Two Questions of Deeper Meaning

There have been many questions posed throughout history about what different things mean to different people. What does it mean to an atheist to be alive ? What does it mean to a biologist if we aren't alone in the universe? What does it mean to a middle schooler when the lunch bell sounds? What does it mean to a blogger when the Bible says "Adam and Eve"? What does it mean to a college student when x is multiplied by q and added to b? You get the gist, there are a lot of questions out there.
Two of the most important questions to this generation are also two of the questions that everyone seems to have some sort of answer for, but no one actually agrees with each other. I may seem to be simplifying the world when I say that these two questions, above all others, are the pinnacle question marks of an entire generation, but I firmly believe that from these questions, discussion concerning many other issues can be started. These are questions that have divided friends and caused strife throughout schools and families. They are in no way questions with easy answers and are not questions I ask myself or anyone lightly, even if you could answer these in a simple sentence. To a conservative, media and sports enthusiast, both of these questions are perplexing. They do not offer a simple answer but they do come with answers, even if those answers complicate and yet simplify life at the same time.
So, having said that, I present you the two questions.

What does it mean to be a man?

I could string together a long list of adjectives to describe what it means to be a man in 2013/14, but what good would that do when you can go to the thesaurus for that? As society has eroded the title of "man" and worked to wash out any mention of the mere word throughout the last few decades, there are less and less men out there willing and able to defend the honor that comes with being a man. To be a man is not something to be shameful of nor is it something to be a raving meathead about.
It means responsibility. Not the responsibility of doing your own dishes or making sure your shirt is pressed on Sunday morning. The responsibility of a man is to women. It is the duty of each man to look to protect women just as chivalrously and valiantly as the knights of Camelot. It is not our duty because women cannot, should not or do not care for themselves. It is our responsibility because women are precious to us. Not in the creepy "My preciousssss" way of Gollum but in the way that paint is precious to a canvas. Without the paint, the canvas is blank and creates nothing. When paint is applied, a new image is visible that neither paint nor canvas could have created alone. So too are women precious to men. Without women, life would be more likely than not boring as all hell and not life at all. When women and men come together, it not only creates something unique for them but also has the possibility of bringing a new "image" into this world. Therefor, protect, serve and lead the women in your life.
It means strength. According to the Village People, every man wants to be a macho macho man. Here, strength doesn't, necessarily, mean physical strength. It means the strength to succeed in life and overcome difficulties. It means the strength to know when you are wrong and admit it. To have the strength of a man is to be willing and able to defend those that cannot defend themselves. You have to have the strength that comes from failure. You have to know what it means to taste fear. It is necessary to be courageous when everyone else falters. To stand when others cower. To speak your mind knowing full well you'll piss off someone out there. You have to be willing to lose friends because you stood by your convictions. As Churchill said, "You have enemies? Good. That means you stood up for something, sometime in your life." Life's a bitch, being a man means taking a punch from it and then responding with one or two of your own.
It means being honest. Honesty is not always easy. It's not always popular. It's not always the most logical course of action. But, and I say this as someone who has dealt with liars and being a liar, honesty is the best policy. All lies will either corrupt you or they will come back to bite you in the ass when they are found out, neither of which are good options when honesty is on the table. Honesty is also a simple, yet compulsory part of responsibility and takes more strength than fighting a bear.
I could go on and attempt to describe each and every category of manhood and I could probably write a book on it but I think it's time to share the most important and least discussed part of being a man. It means being imperfect. This is not an excuse for you to go screw up your life and it's not an invitation for you to blame your manhood for your troubles. This is simply a statement of fact that all men know, no matter how much we try to deny it to our family, friends, significant others or even ourselves. We make mistakes and we lose track of what it means to be a man. It's part of life. We may be imperfect beings but, just as Coach Boone called his players, we are called to be perfect in every aspect of our life. We are called to be perfect brothers, sons, husbands, fathers, uncles, teachers, grandfathers, friends and men.
It's an impossible code to follow completely but that's our challenge every moment of every day. As men, we love being faced with the impossible and laughing at it as we conquer it. So there it is, manliness, the biggest impossibility of them all, conquer it.

What does it mean to be against abortion?

If you look at a media portrayal, it means you hate women. If you look at a political viewpoint, it means you are conservative and controversial (but starting to 'win'). If you look at a radical feminist, you'll probably be scorned and told to shut up (and, if you're a guy like me, might even get a gif of Jennifer Aniston saying "No uterus, no opinion" thrown in your face). If you march in a parade, you'll probably be cold but surrounded by thousands of others who support you.
It's a controversial topic today and yet one of the easiest questions to answer. There are basically three "common" answers to this. First, "I'm against abortion completely, for myself and for all others." Second, "I'm completely supportive of abortion and the woman's 'right' to choose." Third- and most confusing- "I'm personally against abortion and would never have one, but that doesn't mean everyone else should have to abide by my ideas." (I'm letting this one die right here because it's an entirely different discussion) If asked this question, I'd take a bet that your answer would conform to one of the previous three.
Anyway, what does it really mean to be against abortion?
Well, to be against abortion is to be for an unborn baby. The rationale is fairly simple: abortion is a medical procedure used to end the life of a human in utero, therefore it's, at the very least, manslaughter. I look at laws and cases that have gone through the justice system and see that men and women will be charged with two counts of manslaughter for killing a pregnant woman in a car crash. I look at the fact that mere moments after being removed from the birth canal, the baby cannot be legally killed. I support the belief that all life is sacred and it is not ours to take nor is it ours to give. I am an emotional being who plays on your human instincts and wants you to be swayed to save a life in any way possible.
This is where a lot of people get lost in the beliefs of the "pro-life" movement, to be against abortion is to be for the mother. It doesn't matter if you are keeping the baby or if you plan on putting the baby up for adoption, I support you as a mother. I want you to be careful, responsible and cared for. As much of a woman as you are, you are, at the moment that life enters you, also a mother and you have to act, live and make decisions differently. I support the fact that you deserve time to become acquainted with this new life inside you. I fully support you being able to bond with your child after the birth or, in the case of adoption, have a smooth transition from pregnancy to being the mother of a baby that you aren't raising.
To be against abortion is to be in support of fatherhood. It's to be willing to stand up to the unfair laws that are in effect that make fatherhood a scary thought on top of normal new parent anxieties. It is to be supportive of new fathers as much as you support the mothers. It's to be willing to "man up" and take on the fatherhood that is thrust upon you in the case of an unplanned pregnancy. It's also, in the case of an absent father, the chance and call to step up and become a father figure for the child.
To be against abortion is to be for the family that is formed therein. As a society, we have developed a culture that disdains young families and single fathers or mothers. This has to stop if we are to remove the "choice" from our society. Yes, young people make mistakes and yes, some of those mistakes involve sex and unplanned pregnancies. This does not mean we, as a society, have to pile on the hardships and consequences of such actions. I will never support teenagers (or anyone for that matter) running around having sex with whomever they want in the name of "freedom" or "sexual liberation." However, when the sex leads to a new life it is crucial that we do not point fingers and start blaming the young parents and saying they "ruined" their life by making one mistake. Your life is ruined if you murder someone at 15. Your life is ruined if you plot an act of terrorism. Your life is ruined if you refuse an offer from the Godfather. Your life is not ruined when you make a new life. We are called to bring the family together, support them and encourage them to take up responsibility without making the already difficult situation seemingly hopeless.
If you want to say that you are against abortion, you also have to be willing to take on certain responsibilities that you would not normally encounter.

Strike A Pose

The stage is set, the finalists are in New York and it's time for the Heisman to be unveiled. Before this prestigious award goes to the newest member of the club, there are still arguments to be made and settled as to who got to New York and who will be giving their speech tonight.

The Freshman Repeat
Jameis Winston QB, Florida State University
I don't think there are many analysts out there who would argue that the performance that Winston showed this year was astounding. A freshman who completes 68% of his passes, throws for 38 touchdowns and just misses 4,000 yards passing (3,820) is extremely rare. To have Winston do this among the pressure of allegations of rape? Unbelievable. He eclipsed 400 yards passing at Clemson and 300 yards passing against Duke in the ACC Championship throwing for 6 touchdowns between the two games. His Heisman, though, moment came in the win over Boston College. Winston evaded two would be sacks and, as he was getting pummeled, delivered a beauty to Kenny Shaw for a 55 yard touchdown at the end of the half.

Senior Showoff
Jordan Lynch QB, Northern Illinois University
I hesitated to put down that Lynch is a quarterback because, well, his film is half quarterback and half running back. At 6 foot, 216 pounds, he makes for a strong, crafty back that can weasel and muscle his way to the endzone garnering him 22 touchdowns this season. He also has a strong arm with a 63.1% completion rate and 2,676 yards and 23 touchdowns through the air. He broke his own NCAA record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game when he ran for 321 yards against Western Michigan. The Heisman moment? His fourth quarter against Ball State which saw the Huskies rattle off 21 unanswered points to end the game in a rout. He started the rout, which only took 5:48, with a 36 yard strike to Da'Ron Brown.

SEC Rusher of the Year
Tre Mason RB, Auburn University
Mason came on the scene about the same time Auburn did, after the dethroning of then #1 Alabama. Although he should have been on the radar before that impressive show with his games against LSU and Texas A&M earlier in the season. He rushed for 132 and 178 respectively in those two games with three touchdowns. He also rushed for over 100 yards in 5 straight including a 164 yard performance in the Iron Bowl and a staggering 304 yards against Mizzou as the Tigers claimed the SEC Championship. He is unique in the fact that he didn't have one moment or quarter that defined his season although his entire game against Mizzou was awe-inspiring. His sheer numbers and his SEC lead in rushing yards have propelled him to NYC.

