Sussex Central Golf Tournament

To all fellow TOTW bloggers, I NEED YOUR HELP!

The Sussex Central Football Boosters has many ways of raising $ to help with the expenses of fielding a quality high school football program. One of the ways has been to have a scramble golf tournament. Over the years this tournament has been a lot of fun, offers great prizes, door prizes, food, etc...

This year's event will be held at Heritage Shores on August 6th, a friday.  Shotgun start at 9am with lunch and prizes to follow.

Although I am not in charge of this year's fundraising golf tournament, I did volunteer to help fill the field with players. Da Booth is the Booster's President.

One of the requirements is that we MUST have at least 16 teams. Please help by getting a team together. Most of you I will give a team sign up form to. Others will be mailed. Some I need an address (Mass).

Also, any help getting any other friends to play would be greatly appreciated.

Why?????

Fellow Bloggers,

Hopefully someone can help me with this question I have. Mass, you will probably have the best insight into this matter.

My question is in regards to the USA Soccer Team and the World Cup. First let me say that I am not a soccer fan but do support the USA in everything we do so I was supporting them in this event. The most I know about soccer is that I played goalie for 1 or 2 years when I was just a little guy. Actually... I guess I just watched soccer from the net.

My question is, "why do we struggle so much against the other countries in soccer?"

I know the common, most given answer, is that the other countries have better players. They have been playing soccer longer. It's more popular in other countries. Other countries' pay players more to play in their leagues. Etc. Etc. Etc.

The US has some of the best athletes and pro teams in the world. Football, basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, and the olympics. We excel at them all and rank atop the best , if not the best in each.

Why not soccer?

1) I assume that in the World Cup you have to play for the country you are from? This eliminates the possibility of "stacking teams" with all-star pros. I'm sure some teams have their fare share of pros on their teams but we aren't talking about a Yankees like "stacking."

2) I'm certain the US team has elite soccer athletes and pros on their team as well. I can imagine that all the teams, including the US, have the same aged players on their teams. I think it's fair to say that all the players involved started at a early age and have played competitively ever since. Practicing year around and playing in pro and semi-pro leagues.

3) Soccer is not as popular in the US but it is still very popular with those who play it. I'm sure our players are the best at what they do and are great athletes.

We have the best in the world in all our major sports and some not so major sports. Why not soccer?

Help me understand this.

The Buck

A Plea from all Americans

Gentleman, I am happy to be back blogging after the strenuous days of fatherhood appear behind me (yeah right). The reason I am writing to you this evening is to ask, no plead, no beg a certain sports fan to do the right thing tomorrow for the good of the nation. You see, many may not know that there is an obscure sport called soccer, and this month is soccer's most prestigious event, the World Cup. Most enlightened American sports fans have never heard of this sport, but apparently it is quite popular outside of the States. Another interesting fact is that the good ol' US of A has a team in this year's event. Tomorrow they compete in a pivotal final group play match that will determine whether they advance in the tournament.

My plea is a simple one. Commish, please do not watch or even root for this team to be victorious. You see, I love this American team, and desperately want to see them advance with a victory tomorrow. However, I know this is not possible if you are rooting this team on to victory. How do I know this? I'm glad you asked.

1. On Wednesday, June 9th, you filed a post on The One True Word basically slurping the Washington Nationals and their wealth of potential and young prospects. While the keen sports enthusiasts on here, namely Frank, DaBooth, and I knew this was simply a giant man crush on Double S, we let it go. For those of you that don't know, since Wednesday, June 9th, the 'Natinals' have gone a blistering 3-9, and one of those wins were to the American Legion team, the Pittsburgh Pirates. One of their "prized" prospects has been sent to Double A, and they can't hit their way out of a wet paper bag. I smell a curse.

2. I have it on great confidence that you were watching intently in your office on Friday June 18 when the United States played Slovenia in their second World Cup match. You watched and rooted for them the entire first half and what did you see: A 2-0 deficit and uninspiring play. During the second half you were preoccupied with actual work (imagine that) and what didn't you see: The United States storm back to tie 2-2 and get completely hosed on a BS foul that would have given them the victory. The curse strikes again.

So Commish, I will one last time plead for you to do the right thing and cast your remote to the side tomorrow. Please do your country a service and instead of tuning into ESPN tomorrow at 9:30am EST, please click a few more channels down and watch re-runs of the Jersey Shore on MTV. All Americans, myself included, will be counting on you.

Another Major Gone

The U.S Open has come and gone. I can honestly say that the U.S. Open is losing my interest as the years go on. I mean how much fun is it to sit and watch a guy win the tournament when he starts the day 3 shots back and shoots a 3 over. There was no chance for anyone to make a run at all and basically everyone is sitting there watching to see who can make the most par's coming down the stretch. What fun is that. I want to see some birdies, somebody go at a par five and make an eagle, but instead we get the par 5 14th, where you have about a 10 foot space to land the ball on the green. I mean I never have had a problem with 14 on Tiger Woods 2010, its one of my favorite holes. Botom line is, I don't want to see these guys struggle, there is no entertainment value in that. Instead the only entertainment I get is watching El Tigre throw is beloved Stevie under the bus in his post round interview. Now that is funny. I mean I didn't see his caddie swinging the club and hitting terrible shots all day long and missing putts. Oh well.

