So that will be the last time I ever run with a Camelback... Other than the fact that I was constantly fidgeting with it, that it was throwing me off my usual rhythm, or that it was just plain uncomfortable and in the way, my run was fine.
I was actually surprised how much the Camelback affected my running, because it's not one of the bigger models, it's basically just the size of the water reservoir with a couple of pockets on it. It's great for biking and canvassing, good for hiking, but apparently terrible (at least in my opinion) for running.
Saturday night we had tickets to the semifinals of the Legg Mason Classic, and annual tennis tournament in Washington DC that's part of the US Open series. I had never been to a professional tennis match before, and was excited to see it live for the first time. Unfortunately, Andy Roddick had dropped out several weeks ago, and Mardy Fish had also withdrawn several days before the start of the tourney, so already two of the higher seeds and well-known/recognizable players were out.
The top overall seed was Gael Monfils, a French player ranked 7th in the world, and as it turned out, he was in the match that we had tickets to go see. He was matched up against John Isner, an interesting match-up because Monfils is probably one of the the (if not the) fastest players in men's professional tennis, and while Isner moves surprisingly well for a guy who's 6'9", his game is mostly based on his huge first serve and powerful forehand. Definitely a match-up that would have been very interesting to see.
Oh wait, did I say would have been? Yeah...The one problem with professional tennis (or any level of tennis for that matter) is that they'll take the players off the court if there's any hint of rain. And wouldn't you know it, the forecast for Saturday night called for a 70% chance of rain. Awesome.
When we got there, it was sprinkling. Barely. However it had been raining relatively hard earlier so they were busy drying off the court and trying to prepare to start the match as close to the original time as they could. Unfortunately, drying a tennis court isn't as fast and easy as you may think, because apparently there can't be any moisture whatsoever on the court (which makes sense, you wouldn't want any twisted ankles or worse, and given all the movement and constant changing of direction I can understand the attention to detail).
While we waited for it to stop raining and for them to dry off the court, we walked around the complex and found a smaller court that had a canopy over the seats. This turned out to be one of the more entertaining segments of the night because not only did Monfils show up on the next court over and start juggling and playing around with a soccer ball (presumably to stay loose), there were also a group of ball boys/girls, an older man (probably a director or someone of relative importance at the tournament or complex), and a woman with a camera who were making what looked like some sort of training video or video demonstration for how to properly perform one's duties as a ball boy/girl.
It finally let up, and they finally dried off the court, so everyone went back to the stadium and they brought out the players for their warm-up. That's probably one of the coolest things about tennis that you rarely see (if ever) in other professional sports, opposing players warming up together.
Of course, they didn't even get as far as practicing their serves before it started raining again, leading to the players being removed from the court and the grounds crew once more turning on a bunch of heater-fan things (I'm going to call them that because I don't know what they're actually called and because they're basically a combination of an industrial fan and a leaf blower, and I'm assuming there's some sort of heating mechanism to help facilitate the drying of the court). Anyways, after about 10-15 minutes of this, all the while the rain still coming down, they give the signal to cut the heater-fan things, and everyone retreats from the court.
At this point we're sort of wet, but not really because it really wasn't raining that hard, just a constant amount of barely anything. We go back to the covered side-court and decide that if it hasn't stopped raining in the next 15 minutes, we'll just leave and go home. Since none of us had paid for the tickets we had, we didn't feel too bad about leaving. Well, it stopped raining just before our set cut-off time, so we decided to wait it out until they had finished drying off the court (for a third time) and watch the match.
So they finished drying off the court, the players came out and got through all of their warm-ups, and they were finally ready to start (hooray!). They got through one game, which Isner won mainly because of his serving, and three points (Monfils was up 30-15 on his first service game) when it started raining again and they promptly pulled the players off the court and back into the dressing room. We sat in the stands for little bit to see if there was any chance of it letting up, but it didn't, so we left.
It was disappointing that we were able to see so little of the actual match, but none of us really wanted to sit through rain delay after rain delay. We ended up following the score on a computer later that night and they actually got through almost two sets before they had to stop again due to the rain, at 11 pm. I have no idea how long into the night the match actually went, but all I know is that it wasn't the longest match of Isner's career (see his match last year in the opening round of Wimbledon) and that Monfils eventually at some point in the wee hours of the morning (I'm assuming) finally won it after the rain let up enough for them to finish.
Hopefully my next professional tennis experience will be better.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
[Insert Post Title Here]
So yeah... About posting twice a week, that clearly hasn't happened... But I'll keep trying, I promise.
Running has been going OK. Not too terrible, not great, just OK. I've missed a few days, but for the most part, I think I'm doing a decent job trying to stay on schedule. It's not so much that I'm having difficulty waking up at 4:45 am (It's kinda hard to ignore your cell phone blasting Van Halen's "Eruption" and vibrating under your pillow), it's convincing myself that I want/need to get out of bed and go run. In fact, I've gotten to the point where I'll wake up several minutes before my alarm even goes off, which is good, but also bad because I sometimes turn off my alarm, roll over, and go right back to sleep. Fail.
Nevertheless, I feel like I'm coming along rather nicely. I feel great, the soreness I was feeling when I first started has long since gone. Either I've just gotten used to running on a fairly consistent basis, or my decision to switch shoes has made a huge difference. I'd like to think it's a bit of both, with a majority of the credit going to my Saucony Kinvaras. Seriously, they really are the most comfortable running shoes I've even had.
