Farewell to March...

For a sports fan March is a glorious time of year and this past weekend was the perfect example of this.

A few weeks ago perfect brackets awaited the chaos, but now, with tattered brackets in hand, we had the Elite Eight games for the men's NCAA tournament as well as the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games for the women's tournament to enjoy. Two weeks into the tournament, every team has a story and with close games and continued upsets, every game held heartbreak and triumph. This is what win or go home is all about. This is what happens when every possession and every shot counts.

And then, on this last day of March, Major League Baseball opened its season. After an overseas opening day for the Dodgers and Diamondbacks, top pitchers took to the mound in ballparks all over the league. Overlooking gorgeous outfields of green and flawless infield of dirt, every team started their season with the possibility of winning it all.

And now it is April. The Final Four games will close out the college basketball season, and soon stories will emerge from Major League Baseball of teams over and underachieving, of aging ball players like Jeter and new stars like Trout and Puig. This Dodgers fan will remain optimistic, but I know it's a long time before October.

March ends, and spring and summer stretch out before us. Filled with possibility I will embrace this one shining moment while I can.

Favorite Sports Stories of 2011

Another year of sports is coming to an end. Last year I put together my top ten sports moments but this year I want to focus on the stories so here are my top ten.

10. The NCAA College Football National Championship Game: Yeah, Oregon lost, but it was great to be there. What an amazing experience to get to see the team you love play in the biggest of games.

9. Emerson Middle School Boys Basketball Buzzer Beater: Our boys got to play at the NBA All-Star Jam Session at the Convention Center downtown. They earned there way by winning several close games but the most dramatic was their come from behind victory over Gompers with Jordan hitting a jumper as time expired. "Jordan hits the game-winner!" Has a familiar ring to it, doesn't it?

8. Tim Tebow: I have not been a fan of Tim Tebow but his late game dramatics have been a pretty incredible story to watch and I love the Tebowing phenomenon.

7. Game Six of the MLB World Series: I was not all that excited about watching the Cards and the Rangers in this year's fall classic and at the start of game six, with all those errors, I wondered if either team really wanted it. But with the Cards down and the Rangers a strike away from the title, the Cards come up with the hit. And then they come up with more hits and in the eleventh they win it. And then they win it all. Pretty crazy and I was super happy for former Dodger, Furcal.

6. Matt Kemp's Triple Crown Run: There was not much to cheer for from the empty stands of Dodger Stadium this season. But with a Cy Young pitcher on the mound and Matt Kemp vying for the triple crown, I was still watching our boys in blue this past September. And as Dodger fans say, "Wait 'til next year."

5. Emerson Middle School Boys Flag Football City Championship: Once in a while a special team comes along. Five years ago it was a special Emerson girls basketball team who won the city title and this year our boys' flag football team made an incredible run. They finished their undefeated season with a come-from-behind win on a catch by Jordan with no time on the clock (yes, the same Jordan who hit the game-winning basketball shot at the All-Star Jam Session).

4. Uganda's Little League Team: My hometown of Bend, Oregon made it to the Regionals of the Little League World Series but their story wasn't as powerful as the one from Uganda, a team who never made it to the Little League World Series because of paperwork discrepancies. They are still playing baseball in Uganda and there is no doubt we will see them in Williamsport one of these summers.

3. VCU V. Butler at the Final Four: When Number 11 seed Virginia Commonwealth was set to play against Number 8 seed Butler I didn't know which Cinderella to root for. But after watching VCU coach Shaka Smart getting his team fired up with his Iron Man drill, I knew who I was pulling for. 

2. The Japanese Women's World Cup Soccer Team: A devastating earthquake and tsunami, and a bunch of short soccer-playing girls. Yeah, I wanted them to upset the Americans in the World Cup Final and when it came down to PKs, Hope Solo couldn't make the save. A few key misses handed Japan the crown and I'll just try to forget all of the racist slurs that cluttered the twitterverse shortly thereafter.