5 Things Every Girl Needs to Know About What Guys Think About Them, From Another Guy's Perspective

Well this isn't sports and it isn't politics and it probably isn't even something that I'd touch with a 10 foot pole if it weren't finals week, but that's what happens when you take a break from studying about Critical Theories and Charlemagne's empire. 

So anyway, I was given this article by my sister and immediately knew that I couldn't let my study break find its way to Netflix without writing my own take. If you don't want to click on the link to stop giving this egotistical guy views I'll copy what was said, word for word:

5 THINGS EVERY GIRL SHOULD KNOW ABOUT WHAT GUYS THINK ABOUT THEM

1)    Watch your weight and appearance very carefully because we have a very simple and uncontrollably powerful algorithm in our brains that renders us less likely to commit to you with each additional pound of weight you gain. Once you’re over a BMI of about 22, the vast majority of guys who act interested just want to sleep with you and leave. Beyond about 24, most of them want nothing to do with you. It isn’t fair, but knowing this could save you a ton of heartache.

 2)      Yes, we secretly think we’re better, smarter, more creative, and more noble-minded than you, regardless of what TV, movies and magazines portray these days. It’s this inborn egotism that’s compelled us to build cities, invent electricity and send satellites to the edges of the solar system. We just never talk about it because we need you and don’t want to piss you off.

 3)      The number of men you’ve slept with tremendously influences our perception of your quality and potential as a long term partner. Be aware that the average guy will use this fact as a barometer for whether you are commitment material or short-term material. An ugly truth it is, but a double standard it’s not for the simple fact that it takes skill for us to get you, but not the other way around. Therefore it comes off as gluttonous behavior in a girl and furthermore, puts us in danger of raising kids that aren’t our own.

 4)      We don’t really care about your degrees or career ambitions, so save your breath. We’ll only acknowledge those things if we like the way you look, and even then, the most attention our brains will devote to them is an “Oh, you went to Yale? That’s nice.” We just care that you have a baseline level of common sense so that you don’t make our lives miserable and our kids dumb.

 5)      For the most part, we find you boring. You’ll never be able to discuss sports, politics, science, technology, or current affairs the way our male friends do and you’ll never be as funny as them. The only reason we talk to you is because we like the way you look and we can’t live without you.

Here's a different take for every single woman, man, dog, lizard or laptop that was offended or guffawed at the previous list. I'm not prepared nor do I intend to speak for every man out there even if I use the collective "we;" this is just my take.

The Truth Behind Appearance

I won't lie and say that guys don't care what you look like. Just like girls, we have personal preferences. But guess what. We are so absorbed wondering if you think we are attractive and worrying if we are screwing up to really give your outfit or BMI a check. So, honestly, go back to that first outfit and stop with all the makeup, we're just glad you want to hang out with us.

We Are Better

We do think we're innately better. It's a fact. We have our moments that we think we are better athletes than any member of the Alabama Crimson Tide. We think we are smarter than the government almost 24/7. We think we are more noble-minded than the knights around Arthur's table. We think we are better for you than any other guy could possibly be. In short, we think we are a better man than any other man. However, we rarely feel we are better than you. That's why you get the title of our "better half."

Where Is This Ship Sailing Now?

How many guys you've been with matters. What matters more is what you appear to want out of a relationship with us. Yes, I did say "appear" because y'all play us like violins just as often as we seem to play you up and down the court. Is this a long-term possible "go the distance" commitment or is it a summer fling that ends when I go back to school as a greaser? We like to know that, even if its not the same as what we want. And if it is a serious relationship we want to know all about your ideas for kids, houses, places to live, careers, etc.

Still Figuring It All Out

Guys will say they don't care what you study or where you want to be in 5/10 years but that's only because we don't know what we want to do and the fact that you planned that out is kinda intimidating. But we get over it. As was hinted in #3, we like to know where things are going but we are really bad at doing this for ourselves. And (Pro-Tip) if you are genuinely interested in what you are studying, and you don't make it seem like rocket science, talk about it with us. We like knowing where your head is whether its in the stars, in the books or in the woods.

You Are the Most Interesting Woman In the World, So Drink Dos Equis

You are the most interesting creatures most of us will ever come in contact with and what you don't know is as important and interesting as what you do know. So if you are a Star Wars-quoting, '69 Chevy Impala-driving, Reds-cheering, Beatles-singing, cake-cooking, God-fearing, woman- call me- that's awesome. We can trade tidbits about politics, history, technology, writing and fandoms. If you don't understand any of those references but instead know science, law, math, speech pathology, occupational therapy, psychology or anything else, we'd be happy to trade our secrets about galaxies far far away and cars and songs and God for your unique take on anything at all.

Now, he did get one thing right: We can't live without y'all. No matter how hard it is and how much pain you put us through, we still want and need you in our life to keep us guessing and make life worth living. So, to every woman out there: thanks for making the highway of life that much more interesting even if it means a few dents in the car.

Get to Know the Different Scenarios

Top 5 things that have happened since I last published anything on here:

1. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series

2. Houston is the worst team in the NFL and Jacksonville has beaten their last 3 road opponents (seriously, what's up with that?)

3. Duke produced its first 10 win season. Ever. 

4. Obama and company kicked off ObamaCare worse than Wainwright and Molina catch fly balls (Less people signed up for that than signed a, nevertheless badass, petition to build a Death Star)
5. The "40-oh-0 Wildcats" were beaten by the Spartans to get that chip off their shoulder and UConn has stayed perfect through eight.

So, anyway, it's been too long and I apologize. Now I should be back fairly regularly and attempting to catch y'all up on what this country has come to (both politically and in the sports world).

Anyway, to recap this weekend: Bama doesn't want to review time left on the clock anymore, Florida State made Florida look like Georgia Southern (except the Gators lost), THE Ohio State University remained perfect in the ugliest win they have had under Urban Meyer, Auburn knows what it means to play to the final whistle, Missouri took the legs out of Johnny Football's Heisman candidacy and Northern Illinois kept its resume strong for a BCS bowl berth.

The BCS still has an entire Saturday filled to the brim with football to figure out the deuce sitting at the top.

Luckily for us we are allowed to do the unthinkable and imagine all the possibilities before anyone is crowned ACC, Big 10 or SEC Champion. So, let's get creative and look at the Top 10 Likeliest Scenarios.

The Battle of Undefeateds
1. #1 Florida State v #2 Ohio State
This one requires the least explanation. Florida State takes down the Blue Devils in a non-shocker of an ACC championship. Ohio State handles Michigan State to go to 25-0. The Seminoles and Buckeyes are headed to the Rose Bowl on January 6, 2014. Good old fashioned 12-0 v 12-0 so there will be only one undefeated. (Excuse me Jordan Lynch and Co., good luck maintaining your streak)

ACC v SEC I
2. #1 Florida State v #3 Auburn
If we get this one, we might never hear the end of the SOS argument from SEC faithful. According to the strength of schedule, Auburn battled the fourth hardest schedule of the year and came out with one loss. Florida State, on the other hand, had the 42nd toughest road to perfection. On the third hand, Ohio State had the 52nd hardest test. There's little argument that the Big 10 had a down year but is perfection worth so little to the voters now? If it is or if the Bucks stumble against the Spartans, Auburn has its ticket punched for California. (Assuming a victory in the SEC Championship) The Seminoles will need to buckle their seatbelts and get ready for by far the toughest test of their season if they have to battle the Tigers (War Eagles) on Jan. 6.

ACC v SEC II
3. #1 Florida State v #5 Missouri 
Ohio State would have to lose, no question. (A 23rd ranking in SOS and a 5th seed in the BCS will hinder any team's efforts at displacing perfection) In only the second year as an SEC East member (still trying to figure out the geography here), Mizzou went through a gauntlet that contained marquee games against Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Ole Miss and Texas A&M and lost once. In double overtime. On a missed field goal. To the Gamecocks. If they can take down the Tigers on Saturday, these bad boys just earned themselves a trip to the BCS Championship at the Rose Bowl.

The One that Got Away
4. #1 Florida State v #4 Alabama 
The title says it all. At week 9, the BCS already had this one plotted out. Alabama and Florida State entered the initial standings #1 and 2 respectively. Then, the King got dethroned and the Seminoles took up the mantle. However, with the right combination of wins and losses, we could still see this one play out. That combo? An Ohio State faceplant against the Spartans and a last second field goal by Mizzou to misplace the rowdy War Eagles. No other combination would justify the non-SEC winner jumping to #2.

You Like to Run?
5. #2 Ohio State v #3 Auburn 
There is the possibility, as slim as it may be, that Florida State underestimates the Blue Devils, a team that is setting records for their school, and falls on Saturday. If that happens and Ohio State beats Michigan State, the Buckeyes will take over first place in the BCS. As long as Auburn handles business against the Tigers, they'll be a sure shot into the second spot. And if we do see these two teams in Cali, it'll be one of the most down and dirty, grit and grime games played out west. Ohio State is the second leading rushing team in the nation while Auburn is fifth. Be prepared for a long game in the trenches.

Big 10 Offense v SEC Defense
6. #2 Ohio State v #5 Missouri 
Having beaten the stingiest defense in college football, the Spartans let up 11.3 ppg, the Bucks would have a very good idea of how to get points on the board even when the defense hates giving them up. And that sort of defense is exactly who they'd meet if Missouri pulled off the win against the War Eagles. The Tigers were the second stingiest defense in the SEC letting up just 19.4 points per game and they never allowed an opponent (including Johnny Football) to put more than 28 points on them. Ohio State enjoys putting up big numbers averaging 48.2 points a game. So, even if the tagline might be the Bucks offense versus Tigers defense, it may just be the other way around for a championship in the Rose Bowl.

