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Henry Aaron – The Forgotten Home Run Champion

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:03:42 +0000

I kind of feel bad for Henry Aaron. He was an incredible home-run hitter in his time and for decades held the home run record with 755 career home runs. He passed Babe Ruth’s record on April 8, 1974 when he hit his 715th home run at home in Atlanta. He went on to hit several more in the next two (and final) years of his career and his record stood long past his retirement until Barry Bonds broke it three decades later in 2007. Some baseball purists don’t believe Barry actually broke the record because of his alleged steroid use, but that’s another matter entirely.

The reason I feel sorry for Hammerin’ Hank Aaron is that despite his incredible achievement, he never really got the attention he deserved. For many, Babe Ruth was a revered player and the mere notion that someone would beat his long-standing home run record was inconceivable. There was a lot of hatred towards Aaron when he chased the record, and unfortunately a lot of it was because he was an African American.

One of my favorite stories about Hank Aaron took place during the 1957 World Series. Yogi Berra, the catcher for the New York Yankees, noticed that Hank Aaron was holding the bat the wrong way. “Turn it around,” he told him, “so you can see the trademark.” But Hank ignored him, keeping his eye on the pitcher’s mound. “Didn’t come up here to read. Came up here to hit.” was his reply.

SuperBowl Thoughts

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:24:59 +0000

Did you watch this SuperBowl this year? Who didn’t really? I was rooting for the NY Giants to win and it was wonderful to see Eli Manning really come into his own. I think he proved once and for all that he is an elite quarterback. It was such a nice touch that he played a great game in the same stadium that really belongs to his big brother.

I thought Tom Brady also played well, but the Patriots were simply outmatched by the Giants. Again. It’s gotta be frustrating to be a New England Patriots fan. First because they keep losing to the same team. But second because it’s New York.

I’m also not usually one for halftime shows but I thought Madonna rocked. She’s getting older but she still knows how to put on a show. I was able to convince my little brother to tear his eyes away from Poptropica long enough to check her performance out. He has no appreciation for the standout singing and dancing skills of the original Material Girl, but I think he still liked the show.

Texas Rangers One Victory Away

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:29:54 +0000

I’m pretty jazzed up about the next game in the World Series. I am a bit of a Texas Rangers fan and they’re leading the series 3-2. I don’t want to jinx things because I often do that. I get pretty excited about a team or a game and then they go and lose it! But the game will be played tonight after last night’s rainout and we’ll see Lewis pitching against Garcia. It’s been a close series and the pitching tonight will be good. So I think it comes down to which team will capitalize best on the opportunities they get. Isn’t that always the way it goes in games like this?

In the meantime, since the game got rained out, I spent my time last night checking out a new game on Facebook called CastleVille. It looks pretty good and I read about it on this CastleVille cheats site I found. It’s going to be just like CityVille and FarmVille but in a fantasy castle setting. With princesses and stuff. Normally that’s not my style, but the game looks like a lot of fun and I’ll check it out when it is released.

College Football is Underway

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 06:12:33 +0000

So glad to see that the college football season is finally underway. This off-season has been filled with so much scandal and bad news that it’s been sickening. Some of it was overblown, but there are definitely problems at the schools that need to be addressed. We’ve got to remember that college football is supposed to be about the game and not the freak sideshow of the money. But that might just be wishful thinking. Anyway, it’s nice to turn on ESPN this weekend and just see the games being played and not endless spin and news from the ADs at the schools or the analysis of all that’s bad in the sport. Finally we can just watch some football and (hopefully) move on!

Baseball and the World Series

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 05:41:28 +0000

I have to admit I’m not really a huge baseball fan anymore. I used to be but I think the whole steroids scandal turned me off completely. But I am getting back into it because the players are clean now and the game is getting fun to watch. I’m really excited about this year’s World Series because it features two teams that haven’t won in a very long time. In the case of the Texas Rangers, they’ve never won and the San Francisco Giants may have won as a franchise, but they’ve never delivered a championship to their beautiful city by the baby. So no matter what happens this year, a whole bunch of fans are really going to be happy. It’s been a great year for baseball, that’s for sure.

Hello world!

Sun, 26 Sep 2010 07:50:40 +0000

Hi and welcome to my personal blog about sports, competition and the drive to be a champion. I’ll be filling it with stories about sports, both personal and inspirational. Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy it!

When I’m not blogging about sports, I’m usually playing them. I love all kinds of team sports, especially volleyball and soccer. I’ll also play flag football from time to time. I also like to chill out with some individual sports like long-distance running. Even though I’m pretty athletic and outgoing, I’m also a bit of a nerd and love to work on the computer. I can’t program but I do like to write and I have a thing for computer games, especially the Facebook games because they don’t eat up a lot of time. Anyone got any good Adventure World cheats or CityVille cheats? LOL.

I’m also a bit of a nutrition freak and try to eat healthy whenever I can. Lately I’ve been following the 4-Hour Body diet for fat loss, which revolves around a slow carb diet. It’s pretty good and keeps me feeling energetic. But I do slip up from time to time. My weakness is fondue.