The last 10 years were great, but the next 10 will be extraordinary!

Over Christmas break we were all barraged with TV and news lists of the top 10 whatever from the last year. For example: top 10 celebrity break-ups, top 10 new gadgets, top 10 movies, top 10 games, and so on.

Don’t get me wrong, we like taking trips down memory lane as much as the next person, especially if it includes a video of Mike Tyson biting body parts off from Evander Holyfield; but that’s boring, old news. What I really love is predictions. Not just who’s going to win the NBA Championship, because there is always some guy who is convinced that the Los Angeles Clippers have the perfect mix of talent, youth, and experience to make a serious run this year. They don’t, they haven’t, and they never will.

The predictions we’re talking about are bold. They are the types of predictions that get you remembered, like Babe Ruth calling his shot against the Cubs in the 1932 World Series, or Joe Namath predicting a win in the Super Bowl over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. These are the kinds of things I like.

With sports and athletes advancing leaps and bounds everyday, it’s nearly impossible to make these types of predictions anymore, nothing surprises us anymore, but we’re going to try. These are the 10 predictions we are making for the next 10 years in sports that we wholeheartedly believe will happen.

1. Tim Tebow will make Ryan Leaf look like an MVP. Tebow will be a complete and utter bust in the NFL. I don’t care if he’s a “natural born winner” like all the experts say. Adam Morrison has a championship ring but that doesn’t make him a winner or good at what he does. Some athletes styles just don’t translate from college to pros. A prime example of this is Vince Young, but at best, the jury is still out on him.

2. The most compelling rivalry in sports will not be LeBron vs. Kobe, Yankees vs. Red Sox, or Tiger Woods vs. everyone. The best rivalry in sports will be Sydney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin. The NHL owners owe them their souls for keeping this sport even relatively popular. If half of the Stanley Cup finals of the next 10 years include either one of them, I’m watching.

3. The summer of 2010 will not be the mind blowing free agency season people think it will be. Let’s be honest, LeBron isn’t going anywhere people, and everyone else that is available is chopped liver compared to him. I’m not saying a team wouldn’t want Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, or Joe Johnson, but they are role players compared to King James. Consolation prizes at best.

4. Baseball will implicate a salary cap. As the only sport currently without a salary cap, their time as big spenders is over. The salary and talent difference between Yankees and the Royals will finally have no direct effect on each other.

5. Vanguard will win two more National Championships. One of them will come from the winning machine that is women’s basketball. The other might surprise you. The work that tennis coach Mattias Johansson is doing with that program is astonishing, and there is far too little being said about it.

You can quote me on all of these things, that is, if you still know me in 10 years!

Intramural’s are for fun, so why am I not having any?

Maybe I’m just getting old, but playing games isn’t as fun as it used to be. Okay, so I’m not that old, but I do have bad knees and Senioritis, so I think that should count for something.

Intramurals used to be something I looked forward to, but not anymore. I have played intramural football and basketball every year that I have been at Vanguard, and the experience has only gotten worse. Trash talk is fine, but there is no excuse for lowering a shoulder on the football (baseball) field, or making a hard foul on the court just because your feelings got hurt.

During freshman year I do not remember fighting once. Then again my teams were terrible and other teams were too busy laughing to fight. That was the last time these games were any fun.

We can all list off at least five people we do not want to play against, but not because they are good and we can’t possibly win, but because they take the game way to seriously. I won’t say any names, but I’m sure, whether or not you play intramurals, you know who those guys are.

Sophomore year is when it all started to go down hill. Juniors and seniors then were significantly bigger than myself, and one particular basketball game remains clear in my mind. Again, no names, but this guy was over 6 feet and 225 pounds. I was not. He wanted to fight me just because I called traveling on him before he went up for a dunk. After all was said and done, I was the one who got kicked out of the game for “instigating.” That low level of maturity is hard to find in five-year-olds, but it is just down right sad to see in college students.

