Am I Really Doing This?

Well, I'm no longer in Eng 102, so why do i find myself posting a blog when i'm not required to. My answer, i love sports and found that i enjoyed writing my blog about sports every week and getting my opinions and observations out there, and plus i get to pretend i'm a sportswriter for ESPN and who doesn't want to do that? Not expecting to have any readers or views or comments but doing this just for the heck of it.

The first thing i'd like to write a little bit about is the surprising defense by my favorite NBA team the Dallas Mavericks. Everyone, myself included, thought that the loss of Tyson Chandler in the middle would lead Dallas to a return to the cellar of the NBA's defensive rankings and back to the Mavs old ways of outscoring other teams in a shootout night in night out. But so far this season, surprisingly (and thankfully) the Mavs rank 4th in the NBA in points per game allowed. This has been a major contributor to the Mavs 14-8 start. This will have to continue to be an emphasis for Dallas to defend the title of world champions.

One other thing to comment on before calling it a wrap for this blog, is the Brewers on Deck event in Milwaukee this past sunday that i attended. All i can say after that is that we do in fact love our Brewers. While waiting in line to be let into the exhibition hall at the Frontier Airlines Center me and my cousin were chatting with a fellow Brewers fan who had brought his 2 sons, he said that he had heard there were people waiting for the doors to be unlocked so they could wait in line to be let in at 7 o'clock, the event started at 10! It was so cool to see these players interact with their fans, sign autographs, participate in "game shows" with coaches and fans, and just be themselves and have a good time. It really got me ready for Opening day, by the way pitchers and catchers report to spring training in only a few weeks!!
I may have to post my super bowl prediction later in the week so i have witnesses when i pick the winner and score correctly! ;)
Go BREWERS!!!
LETS GO MAVS!!!

Tebowmania

In the midst of the Packers so far dominating season, another major story has popped up. Unless you've been under a rock or had ESPN removed from tv service, you know what Tim Tebow has or hasn't done with the Broncos this season. The Broncos are leading their division and i would be a moron to say that Tebow has nothing to do with it. i just believe he is getting more credit than he deserves for the Broncos winning ways lately.

Don't get me wrong, its great to see a guy like Tebow win, it shows that sometimes the good guys do win. Tebow is an excellent role model, hard working, and keeps himself clean of a negative image by staying clean from scandals. It is also great to see someone of great faith able to be put in a position to influence people and he has a great opportunity to share his faith.

I just don't think he deserves all the credit for winning the games on the field. If you look at his stats for the first 3 quarters of a game, they are atrocious, his completion percentage is awful, and his main job is to hand off the ball to his running back, which he did so 51 times in a game earlier this season. His numbers in the fourth quarter are pretty good i'll say. But without the help of his defense, which has been spectacular, and special teams, these games could be well over before Timmy has a chance to shine it was is now being called 'Tebowtime.'

Don't get me wrong, Tebow is a great guy, who looks to be a great leader as well, he did after all help lead Florida to at least one national title, whether or not the guys on his team are inspired by him i don't know, i just think most of the credit for Tebow's wins this season belong more to the defense and the coaching. (One thing from Tebowmania i have got caught up in is 'Tebowing' as shown in the picture. haha)
GO PACK GO!!!

Raise the Banner!

Although i wouldn't consider myself a big fan of the NBA. i will say that i am rather excited for the 2011-2012 NBA season to begin one week from today on Christmas day. I am excited for the start of the season because the first game of the year will feature a rematch of last year's NBA finals between my favorite team the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat in which the heat will have to watch the Mavericks raise the championship banner won this past June. For my blog this week i would like to give a brief season preview for the upcoming NBA season for the Mavs.

The Mavericks have a few key departures that may cause some issues in title defense this season. The first big hole the mavs have to fill is at the center position where last year's starter and defensive stopper Tyson Chandler has left the team to play in New York for the Knicks. Chandler's departure leaves the Mavs looking for a defensive presence in the middle where they hope last year's backup, Brenden Haywood, who was signed to a good deal before last year can step up and fill the void. Another key departure for the Mavs was explosive guard off the bench, JJ Barea. Barea's departure means the loss of a solid contributor on the offensive end where he is a good passer and can penetrate into the paint for easy baskets. The Mavs are better prepared for this loss as they have depth at the guard position, depth that will more than likely be tested this season.

