WELCOME HOME, BRAVES

giphy-downsized (3)

Praise the Lord, the Braves are finally coming home! After an extensive and rough road trip to start the season, I’m happy to see my boys come home; albeit not the home I’m accustomed to, but it’s home nonetheless…(and yes, I’m still bitter). The Braves have had a shaky start to the season, no doubt, but I’m hoping that their win in Miami on Wednesday coupled with them FINALLY getting to play at home, will help to turn things around. We currently sit at 2-6 on the season and are in last place in our division, but I’m not too concerned with that. It’s early, we have plenty of time to catch up; after all it’s a marathon, not a sprint! While there have been elements of our game that need some work (i.e., the early bullpen troubles, fielding errors, hitting into what feels like 2354572435 double plays, and swinging at some horrendous pitches), it hasn’t all been bad.

giphy-downsized (2)

As for our offense, Freddie Freeman has gotten off to a much better start than his 2016 campaign. He had a mini-slump in the middle of the road trip, but has been swinging the bat much better as of late and is hitting .333 with 3 homers. Matt Kemp has had a monstrous start to his season; before being placed on the 10 day DL (hammy strain) he was hitting .500 with 2 homers and 4 RBIs; I expect him to return shortly and continue with business as usual! In Kemp’s absence, Jace Peterson has been manning the outfield and has been plenty solid hitting .286 with 2 RBIs. Tyler Flowers, Nick Markakis and Brandon Phillips are all seeing the ball well and hitting .300 or above to start the season. While Dansby has had a dreadful start to the year, I’m sure he’ll settle in soon and be the ROY we know he can be! Ender Inciarte has also gotten off to a disappointing start, however if the last game in Miami is any indication, I think things are turning around for him. He hit 2 homers and looked much more comfortable at the plate.

giphy-downsized (4)

As for our pitching….well, Teheran has been a stud (no surprise here); he has yet to let up a run over 13 innings of work and is set to take the mound tonight in the Braves home opener. Fingers crossed he can get some run support and come away with his first win of the 2017 campaign. Bartolo had a rough spring but pitched pretty well in his first start of the year against his old team (the Mets) and I thought he had knocked off the last bit of rust from the offseason; however he got lit up in his last start against Miami, only lasting 4 innings and giving up 6 ER…it wasn’t pretty. Here’s to hoping that was a one-off and he will be in the zone for his next start. Dickey has been fine, he looked alright in his first and only start (so far) of the year, unfortunately the defense didn’t do him any favors and committed 2 errors in the game while Suzuki had 3 passed balls in the same contest. It certainly made Dickey’s start memorable for all the wrong reasons, hopefully his next start will provide better results. Folty only pitched 3 2/3 innings in his start against the Pirates and gave up 6H and 2 ER. In his defense, it was snowing while he was on the mound, so those were certainly more extreme conditions than what he had been used to during spring training. Hopefully his next start will afford him better pitching conditions and be more comfortable all the way around! Garcia ‘s last start was better than his first, he pitched 5 innings and gave up 3 ER. Outside of the 2 homers he gave up to Stanton, it wasn’t that bad of an outing, hopefully he will continue to improve as he faces the Padres on Monday at home!

The bullpen has had it’s share of troubles to start the season, Krol and O’Flaherty both looked terrible in their first appearances of the year; Krol pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up 3 runs, while O’Flaherty also pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up 2 runs. Since that disastrous start, both pitchers have settled in quite nicely and have not let up a run in any of their subsequent appearances. We have only seen Josh Collmenter (our long reliever) once this season and he pitched 2 innings, giving up 3 hits and 2 runs. I’m sure we’ll see more of him in the coming weeks and I will revisit my thoughts on him at that time! Despite blowing a save against the Pirates, Jim Johnson has looked good. He has a solid 2.25 ERA and 4:2 K:BB through his first 4 innings of work and looks to be the closer whenever the Braves give him an opportunity. Arodys Vizcaino has gotten off to a great start, he’s pitched 4 innings and has yet to surrender a run…I’ll take it!

giphy-downsized (6)

So while the Braves are currently the 3rd worse team in baseball and last in their division (like I mentioned above), I’m hoping for a more productive homestand to break in our new home at Suntrust Park. Either way I’ll be cheering loud and proud for my Atlanta Braves and will except whatever the result is; win or lose I love them all the same. If you live in the Atlanta area and are making a trip to the ballpark, enjoy yourself! The pictures I’ve seen look beautiful and it looks to be perfect weather to catch a game! Leave early (traffic is a nightmare), take lots of pictures and make sure you’re ready to chop!