Last week was one of the most exciting weeks in sports in recent memory. Not only was it the week leading up to the MLB trade deadline, but also the beginning (finally) of NFL free agency. As I predicted last Monday, the activity in the NFL was fast and furious. It was awesome. However, as a 49ers fan, it was a little disappointing because while other teams were making trades and signing (well agreeing to terms with) new players, all the 49ers did was sign a kicker (granted it was David Akers, a pro bowl kicker, but seeing how there were much more glaring needs, it was a bit disconcerting). There had been rumors that the Niners would make a serious push to sign Namdi Asomugha, considered by many to be one of the best, if not the best shutdown corners in the NFL. As nice as it would have been to have been able to land such a prized free agent, the more I think about it, the more I'm glad the 49ers didn't sign him, because they would have had to spend a large amount of money to get him, which would mean less money to spread around to sign other players.
Another exciting recent development in the world of sports was the USSF firing Bob Bradley (finally!) as the Men's National Team Manager and appointing Jurgen Klinsmann (YES!!!) as his replacement. As you may or may not know, I haven't been the biggest supporter of Bob Bradley or the US National Team in the past 4 years. I'll be honest, they probably wouldn't even rank in my top 10 favorite national teams. This of course has nothing to do with me being unpatriotic, but more with the fact that I couldn't stand watching the US Men's team play. Their shape, their organization, and just their overall strategy really never made sense to me. This is mainly due to Bob Bradley, because after all, it was his system, and it just wasn't working. Hopefully Klinsmann will be able to bring a different approach to the US National Team, not only in his tactics, but hopefully in his player selection as well.
I'm slated to run 11 miles tomorrow, which will be my furthest run thus far in my training. The 5 miles I ran this morning felt pretty good and I feel like tomorrow shouldn't be too bad, it won't be too hot and hopefully not too humid. Since it will take me longer than an hour to complete, I'm going to try running with a camelback so I'm able to stay hydrated. I've tried running with a water bottle, but it's kind of awkward holding it in your hand while running. I'll do my best to try to recap how it went as soon as possible, maybe even after I've cooled down and stretched afterwards. I'm also going to the semifinals of the Legg Mason Classic (an annual men's tennis tournament in DC) tomorrow night, so I might wait until Sunday so I can recap that as well. I've never been to a professional tennis match before, and while there won't be the biggest names there (Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick both dropped out before the tourney began, and none of the really big names in men's tennis are there), there should still be two great match-ups to watch.
If there's anything in particular you think I should talk about, let me know! Hope everyone's doing well.
That's all for now.
Running has been going OK. Not too terrible, not great, just OK. I've missed a few days, but for the most part, I think I'm doing a decent job trying to stay on schedule. It's not so much that I'm having difficulty waking up at 4:45 am (It's kinda hard to ignore your cell phone blasting Van Halen's "Eruption" and vibrating under your pillow), it's convincing myself that I want/need to get out of bed and go run. In fact, I've gotten to the point where I'll wake up several minutes before my alarm even goes off, which is good, but also bad because I sometimes turn off my alarm, roll over, and go right back to sleep. Fail.
Nevertheless, I feel like I'm coming along rather nicely. I feel great, the soreness I was feeling when I first started has long since gone. Either I've just gotten used to running on a fairly consistent basis, or my decision to switch shoes has made a huge difference. I'd like to think it's a bit of both, with a majority of the credit going to my Saucony Kinvaras. Seriously, they really are the most comfortable running shoes I've even had.
Last week was one of the most exciting weeks in sports in recent memory. Not only was it the week leading up to the MLB trade deadline, but also the beginning (finally) of NFL free agency. As I predicted last Monday, the activity in the NFL was fast and furious. It was awesome. However, as a 49ers fan, it was a little disappointing because while other teams were making trades and signing (well agreeing to terms with) new players, all the 49ers did was sign a kicker (granted it was David Akers, a pro bowl kicker, but seeing how there were much more glaring needs, it was a bit disconcerting). There had been rumors that the Niners would make a serious push to sign Namdi Asomugha, considered by many to be one of the best, if not the best shutdown corners in the NFL. As nice as it would have been to have been able to land such a prized free agent, the more I think about it, the more I'm glad the 49ers didn't sign him, because they would have had to spend a large amount of money to get him, which would mean less money to spread around to sign other players.
Another exciting recent development in the world of sports was the USSF firing Bob Bradley (finally!) as the Men's National Team Manager and appointing Jurgen Klinsmann (YES!!!) as his replacement. As you may or may not know, I haven't been the biggest supporter of Bob Bradley or the US National Team in the past 4 years. I'll be honest, they probably wouldn't even rank in my top 10 favorite national teams. This of course has nothing to do with me being unpatriotic, but more with the fact that I couldn't stand watching the US Men's team play. Their shape, their organization, and just their overall strategy really never made sense to me. This is mainly due to Bob Bradley, because after all, it was his system, and it just wasn't working. Hopefully Klinsmann will be able to bring a different approach to the US National Team, not only in his tactics, but hopefully in his player selection as well.
I'm slated to run 11 miles tomorrow, which will be my furthest run thus far in my training. The 5 miles I ran this morning felt pretty good and I feel like tomorrow shouldn't be too bad, it won't be too hot and hopefully not too humid. Since it will take me longer than an hour to complete, I'm going to try running with a camelback so I'm able to stay hydrated. I've tried running with a water bottle, but it's kind of awkward holding it in your hand while running. I'll do my best to try to recap how it went as soon as possible, maybe even after I've cooled down and stretched afterwards. I'm also going to the semifinals of the Legg Mason Classic (an annual men's tennis tournament in DC) tomorrow night, so I might wait until Sunday so I can recap that as well. I've never been to a professional tennis match before, and while there won't be the biggest names there (Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick both dropped out before the tourney began, and none of the really big names in men's tennis are there), there should still be two great match-ups to watch.
