SPORTS FILM REVIEW – “Trouble With the Curve”

I never saw a baseball film I didn’t like. That’s just who I am. Even if a film isn’t very good, I’ll still like it if it’s about baseball. I have a simple explanation why:  Like chocolate and peanut butter, our national pastime and film go together like a match made in Heaven. Baseball is filled ...

MLB – THE BIOGENESIS SCANDAL & ITS EFFECTS

Yesterday, Major League Baseball levied heavy suspensions on 13 players for their connections to a Miami clinic (Biogenesis) which is accused of supplying them with performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). Among the players suspended are three current All-Stars, as well as New York Yankees third baseman, Alex Rodriguez, the ...

MLB – COULD PARAGRAPH 5 BE CREATING AUTHORITARIANS OUT OF HOF VOTERS?

This year, zero players have been elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  That hasn’t happened since 1996. A shocking outcome, considering that 37 players were eligible for the honor. Perhaps that was the point, though. Among others, the 2013 HOF ballot included first time candidates allegedly linked with ...

MLB – 2013 MID-SEASON NL REVIEW

It’s officially mid-season in Major League Baseball for 2013.  How have my pre-season National League predictions held up?  And, what do I foresee the rest of the way to the playoffs? NL EAST MY ORIGINAL PRE-SEASON PREDICTIONS (TO FINISH): Washington Nationals (Win Division) Atlanta Philadelphia NY ...

MLB – 2013 MID-SEASON AL REVIEW

It’s officially mid-season in Major League Baseball for 2013.  How have my pre-season American League predictions held up?  And, what do I foresee the rest of the way to the playoffs? AL EAST MY ORIGINAL PRE-SEASON PREDICTIONS (TO FINISH): NY Yankees (Win Division) Baltimore Toronto Tampa Bay Bosto...

MLB – WHY I LOVE LISTENING TO BASEBALL GAMES (ALMOST) MORE THAN WATCHING

Since I was a small child, baseball has been my favorite sport. And, when I wasn’t watching baseball as a kid, I was playing it with my Dad & my brother in the backyard or out on the street in front of the house when we needed more room. But, perhaps even better than watching and playing ball for me, is ...

TENNIS – CAN A BIG MAN BE “ELITE”?

Logic would dictate that being a very tall man (6'5 +) in professional tennis could have major advantages. After all, longer legs bring longer strides; longer arms give a longer reach and the ability to generate more power on serve; and coming down on the ball at net is rather advantageous to a taller person. But, ...

KENTUCKY DERBY 2013 – PICKS

There doesn’t appear to be a real triple-crown contender this year, i.e: no real dominant horse.  So, the field appears to be wide open.  Also, with a 90% chance of rain at start time and continuous rain during the day, the muddy track should keep the race even more wide open. 1.     REVOLUTIONARY Even ...

NFL – INSPIRED BY THE FA CUP: ADD ANOTHER “BOWL”

Under the current NFL setup, all 32 teams in the league compete for one singular goal during the course of the regular season: to win The Super Bowl. There are no other opportunities for teams to achieve accolades beyond this, except for individual coach and player performance awards given out at the end of each ...

PGA – THE “GENTLEMEN’S GAME” IS OUTDATED

One major takeaway for me from the 2013 Masters is just how outdated the “Gentlemen’s Game” of golf is in this era of close scrutiny. It all started on Friday during Tiger Woods’ second round when his approach shot to hole 15 hit the flagstick and careened into the water below.  He took a drop and made bogey 6, ...

JUST HOW QUIRKY IS PRO TENNIS?

It is said that the origins of tennis go back to 12th Century France when it was a game of indoor handball played by monks against monastery walls. Eventually, the use of a player’s bare hands was replaced by using gloves, holding paddles, and eventually racquets. With the invention of a process for rubber in the ...

PGA – MY DAD’S 2013 MASTERS PREDICTIONS

My Dad is quite possibly the biggest golf fan I know.  He watches a lot of golf on tv, attends many events throughout the year, and is a very good golfer in his own right (despite having picked up the sport in his 50s). Thus, without further ado, let me introduce the world to my Dad's predictions: Tiger Woods ...

PGA – MY 2013 MASTERS PREDICTIONS

Tiger Woods The easiest and most obvious choice to win.  He’s on a roll right now plain and simple. Even if we cast aside Tiger’s 4 previous Masters wins (’97, ’01, ’02, ’05) in 18 appearances, he’s playing phenomenal golf in 2013 and will be hard to beat.  So far this year, in only 3 months, he’s ...

MLB – 2013 PRE-SEASON NL PREDICTIONS

NL EAST – Nationals*; Braves (wild card) NL CENTRAL – Reds NL WEST – Dodgers; Giants (wild card) *WS Finalist NL EAST 1.     Washington Nationals The Nationals finished 2012 with the best record in baseball (98-64), clinched the division, and became the first Washington-based team to advance to the ...

MLB – 2013 PRE-SEASON AL PREDICTIONS

AL EAST WINNER – Yankees AL CENTRAL WINNER – Tigers*; Indians (wild card) AL WEST WINNER – Angels; A’s (wild card) *World Series Winner AL EAST 1.     New York Yankees The Yankees won this division 13 out of the last 17 years.  They’ve secured a wild card berth in every other year except ...