And as always, Go Braves!

-B

OPENING DAY…IT’S TIME TO CHOP!

17795777_10154428142217227_4249923603896666687_n

Ahhh, it’s the most wonderful time of the year, baseball is back! MLBs Opening Day was yesterday, April 2 and it didn’t disappoint. Tanaka got lit up, Archer and Kiermaier (swoon) looked solid, Bumgarner hit 2 homers (ridiculous, I know), the Diamondbacks walked off, Bryant had 3 SO, Lester lasted 5, and Grichuk walked off for the Cards. Like I said, it didn’t disappoint. Fast forward to today’s games (and there are plenty) and I’m sure there will be just as much excitement. Will Kershaw continue his dominance? Will Bryce bounce back? Will the Braves be more competitive? Is McCutchen finished? Can Porcello do it again? Will King Felix turn it around? Will the Mets starting rotation hold up? There are a lot of questions, and while they won’t all be answered today, I’m excited to see how things start out.

26259829315_d9ffd44370

3599442174_bdb889d5bb

For those of you who don’t know, I am a Braves fan through and through (laugh if you want to). Yes, I know what you all are thinking…”the Braves are hot trash.” Sure we’ve had some challenges in recent years, and we are miles away from the teams we ran out in the late 90s, but I’m hoping we can turn things around this year and look more like the 2016 second-half Atlanta Braves. On paper it certainly seems like we could be around .500 (ish). Teheran will still be a stud and I think this is Folty’s year (at least I hope so). Dansby is a dream and I’m stoked to watch him play for a full season and make a run for Rookie of the Year (which I think he’ll win!). I love having Brandon Phillips at second, he’s a hometown kid (shout out to Redan HS) and incredibly easy to root for! Kemp looks great (physically) coming into the season and I think he’ll settle in just fine! To be honest, I’m just glad baseball is back. I’ve missed it.

If you guys are baseball fans then I hope the season gets off to a great start for you and your respective teams…unless you’re a Mets fan. Do you like baseball? Who’s your team? I’d love to know! And as always, GO BRAVES!!!

-B

Cam Newton…And the Hate Goes On.

**I should start off by saying that I am a Cam Newton fan. I always have been and he would have to do something pretty drastic for me to dislike him. Will this post be biased? Probably. However, I feel like the reasons people give me for hating him are a bit silly**

Why is Cam Newton one of the most hated players in the NFL? I can not for the life of me figure it out. I mean, sure he’s arrogant and dances around for a solid 2 minutes in the end zone every single time he scores…but is he really THAT bad? I know he has had some less than stellar moments in his past, but who hasn’t? I challenge you to find me a professional athlete (or anyone for that matter) that is perfect in every way….don’t worry, I’ll wait. There are many “reasons” that people give me for disliking Cam, I think we should chat about those below.

He’s a Hometown Kid That Left His Hometown

Yes, Cam Newton is a hometown kid (well, hometown for those of us that reside in Georgia; more specifically, Atlanta). He played his high school ball here in south Atlanta for the football powerhouse that is Westlake High School (Weylake Weylake Weylake). As a junior he passed for 2,500 yards and 23 touchdowns and ran for 638 yards and 9 touchdowns. By his senior season he was rated a 5-star prospect by Rivals and received scholarship offers from a number of schools including: Florida, Georgia, Ole Miss, Va Tech and countless others. Cam, to the dismay of many, chose to take his talents to Gainesville and play for the University of Florida under head coach Urban Meyer. *Cue the angry Georgia fans* As an Auburn fan (where he eventually ended up winning a national title) I was beyond pleased with his decision to leave his hometown. I just can not imagine him barking at people, can you? I’m not sure why people are so upset with young kids choosing to leave their hometowns to play college ball; maybe he didn’t want to go to Georgia (GASP), did you ever think of that?! Regardless, Cam Newton is not the first athlete to leave his hometown to play college ball (and he won’t be the last)…but apparently for those using that as their excuse to hate him; he is the only one they seem to remember.