One for the Ages
7. #2 Ohio State v #4 Alabama
Urban Meyer v Nick Saban. Undefeated v Champions. Big 10 v SEC. Winning v Winner. 3 Undefeated Campaigns v 3 of the last 4. Okay, enough, you get the picture. This would be a groundbreaking championship that would easily pave the way for the new 2014 playoff system. Just to paint the picture a bit more, between the two coaches six of the last 10 championships have been won, between the two teams there are 18 National Titles, including a split between the two in 1961. Now, if only the Blue Devils can dismantle the Seminoles and Mizzou can win a close one against Auburn! If this one happens, I'm declaring a national holiday.

The Iron Bowl Classic
8. #3 Auburn v #4 Alabama
If there aren't any undefeateds after this weekend of championships, Auburn and Alabama will almost certainly meet in the Rose Bowl. The entire state of Alabama might be on lockdown and curfew if this one is announced on Sunday. Don't think Saban will be looking for any 57 yard field goal nor will the War Eagles allow it to come down to the final second and another miracle play. The Miracle Eagles v the Stunned Kings, another one for the ages.

You Remember Us?
9. #5 Missouri v #4 Alabama
Last year these two met. Missouri still feels the sting from that 42-10 whooping at home. This year, the Tigers are a different team and know how to handle size, speed, depth and strength. They know what it's like to fight in the trenches and keep a feisty offense on its heels and a wear away a stubborn defense. A rematch from the Tigers' SEC debut year would result in a close, nail-biter with pretty much everyone in the country glued to their seat until the final whistle.

What?
10. #3 Auburn v # 6 Oklahoma State
The least likely option to EVER happen, but that's what we look for, right? So how exactly do I explain even thinking this could happen? Well first off, Florida State would have to lose a decent game to the Blue Devils. Then the Buckeyes would have to be destroyed by the Spartans (considering the rankings of the teams, a close loss would most likely leave Ohio in the Top 5 and ahead of the Cowboys). Then Auburn would need a win in the SEC Championship game, really doesn't matter if its by 1 or 100. Finally, the Cowboys HAVE to destroy the Sooners and Baylor must lose to Texas. The then Big 12 Champions MIGHT have the edge on the non-conference champion Alabama. So, if all of this falls into place, is this even a game we want to see on January 6? It would be yet another high powered offense v shutdown defense game. Of all the options, this one is the least likely but it could be an interesting second tier "Oregon v Alabama BCS Championship" (Which will never happen).

Goodbye to the Old, In with the New

Although the season hasn't ended for two teams, the majority of the MLB has left the building and gone on sabbatical for the next few months. While they get ready for their winter hibernation, some big questions are being raised. For one team, the Reds, the questions are only piling up now that they have selected a replacement for Dusty Baker.

However, before discussing the future, I'd like to review Baker's time in Cincinnati and how he really turned this team around in his tenure with the club. For the first two seasons, Cincinnati was a bottom feeder in the NL Central finishing 74-88 in 2008 and only four wins better in 2009. However, Baker led the team to a breakout year in 2010 when they obtained the Central crown and their first postseason berth since 1995- they finished 91-71 in '10. The Reds fell to an underwhelming 79-83 in '11 before rocketing to the top tier last year and grabbing their second division crown in three years behind a 97-65 record. This season the Reds battled behind two of the league's top teams for much of the year before seemingly falling apart in late September to fall in their last seven straight games including their Wild Card game in Pittsburgh.
Dusty did something no other manager had done for 15 years when he brought this team to the postseason in 2010. He made multiple high-profile trades that paid off namely the trades for Mat Latos and for Shin Soo Choo in consecutive years. He brought up and molded the backbone of the Reds newest generation of position players including Jay Bruce, Todd Frazier, Devin Mesoraco, Zack Cozart and Chris Heisey. Baker, for better or worse, also had a hand in the rise of Johnny Cueto, Homer Bailey, Mike Leake and the Cuban Missile Aroldis Chapman.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no Dusty Baker fanatic but I also really got into the team during his six year management and he's the manager I will most likely look back on as the one who shaped the team I "grew up" with. He made many questionable decisions throughout the seasons and then really flustered in the postseason-- putting Cueto in when he didn't even have half of a season under his belt this year?-- and many fans will never forgive him for those. However, he did turn this team around and has brought it back to prominence in the national arena and I thank him for that.
Enjoy retirement Dusty and know that some of the fans appreciate your efforts over the years in Cincinnati.

Now, onto the questions that surround this franchise in the off season.

Who will replace Dusty Baker? 
This one's already got an answer: Bryan Price. He's a well known and respected pitching coach now turned manager. Although not even a handful of the managers in the big leagues come from coaching the mound, one of the World Series managers, John Farrell, came that route and seems to be doing pretty well for himself and Boston. Even more important, the front office kept a familiar face for the younger crop of Reds. Bruce, Frazier, Mesoraco, Cozart, Heisey, Neftali Soto, Billy Hamilton and Derrick Robinson have only known Baker but they also know and respect Price. Price has also helped shape one of the best rotations in baseball and knows all about the Cuban Missile and how best to use him to close out games. Will Price jump right into management without any hitches? No, that's a tall order for any rookie manager to fill. Should Redsnation be worried because of that? Not at all, Price knows what he is doing and knows this roster better than almost anyone in the clubhouse so if Spring Training, and maybe even April, is a little shaky on his end, don't write off the season.

Okay, Price is promoted, who takes his place?
The biggest managerial question left, right now, is who will take over Price's old job of pitching coach for the Reds. Although not set in stone, Mack Jenkins, who assisted Price the last two seasons and has been with the organization for 24 years, is a front runner to take up where Price left off. However, Jenkins may be moved to the bullpen and a new coach will take over in the dugout. As Price said, "It is going to be a different voice. That’s fine... I think sometimes when they hear the same voice over and over again, a new voice will help." So this question still has time to be answered but for now: at least one new voice will be added and Jenkins will be a key man for the organization going forward whether in the pen or dugout.

Farewell to Choo?
Shin Soo Choo is a free agent. Not much that the Reds could do about that. Now it's all up to Choo where he will go. He got a very nice view of over half of the league this season and, with the way his OBP was this year, he could punch his meal ticket to almost any team he wanted. Of course, the Reds should be waving a thick stack of cash in his face to get him to stay because their options aren't exactly exciting to replace their lead off centerfielder. But Choo might leave, so that leads to another question: Who replaces Choo at leadoff and in center?
If the Reds don't want to deal and decide to stay in their farm system, which is a very viable option, there are two rookies that could take up the mantle. Robinson, a left fielder in 77% of his major league career, has some experience in center. His bat could use a slight pick-me-up after finishing .255/.322/.323 with a BB/K of .41. The other option and only true centerfielder that has major league experience is the speedster Billy Hamilton. This guy could pickle the Beast without changing his shoes. However, his bat is still minor league level and needs to develop before he will be a viable option for the Reds to start consistently. Other options could include Heisey who has yet to be given his season long position in the outfield and Felix Perez a minor leaguer who has a similar line to Robinson but is a solid centerfielder.

Phillips: Cincinnati Icon or Cincinnati Commodity?
After raising dust about his contract earlier this season, Phillips may be headed out of Cincinnati. However, the only way this will happen is if someone can sweeten the pot for the Reds. The most likely situation would be a trade between the Reds and the Braves for second baseman- Uggla for Phillips. Of course, looking at Uggla's decline over the past two seasons- .220 average in 2012 and .179 in '13- there isn't much sense for the Reds to take that deal. Yes Phillips has controversy written all over him, but that's who he is, that's the way this guy plays ball. If the front office can't deal with some unseemly comments from their star second baseman, they may want to look at his numbers and his finalist position for a Gold Glove.

Is ERA the money measuring stick for Castellini?
If the Reds front office hasn't caught wind of the Tim Lincecum deal, which you best believe they have, they might want to be thinking about one Homer Bailey and his contract or else his agent might just be sniffing around the league for a better deal. Lincecum, if you didn't know, signed a two year $35 million contract on Tuesday with the Giants. Lincecum also, to put it lightly, sucked this year. Or did he? Going by standard baseball lines for pitchers, Lincecum had a below average year posting a 4.37 ERA over a 10-14 season. However, Lincecum was a well above average pitcher when you look at more obscure stats- FIP, xFIP and SIERA- which is most likely what the Giants did. For a complete description of these stats read this article, for a short overview: FIP and xFIP are used to predict what a pitcher will do in the future, SIERA does the same thing but even better.
Now, enough about Lincecum on to Bailey. Bailey's been pitching much better and much more consistent over the past four years, his ERA has dropped (4.46 in '10 to 3.49 in '13), his strikeouts have almost doubled (100 in 2010 to 199 in 2013) and his WHIP has dropped to 1.12. All of these numbers are better than Lincecum's last two seasons, but that's before we even get to FIP, xFIP and SIERA to judge Bailey. Bailey, according to his numbers, is a good pitcher. However, when put up against the advanced metrics similar to Moneyball, Bailey is a top of the line right hander. He's 23rd or better in each of the advanced metrics among all of baseball's pitchers. (Lincecum isn't in the top 30 in any of them)
So, does this mean Castellini will be bargaining a deal to keep Bailey here based on advanced metrics or is his ERA and win/loss column still the stick for Castellini? Either way, Bailey is an essential part of the Reds pitching rotation and will come in handy if the Reds want to make a push under their new management.

