins at 7. I think baseball is baseball and patience is key. The O's will turn it around. Tillman is on the mound tonight, hopefully he can have command and really pound the strike zone.

Pitch f/x

Head over to Cubs f/x to see some cool visualizations of the Cubbies upcoming pitching match-ups. Using Pitch f/x data obtained from the MLB servers, this guy is putting together some pretty cool graphics. Check out his entry on Jason Hammel here. It's pretty cool that an Average Joe, can now put together those fancy graphics you see on ESPN.

The Circle of Baseball

Good Evening. Last night, I saw the Lion King on Broadway in New York City with my wonderful lady. It was an excellent show that put me in a great mood. A story of a little lion destined to be king and ruler of the pride lands. During the play’s intermission I was thinking to myself, “How is this story going to end?”. Will Scar become the king, starve the country and dissolve the pride lands all while Simba stays in the Jungle slurping pot worms with Timon and Pumba as they sing Hakuna Matata? Well, I was pleasantly surprised to see Simba come to his senses and claim his position as king once Scar plummeted to a terrible death. This was wonderful. This was the ending I hoped to see.


So as I left the building with a big smile on my face and I strolled down Broadway towards Time Square I was soon surrounded by Hyenas and Hyena propaganda (Yankee Fans and Yankee Apparel). Everywhere I turned I saw the Yankee Logo and it reminded me of the 5-0 lead the Orioles recently blew. That was the first tough loss of the season. I felt it was the type of game that the Orioles needed to win. And as the Orioles have dropped 3 straight, you can sense that a loss like that certainly has an effect on a team’s momentum.




Well Orioles Fans, Hakuna Matata, just let it be, no big deal, we’ve had 13 consecutive losing seasons, we’re doing better….




YOU KIDDING ME!!!! CUT THAT HAPPY HORSE MANURE OFF RIGHT NOW!!! Look into the sky, each star you see is a member of the Orioles past, Cal Ripken Jr., Eddie Murray, Earl Weaver, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Jeff Reboulet, Boog Powell, Jim Palmer, etc. etc. They live on! Get fired up and start winning games again. Learn from that blown lead. The play at the plate on the past ball where Pie was thrown out could have been the difference maker. Does that mean Felix should have pummeled Joba to make that run count or Felix could have been a bit more alert to get to the plate a second quicker or arrive with an intensity knowing how important the run is? Absolutely!





Side Note:
The Lion King on Broadway was an amazing show. The plot behind the play and movie is one of intrique and power. The actors, actresses, and music in the play are spectacular. If you find yourself in NYC, suck it up and spend some time with some Yankee fans, and enjoy the Lion King.

For the Sweetest Drink!

It has to start somewhere, it has to start sometime, what better place then here, what better place then now!

The Caps begin their hunt for Lord Stanley's Cup tomorrow at 7:30 versus the Rangers at the Verizon Center. I sure you all remember the series from two seasons ago against the Rangers, but in case you forget, here are some of the highlights.



Alex is allowed to grow his beard again...."We have an agreement with Gillette to observe sacred traditions."

Highlights from the season:

Its Friday

...cept its not but I wish it was. Either way, check out this genius stuff.



so Tiger lost the Masters, Im pissed.

the O's lost their first series of the year, Im pissed.

On to the yankees. By the way, I hate the Yankees.

TERPS NEWS:
So the terps' star player, Jordan Williams, has entered his name into the NBA draft, but has not hired an agent. This may lead people to believe that he will not enter the draft when all is said and done. But, there have been multiple reports and rumors here in CP that he is in Las Vegas training and has not been going to class and hasnt for some time. Therefore, I am pretty confident that Jordan will not return. My only comments are damnit and dumb move.

Charl Schwartzel, The Master

Today at the 75th Masters, Charl Schwartzel earned his spot among golf legends with his two stroke victory. I had a chance to ask Charl one question after his big win:
Rob: What is the major reason for your success at Augusta today?
Charl: I drink three glasses of whole milk per day. It provides me with a much needed influx of vitamins A, C, and D along with healthy doses of calcium and protein. Plus milk yields healthier skin and hair, so I get more ladies than Tiger.
Rob: Thanks for your time Charl and congratulations!

Turn Around!!!

Turn Around! Every now and then I get a little bit nervous that the best of all years have gone by!!!!!!