If there's anything in particular you think I should talk about, let me know! Hope everyone's doing well.
That's all for now.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Random Thoughts.
So yeah... I'm not doing a very good job of updating this regularly. I'm going to try get better at that (I promise!), and hopefully I'll be able to do at least two each week (slightly wishful thinking, but we'll see how much time I have). My plan right now (that I literally just thought of) is to do one random one during the week, and then another one sometime on the weekend recapping my marathon training for the week. Seeing as Saturdays are my long run days, we'll see if I have the energy to do it afterwards, so I reserve the right to put it off until Sundays (it's my blog damn it and I'll do what I want).
Anyways, today is Monday, but not just any Monday, it's the end-of-the-NFL-lockout-Monday! Finally, after listening to ESPN update us daily (was that really necessary??) on the current situation with the lockout, it's finally over and the owners and players have agreed to a new CBA. And now we get to listen to ESPN talk about it 23.5 hours a day! They would be covering it 24/7, but for some reason unbeknownst to me they continue to put Sportsnation on the air. I'm sure Colin Cowherd will have some unintelligible thing to say about it, but seriously, that show is the worst thing on television (well, at least on ESPN). I would tell you what I think of Colin Cowherd, but I'd like to keep this a PG as possible and I'd rather not spend the entirety of this post about him, but suffice it to say I think he's a worthless POS and never has anything important or intelligent to say about anything.
Back to there finally being football again. The one good thing about there being a very abbreviated "offseason" is that free agency is going to be ridiculous. In a good way. By this I mean that instead of weeks (even months) of speculation about players signing new deals or being traded, it will all happen in a matter of hours or days, which for me - being the impatient person that I am - is awesome.
I was recently introduced to a band called The Joy Formidable (thanks Johann!). They're a three-piece alternative band from Wales, and they make enough noise that you'd think there were at least three times as many people in the band. They're one of the most original bands I've heard recently and though they only have one full-length album, it's an amazing album. They're definitely a band worth looking into. Here, I'll even put one of their songs right here so you don't have to waste the two seconds it would take to look them up on Youtube (hopefully it works):
For those of you on the West Coast (the best coast), you've been lucky enough not to have to endure the heat wave we've been experiencing for the past week+. Upper 90s with humidity through the roof and the heat index consistently near or waay over 100 = awfulness personified. Today, it rained A TON (for about an hour), which cooled everything down nicely. ...Unfortunately the forecast says it's going to be back up towards 100 by the end of the week.
The new Old Spice commercials with Fabio are ridiculous. That is all.
X Games 17 starts this week. Super stoked.
For those of you not brave enough to sit through an entire 90+ minutes of Spanish broadcast, or didn't know or don't care, Uruguay won their record 15th Copa America, thus proving that last summer's World Cup semi-final appearance (and but for a Diego Forlan free kick off the post at the end of regulation, very nearly a WC finalist) was no fluke. But seriously, for a team with Uruguay's pedigree (2 World Cups and now 15 Copa America titles), it shouldn't be that surprising that they've done as well as they have in recent tournaments.
Well, that's enough for now. Hopefully by Saturday afternoon I'll have run over 20 miles this week and I'll let you know how that all went.
Anyways, today is Monday, but not just any Monday, it's the end-of-the-NFL-lockout-Monday! Finally, after listening to ESPN update us daily (was that really necessary??) on the current situation with the lockout, it's finally over and the owners and players have agreed to a new CBA. And now we get to listen to ESPN talk about it 23.5 hours a day! They would be covering it 24/7, but for some reason unbeknownst to me they continue to put Sportsnation on the air. I'm sure Colin Cowherd will have some unintelligible thing to say about it, but seriously, that show is the worst thing on television (well, at least on ESPN). I would tell you what I think of Colin Cowherd, but I'd like to keep this a PG as possible and I'd rather not spend the entirety of this post about him, but suffice it to say I think he's a worthless POS and never has anything important or intelligent to say about anything.
Back to there finally being football again. The one good thing about there being a very abbreviated "offseason" is that free agency is going to be ridiculous. In a good way. By this I mean that instead of weeks (even months) of speculation about players signing new deals or being traded, it will all happen in a matter of hours or days, which for me - being the impatient person that I am - is awesome.
I was recently introduced to a band called The Joy Formidable (thanks Johann!). They're a three-piece alternative band from Wales, and they make enough noise that you'd think there were at least three times as many people in the band. They're one of the most original bands I've heard recently and though they only have one full-length album, it's an amazing album. They're definitely a band worth looking into. Here, I'll even put one of their songs right here so you don't have to waste the two seconds it would take to look them up on Youtube (hopefully it works):
For those of you on the West Coast (the best coast), you've been lucky enough not to have to endure the heat wave we've been experiencing for the past week+. Upper 90s with humidity through the roof and the heat index consistently near or waay over 100 = awfulness personified. Today, it rained A TON (for about an hour), which cooled everything down nicely. ...Unfortunately the forecast says it's going to be back up towards 100 by the end of the week.
The new Old Spice commercials with Fabio are ridiculous. That is all.
X Games 17 starts this week. Super stoked.
