The #WhyNotUs Index: The MLB 2014 Playoff Teams

Why not us? | Credit: www.boston.com

Now that Ateneo’s basketball season is over, I turn to the MLB playoffs for entertainment. No matter how much boring baseball is for most people, it actually climaxes well during the playoffs. Anything can happen and any team can come back as baseball is not time-dependent. Of all the major sports in the United States, baseball is actually the only sport that finds the right balance of regular season, postseason and even all-star games. Yup, I am not kidding despite of the 162 game count. OK, I might be a bit biased here but consider these:

NBA: Does the regular season really matter? Half of the teams reach the playoffs anyway!
 

2013's Finest: A Review of Sports and Pop Culture

Credit: Breaking Bad

Time flies fast. In a few days’ time, 2013 is about to end. This is the time of the year we look back on what happened in the year. It is also the time we appreciate how good it was. For me, it was an awesome year. It did have low points and it was not as adventurous as last year (when I got to venture to a world of unknown in the land of the brave and the free), but this year was interesting and charming in a lot of ways.

How was 2013 amazing for me? You have to talk to me personally (and frankly, it is not an assurance I will share you everything or even most of it). As for other things else like my appreciation for sports and pop culture, well you are in the right place. We celebrate the highlights of these in here.

SPOILER ALERT: I will avoid spoilers as much as possible so I am sorry if I will not be able to expound on some details here. I have placed the unavoidable spoiler topics in the last part for you, dear readers.

Learn To Fly

“I'm looking to the sky to save me
Looking for a sign of life
Looking for something to help me burn out bright
I'm looking for a complication
Looking cause I'm tired of trying
Make my way back home when I learn to fly high”
-    Foo Fighters from the song “Learn To Fly”

It was a cloudy day in September of 2005. I could still remember that horrible feeling. I was drained and depressed. I was badly dehydrated after two hours of non-stop cheering. The worst part was, my team barely stood a chance the whole game. I was one of the few idiots in our section who kept on cheering as the green team decimated and swept our team. It was brutal.

Good Times Never Seemed So Good Part 2

This is a continuation of this blog entry: Good Times Never Seemed So Good Part 1  
May 6, 2012

It was an awesome sleep. Waking up at Massachusetts was better. I finally got a heavy meal for my complimentary buffet breakfast. I left early for my scheduled Harvard tour. It was my third time to walk in Berkeley Street but it was always a different experience. It must be the old (but clean) buildings in the I arrived 45 minutes early at Harvard Square and I got to take some pictures of Harvard University from the outside.

Good Times Never Seemed So Good Part 1

February 5, 2012

All that is left to me is that final drive. “A New Game” blares at the stadium amplifiers. This is the chance to go for glory. It is like a movie scene. Just when you are against all odds, you will score. The New England Patriots are having the final drive of the Super Bowl against the New York Giants. Drunk, I could not believe my beloved Patriots are in a deep hole again. The chances of us winning the championship were low.

But, as “A New Game” blared, I raised my hopes up. You need to believe, right? Tom Brady is leading that final drive and is giving us a shot to win the game. Then, it was down to that final play. The Golden Boy threw the Hail Mary Pass. Moments like this remind me of Matt Saracen’s Hail Mary Pass or Vince Howard’s championship winning throw in “Friday Night Lights.” Brady threw a beautiful pass going to the end zone.

Going…

Going…

Choke

September 28: One of the worst days in sports for me | Credit: Associated Press

 March 2011. I was giddy at my MLB teams getting a great shot at reaching the playoffs this year. Atlanta has shrugged off its late 2000s slump and entered the playoffs last year as the promising young squad. Boston, on the other hand, made huge splurges in the offseason by acquiring ace slugger Adrian Gonzalez and all-around standout Carl Crawford. After decades of lambasting the Yankee Empire for using a huge salary to build a strong team, the Red Sox Nation had to be on a similar position now with these luxurious acquisitions. Both Boston and Atlanta rank quite high in analysts’ power rankings.

Everything is good for me. I was thinking to myself that this might potentially be the best sports year in my life. The Green Bay Packers already won the Super Bowl. The Duke Blue Devils are the favorites to win NCAA. Ateneo will be sporting an elite team. Atlanta and Boston might reach the World Series. This only happens once in a blue moon.

8 Random Thoughts on Sports: September 2011 Edition

The Lambeau Leap | Credit: NFL

The NBA lockout is getting worse by the day, but it does not mean that we cannot enjoy sports in mid September. Yes, we do not have the occasional fantasy NBA drafts. I am not expecting for one in the near future, but that is for Future Jeff to get frustrated about. Let us concentrate on the present time when sports is at a very high gear.

Random Thought #1: Any thoughts on the Ateneo Blue Eagles?

First off, I have to say my traditional reaction once Ateneo reaches the Finals…

We’re Baaaaaaaaaaccccckkkkk!!!

Best Bandwagon Teams of the 2000's

Credits to bleacherreport.com

It has been a week since my Atlanta Braves got eliminated in the MLB Playoffs. However, this did not stop me from watching the remainder of the playoff games last week. If you love the sport, watching it does not end after your team gets eliminated. You either watch it for entertainment’s sake or you root against your team’s rivals. I had both reasons when I watched the League Championship Series as Atlanta and Boston’s division rivals, namely Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees, were battling it out. Actually, both teams were pegged to duke it out in the World Series just like last year. Their lineups were just loaded. And their opponents? A bunch of teams who struggled to even reach the playoffs. The Texas Rangers never won a home game in the postseason prior to this year’s ALCS. Nobody expected the San Francisco Giants to reach the playoffs as San Diego was in a comfortable lead some months back. The San Francisco Giants’ last World Series appearance was in 2002 when they suffered a heartbreaking Game 7 loss to the Anaheim Angels. Both teams never won a World Series trophy. The Giants did but they were not yet situated in San Francisco then.

I first got to watch the Game 1 of the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers. The Yankees had their probable Cy Young Winner, CC Sabathia, in the mound and I expected them to crush the Rangers who just had little rest from their five-game series against Tampa Bay. Then, the unexpected happen. CC Sabathia struggled to find the strike zone as he walked batters, gave up a home run and was even down by a huge deficit early in the game. The sluggers of New York were also rusty. Even the analysts were astounded. If they expected a pitcher to have 30 more pitches than the other, it would not have been Sabathia. The huge lead had the Rangers and their fans complacent to the point that they forgot to boo A-Rod and Mark Teixeira. Nolan Ryan was comfortably chatting with George Bush and Texas seemed to coast to a Game 1 victory.  Then, 8th inning arrived. C.J. Wilson was exhausted after giving up a run. They had to replace him with Darren Oliver who walked the next two batters. This ensued a huge Yankee rally that was good enough for the comeback win. Using Bill Simmons’ term, Texas just experienced a stomach punch game. They thought everything went right. The announcers were stating that it was history taking place for them as it will be their first postseason home win. Just when they thought that things were finally right, they got hit out of nowhere. In the final innings of the game, you can read the words “Oh no! Here we go again!” etched in their faces.