In these few months of my senior year, I have played in six intramural football games, and already had to break up three fights. I’m on the other end of my freshman year now, not just age wise, but because my team is finally good, and apparently other teams don’t like that. Personal fouls, obscene comments, pushing and shoving will not gain your team more points.

Also, a quick word to the fans: we greatly appreciate the love and support that you show us by cheering for us every week, but if something happens out on the field, and you’re not out there, stay out of it. It is not your place to hold anyone back or lecture players about “Christian expectations and standards.”

I’m not going to tell you I’ve never wanted to fight someone.The big guy my sophomore year was one challenge I was ready and willing to accept. I figured getting the snot beat out of me was worth it if I could get in one or two good punches first. He didn’t show up, and for that, I was thankful.

What it all comes down to is recognition. Recognize that this isn’t T-Ball anymore, and not everyone is a winner. Recognize that even though this is a competition, the champions don’t even get t-shirts anymore, so it’s not worth fighting over. Most importantly though, recognize that causing physical pain or injury will not make your ego feel any better.

 

So what if we didn’t get the Olympics? We have everything else!

Lets be honest, as American sports fans we get a little cocky sometimes and begin to just expect things to go our way. Last Friday, we got put in our place. The greatest country on Earth, didn’t get the greatest sporting event on Earth, and that’s ok.

Every fall, America’s past time turns it up a notch and shows us things that we swore we would never see. The Rockies World Series run of 2007 was the most improbable stretch of baseball the sports world has ever seen. To make it to the post season, the Rockies won 13 out of their last 14 games just to force a playoff with the San Diego Padres. After winning the one game playoff with the Padres in dramatic fashion, Colorado went on to sweep the Philies and the favored Diamondbacks to make it to the first World Series appearance in club history. Though the Rockies were then swept by the Red Sox, and outscored 29-10 in those four games, the means would forever overshadow the ends.

Every winter, America’s favorite sport brings us a level of anxiety normally reserved for action thriller movies and witnessing a car crash. The NFL never fails to supply us with enough action in one day, to keep us talking for the next six. NFL playoffs have been good, but the most recent Super Bowl’s have been even better. Undefeated teams have lost, underdogs have made unbelievable runs, former no-namers are now household names, and quarterbacks with more miles on then than a 1985 Honda Civic have proven that they still got game.

Every spring, America holds it’s collectively breath for an entire month thanks to March Madness. Office pools are never bigger and never more intense than they are in the days leading up to the play-in game in Dayton, Ohio. Cinderella’s are rare, but when the George Masons of the world come around, who doesn’t root for them? When the teams we love to hate lose in the first round to a 14 seed, who isn’t cheering? When the first round is over, and your bracket is in the trash rather than in a frame, who isn’t yanking their hair out?

Every summer, amazing happens. Unfortunately, the NBA playoffs may be the most predictable of all the major playoffs, but there are flashes of greatness no one can deny.  Last season, Kobe Bryant finally shut up (most of) his haters by winning a ring (sort of) on his own. And best of all, two years ago Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce, who were childhood friends came together for one of the most inspirational seasons of all time to help each other win their first ring. It may not always be probable, but like KG said, “Anything is possible!”

Don’t get me wrong, as a track and field enthusiast, the Olympics are my theoretical Super Bowl, but almost no one reading this has ever attended a Super Bowl and we’re all still living. The Olympics are great, but also fleeting, and the feelings we get from March Madness, the Super Bowl and the World Series are unrivaled and have no end in sight. So we won’t see Michael Phelps break world records in Illinois, nor will we witness Dwyane Wade help USA basketball win another gold medal in his hometown, but that’s ok. I’m pretty sure that sports in America are more than sufficient enough to hold our interest come 2016.

Baptized in the (Red) River

Sports will never be the same after last weekend.