For those of you not brave enough to sit through an entire 90+ minutes of Spanish broadcast, or didn't know or don't care, Uruguay won their record 15th Copa America, thus proving that last summer's World Cup semi-final appearance (and but for a Diego Forlan free kick off the post at the end of regulation, very nearly a WC finalist) was no fluke. But seriously, for a team with Uruguay's pedigree (2 World Cups and now 15 Copa America titles), it shouldn't be that surprising that they've done as well as they have in recent tournaments.
Well, that's enough for now. Hopefully by Saturday afternoon I'll have run over 20 miles this week and I'll let you know how that all went.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Running...Shoes...
So after running 6 miles today, I'm officially 12 weeks through my preparation for the Baltimore Marathon (10 weeks of pre-marathon-training, essentially to get me into shape for marathon training, and 2 weeks of a 16-week marathon prep cycle). I haven't been doing the best job of getting all my runs in each week, mostly for two reasons. There have been several occasions where I have woken up to run and promptly gone back to bed with the intention of running in the evening, and then not doing it when the time comes 15 hours or so later. I have also skipped runs in favor of rest because I was suffering from the aches and pains of getting back into running shape (no major pain or discomfort, so if I had just kept at it, it probably would have gotten better much faster than stretching it out over several weeks). I attribute most of these difficulties to my choice in running shoes.
A few weeks before I was going to start my pre-marathon-training training, I went to the store to find myself a pair of shoes. After trying on several pairs of Asics, New Balance, and Nikes, I decided on the Nike Free Run+. I had heard a lot of really good things about running in these shoes, and when I tried them out in the store, they felt great. As they are supposed to give you a barefoot running feel, there isn't a whole lot of heel support. What had felt like pretty decent cushioning when I tried them on proved to be virtually non-existent. I think they would be great to run in if I was running on a more forgiving surface than cement or asphalt. To be honest, I probably wore these shoes for too long in hopes that they would get better, mostly because Nike released a newer version that was available to be customized on nikeid.com, and I thought it would be really cool to have a spiffy pair of kicks for my first marathon. Finally I realized that I needed to worry more about the comfort of my shoes rather than the appearance.
So, before I bought a new pair of shoes, I tried running in the shoes that I use to work out in, the Nike Lunarglide+ 2 which by nature, are supposed to be running shoes. The cushioning on these shoes is ridiculous. It feels like you're basically running on air, which is awesome, but after a while, I decided that they weren't firm enough and started looking for a replacement.
I had had my eye on Saucony's ProGrid Kinvara for some time, and everything I had read about these shoes (including what I had read in my friend Jason Leman's blog here) had been very complimentary. I thought, if someone who runs 50k races for fun (which by the way is nuts) thinks these shoes are great, and so many reviewers had called them "the best shoes they've ever run in" I figured that I should at least check them out. My decision was made a very simple one when I found them on sale on Zappos.com, and with free shipping both ways (I can be very impulsive when buying things online, especially when free shipping and no sales tax is involved).
A quick note about Zappos, not only do they have free shipping no matter how much (or little) you order, they also have amazing customer service that upgrades your shipping service at no extra cost. So basically I payed the price of the shoes on sale, and got the shoes the next day for no extra charge. That's great customer service.
Ok, back to the shoes. Immediately when I pulled these shoes out of the box and put them on, I could tell why everyone had been so high on them. For starters, they're incredibly lightweight (8 ounces), but also surprisingly cushioned and supportive. They are by far the most comfortable shoes I've ever run in (I don't have much of a track record in this department, but that's besides the point). The fit of these shoes is pretty snug, which I personally like because I don't like my feet sliding around inside the shoe while I run. If there's any complaint I can make about them is that they don't have the best arch support, but that's a pretty easy fix. Needless to say, after several weeks of running in these shoes, I decided to buy another pair so I could cycle them in my training and thus prolong their life, and wouldn't you know it, they were still on sale on Zappos, and once again, I got them the next day with no extra cost. I love Zappos!
So there's the story of my running shoes experience. More to come on my training progress once I've logged a few more miles...
 |
| Nike Free Run+ |
 |
| Nike Lunarglide+ 2 |
 |
| Saucony Kinvara |
A quick note about Zappos, not only do they have free shipping no matter how much (or little) you order, they also have amazing customer service that upgrades your shipping service at no extra cost. So basically I payed the price of the shoes on sale, and got the shoes the next day for no extra charge. That's great customer service.
Ok, back to the shoes. Immediately when I pulled these shoes out of the box and put them on, I could tell why everyone had been so high on them. For starters, they're incredibly lightweight (8 ounces), but also surprisingly cushioned and supportive. They are by far the most comfortable shoes I've ever run in (I don't have much of a track record in this department, but that's besides the point). The fit of these shoes is pretty snug, which I personally like because I don't like my feet sliding around inside the shoe while I run. If there's any complaint I can make about them is that they don't have the best arch support, but that's a pretty easy fix. Needless to say, after several weeks of running in these shoes, I decided to buy another pair so I could cycle them in my training and thus prolong their life, and wouldn't you know it, they were still on sale on Zappos, and once again, I got them the next day with no extra cost. I love Zappos!
So there's the story of my running shoes experience. More to come on my training progress once I've logged a few more miles...
Friday, July 1, 2011
Half-Way There
It's halfway through the Giants' season, and they're 2 games up on the Diamondbacks in the NL West. When you take into consideration all the injury problems the Giants have had, it's pretty remarkable that they're a) winning on a fairly consistent basis, and b) that they're in first place. Yes, the NL West isn't the strongest division in baseball, but the pitching from top to bottom is pretty darn solid, and when you couple that with the Giants scoring the third-fewest runs in the majors, it's even more impressive for them to be in this position.