Live Blogging Game 2 Boston v St. Louis 7:07 pm

Rookie Wacha v Veteran Lackey. Will Beltran be able to take another right field fence hit? Can the Cardinal bats come to life? Can Ortiz and Co. bash the no-hitter out of Wacha? First pitch in just over an hour.

Will the Cardinals be able to top their Fail of a Lifetime between Wainwright and Molina? In case you missed it, scroll to the bottom of this article.

The entire game resides on the arm of Wacha, will he go Wild Boy on the Sox or will No Hands show up and let the Sox power through another Fenway game?

Noticeablly absent from the Cardinal lineup: Pete Kozma, aka Error Boy.

Beltran rips one to left and Gomes can't handle it for a single.

Nasty fastball takes Holliday out. He's now 0-8 against Lackey. (He played for the A's in 2009 before being traded to the Cards)

One hit, no damage done. Cards take the field after one half inning.

One up, one down for clear-headed Wacha.

DeMuth is down at first base... will he be blowing another call at his new post?

That was a freaky good change-up to strike out Victorino.

2 K's... Red Sox might want to spread the word: Wacha is no Waino.

Gotta salute the Troops whenever possible. Thanks for the service and enjoy the game!

Molina drops a blooper over Pedroia into right field for a hit.

Breaking ball and Freese goes down for the second K of the night.

Leadoff hit and nothing to show for it. 0-0 after 1 and a half innings.

Although he's not starting tonight, Middlebrooks might be called upon to hit against his old high school rival, Wacha, tonight.

One out walk for Napoli. Wacha has yet to allow a No. 3, 4, or 5 hitter to get a hit through this postseason.

A ten pitch at bat ends in a popup, good battle between Gomes and Wacha in their first meeting.

Pretty sure I felt that breeze from Salty's first swing..

Jay gets the last two outs for the Cards. Zeros after 2.

3 K's for Lackey. Descalso just misread that pitch.

Great pitch to paint that inside corner.

When Lackey gets to that 2-2 count he strikes em out almost 50% of the time. No wonder Carpenter gets chalked up as #4.

Wow. 3 pitch shutdown of Drew. Wacha looks tough again tonight.

4 K's, Wacha is going hard right now.

First hit of the night for the Sox comes from Ellsbury's broken bat single into shallow center.

Wacha and Lackey are dealing through 3 full. Both have 4 K's and are only separated by 10 pitches, 53 and 43 respectively.

Leadoff triple by Holliday. Can the Cards move him home?

WHAT!? That was a miracle catch by Pedroia.

1-0 Cards on Molina sacrifice over the mound.

Boston is 7-0 when Gomes starts. Cards are 6-0 when they touch home first. Gomes is starting and the Cards just touched home... Something has to give.

Green Monster guides Pedroia to a leadoff double. Good play by Holliday though, making sure the ball is in front of him.

First two Sox reach this inning. One on a double and another on a walk to Papi.

Double play moves Pedroia to third and brings up Gomes.

No damage done after the initial two on no out. Wacha is still dealing exceptionally well. 1-0 through 4.

Ellsbury's speed might not have helped on the basepaths so far, but it sure was essential on that catch.

Drew is his own highlight reel. (Kozma, take a few lessons on handling a ball)

Leadoff walk for Salty. Will walks haunt this time?

That was nasty power right there. K #5

Wacha gets out of the fifth. Dealing as usual. The Sox need a little of that power from last night.

That's 5 for each pitcher. Pitcher's duel anyone?

Wacha coming back out. 88 pitches with 3 walks and 5 K's, no runs.

That's 4... At some point the Sox will need to take advantage of those walks.

98 pitches and Maness is up and getting warm in the pen.

Papi goes yard again! 2-1 over the Green Monster!

With his shutout and possible win/ no-decision gone, Wacha strikes out Napoli. #6 on the night.

One pitch is all it takes to lose a game...

6 for Lackey.

Walk number 2 for Lackey. Brings up Jay.

Two on, one out. Lackey comes out after 95 pitches.

Kozma in, I guess defense is less important than runs at this point.

Double steal makes the double play a non-option.

Bases loaded for Carpenter, one out. Things are getting interesting now.

3-2. Bad defense seems to be the way that these games will be decided.

4-2. Errors will really screw any team in the postseason.

A very tough inning for the Sox is over.

Craig doesn't seem to have lost much of a step since his injury.

Errors will haunt?

Big Papi represents the tying run. Martinez sticks in there...

Base hit, two on, go ahead run coming to the plate in the Beard of Napoli.

Matheny is rewarded for his dedication. No damage done and only 3 outs left for the Sox to tie it up.

Last 3 tries...

Strike out the side and end the game. Rosenthal does a great job to close it out. 4-2 Game 2 win for the Cards.

Live Blogging the Boston v St. Louis World Series Game 1

So Pete Kozma can breathe a little easier when Waino and Molina decide to watch a pop fly drop in between them.

Kozma may need a little more time on the bench to be ready for this big stage. Two errors in 2 innings...

If Waino doesn't get this under control, Matheny may want to pull him and get the bullpen hot.

4-0 in 2? Let's get Beard!

If Waino wants to hang a changeup for Big Papi, I'm sure Papi would be happy to deliver to those "Papi!" chants.

One defensive position player is still awake for the Cards, but Papi still drives in one. 5-0 with 2 outs

5-0 after just 60 pitches. Oh, but that's just through 6 outs...

In his 32nd start this year, Lester is handed a 5 run cushion through 2 innings. Pretty decent way to get your rookie starter a confidence boost.

Beltran's out for catching that Papi home run. Fenway can be a brutal teacher...

First three up three down of the night for Waino.

In case anyone didn't know: 21 of the last 25 World Series have been won by the winner of Game 1.

Well the Cards just got a leadoff walk by Jay.

Bases loaded, Lester's time to get a couple K's

Or a 1-2-3 double play works well too. Fielding your position is pretty key to winning games in cold weather.

"Our job is to get it right" at least the Umps got it right in the end of that questionable first inning call.

Back to back K's for Waino, I think he might have figured out the whole pitching thing here in Game One.

What a catch! Gomes didn't do that often in Cincinnati but the Green Monster really lets him play with more leeway.

Carpenter pushes Robinson to third and reaches second with a blooper into left and an error by Gomes.

Lester buckles down on the 2-2 count allowing only a .185 average through the season through 135 at bats.

Good catch by Robinson, hope that wall didn't come out and hit him too hard.

92 pitches and Maness is up and throwing for the Cards.

95 pitches through 5 innings compared to 78 pitches. That's the Ace and the 8 year vet respectively...

A brutal teacher indeed, Beltran is at the hospital getting his right side checked out. Hopefully nothing too serious and we'll see the power hitter tomorrow.

6 K's on 91 pitches. Those K's include Beltran, Molina, Freese Carpenter, Holliday and Craig. Good stuff by Jon Lester.

Axford strikes out the first bat he sees. First two...

Three straight K's, that's a good change of pace for the Cardinals.

Lester stays in and delivers K #7.

Eight.

Choate is the third pitcher to face these Sox tonight. Maness is #4.

Sox haven't scored since the 2nd inning.

Adams just got Michael Jordan-esque Air right there!

BIIIIIG PAPIIIII!!!!!! At least Torii Hunter didn't have to try and catch that one...

7-0 after seven innings of Game 1.

Surprised to see Lester out there with over 100 pitches, but if you don't have to go to the pen, don't. Especially in the Series.

The Cards are running out of outs if they want to make a dent in this lead...

112 pitches, 8 K's, 1 walk and 0 runs over 7 2/3 innings. Great showing by Lester.

One batter, one strike out, Tazawa catches Jay on a called third strike.

Does chewing on your glove help you pitch better? Ask Martinez after this inning...

Doubles seem to be a given off that Green Monster, especially when they get lost in that left field corner.

Wild pitch moves Nava over to third with no outs.

And Nava jogs in off Xander's sac linedrive. 8-0.

Maybe tomorrow will be the true test of pitchers when Lackey and Wacha meet up...

Dempster coming on and delivering on the first pitch.

Holliday breaks up the shutout with a deep shot over the Monster in Left Center.

Close play at first. Victorino with a nice throw to try to get Carpenter.

Dempster lets up a blast but sends Adams down swinging to end the game. 8-1.

Red Sox win and Lester shone in 7 2/3 innings.

The Right Illusion Can Trick Any Mind

As the October Classic heats up and St. Louis moves into fall and Halloween is right around the corner, it only makes sense to take a look at one of the best parts of the game: superstition.

In baseball, superstitions take on a wide variety of forms: curses, batting rituals, random jumping and tons of eating. To get our feet warm, let’s delve into two of the most notable curses to ever come about.

First, we have the Curse of the Great Bambino. This started in 1918 when the Boston Red Sox decided to trade Babe Ruth, the Great Bambino, to, of all teams, the New York Yankees. The curse did not allow the Red Sox to win a World Series for 86 years but was broken when the Sox won the crown in 2004 in a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Red Sox seem primed to get back on that track this year after a fantastic season. (And those beards!!! Superstition at it's finest!)

Possibly the curse known best to the NL Central and specifically Cubs fans is the Billy Goat Curse. The curse started in 1945 when Billy Sianis was kicked out of Wrigley Field during the World Series because his pet goat’s smell was bothering other fans. Sianis proceeded to curse the Cubs by saying, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more.” Sure enough, the Cubs haven’t won a National League Pennant since that day and haven’t won a World Series in 105 years. This curse seems to have a few more years in its tank.

Now that we can all accept the realness of curses and black magic, it’s time to dive into the game itself and some rules that are only written on our hearts.