As a sports writer, I often think highly of my sports knowledge and experiences. I have made game-winning shots, met big names, and even attended several California State Championship football games that my high school was fortunate enough to play in. I thought I knew every feeling there was to feel both as an athlete and a fan.

That all changed last weekend when I took a trip to Texas. Of course I wanted to visit my old roommate Tyler Aljoe who transferred to the University of Oklahoma this year. But I also wanted to attend the football game of the year to cheer my Longhorns to victory in the Red River Rivalry. I figured I would fly in Thursday night, try to adjust to the time change, chill Friday, go to the game and Texas State Fair Saturday, and return home Sunday.

No.

Friday morning I was woken up at 7:30 a.m., which was 5:30 to me, to attend the homecoming pep rally at Tyler’s alma mater, Grapevine High School. I agreed to go because pep rallies are always fun. And I kind of had to.

I was blown away by the level of school spirit and passion these teenagers had for their team. A team that had won zero games the year before were now unbeaten in district play. Basically, they were a big deal.

The night started off with Tyler and I attending the volleyball game which included his talented sister, Tanna. After she and her team won easily, it was off to the football game. I highly underestimated Texas high school football. I thought the saying, “Texas is football,” was just some cliché that an over enthusiastic fan started. Not so much. These high school stadiums rival some college stadiums and are often packed with fans. Grapevine won, remained undefeated, and everyone could rest easy until next Friday night.

Saturday I woke again at 7:30 a.m. (my 5:30 a.m.), took my shower, threw on my Colt McCoy jersey and nearly gave Tyler’s mother a heart attack. Apparently Tyler forgot to tell her I was a Texas fan. His dad thought it was funny. Both of Tyler’s parents are Oklahoma alums, but more importantly, she was a cheerleader and he was on the football team. Thankfully they’re both far too nice of people to hold my choice against me.

Once we got into the Cotton Bowl, I found myself so far out of my element that I had trouble believing I was actually there. I was 16 rows away from the field, which is closer than I get at most VU soccer games. As amazing as our seats were, it didn’t make up for the fact that I was still a speck of Burnt Orange in a sea of Crimson and Cream. Yes, I was throughly heckled and mocked, but I stood strong, faithful, and hopeful.

I was watching last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, Sam Bradford, take practice snaps and Texas golden boy Colt McCoy lob practice throws. I was seeing my dreams come to fruition. Though I joked on my twitter that I had nearly wet myself four times, I was a little serious too.

Though I was obviously thrilled with the Texas win, I was disappointed with the anti-climatic ending, but it’s over now and onto the next game for both teams. For me it was time to head home, but with more than just an awesome T-shirt. I would returned to school with a new sense of fan-hood, and a hope to spread that on this campus.

Though Vanguard fans will probably never match the amount of intensity like those of a NCAA Division I school, we can match them in quality. Whether it’s starting a supportive chant, or trying to get into an opponent’s head with some well-timed heckling, the players notice. And all though Vanguard’s fine Athletics Administration will quickly ask you to cease the verbal taunts, the damage will be done, there’s no denying that. Just because we only bring 175 people to a game, doesn’t mean those 175 people can’t have as much of an effect on the game as the players out there competing.

History is happening right now, are you watching?

This is my editorial for the first issue of the Vanguard Voice coming out tomorrow. What do you think?

 

Sitting at a red light alone in your car gets you thinking about a lot of things in life, especially as a senior. Things like if you’ll make chapels this semester, whether or not to go to Yogurtland tonight, or remembering what homework was due in the class you skipped earlier that day. However, during my most recent red light reflection, I was thinking about this article. Originally I was going to start off my year with some solid USC bashing, a favorite pastime of mine, however, after what happened in Seattle I couldn’t imagine anything I now topping the feeling in all USC fans guts. Then it hit me, “Where did the last four years of my life go?”

