Sick of writing

Well last week I went 11-3 which is a vast improvement over my first week's 8-5 debacle. Hopefully I will begin putting up some more articles that I have written because it seems that by the time I hit the internet, I am so sick of writing. Well here's my picks for this weeks and look for a tennis article coming soon.

BENGALS over Packers
COWBOYS over Cardinals
LIONS over Bears
Raiders over TITANS
Jaguars over RAMS
GIANTS over Redskins
PANTHERS over Vikings
TEXANS over BROWNS
SAINTS over Dolphins
CHARGERS over Chiefs
BRONCOS over Eagles
Bucs over 49ERS
PATRIOTS over Bills
STEELERS over Ravens

NFL Picks

Alright well here we go with some NFL picks for this week last week I was 9-5 which should be greatly improved this week.


Chiefs over DOLPHINS
Lions over BROWNS
Packers over VIKINGS
Colts over TEXANS
RAMS over Saints
BENGALS over Steelers
EAGLES over Chargers
REDSKINS over 49ers
SEAHAWKS over Cowboys
BEARS over Ravens
RAIDERS over Bills
Broncos over GIANTS
CARDINALS over Titans
FALCONS over Jets

That's all for the NFL, for all those that are interested, there are some interesting ideas being published about the nature of the NBA over willrob's blog. Go check it out. I happen to concur with many of them

Bad Picks

Well today was certainly a bad day on the NFL front. My picks went south pretty quick yesterday. In the end, it makes me happy that the only team I really have to pull for is the Panthers. And Chris Weinke. When Jake was knocked out with a concussion on the final drive. Weinke came in to orchestrate an excellent drive with passes to .... Ricky Proehl? Wow.

I should say, though, that Steve Smith currently owns the title for best touchdown celebrations. After last week's calling of his mother and watching TV, this week he rocked his baby to sleep along with the Ford Field crowd. Wow, that's untouchable TO.

Basketball practice continues today as I get to interview Frantisek Babka, a former Davidson player who now lives in Prague. He had played ball professionally in Europe before suffering an injury. Apparently he is visiting the campus and coach wants me to talk to him. Pretty exciting.

Finally, the latest episode of our radio show is on the air. It can be found at www.listentowalt.com/sports.

NFL

I have decided to add a wrinkle to my watching of NFL games every week by making predictions on my blog. This way I can cheer for entire teams instead of just fantasy players. So here we go for Week 6:

CHICAGO over Minnesota
DALLAS over NY Giants
Carolina over DETROIT
Cincinnati over TENNESSEE
Washington over KC
Atlanta over NEW ORLEANS
PITTSBURGH over Jacksonville
Miami over TAMPA BAY
Cleveland over BALTIMORE
BUFFALO over NY Jets
New England over DENVER
San Diego over OAKLAND
SEATTLE over Houston
INDIANAPOLIS over St. Louis

I'm tipping my hat to the Dolphins and hoping they can upset the state rival Bucs. I also think that despite Jake Plummer's home record, New England is due for a breakout game. Belichek doesn't give up two TD's to Matt Schaub without saying anything.

So there we go! Bring it on Will

Replay

For some reason on this Thursday night, I find myself very tired. A long week filled with Fall Break, papers and, of course weird sports. In preparing for a more discussion-based radio show this Sunday, I have devoted myself to SportsCenter to find out about what is going on. I was amazed to see the weird play in Chicago where AJ Pierzynski made it to first on a called strike three. The catcher was walking to the dugout and the umpire had already called him out. Then when he made it to first, the umpire changed his call. He wasn't sure whether the ball hit the ground or not and decided to call Pierzynski safe. The White Sox extended the inning and went on to win the game.

After being a counselor/referee at basketball camp this summer, I am certainly slower to criticize refereeing than I would be. It is difficult to be in a position where the players question your call and then you begin to question it. You realize that maybe you really didn't see things right and that the player who is yelling in your ear has a point. Perhaps so. But then why couldn't they use instant replay. It hasn't destroyed the integrity of football. In fact, with instant replay the Braves would have gotten the final out in that historic NLDS game where the first base ump said that Julio Franco had his foot off the bag. Instant replay, salary cap, and playoffs. Every sport needs them now. I'm out.