New Addition

I would like to Congratulate Mass-Debator/er and his wife with the addition of a baby boy to their family yesterday.

Finally Over

After what seemed like 6 months of playoffs the NBA is finally over. I watch NBA every once in a while but never really watched full games until this years finals. After watching these games I have come to the conclusion that Donaghy the official that was fired for gambling on games is very creditable in what he says about the officiating of games. If i had any money at all i would have bet it all on the Lakers to win. Not because they were the better team, but because their is no way the NBA was going to let Kobe and Phil lose that championship. Their were hardly any fouls called until the point when it looked like the Celtics were going to pull away and win. Yes the Celtics played pretty bad also to help but their were about 10 calls late in the game i remember that were so bias that even the Lakers couldnt believe were called.

In all sports their are times Refs/umps blow calls or seem to make onesided calls. But its everygame you can almost guess how games will be called and who will win. I just cant believe that David Stern doesnt care that it is so obvious that games are semi rigged by the officials. I guess thats why i like the Wizards i dont have to worry about them losing because of the refs, they just suck.

The Commish i have joined your team in the hatred of the NBA

Hello Gentlemen,

Before I begin I apologize for interrupting every ones Oriole banter. It's been very interesting to read every ones comments and opinions. I don't recall ever seeing so much attention given to such an irrelevant team. Anyway...

I saw today that their has been an emergency search and rescue mission launched for Abby Sunderland. For those of you not familiar, she is the 16 year old girl who is trying to sail around the world solo.

The report states that she has activated both her emergency beacons and is somewhere in the Indian Ocean. I remember the news talking about this when she and her parents were entertaining the idea. I guess she went for it.

There was a lot of mixed emotions going into this, with some supporting her and some not. I read some of the blog reactions to the Yahoo report I read. As usual there were some still supporting her (and her parents) decision and some who still did not. A lot of "I told you so" comments were made.

Regardless of any ones' opinion, I wish no ill will for the girl and I hope she is found alive. I do feel bad for her family and don't want to get into the blame game because it does no good at this point.

A lot have said that she was an experienced sailor and had the skill set to achieve her goal of sailing around the world. Experienced or not, I'm not quite sure a solo voyage is a smart call no matter how old or experienced one is.

After reading the report I looked over at my 8 month old daughter and she looked at me. I thought about heading over the Lewes Bay, strapping her to a raft, and pushing her off in the direction of Europe. Maybe my daughter could set the record for the youngest person to sail to Europe. She does really well in the bathtub by herself. Wait... Am I supposed to leave her alone in the tub? Sorry... I lied... I am going to play the blame game.

What in the fuck were her parents thinking? In the USA parents have a responsibility to protect and nurture their child until they legally become an adult at 18. Who in their right mind would think that their 16 year old kid could sail around the world by themselves?

That would be like me saying my 16 year old son is ready for the NFL and allowing him to go ahead and play with them. Sure my son may be a phenomenal football player but regardless of how good or experienced a teenager is, they still have vast limitations.

This young girl was reported to be sailing in the Indian Ocean at the time she went missing. Reports say this time of the year is the worst sea conditions for the Indian Ocean and the girl was sailing in 50-60 foot seas. Just what I would send my teen aged daughter into, experienced or not.

Someone needs to be held accountable for this and I recommend her dumb ass parents. I know California is a liberal state but where in the hell was social services when this whole plan was being thought up, let alone when she shipped out.

In Delaware I have locked up parents for driving drunk with their kids in the car. I guess sending them off to almost certain death is ok just as long as they are good at their hobby?

PS... I heard they are sending the Baltimore Orioles to help look for her since they are very familiar with losses. HA!!!!!!!!!

Til next time,

Don't forget to wash your hands... You never know when you might want a sandwich.

A Tale of Two Cities

Let me make clear that I am a lifelong Baltimore Orioles fan.  My favorite baseball player of all-time is Brooks Robinson. I realize that most of the blog followers here are not of the same era and are used to a "different" Baltimore Orioles.

When I was a boy Memorial Stadium was great!  It was dingy, but comfortable. You walked inside the gates and immediately smelled crab cakes. They sold crab cakes on saltine crackers and they were the bomb!  There were no outer concourses with exposed stairs/ramps. Everything was kinda inside and it seemed to take forever if you were in the upper deck.  There were a few nuances to get used to however.  As an older structure there were multiple cement columns holding up the upper deck. If you didn't pay attention you could get tickets behind a column and be partially obstructed. And don't think about sitting in the mezzanine level. Any pop fly would rise up until you lost sight of the ball obove the ceiling overhang. Only on it's return to earth could you again pick up the ball.......If you were really spunky you could pay next to nothing and sit in the left center field bleachers. When I say bleachers, that's exactly what I mean. They were bleachers like you would see at a pop warner football game. And, made of wood, not even metal like at the little league park.....Try sitting down the lines, which were only 310' to the foul pole. If the ball got into your corner there was a blind spot for a split second where you couldn't see the left fielder retrieve the ball.....