So how are they getting it done? Well, basically, the same way they did towards the end of last season and into the playoffs: solid, sometimes-dominant starting pitching, timely hitting sans the two best hitters on the team and the team's leading RBI man from last season hitting below last season's numbers, and a mostly air-tight bullpen. Is it pretty? No, not usually, but then again, Giants Baseball never really was. It is, and always has been (in recent years anyways), as Duane Kuiper so famously dubbed it, "Torture".
When Posey went out for the season, it didn't look good. Panda was already out 4-6 weeks, and there was no knowing how he'd return from a broken bone in his hand. To make things worse, Freddy Sanchez went down with a pretty serious shoulder injury about 2 weeks after Posey's injury. Luckily, Sandoval returned the series after Freddy went down, so there was some hope that his return would provide an offensive spark. Unfortunately, there's only so much one play can do to enhance the offensive production of a team. Even if said player were to hit .400, the rest of the team would still have to get enough hits to either set the table for that player or to drive them in.
There has been some speculation that the Giants could be interested in a trade for Jose Reyes from the Mets, and while this would be a positive move for the offense, I don't think it's a good idea. First of all, they would have to give up a fairly substantial amount of talent (potentially Jonathan Sanchez or Zach Wheeler plus a couple prospects). Reyes is having a phenomenal year, there's no doubt about that, but he's also been rather injury prone the past few years, and there's no predicting whether or not he'll be able to remain healthy for the rest of the season. There's also the problem of him becoming a free agent at the end of the year, which begs a couple questions. First, is he really this good, or are his numbers slightly inflated by his motivation to sign a big multi-year deal in the winter? Second, if the Giants were to trade for him, would he be a half-season rental, or would they really be able to re-sign him in the offseason? I think he is this good, if he's healthy, and so far he's been able to maintain his health, and his numbers are a reflection of that. Whether or not he'll be able to carry on at this pace for several years to come is another question. If they Giants traded for him, I don't think there's any way that he would be able to re-sign him. Other than Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, I think there's a pretty good chance he gets one of the biggest contracts in the offseason, likely something to the tune of 5-7+ years at over 100 million dollars. There's no way the Giants would be able and/or willing to give him that kind of money. Plus I think that the Giants would be very reluctant to part ways with either Sanchez or Wheeler, even with Sanchez being as inconsistent as he has been of late.
Miguel Tejada has been one of the more disappointing players for the Giants this season. I was pretty skeptical when he was signed in the offseason. I really wanted them to bring back Juan Uribe not only because of his bat, but because he can basically play every position in the infield. Unfortunately the Giants were not able to offer him enough money, so he left for LA. Although Tejada brings the same versatility in the infield, his range has vastly decreased and he has become somewhat of a defensive liability. To add to those troubles, he isn't hitting all too well either. .227/.257/.304 with 2 HR and 20 RBIs just isn't getting it done.
Brian Wilson is having another solid year and leading the MLB in saves and is exactly on pace for the number of saves he had last year (48). And this is with him starting the year on the DL. He's pitching well and his beard is stronger (and more ridiculous) than ever.
One of the major surprises this season has been Ryan Vogelsong. When Barry Zito went down, he was brought in to fill in as basically the 5th starter the expectation was as long as he could pitch decently well and give the team a chance to win each time he took the mound, he would be doing his job. Well, to put it simply, he has exceeded every one of my expectations, and has been arguably the Giants most consistent pitcher since being added to the rotation. In 12 starts, he is 6-1, with 77.2 IP, an ERA of 2.09, and a WHIP of 1.15. In addition, 8 of his starts (75%) have been quality starts. What this all means (for those of you not privy to the statistical lingo of baseball, it basically means that pitches late into the game (giving the bullpen less work and therefore more rest for when they're needed), he doesn't give up a lot of runs, he walks or allows a hit a little over once every inning on average, and he generally puts his team in a good position to get a win.
Although the Giants haven't necessarily been all that impressive when you watch them, the more I think about it, the more I think that they'll be able to hold onto the division lead and possibly run away with it. I'm not buying the D-backs remaining serious contenders in the second half of the season, and the Dodgers and Padres don't have enough offense to make any sort of run. The only team that really worries me is the Colorado Rockies. While they may not have stellar pitching, but they have some pretty solid starters and Houston Street is one of the top closers in the NL, and when you play in Coors field for 81 games a year, you're going to score a lot of runs (and give up a lot as well). It always seems like year after year, the Rockies make a second-half-of-the-season-run, so if they're anywhere within striking distance come August, there could be some cause for concern.
That all being said, I am fairly confident the Giants will be able to maintain their division lead. Am I saying they're going to repeat as World Series Champions? No. But anything is possible, and as we've seen, once you get to the playoffs, anything can happen.
So how are they getting it done? Well, basically, the same way they did towards the end of last season and into the playoffs: solid, sometimes-dominant starting pitching, timely hitting sans the two best hitters on the team and the team's leading RBI man from last season hitting below last season's numbers, and a mostly air-tight bullpen. Is it pretty? No, not usually, but then again, Giants Baseball never really was. It is, and always has been (in recent years anyways), as Duane Kuiper so famously dubbed it, "Torture".
When Posey went out for the season, it didn't look good. Panda was already out 4-6 weeks, and there was no knowing how he'd return from a broken bone in his hand. To make things worse, Freddy Sanchez went down with a pretty serious shoulder injury about 2 weeks after Posey's injury. Luckily, Sandoval returned the series after Freddy went down, so there was some hope that his return would provide an offensive spark. Unfortunately, there's only so much one play can do to enhance the offensive production of a team. Even if said player were to hit .400, the rest of the team would still have to get enough hits to either set the table for that player or to drive them in.