My Frontline group seems so fresh in my mind, I can still name the majority of them and my leaders. I also remember meeting my roommate, RA, neighbors, and most importantly, my sister floor, for the first time. However, a lot has changed since then, some bad, most good, but different nonetheless, which got me wondering, “What have I forgotten about sports in the past four years?”

I forgot how clean and humble baseball once was. Nowadays the majority of baseball talk stems from whomever was most recently leaked from the infamous steroids list. Anybody aside from Albert Puljos that smashes 35 homers in a single season, “has to be on the juice!”

I forgot how unpredictable college anything is. Two words sum that up: Fresno State. True, this is a slight homer pick on my part being from that area, but seriously, I laughed when I saw them in the bracket, and you can imagine the egg on my face a few weeks later as the “Under” Dogs lifted the trophy as the lowest seed ever to win the College World Series.

And who can forget college football circa 2007? It started off with measly little Appalachian State beating Michigan in The Big House to kick off the craziest season of all time. From then on, almost every week following there was a brand new Top 5 until LSU claimed the crystal ball as the only two-lose team to win the National Championship.

These are just a few examples of what I witnessed during my time at VU, and have all but forgotten in such a short time. History happens everyday, and it may not always be sports related but it’s still important. How many juniors and seniors reading this can name just half of our women’s National Championship team from two years ago? That was recent but it’s already history!

Some history to watch out for this year is the brand new VU Swim team diving into uncharted waters beginning in October. Keep your eyes, ears, and minds open this year, history will happen right in front of you but chances are you won’t even notice until it’s gone.

Got a fantasy team? Well I got some names for you!

Throughout my years of playing fantasy sports I have gone through quite a few team names. With this seasons football team I just created, my total is now at a solid 50 teams in 4 years. Thats a lot, I know, most of which came in 2007 when I had my single year record of 18 teams ranging from baseball, basketball, football, March Madness, and even a golf team in there. Golf isn’t any fun, don’t play it. Anyway, for this post I would like to divulge you, my audience, with some of the names I have given my teams. Most I think of on my own, some I gather from outside, but since the start of last football season I have vowed never to have the same name twice!

In the spirit of the season, the lists must begin with baseball names. In years past I’ve had Cook’s Crushers, DC’s Beasties, and even stooped as low as VUSC Lions. However, this season brings out the true creative, and fun nature of fantasy sports. My current team name is LinceCUM in my pants. A parody of the SNL short “Jizz in my pants” and last years AL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum.

- Other favorite baseball team names are: Angels and Damons, The Good, the Vlad, and the Uggla, Scared Pitchless, Easton Fections, Multiple Scoregasms, and finally, Beaten with the Uggla stick. I know there were two Dan Uggla references, but be happy, there could have been so many more.

Moving onto Americas favorite fantasy sport, football. It is estimated that roughly 22% of males in America between the ages of 18 and 49 have at least one fantasy football team. That comes out to about 27 MILLION men, and thats not even taking into account those who have multiple teams, like myself (3 so far). Football is a bit easier to make up names for because there are more high profile athletes in the NFL compared to the MLB. Last season my name offering was a self-created idea that I thought was not to harsh, yet got the point across: Kiss my ASStroturf.

- My list to choose from for this year include; I’m Romo-sexual, I just Witten my pants, Marions Barbarians, Addai another day, and Plaxicos Ammo. The one I settled on is a bit on the “Not PC” side of things, but it’s clever I think, and I mean no insult with it, of course: 1st Downs Syndrome

Onto my personal favorite, basketball. Basketball has even more big names than football, and has smaller squads, which makes the players the most recognizable athletes in America. With so many international players and a fresh batch of rookies coming into the league, the possibilities are almost endless. This list will be a bit longer than the rest because as stated before, it’s my favorite, and I have thought long and hard about them. 

