Excessive NCAA Time Outs

How many timeouts are in a televised NCAA basketball game? Possibly 28! Twenty-eight!

Each team gets 5 during each half, four 30 seconds timeouts and one 60 second timeout.  On top of that there are 4 TV timeouts each half at 4 minutes intervals ( at the 16, 12, 8, and 4 minute marks in the half).  This is a grand total of 28 time outs in a game (with the half-time break).  I know, basketball is a physically demanding sport, but man, that is too many commercials for me.

No timeouts in soccer!

“Second Skin”

These computers on our desks are turning into portals to other realms of existence…realms that will one day be preferred to earth.  –Edward Castronova

I just watched a documentary on Netflix called Second Skin.  I would recommend it, especially if you are a gamer or have been one in the past.  It’s about how MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role playing games) affect the lifestyles of different gamers.  World of Warcraft and Everquest are the 2 huge games this documentary covers.  I haven’t played either one, but I found the film very interesting.   It’s crazy how deeply these people get affected.  *Spoiler (If you’re going to watch it, don’t read the rest of this paragraph).  One guy said he played 179 actual days out of the year.  That means he was averaging 11 hours of gameplay a day.  He would pee in a bottle so he wouldn’t have to actually go to the bathroom.  After hitting rock bottom, he eventually gave up the game and moved in with a relative or friend or something.  After he had given up the game, his roommate got hooked.  Wow.  That’s just a part of the documentary.

A little background on myself – I’m 25, single, live with my parents, and am currently looking for a steady job.  I’ve been playing video games since the original Nintendo, so 17 or 18 years.  To add to these factors, I have a PS3 now, so you could say I’m “susceptible” to being addicted to gaming.  Presently, I’m trying to commit myself to playing only one RPG per year.  I just beat Dragon Age so that’s done.  Ultimately though, after I get a job and hopefully a girlfriend, I know it would be better to give them up cold turkey.  I realize how dangerous they are, and honestly I think it’s a matter of maturity in order to let go of them.

I haven’t always thought this though.  I have considered myself “addicted” to some games in the past.  I’d literally choose playing a video game in my room alone over just about anything, going out with friends, going to college classes…anything.  My low point was when I was living alone and I was playing a game called Oblivion.  I played for a week straight, skipped all my classes, was staying up until 5 or 6 a.m. and waking up at 1 or 2 p.m., literally left my house 2 or 3 times to go to the coke machine and that was it.  I maximized my playing time by eating my meals (ramen noodles, sandwhich) in 2 or 3 minutes, and taking the quickest showers I could.  I would play for 10 to 12 hours each day.  Luckily, in my next living situation I had 2 roommates, which forced me to lessen my gaming hours.  When one of them would walk in with some friends, I’d feel ashamed that I was choosing to be alone so I could play a video game.

Those moments in my binges where I was forced to be outside, I chose to take a break, or I chose to hang out with some other people, I realized just how much better reality is.  So just a little advice for somebody that’s stuck in gaming:  stop and think.  There are better things in life.  Take a breath of fresh air.  If there’s an emptiness you have, gaming is not going to fill that.  Work on making yourself better rather than making your “character” better.  It is harder, but much more satisfying.

Note about American Football

Just a side note, I do prefer baseball and soccer over football.  However, I’ve realized that football is American culture–it simply trumps baseball and soccer here.  Sometimes you have to really give things a chance even if they aren’t your preference.  It might be tempting to go with your gut and completely shut things out at times, but if everyone around you likes it, and it’s not something you disagree with on a moral basis, give it a whirl, and you might find it’s worth it.  For example, today.  It wasn’t just that it was a great game or that the team won that I wanted to.  It’s that I got to spend some quality time with my mom, pop,and one of my better friends.  When the World Cup comes on in a few months, more people (here in the U.S.) won’t know or simply won’t care.  The ability to relate and share with other people is an intangible–you can’t put a price on it.  Fortunately, however, we do live in a country where we have a choice.  Although football is big, soccer and baseball aren’t just thrown under the table.  I’m very thankful for that.

