The NL Finally Does It

Even Though a Brave was the MVP, a Win's a Win for the NL

Thirteen games. Over a decade. However you want to slice it, it's been a long time since the National League won the All-Star game, but they did it Tuesday night, finally beating the American League 3-1.

Not since 1996 has the National League won the All-Star game. Yeah, that's a long time (wait, we're not talking that long, ouch!). But before American League fans get all high and mighty, all it takes is a quick look at the total series score to realize something's a-miss. Yes, the American League has won 12 out of 13 games (a tie in '02 breaks up those streaks). That's, in essence, 12 games in a row. There have been 79 All-Star games that haven't ended in a tie (ties in '02 and '61, no game in '45 cause of WWII, 2 All-Star games in '59, '60, '61, and '62). So, considering the American League has won 12 of the 79 total in a row, you would think the American League is running away with total wins in the Mid-Summer Classic, right? I think we all know the answer to those types of questions...

Big Week for WMBC

Lots of things happening around the sports world lately. Lebron gave up / picked championships over loyalty decided to "take his talents to South Beach" (honestly, the only thing missing from his explanation of why he was going to Miami was him wearing a Miami Heat baseball hat and giddily talking about how that's where all the cool kids were like high school recruits do. Cmon Lebron, you're held to a higher standard than that...), the Netherlands waited 32 years to lose in the Finals again, this year's HR derby has come and gone (is there a curse associated with participating in it?), and the MLB All-Star game is tonight (14 years is preposterous guys...).

Perfectly timed to all these happenings is a big week for WMBC too. We're undergoing a metamorphosis. As such, it may be a slower week, but I'll try to get to all the pertinent topics as soon as I can with as much intensity as always. I'll also be keeping you updated with how the revolution is going.

Onward and Upward.

In Other News: 7/8/10

Quick hits from around the sports world for your afternoon delight. Note: All proceeds from sponsorships will be donated to inflating my ego

Big Night for Big Lebron

Yes, tonight Lebron will end the free agent madness by announcing which team he will sign with in front of a televised audience. I could write a book about this and still not cover an ounce of what the media world has already covered on this topic, so instead of talking about the possibility of him going to Miami or him donating tonight's proceeds to the Boys and Girls club, I want to talk about Cleveland. We have to stay in character, right? Let's take a look at the franchises Cleveland fans can fall back on. Their baseball team, the butt of many a joke in the movie Major League, is currently managed by an even bigger joke who wasn't good enough for the powerhouse Washington Nationals. Their farm system American Hockey League Lake Erie Monsters (that name just strikes fear in you, doesn't it?) have had an impressive 94 - 116 record in their 1st 3 seasons. Oh, and then there's the Browns, who look forward to seeing what their latest all-star addition can do for the team (can you say #1 overall fantasy pick?). In the short term, though, they get to look forward to tonight when their home-grown hero announces he has picked his ego over his home admitted he can't win alone taken up voodoo decided to go in another direction. Shoulda listened, Cleveland...

In other news...

Win-Win-Win for World Cup Finals

This is shaping up to be an epic World Cup Final, and if I'm allowed to wear two hats for a second, the "This is what I selfishly want" hat and the WMBC hat, dare I say it, I can't see me being unhappy with how this'll all pan out.

WMBC hats, hmm...

Yep, it's looking like a win-win-win for sports fans. Think about it:

The Title Stays in the U.S.

Joey Chestnut won the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest

this weekend and once again proudly represented his heritage.

The 4th of July is awesome.

This holiday remembers the day when the spirit of "damn the man" was born in this country, the day our forefathers proclaimed to the world "taxes suck!" (and something about representation, or something), the day we, as a country, first laced up our ass-kicking boots!

Not to mention the fact that it's a federal holiday where you're required by law to ingest as much barbeque and beer as possible.

Another Giant Taken Down

Alright, I lied. I'm not done writing about the World Cup yet.

I frustratingly joked that I'd watch soccer again in 2 years when the World Cup prelims started up again, but that wasn't true. So why the change of heart, you ask? Well, I didn't have much vested personal interest in the NHL Finals when it was Flyers-Blackhawks, but I wrote about it. And even though I covered a good amount of the NBA Finals, I feel my best post was when the Suns and Magic were still contending (still no personal vested interest). So what do these topics have in common with the World Cup? The have-never's and haven't-in-a-while's still got a fighting chance!

In Other News: 6/30/10

Didn't think I'd let you go 2 days without any sort of an update, did you?

Quick hits from around the sports world for your afternoon delight. Warning: Reading may cause over speculation of your waning talent

Uh Oh For Federer

Interesting beginning note. If you go to ESPN.com right now and look at their homepage, you may see a title for an article that looks familiar. I knew this blog would help me make millions. Now all I need is one of those lawyers with the catchy tunes on TV who say some shpeal about damages.