- Farmar’s Market, Puff the Magic Johnson, Boom Boom Pau, the Bosh pit, Derek Fisher of men, And Thabeet goes on…, Lamar Scrotum, Pietrus and Cream, Bynum-ite!, Medi-Okur, Wade a minute, You’re a Dirk!, I’m just Kidd-ing around, LA Clippers Blake Griffins, and my favorite with the help of a top 15 draft pick… with a side of Curry!

There you have it folks, that should be enough usable names to get you through a few seasons. You can use any you want, just let me know in a comment who you are and which name you used, just out of curiosity!

The (Magic) show must go on!

The Orlando Magic suffered probably the most demoralizing defeat of their young teams blossoming careers last night when they lost in overtime to the Los Angeles Lakers. Though they are heavy underdogs in every point spread out there, the Magic have redeemed themselves after a 25 point blow-out in game one by keeping it close and losing in overtime on after a failed over zealous alley-oop attempt with 0.6 seconds left in regulation. That play, as easy as it may have seemed on TV, is more difficult than at first thought. You try making a running alley-oop lay up with just enough time to tap it, all while in the air being guard by a man who is seven inches taller than you. Just sit here and imagine that for a minute…yeah, that’s what I thought.

I cannot comment on the majority of the game seeing as how I only watched the last 0.6 seconds of the fourth quarter and all of the overtime period, but never underestimate the knowledge you can gain from a box score.

Last nights box score tells me that, once again, Rafer Alston we under utilized in favor of Stan Van Gundy’s twisted thought process. J.J. Redick, the same player who averaged just over 15 minutes per game in the regular season, not including 18 games he didn’t even see playing time in, managed more minutes than the proven veteran point guard the Magic traded for to replace the injured Jameer Nelson. Redick isn’t the lights out shooter he was at Duke, nor is he even remotely good on defense, so why would he, and rookie teammate Courtney Lee, be on the floor for the final ticks in regulation, and most of overtime?

The fact that the final play was an alley-oop to an undrafted rookie shooting guard instead of your all-star monster center Dwight Howard who can literally leap tall building, is beyond my comprehension. Even if Van Gundy’s thought was, “Well, they’ll be looking for the pass to Dwight,” that’s a risk I would take 10 out of 10 times. I would  tell the Lakers the exact play I drew up and personally challenge Gasol, Bynum, and Odom to stop Dwight without fouling him. Honestly, I don’t know if Stan Van Gundy is an idiot or a genius, and that may stay a mystery to me for a long time, but I know which way I’m leaning towards right now…

However, with all that said, I still believe the Magic will drag this series out to seven games. Three straight isn’t that hard against the Lakers when they are on the road, and the Lakers don’t exactly play well in Orlando as of late. And might I add that I was right in my previous post. My X-factor, Rashard Lewis, had an exceptional game last night and the Magic nearly won. That loss had nothing to do with Lewis.

Reluctantly, I must give the Lakers their dues. Hitting 16 of 16 free throws at one point not only helps your team in obvious ways, but it is so demoralizing to see as an opponent, that no matter what you do to try and stop them, you just can’t. And although the Lakers were out rebounded by nine, that was completely nullified by the fact that the Lakers had seven more steals, some directly after those rebounds.

All in all, no matter who you root for you know that this series is going to be a good one, whether it be four or seven games, or something in between. These teams will not quit, Superman and Batman won’t let them.

The NBA Finals: Amazing will happen!

(In a very monotone mumble) It’s amazing, so amazing, so amazing, so amazing, it’s amazing…

I don’t know how David Stern did it, but somehow he managed to get one of Kanye West’s THE worst songs ever made, into a number one hit in just a few weeks, but I digress…

Welcome to the inaugural posting of “D way i C it”…still working on the title. Anyway, the obvious topic of this post must be the NBA Playoffs which begin tonight. Everyone knows that the only way for any self respecting sports writer to gain respect or credibility in this field is not through investigative stories or exclusive interviews, but by predictions, and they have to be right!