1. The Final Day of the MLB Regular Season: Okay, so the scenarios on the final day: Boston and Tampa Bay were in a dead heat for the AL Wild Card, and Atlanta and St. Louis both still had a shot at the NL Wild Card. When the Braves lost to the Philllies, the Cards watched and waited after their own victory over Houston and then celebrated Atlanta's collapse. Then, in the course of moments, with the Rays down 7 in the eighth against the Yankees, it looked like the Sox had slammed the brakes on their fall skid, but then they blew the lead, and the Rays walked off on an Evan Longoria homer. The Red Sox were eliminated ending an incredible final day of the regular season.

Going Back After 9/11

D and I joke that we belong to the church of baseball, but in September of 2001 baseball, like the rest of the sporting world, came to stunned halt. The attacks on 9/11 left so many of us shocked and scared and in the need of healing. So when baseball started up again, D and I made our way to Dodger Stadium.

From the stands above the field on that cool fall night, we watched the familiar palm trees sway in the outfield. We looked out on the sage hills of Chavez Ravine as the sky glowed like stained glass. Vin Scully’s voice cracked and echoed into the stadium and a hush spread across the crowd.  That steady, familiar voice calmed me as Vin's put the week's event in perspective.

Then, LA firefighters and police officers joined Dodger and Padre players unfurling a flag across the length of the outfield. We took a moment of silence and in that quiet, a quiet like none I’ve ever heard in Los Angeles, void of helicopters or planes in the distance, words, whistles or coughs, I saw how our country, our world, could come together again.  Among the crowd of 42,000 under empty LA skies, the ruffle of the American flag served as the backdrop to all the images of the past week and that night, I looked down through the twilight and thanked God for baseball.

Offense or Defense?

So, despite this Nike ad from a few years back...



I love defense and pitching. Home runs happen all the time but a great catch at the wall, a super-smooth double-play, a perfect game, a no-hitter, those keep me coming to the ballpark (particularly since Chipotle no longer gives two-for-one burritos for homers at Dodger Stadium).

I did marry a guy who once pitched a perfect game, but what do you prefer in baseball? Do you dig the long ball like Heather Locklear or is your favorite part of Baseball Tonight the Webgems?

Offense or defense? What say you?

Matt Kemp Redeux

At my first preseason game at Dodger Stadium this spring I noticed something different. First I noted the things that hadn't changed: the beauty of Chavez Ravine, the smell of garlic fries and Dodger Dogs. But then I noticed something different: a player, warming up away from fray. He was on his own and focused. He didn't join his teammates when we stood for the National Anthem. He simply removed his cap, watched the flag and then resumed his warm-ups. Huh. That's different, I thought. Hopefully Matt Kemp will be different this season.

So far, he has been. He's stealing bases, running out infield ground balls and hitting walk-off homers. Welcome back to baseball, Matt Kemp. We've missed you. 

It's Time for Dodger Baseball!

A Dodgers tagxedo for opening day.

Top Ten Sports Moments in 2010

I'll admit, a list of my least favorite sports moments of the year might have been easier to write with 2010 starting off with an Oregon loss to THE Ohio State Buckeyes at the Rose Bowl, and The Giants winning the World Series, but sprinkled among those low points were some great sports moments. 

10.  Getting the chance to visit Wimbledon.

9.  The sound of Vuvuzelas and watching a World Cup match with thousands of soccer fans in Paris. 

8.  The Saints' on-side kick to start the half and Drew Brees holding his son under a shower of confetti after winning the Super Bowl.

7.  A televised Oregon football spring game that was a hint of the season to come. 

6.  Watching Zenyatta's 18th victory.

5.  As a chick who digs defense and pitching (not just the long ball), The Year of the Pitcher was great to watch.

4.  The way Armando Galarraga handled being robbed of a perfect game by Jim Joyce.

3.  The Jets on Hard Knocks and actually having a favorite NFL team.

2.  A crazy college football game in Nevada between Boise State and UNR.  Bummer for that kicker though.

1.  Oregon's 12-0 football season.  It's stressful being the fan of a contender.  Let's hope 2011 starts off better for the Ducks than 2010 did.