The first rule of Fight Club and of an ongoing perfect or no-hitter game is the same: Don’t talk about it. Just don’t. It is a well-known fact that talking about any such instance will break the magic of that game. In my lifetime it’s happened much too often for me to be able to recall. When I tuned into the September 6 San Francisco Giants v Arizona Diamondbacks game one of my friends, who will remain anonymous for his safety, slipped and pointed out the pitching performance by Petit. Sure enough, one out away from perfection, Petit gave up a single. Perfect game and no-hitter bid gone just like that. It also happened to the rookie here in St. Louis, Michael Wacha, when he lost his bid for a no-hitter thanks to an ESPN analyst’s decision to comment on the performance.

The other unwritten rule that must be respected to avoid disaster is that you must never step on the foul line when entering the field. Don’t do it. Bad things have happened to good people. Turk Wendell, pitcher for the Mets, Cubs and Phillies, would take this to an extreme and jump over the dirt and foul line for good measure. I don’t know what it is with Mets pitchers and jumping, but Oliver Perez would also emphatically jump over the foul line each time he headed for the dugout.

Eating has and will always be a ritual for some people, for others, it’s not only a ritual but a way of life. Matt Garza, pitcher for the Cubs, eats Popeye’s chicken every day that he is scheduled to start. Wade Boggs, third baseman for the Red Sox, ate chicken before every game so much so that he earned the nickname “Chicken Man” for his ritual.

Slumps may be the worst part of any athlete’s career. Jason Giambi, a pitcher’s nightmare, was no stranger to slumps even during his prime. How did Giambi climb out of these slumps? A golden thong. You read that right, a golden thong helped Giambi end slump after slump. The thong worked so well that other Rockies decided to borrow the thong to get out of their own slumps.

Everyone knows that numbers are important to players, but sometimes players take that to the extreme. And when I say extreme, I mean penny pushing extreme. Turk Wendell asked the New York Mets to make his salary $9,999,999.99 in recognition of his number, 99, when he played in 2000.

Although players have their own superstitions, fans get extremely crazy on their own. The line between tradition and superstition is often blurred and then crossed by fans. Is the Chop some sort of black magic for the Braves? Clearly it didn’t work all that well in the NLDS… Lucky peanuts anyone? Keep one peanut for that 8th inning rally and then start chewing at that first pitch. Missing the first pitch is a cardinal sin for veteran baseball fans and when you do miss it, you might want to have a very good reason for the baseball gods.

We all know, in our hearts that sitting in a certain spot, waving a rally towel, putting on the rally cap or turning our back will make our team perform better. It’s been proven time and time again. (Forget about the few times it didn’t work) Although science, society and even our own mind calls us crazy for thinking that our little effort does anything to change the course of the game, sports fans know that it does work. Each sport provides their own flair to this superstitious way of life, but baseball does it better and more enthusiastically than most. 

*Note: This article has been published in the Saint Louis University News. This is an original copy by the author (Nate Creech). Any reproduction of this material without written consent is prohibited.

Tragedy and Why We Need to Change

Okay, I've seen the last straw. I was going to stay away from this hot topic because I didn't want to get burned with lack of information, but when Piers Morgan decides that he is going to call out "America's gun crisis" as the problem in this case, I've had enough.

First off, background on this case in case you haven't been watching the news:
Christopher Lane, a baseball player in Australia, was visiting the town of Duncan, Oklahoma where his girlfriend and her family live. As an athlete, Lane stays in shape and so he decided to take a jog around the neighborhood. He happened to pass a house where three scumbags thugs were staying and kept running, as any normal runner would do. However, these thugs were bored and happened to have a gun so they decided to chase down Lane and, for fun, shoot him. Christopher was shot and died out of cold blood and for a break from boredom. Please, take a moment to pray for Christopher, his family and his girlfriend and others affected by this terrible tragedy.

Now that we have a little background on this incident, what the hell motivates someone, let alone three someones, to take a break from boredom and shoot an innocent civilian? Is is that gun that might be sitting on a coffee table, or in a locked closet or even fully loaded on their hip? OR is it society and parenting and lack of respect for human life?

If you answered that the gun did this, please, for all of us, continue reading.

A gun does not motivate someone to go out and shoot anyone, just as a knife does not promote stabbing someone nor a car motivate you to run over innocent people on the sidewalk. However, bad things happen when thoughts go the wrong way and access to that tool is, in fact, available to you. And before anyone gets the idea that I am going to be preaching about thought control or some B.S. like that, you can stop fretting. Free thinking is what is letting me write this right now and it is the greatest tool I have as a journalist so, yes, I condemn thought police at any stage.

What, then, do I propose?

A change to society. A change to how we raise our children. A change to how we, as a society, view human life.

How are we, as a society, responsible for what happened in Duncan, OK? Simply because we, as a majority, have become less demanding on what we want our children to do with their life. We have allowed children to be raised to believe that they can do what they want and there won't be any consequences down the road. We have promoted a culture of sex, drugs, alcohol and violence that, simply, poisons the minds of youth. Even people my own age, and even myself, have promoted this sort of "consequence-free, do what you want" lifestyle.

We see hundreds of video games that feature death, killing and guns as the center-piece for some role-play. This is also a staple of Hollywood and has been the theme of more and more movies: kill the bad guys, use big cool guns, look badass, end the movie. However, these aren't the things that lead to cold-blooded killers at 15-17. I, myself, have played multiple games featuring these themes and I have yet to even have the thought of running out of my house, gun in tow, and shooting down a jogger. The entire mantra of "video game violence is bad for children" is only true if you, as a parent, sibling or care-giver don't have the ability or drive to teach that same child that human life is of greater value than anything on this earth.

The value of human life has been degraded almost to the point of no-repair. This sex culture we live in, where telling a girl that she should dress modestly or that she might want to stop hooking up with multiple guys just for fun is viewed as slut-shaming and telling a guy to stop sleeping around and that he might want to think about his choices is going to get you shunned, is despicable. Yes, sex is cool and you can go have as much sex as you want. BUT, there is a but in there, wait till you have a committed relationship. Wait until you know for a fact that this guy or girl is actually worth sharing the closest intimacy two people can have.
Then, we come to the real problem of sex before a committed relationship: abortion! If you didn't think that abortion was going to come up in a piece about the value of life, then you probably need to rethink things and keep reading! Abortion is the greatest slap in the face to human dignity that has ever been thought of and that's why you'll see me bring it up many times in many different forms. When we degrade a human to the point of needing reasons to call the most innocent of us a "clump of cells" or a "parasite," you know that something is really wrong with society. Is this a call for an end to abortion? Yes and no. Yes, because I kinda always do that when I get the chance and a good size audience. No, because this is really a call to upgrade the value that society puts on human life (which in it's own way would see the end of abortions).

Now, add up the last two things. Violent video games or tv shows/ movies with little ability or drive to teach youth responsibility and the value of human life PLUS the degradation of human life and value of that life by society as a whole. What do you get? Cold-blooded teenage murderers.

What do we do to solve this eerily easy math problem?

It's simple. We kill the Batman. No, crap, wrong line.

It's simple. We change society. We make sure that people, adults first, understand that human life is of greater importance than jobs, money, politics or anything else. We educate the youth on the value of life and that we don't regenerate in quite the same way as you do in Halo or Call of Duty. We do the most good we can and attempt to limit the bad influences in our life and that of our children/ young adults.

What we don't do, however, is throw away violent video games, parentally protect your child from watching G.I. Joe because of the guns or stop children from reading books like Harry Potter because of the sorcery involved. There is no possible way that we can control everything that happens to our youth, at least no way that is healthy for their development and to let them lead their own life. We simply have to make sure that we impress upon our children and loved ones that human life is real, valuable and not something to be tossed around. We teach responsibility and portray a life that is worthy of respect and dignity.

Those few things will add up to change society and save lives, not only in the womb, but also on streets.

Lastly, once again, please pray for Christopher, his family, friends and loved ones and the citizens of Duncan. And may God have mercy on the souls of these troubled youth.

God bless.

Bulls, Masks and New Adventures

First, we had a black "man" on trial for murdering hundreds of babies and the defense argued that the prosecutors were engaged in an "essentially racist prosecution" of a 'man' who murdered babies and women. Then, there was the tragedy of the Boston Bombing which saw media outlets hoping for a white Christian man to be the terrorist involved. Following that, we opened the summer with a trial that was based completely on race and race relations and had nothing to do with any attack that occurred or self-defense laws. Now, finally, we can enjoy the truly wonderful sport of Rodeo without having to deal with a black President's face on a clown who runs around for pure entertainment.

I mean, come on, no other President has ever had to deal with this kind of ridicule, right? George H. Bush only had a dummy destroyed at the horns of a bull. And hundreds of thousands of masks and artwork have been done and made fun of at rodeos and fairs of not only Presidents but other government officials as well. We really have gone too far in the rodeo business this time, haven't we? Saturday Night Live, however, is completely free to make fun of the President, Presidential candidates and other political figures because, well, it's comedy, right?

Not only is this rodeo clown incident a non-incident thanks to the First Amendment and the fact that we don't live in a monarchy where making fun of the King sees you straight out of a job and shunned by the entire country, but it's yet another example of media bull-plosion. Yes, the entire incident could be seen as a batch of ill-humor. Yes, the office of President of the United States deserves and demands respect. Yes, there were people in attendance who laughed (each one of them is being rounded up as I type). However, we don't live in some statist dictatorship where it's even slightly called for for someone to lose their job over wearing a mask that depicts the President.

