O-pening Day

This is the best time of year to be an O's fan. Well it's probably good for any fan of a baseball team with a not so winning past. It's the beginning of the season and anything is possible. Yesterday it rained for all morning and I was a little worried. It looked as if the the game was going to get postponed. But fans still showed up to see the O's take on the Yankees.

It didn't seem like the best match-up to start the season. C.C. Sabathia was on the mound and the Yankees spent what seemed like a limitless amount of money this season to stack their team including hometown boy Mark Teixeira. But Baltimore fans showed up in droves to support the O's and boo the Yankees. And today, the Orioles are 1-0 after beating the Yankees 10-5.

The team played solid all day. Everyone seemed to contribute and the defense looked solid. It was reassuring to see a shortstop that didn't have any errors, let alone the kind of errors that make the blooper reels. It seemed like the day just got better and better. The rain stopped, the sun came out and the O's offense showed up ready to play.

I know its early in the season. But I'm hopeful. I think the O's could be over .500 this year. Yes, I think they can have a winning record. Well it's a tall order and a lot of it falls on young pitching. But I don't think its impossible. Who knows, the Rays went from never having a winning season to playing in the World Series. It's no less ridiculous to think that if the Orioles play solid defense all year full of good fundamentals and lacking in flashy, showy plays, that it could be a good year.

Don't talk to me about flaws and shortcomings right now. I'm all about hope.

Photo: AP/Susan Walsh

The Ridiculous Jay Cutler Saga Continues

I love Jay Cutler, he might not be the greatest quarterback ever, well, he's definitely not, but he's so entertaining. He's constantly running his mouth, comparing himself to other quarterbacks and saying how much better he is then them. There are drunken pictures of him playing beer pong floating all over the Internet. He's diabetic and yet was in a McDonald's commercial. He whines and cries and fights with the new coach and anyone who will listen. And he still managed to put of ridiculous fantasy numbers.

I'm excited to see how this whole Chicago deal works out. Chicago gave Denver the football equivalent of a small fortune to get Cutler. Some people might think this is a bad trade, since Cutler's team only went 8-8 last year and missed the playoffs in a very weak division. But Cutler was very good at moving the ball. His team had almost no defense and no running backs. So his performance was solid. I don't know if he's worth every first round draft pick for the rest of eternity for the Bears, but I think it was a solid move on their part. At least they got rid of Kyle Orton. Plus now he has a whole new division's worth of players to feud with.

I might have to root a little for the Bears. If only so Cutler stays in the league longer to entertain me. Seriously, if his beer pong skills are any good I might love this guy. It's the kind of drama I need.

Just Post It

I know I should be talking about the final four. I mean, that's the big thing happening in sports right now. But I'm just unmotivated. I feel like I should write something. Maybe it will get me in the mood. Instead I'm going to write a little about the stuff I should have been writing about.

I should have written something about the 25th anniversary of the Colts leaving. But after 25 years, a new football team, a Superbowl, and a new image for the city, I still don't know what to say. I don't remember the Colts being in Baltimore. I grew up in a city that was bitter about the way they left. Baltimore was like a spurned lover, they embraced there new team but still get angry and bitter every time the Colts come to town. And likewise, the team always seems to fall apart against the Colts. Like an ex the city is not quite over. We talk a big game, but it still hurts. It's been 25 years but Baltimore is still not over it.

The final four is happening this weekend. I have no clue who is going to win. Right now it's any one's game. I had Michigan State losing in the first round. But they man handled Louisville, the number 1 overall seed. If you've been reading this blog for any period of time you know I suck at predictions. So I'm not going to make any. Any team could win this thing. You're guess is as good and probably better than mine. I won't tell you which team I like, I don't want to jinx it.

Yeah, there's a lot of other stuff going on in the sports world. But sometimes real life gets in the way of blogging.

Shameless Self Promotion

I just wanted to give anyone checking this site a quick heads up. I was asked to add content to Total Pro Sports. This sounds like a fun opportunity for me but as a result it means I will probably update this site even more erratically. I still plan to update regularly, but wanted to you all to know why posts might start to lag. Hopefully, it will not have a huge impact. I already am subject to the demands of school and other things happening in my life and I still plan on making time for this. But if you need a fix of my writing you can also check there. Here's the link to my first article. The Lady Terps Will Eat Your Children. Hope you enjoy it.

I also write pretty regularly for the Friday feature on Deadspin called Waxing Off. Most you probably stumbled across my site this way but I figured as long as I'm mentioning other places you can find my writing, I might as well make a note of it.

I also wrote a review of Camden Yards area restaurants and bars a while back for Fan Foodie. This is a great collaborative site to check out if you are traveling or going to any sports venue and want a feel for the local fair to prevent you from getting sucked into the local tourist trap or eating some terrible stadium food.

As always, thanks for reading.