There were a few other big moments... that super long match at Wimbledon, Vick coming back at the Meadowlands, the Yankees losing to Texas, Cam Newton's smile... got any favorites?

ESPN's 30 for 30 Series: Required Watching

I know there's a whole lot of sports to watch right now with the MLB LCS, along with college and NFL football, but if you are a sports fan and you haven't started recording ESPN's documentary series 30 for 30, you should.  I arrived a little late to the show and still have a few to catch up on, but here are my favorites so far.

Run Ricky Run A thoughtful look at the complexities of Ricky Williams.

June 17, 1994  I'm sure this date rings a bell.  The Knicks were playing the Rockets in the NBA Finals, the US was hosting the FIFA World Cup, and Arnold Palmer was ending his career, but none of us could turn away from OJ Simpson's white Bronco. This film has the footage to prove it. 

The Two Escobars  This is the film I imagine Entourage's fictional Medellin could have been.  It illuminates the lives and deaths of Columbian soccer player Andres Escobar, and the drug lord Pablo Escobar.

Guru of Go  LMU, Paul Westhead, Hank Gathers, Bo Kimble, and a left-handed free-throw that still brings tears to my eyes. 

Four Days in October  Remember when the Red Sox were a team of playful, lovable idiots, cursed for 80-some years?  Remember when you felt for Red Sox and sympathized with their bad luck before they became almost as annoying as Yankees fans? Here are the four unbelievable days that changed Red Sox Nation forever.

Wait 'Til Next Year

Even though the Dodgers haven't won or played in a world series since I've lived in LA, I'm realizing how spoiled I've been over the past few years.  We've been to the stadium a couple of times this past month and D still has tickets to a couple of games this September.  We'll go, enjoy Chavez Ravine, eat some Dodger dogs and peanuts, but we know what we've known since the start of August-- it's over.

There will be no Steve Finley play-off clinching grand-slam like in 2004, no magical September evening with back-to-back-to-back-to-back homeruns topped by a Nomar walk-off like in 2006.  No win streak is coming from Manny being Manny (at least not in LA) and Andre Ethier's late inning heroics will be unable to salvage this season.

So this Dodger fan, like so many generations of Brooklyn and Los Angeles fans before me, will be heading for the ballpark knowing once again we'll have to wait 'til next year.

Welcome to Dodger Stadium

There are so many great things about going to the ballpark and this past week I got to spend two consecutive nights in Chavez Ravine at Dodger Stadium. It's early is the season but the Dodgers are off to a rough start. They've lost every road series and head back to LA after dropping 2 of 3 to the Nationals and being swept by the Mets.

They're happy to be home and I'm happy to be driving to the Stadium for the first time this season. I sit with students, families and colleagues from the Emerson Sports Academy high above left field as the wind whips through the stadium. The Dodgers, however, continue to play like they're still on the road. The Pirates score 2 on a Matt Kemp error in the first and neither team scores for the rest of the night. All of those zeros lined up on the scoreboard depress me but for many of my middle school students, this is their first Dodger game and even though the home team loses 0-2, being there is enough.

The next night a friend hooks us up with field level seats just behind the dugout club. It's UCLA night at the stadium so I get to look over Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's shoulder at the Dodgers warming up in the on-deck circle. The wind dies down and before the sun sets the Dodgers score two and don't trail for the rest of the night.

I'm off to the Ravine for another game tonight and the great thing about baseball is that anything can happen. You never know what might happen on any given night, on any given pitch. It's what keeps me watching even when my team hovers below .500. You never know what you're going to see so you better pay attention or you just might miss something amazing.

Opening Day

D isn't worried about getting to bed on time tonight. He's sick and tomorrow he won't be able to show up to work. This seems to happen to him most opening days at Dodger Stadium. D gets sick every year around this time. Poor guy. Imagine the luck?

Me? Thanks. I feel fine. I'll be at work, dreaming of green outfield grass, the smell of Dodger Dogs and garlic fries and the dust of dry-roasted peanuts between my fingers as our boys take the field.

So, Dodger fans, have fun at the game and catch a foul ball for me.