Back

After a long hiatus, I have decided to attempt to blog some more. It was helpful this summer to be able to develop my writing style. And now that I have so many topics of interests, I will be able to further hone that ability without worrying about grades.

Life has taken me on an interesting trip since returning to Davidson. I have witnessed first-hand the politics of leadership as I have had to navigate the murky waters of definition regarding the Sports Marketing Association. I have published a newsletter to a readership of 1700 in the form of the Wildcat Report. I have struggled with the nature of sports as an institution, a career, and a priority. So what now? What does one do when faced with a mid-term about Egyptian and Safavid history? One studies, of course. But somehow, I haven't been able to accept that. I need more. More reasoning and incentive. And because of that frustration, I have been shunned. Not physically, but intellectually. No one wants to hear my crazy ideas for the fear that they might upset their system. They do their work and get their grades and tell themselves they are happy. But that isn't good enough for me. Until this week when I have been faced with no other option. I have to study or else. Else what? I get a bad grade? What are the eternal consequences of a C in Environmental Biology. I assume that it signifies laziness and incompetence. However, in the context that we always think of as the "real world," the system of Davidson College is irrelevant.
There are no core requirements in the real world. You clock in at 5:30, deliver the bread on time and don't get in a wreck. You work for the rest of your day. You work to have a life when you get time. Your work does not assume importance during your dinner, nor does it ultimately judge your character. C students at Davidson College are morally inferior, whether the administration wants to admit it or not.
Am I merely excusing failure because I didn't work hard enough? Perhaps. But I guarantee that I used more intellectual prowess in assimilating this treatise than explaining the Carbon cycle. And isn't the ability to make excuses the mark of success in this world? My lawyer parents have made a living off of articulating the excuses of others. Political advisors become world-renowned for their abilities to excuse the downfalls of an administration. Perhaps Davidson has accomplished its goal of preparing my bright mind for the future. So then why do I still stress out over my 40-page readings. That's a subject for next week.

Done

Well, today was my last day of work at the bakery, and it was kind of bittersweet. As much as I look forward to going back to school and getting into that, I felt like I really poured out a lot of time and energy into something that seems so nameless. All of the cooks at these restaurants and guys who clean and take out the trash. They are just nameless bodies working tirelessly, and easily replaceable. It is very humbling to know that within a week, most people won't remember my name. It seems that we aspire to such grand achievements and legacies that when our work is measured in delivery efficiency that is recquisite merely by a driver's license and baseline competence, we, I am certainly brought down to Earth. But even then, I do have confidence that my five weeks at the bakery was helpful to the others around me. I found myself comparing my summer to other possibilities of mission work or foreign trips and I found that I believe so much emphasis, especially within the Christian culture, is based on changing lives forever. Perhaps I am just going through that overly cynical period of questioning but I do feel so much stronger that my hard work and respect for the Honduran immigrants with me had an impact. Let me not even say that...no impact. Because not everything we do has to "impact" others for our own personal success. The help of others has become more self-glorification than ever before. I enjoyed being sincere with them. Being a co-worker who didn't call them spics or call them gay. I could care less whether they go to church tomorrow morning or not. That is not the point, and the more that it becomes the point, the more ridiculous this entire walk is. I don't know...that certainly was a tangent. But, in the end, I definitely feel blessed to have done what I did. I wish that more people would have that experience.

Birthday

Yay! It's my birthday! Thank you to all the people who called or wrote. It meant a lot to me. When I came into the bakery today, I was met with the news that we had a power outage and so only ran enough power through extension cords to run the ovens. So work went on as usual except with only one light and no A/C. And today was the hottest recorded day of the year with heat indexes topping 110. Whew! What a birthday. You know it's sad when everyone is calling you to talk and you can't get out of bed because you are so exhausted and dehydrated. Well I am back at it tomorrow, no rest for the weary. So I'm signing off. Thanks again everyone.

