For the Love of Sports

My name is Kirsten, and I'm just your average girl who fell in love with a guy who fell in love with sports.  (Fortunately, it didn't take him too long to fall for me too.)  But first, let's talk about life before I met him.

 I grew up watching the games (mostly baseball and football) with my dad and grandpas on Sunday afternoons or at night before bed.  I grew up going to Phillies games and signing the national anthem at the Trenton Thunder stadium.  I even had season tickets for a few years with my Dad and some friends for the Philadelphia Wings, our indoor Lacrosse team.  I have always been around sports, and I even tried playing a few of them (though not very successfully).

 But even though I never excelled in actually playing sports, I have always enjoyed watching them.  Our Wings tickets were right behind the  penalty box and right down the row from the teams' most enthusiastic fan: "Chopper."  My best friend and I would get so into the action - especially being up that close to the field.  There's something about feeling like you're a part of something bigger than yourself... something about being on a team and feeling all of the emotions that go along with winning and losing.  So this is where I stood on sports.  They were fun to watch, and while I knew about my favorite teams and players, my sports knowledge was pretty limited.  I didn't know a whole lot, and I didn't really have a reason to... until my junior year of high school, that is.

We takin' over! (One ballpark at a time!)

Sunday will mark a monumental occasion for me. I've never been to a ball park outside of Philadelphia. I remember my first game at Veterans Stadium. I went with my championship Little League team Dig'm Installers. There was an Oreo eating contest and we all got mini oreos when we came in ("we all" couldn't have been more than 10,000 fans). I remember seeing Bobby Abreu and Scott Rolen. I think the Phils won that game but to be honest, I'm not sure.

Then I said goodbye to the ole' Vet and said hello to the new fangled Citizen's Bank Park. And it has been a lovely journey ever since. I'll admit I haven't explored all the subtle nuances of "The Bank". I've yet to have a Schmidter. I've yet to get a ball signed during BP. I've yet to boo Jayson Werth when he takes his old position back in right field, only this time during the wrong at bat.

"Yet" being the main word in that last one.

Not the game I want, but the game I've been given

Well, here we go again. The one match-up that I didn't want to see is going down. Baby Faced Eli Manning will face off against Tom Brady and the offensive powerhouse that is the New England Patriots. Again. Yawwwwwn.

As it might be clear to see, I am no fan of this battle. Or at least I wasn't.

My objection to this game isn't hard to guess and it isn't far from other critics'. For one it's a rematch. The story lines are pretty similar. The Giants scrapped through the season just to make it into the playoffs while the Patriots, essentially, breezed through all the way to the big game. Probably one of the NFC's greatest underdogs met up against one of the AFC's perennial favorites. Baby Eli stood up to a titan of the game in Tom Brady. This David and Goliath story turned out with an authentic ending. And Eli is hoping he can pull off another victory.

ESPN High School: What they would have been.

This year, the book, ESPN: Those Guys Have All the Fun, was released. I haven't read it because it's bigger then my head, but I couldn't agree with the premise more. They always look like they're having so much fun. And it reminds me of the most fun days of my life: High School. Me and my friends would have had a blast with some of these guys and gave some good swirlies to some other ones. But if ESPN was one big High School....how would everybody fit in?

Might as well start from the top with

The Principal

Bob Ley

Look at him. So authoritative. He knows this school better then the back of his hand. He's probably interviewed every new student and approved of them too. He's done his time as a student but now he's taking a break. He still does some work every now and then but all in all he's just running the show. Bravo Principal Bob.

The Assistant Principal - Head of discipline

Chris "Boomer" Berman

He might seem like a guy you could have fun with and he definitely is! But he also means business. Hope you don't mind getting yelled at pansy freshman, because this guy can do some yelling! What?! You better watch your tone John Buccigross! You! Might! Go! All! The! Way! To the principal’s office!

Sports Centered: The Phillies Fall and its Effect

Well it happened. The scary possibility I couldn't shake since the beginning of the Post season. The best team in baseball lost an elimination Game 5 to a team who had to claw and scratch to make its way to where they are. The Phillies, in a 3 hit debacle, lost their hopes to become World Series Champions. I really can't explain directly how I feel right now. I'm thinking this is the mood many Philly fans find themselves in now. Let me do my best to list just how I think I feel.

Flying without a Pilot: Washington Quarterback-less plans

It's 2011. The ESPN proclaimed "Year of the Quarterback". Arron Rodgers brought the current champions of football to the Lombardi Trophy despite a core of older veteran receivers and a slew of injuries. Tom Brady is such a great quarterback that he takes 5'9" Deion Branch and Wes Welker and makes them dangerous threats in the backfield. Drew Brees makes his receivers top fantasy prospects who, without him, would be 8th round picks at best. It would seem during this "pass-first" era in the NFL, the Quarterback would naturally be the main gun in any teams arsenal. Even in any era this would seem to be common sense.

So, for yet another season, Washington strives to work against common sense.