Everything I learned……

You know those posters that say everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten?  Well daddy says that’s not true.  He says everything you need to know you can learn from sports.

For instance you can learn about following the rules.  You can also learn about sportsmanship and working hard.  You can also learn about the world as sports are very multi-cultural now.

You can also learn about math. I mean how else would you calculate fielding percentage, OPS, or batting average. English is there also as you have to learn terms such as flea flicker, post pattern and cover 2 defense.

Daddy says you can also learn about strategy and how to outsmart your opponent. All of these things he says are all very important in life.

I know eventually I will have to go to school, but if I can learn things from sports maybe I wont have too.

Jack

Fathers

Sorry I haven’t written in a while, but I’ve been teething.  Anyway Father’s Day just passed and since I am only one I haven’t had many sports memories with my dad to speak of.  So I asked him what were some of his favorite sports memories with Papa.

He said there were a bunch but these were his favorites:

He said Papa took him to his first Braves game at the old Fulton County Stadium.  He was 16 years old and the first view from the centerfield tunnel was about the greatest thing he had ever seen.  It was the last game of the 1993 season and the Braves won.  After the game they got to stay and watch the Dodgers beat the Giants on the big screen at the stadium.  The Braves then came out on the field to celebrate their third straight division crown.

Another story was from his senior year in high school. He said that he went to Orlando with Papa and his Papa to watch his high school play in a football game.  It was raining that day so they all had to wear ponchos. He said his Papa was a short round man that didn’t show a whole lot of emotion. He said they all sat there in the stands and him and Papa cheered.  But he said his Papa just sat there with a pom pom in his hand and didn’t move.  He says to this day it is still one of the funniest sights he had ever seen.

He says there are more stories and as I grow up he will try to tell me all of them.

I love you Dad

Jack

What’s Really Important

As daddy and I shared breakfast this morning, I asked him why everyone is mad at Michael Vick. I mean every time I watch ESPN in between naps that’s all they talk about

Dad says its not that they are mad at him.  He says that he did a bad thing and people disagree on how he should be punished.  Problem is, daddy says, is that he has already been punished.

“Jack”, daddy says,”athletes are not role models. They get paid to play a game. Its to bad that people expect them to be more than they are.”  He says that the main problem he has with the whole Michael Vick saga is that he has already been punished and there are more important things to worry about in football. When I asked him what that was, he smiled and said “ They have to figure out who is going to play for Cincinnati when the whole team is in jail.”

For Marion….

Daddy says there are always two things that you can count on when spring turns to summer.  One is gas prices going up and the other is Brett Farve trying to make up his mind on retirement.

This summer is no different.  At the end of last season he said his biceps muscle was damaged, and rather than play through the pain he was going to hang up his cleats. A few months went by and he was quiet.  He even filed the retirement paperwork, something he had never done in previous seasons.  Perhaps this was finally it.

Around draft time though, there came rumblings that Minnesota was making overtures that they wanted him to play. And now everyday the signs that he is coming back are getting stronger.

As far as Dad is concerned, Brett is and always will be a member of the Green Bay Packers.  Any other team that he happens to play for is just damaging a legacy that he spent 17 years building.

So Brett, this is a message from a little kid.  Stay retired. Please.  Let us welcome you into the Hall of Fame as the greatest Packer to ever play the game, and not as the bitter athlete that is just trying to one up his former team.

P.S.  I wrote this for my Aunt Marion.  I hope she likes it.

Whither Hawks?

Daddy is not a huge fan of basketball.  However he says it helps ease the transition from the end of football to the start of baseball.

So over the last few years, well the last year for me since I am only one, Daddy has been watching the Atlanta Hawks play. This is an interesting team considering that they have bad ownership, are mired in legal issues, and don’t have a true superstar. What they do have though is a good young core and they happen to live in a city that is dying for an NBA winner every year.

It’s not like the Hawks are bad.  They have been to the playoffs two straight years and they have had an increase in wins for five straight seasons.  The part that is killing the team is a true lack of identity.  Other teams have a face, whether it is King James, Kobe, or the ghost of Michael Jordan haunting the arena. The only identity the Hawks have is a history of not being very good. And that is sad because they have the potential to be very good.

As a kid, I’m not sure what would inject some life into this team after a second straight playoff defeat.  Maybe they just need to start having fun. I like to have fun.  But right now I need a nap.

Follow the Leader?

One of the things Daddy complains about the most when it comes to sports is how teams always tries to make their best player the leader of the team.  They may not want the job, but are forced into that role by other players, management, and so on. And that’s a shame because they just need to focus on their game and not worry about the other stuff.

Perfect case in point, Chipper Jones.  For years he was perfectly happy sitting in the shadow of John Smoltz’s leadership while the Braves enjoyed all of their success.

The last few years have been a different story though.  Smoltz has been injured, and now he is gone. The title of clubhouse leader has been squarely sat on Chipper’s shoulders and he doesn’t want it.  What would be best for the Braves is if one of the young guns
(Mccann, Frenchy, Jurjjens) step up to the plate and assumed the role.

As daddy told me once, being a leader is important and not something to be taken lightly.  If Chipper doesn’t want the job, maybe someone else does.  I know when I grow up, I want the job.  But for now I think I will just play with my toys.

Manny Being Manny

Now I realize that I am just a kid, but I don’t understand why people aren't mad at Manny Ramirez. He used drugs. He got caught and suspended. Yet no one is angry.

Maybe its because for so long he has been allowed to misbehave, act out, and not do what he is supposed to do. I know when I act that way mom and dad get mad, why not the Red Sox, Indians, or Dodgers?

Over the last several years several high profile, hall of fame worthy players have been caught using steroids to nothing less than public outrage and yet Manny seems to fly under the radar.

He needs more than a fifty game time out. He needs to learn his lesson. He needs to stop being Manny and start being held accountable. At least that’s what dad says....