Crazy fans

Watching the Tour de France this morning, I still remain perplexed regarding the lack of security afforded to riders from fans. On the first ascent of the day, there was a 3 km stretch where the crowd extended several feet on both sides into the middle of the two lane road. One lady barely backed up in time as a rider made a move to pass on the left. Each year there are incidents where fans cause wrecks, like 2 years ago when Lance's handlebar got caught on a lady's camera strap and flipped his bicycle. Now I certainly understand a desire to create an intimate experience for fans and riders alike, but there are times when security needs to be stronger. Certainly you can't have police and barricades covering every inch of a 100 km stretch, but even at the ends of races where there are hundreds of people, you routinely see crazy guys running up alongside the bikes. These bike riders train certainly as hard or harder than most professional athletes in the US, and yet receive little recognition and little security. You can say that's just the nature of the event, that fans factor into the contest, but I don't think that is a very good nature. Crazy people should not be able to determine the outcome of an athletic contest where so much time and money has been spent.

Bridge

Sorry for the lapse in posting. Today was the first day that people could walk on the new Cooper River Bridge...I have posted some pictures on my Webshots for anyone that might be interested. Go check them out!

Cool

I sit here on this Saturday evening with a lot in my past but not much on my mind. I can write all about the various experiences of camp, from getting schooled by Div-I basketball players to coaching a group of 9-year olds from last place to a championship. I can recount all of my encounters with cool basketball players as well as the accolades received from one of the game's most esteemed coaches. And yet, I sit here on this evening feeling finally let down. There was always something "cooler" to be gained, and yet now there really isn't. I kept trying to tell myself that I was being childish and delusional, and yet I couldn't keep myself from desiring to be in the middle of something that always seemed so important. It's not that important. Watching the middle school nerds from the TIP program walk around with their instruments and neon nametags, I realize that their eventual contribution is just as "cool." Why are athletes so cool? What made the Cinderella Man, James J. Braddock, an inspiration to a nation amongst many individuals who worked hard to establish themselves in the depression and fight for goodness and righteousness. What makes us care so much? Much has been written about how sports imitates life and puts everything on a grander scale. How sports can produce movie-like storylines in real life. How sport and competition have always been so crucial for functioning societies, back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Then after making such grand claims of profound significance, these same writers revert to admitting that sports, in the end, merely imitates life. What is this life that we are imitating? I know so many individuals who have spent so many years training, competing, and coaching that I am not too sure what type of life goes on outside of sports. Politics? Social interaction? Justice? Learning? Is that life? Well those are all extremely fundamental elements of the sports realm and always have been. Why am I even saying realm? There is no realm that separates "sports" from "life." At this point, you are probably asking yourself what my point is. Where is this going? Well it is a circle, because I have no conclusion to make. Only questions to ask. Or are those questions conclusions in and of themselves?

Camp

This post will have to be quick as I have to be back down in the gym soon, but camp is going really well and I am having the team of my life. I have a suite in Duke all to myself and get to coach the little kids which means that they actually think I'm good (I was asked what position I play on the team). And for those in the know, I was also asked whether I was Matt McKillop (I TOLD YOU!). But the guys are awesome...we are having a big counselor's game tonight and I am really looking forward to it. Davidson really realizes that this is a family and Coach McK is definetly one of the best coaches in the country. I am already looking forward to doing this next year. Hopefully I will have another update at the end of the week when I have more time on the computer.

