"SoulSlam, How's the Pool?"

Thanks for asking. Don't mind if I gloat.

The pool is bliss. Water is clear, the filter is pumping, and with the mini-heatwave and about 2 weeks of sunshine, I am pleased to announce a water temperature of about 86 degrees. Sweet.

Put the ballgame on the radio, pop the cap on a cold one, and float. Except for the kids splashing me, it's like a tropical paradise. In the middle of suburbia.

Hot Enough For Ya?

Here in the great state of North Jersey (see previous posts newbies!) - we are in the grip of a HEATWAVE, with a capital H. Hot. Humid. Early June should not be this warm, particularly when we had 50-60 degree days only a couple of weeks ago. Right now my weather gadget says it's 82, at nearly 7PM - we hit about 95-96 today. Perfect weather for my team's playoff game today. If you count the time we we're at the field for warm-ups (9:30AM) and the delay of game because the ump didn't show and we had to get another (we were the visitor so don't blame me), the boys we're out for 4 hours. Played their hearts out. We lost 12-11 in extra innings. Came back in the top of 7th (this league plays 7 inning games even at 9U), to go up a run. The home team tied it in the bottom of seven and we lost in eight. The boys played well and one or two breaks and we go on. That's baseball, right?

Spring Baseball, whether it' s travel, LL, Rec, PAL - it's all winding down. So good luck to everybody out there playing the last remnants, and for those doing Summer Travel - the Grail of Youth Baseball - have a good season.

Who bet on Big Brown?

But Is It A Sport?

Long debates back in the ol' barroom days. Trying to decide if something televised as sport really is. There's really nothing scientific here. And this post was prompted from listening to Mike and the Mad Dog broadcast from Belmont today.

Someone once said to me "if it's on ESPN it's a sport!"; but ESPN televises Spelling Bees (not a sport), poker (not a sport) and Worlds Strongest Man Competitions (nope), which coincidentally are always held in countries that seem to encourage use of the juice. We'll post that little diatribe later.

So here's my list. Categories are Sport, Game, Pastime, Activity and the elusive Sporting. These are the ones that engage in wagering to elicit excitement. The NFL doesn't count.

Easy ones first:
Baseball - Sport
Football - Sport
Basketball - Sport
Hockey - Sport
Tennis - Sport

Now some classifications that will anger some:
Golf - Pastime (though it would become a sport if you randomly inserted snipers on the course)
Horse Racing - Sporting (and you can include Dog Racing)
Jai Alai - Sporting ('cause you can bet in FLA and CT)
Lacrosse - Sport
Running - Activity for most, Sport for the serious
Cycling - same as above
Bowling - Activity (anything that occurs with bad fashion, smoking and longnecks can't be a sport. Sorry Fatso)
Men's Softball - Activity (see bowling, except most guys seem to favor Under Armour)
Archery - Activity
Climbing - Stupid
Billiards - Game
Darts - Game
Surfing - Activity
BASE Jumping - Illegal in most States
Polo - Pastime
Cricket - Pastime
Rugby - Sport
Paintball - see Climbing, only twice as Stupid

You see, all you weekend warriors, it's all in how you look at it. For all of you who's favorite endeavor made the list as not a Sport. Send the hatemail.

Blogging - Activity

The Dugout

Back for more wisdom? Welcome.


I have a saying in Youth Baseball -
Discipline in the Dugout leads to Discipline in the Field.

So what does that mean? Simple. It means players must behave in a professional and respectful manner. No trash talk, no messing around. When we win, we hold our heads high, and wen we lose we do the same. No crazy celebrating, no chanting, no baby bush-league baseball bull***t!

So my rant? We played a vastly inferior baseball team tonight. And they beat us 8-7 in 8 innings. Frustrating. My boys looked lethargic, we were lousy in the field, but still stayed in the game. Lost in the 8th on a nice flare into left - the kid who hit it plays travel baseball for me, so I was happy to see it. So OK - they win. Now here comes the celebratory dancing like they won the world series. ARGHHH.