Where the Mavs lost some key talent they also went out and were active in making some deals to bring in players that will be helpful in the quest for title defense. Lamar Odom was picked up to add some explosiveness to the small forward position where Sean Marion is aging and not quite the factor as early in his career. Another key addition to the champs is shooting guard Vince Carter, although not what he once was, Carter will be an able addition to the team and add depth to the guard position.

With most of last year's championship group intact the Mavs looked poised for another successful regular season led by Dirk Nowitzki and Jason JET Terry, hopefully the group can make another deep playoff run and challenge for another championship. With all the key pieces intact things look like they will be good in Dallas once again.
LETS GO MAVS!!!

Another Case of the media Blowing things out of proportion?

Unless you've been living under a rock the last 24 hours I'm sure you've heard the news that left many Brewers fans begging for answers and utterly devastated. Is it true? Did Ryan Braun the newly crowned NL MVP use performance enhancing substances? As we all await the results of Braun's appeal to the test the answers simply aren't coming fast enough for those of us around Brew City.

Since the news came out on ESPN yesterday many rumors have also arisen regarding what substance Braun tested positive for and what the repercussions of this test are. If found guilty Braun will have to serve a suspension for the first 50 games of next season. In which it is hard to say if the Brewers could recover from losing the superstar amidst a free agency season in which it appears the Brewers other superstar Prince Fielder is destined to shine in another city.

Among stories i've heard regarding the fiasco are that MLB tries to keep stories like this out of the knowledge of the public and media until known for sure the results of the test, it is said Braun and MLB knew about the positive test as early as late October and Braun immediately appealed the test and suspension and had another drug test taken for which he tested as clean from PED's. MLB procedure in this case is to keep things quiet until Braun is found guilty or innocent and that has not happened yet and the story was leaked. As of yet we have heard from a representative for Ryan, but heard nothing official from MLB regarding the subject, leaving everyone in the baseball world waiting the results.

When i first heard the story my immediate thought was that it was not a steroid type substance to build strength but rather probably something to help the body in rehab from injuries as Braun played through a few ailments this year. At this point i can only hope that the accusations against Braun are false and he is cleared from the ominous 50 game suspension and he can be back to help the Brewers defend the NL Central crown and take it one step farther and get to the World Series.

Just what professional bowling needed...?

Red Sox vs Yankees, Packers vs Bears, and Badgers vs Minnesota, all well known rivals in their respective sports leagues, well it may soon be time to add Sean Rash (pictured above) vs Jason Belmonte of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) to that list of heated rivals.

Not known as a sport where intensity shines such as in football. Under the pressure of the bright ESPN tv lights, total focus is a must and even the slightest distraction can throw a player off and cause them to make a bad shot which cost them the title, a load of cash, and maybe even player of the year. Enter Belmonte and Rash in the 2011 Geico Team Shootout, the following video link is what started the entire rivalry between these two, two of the best bowlers on the planet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p4-ypFE72c What Rash is complaining about in this video is that he says Belmonte made crinkling noises with his water bottle during his approach and release, althought Rash threw a good shot and struck, this was not the first time that Belmonte had been called out by a competitor for such aquatic actions. In a tournament a year earlier PBA pro Brad Angelo also called out Belmonte for his bottle crunchin antics, although he did not go to the extent Rash did, it was again brought up after this incident.

To further escalate the budding rivalry, the two were clearly the two most dominant players at the 2011 World Series of bowling qualifying for a majority of the TV shows to be tape delayed on ESPN. Because of their success on the lanes at the WSOB, they were often paired together during match play where they were made to behave. Common courtesy in bowling tournements is that the player who finishes the game first marks both players' scores on the scorecard if no PBA scorer has been assigned. During match play of a WSOB event, Belmonte was finishing first of the two of them on their pair but refused to mark Rash's scores. This breaking of an unwritten rule frustrated Rash who alerted a PBA official and the matter was taken care of.

It should be interesting over the WSOB telecasts to see how the two interact with each other as they have at least 4 tv matchups. In a sport that doesn't get much national attention in telecasts or show much interest in the professional sports world, this rivalry may be able to put professional bowling on the map, something I as an avid fan and bowling would like to see, it is also big for those already involved in watching the PBA because these two routinely make the cuts at tournements and will have matches and pairings in the future and it will be interesting to see how both players move on and feel toward each other on the lanes.

Game of the Century: Part 2?