MLB – THE QUICK AND DIRTY 2013 PREDICTIONS

AL EAST WINNER– Yankees AL CENTRAL WINNER– Tigers*; Indians (wild card) AL WEST WINNER – Angels; A’s (wild card)   NL EAST WINNER – Nationals*; Braves (wild card) NL CENTRAL WINNER– Reds NL WEST WINNER– Dodgers; Giants (wild card) *World Series Teams WORLD SERIES WINNER – ...

PGA – MY 2012 FRANKENGOLFER

If you could be any PGA golfer, who would you be, and why? This is not an easy question for me to answer. I can’t choose just one. There are many PGA players who do certain things really well, but I can’t think of just one player who consistently excelled (overall) in all areas of their game in 2012. So, I've ...

TOP 15 ACTIVE PRO SPORTS LEGENDS (AS OF MARCH 2013)

This may be the greatest time in the history of pro sports to be a fan. It’s true that we have unprecedented access to global sports due to advanced technology in this modern era. But, more importantly, we have the ability to witness several living sports legends in action right now. It may never have been this ...

PGA – WGC-CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP PICKS

This week’s premiere PGA event is the WGC-Cadillac Championship played at the famous TPC Blue Monster course at Doral Golf Resort & Spa. At 7,334 yards and containing long fairways, deep Bermuda rough, and an array of water hazards, Doral is a course which will demand length paired with supreme finesse from its ...

NHRA – THE FASTEST, MOST DIVERSE PRO SPORT IN THE WORLD

Imagine this: You’re sitting behind the wheel of an NHRA Top Fuel Dragster at the start of the next race. You have a helmet on, fire suit and gloves, and you’re strapped into the fastest race car on the planet.  Your dragster rattles and rolls under the weight of 8,000 horsepower waiting for your cue. You ...

PGA – MCILROY THINKS GOLF IS “CLEAN”, BECAUSE OF “FEEL”

Yesterday, Rory McIlroy, the No. 1 golfer in the world, fielded questions from the media at a press conference in advance of the Accenture Match Play Championship set for this week. Among other issues, McIlroy was queried about the use of PEDs in golf particularly in light of VJ Singh’s recent admission that he used ...

MLB – WHY THE YANKEES WILL WIN THE 2013 AL EAST

A funny thing happened to the American League East division during the off-season.  Suddenly the Toronto Blue Jays became the favorite to take the division from the New York Yankees and win the World Series. How can that be when in 2012 the Blue Jays finished 22 games behind the Yankees, who incidentally had the best ...

SPORTS FILM REVIEW – “The Jackie Robinson Story” (1950)

On April 15, 1947, America changed forever.  This day saw the first African-American man ever to play professional baseball. The player’s name was Jack Roosevelt Robinson; “Jackie” for short. His middle name in honor of former US President Theodore Roosevelt. He had all the components the Brooklyn Dodgers ...

NFL – 2013 SUPER BOWL PREDICTION

UPDATE, FEBRUARY 5, 2013:  Result - The Ravens beat the 49ers, 34-31.  The only solace I have postgame is knowing that my gut was right- this game was close & could have gone either way.  Unfortunately, costly mistakes & turnovers by San Francisco were the difference.  If only the 49ers could have been ...

MLB – UNCERTAINTY LOOMING FOR YANKEES FANS

I’m a Yankees fan and I feel insecure about the future.  There, I’ve said it.  It’s hard to admit a thing like that. Frankly, I’ve never really felt this way before. As a lifelong New York Yankees fan and someone in their 40s, I’ve only ever known feelings of hope and security when a new season was on ...

MLB – THE KEY TO WINNING IN BASEBALL IS…

About a decade ago, I heard Don Zimmer say something which I haven’t been able to get out of my mind. It was during a Yankees pre-game broadcast when Zimmer, the Yankees bench-coach at the time, sat down with a reporter to answer questions, most of which were the run-of-the-mill kind.   But, then, the reporter asked ...

SPORTS FILM REVIEW – “The Bad News Bears” (1976)

It happens every year about this time.  Deep into the heart of winter I’m missing baseball terribly.  I only have a 75 day wait until MLB’s opening day, ugh. My solution?   Watch a baseball film to bring me back to the summertime and the feeling of playing ball again when I was a kid. You remember: your Dad ...

NFL – THE MOST DISAPPOINTING TEAM IN 2012

No, the NY Jets are not the most disappointing NFL team in 2012 to me.  But, one could definitely build a case for them. Their 6-10 season was an embarrassment for the whole organization and fan base.  The Tim Tebow experiment backfired and created confidence issues in their #1 quarterback.  Unfortunately, this ...

SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR 2012 – SORRY, IT’S NOT LEBRON

Sports Illustrated recently picked LeBron James as their “Sportsman of the Year” for 2012.  While there is no disuputing that James did great things on and off the court this past year, I think there may be someone else in the sports world more deserving of this title. It was someone who rose up to greatness fresh ...

SPORTS FILM REVIEW – “The Stratton Story”

Outside of watching sports, another passion of mine is film.  Old movies, new movies, I like 'em all.  And, well, if I can watch a film about sports, then Heaven seems just a few doorsteps away... Recently,  I came upon a little gem on Netflix which I'd like to recommend to fellow sports fans called "The Stratton ...