Federer made it two bad grand slams in a row today, losing in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. After reaching 23 straight Grand Slam semifinals, he's now come one round short in the past 2. Even though the sports world is in a roar today about how this could be the end of an era for hands down the greatest one of the greatest tennis players of all time, I'm not buying it. Why? After losing to Nadal at Wimbledon in what many think was perhaps the greatest tennis match ever and losing the Australian to Nadal (and showing his misery) two years ago, Federer responded by winning Wimbledon, the French, and beating Nadal on clay at the Madrid Masters. If he says he's hurt, cut him some slack. Instead, reporters are quick to call his bluff, stating that he is coming up with excuses to explain his poor performance. Sounds to me like World Cup hangover....

In other news...

End of the Line for U.S.A. Soccer

Late game heroics couldn't save the U.S. team from elimination

Man, I really had hoped I wouldn't have to be writing this article this soon. As both a fan and a writer for a blog that focuses on teams that can't seem to shake losing, you're aware that very often if you root for certain teams once in a while you have to bite the bullet and write about your team's loss. As such, I allowed myself some time to cool off after U.S.A.'s eliminating loss to Ghana, again, so I could approach this post with a level head and mature demeanor. With that, I can now honestly express my well thought out feelings:

"I Could Beat 'Em in Wranglers"

"Sure you're great at taking a powerbomb, but the key to being a successful

quarterback is giving up your WWE dreams as soon as possible..."

Is it August yet?

No no, I'm not that sick of baseball yet. As a fan, you tend to never stop paying attention, even during the off-season.

As a fan of teams that can't seem to win a championship in recent years, let alone, ever, teams that seem to like nothing more than coming up suspiciously short, you pay special attention to things you borderline neurotically over think can ruin your chances.

As such, I thought it interesting that our favorite gunslingin', heartbreakin', two-timin', wranglin' hunk of QB had some words for the newspaper folk and the NFL community yesterday. Apparently, Favre stated "I can still play at a high level...I would love to go beat the Saints (in the season opener)."

In Other News 6/24/10

Quick hits from around the sports world for your afternoon delight. Estimated reading time: approximately 11 hours, 5 minutes

History Made at Wimbledon

Nope, this has nothing to do with any of the usuals. Don't know if any of you were watching Wimbledon over the past three days, but today John Isner finally defeated Nicolas Mahut in the longest match at Wimbledon ever. The match was called due to darkness two straight nights and lasted 3 days, 183 games, and 980 points. Unfortunately, due to this match being between the 23rd ranked player in the world and the 149th ranked player in the world, it will go the way all other insane sports records go (Quickly, who can tell me the only major league baseball player to hit two grand slams in the same inning off the same pitcher? Can you name the pitcher too?), and due to that we say...

In other news...

GOOOAAAL!

Donovan's Injury Time Goal Sent USA Fans From South Africa to the White House Into A Frenzy

There are times when I love my borderline comical inability to predict an outcome right before the end of a game.

I mean, for ever thousand or so "Holy cow we can pull this off!" predictions that I end up being horribly wrong about (I used to be so ecstatic about my fortune telling job prospects), there occurs events such as those which just transpired on the ol' pitch.

Oh yeah. Say it with me people, "Group Champions."

In -> Out: How Sweet It Is

Four Years Later, Same Result

Trying out a new theme series of blog updates here, hence the title. Let me know if you get it, and/or if you like it

Sometimes, things work out just the way you wanted.

Other times, however, life's nice enough to give you a little extra, too.

Today, South Africa and France were both eliminated from competition after South Africa defeated captain-less France 2-1. South Africa, therefore, becomes the first host country to fail making it out of the group stage (Songs > Vuvuzelas when it comes to home pitch advantage? Don't worry, I won't go down that road...yet). But despite the loss and record setting elimination, the South Africa Coach still beamed with pride while speaking of his players and how they represented their country.

Uh oh, France. The title of the blog + process of elimination with regard to who I can talk about in this post = ...

Did you see that?!?

I hope you all saw that game last night. What a way to end a series! I mean, talk about a total team effort. I can't believe it came down to the wire! And that defense was spectacular! I would have settled for one sweep on the road, but two?! Sheer awesomeness.

Wait, wait, wait. You thought I was talking about that other series finale last night? Well of course I watched it. Fine fine, it's only fair I close the door on the NBA season just like I closed it on the NHL season too, but after this it's sporadic updates till the weather changes, got it?

Pressure's On in LA

Well, somebody has been reading my blog...