As we are now right in the middle of the holiday season, another crazy season simultaneously  descends upon us: college bowl season and the mess that is the BCS this time of year. Every year we seem to have the same debate when it comes to who should play for the title, who got snubbed from a BCS bowl, who is in that shouldn't be, and what to do with the BCS-busting schools. And yet year after year nothing changes in the system leaving us with the same mess year in and year out, and leaving many fans and players unhappy with the results of the somewhat flawed system.

This season the BCS is a total mess, and many teams feel they have a legitimate argument as to why they should be playing in the BCS Championship Game on January 9. There are a total of 5 one loss teams and two undefeated teams in the top 7 of the BCS standings. All of these teams believe they should be in position to play in the title game but only two can actually play in the game. The one argument that gets many of these teams in a frustrated, almost angry position is that the top two teams; LSU and Alabama, are both in the same division of the same Conference; the SEC. But where the real problem comes in is that Alabama will not be the SEC champion no matter what because of a loss to LSU in the "Game of the Century" earlier this month. Despite this loss, Alabama has a rather commanding cushion over the #3 team in the nation; Oklahoma State, in the BCS standings making it nearly impossible for Oklahoma State to pass an idle Alabama team, setting 'Bama up for an easy route to the title game, meanwhile LSU has a SEC championship game to play in which a star player may be hurt, so in a sense 'Bama is rewarded for losing to LSU by getting a bye week and still being able to play in a National Championship game.

Another situation that's not getting national attention, but caught my eye comes from the Pac-12. Oregon beat Stanford by a hefty margin this month, but yet the Andrew Luck lead Stanford Cardinal rank #4 in the country while Oregon is stuck at #9, yes I know Oregon has 2 losses while Stanford only has 1, but if you look at those losses, one of them is to #1 LSU, in a game in which was reasonably close (13 pts) and a close, tough loss to a tough USC team, I don't get how Stanford is ranked ahead of them with the soft schedule they played in non-conference games, and Oregon is in the Pac-12 title game while Stanford sits at home, like Alabama, just waiting to be invited to a BCS bowl without winning their conference.

I think that the best solution to this whole mess would be to set up a playoff system, a tournament, similar to the basketball one, in which you still have the BCS standings but the standings only seed the teams in the bracket, take the top 16 teams in the standings at the end of the year and playoff to determine the National Champion, this way these teams have a chance to prove they belong in the title game. In this system you could also eliminate the month off teams have between the regular season and the bowl games, you could still have bowl games for those not in the top 16; but i think this would be a more fair solution to determine the national champ.

That said, in the current system i believe the BCS actually has it right, i believe 'Bama and LSU are the 2 best teams in the country and should be playing in the title game, i think that's how it would work out in the playoff format, and would agree with the BCS if they had a rematch for the national title, i just see how the other teams have a legitimate argument as to why they should be in instead of Alabama.

It's a Family Thing

I wasn't really sure what to write about this week so i thought i'd write about something that is a little unique and something that i think is really cool with my family. As you all already know i am huge into bowling, what many people, even many of my close friends don't even know that i am a 4th generation bowler, it may even go back farther than that but that is as far back as i know.

I know my great grandpa Roerdink was a bowler because my grandpa has a picture of him with his team from the American Bowling Congress National Tournament from sometime in the 1950's, i was also just told this week by a member of my church that he (my great grandpa) was a pretty good bowler back in the day, unfortunately i have no memory of him.

My grandpa has been involved in bowling for a long time in his life. It started out when he got a job as a pin boy for the 4 lanes that were at the former Knotty Pine in Oostburg. His job was to set pins, clear 'deadwood' off the pindeck, and get the ball rolling back to the bowler. He has told me stories about how he knew who was bowling and who to take cover for as some bowlers threw the ball much harder and sent pins flying places, making it necessary to dive for cover to avoid being hit by flying pins.

My dad has been the biggest influence on me getting into bowling, he's been one of my coaches for as long as i can remember, even when he didn't realize i was doing things backwards at the start because i am a lefty and everything looked right from his perspective as a righty. I owe much of my success on the lanes to what my dad has taught me and supported through as i bowled tournaments and leagues and high school meets.

One of my grandpa's brothers (my great uncle) is also a bowler, as is my dad's brother (my uncle) altogether on our monday night team there are 5 Roerdinks on the roster. We have already had 3 generations bowling on the team on the same night which i think is really cool. How many other sports are there where you can have 3 generations of family competing at a high level in a sport they share a mutual love for?

I love bowling for many reasons but this is one thing that makes bowling really special for me that i take for granted way to often.
Thanks Dad and Grandpa for getting me involved in a game i now love!