There has been some speculation that the Giants could be interested in a trade for Jose Reyes from the Mets, and while this would be a positive move for the offense, I don't think it's a good idea. First of all, they would have to give up a fairly substantial amount of talent (potentially Jonathan Sanchez or Zach Wheeler plus a couple prospects). Reyes is having a phenomenal year, there's no doubt about that, but he's also been rather injury prone the past few years, and there's no predicting whether or not he'll be able to remain healthy for the rest of the season. There's also the problem of him becoming a free agent at the end of the year, which begs a couple questions. First, is he really this good, or are his numbers slightly inflated by his motivation to sign a big multi-year deal in the winter? Second, if the Giants were to trade for him, would he be a half-season rental, or would they really be able to re-sign him in the offseason? I think he is this good, if he's healthy, and so far he's been able to maintain his health, and his numbers are a reflection of that. Whether or not he'll be able to carry on at this pace for several years to come is another question. If they Giants traded for him, I don't think there's any way that he would be able to re-sign him. Other than Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, I think there's a pretty good chance he gets one of the biggest contracts in the offseason, likely something to the tune of 5-7+ years at over 100 million dollars. There's no way the Giants would be able and/or willing to give him that kind of money. Plus I think that the Giants would be very reluctant to part ways with either Sanchez or Wheeler, even with Sanchez being as inconsistent as he has been of late.
Miguel Tejada has been one of the more disappointing players for the Giants this season. I was pretty skeptical when he was signed in the offseason. I really wanted them to bring back Juan Uribe not only because of his bat, but because he can basically play every position in the infield. Unfortunately the Giants were not able to offer him enough money, so he left for LA. Although Tejada brings the same versatility in the infield, his range has vastly decreased and he has become somewhat of a defensive liability. To add to those troubles, he isn't hitting all too well either. .227/.257/.304 with 2 HR and 20 RBIs just isn't getting it done.
Brian Wilson is having another solid year and leading the MLB in saves and is exactly on pace for the number of saves he had last year (48). And this is with him starting the year on the DL. He's pitching well and his beard is stronger (and more ridiculous) than ever.
One of the major surprises this season has been Ryan Vogelsong. When Barry Zito went down, he was brought in to fill in as basically the 5th starter the expectation was as long as he could pitch decently well and give the team a chance to win each time he took the mound, he would be doing his job. Well, to put it simply, he has exceeded every one of my expectations, and has been arguably the Giants most consistent pitcher since being added to the rotation. In 12 starts, he is 6-1, with 77.2 IP, an ERA of 2.09, and a WHIP of 1.15. In addition, 8 of his starts (75%) have been quality starts. What this all means (for those of you not privy to the statistical lingo of baseball, it basically means that pitches late into the game (giving the bullpen less work and therefore more rest for when they're needed), he doesn't give up a lot of runs, he walks or allows a hit a little over once every inning on average, and he generally puts his team in a good position to get a win.
Although the Giants haven't necessarily been all that impressive when you watch them, the more I think about it, the more I think that they'll be able to hold onto the division lead and possibly run away with it. I'm not buying the D-backs remaining serious contenders in the second half of the season, and the Dodgers and Padres don't have enough offense to make any sort of run. The only team that really worries me is the Colorado Rockies. While they may not have stellar pitching, but they have some pretty solid starters and Houston Street is one of the top closers in the NL, and when you play in Coors field for 81 games a year, you're going to score a lot of runs (and give up a lot as well). It always seems like year after year, the Rockies make a second-half-of-the-season-run, so if they're anywhere within striking distance come August, there could be some cause for concern.
That all being said, I am fairly confident the Giants will be able to maintain their division lead. Am I saying they're going to repeat as World Series Champions? No. But anything is possible, and as we've seen, once you get to the playoffs, anything can happen.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
The Worst Part About Living/Working in DC
There are many great things about living in the DC metro area. For starters, you're at the epicenter of the most powerful country in the world. That's pretty cool. There's a ton of history in the city, from monuments and memorials to government buildings and museums (the Smithsonian museums are open every day of the year except Christmas). There are also lots of good restaurants (I really haven't gotten a chance to sample very many of them, at least the higher profile ones, but I've heard lots of good things). It's also a relatively young city - as far as the age of people living in the area - and as such, it can be a lot of fun on the weekends. I'll get into that more another time. I'm also not going to talk about being a sports fan in DC (not that it's necessarily a good or bad thing about living in DC) because that would be (and will be) and entire post in itself.
DC is not a perfect city by any means. For evidence of this, you'd have to look no further than the metro system. It's a decent system, but it seems like there are always delays, it doesn't have as complete coverage as it could (but they're supposedly working on an expansion), and I would bet anyone, anywhere, any time, any amount of money that there will never be a day when EVERY SINGLE escalator at EVERY SINGLE metro station is working without difficulty. It's just not going to happen. Ever. But that's not even the worst thing about living/working in DC.
The weather, for the most part, isn't too bad. It doesn't ever get too unbearably cold in the winter, and it's pretty nice in the fall and in the spring. Yeah, the weather is actually pretty nice. Oh yeah, summer... Summer is terrible. Hot. Humid. Uncomfortable. You know, the kind of weather where you go outside for a short walk and end up dripping with sweat within minutes. It's just not pleasant. Heat I can deal with, humidity is bearable to a point, but combine them together and you get the monster that is summertime in DC. But this is also not the worst thing about living/working in DC.