Photo

Good for Hockey, Good by Me

A lot has been made recently of Alex Ovechkin's 'excessive' celebration of his 50th goal. Yeah, this was a few days ago, but I've been like the most people and spent the last week obsessing over college basketball. Now that my team is out and my bracket is totally busted, I can start going over the sports news I've been missing out on. One such piece of controversy, was Alex Ovechkin pretending to start a fire over his stick after scoring.

Ovechkin has always been known for his celebrations. Every goal he or a teammate scores he jumps up and down like a crazy person. He scores a lot of goals, third season in a row over 50, and he celebrates a lot. So far, this has been lauded as great for the game. An explosive player who shows great enthusiasm and truly enjoys playing the game. It has made hockey more fun for people to watch. People who nothing about hockey know who Alex Ovechkin is. He brought personality to the game. And it seems that he has done it for the love of the game, not for his own personal glory.

So why all the criticism? Yeah, maybe it was a bit of dick move, but it was fun. What's wrong with some celebration. I'm not saying he should start whipping out Sharpies and signing pucks, but an occasional over the top celebration is not a terrible thing. Not every goal celebration should involve antics or props, but an occasional clip is ok. It brings attention to the league. Suddenly people are watching hockey for something other than fights. And maybe, they'll be like me, they'll watch a little hockey for some other reason and realize that hockey is actually pretty fun to watch.

Purist will decry any change. But the league should embrace some fun. That's the point of the outdoor game right. To bring in new viewers. A star gets press and some interest and some fans. So let the guy play and have fun. The NBA just took out a huge loan and is still considered a run away more popular sport than hockey. Let the league address excessive celebrations if or when they get out of hand. Until then, enjoy the star power.

Random MMA

In an attempt to distract myself from the rout of Maryland yesterday I was just surfing some random sports sites and stumbled across a video of a Mixed Martial Arts fighter addressing some type of cheating scandal. It had something to do with Vaseline and men being paid to kiss other men, whatever, not the interesting part. Apparently there are some hot MMA fighters out there. I guess I always figured that two men grappling with each other would have to be in good shape, but I also figured their faces would be a little busted, they're fighters, it made sense in my head. Well, there is at least on hottie out there, Georges St. Pierre, and he's also a pretty good fighter, or at least that's what his website says.

I know almost nothing about MMA, except they fight in a cage, and know a bunch of martial arts styles, wrestling moves and boxing techniques. Maybe one of my readers could educate me about this sport. I know it's ridiculous to say this, but if more of the fighters look like this guy, I could become a fan. I've seen a few fights but never really gave it much thought before. But there's nothing like a little eye candy to help relieve the pain of a hard loss.

I should be catching up on the massive amount of signings the Ravens have made during free agency or how the O's are doing in spring training, or any of the sports I really care about. But I needed a down day and though everyone deserved a mindless post after my angry rant about the ACC yesterday. Sorry about that, but it's my blog, so whatever. I'll get back to my regular sports soon.

Where'd My ACC Go?

I'm not going to focus on how Maryland got blown out by Memphis. It was sad, but not really that surprising. I'm hoping that Vasquez will now stay around another year and lead a solid, experienced Maryland team deep into the tournament. But we'll all have to wait and see on that and how the new recruits turn out. Those are worries for next season. Right now my question is what happened to the ACC?

The ACC fielded seven of their twelve teams in this tournament. The only conference with a higher percentage of its teams going to the tourney is the Big 10 with 7 of 11 teams. Yes, even the unstoppable Big East did not bring more teams than the ACC or Big Ten. The Big East has approximately half of all Division I teams, so they should earn at least 7 bids on any given year. But the ACC decided not to show up for the tourney. Yeah, we had the numbers, but not the wins.

Only three teams were able to advance to the second round. Maryland, UNC and Duke. Of those teams, so far only UNC has sealed a spot in the Sweet 16. Maryland got blown out and Duke is still playing as I'm writing this. This is just pathetic. With so many top ranked teams the ACC should be fielding more than one or two teams in the round of 16. Maryland was the only bubble team of the ACC and even they managed to win their first game. They even won in an upset. I mean it's not that surprising that Clemson choked, but Wake and Florida State, what happened there? Yes, we should kick Boston College out of the ACC immediately. I whole heartily support that. But unfortunately, I can't blame them for the down year for the conference.

The ACC has a total of 10 National Championships, and you may as well start betting online that they are going to win a few more. The Big East has 8, three of which were won by teams before they were a part of the giant Big East. So shut up Big East, a few good seasons does not make you a totally superior conference. You need a few more years and National Championships to earn that. But damn it ACC, stop making my argument so hard. Even the Big Ten is doing better this year. And that's just sad since the ACC regularly schools the Big Ten in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. So when pitted against each other in the tourney when it counts you think the ACC could make a game of it. The ACC should not be the conference that upsets are expected against.

So shape up ACC. I expect better things from you next year. Relying on Duke to represent the conference is just disgusting. I'm torn between my natural desire to want Duke to lose and my desire to have more than one ACC team in the Sweet 16. Maryland preformed above expectations. Where are the rest of you?