But my real issue - the way the coaches acted. Just bush-league. I have forgotten more about baseball than these guys will ever know, and I have to hear how "we're afraid to pitch to their best hitter". Sure. That's why we played in with the bases loaded and 2 out, and made the 6-3 putout on the kid.

BUSH-LEAGUE FELLAS. Gotta go.

Job Security

Well, Willie (as in Randolph) has it for now. For how long is the question.

Willie is NY Baseball royalty. Bigtimer with the Yankees - and now the Mets Manager. Unfortunately he may have a team of under-achievers and guys who do not care too much about how they play. So maybe those guys should go. But you can't fire 25 ballplayers, so if changes have to be made, Willie is the guy who walks the plank. Too bad at that point the water level on the ship may be too high to bail out.

He's got until the All-Star break by my guess. That's in the Bronx this year. Fitting.

As we blog, the Mets are up 3-1 in the 3rd against the surprising Florida Marlins. A win would be nice, since they haven't gotten too many lately.

Other BB tidbits - kudos to Jon Lester on the no-no last week. The Red Sox pitching staff is. how would you say, stacked! and the kids like Ellsbury and Pedroia are gonna be big.
D-Backs are hanging tough in the NL West, with only Joe Torre's Dodgers within 10 games. That's a big lead for May 27, and the Rockies are a big disappointment.
Larry Jones (aka Chipper) is hitting the southern snot out of the ball, hovering at about a .416 average. Most Mets fans dislike Larry, but I don't. But as Mike Piazza once said, I'm not calling a grown man 'Chipper'.

Vote for your All-Star choice now!

Day Before Memorial Day

Which would typically be a Sunday. At least as long as I can remember.

Anyway, this weekend was tournament weekend for our 10U team in town. My son plays for the 9U program, while I coach the 9U team - but people are away, etc., so we moved a couple of boys (my son and one other) to the 10U roster for this standalone tournament. There was no 9U tournaments for us to participate in, so that's the way the ball breaks.

So what usually happens is this - the host team usually schedules their first game against the team they view as easy prey, so they can get off to a win. In this case, the host team played our town's team. (We were in the same summer league last year). And you know what happens? Spoiled those plans, folks. Our team came out and showed them they were for real. So I guess you shouldn't assume that a baseball team is a pushover after all.

---

Did I mention I now have HD? I was a bit behind the times, watching my 32" Panasonic - but now I have a 46" Sony Bravia 1080p beast! What a picture. Now if I could only get my cable co. to carry more than 40 channels, 28 of which have nothing I watch.

Last, please remember to honor those who've served and who are serving our country on Monday. We owe a great debt to the servicemen and servicwomen that have served and fought for our freedom and way of life. God Bless.

The Catcher

I meant to get this up earlier, but haven't had time.

Mike Piazza announced his retirement a couple of days ago from MLB. After 16 seasons, including 12 as a MLB All-Star, he hangs it up.

His stats speak for themselves, check them out here.

My feelings on Piazza? He brought some respectability to a sorry franchise when he was traded to the Mets 10 years ago. I remember a lot of big moments, and I was there at Shea when he hit the home run against the Braves at the first game in NYC after 9/11. It is even more memorable since it was the first baseball game that my oldest son ever attended.

It wasn't always that way. When he played in LA, I wasn't really a big fan. He was an exceptional hitter, and I saw him late at night when the Mets played on the West Coast. Then he is traded to NY, via a side-trip to FLA, and the rest is history. Tough as nails. Hard playing. And maybe the strongest guy I've ever seen muscle a ball out to the opposite field.

Some will say he was a liability defensively, but they only tell half a story - pitchers will tell you he called a good game and he was solid behind the plate. The only big negative was his erratic throws. Some would say that it was to easy to steal on #31. Well let me clarify - players steal bases off pitchers, not catchers.

Now he waits until Cooperstown calls. First ballot? Likely. One of my favorite ballplayers forever. Absolutely. Have a good life, Mike.