picking an english premier league team to follow

thanks to kg, i have been reading bill simmons, aka the sports guy, on espn.com page2 for nearly 5 years (along with his pretty good red sox book about 1999-2004). simmons recently wrote an article about picking himself an english premier league team to follow and in the wake of the end of the world cup, i've decided to do the same.

i've casually rooted for manchester united (and have even been to a game when they visited philly) because they're one of the best known teams in the league. basically, they're the yankees of the epl because they're so well known. now, i don't plan to really turn my back on them (much like how i have come to admire and respect derek jeter without liking the yankees), but i'm more of an against the grain kind of guy in following the crowd like that.

i'm looking for a team to like for the same reasons i love following the nationals: the fanbase is somewhat small (not as many casual fans yet), they don't win all the time or lose all the time, and i can see hope in the future. interestingly, this leads me to the same choice that the sports guy came up with, tottenham hotspur, but i'm still looking around for now. i have the tivo set up with season passes for "english premier league classics" (from 2005-6 season) and "tottenham classics" and it snags 2-3 games per day, but so far i've just been trying to get a feel for the teams.

the business of baseball - why soriano must be traded

i thought i should write something up on trading soriano - you know, before it actually happens - since it's the hottest story in baseball and directly involves my team, the washington nationals, and their future.

soriano, as you might have heard, is a free agent at the end of the year. if the team doesn't trade him now, and if the team isn't able to re-sign in the offseason, the nats will receive a 1st round draft pick and a "sandwich" pick between the 1st and 2nd rounds from whichever team does sign him in the offseason (or actually, a sandwich pick and a 2nd round pick if a team with a win-loss record in the bottom 15 of 30 teams signs him). draft picks that high are wonderful but they are also wonderfully risky. don't forget that the nats traded hometown favorite brad wilkerson (actually two years of wilk since he won't be a free agent until next offseason and his 2006 salary is $3.9M compared to soriano's $10M), a 4th outfielder, and a minor league arm for soriano. the trade was highly ridiculed at the time as soriano has been a free-swinging slugger who can steal up to this season.

however, soriano did what no one (well, except maybe chris) thought he could do - hit home runs in rfk stadium just as well as any other stadium. on top of that, he's been getting on base (taking more walks instead of free-swinging so much) at a good clip and he's still been stealing like crazy (including numerous steals of 3b which is so fun to watch). if he really focused on steals the rest of the season, the guy could literally get to 50-50 (hr's - stolen bases; only 3 people have ever even done 40-40 - canseco in 1988, bonds in 1996, and a-rod in 1998).

so why not keep him? well, i'm sorry folks, but there's NO way the nats make the playoffs this year. sure, soriano is a treasure to watch every game, but if you can get something for him in a lost season, why not do it? so that's what they need - 2-3 good prospects who are pretty close to the majors and not as risky as two draft picks would be. and you know what? no one says we can't still try to sign soriano in the offseason!!

my nationals farm authority blogmate, brian, convinced me to also post this over there. our other blogmate, john, edited the post a tad and it comes off much more professionally. see if you can find the changes (besides the capitalization that i added).

scroll down

i've thrown in quite a few backdated posts so keep scrolling and check 'em out.

the squid and the whale

ok, i realized i don't ever do movie reviews, but this one has had me thinking. i love watching movies and i really enjoy watching critically acclaimed movies. such was the reason for popping this one on the netflix queue. disclaimer: if you don't like them there swear words or watching a 10-year old saying them there swear words (among other things he does...), this movie is not for you. secondary disclaimer: spoilers below.

the first thing I screamed at the tv when the credits came on was "NO! WHAT A HORRIBLE ENDING!!!!" however, as I ruminate on the film, i realize that if any sort of definite resolution came at the end then it would ruin the entire point of the movie. divorce is not pretty, easy, or black-and-white. it's quite obvious that the divorce did not come to happen simply because the wife had an affair. however, the husband was insufferable and could be said to have driven her to the point of having an affair. however, she's still responsible for her actions.

the children are not as simple of characters as "the older likes the dad and the younger likes the mom". the younger seems completely confused by all the goings on of divorce and joint custody, and exudes the anger of his father while hating any external similarities to his father. the older thinks he wants to be just like his father, but in the end realizes he's only been happiest when he was close to his mother without his father in the picture. in the final scene, i realize he is seeking to find normalcy in his ex-girlfriend's family and a return to happiness in the museum that was the site of his happiest memory.

the movie is about the depth of the characters and is not meant to resolve. if there was some grand happy ending, it would not be true to life or, especially, true to the film. as a child of divorce, i can appreciate that.