Cam Newton Is a Criminal

First of all, I think the term criminal is a bit of an over-exaggeration. Cam made a mistake. Are you telling me that he is the only person that has ever made a mistake? Please. We have all heard the story about him stealing a laptop from another student while attending the University of Florida. We have also heard about his ill-advised attempt to hide it from the police by throwing said laptop out of his dorm window. I get it, not his finest moment; but it could have been much worse. He completed a pre-trial diversion program and all of the charges were then dropped. Should he have stolen a laptop? Absolutely not. Was throwing the laptop out of his window smart? Well, NO. But Cam Newton is not the first college student to show a lapse in judgement. Sit back and think about all of the things you and your friends did in college…were they all smart…er legal? Probably not. I am not saying it was right. And I’m not saying that it should be swept under the rug, but I do believe that he should be given a second chance like every other person that does something stupid when they are young. Why are we still holding this over his head? After all, he didn’t accrue countless DUI’s while in school (or even after he was out of school) and there aren’t any sexual assault allegations looming over his head. Cam chose to leave the University of Florida after the incident and had to work his way back to the big stage. He won a Junior College National Championship with Blinn College before returning to Division 1 football. So to those of you that just CAN’T seem to let go of the laptop scandal, I challenge you to go look in the mirror and beat yourself up about things you did when you were 18 years old….how does it feel? Crappy? Then you should probably let it go and give the man a break.

“Scam Newton” & The Pay-to-Play Scandal…

This is one I find extremely interesting. I have said this before and I am going to say it again: the majority of college athletes get paid (in some form or fashion) to play football…or basketball…or really almost any sport. Even non-revenue sport (such as track) athletes reap the benefits of playing at the collegiate level. For those of you unfamiliar with the pay-to-play scandal, I will fill you in. It was alleged that Cecil Newton Sr. (Cam’s father) had solicited money in return for Cam’s commitment to play for a specific program. Mississippi State boosters claimed that Cam’s dad said that it would take “more than a scholarship” for his son to play football for the university. The boosters claimed that Cecil said it would take “anywhere from 100,000 – 180,000” to secure Cam’s presence on their football team. Wait for it…wait for it…Cam ended up playing for Auburn University, not Mississippi State. This lead the NCAA to investigate his eligibility as there was reason to believe that Auburn may have also illegally recruited Newton. To make a long story short, Cam was declared ineligible by the NCAA and Auburn filed an immediate appeal on the grounds that they felt they acted lawfully and within the guidelines of the NCAA recruiting by-laws. The NCAA immediately sided with Auburn as they felt there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the claims brought against the university. It was later revealed that Newton knew nothing about his father soliciting money for his services during the recruitment process. Do I think that Cam knew about the money…probably. Do I think that he is the first player (or player’s parent) that has done the same thing? Hahahahahaha, NO. Bottom line, he ended up at Auburn, not Mississippi State. There is no evidence that Auburn paid him…so you should probably drop that “Scam Newton” nonsense, it’s getting a little old.

“But He’s Such a Showboat and He’s a Sore Loser”

Showboat? Why yes, yes he is. But so are most 20 something year olds that have an immense amount of talent; never mind the fact that he makes millions of dollars and won 17 games this year. I keep hearing things like “he is what’s wrong with the NFL” and “he is such a terrible role model because he is arrogant and a sore loser.” Sure, half of that last statement may be true, but is that a legitimate reason to say that he is what is wrong with the NFL? I hardly think so. There are plenty of players in the league (many of them play on the very team that you cheer for) that have real moral deficits (IMO). I think lumping him in the same category as some of the other “troubled” players (as you call them) is unfair and simply misguided. Could he be a better sport about losing? Absolutely, but he is 26 years old, cut him some slack. He is not the first player to walk out of a press conference or “pout” after a loss. Losing is not easy; any athlete, at ANY level will tell you that. He will learn from this just like anyone else would. Maybe we should stop watching his every move waiting for him to make a mistake. That is an awful lot of pressure and a bit unfair, no? Now onto the reason that I find most ridiculous….his end zone celebrations?!?! I mean is this a real reason for someone to be HATED? I get if it’s not your cup of tea; but HATED, that seems a bit excessive. Who cares if he dances in the end zone after scoring a touchdown; at least he gives the ball to a kid in the stands. Come on, how bad of a person could he be? If you don’t want him to dance, then don’t let him score. Are you upset that he is dancing against your team’s subpar defense (my team included – Go Falcons!)? If Cam was on your team would you have a problem with the way he celebrates? I didn’t think so. It seems that folks are very quick to criticize someone who is winning, especially when their team is not. I mean I get it. I wish Matt Ryan was the one dabbing in the end zone (I know that would never happen but you understand my sentiment), but unfortunately we aren’t winning the way that Cam is and that’s OKAY, It doesn’t make me hate him. I am a huge Cam fan, he won me a championship when he was at Auburn and is one of the most exciting players I have ever seen play. I admittedly am not a huge fan of excessive celebrations but it certainly does not change how I feel about him as a player. If I become annoyed, I just won’t watch. I’ll go re-up on my wings and Coke Zero, and by the time I get back, he’ll be on his last lap around the stadium! Crisis Averted!!