See, the problem with living amongst all the landmarks and history, and the fact that it's the most powerful city in the most powerful country in the world, is that it creates a hot-bed for tourists. It's ridiculous. You know how certain attractions around the world talk about "tourist season"? Well, in DC, there is no such thing, because there's NEVER any down-time. It's also unbelievable how every. single. week. there are bus loads full of children on a class field trip driving around the National Mall. I thought spring break was only one or two weeks out of a two month period. Clearly DC is the exception to the rule.
Walk past the White House, Lincoln Memorial, or any other major landmark in the city during the middle of the day and you better be prepared to help take a few group photos. I don't really even care about this, it's just amazing to me how many people are ALWAYS on the Mall. Year-round.
What's the worst thing that you could possibly do to make tourists in DC even worse? Send them on the metro. Tourists should never, ever be allowed to ride on the metro. It's like trying to force a million square pegs through round holes, all at once. It just doesn't work. It's not that the metro is too confusing, because, compared to other major cities, it really isn't that bad. It's just that it's already pretty crowded as it is, and then you throw a bunch of lost, complaining, loud, confused, annoying (I could go on and on) tourists, it creates such a gigantic mess that it makes it nearly impossible to get anywhere even close to on time.
I could go on and on, and on about all the problems associated with tourists in DC, but I think I've already exhausted the topic, and in the process completely tired myself out (no seriously, I'm almost falling asleep at this point), so I'll save you time and the pain. Goodnight.
DC is not a perfect city by any means. For evidence of this, you'd have to look no further than the metro system. It's a decent system, but it seems like there are always delays, it doesn't have as complete coverage as it could (but they're supposedly working on an expansion), and I would bet anyone, anywhere, any time, any amount of money that there will never be a day when EVERY SINGLE escalator at EVERY SINGLE metro station is working without difficulty. It's just not going to happen. Ever. But that's not even the worst thing about living/working in DC.
The weather, for the most part, isn't too bad. It doesn't ever get too unbearably cold in the winter, and it's pretty nice in the fall and in the spring. Yeah, the weather is actually pretty nice. Oh yeah, summer... Summer is terrible. Hot. Humid. Uncomfortable. You know, the kind of weather where you go outside for a short walk and end up dripping with sweat within minutes. It's just not pleasant. Heat I can deal with, humidity is bearable to a point, but combine them together and you get the monster that is summertime in DC. But this is also not the worst thing about living/working in DC.
See, the problem with living amongst all the landmarks and history, and the fact that it's the most powerful city in the most powerful country in the world, is that it creates a hot-bed for tourists. It's ridiculous. You know how certain attractions around the world talk about "tourist season"? Well, in DC, there is no such thing, because there's NEVER any down-time. It's also unbelievable how every. single. week. there are bus loads full of children on a class field trip driving around the National Mall. I thought spring break was only one or two weeks out of a two month period. Clearly DC is the exception to the rule.
Walk past the White House, Lincoln Memorial, or any other major landmark in the city during the middle of the day and you better be prepared to help take a few group photos. I don't really even care about this, it's just amazing to me how many people are ALWAYS on the Mall. Year-round.
What's the worst thing that you could possibly do to make tourists in DC even worse? Send them on the metro. Tourists should never, ever be allowed to ride on the metro. It's like trying to force a million square pegs through round holes, all at once. It just doesn't work. It's not that the metro is too confusing, because, compared to other major cities, it really isn't that bad. It's just that it's already pretty crowded as it is, and then you throw a bunch of lost, complaining, loud, confused, annoying (I could go on and on) tourists, it creates such a gigantic mess that it makes it nearly impossible to get anywhere even close to on time.
I could go on and on, and on about all the problems associated with tourists in DC, but I think I've already exhausted the topic, and in the process completely tired myself out (no seriously, I'm almost falling asleep at this point), so I'll save you time and the pain. Goodnight.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Hey I've Got an Idea, Running a Marathon Sounds Like Fun!
So as you may or may not know, I've decided to run the Baltimore Marathon (October 15th, 2011). Not only is this my first marathon, I've never even run a half-marathon or 5k, let alone any sort of running race. Am I insane? Maybe. But I figured, why not just go for it? Is this the best strategy? Probably not, but I figure I can talk about running a marathon, or I could just bite the bullet and do it. And I made sure that I picked a marathon that was far enough in the future that I'd have enough time to properly prepare for it.
Aside for doing a marathon just to do it, I actually do have some further motivation for running this marathon. My long, long-term, waay down the line goal is to one day complete an Ironman triathlon. So yeah, maybe I am pretty insane. And I figure, if I'm going to be able to complete an Ironman, which involves running a marathon at the end, I should at some point run a marathon, and thus my running the Baltimore Marathon. Seeing as running is by far my weakest link (and by far and away my least favorite) in regards to swimming, biking, and running, I decided that I should get used to running a lot and at long distances. And what better way to get into the habit than by registering for a marathon and thus giving myself no other choice than to prepare for it.
Now, about the Baltimore Marathon... As it turns out, it's not the flattest marathon in the country, and as such probably isn't the best option for my very first marathon, but as they say, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, or something like that, right. Yeah...I probably should have looked at the elevation chart BEFORE registering for it. (In reality, I did, but only after I had my mind set on running it). They say you should pick a flat marathon for your first one, and it probably would have been the smarter choice, but as I'm not really looking to shell out extra cash for a plane ticket and potentially a hotel room in addition to the marathon registration fee, I decided it would be easiest to run a marathon that was close enough where I could have one of my friends drive me down, and since the Marine Corps Marathon fills up way far in advance, the Baltimore Marathon was the next best option. It isn't too hilly, there are really only two major hills, one the first few miles, and unfortunately, one around mile 20, which could be pretty devastating. I figure as long as I incorporate hill training in my preparation, I should be decently prepared come race day.