For me, it is simply, and painfully put: Lakers in 7

For those of you who don’t know me, I hate the Lakers, and more specifically, Kobe Bryant, with a fiery passion. Don’t get me wrong, I respect him as a player and competitor, but there is just something about him as a person I can’t get past. Maybe it is the Colorado incident, maybe it’s the fact that he is allowed to elbow other players in the face at will, or maybe it’s because he is #24 (“One over Jordan” if I may quote Kanye again). With that said, you can understand how hard it must have been for me to choose the Lakers to win it all.

I came to this conclusion after laying in bed for hours Tuesday night trying to think of a way the Magic could win, but there is none. Rashard Lewis is my X-Factor in this series. Kobe will get his 25-40 a night, and Dwight will get atleast three 20-20 games cause Pau and Bynum combined can’t guard him. Lewis (6′10″ 230 lbs.) on the other hand, is to big for Ariza (6′8″, 210 lbs.) to guard, and to fast for Odom (6′11″ 245 lbs.) to guard. 

Lewis however, has no answer for what the Celtics and The Media have done to Kobe in the past year. If Kobe doesn’t win this championship, he will go down in history as the single biggest underachiever ever! “Can’t win without a big man/Shaq,” they’ll say. “Doesn’t trust his teammates,” they’ll write. “More focused on his own legacy and stats rather than the teams performance,” they’ll accuse. And he won’t be able to deny any of them. This post is proof of everything I just said too. I’m not talking about the Lakers, I’m talking about Kobe, because that’s all that will truly matter after that fourth W is tallied, no matter which team claims it.

Obviously I believe the Magic have what it takes to steal this series though, given the opportunity. It’s very hard to take a series to 7 games and not have a chance, but it’s not impossible (see round 2 verse the Rockets…7 games, but the Rockets never had a prayer). It’s just too hard to pick a 3-point shooting team over such a well-rounded, deep team like the Lakers.

Well, this is where I end this introductory post, sometimes I forget that other people read this and I need to stop myself before I begin to ramble (to badly). Comments, questions, agree, disagree…LET ME KNOW!!! I’m here for you! There is nothing I love more in life than debating sports with people, so comment on here and let me know what you want me to talk about next post! Thanks for reading!

Daniel J Cook

P.S. It IS ok that LeBron didn’t shake hands or talk to the media. Just cause he’s the face of the Cavs/NBA/all that is right in the world doesn’t mean he’s not allowed to be upset!

Here’s the deal…

This blog was originally a homework assignment in my Visual Technologies class, however I will have a lot of time this summer and I might as well put this beautifully designed page to use, right? As an aspiring sports journalist a blog is the least I can do in between classes, papers, and newspaper editorials. 

Hopefully I will remember to actually do this on a regular basis, I’m aiming for about 3 posts a week. I believe thats easily enough and I will have plenty to write about. 

As a side note, to anyone who actually reads this, if you disagree/have a different point of view or want a certain topic discussed please feel free to comment or email me. There is nothing more in life than to argue/debate/explain sports, plus, the more questions you ask the more material I have to write about.

Thats it for now, I will try to have my first official sports blog up by tomorrow night, obviously it will be about the NBA playoffs. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it from here on out!

Daniel J Cook

P.S. I even know how to add links, so pictures and more detailed information will be included in each posting!

To answer your question professor Cleveland…My first blog

I chose the theme entitled “PressRow.” I chose it for a few simple reasons. First of all, being a journalism major, the term press row is an exciting thing for me personally, however, that wasn’t why I chose it, merely just why I noticed it. I chose it because it has a very clean look to it without looking too uptight or boring.

It is easy on the eyes and really gave the top blog an extra amount of importance in my eyes. The flow of the layout is easy to navigate and sort of “business casual.” This theme also had one of the larger header areas, giving me the ability to use a picture of one of my favorite athletes, LeBron James, in a way that gave the picture importance and, I feel, the blog some legitimacy seeing as how I would most likely write about sports.