**Basically all I’m trying to say is that the reasons people have for legitimately hating Cam seem silly to me. I completely understand if he’s not your cup of tea, but must we criticize his every move? Yes, he has made some mistakes along the way, but haven’t we all? I make mistakes all the time, just ask my coworkers (they are saints). And maybe he’s not the best at handling a loss, but is that really a reason to crucify him? It all just seems a bit harsh; the punishment doesn’t seem to fit the crime if you know what I mean. Watching him play is exciting, no one can say that he is not insanely talented…that just simply would not be true. There’s a reason he is the league’s MVP this year; he deserves it. Let’s admire his talent and cool it with the hate. He isn’t perfect, but neither are Peyton, Brady, Peterson, and a slew of others. At the end of the day he is a 26 year old that is celebrating his success in the NFL. I would much rather him dab, give footballs to kids, and be a sore loser, than get arrested for countless DUIs…or worse. Keep dabbing Cam, not all of us hate you!**

And as always…Go Falcons!

-B

 

 

Cheating In Sports…Almost Everyone Does It

*Disclaimer: This post is based solely on my opinions and working knowledge of the sports industry. YES, I recognize that not EVERY team cheats; but I’m wise enough to know that most, if not all of mine probably do. So if your team plays by the rules 100% of the time, congratulations! I hope my teams follow in your team’s footsteps one day!*

In the wake of “DeflateGate” and the Falcons being investigated for piping fake crowd noise into the Georgia Dome (which we’ve pretty much already admitted to being true), I thought I would write a little something about cheating in sports. Now I know we all live in a world where we’d like to believe that our favorite team(s) play by the rules…but newsflash, they don’t.

Contrary to popular belief, the New England Patriots are not the first team to (allegedly) deflate a football to help them achieve a better grip; the USC Trojans did that very thing during the 2012 season in their game against Oregon. I recognize that it’s a form of cheating and that they shouldn’t do it, but in the grand scheme of things, is it really THAT big of a deal? In the case of the AFC Championship game, it has been reported that the New England Patriots only played with the deflated balls for the first half; the score going into halftime was 17-7…..clearly the Colts still had plenty of time to come back in that game. It has also been reported that the initial findings that showed 11 of the 12 balls being deflated a full 2 pounds under the limit may be incorrect. There have been contradictory reports surrounding how much air was actually taken out the balls but for the sake of the argument let’s assume the initial findings are correct. I would like to remind everyone that they only used the balls in question during the first half of play, so how does one explain 21 unanswered points in the 3rd quarter? I’ll tell you how, because the New England Patriots have talented athletes all over the football field. If the Colts had any intention of winning that game, they were gonna have to score more than SEVEN points. Period. We’ll all continue to watch how DeflateGate unfolds and I’m sure people will maintain that the Patriots didn’t deserve to be in the Super Bowl because they cheated, but let me ask you this: If it was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or the St. Louis Rams, would you still be as upset? No, no you wouldn’t. What about if it was your team, would you shun them and call them cheaters? Would you insist that their Super Bowl berth be taken away because they used underinflated balls for the first half of their AFC/NFC Championship game? Be honest. No, you wouldn’t. So while everyone is upset that the Patriots (allegedly) cheated and were able to play in the Super Bowl because of it, we should all just relax and stop being bitter that it wasn’t our team that made it to the big show.

While the city of Boston (and apparently every other city in America) is reeling over DeflateGate, I’m over here bitter that the Atlanta Falcons piped fake crowd noise into the Georgia Dome. My thoughts are this: if we’re gonna cheat, I need it to be worth the consequences that will follow. I’m sure all of you know how well the Falcons did this year (haha), so clearly our noise heightening efforts were a waste of time. So not only are we cheaters (I use that term loosely because I don’t take myself too seriously) who had another terrible season, but now we have to give up a draft pick…whomp whomp, jokes on us. Oh well, we’ll move on and deal with that consequence when it comes. Go Falcons!