The 1997 baseball regular season ended with the O’s on top of the AL East by 2 games over the New York Yankees. The 97 Orioles finished with a record of 98-64. They went on to win the ALDS in 4 games against the Seattle Mariners and then ended up losing to the Cleveland Indians in 6 games in the ALCS. The Orioles have been drowning under 500 at the end of every season since…

The 97 team was led by manager Davey Johnson. Davey revitalized the O’s when he joined the team in 1996 and took them to the controversial ALCS series versus the Yankees. Davey was fired on November 5, 1997, the day that he received an award for the AL Manager of the Year.

4,904 Days Later…



The new Sherriff in Oriole Town, Buck Showalter, is here to clean up house and bring the O’s back to the playoffs. Prior to the start of the season if one would have predicted that Sherriff Buck was going to take this year’s O’s team to the post season then they likely would have been met with expressions similar to those directed toward Sherriff Bart when he came up to clean up Rock Ridge in Mel Brook’s Blazing Saddles.


All Success So Far
Bucky seemed to spark a fire under the teams behind last year and they ended the season with one of the best records in baseball after he took over the ship. Now in the 2011 season, Mr. Showstopper is leading a team currently tied with the best record in the league at 6-1. We will know later tonight if the O’s have the best record in baseball.

Dynamic Offense
The 1997 O’s had some interesting diverse set of contributors such as Cal Ripken Jr., Roberto Alomar, Brady Anderson, BJ Surhoff, Rafael Palmeiro, Chris Hoiles, and Jeffrey Hammonds. The 2011 team features Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, Mark Reynolds, Luke Scott, Adam Jones, Derek Lee, Vladmir Guerrero, Matt Wieters, and JJ Hardy. Both the 1997 and 2011 team seems to have a fairly powerful and crafty set of bats.

Pitching Differences
The 1997 O’s featured big name veteran starters like Mike Mussina, Jimmy Key, and Scott Erickson. This 2011 team features Jeremy Guthrie, Matt Britton, Jake Arrieta, Chris Tillman, and Brian Matusz. The 2011 Question Mark is turning into the 2011 centerpiece. The 2011 O’s have the best ERA in the league and among the best in WHIP and quality starts. Can I get an O-yeah!!!


Their Back


Alright, we’re only 7 games into the season you say. Well the Orioles are 6-1. In the 2010 season they reached 6 wins on May 1st. Alright, you say well the pitchers are having early season success, but can they keep this pace up for the rest of the season. Well, the Orioles are led by Buck Showalter and I think he’s going to keep this fire burning.


Yanks on the Way
Alright, well you say that the O’s might have a quality team this year with some good pitching, but can they face up against the Yankees. Well, again I bring up Blazing Saddles, nobody thought that Sherriff Bart could take down the big fierce “Mongo”. ..
Mongo Goes Down

Well Sherriff Bart got the best of Mongo and Sherriff Buck will get the best of the Yanks. Yanks vs. O’s series kicks off Tuesday Night.


O-R-I-O-L-E-S Orioles Magic…
Feel it Happen.

The Worm

Thank you Dennis Rodman for reminding me that the NBA used to be a decent sport to watch.

O's are

4-0

Does

Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally, Pat Dobson

sound like?

Jeremy Guthrie, Brian Matuscz, Chris Tillman, Jake Arrieta, Zach Britton

....my optimism says maybe.

go O's


Also, Earl Weaver threw out the first pitch today for the O's. He in the winningest manager in O's history and became the O's manager at age 35. Many players who played under him say he was the hardest manager to get along with but they would never play under anyone else. Catcher and later manager for the O's, Johnny Oates has this quote. "I played for Earl for 6 years and he only said two things to me. I told Earl I was ready to play if our starting catcher wasn't able and he responded by saying "fat chance of that". Later on when I was traded to the Indians he said to me "Have fun in Cleveland".

Maybe not the most charming guy but he got it done for the O's.

DEPORTES

Orioles are 3-0. Amazing, undefeated, just like Tommy Z.
All canine matchup Monday night for the NCAA B-Ball title.
Novak bests Rafa.
The Masters starts on Thursday.
Jasmin Ouschan snagged the womens Euro 10 Ball title.
Good stretch of days for sports. Just wanted to keep you in the loop.
With all this excitement, don't forget about July 15.

2 Games 2 Wins 2 Great Starting Pitchers 2 Wonderful Start to the Season - Go O's

2 wins 0 losses...Going for the Sweep today vs. the Tampa Rays at 1:40PM.

O
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Orioles Magic - Feel it Happen!