Henry Cheats Ireland

Yesterday was the final day of qualifying for the World Cup.  Unfortunately, it was a bad day for soccer.  France and Ireland were playing the second leg of their 2 game qualifying playoff.  France had won the first game 1-0 in Dublin so Ireland was forced to outscore the French in the second game in order to advance.  The game was in Paris with 79,145 fans in attendance.

The Irish took a 1-0 lead into extra time.  If they would have kept the 1-0 lead, the advancing team would be decided by penalty kicks.  However, in the 103rd minute William Gallas headed in a goal from a short pass by Thierry Henry.  Before Henry passed the ball, he clearly used his left hand to keep it in bounds.  I have to say that while it was happening in real time it was hard to pick up on. However, several of the Irish players saw it and were begging the refs to call it, particularly the keeper.

I can say that I’ve lost respect for Henry.  He did admit after the game that it was a handball, but that doesn’t excuse his action of doing it.  You play soccer your entire life.  You know when you’re cheating.  Dives, handballs, tugging on jerseys–it is a part of the game.  But how you can do something as deliberately wrong as that when so much is on the line baffles me.  I find it hard to root for France or Barcelona now.  Honestly, it gives me a sick feeling to my stomach.  My sympathy goes out to all the Ireland players and fans.  Like I said, that was a bad day for any true football fan.

Not only that, but immediately before Henry received the ball, there were 2 players offsides on the free kick.  There was no excuse for the line judge to miss that call.  A player cannot be offsides on a corner, throw-in, or goal kick, but this was a free kick.

Many people are demanding instant replay in soccer now.  Just like in baseball, I say no way.  Soccer is unique as a sport in that there is such a tremendous flow in the game.  You don’t start and stop in soccer.  The time keeps running.  Adding instant replay would destroy the game in my opinion.  I say you put one additional official next to each goal.  Having more trained eyes is just going to increase the efficiency of the officiating.  It is the same thing with baseball.  Additional replay is only going to hurt the game.  Make sure the umpires are trained well, and increase the number of them during the postseason.

Bobby Fischer/Can a Chess Player be Spiritual?

Spassky vs. Fischer, 1972 World Championship Match

I’ve been trying to get into chess lately, mostly playing games online at Yahoo.  I randomly went on Wikipedia to look up Bobby Fischer, just to briefly look over his bio.  I was shocked.  I had watched “Searching for Bobby Fischer”, which I think is a great movie by the way, but during the movie Fischer is portrayed as somebody to look up to, somebody mysterious, somebody you would never expect to have mental problems.  And since chess is a mind game, you might expect the World Champion to have a “beautiful mind”, something to be envied.  You might think they’d apply their skill to everything around the world.

I don’t envy Bobby Fischer, I pity him.  Fischer had some major mental issues.  He wanted America and the whole race of Jews to be annihilated.  It makes me wonder what he would have been capable of had he been exposed to more love throughout his life.

So this put a damper on my views of chess.  How could somebody so highly regarded in the game (many consider him to be the best chess player ever) have such nonsensical views outside of the game? I began to question if great chess players tend to lose the meaning of life.  I began thinking of the Bible quote:

What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? (Mk 8:36)

Also, a little reference to one of my favorite bands Chevelle—in their song Point #1, the lyrics say “It seems I’ve gained the world but have nothing.  To keep tabs upon this loss isn’t wasted time.”

And I started wondering.  Are there any world champions in chess that are charismatic, unselfish, spiritual, that aren’t absolutely consumed by it? There’s just sort of this plain, matter of fact connotation that goes along with chess players.  Other sports like baseball, soccer, they are team games, you are forced to play with one another, communicate with each other, pick each other up when you are down.  Relationships are built that last a lifetime.  I think this contributes to why they are my favorite sports.  I do like golf which is another solo sport.  Still, golf is physical and outdoors with beautiful scenery around.  Watching Tom Watson at the British Open really gave me a positive view of golf.  There was a certain spiritual aura about him, he was at peace with himself, he WAS unselfish, he appreciated the crowd and respected other players.  While Tiger was throwing clubs and cursing, Watson reacted in a much more mature way.