I couldn’t possibly write a blog about cheating in sports if I did not address the elephant in the room (pun intended). There is not a single person on this planet that could convince me that college teams do not illegally recruit, I just simply do not believe that. Well over 65% (and that’s lowballing it) of kids that play college football don’t have an alliance to any one team, so what makes Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, Florida, Texas or Ohio State (just to name a few) better than other places? It’s all about what they offer, and trust me, they offer plenty. So when college athletes get in trouble for selling their autographs and then say they feel cheated and that they feel like they should be paid to play football, I just roll my eyes. It is a PRIVILEGE to play college football, not a right. They know the rules as soon as they are recruited so it really grinds my gears when they start badmouthing the NCAA and everyone else once the consequences start rolling in. Not only do (most) college athletes get a FREE education, they have someone help them with their work, they get FREE housing, FREE meals and 1000’s of dollars worth of FREE gear for playing a revenue sport. Meanwhile, me and my peasant friends had to bust our butts academically to receive financial help for tuition, or worse, take out loans and work through school in order to pay those bills. So no, I don’t feel bad that athletes aren’t getting a check every month for playing collegiate sports, instead I feel slightly bitter that I didn’t get all those perks because I wasn’t an athlete.

I hope this post didn’t come off too snarky or harsh, I just wanted to put all this cheating talk into perspective. I am fully aware that my team bends the rules/doesn’t always abide by the rules like they should, maybe that’s where my passive attitude comes from. I just don’t want to be the pot that calls the kettle black, ya know what I mean?! I love sports and choose to take the good with the bad. There are always going to be things about the game that disappoint me but there are also a million little things that continue to draw me in and keep me coming back for more!

-B

The Braves Will Be Terrible…But That’s OKAY!

Yes, I said it. The 2015 Atlanta Braves will be bad, like really bad. For most Braves fans (at least in my generation) this is a relatively new feeling. In my 27 years of existence on this planet, I have never gone into a season knowing and truly believing that we will be crap. Ever since I was able to formulate complete sentences and think logically, the Braves have had a chance…but not this year.

With these uncharted waters comes a strange sense of relief. I couldn’t possibly be disappointed if I don’t expect them to do anything worthwhile…or at least that’s what I’m telling myself. The amount of stress that my body is under during the 160 game (regular)  season is truly unhealthy (I should probably seek medical attention for my struggles – maybe later), so the idea that we will be about as good as the Falcons’ defense is something that provides me with a bit of relief. I know what we are capable of and I won’t expect anything more.

So far the Braves have traded away 3 pretty important offensive players this offseason: Heyward, J Up, and Gattis. That Heyward trade still stings…a lot. I understand what they’re doing and I’m sure it was the right move, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt my heart. But don’t fret Braves fan, not everyone has left…we still have BJ – cue the over exaggerated sigh. While watching Upton will still be as cringeworthy as it ever was, at least I know what to expect. He’ll have an obscene amount of strikeouts and a BA under .100. I know, how depressing. But with the bad comes the good…(at least that’s what I’m telling myself), I’m hoping that there will be glimpses of what the future holds for the Braves; after all, we still have Simba and Freeman. There is bound to be a gold glove play (or 50) from Simmons this year, and that is always a treat. It appears that the front office is willing to let these next two years be a wash in order to build up our farm system and be ready for the big move in 2017, and boy do I hope they figure things out by then. There is no way that I will be driving to Cobb County (which is complete crap by the way) to watch a sorry Atlanta Braves team. I don’t have the time, energy, or funds for that nonsense.

Of course I still plan on going to the Ted and supporting the Braves…cause let’s be honest, what else would I do. Teheran will still be a stud and Freddie Freeman will still hit bombs. I predict a dismal 4-17 record for Teheran accompanying a stellar 1.27 ERA. That’s the kind of year I think the Braves are destined to have. While I’m sad the Braves won’t contend for anything other than last place in the NL East, I’m relieved that I won’t have to wonder where we’ll end up. I won’t have to stress over our team high strikeout numbers and our lackluster offense. So as I shed a tear when spring training starts and prepare myself for two (hopefully no more than that) long years of crappy baseball, I will make some popcorn, grab a coke and do the chop stress free.

Go Braves!

-B