We’re a sports family. My husband and i were both athletes when we were younger (much younger! ). In having three sons the thump of bouncing balls, the swish of bats and basketball nets have been a constant in our home for almost two decades MLB중계. We love to watch our boys play in whatever sport each particular season brings.
What’s even more exciting is when our boys do something exceedingly well and get mentioned in the newspaper. Each morning my husband peruses our local news. If one of our boys gets mentioned, he’ll proudly exclaim at the breakfast table, “Hey, you got some ink! ” Fast hands begin clamoring for the newspaper and the boys react with, “where? ” Matt proudly shows them what he’s read and where their name appears. It’s quite exciting for an early morning when most of our eyes are not yet fully opened.
Earlier today I was telling my husband that it’s quite exciting when a person gets to see their name in the newspaper, with the exception of obituaries and criminal records. A positive plug in print does wonders for a person’s day!
In today’s society we’re so quick to draft up a quick retort when we’re displeased with a service we’ve experienced, such as bad food at a restaurant, rude associates at super stores or the high prices at the gas pump. But what about when we experience good things in our life; are we as quick to report on that through social media and letters to the editor? I know I don’t do this often enough.
March is right around the corner, almost time for March Madness in basketball. What if we focused on and publicly posted marvelous events, conversations, service, behavior or other in the month of March? We could call it Marvelous Moments in March! You could praise God, your husband, children, and workplace, whatever! “… whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. ” Philippians 4: 8
Let’s not only think about such things, but publicly post them as well! You can get started now and leave a comment about something or someone you’d like to marvel about. We’ve got four days to get our minds ready. Let’s be intentional and share our amazing, Marvelous Moments in March and recognize so many who deserve getting some positive ink! During my college years, I made some extra money by working at the UPS store in an affluent suburban neighborhood in Kansas City. One of my most frequent customers was George Brett, the legendary baseball player who spent his career playing for the Kansas City Royals. Brett played first base and third base for the Royals from 1973 to 1993. He is arguably one of the greatest players in Major League Baseball history as evidenced by his Hall of Fame induction in 1999.
One infamous incident that George Brett is well known for is when he hit a home run that was initially disallowed by umpires. Then, at a later date, baseball officials got together and ruled that the home run would stand. The home run was initially disallowed because he had used more pine tar on his bat than was allowed by Major League Baseball’s rules. After the umpires decided to remove the home run from the scoreboard Brett stormed out of the dugout and had one of the more famous arguments in baseball history. To Brett’s and the Royals’ delight, after further review it was determined that the excessive pine tar did not contribute to his hitting of the home run and the initial call was reversed. The controversial call also cost the Kansas City Royals the game versus the new York Yankees so MLB’s solution was for the two teams to re-play the last four outs left in the game after the incident about a week later before an empty stadium.
Off the field, Brett frequently came into the UPS store where I worked to ship game-used memorabilia to fans and collectors. Often, he was sending back some sports memorabilia that fans had sent him to autograph for them. The sports memorabilia that he was sending usually consisted of items like a game-worn jersey. Autographed baseballs that were used in actual games were also being sent to fans and personal friends of Mr. Brett’s. I can already here the Red Sox fans talking about the Curse of the Bambino again this year when the Yankees swoop in and take another AL East title away from Bean Town. Last season was a major disappointment for Boston fans as the curse was really acting up when the Red Sox fell to third place in the American League East finishing one game behind the Toronto Blue Jays and 11 back from New york. Most likely, the Red Sox will regain their traditional second place finish in the AL East as Toronto figures to take a major hit with the loss of Ted Lilly from their starting rotation.
The Red Sox do have the pitching to win the division with a rotation which includes Schilling, Beckett, Wakefield, Papelbon, and the highly-touted Matsuzaka from Japan. I don’t care how good people say this guy is. He will be facing some of the biggest bats in baseball in the American League this season. It will take him some time to adjust to the power in the American game. Ultimately, I see a hole in Boston’s seemingly flawless staff. Papelbon was a great closer for Boston last season, and I expect that he will eventually go back to that roll or this team could suffer. I don’t see him having near the success as a starter. And this will be a wrinkle that the Red Sox will have to work out.
As far as the offense goes, it’s Manny and Big Papi. Last season, Manny’s numbers took a dip as he played 22 less games than he did in 2005, and, consequently, so did Boston’s record. Ortiz once again brought his big bat to the plate in 2006. But this is a team which can’t afford to lose either of these guys for any substantial amount of time as they are the run producers. One through nine, it appears that the Yankees will once again have a more consistent lineup. Boston’s attempt to fix this is J. D. Drew. He is an often injured player whose passion has been questioned. I don’t think this guy will even have a chance in baseball-crazy Boston. The Boston fans could make the Yankee fans look like little girls with their A-Rod ridicules when they jump on Drew this season.
In 2006, the Red Sox were big money makers in interleague play going 16-2 against the National League. I expect this trend to continue as Boston’s pitching staff should have its way with most weaker hitting NL teams. Much like the Yankees, the Red Sox get quite a bit of betting action and they are often overvalued by the books, even on the road. Last season, the Red Sox were just 38-43 away from Fenway. We’ll continue to look for spots to bet against the Red Sox when they are showing little value as road favorites.