Bud Selig Hates Baseball and America

(Photo from CBCSports.ca)

Why, in God's name, is baseball "opening" its season in Japan?

We're trying to grow the sport you say? The Japanese station carrying the game switched to a game show once the game headed into extras, doesn't sound like Japan cares too much.

And if we as a baseball community are trying to grow the game, wouldn't it be in our best interests to have league integrity in Japan. I have seen Bobby Valentine pleading to anyone who will listen that the Red Sox and A's opening series in Japan is obfuscating the begining of the Japanese season. With "real major leaguers", and the A's, in town, why would Japenese fans pay attention to the begining of their national season?

The fact is that this quadrannual foray into the Far East does nothing for anyone, and even hurts the game as a whole. Here in America it is seen as a side show, and no one watches because it's on at 4 AM MT. In Japan, no one watches, and even worse, it creates the perception (whether true or not) that baseball in Japan is second rate.

If Alan H. "Bud" Selig wants to spread to mighty aura of the Red Sox, then why not take Mr. Valentine's advice and have them as Major League Champs take on the Winner of the Japan Series in what could then truely be called a "World Series." While this will probably never happen, it would, in a sense, legitimize baseball in Japan as MLB's equal. Japanese baseball is slowly dying because of a drop in national interest and the exportation of top talent to American shores. An elevation of Japanese baseball in stature would possibly stem this trend, infuse the Japanes game with some well needed revenue, and maintain a vital market for the expansion of the game around the world.

In the late 30's, America "took" baseball away from Japan (albeit after Japan had outlawed it's play) because we felt them unworthy of such a "democratic" game. At the end of WWII we "gave baseball back" to them in order to "foster democratic ideals." In that vein, why not let their league compete on an even playing field? What's democratic about barging in and ursurping their leagues opening month?

Fuck you and your Chalk

(Photo is from the AP via ESPN)


Now thats more like it.

I hope Tampa ruined your bracket, I really do. Especially all of you who take no risks when you fill out your picks. Chalkers suck. If you don't have the balls to even take a 12 seed, then you deserve to be "Tampa'd."

In the memory of Valparaiso, I congratulate you destroyers of brackets. I raise my non-existent glass to you Western Kentucky, and to you Villanova. Oh, and let's not forget Siena and San Diego. You may have killed two of my Sweet-16 teams, but giant slaying is what March is all about. Without the occasional mind blowing upset, we would all be stuck watching mid-season NBA basketball (Fuck you Skip Bayless, it's so boring even the players would rather watch something else).

And in the memory of Boise Regionals gone-by, I congratulate the St. Pete Times Forum for giving us this March bounty of teams we will forget and players from whom we'll never hear from again.

Now can we get back to sanity so my bracket can survive till next weekend?

And, as always until they are knocked out, Fuck Duke

(possibly a non-basketball post from me next time)

Speaking of Garbage....

(Photo from CBCSports.ca)

Speaking of garbage.... here comes my first post. Outside of a string of what my mother described as "excellent work" in high school and college, my writing skills have typically strayed into the realm of crap-tacular, and for this I apologize in advance.

Other things that are crap-tacular: my personal debt, the national economy, my beloved White Sox chances this year, and of course my yearly upset picks in the NCAA Men's Tourney.

An overly large portion of my adult life has been spent obsessing over collegiate basketball. Midnight tipoff for a hot WCC matchup between Portland and Santa Clara? Count me in!!! Early December matchup between Bucknell and Rhode Island? Hells Yeah, thats my shit!!! The downside to this obsession is that I fall in love with teams that I have seen throughout the season, which leads me to danger come bracket time. Case in point: Saint Mary's. I saw Saint Mary's around seven times this season. I thought they were spectacular. Hell, if you can beat the likes of San Francisco and Pepperdine, you should be able to hang with the Dukes and UCONNs of the world, right? ESPN2 put them on at midnight, they must be good! Accordingly I throw them into the Sweet 16 in my bracket-o-integrity.

It of course would follow that they lose by 14 points in the opening round to Miami. And this is why Basketball aficionados like me suck at brackets; we only know enough to screw up our brackets. The brackets I make every year are based in the fantasy world I exist in, where mid-season games are indicators of actual ability to play the sport. What actually matters is the blind luck that enables brackets based on which town you enjoyed visiting more and who has the cuddliest mascot to win.

Every once in a while I'll get one right like Winthrop last year, or Vermont a couple of years back. These, however, are just aberrations in a lifetime spent following teams, just hoping that they are worthy enough to confidently put a circle on a piece of paper the following March, only to discover that they weren't worth my attention in the first place. 40 Minutes of basketball can be a cruel mistress, what can be even more cruel is the realization that you'll have to wait till next year in order to try again.

Will the Saint Mary's loss kill my bracket's chances of earning me money? Probably not, I do tend to over-react. But decisions like that are why my "Weapon of Choice" come March should be a trash can... the better to throw away my bracket before I turn it in.

Also, Fuck Duke.

Time

Give it some time. I have not written consistently in a while and it may take me some time to get into any sort of stride with thought processes, insights, and what I can only hope will be funny. True, the last time that I was writing it was fueled by weed, amphetimine, strong coffee and cigarettes, but these days my body just can't handle that kind of abuse, so my writing will be fueled more by spite. Anyway, just bear with me through the process, and hopefully, although I can't garauntee it, it will get better. Until then, expect garbage.

Fuck Duke

(Photo from Truthaboutduke.com)

Being that its March and the tournament just started, there is one resounding thought in my mind that truly permeates every bit of my being at the moment, and that is hatred for Duke. So, fuck Duke, fuck Coach K, fuck the Cameron Crazies, fuck the jumping, fuck Nico (some douche i know who attended Duke), fuck team USA for ruining our Olympic chances by hiring Coach K, fuck Dick Vitale for jizzing himself over Paulus, fuck Paulus, fuck Belmont for blowing it, fuck their coach for not taking a timeout, and go UCONN!