But days after I rightfully got on Pierce's case pretty hard for his moronic comments and subsequent poor home performance "being a competitor," the Celtics responded by winning Game 4 and Game 5 pretty soundly (Pierce, in particular, played well).

Closing the Door on the NHL Season

Spirits were high in Chicago after the Blackhawks halted a 48 year old curse

Well, they did it. Last Wednesday the Blackhawks ended a 47 season Stanley Cup drought by beating the Flyers in overtime.

It's easy to write about the Blackhawks and their well deserved celebrations (and hangovers that followed) but here at WMBC we like the losers better. So my apologies to the Blackhawks' fans, but this ones going to be about the Flyers.

Going Going Back Back to Cali Cali

"Hey Lakers' Fans, juussssst kidding!"

Helloooooo Mr. Jinx!

But three days after the strong outing by the Celtics in Game 2 and Paul Pierce's subsequent proclaimation to Lakers' fans that the NBA Finals would not be returning to LA this year, Pierce's comment still has potential, even after the Celtics got whooped last night at home.

Strasburg and the "Rebuilding" Nationals

Well...that didn't go as I expected...

I did intend to update yesterday but previous engagements got in the way. Looking back, maybe it's a good thing I didn't.

What About Home Ice?

As if you needed anything more than last night to remind you there are two winter sports championships going on right now (you should see what the "previous channel" button on my remote looks like), your feedback has been heard.

I went on and on about home court advantage for the NBA Finals, so what about home ice advantage for the Stanley Cup Finals? Sorry for the wait NHL fans. Below is a similar analysis to my home court advantage analysis for basketball. For making you wait the whole weekend before you were able to read this in hopes for an escape to the away team curse, I went back to the 1990 Stanley Cup, just for you. Can we be friends again?

Home Court Advantage

I love football and its playoff format especially now that its Playoff OT rules have finally been changed, 10 years too late, but there's beauty in a playoff series, like in the NHL, NBA, and MLB. What makes playoff series so amazing is that in order to have a winner, there has to be an odd number of games (yay for algebra arithmetic) EDIT: and the lower seed gets to play at least one game at home. This automatically creates home field/court advantage EDIT: for both teams, this mysterious, somewhat immeasurable force, and here at WMBC, we love non-tangible factors. But is it a factor?

Edits courtesy of some restless guy from some town.

Imperfect Perfection

Quite a different facial expression here from Galarraga than after the game last night.

I'm sure you have all seen it, maybe watched it, maybe just read about it, but either way I hope you're thinking what I'm thinking, "What a disaster."

I'm passionate about sports like many others, but I have a deep love for baseball. I love the good with the bad, the blatent rules with the subjective calls, it's all part of the game. There are so many unwritten rules that are as much part of the game as the infield fly rule. Here are two of my favorites:

Admin Stuff for WMBC: Update!

Ok, ok, I hear you. The masses have spoken, and I have listened.

Mouseover texts with links that are somewhat ambiguous are awesome. But not to the point of degrading my reader base. Keep it contained to when it's needed, don't overdue it, and don't make the text ruin the links.

Anymore fine tuning you can think of, don't hesitate to pass on a friendly word.

New blupdate coming soon.

Quick Admin Stuff

Big changes here at WMBC. Now the links have mouseover text! That's right, now you can hover over each link for a brief sometimes satirical description of why the link is relevant. Why? Jokes that go over people's heads aren't actually funny at all, and only including some people, like little Jamie Harrison down the street with his super cool clubhouse, is mean and stupid and the clubhouse was probably dumb anyways. But I digress.

All future posts from here on out will include links with mouseover text, and I'll be working backwards to update old posts with these helpful hints. So check back if you had absolutely no idea what I was refering to in a previous post and hopefully we can help clear up the madness. Catch you later.

Down Goes Federer

 

Holy smokes, talk about ending a streak. Yesterday, Robin Soderling defeated Roger Federer in the Quarterfinals of the French Open, halting Federer's consecutive Grand Slam seminfinals streak at 23.

Are you kidding me?

Those among you not impressed go ahead and raise your hand. Are you serious? Fine, let's go ahead and put it in some perspective.

Well That Was Awesome...

Anyone get the number of that bus?

I'm of course talking about the Mets stellar outing yesterday at the Padres. Did anyone else see that one coming?

It is truly a sight watching a team set a record for runs in a game. It truly sucks, however, watching that record set against your pitchers. It's times like these that you need a quick mental exercise to take your mind off the joy of watching your team get shelled. Yesterday's game and the pitching performance of one reliever in particular got me thinking, would Newton have liked yesterday's game?

NBA Finals All Set

Celtics, Lakers, head-to-head in the Finals. I am amped up! This is going to be sweet!