Tag Archives: baseball

Make some noise

Posted on February 10, 2013 | Leave a comment

Why is golf the only sport with an official clap?

I spent a couple of hours this afternoon watching the AT&T Pro-Am Tourney — yes, I enjoy watching golf on TV — and every time I heard the audience applaud at a shot in the fairway or on the green, their polite approval was oddly soothing.

And it made me wonder: why doesn’t football or baseball or basketball have a signature clap?

True, many teams have organized cheers — and cheerleaders for that matter — but you’d think these staples of the American sports calendar would have claps that were as instantly recognizable as the ‘golf clap.’

But then again, maybe pro golfers are wondering why they don’t have cheerleaders.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Life, Sports, Television, TV

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fog City fate

Posted on February 1, 2013 | Leave a comment

My history as a good luck charm in the sporting world is well-documented.

I’ve logged assists for Kansas City, Boston and New York baseball and football teams in their successful bids for World Series and Super Bowl championships.

san fran union squareAnd although my stay today in San Francisco’s Union Square neighborhood is a scant 12 hours in length, I fear it has made the outcome of Sunday’s game a foregone conclusion.

I haven’t followed pro football at all this year.  In fact, the only game I have viewed was San Francisco’s win over the Patriots in early January.

Now I find myself in the City by the Bay mere hours before the Super Bowl.  I’m not sure anything the teams throw at each other will affect my good luck one-two punch.

Sorry, Baltimore.  I know not what I do.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Commentary, Humor, Life, Sports

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Date night

Posted on August 28, 2012 | Leave a comment

Definitives are dangerous. Absolutes? An abomination. And yet I sit here, prepared to name (key the reverb)…

The Ultimate Date Movie of All Time.

Why now?  Because it was on TV while I was eating lunch today. And I watched it….yet again. And cried…yet again.

And did I mention it was a baseball movie?

My friends and family will not be surprised by my choice.  I often champion For Love of the Game when movie debates take a male / female, he-said / she-said turn.

What other movie has it all?  Such meaty relationship “stuff” for girls (and boys) who want to spend two hours pondering love and all its highs, lows, recoveries and gut-wrenching blows?  Add the story of a baseball player, poised to pitch a perfect game and perhaps say good-bye to the sport that he has lived and loved for almost two decades?

Come on.

Even if you don’t like the game, this movie will have you cheering each time he steps up to the mound.  And if you don’t shed a tear or two, well –

No doubt you’re trying to look tough in front of your girlfriend.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Commentary, Entertainment, Love, Movies, Relationships

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sporting chance

Posted on July 27, 2012 | Leave a comment

I grew up in a small town and attended an even smaller school.  The only organized team sports offered were baseball and basketball.

I played neither in an organized fashion.

Television helped me discover the universe of sports that lie outside my direct experience.  Inspired a too-tall girl to tumble when Nadia hit her perfect 10′s in gymnastics. Created a passion for ice skating in a Southern gal who didn’t often see snow.  Made an avid golf and tennis fan out of a someone with no obvious hand-eye coordination.

Took a non-athlete…and gave them a passion for sport.

Despite all its evils, its shortcomings, its failings — today I celebrate television for bringing me athletics in all its many forms….and showing me the world outside my small town at the same time.

The Olympics Opening Ceremonies are tonight, baby!

Can. Not. Wait.

Bring it, London.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Commentary, Entertainment, Life, Olympics, Sports, Television, TV

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Three strikes

Posted on June 25, 2012 | 2 Comments

No doubt — John Irving wrote it better.

In A Prayer for Owen Meany, a woman gets hit by a baseball, dies, and her son and the boy who hit the killer ball remain best friends throughout their lives.

When it happens in real life, folks are a bit more litigious.

A New Jersey woman who was struck in the face by a baseball is suing the 11-year old catcher who hit her for medical costs and negligence.  Her husband is filing a separate suit for the loss of “services, society and consortium” of his wife.

The total damages?  Close to $500,000.

The catcher’s family, who says they can’t afford the jury trial the woman has demanded, thinks Little League Baseball should help defray court costs since the accident took place during a sanctioned warm-up.

I think they should call Irving.  Maybe he can do a rewrite and give this story some heart.

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Books, Children, Commentary, Family, Games, Humor, Life, Relationships, Sports, Summer, Writing

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Deja vu

Posted on February 6, 2012 | 1 Comment

The following post is a re-edit of a Sticky Egg blog entry dated November 5, 2009.  The names have been changed, but let’s face it…

No one is innocent here.

I’m sorry, Philadelphia Boston.  I didn’t mean to.

When I moved to New York City three five years ago, I had hoped being a sports team ‘good luck charm’ would help the Mets, but alas — the Yankees Giants won…again.

Even though my powers are extremely strong — and are becoming more legendary by the day– I’ve never had much control over them.

They first surfaced in Kansas City in 1992.  Mere weeks after I moved there, Joe Montana signed with the Chiefs.  Kansas City didn’t win a Super Bowl under Joe, but they were definitely post-season contenders.

I moved to Boston in 2000 and lived there for six years.  I think we all know the impact I had there.  Two World Series wins for the famously denied Boston Red Sox.  The Patriots win the Super Bowl not once, not twice, but three times.

But the minute I moved to New York City — we’re talking, I’d been in town just a couple of months — the New York Giants win the Super Bowl, defeating the New England Patriots.

Ouch.

My power is infinite and brutal and — with the Yankees’ World Series win just last night now that the Giants have handed the Patriots their second defeat — impossible to target.

I’m starting to wonder who’s behind my powers, and more importantly — what city is gonna pay me for them?

Chicago, I’m in the book.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Comedy, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Life, Sports, Television, TV

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Beantown

Posted on August 23, 2011 | 1 Comment

I’m having a Boston feel good kinda morning.

Rory Dog and I are in town this week and started revisiting our old haunts today.

Nothing is more fun than watching that 13-year old puppy race into the Public Garden and Boston Commons.  He takes the same paths, checks out the same squirrel trees — even pees on the same spots.

It’s like we never left.

And when we return to the apartment, what film is playing on FX but Fever Pitch, starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon.

While not a perfect movie, it is a great Boston sports movie — primarily due to the timing of the Farrelly Brothers’ shoot.  This story of a Boston Red Sox fanatic and his attempts to balance a romantic relationship with his baseball obsession wrapped during the Sox’s unbelievable World Series win.

Talk about a happy ending.

It just kinda fits with this beautiful, Boston day.  It’s a nice place to visit.  And we’re glad to be here.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Animals, Dogs, Humor, Life, Movies, Sports, Travel, Walking

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,