Or are we moving in that direction? Does the "hate crime" have to be against any race other than white for it to be considered "hate"? Is "hate speech" going to start to include anything that anyone finds offensive? Or is it specific to this President? Will there be an "Offensive Police" now, going after anyone that says or does anything remotely racist? (Outside of the media that is)

Now, let's be clear on one thing: this entire Missouri Rodeo Association thingy has gotten WAY out of hand. Once again, radio talk-show hosts, news anchors and cable news shows have devoted hours upon hours to this one story that has nothing to do with national media nor should have garnered national attention. But, the people eat it up and will read, listen to and watch this sort of news any day over the real news of Egypt, rising debt and ObamaCare fallout to name just a few.

So, you may ask, why did I decide to write a blog post about the Rodeo Clown from Missouri Who is Clearly a Racist? Well, not only is it national news, it's also a very good segway into how politics and sports are intertwined because, believe it or not, rodeo is in fact a sport in these United States.

The first edition of Sporting the Politics of America will be coming out later in August.

Gridiron Breakdown

It's official. We can all turn on the TV, kick back and watch monsters crush each other. No, I'm not talking about Pacific Rim or another Transformers movie. It's Football Season!

I think it's about time Right of Center Field released the first set of the College Football Preview.

First, let's look at the Top 10 teams in the running for that coveted National Championship and set a bold prediction for the season.*

1. Alabama Crimson Tide

If anyone is surprised to see the Tide at the top of this list, you may want to look up the word "best" and multiply that by about 10 to understand how good this football team is, again. Alabama not only has the defense to stop any would-be challengers but they also have an offense that can once again power over the entire SEC. AJ McCarron will be leading an outstanding Crimson Tide offense coming off a 30 TD season and T.J. Yeldon will pick up right where he left off with back to back 100 yard rushing performances against Georgia and Notre Dame. On the other side of the ball, look for an outstanding performance by the defense that led the country with 10.9 PA last season. Nick Saban and Co. could be looking at a third straight National Title. The toughest test will come early when they take a trip to Kyle Field and Johnny "Football" the second week of the season.
Bold Prediction: The Tide finishes the season 12-0 and is back in the BCS National Title Game for the fourth time in five years. (The only real bold prediction is that AJ McCarron wins the Heisman)

2. Ohio State Buckeyes

The only team to own the title of Undefeated in the 2012 season, the Buckeyes are, once again, that good. With a combination of Braxton Miller throwing, Braxton Miller running and Urban Meyer coaching, this will be a team to fear now that they have the chance to play for that National Title. Carlos Hyde will be another asset for Meyer to use when the pressure gets to Braxton in the Big Ten, not that it has had a huge affect on him yet. Not only do they have the team to do it, they have the schedule to get through the season unscathed. Four games, Buffalo, San Diego St, California and Florida A&M, will lead these Bucks into their Big Ten opener at the Horseshoe versus Wisconsin. Their toughest test may just be the last week of the season when they travel to Michigan to visit That Team Up North.
Bold Prediction: Bucks take an 11-0 record into Michigan and come out unscathed and headed for the Big Ten Championship against Taylor Martinez and the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

3. Oregon Ducks

In the post-Chip Kelly era, will Oregon be able to fend off the looming challenges of Stanford, UCLA, USC and Oregon State and stay the big dog out west? De'Anthony Thomas and Marcus Mariota will be two keys to answering that question and if last season is any indication, the duo are up for the task. Mariota had an astounding connection with Josh Huff and Colt Lyerla last season, connecting 32 and 25 times respectively. Huff will once again be a big target to rack up yards but Thomas will still be an active member of that receiving core after catching 45 passes last season. Unlike the top two teams, Oregon will be facing a tough battle before getting into conference play playing at Virginia and then hosting Tennessee in the second and third week of the season.
Bold Prediction: Oregon will finish with 11 wins, unable to beat Stanford but will still play in the PAC-12 championship against USC for a chance at the Rose Bowl.

4. Stanford Cardinal

Two years removed from Andrew Luck and the Cardinal still look like a top PAC-12 contender. In the first year after Luck, Josh Nunes and Stepfan Taylor led Stanford to a Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin. This year, it'll be up to Taylor to carry this team again but he should be getting help from Kevin Hogan. It'll be a tough battle while the Cardinal have very few veterans in their receiving core and the young guns will have to show they can play in the big-boy PAC-12. Luckily, San Jose State and Army provide a decent starting ground for this young team. The second half schedule will be the true test for this Cardinal team with games at UCLA, Oregon State and USC and home games against Oregon, California and Notre Dame to close out the season.
Bold Prediction: Hogan and Taylor will lead this Cardinal team to an 11-1 record and will beat UCLA, Oregon State and Oregon in consecutive weeks before falling to USC.

5. Georgia Bulldogs

Aaron Murray will be leading the Georgia offense again and will be searching for another SEC Championship Game berth. With Murray at the reins and Todd Gurley returning to lead the ground attack, the Bulldogs have the making of a fearsome offense. On the defense, however, only three full-time starters will be back, but like most SEC teams in this top 10, the Dawgs have a very talented group of inexperienced players coming in. The Bulldogs will look to use North Texas as a breather in the third week after taking on South Carolina the week prior and before LSU the following week; all three of those will be at home. They'll get another break in their schedule after a neutral site game against Florida in the form of Appalachian State at Sanford Stadium in the ninth week. Look for the Dawgs to be in the running again this year.
Bold Prediction: Georgia will get tripped up once but finish 11-1 and atop the SEC East again for a rematch against Alabama in the SEC Championship.

6. South Carolina Gamecocks

One off-season removed from South Carolina and Jadeveon Clowney rocking Michigan in the Outback Bowl, Clowney and these Gamecocks will be looking for that elusive SEC Championship. Connor Shaw and Dylan Thompson will likely be splitting snaps once again, but the biggest question for this Gamecocks team is how to replace a back like Marcus Lattimore? Mike Davis, a sophomore, will likely be given the starting spot. He had 52 carries for 275 yards last season. Although the Gamecocks will be facing very stiff SEC East competition in the second week against Georgia, this schedule seems to play out very kindly for them. After a three game road trip to visit Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri, South Carolina will end the season with four home games against Mississippi State, Florida, Coastal Carolina and Clemson.
Bold Prediction: Although they'll squeak by Georgia in the second week, the Gamecocks will finish the season with a 10-2 record falling to the Gators and Clemson. Clowney will finish second in the Heisman voting and will be first pick in the Draft.

7. Texas A&M Aggies

Johnny "Heisman Football" Manziel has had a distracting summer so far, but will be looking to lead the Aggies to an even better SEC performance this season. Although Manziel could pull another Braxton Miller-esque season out of the hat, Ben Malena will most likely be getting the ball on a few more attempts this year. The Aggies should once again be putting up big numbers unless the SEC West coaches have figured out how to stop Mr. Football, which would be asking a lot. Texas A&M will get four home games to start the season, sounds great, right? Well they'll need that fourth week Sam Houston game after they take on Alabama who will be looking for revenge from last season. They get another four game homestand against Auburn, Vanderbilt, UTEP and Mississippi State before a two week road trip to LSU and Missouri.
Bold Prediction: Johnny Football will fail to mow down the Crimson Tide monster in back to back seasons and will finish second to the Tide in the West going 11-1 and Manziel will finish fourth in the Heisman vote.

8. Clemson Tigers

Tajh Boyd and the Clemson Tigers will be facing a very tough schedule bookended by two of the SEC East's best, Georgia and South Carolina. Andre Ellington, the Tigers No. 1 back last season, won't be coming back, but Roderick McDowell could fill in nicely for Clemson. Brent Venables, now in his second season coaching the Tigers defense, will have to back up the offense with better defense if they hope to beat out Florida State for the Atlantic Title. Boyd and company, however, seem to be up to the task of leading the Tigers to an ACC title and could easily be one of the most prolific offenses in the country again. With ACC Atlantic Title contender Florida State coming into Memorial Stadium in week seven, the Tigers have a good shot of making it through the ACC schedule with relative ease.
Bold Prediction: Tajh Boyd finishes third in the Heisman after taking the Tigers to 11-1 season and a perfect 8-0 ACC conference schedule. The Tigers win the ACC Title against the Hurricanes of Miami.

9. Florida Gators

After an upsetting end to last year's 11 win season, the Gators will look to improve in a tough three team battle for the SEC East. Freshman Kelvin Taylor will be a surprising and talented edition to the Gator's run then gun game. He put up astounding numbers in his senior year, rushing for 2,423 yards and 41 touchdowns. However, Matt Jones will start the running machine that is the Florida offense. On the other side of the ball, the Gators will really need to clamp down. The defense was a huge part of their success last year, but this year defensive line coach Brad Lawing will be throwing in a wrinkle from his last season with South Carolina called the rabbits package. Overall, the Gators may just have the hardest stretch of eight games in the Top 10 facing the entire SEC East and SEC West members LSU and Arkansas from week three through week 10 with games at Miami Florida and in the Swamp against the Seminoles to close out the season.
Bold Prediction: The Gators adopt the Rabbits package immediately and chomp through the brutal SEC schedule in route to an 11 win season losing only to Georgia, sadly unable to pull of the neutral field victory they needed. However, they take their anger out on whoever crosses them in the Sugar Bowl.

10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Coming off of their first spotlight season in nearly two decades, the Fighting Irish will look to their defense to do what it did last season again. Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt, both SEC-country recruits, will hold down one of the best defensive lines in the country. Unlike most of the other Top 10 teams, questions still loom as to the quality of the offense. With Golson sitting out and Tyler Eifert gone to the Cincinnati Bengals, the reins fall to Tommy Rees and possibly Andrew Hendrix to lead this offense down the field. Questions surround this entire team, but with three of their biggest games being at home, Michigan State, Oklahoma and USC, and Michigan and Stanford being the biggest road tests, the Irish could be looking at a ten or eleven win season.
Bold Prediction: All but Stanford bow to the Irish this season and they pull off a head-turning 11-1 record, but without a conference championship, are left out of all talks for the National Title.

