July Baseball

Every sport has moments of receiving undivided attention from its fans. We can usually assume this attention is most aptly given on opening day of a new season. For college football, it's late August. The NFL, it's early September, NBA it's late October and so on. But let me focus on baseball for a moment.

Each new baseball season I make a promise to myself: This is the year when I will follow baseball from April to October, no exceptions. April begins, and I watch eagerly as the first televised contest of the season takes place. The uniforms, the well-manicured field, the distinct noise of wood colliding with the ball, all give me confidence this is going to be the season when my baseball stamina reaches its pinnacle. April, May, and June pass. I am usually on pace, if not exceeding my expectations to fulfill the promise. Aside from paying close attention to MLB standings, I have every relevant pithcer's ERA memorized, a list of batting averages compiled on hand just in case a coworker, friend, or family member wants to discuss possible batting-title candidates. I scour for information on my favorite team's Triple-AAA, Double-AA, and even Single-A affiliate, hoping to discover the next young player who'll be wearing a big league uniform. I watch Saturday baseball, feast on boxscore updates online, try unsuccessfully to convince my wife to pay for XM radio just to hear my team's radio broadcasts. I am so engrossed those first three months that I'm convinced if you give me the whispering voice, I'll be ready to build it. And then hits July.

Ironically, July would seem the month when baseball is most easily followed. The NBA playoffs were just completed along with the draft and training camp for football is still a month away. Yet, despite baseball standing alone in July as the only major sport playing relevant games, that's when my interest most wanes. It has nothing to do with the game itself, that will never be the problem. But there's something depressing about the fact that after three months of rigorous dedication, pouring myself over meaningless statistics, July 1 hits, and I realize, there are still 80 games left to play and another four months of baseball to follow.

It's reminiscent of the time I broke down and decided to humor my wife with an episode of the Bachelorette. Because of the rarity of the moment I promised to be on my best behavior. That meant no rolling of the eyes, no mock laughter, keeping my eyes steady and concentrated when witnessing an emotional or romantic display. For dramatic effect, I even practiced my best ooooooh! for when a soft kiss or gentle rub of the cheek took place. With these pre-determined rules in place, I readied myself for the beginning of the show. At first, I felt a bit uncomfortable. Without any mannerisms to display my emotional disgust, how was I to reaffirm any masculinity I possessed to myself? To my wife? To other men? Then I got roped in. I couldn't believe Trent would give his kidney to an ailing niece. How could my Bachelorette deny such kindness? Plus, did you see Kevin's family? A bunch of kooks, if you ask me. No one would dare marry into that family, would they? Or wouldn't they? Bachelorette did seem a bit on the wild side. A few minutes passed, which meant a commercial break. The network showed a clip of things to come and to my horror, I discovered my Trent and the despised Kevin were only two of eight other men vying for the heart of Bachelorette. Which meant another six weeks to see if Trent was the one. I had been betrayed. How was I supposed to attach myself emotionally to eight other men? Wait, something doesn't sound right in that sentence. Point is, one week of Bachelorette appeasement I could handle. Maybe even enjoy. But another six weeks? That's impossible. This man just isn't wired that way.

And so it goes with baseball. I do love it. The game has a purity few can match, but even this sports-obsessed fan can't stay tuned for a full season. And it's all July's fault. Or a ridiculously long season's. My advice to those seeking baseball longevity closure: Wait until October. Then you have only two teams to follow. And chances are the one team you've committed yourself to emotionally, physically (and to some of you even spiritually) all season, won't be in a position to betray you in the end.

NBA Draft 2008

Well, my mid-summer Christmas experience known to most as the NBA draft (2008) has come and gone. The myriad potential trades mentioned before the draft didn't exactly come to fruition, but there was plenty of movement on draft day including big names such as O.J. Mayo (from Minnesota to Memphis), Kevin Love (Memphis to Minny), Jerryd Bayless (Indiana to Portland) and the latest green room slide, Darrell Arthur (from Portland, to Houston, to Memphis). After looking over the draft and analyzing who was picked where, I've compiled a list of sleepers. Some of these names have potential to have immediate impact, while others may take a few years to vindicate my projections.

1. Jason Thompson (Sacramento Kings): Thompson was the most maligned lottery pick by our beloved "experts" who claim his success playing against subpar competition (Rider University) makes his NBA ability hard to gauge. Normally, I would concur, but Thompson clearly has all of the physical tools and heady skills to be a fantastic PF at the NBA level. He's got size 6'11, 250, with scoring and rebounding ability (20.2 PPG, 12.4 RPG ). He also averaged nearly three blocks per game, exhibitng a penchant to create havoc on the defensive end. Sure, he put up numbers against smaller, lesser-skilled competition. But what team would better know how to gauge the ability of a small school prospect than the Sacramento Kings, which already hit it big with starting SG Kevin Martin out of tiny Western Carolina University?

2. J.J. Hickson (Cleveland Cavaliers): Potential work ethic issues aside, J.J. Hickson is one of the most impressive physical speciemens in the draft. He's rock chiseled at 6'9 almost 250 lbs, and only 19 years old. He can score with his back to the basket, and face up to hit the fifteen foot jumper. His game is eerily similar to that of Carlos Boozer, except with quicker lateral movement. Many teams worried about Hickson's dedication to developing his game, but something tells me a guy named LeBron James won't let him waste his outstanding potential.

3. Nicolas Batum (Portland Trailblazers): Batum was picked originally by Houston at 25. The Rockets then later traded him to Portland for the rights of Darrell Arthur and Joey Dorsey. Once a perceived high lottery pick, most scouts and draft analysts became disenchanted with Batum after his incosistent play in the French Pro A league. His numbers don't do much to impress (12.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG), but to watch him play, it's clear he's got superstar ability. He's long at 6'8 and can play multiple poistions (SG, SF). He can shoot from all over the court, and was blessed with exceptional athleticism that allows him to get to the hoop. He's the perfect eventual sidekick to Brandon Roy and all it will take is for the Blazers be patient until he develops into a relevant contributor.

4. Darrell Arthur (Memphis Grizzlies): Arthur may have been drafted late in the first round, but make no mistake, he's got top-ten ability. Reports surfaced that Arthur's slide dealt with an erroneus report of his suffering from an undisclosed kidney ailment. The Grizzlies reap the benefits as the ultra-athletic forward will now be its starting PF for years to come. He's a bit slender at 6'8 216 lbs, but in the evolving, breakneck paced NBA, his slight frame could become an advantage. With Arthur playing next to Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo and 2007 Ohio St. phenom, Mike Conley Jr., the future--for once--looks bright in Memphis.

5. Mario Chalmers (Miami Heat): It's impossible not to mention the miracle maker himself when compiling a list of possible sleepers in this draft, especially since he inexplicably fell into the second round. Chalmers may have been forced to sacrifice the most in terms of his PG abilites when buying into the "ultimate team" concept administered by coach Bill Self and his fellow Jayhawks, en route to winning the 2008 NCAA championship. Chalmers has always had PG ability, most exemplified through his outstanding assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.25. Defensively, he is as pesky as they come as he never averaged less than 3.3 SPG. At 6'1 Chalmers has incredile length (6'8 wingspan) that allows him to get his hands into passing lanes and take advantage of the opposition. If Chalmers improves his ball handling, he could end up being the biggest steal in this draft.