But you know what?  It was home.....I recall seeing Jim Palmer pitch a shutout against the A's..I remember Palmer when late in his career and pretty much relegated to 4th or 5th starter have 1 "comeback" season and was 14-2. The O's made a big push against the then East leading Brewers (yes, the Brewers used to be in the American League and in the East. Matter of fact, there was only East and West Divisions) Palmer came out on a Sunday and shut down the Brewers. It was probably his last hurahh.............I saw "live" one Friday night when Tippy Martinez came in the game in the 10th inning of a game vs the Blue Jays. The little lefthander got 3 Blue Jays out in the 10th WITHOUT a strikeout, pop out, or fielder making a play.  How?  Well, Rick Dempsey got hurt. The O's 2nd string catcher somehow was out and in the 10th the O's had to put backup 2nd baseman Lenn Sakata in as catcher.  It was obvious the Blue Jays were gonna run all over Sakata.  Jays had a runner on 1st when Martinez came in. Martinez picked him off at 1st. Next batter walks. Martinez then picks him off at 1st. Next batter gets a single. Well, you guessed it....Martinez picks him off too!  3 pickoffs in 1 inning.  Want more?  Because of using up all his players, Earl Weaver had to put outfielders Gary Roenicke at 2nd and John Lowenstein at 3rd. Plus, in the bottom of the 10th Sakata hits a 3-run homer to win the game.....

I could go on, but I really want to address some issues I see between this organization and the Nationals 45 miles away...(I'm gonna catch it from Frank)

There is such a huge difference in the direction these two clubs are moving. In just a couple of years the Nationals have moved from the worst team in the National League to now an almost .500 team.  The past couple of years they have molded Ryan Zimmerman, Josh Willingham and Roger Bernadino. They have gone out and signed free agents Adam Dunn (40hrs a year) and Christian Guzman and Ivan Rodriguez. (Wouldn't you like to see Adam Dunn in black and orange hitting 40hrs instead of Garrett Atkins?)  Then scouting....over the past 3 years they have signed and already playing in the majors is SS Ian Desmond and P Jordan Zimmerman. Their #1 pick last year is already pitching in the pen with the Nats and this year's #1 pick, Strasburg, only spent 2 months in the minors before being called up yesterday to strike out 14 Pirates in 7 innings!

The O's seem to sign picks and then they languish in the minors for years. Their biggest free agent signings this last off-season were Tejada, Garrett Atkins and Mike Gonzalez. Tejada would be a nice addition, but at this stage of his career, not a team carrier. Atkins and Gonzalez are 2nd and 3rd tier type players at best! The O's would have been better off saving their money.  There doesn't seem to be a plan except hoping that all the youth blossom overnight. 

I still love the O's, but I'm sorry all you born after 1983 were not capable of witnessing true Orioles tradition and baseball played the Oriole Way.

Who Forgot To Hand Out The Memo????

Ok......I want to know who forgot to give the Boston Red Sox the memo?   You know the one....letting everyone in the American League East know the Orioles got rid of the reason for losing....Dave Trembley... I guess the Red Sox didn't realize the Orioles were all better now that Trembley was made a scapegoat.............Amazing how the first 2 games against the Sox were much like the first 55 games of the season..........no offense, no imagination,  starting pitchers who all throw 89 mph fastballs with no movement, and shal we no forget the worst bullpen in baseball.....     I'm depressesd!  I thought when Trembley got fired the O's were gonna go undefeated the rest of the way and make the biggest comeback in history!

I guess when the smoke clears we see it wasn't Trembley who signed Garret Atkins and Mike Gonzalez as 2 of their biggest signings in the off-season, no addressing of the needs in left field or for a viable back-up catcher,  keeping Mark Hendrickson who can't break a paper bag with his fastball, and putting pieces like Cla Meredith in an already terrible bullpen........Was it also Trembley who works with hitters?.......that hasn't helped Adam Jones stop swinging at every pitch 6 inches off the outside of the plate......or Markakis have less than 5 homers at this point in the season?

Oh well, wait til next year........

Imperfect Ending

Well it has been all over the news today, but if you haven't heard, a missed call by an umpire last night costs Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game. I was watching in real time, and thought it was an out...But it looked close. Then when the slo-mo replay was on, it was obvious that Joyce missed the call. To his credit, the pitcher simply smiled at him and went back to the mound and retired the next batter on a grounder to third. So hear is my question, if you are Commissioner Bud, what do you do now?

A. Overrule the umpires decision and award a perfect game.
B. Stand pat with the decision, but implement replay moving forward.
C. Make no changes.