nearly a month

ok, it's been nearly a month since i was regularly writing. here's a few updates: dad has been visiting this week and checking out some more houses and such. jake loves spending the days with his granddaddy. i hurt my back somehow (i guess the drive home), had to go to the doctor, get some meds, and take a day off work. the acute pain is gone but there's a soreness that won't go away and i still look goofy when i walk. i finished ball four by jim bouton while on vacation and i finally started celebration of discipline: the path to spiritual growth by richard foster. it's wonderful. we've watched a few good netflix movies (i'm through disc 8 of 10 on the awesome baseball documentary) and jake is not only talking a lot more, but is conversing pretty well for the most part.

i have red arms

[backdated, slipped the aging mind]
we went to knoxville for the weekend and i got to see the three givens brothers (kg, b, and justin) play soccer together for the first time ever. i love their family and it was really great to see them all (first time since kg's wedding).

it was a 3 on 3 tournament and they had a couple of other friends from college on the team as well. the format was really neat - shorter times (two 12 minute halves), more games (3-4 per day, hence the red arms for me), smaller fields, smaller goals, and no true goalie but you obviously can't forget to play defense. they played really well and finished 2nd after only losing to the same team twice (and they're something like 5th in the country in this format or something). their finish was good enough to send them to regionals in clarksville, tn at the end of the month. good luck guys!!

27

[backdated, slipped the aging mind]
the majority of baseball players have their peak year in their age 27 season. kurt cobain, jimi hendrix, janis joplin, jim morrison, and others rockers all died at the age of 27. wow, i feel like i'm still only beginning to live and they created so much in their short lifespans.

i've discussed this somewhat before, but sometimes i feel like i'm just spinning my wheels. i feel like i could be out there really making a difference in the lives of others somewhere somehow. it is in those times that i pray for peace and contentment in the fact that i'm where God wants me to be right now and i'm being spiritually formed for the future. hey, everyone knows about ageism in the church and it'll probably easier for me to be a near-30 pastor than a near-25 pastor. there's some bright side for ya.

seriously

i promise i'll have some (backdated?) posts about vacation, but we had a great time and we're home safe, sound, and rested!

fireworks excitement

[backdated, but thought out while on vacation]
during the day yesterday we went on a nice pontoon-type boat ride with about 40 other people looking for dolphins. two or three times we saw about a half dozen dolphins swimming and playing, but only the ones at sea world or whatever do that thing where they hop out of the water and swim on their tail. they were cute and some were even doing some "romance." the boat ride also allowed us to see a lot of the nearby bay area and all the nice houses right on the water.

that evening, we're sitting on the beach watching multiple fireworks shows put on (presumably) by the many different municipalities along this coast - clearwater, indian shores, indian rocks, madeira beach, treasure island, etc. we think the people in front of us have just bought a ton of decent fireworks because their show is a step down from the adjacent shows up and down the beach. all of a sudden they set off their next multiple shot firework display (say, 20 serial rockets / blasts of different colors) and the thing must have tipped over because the blasts that happen in the air are now happening right on the beach!! we're far enough away that it doesn't matter too much, but 30-40 people have to start scattering quick because this display looks like it should be happening on the frontlines of vietnam or something. the worst was a poor old lady having to be helped to hobble away semi-swiftly so she didn't get hit / burned. all ended well, but i'm pretty sure the people in front of us were idiots and not with the city.

i'm now off to panera for the first (and only) spot of internet while on vacation. yes, i know i'm addicted. i'm working on that. somewhat. to me, it's the 21st century version of being addicted to the newspaper and reading on a multitude of topics. many people seem afraid of computers and the internet, but would be fine if you had a book or newspaper in your hand. it's odd.

happy 4th of july!!

[backdated, but thought out while on vacation]
enjoy some hamburgers, hot dogs, baseball, and apple pie. oh yeah, and freedom or something :-)

i luvva da gulf

[backdated, but thought out while on vacation]
the gulf side of florida is great. at least here near clearwater, the beach is pretty calm and allows jake to get near (and in!) with less fear. we swam with him and he was enjoying learning to kick his feet and be passed from person to person. the beach itself is pretty nice, but they'll be doing some reconstruction on it (pumping sand from the ocean up to the shore or something) later in the week. jake and i worked on a sand castle, but he found the retrieving of water for the project a tad more interesting than the digging for the project. i've been enjoying being outside, but i tend to stay in the shade. most of the time on a vacation like this, i seem to go out and get burned the first day and then suffer the rest of the week. not this time!