Stress

Sorry for the hiatus in posting...it seems that every time I try to post something, the internet signs off when I send it. And I am way too lazy to do it again.
Well work is about over for this part of the summer, as I will soon be heading off to Davidson for camp. It should be an awesome time.
It has been so interesting riding around in the van the past couple of days as I have really gotten to hear some good chunks of ESPN radio. Radio talk shows are certainly meant to create engagement with sports even it is at the cost of our sanity, but I was particularly intrigued by a comparison between the NY Yankees and Atlanta Braves. A comparison/contrast of the two franchises presents an ambiguous understanding of the nature of baseball and its fans. Both teams have been extremely successful over the last decade, with the Braves winning 13 straight division titles, several pennants and a WS. The Yanks have won 4 WS since 1996 and several pennants as well. NY plays in an extremely big market while Atlanta has TBS and a lack of regional competitors to spread its influence all over the southeast. At this point, the comparisons begin to contrast. The Yankees have an extremely high level of expectation from their fans while the Braves are accustomed to mid-season slumps and playoff disasters. The Yankees have literally bought their success while the Braves have bred it through a strong farm system and superior coaching. Both teams came into this year with high hopes as the Yankees had acquired Randy Johnson and the Braves Tim Hudson. Both teams had powerful hitting returning to a good fielding lineup. But when the Braves started cold and then fell into an injury calamity, there was nothing more than an asterisk. One way or another, we knew to look for them again in September, like always. But, back in April, when the Yankees lost a few games, the entire world was turned upside down in a search for answers. They kept on playing and went on to win 18 out of 20. Now they are slumping again, and Torre, Steinbrenner and the Bronx are freaking out. Perhaps it is the management. Perhaps it is the fan demographic. Perhaps it is the character of the players. But for some reason, this successful franchise does not know how to play from the bottom. They don't know how to come back to win, they just whine. The Braves, on the other hand, can get slammed with a semi-truck and Bobby calmly calls on his young players to come through. And if they don't, he doesn't act like the world is coming to an end. He knows that he is a good coach in a good city. His job is not in jeopardy from the management, fans, or radio analysts. Joe Torre and the Yankees need to be reminded of that.

Idea

So as I have been watching ESPN pretty regularly over the last week, I have noticed a disturbing trend that has entered their realm of sports journalism. I had been so blinded to this trend because it was always so close and the possibility seems very dire. But I am afraid that ESPN has truly fallen prey to the same reporting that Jon Stewart has criticized for years on the cable news networks. As the 24-news channel has become a staple of cable networks, priorities on reporting have become massively skewed as the latest Wall Street report comes right after the breaking news that Brad and Jennifer split up. Is it true that we, as a nation, care more that Bo lost American Idol than about the AIDS epidemic in Africa? In my despair for our country's news outlets, I held close to the sports world as my only beacon of light in a dark world. In sports reporting there is drama and struggle, victory and defeat, greed and selflessness. But as I kept up with the talking heads analyzing the NBA's Eastern Conference finals, I became convinced that 24-hour news stations have taken on a life of their own. In a eerily familiar turn of events (a la James Bond's Tomorrow Never Dies), news stations are creating their own news. After Dwayne Wade was shut down by the Detroit Pistons defense in Game 1, two days of expert analysis focused on why they hadn't been focusing on Detroit before. About how Detroit always did have the ability to shut down Wade, and about how the Heat were given the challenge to prove themselves. After Game 2, Wade had scored 40 and the Heat had tied the series at 1-1. The media was in a frenzy asking Pistons players about how they wouldn't be able to stop Wade. When posed a general question on the topic, Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace responded, "the problem isn't with us, it's with you f***ers. We did it in Game 1 and you all wondered how Dwayne could break out. He did and now you think we can't stop him? I'm gonna go play Game 3 and stop talking to you f***ers." Now sports journalists have asked stupid questions for years to try to fill their columns but the excessive redundancy of ESPN in this matter has me quite frustrated. It's like they don't even remember what they said three days ago, and certainly don't expect their listeners to. Yes I understand that you have to fill four channels of programming for twenty-four hours, and baseball highlights just don't cut it, but still, be honest with us. We aren't idiots! We know that Wade is an amazing player, that Detroit has a strong defense and that analysis doesn't win ballgames. In seven game series, you should concentrate more on the subleties of the matchups. Somehow these guys don't understand that Prince can shut down Wade one night and be killed the next and yet be able to do either on the third. That's the way the game is played and ESPN is playing us for a fool.

Rain

It's been a rainy couple of days in the Chucktown...lots of humidity. It's like the rain is just appearing in the air. I am learning some of the more extensive morning routes as I will have to take over for one of our guys next week. Up even earlier. But the delivery makes things go quicker and its not all that stressful when you know where you are going.
The sports world has slown down around here lately as we are all strapping in for a long hot summer. The state of South Carolina is proud as we have the most number of representatives in the College Baseball World Series with 6: Clemson, USC, Furman, College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina and maybe Winthrop. It is really cool for the SoCon to have two. Hopefully we can get some more national press out of this. I'm looking forward to bball camp coming up, it will be fun to get even more of a connection with the Davidson sports realm...so exciting.