*Note: Not all Bold Predictions can come true logistically

This Game is Out of Hand

This is getting ridiculous. I don't know a better way to put it. Democrats and Republicans are coming together to promote breaking the law, ridiculous. Where are the people? When did we start electing, funding and campaigning for complete imbeciles? (Awhile ago, obviously) What I'd like to direct your attention to is the Senate's idiotic vote on Rand Paul's Amendment 1739 today. The bill was tabled at a vote of 13-86. Now if you don't know what the amendment is you can go here for a broader scope of the amendment but I'll sum up the most important parts.

First off the amendment would force the government to begin following the laws of this country again. America has a law that prohibits the government from aiding a country that has had their "duly elected head of government deposed by a military coup" until a new head of government has been elected. However, Congress has yet to do anything about stopping military funding to Egypt. Rand Paul's amendment would cut that money (some 1.5 billion dollars in aid) from military spending, something that Democrats have been raving about cutting for years. Not only would the American government be following their own laws again (I know, shocking) but the Democrats would get their military spending cut. Instead, the bill is tabled.

Now, we aren't a country to just cut stuff out, unfortunately, so where would this $1.5 billion being going if not into the military? Good question. Rand Paul's idea and the entire context of this amendment was that the money would be spent here at home instead. To be more specific the money would be going to the "Bridges in Critical Corridors" fund. I don't know how many of you use bridges to get anywhere (job, sporting event, school etc.) but to me, bridges are pretty important.

Before the vote was taken today, Senator Paul gave an approximately 15 minute discussion on why this should be passed and why the amendment should matter to places like Detroit and Chicago. His most pointed statements came when he got to the topic of the actual vote and laws in place.

The law is very clear. Everyone here in Congress can read. They recognize, they recognize that the law says when there is a military coup, the aid must end. Today we will vote on whether or not they will obey the law or whether they will openly flout the law and disobey. When a military coup overturns a democratically elected government, all military aid must end. That's the law. There is no presidential waiver.

He goes on to address where the money should be going instead of overseas.

I propose that we take the billion dollars that is now being illegally given to Egypt and spend it at home. We have bridges crumbling at home. Can't we fix some of our problems at home? We have had a bridge collapse this year in Washington state. We had one collapse in Minnesota a few years ago. We have a bridge in northern Kentucky that is becoming increasingly unsafe, and yet there is not enough money to repair our bridges because your politicians are sending the money overseas. It's unwise, and right now it's illegal.

Finally, he addresses the Egyptian point one last time.

Meanwhile, they (Egypt) recently let a mob advance on our embassy, climb atop our embassy and burn our flag. I say not one penny more to these countries that allow mobs to burn our flag… I think it's unwise to send arms, particularly advanced arms, into the chaos of Egypt. I fear one day that someone may arise in Egypt who says let's attack Israel with these planes. I fear these weapons that we are giving to Egypt may someday be used against America and our allies. Even the Egyptians don't want our aid. There was a Gallup poll last year that showed 70% of Egyptians don't want the money we're sending them. To understand why, you have to understand that American aid doesn't go to the Egyptian people. It goes to the despots and the dictators that run the place.

So is what Rand Paul saying actually true? Is the money we are sending over there actually just going into the pockets and military of dictators and despots?

Well considering that most of the aid is in the form of jets, tanks and military spending I think it's safe to say that the average Egyptian doesn't get much out of our aid. In fact, 1.3 million dollars of aid is sent to Egypt in military spending, that's 87% of the total aid going to this foreign country. Another 250 million is sent in economic aid to be spent on things such as healthcare, education and democratic processes.

Once again, why are we sending so much money to foreign countries (Egypt is not the only one getting aid at this level) when we could be using that money to fix this country? When Detroit collapsed, did it suddenly become my generation's responsibility to pay for foreign nations AND the resurrection of American cities and states? Unfortunately for my generation, yes it did. Taxes are simply going to increase rather than having the government restructure taxes and spending.

I don't think this is a matter of big government vs small government right now considering liberals seem to be the ones clamouring for a smaller military budget and more money spent here at home. This is a matter of pushing the imbeciles of Congress out of the way and working to improve our nation as is. That means stopping unneeded foreign aid, shutting down borders, improving education, pushing for more jobs and pausing ObamaCare's individual mandate.

"Woah, There Playa, You Sure You Want That Gender?"

We have a new baby this week! (Supposedly only one baby was born this week, given all the news coverage) Anyway, so British Royalty has birthed itself another heir to the throne. A king at tha- excuse me, my producer just told me that we shouldn't assign this new baby boy a royal titl- oh, wait, I can't say "boy" either? Ok, well I guess we shouldn't put this baby (is that an okay classification?) under the "pressure" of being a 'prince' yet, should we? That would just be horrible!

What exactly are we supposed to refer to this baby-born-with-the-genitalia-of-the-male-kind?

So, this week, people have taken to Twitter and other social media to chastise the Royal Couple for recognizing that their baby is in fact a boy, therefore a son and therefore a prince/ king. Others attack the media for attaching a "gender identity" to this newest member of royalty in Britain. These are just some of the fun, thought provoking tweets:

Has anyone asked the baby's opinion on it's gender? #RoyalBaby

Everyone keeps saying "It is a boy" but we won't really know until the child announces which gender they will identify as, right?

ISN'T IT A BIT TOO EARLY TO IMPOSE GENDER ROLES TO IT ALREADY?

It may be a boy - depends on how they choose to express their gender if at all

eh please do not try and force a gender on the royal baby already plz 

As if these weren't good enough, we have some people who not only think it's up to Kate Middleton to decide the baby's sex, but are rooting for the kid to be a Queen:

Birth of the #RoyalBaby exposes the media's love of patriarchy and #GenderConformity. I'm hoping Wills & Kate have a healthy trans baby.

Still could be future Queen. If he's lucky. #RoyalBabyBoy

Okay, so the #royalbaby's not a girl. Can I hold out hope he turns out to be gay or gender non-conforming? Otherwise, I'm bored now.

#RoyalBaby is a boy... Way to let #Feminism down Kate! Could have had a girl third in line to the throne, instead it's a sausage party. 

Anyway, enough from the twitter-heads.

Producer aside, we now have a new baby boy who is Prince of England and heir to the throne. I, for one, hope that he thrives into a healthy prince and someday King of England and does just what his great grandmother has done and keeps Britain as an ally of these United States and a formidable player in the world at large.

Congratulations to Prince William and Kate, Queen Elizabeth II, London and all of England.

One more tweet for y'all:

I think we should let the baby decide it's own name and gender #RoyalBaby

Derailing the Team's Train or Legit Concerns with Management?

Contracts are a tricky thing for many sports fans to understand. To most of us, one million dollars a year for five years would be a nice salary to go out and play a sport we love, heck most of us would do it for half that. However, when it comes to professional athletes, one million is often a small number for stars.

The average salary for Americans is around 32.4 thousand a year. It is almost laughable how much of a shadow professional sports put over that average. The average salary for a professional male golfer is just under one million. The average NHL salary is around 1.5 million. NFL players average 1.75 million every season. Then the average takes a big jump for baseball up to an average of 3.4 million a year. The largest average comes in at a whopping 5 million for NBA players.

Of course, those are just the averages. In the MLB, Alex Rodriguez rakes in $29 million a season from the Yankees. Four of Forbes "Highest-Paid Baseball Players 2013" are members of the Yankees staff (A-Rod, Derek Jeter, C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira) totaling just over 100 million dollars, that's just under half of their entire team salary ($203 million).

During the All Star Break, a small controversy from last season was brought to the forefront again in the Cincinnati Red's clubhouse: Brandon Phillips was put on the backburner by the front office while they went after Joey Votto with almost everything they had. As a veteran player and not one to shy away from media, Brandon said the honest truth.

“I just feel like they didn’t have to sign Joey (Votto) to that contract (10-year, $225-million extension). He still had two more years on his. And for (the front office) to go out there and sign him before they sign me, and they knew I was going to be a free agent? I understand Joey’s a good player. He’s one of the best players in this game. But I feel like I am too. I told them that this is where I wanted to be. I begged them. I told everybody I want to finish my career here. And then they give someone a contract who didn’t ask for nothing?”

“To this day, I’m still hurt. Well, I don’t wanna say hurt. I’ll say scarred. I’m still scarred. It just sucks that it happened, for (Castellini) to sign somebody for $200 million, there must be a new vegetable or fruit coming out that we don’t know about. For him to do something like that and tell me they didn’t have any more money, that’s a lie. But what can I do? I just feel like it was a slap in my face … But how can someone slap you in the face with all that money. It’s a nice slap in the face.”

Some people have come out and attacked Phillips for being a "crybaby" while others say he is slapping the fans in the face by saying that that 75 million dollar contract is a slap in the face.

However, I think he raises a valid point. Why was Joey sought after with such force when his contract was not about to expire and Brandon was left with the "scraps" from that deal when he was about to enter into free agency?

Before I dive into the heart of that question I want to say that I am a huge fan of both of these men. They are both tremendous athletes and quality guys. Both of them are talented and sure to be Hall of Famers down the road. These two players compliment each other better than any other 3-4 combination I've seen.

Now, as to why did Joey receive almost 150 million more than Brandon? Was it simply because first basemen are often the ones making the most money on any team? According to BusinessInsider.com, the top five first basemen make an average of 22.1 million a year whereas the top five second basemen are making 14.1 million.

Put aside the averages of the top positions for a second and look at the two players simply as athletes.