I can’t think of another sport like chess where it is so nearly 100% mind.  And when the great players are dedicating so much of their mind towards chess that means they aren’t devoting it to God.  I think it’s easy to get distracted and obsessed with the sport.  However, I think you can play it for God, just like baseball or any other sport.  I’ve made some stupid mistakes in chess and said some stupid comments like “man, that was stupid” or “I hate this game, I suck at this game.” On the other end, if you’re dominating the game, some people will start talking trash.  A holy person isn’t going to act this way, they will win and lose with humility.  And it feels better that way.

I particularly found some help from the comments in the following article, specifically the 1^st comment:  http://chessstuff.blogspot.com/2005/02/can-christians-play-chess.html

This helped me not only to feel better about being a devout, spiritual Catholic and chess player simultaneously, but also to reason through competitions and sports in general.  Competition with the right heart challenges us to become better people.  Competition isn’t for everyone though.

Watson had a spirit about him during the British Open that I really enjoyed watching.

Why I Don’t Agree With Sports Betting…

What is the point of predictions? Why pick a team when you have absolutely no influence on whether they win or lose? Why not just sit back and enjoy baseball for what it is instead of worrying about what teams you “picked” to win.  Just because I get more games right than somebody else does that prove that my baseball knowledge is greater? Absolutely not.  If you pick nobody, you’ve got nothing to lose, no pride is lost.

However, even though you might choose wrong 9 out of 10 times, that one time you choose right does make you feel better.  If you watch a sport enough, you develop an idea of who you think is going to win and who you want to win, sometimes for reasons that are clear and sometimes for reasons that aren’t so black and white.  What’s wrong with picking a team you think will win but rooting for a team you want to win? When there’s no money on the line, nothing is wrong with it.  So in a sense, this article reasons against sports betting.  If you bet $1,000 on a team you think will win but the team you want to win does, how do you feel?

So to reiterate, if you make picks for your own enjoyment or even if you’re entering some kind of free pool to enter such as March Madness, I have nothing against that.  But putting your money on the line doesn’t make sense to me.  Again, why put some of your livelihood on the line for something you have no control over?  Why risk money while observing a sports game?  The game is complete on its own.

Nothing riding on the line here, just for fun, but here are my predictions.  I’ll be honest, there is not a particular team I want to see win it all this time around.  There are 2 teams I don’t really want to see win it all:  the Dodgers because of my lack of respect for Manny Ramirez, and the Yankees because of Why I Don’t Root for the Yanks…

Dodgers beat Cards, Phillies beat Rockies

Angels beat Red Sox, Yankees beat Twins.

Dodgers vs. Phillies, Phillies win.

Angels vs. Yankees, Angels win.

Angels vs. Phillies, Angels win the World Series!

We shall see…

Cowboys vs. Giants (Opening Game)

Yes, my loyalty still lies with baseball, but I wanted to throw this in here due to the magnitude of this event.  Before Sunday, the highest number of page views on my site was 22.  Yesterday it hiked up to 115 and Monday’s ended at 183.  The vast majority of this is because of people searching “cowboys stadium” or “new cowboys stadium.”  So this stadium has quite a bit more hype than anything baseball related.  (Hopefully more people will turn to baseball next month during the playoffs.)

This article isn’t going to focus much on the analysis or stats of the game.  It will focus more on my thoughts of the stadium itself and my personal experience there.

Well, it was my 1st NFL game on Sunday night, and it was a doozy.  The attendance was 105,121, breaking the previous record for a regular season NFL game of 103,467 fans between Arizona and San Francisco in Mexico City at Estadio Azteca in 2005.  There were 30,000 fans in the party pass areas at each end zone.  I was one of those 30,000.  This is kind of funny.  My roommate went with us and is a Giants fan.  He estimated there would be between 20 and 30 thousand Giants fans being there, a very generous estimate.  That would be a 1 in 5 ratio for Giants fans.  When we actually got there, I would say it was more like 1 in 50 or even 1 in 100.  They stuck out like a sore thumb.

