Baseball Shifts

Today as I was going through my Twitter feed I came upon a controversial topic.  Shifts in baseball especially in the MLB have been more common lately and the topic comes up, is it right?  A lot of the traditional baseball fans who stick to the core rules and don't want change say no and want to ban shifts.  The opposition says its part of the game and it is just adapting to the tendencies of the batter.  I think they are both right.  Here's why, one, I am one of those traditionalists.  I don't want to see the game change.  The whole point of the game is on human error, so when they implemented replays and now challenges I was completely against it.

So now when you see a second basemen playing in shallow right field I'm thinking this isn't really right.  The traditionalist fan in me is screaming inside, but then I think isn't there shifts when there's a chance to turn a double play, how about when the infield plays in to stop the runner from scoring on third.  The outfield always shades a certain batter who is up.  Here's an example, Joe Mauer is a left handed batter so typically you would see the outfielders shade him to pull the ball to right field, but Mauer is well known to hit the ball the other way so actually the outfielders shade him towards left field.  It is all based on the certain tendencies players have.  So now when I look at this whole shift ordeal it is actually really simple to fix and it's with a baseball saying.  'Hit it where they ain't'.

Golf in the Olympics

Golf is back in the Olympics.  I don't follow golf too closely but I feel like this is a chance for the sport to showcase itself not only to the United States, but to the whole world.  Golf is a fun but frustrating sport for some of us, so it'll be cool to see it as an Olympic sport again.  The last time golf was in the Olympics was over 100 years ago in 1904 which were in St. Louis, Missouri.  This was the first time the Olympics were ever held outside of Europe.  This summer the Olympics are being held in Brazil.

The 72 hole course they will be playing on is the Rio de Janeiro Olympic golf course built at the Reserva de Marapendi.  This is will be good for the sport of golf to not only show off the sport but to show how diverse and how big the globalization of the sport has gotten.

NBA to have Ads on Jerseys

The NBA just approved the trial of jersey ads for the 2017-2018 season.  It is the first major North American sports league to setup such deal.  This will change the landscape for sports to come for the following years.  If this turns into a success we will soon see other leagues follow what the NBA is doing.  This will definitely increase revenue for all of the teams, but it will be interesting how big the ads will be or how much of a factor it will have on fans.

I'd like to see leagues start to do this, but I hope they won't go to overboard.  I don't want to see my favorite teams turn into company names, or have their uniforms messed with too much.  This isn't really new for some people especially for organizations in Europe.  There's some hockey teams where you can't even find the team name on their jersey because it is filled with ads.  I really hope it doesn't get to that point here in North America.

The Struggles of Being a Minnesota Sports Fan

Being a proud Minnesota sports fan has always been a struggle for us.  I don't know if there's some sort of jinx or something on us, but we never get a break.  The only team to be winning recently is the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA.  Besides that the only other team to win a championship in Minnesota is the '87 and '91 Minnesota Twins.  The Vikings have had there runs in the 70s, making three Super Bowls, but could never win.  In a more recent event in the playoffs this past year the Vikings kicker, Blair Walsh reminded us all again what it is like, for older fans especially.  In the 1998 season the Vikings had arguably one of the best teams ever.  With Randall Cunningham at quarterback and weapons like Robert Smith, Chris Carter, and rookie Randy Moss, the '98 Vikings were something special.  The team went 15-1 in the regular season and nothing could get in there way.  They made it all the way to the NFC Championship game and in the fourth quarter created a 7 point lead.  And again like this season it all came down to a field goal.  Gary Anderson who is an all time great kicker, hadn't missed a field goal in two years.  Two years!  Lines up from 38 yards to put the game out of reach.  Well he missed it and the Vikings ended up losing the game in overtime.  For Vikings fans this year you just knew something bad was going to happen when Blair Walsh lined up for his 27 yard field goal.  Of course something bad did happen, he missed and bad too.

With other Minnesota sports the Twins haven't really made a run since the early Joe Mauer days and even got off to an awful start this season, losing there first nine games.  The Timberwolves have been pretty much non-existent since Kevin Garnett left for the Boston Celtics.  The Minnesota Wild have been starting to hit their stride but can't get by the Chicago Blackhawks.  So make sure you are nice to us Minnesota fans, because we always seem to be let down by our teams.  That doesn't mean we will stop supporting them though.

Datsyuk Going Back to Russia

In the midst of their playoff run, the Detroit Red Wings ran into some unwanted drama.  There were rumors for awhile now about the Red Wings veteran Pavel Datsyuk wanting to go back to Russia.  He wants to be with his family and to give the country where he learned the game of hockey one season for them to watch him.  The only probably with him leaving, is the $7.5 million he is due for next season.  Datsyuk has had a great career for the Red Wings, probably one of the best to play in Detroit, who has had many great players.

Kobe Bryant's Legacy

It's crazy to think that last night was the last night Kobe Bryant will step onto the court ever again.  He is one of the legends of the game, in my eyes one of the best.  He has made 18 all star games, won five NBA Titles, one MVP, he ranks third on both playoff scoring and regular season scoring, he's scored 81 points in one game which is second all time.  Most people see Michael Jordan as the greatest of all time.  The closest to ever get to him in my opinion is Kobe Bryant.  The way he is on and of the court, matches no one.  Kobe is one of the greatest players to ever play, probably the best for our generation, and it was an honor to watch him play.  Thanks Kobe for a great career.

Stanley Cup Playoffs Start Wednesday

After the conclusion of the regular season Sunday, the NHL playoffs now begin on Wednesday.  There's three games Wednesday to kick of the playoffs with Tampa Bay Lightning taking on the Detroit Red Wings who have made it to the playoffs 25 years in a row now.  This is a rematch of the first round last year where Tampa Bay won.  With the Lightning's best player out for the majority of the playoffs it'll be tough for them to repeat from last year.  Another game on Wednesday is the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Rangers.  The Penguins are coming into the playoffs as the hottest team in the league right now.  That makes things difficult for the Rangers who may not have their captain Ryan McDonagh for the start of the series.  The third and last game of the day is the St. Louis Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks.  This series is going to be a tough and grueling series for both teams.  The regular season series between the two teams was won by the Blues with a 3-2-0 record against the Blackhawks.  I think out of all the first round matches, this one will likely go seven games.  The games on Wednesday will be a good way to kick off the run to the cup.

Here's a link for the the breakdown of first round match ups for the Stanley Cup Playoffs:

http://espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/matchups

Here's a link for the schedule of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs:

https://www.nhl.com/stanley-cup-playoffs

Uconn Dominance

The debate has begun about the University Connecticut's Women's Basketball team.  They have won the National Championship four years in a row now and the talk has come is it unfair?  Is it bad for the game?  In my opinion it is fair.  Every program has the same opportunity as University of Connecticut but don't capitalize or just aren't as good.  It isn't fair to punish the University of Connecticut for doing what they are supposed to do, win.  Now is it bad for the game.  Obviously it is bad for the game.  No one wants to watch the same thing over and over again.  When the National Title game is a 31 point margin that is not entertaining to watch, and why even watch when everyone knows who is going to win.  Something has to be done but I think it's other Universities responsibilities to fix it, not the University of Connecticut.

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/15142979/breanna-stewart-delivers-fourth-consecutive-national-championship-connecticut-huskies