It is feasible to argue that Brandon Phillips is at the top of his position defensively. He is also so athletic that he can play shortstop, third base and the outfield if called upon (although I don't think he has ever played the OF in the majors). He is also one of the most entertaining athletes in the game making unbelievable plays all season, every season.
As can be seen by his numbers this year, batting fourth in the Reds lineup, Phillips is a guy who approaches the plate looking for any way to get runners across the plate. He won't hit for a high average (he owns a .273 average on his career) but he will put the bat on the ball and get runners home.

As for Joey, we have a premier first baseman. He's committed just 48 errors in his career and owns a .993 career fielding percentage. He's picked up some of the style and flair that his counterpart at second shows everyday and is routinely able to make double plays or catch a stray throw that would get by lesser first basemen.
His approach at the plate is far from what Brandon does though. He looks to get on base anyway possible and, from time to time, take the ball yard. He will hit for a high average (.316 career), get on base from walks more than he will plate runners (72 BB per year) and is a power hitter at first (launching an average of 21 bombs a year).

After this analysis of the top two Reds players (excluding pitchers) in the franchise right now, let's revisit the question: Why was Joey sought after with such force when his contract was not about to expire and Brandon was left with the "scraps" from that deal when he was about to enter into free agency?
We know that the top first basemen make almost 8 million more a year than the top second basemen which fits into the salary of these two (Brandon makes 10 million a year while Joey makes 18.9 million).
Because the market for first basemen is so high, it only makes sense that Votto would get a bigger contract than Phillips. However, how much bigger and longer should that contract be?
After looking at the two players, I would argue that Brandon should be making around that 14 million mark while Joey should be around 20 million. Of course this would mean a shorter contract for Votto that would look similar to Brandon's (6 years) possibly around seven or eight years instead of ten.

Of course, as a currently unemployed college student, $75 million over six years doesn't sound like a bad deal, but that's not the point. If you want to compare the two contracts you have to forget about your own situation and even about the money entirely. Is Joey Votto really better than Brandon Phillips by 200%*? For that matter is Joey Votto even 65%** better than Brandon Phillips?

I'll let you answer those questions yourself, but for Joey's part, he remained completely professional and understanding after hearing Brandon's comments.

From what I gathered, Brandon’s reaction was totally human. It’s a feeling I’ve felt before, it’s a feeling most people have felt before.

Brandon’s a teammate I’ve played with six, seven years now and I love playing with him. I really have an immense amount of respect for him. Those comments have nothing to do with me. It doesn’t change a single thing, it makes me like him more, to be honest with you. Not many players are very honest, usually they give catch phrases, similar to what I’m doing right now. He’s a refreshing guy because he is honest and he does tell people how he feels. You can tell how he feels in that given moment and that’s a great thing. It’s great playing with someone like that. Variety is the spice of life and I love playing with Brandon.

The smiles and the high-fives and everything we share on the field are genuine. That’s how we feel about each other. That’s how it’s going to be going forward. We play together for this city, we’re tied together because of our contracts, because of the uniform we wear and because of the championship we’re trying to seek out for Cincinnati. I know Brandon feels that way and I feel that way also. That’s really all that matters.

Now, let's get back to baseball and make the push for October after the All Star Break.

Side note: 37 days until College Football! Who's excited?

*The percent of Brandon's contract that Joey is getting (6 years 75 million vs 10 years 225 million)
**The approximate percentage of Brandon's contract that Joey will be getting over 6 years (6 years 75 million vs 6 years approx. 124 million)

Off the Court and Into Port

In the past five days we have all heard about a North Korean ship attempting to hide "sophisticated" missile parts as they passed through the Panama Canal, a Judge in Texas being shot and Jodi Arias being back in court, right? Or did you only hear about the difference between 'nigg*' and 'nigg*r', the "fact" that George Zimmerman is white and Al Sharpton pushing for civil rights charges against Zimmerman? If you've heard about all six of these, thank you, I commend you for being an active citizen and you can probably stop reading. If you haven't heard about the first three but have heard the other three, well that might not be your fault... completely. If you haven't heard about any of this, well I will just assume you were in a coma, really drunk or live under a rock...

So, why is the country and media making a huge deal out the tragic death of Trayvon Martin after the man that killed him was acquitted of all charges? Why are there death threats being made to Zimmerman? Why were many cities from coast to coast up-in-arms after hearing about this verdict? What made the State of Florida v Zimmerman the "must-see" case of the year? Why was it so important that it took up the news channels for most of three days?

I have only one answer that isn't even a definite answer: people have listened to outrageous exaggerations of the truth pushed by those in power. Yes, Obama, I'm looking at you. You have no reason to involve yourself in state murder/ manslaughter cases. You have no reason to pull crap about gun control into this situation. If you are going to address this case, in the very least you should say something about Zimmerman being acquitted, but why would you do that when you can "honor Trayvon Martin" by pushing your gun control agenda? (Also, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson should look to Allen West for some quality leadership...)

Anyway, what I would really like to talk about is this North Korean-Panamanian fiasco. So there's this ship that left Cuba and headed for the Panama Canal. Naturally, the Panama government flagged this ship as a suspected drug-carrying vessel. The ship was brought into port and Panama began to search the ship. Then, the captain of this ship decided it would be best for him to kill himself and the crew decided it was in their best-interest to start rioting. This, of course, raised concern by the leaders of the Panama search crew as they began taking sugar out of the cargo. Suddenly, they discovered containers that are suspected to contain missile parts.

The President of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, came and tweeted pictures of the missile containers. Martinelli has declared that he and the Panamanian government will not allow for undeclared weapons to be transported through the Panama Canal and they will be taking an increased interest in the shipping between Cuba and North Korea.

The ship, Chong Chon Gang, has been suspected by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute of arms trafficking for some years. In 2009, the ship was attacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia. In 2010, the same ship was stopped in the Ukraine. Chong Chon Gang has been caught trafficking drugs and small arms munitions in the past.

Hopefully this was an isolated incident, but the pessimistic-realist in me has to say that this was not a one-time occurrence. Luckily for the entire world, this ship was stopped before it could get back to North Korea, but how many ships have made it through with similar cargo? This is definitely a wakeup call to the entire world that we need to keep a closer eye on suspected arms trafficking.

Back to the regularly scheduled programming... don't forget about the All Star Game tonight!

Keep on Choppin' Atlanta

As many other fans of the greatest pastime in America have done, my father and I have taken on the task of journeying to each field of dreams in this nation (and Toronto). So far we have made it to Cincinnati (both Riverfront and Great American), New York (Citi Field), St. Louis (Busch Stadium), Chicago (Wrigley Field) and, after this past Saturday, Atlanta (Turner Field).

Although I'm loathe to say that it was the best stadium I have been to in my 19 years of baseball-loving life, Turner Field was easily one of the most stunning baseball stadiums that I have ever seen. From the Braves fans and ushers to the accessibility of the stadium and the stunning art and history poured into the stadium, Turner Field is an extremely fun ballpark to go to watch a baseball game.

Braves fans were eager to interact with the out-of-town crowd before the gates even opened. Even after we sat down and were in the seats for near six full innings, a line of Braves fans were extremely courteous as they took their seats and informed my dad and I that we had been sitting one section over from our ticketed seats.
There was little to no animosity between the two teams, although I do have a feeling that there's a bitter taste in their mouth for the NL Central leaders headed into the All Star Break following last season's questionable Wild Card Game.
Also, I have to say that y'all get really excited on strikes, but the Chop, Wave and your "Freeman" chant definitely saved the fans from a big write-off from me. (Nothing against cheering for strikes, but when you cheer on every strike in the first five innings it does get somewhat old)

The ushers were attentive and, other than the friendly jibe, let us off easy for wearing the red and white pullovers and my Brandon Phillips #4 shirt. While the Reds were hitting batting practice, the centerfield ushers were eager to allow fans into the outfield seats in order to catch a homer or vie for Tony Cingrani's attention.

Except for the initial set-back of not being able to get to our seats for some unknown reason, the entire ballpark was an easy walk with ramps available at the two outfield corners and escalators running on the first-base side. Restrooms, something that is extremely important to baseball fans if you don't want to miss a homerun, were plentiful around the stadium and never seemed to be crowded with the 47, 000+ crowd.

The entire stadium was filled with artwork and history of the ball club. Every single season, I believe, was given a season recap on the walls of the stadium before walking to your seating section. The Cocacola cannons on the top level, third-base side, were an instant eye-catcher as I scanned the stadium from my first-base side seat for the first time. The cannons, however, seem to serve no purpose other than to look cool.
The view provided into the city of Atlanta was stunning to say the least. The entire city was visible from the left field corner terrace and three gigantic red seats provided for a good place to settle with any young ones that might need to be kept in eye-sight.
The JumboTron, which featured an amazing review of the Reds and Braves history prior to the start of the game, was a great way to watch the action on the field, get interesting facts about players from both teams and watch the Steve Miller concert after the game.

Cincinnati South, as some Reds fans refer to Atlanta, lived up to the name. Everywhere I turned I could see someone sporting a Reds jersey or Cincinnati ball cap. And on a Saturday that promised an exciting third installment of the four game series, it was no surprise the I-75 caravan was cheering with full-force.

The only complaint that I have with the game had nothing to do with baseball or the stadium. Instead, I just have to question the logic with which the city of Atlanta decided to force most traffic into the downtown streets and forced bumper to bumper traffic after the Steve Miller Post-Game Concert. Is this a regular ritual or something special for this particular Saturday?

All-in-all Turner Field is a great place to go with families and friends to watch a good game between the always fun Braves and any opponent that shows up.