There were 8 of us that went.  When we made it to Cowboys Stadium I think the best word to describe it is “glorious“.  It gave me an extra pump of adrenaline through my veins just to drive by the massive, gorgeous stadium and see all the people flocking to it and gathering around it.  What a sight.  The game started at 7:30, but we got into the Rangers cash lot F at around 1:30 and only paid 12 bucks.  The lot attendant said if we would have got there at a half hour later we would have had to pay 40 bucks instead.  That was a pleasant surprise b/c we were expecting to dish out more for parking, anywhere from $50 to $90.  when we got there, we set up the beer pong table which got a few amused looks from people walking by.  We had a group of guys beside us, but our tailgating area was a little desolate.

After beer pong, throwing the football around, and cooking our sausages and hot dogs, at about 4 we left for my uncle’s spot which was in the Silver Lot 4, which was a much better tailgating environment.  There must have been 30 or so people in our group, a good party atmosphere, not to mention me getting to see some of my family again.  At this point our group split and we never completely rejoined again until after the game.  Half went inside to walk around and check out the stadium, I was with the half that stayed at the tailgating scene until about 6 or so and then went into the stadium.  Apparently once you go into the stadium with a party pass, you can’t come out, which they didn’t know.  So in retrospect, our situation was better b/c they didn’t gain any sort of seating advantage over us.  We were able to find them and stand right next to them.

I would definitely recommend going to a game at the stadium.  However, the party pass—not going to do it again.  First, they are standing room only tickets so there is no sitting down, but we already expected that.  However, standing room on the rail is limited and you risk having to watch the entire game on a tv screen, which I can do at my house or at any bar.  The second half I lucked out though and got a spot on the rail with a beautiful view of the field (see below).  Unfortunately there were a few Giants fans in front of me who were talking smack back and forth to the Cowboys fans beside me, so when the Giants fans stood up my view was almost ruined, and then on top of that one of them would hold his arms up like an idiot just so we couldn’t see the game.

The game itself.  Yeah, a heartbreaker.  Giants win 33-31 on a last second field goal.  It was hard to swallow.  Seeing so many people have their hopes crushed. But, the atmosphere was amazing.  It got awesomely loud, especially when the Boys went up 31-30.  I’m glad it was at least a good game.  Seeing the Giants blow us out would have been a huge dissapointment.

It doesn’t matter which sport, there are some people you want to watch a game with and there are some people you don’t want to watch a game with, and it doesn’t matter if they’re for your team or the opposing team.  There were fights.  I guess that’s to be expected with so many people there.  There are going to be some disrespectful, arrogant, obnoxious fans that are looking to butt heads.  (Unfortunately one was among our group, but we left him on his own and found different spots after the 1st quarter.  The game was much more enjoyable without his company.)  28 people were ejected, 8 arrested.  Stupid fights.  I hate to see people have so much disrespect for the game of football and for other people. Some people don’t know where to draw the line so the police have to draw it for them.   (Or they actually have friends to calm them down or step in.)

Here are a few pics I took with my phone.  They are in chronological order, and as can be expected, I got a better view as the game progressed:

The 1st view we got after walking in. As you can see, there are about 8  people between us and the the rail so we were forced to watch the smaller big screen tv.

I took this picture on one of the stairways. My phone got a better view than I had.

Midway through the 3rd quarter. On the same level as the first picture, we’re just closer and to the right some. Unfortunately you couldn’t see the open roof from here. Good view though.

Finally made it to the rail! As good of a view I got all game. The people directly in front of us paid for actual tickets instead of our $29 party passes. I have no idea how much theirs cost, but I have a feeling the difference in price was huge.

Why I like the National League…

I have to give the National League some credit on one thing –the only thing that separates it from the American League — the pitcher having to bat.  Growing up with the Rangers, it’s hard not to favor the DH.  Seeing more homers, more hitting, and watching the American League annihilate the National in the All-Star Game makes you think that the American League has a better system going, that they play the game the right way.  The National League hasn’t won the All-Star Game since ’97, which is 13 years.  American League has won it 7 consecutive times though due to the tie in ’02.  The point is that I agree with purists that pitchers should bat.  I know it’s not going to change, and I’m not going to change the team I root for just b/c of that rule, but here’s why I favor making the pitcher batt:

• Having to have the pitcher batt adds much more strategy to the game.  There’s much more emphasis on when you decide to pull your pitcher.  You have to think about when to pinch hitt and pitchers are forced to execute the bunt frequently which is a great team aspect of baseball.
• Also the total length of the game is usually shortened b/c usually the pitcher is close to an automatic out.  Baseball is a long enough game as it is.  Seeing a 10 or 15 run game in the National League is simply less likely to happen, and when I think of a good baseball game it’s going to have less than 10 runs in it.
• Finally, the pitcher being able to drive his own runs in and create his own lead makes the game much more wholesome to me.  A pitcher can be a hero from both sides of the field, just like any of the other 8 players.  If a pitcher is a good hitter in the National League (Hampton, Zambrono), he is rewarded, as opposed to the American where he is a no-factor on the offensive side.  I believe this also encourages more of a team spirit when a pitcher moves a runner over by bunting or picks up the guys on base by getting a RBI in a clutch situation.

Salary cap or no?

The 1994 MLB strike caused the entire postseason to be cancelled.  With finances worsening in baseball, the owners wanted a salary cap, and the players wouldn’t have it.  The 1995 season was shortened to 144 games because the strike didn’t end until April 2nd of that year.  2011 – next collective bargaining agreement – should be interesting. There’s alot of different ways to look at the salary cap issue because it’s complicated.  Revenue sharing and luxury taxes certainly spread the love.  The Yankees haven’t won the world series since 2000, and there are a variety of teams that make it in the playoffs.  But teams at least need the ability to sign stars, they need to be able to compete. You just look at the Yankees roster right now. I know, it makes for a great story when they keep falling, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a little more moderation towards total payrolls.  Just because every team has to be under a cap doesn’t mean that underdogs go out the window. I’m a rangers fan, and seeing all this awesome young talent makes me giddy, but I also have to keep in mind that when these guys become free-agents, teams like the Yanks or Red Sox can come right in and sweep our home-grown talent right from us.  I think baseball would grow with a salary cap.  What do you think?

Thoughts on Steroids

I’m trying to sift through all this stuff about baseball.  The “steroids era”, how long has cheating been around and in what forms, who’s been clean and who’s been dirty, and it’s really, really frustrating as a fan.  The first thing to keep in mind:  we don’t know all the answers, and it’s hard to come up with absolutes.  Question the sources, and don’t make assumptions that aren’t reasonable.  Also, everyone screws up, we are human, but the extant to which we screw up and how often we screw up differs.  At a highly competitive level, cheating is a great temptation.  I look at somebody like Mike Sweeney.  His appearance on Life on the Rock has influenced me greatly, and although I know he makes mistakes like everyone else, I saw a lot of moral fiber in him and I don’t believe he would cheat to that extent.  I’ve also always looked up to Ken Griffey Jr. as a player.  I can’t assume that anybody is on steroids if they’ve never been connected to them.  But, if something pops up, it’s almost impossible to turn a blind eye.  There’s a reason why they are connected, and there should be a good explanation.  I respect how A-Rod came out an admitted it.  I wish more would do this.  It really angers me how so many players could not care about keeping themselves in the guidelines of MLB, and also how MLB hasn’t done a great job of putting their foot down.

What do I have against steroids?

It’s a shortcut.  There are people out there busting their tails to get in shape for the entire season, and working hard to stay within MLBs guidelines, and these guys stick a needle in their arm and get the same effect.  It makes it an uneven playing field.  In the short run, yes, these guys get their homers, their fame, but in the long run they get an asterisk, they get a negative connotation with their name.

For a complete list of players associated with steroid use, go here:  http://www.baseballssteroidera.com/bse-list-steroid-hgh-users-baseball.html

I have to say, it was kind of nice to see a high profile player like Manny Ramirez be suspended for 50 games.  I hope that sends a powerful message.

Griffey has been one of the good guys for baseball. What a gorgeous swing!

Although Griffey (The Kid) has acquired only one MVP and no world series titles, he has racked up 10 gold gloves, 13 all-star appearances, 3 home run derby titles, and currently has 625 HRs, 5th all time.