Finally, my last, more recent source of motivation has come via a sort of bet between myself and several friends. When I was toying around with the idea of running a marathon, we decided to look at famous people who had run marathons and how they had done. In browsing celeb marathon times, we came across Sarah Palin, who in 2005 ran Humpy's Marathon in Anchorage Alaska in a respectable 3:59:36. And naturally, as Sarah Palin is all that is evil and wrong in this world, we decided that I should make it my goal to beat her (kinda like how P. Diddy's goal in the NYC Marathon was to beat Oprah). Of course, as this is my first marathon, my main goal should just be to finish, as that would be a pretty good accomplishment in itself. But, being the competitor that I am, just finishing isn't good enough. This may not (and probably isn't) the best strategy, but I figure I'm dedicated enough to make it happen. It's going to be challenging, but in order to beat Palin, I'd have to average just over 9 minutes per mile, which is a pretty decently fast pace, but also very doable.
A few weeks after I had officially registered was the Boston Marathon, where the marathon world record was unofficially broken (it couldn't be officially recognized because the Boston Marathon is basically a downhill race and because of the tailwind, and maybe other things that I don't necessarily know about or understand), and that got me really pumped for my marathon. It also planted a seed in my head, an thought that, "yeah, maybe I could one day run that race". One problem, you need to qualify for it. And the qualifying time for my age group is ridiculously fast, at least by the standards of a marathon novice. 3:10:00. About 7:15 per mile. That's pretty fast. And the bad news is each age group only adds an additional 5 minutes to the qualifying time, and I'm in my current age group until I'm 35, so I guess I have plenty of time to try to qualify. I'm probably getting way too far ahead of myself, but I guess it's good to have long-term goals, and who knows, maybe (and hopefully) I'll do better than expected and decide it's something I can do in the next 5 years. Yeah, that sounds like a reasonable goal.
Aside for doing a marathon just to do it, I actually do have some further motivation for running this marathon. My long, long-term, waay down the line goal is to one day complete an Ironman triathlon. So yeah, maybe I am pretty insane. And I figure, if I'm going to be able to complete an Ironman, which involves running a marathon at the end, I should at some point run a marathon, and thus my running the Baltimore Marathon. Seeing as running is by far my weakest link (and by far and away my least favorite) in regards to swimming, biking, and running, I decided that I should get used to running a lot and at long distances. And what better way to get into the habit than by registering for a marathon and thus giving myself no other choice than to prepare for it.
Now, about the Baltimore Marathon... As it turns out, it's not the flattest marathon in the country, and as such probably isn't the best option for my very first marathon, but as they say, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, or something like that, right. Yeah...I probably should have looked at the elevation chart BEFORE registering for it. (In reality, I did, but only after I had my mind set on running it). They say you should pick a flat marathon for your first one, and it probably would have been the smarter choice, but as I'm not really looking to shell out extra cash for a plane ticket and potentially a hotel room in addition to the marathon registration fee, I decided it would be easiest to run a marathon that was close enough where I could have one of my friends drive me down, and since the Marine Corps Marathon fills up way far in advance, the Baltimore Marathon was the next best option. It isn't too hilly, there are really only two major hills, one the first few miles, and unfortunately, one around mile 20, which could be pretty devastating. I figure as long as I incorporate hill training in my preparation, I should be decently prepared come race day.
Finally, my last, more recent source of motivation has come via a sort of bet between myself and several friends. When I was toying around with the idea of running a marathon, we decided to look at famous people who had run marathons and how they had done. In browsing celeb marathon times, we came across Sarah Palin, who in 2005 ran Humpy's Marathon in Anchorage Alaska in a respectable 3:59:36. And naturally, as Sarah Palin is all that is evil and wrong in this world, we decided that I should make it my goal to beat her (kinda like how P. Diddy's goal in the NYC Marathon was to beat Oprah). Of course, as this is my first marathon, my main goal should just be to finish, as that would be a pretty good accomplishment in itself. But, being the competitor that I am, just finishing isn't good enough. This may not (and probably isn't) the best strategy, but I figure I'm dedicated enough to make it happen. It's going to be challenging, but in order to beat Palin, I'd have to average just over 9 minutes per mile, which is a pretty decently fast pace, but also very doable.
A few weeks after I had officially registered was the Boston Marathon, where the marathon world record was unofficially broken (it couldn't be officially recognized because the Boston Marathon is basically a downhill race and because of the tailwind, and maybe other things that I don't necessarily know about or understand), and that got me really pumped for my marathon. It also planted a seed in my head, an thought that, "yeah, maybe I could one day run that race". One problem, you need to qualify for it. And the qualifying time for my age group is ridiculously fast, at least by the standards of a marathon novice. 3:10:00. About 7:15 per mile. That's pretty fast. And the bad news is each age group only adds an additional 5 minutes to the qualifying time, and I'm in my current age group until I'm 35, so I guess I have plenty of time to try to qualify. I'm probably getting way too far ahead of myself, but I guess it's good to have long-term goals, and who knows, maybe (and hopefully) I'll do better than expected and decide it's something I can do in the next 5 years. Yeah, that sounds like a reasonable goal.
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