Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Not Christmas)

February to October is the most wonderful time of the year, in my opinion. Why is that? Baseball season. I always love when baseball season rolls around because it brings a lot of people together. It also means my favorite time of year, summer, is soon-to-be approaching.

Yesterday, I watched my first full Spring Training game of 2019. The Nationals took on the Cardinals and it was a blowout in favor of the Nationals. I was clipping highlights of that game as part of my internship and throughout the game, I was starting to transition back into my happy place, knowing the 182 regular season games were almost upon us.

Most people argue they don't like baseball because it is so slow. Yes, it is slow, but you just never know what is going to happen. There are so many superstars in the game of baseball that always try to give 110% each time they participate. Why do I love baseball so much? Not only does it remind me of summer, I just love the enthusiasm of the fans at baseball games and it also occupies a lot of time in my family's personal life because my youngest brother participates in travel leagues. Baseball is just amazing. That is why it is known as America's Pastime because it brings people together and it is just amazing to watch. 

The Centennial Anniversary

2019 is the 100th Anniversary of the great professional sports league known as the National Hockey League, or the NHL. To honor the Centennial Anniversary, the Canadian Embassy, located in Northwest DC, is holding an event that honors not only the anniversary of the league, but the 100 Greatest NHL Players of All Time, as well. The event has most recently been sold out.

As part of my internship, I had the great opportunity to cover this event. It was amazing! There was a little room on the bottom floor of the Embassy that held 100 paintings all painted by a renowned Canadian artist named Tony Harris. There were paintings of various famous hockey players, from Wayne Gretzky, to DC hero Alex Ovechkin, and of course, mortal enemy Sidney Crosby.

Not only were there paintings of players, there was also the chance for hockey fans to see the Stanley Cup in person, as well as take a picture with it. As part of the assignment for my internship, I interviewed different Caps fans, but one Caps fan told me this was one of the greatest things she has ever seen. Also, she told me the Caps gave her one amazing birthday present last year: winning the Cup on her birthday! "I couldn't have asked for anything else," she told me.

Both photos taken by me 

About Me

I have been a sports fan for most of my life but I really didn’t get into it until my freshman year of high school. Watching sports on TV is something I feel like I always have to be part of because you never know what is going to happen, even though some passionate fans show extra confidence like, “Oh, we are going to blow you guys out of the water!!” As legendary NFL coach Herm Edwards says, “You play to win the game.”

         As far as my teams go, it really sounds like I am all over the place with the teams I support and a couple teams I happen to be a fan of may shock everyone. For the NFL, I support the Broncos because one of my favorite college athletes of all time, Tim Tebow, was drafted by them, even though he never had much success at all as an NFL quarterback. For baseball, of course I support the Nationals because of my family and it being a local team, but my main team I follow is the Tampa Bay Rays because I love almost everything Tampa Bay because it is practically my second home from going on vacation there many times to visit family and will eventually be my actual home after college. For hockey, I am of course a diehard fan of the defending cup champion Capitals, but when they aren’t playing the Tampa Bay Lightning, I’ll follow them too. Last year’s Eastern Conference Final was an interesting one when the Caps played the Lightning because no matter what the result was, I was going to be happy either way, but of course, I wanted the Caps to win. I’m not really much of an NBA fan but I follow the Wizards because of my internship and I’ll get into that a little bit later. For college football, I support University of Florida and college basketball, I follow quite a few teams like of course, our George Mason Patriots, the Florida Gators, a little ACC Basketball and Georgetown.

MLB Free Agency: Deja Vu?

This year's MLB Offseason has been one of the most watched in recent memory for two reasons: Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. Both superstars are in free agency for the first time in their young careers and are looking to be MLB's first players to sign a $300 million contract.

Both players have been linked to multiple teams, like the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres, or in Harper's case, re-signing with the only franchise he has ever played for, the Washington Nationals. There have been reports of both players being signed by one team, like the Phillies and Padres for example, but I just don't see it happening.

The latest reports, according to CBS Sports' and MLB Network's Jon Heyman, say that Harper may be close to a long-term deal with the Phillies, according to other reports around more than 10 years and $300 million, while Machado is being looked at by the Padres, where reports say around 8 years and around $250 million, a little less than Harper.

Why do I think this is deja vu? Last MLB offseason, there was one sought after free agent that teams were interested in and that was JD Martinez. He didn't end up signing a contract until after Spring Training started and here we are in the beginning stages of Spring Training 2019 and the two biggest free agent names haven't signed, but I believe we are getting closer to both of them signing with new teams. Stay tuned. 👀

A New Era of Football

A new era of football is upon us. There is a new league that has been developed call the Alliance of American Football or AAF. It is a league of players that have not succeeded in the NFL at any point in their careers and they are given a chance to redeem themselves on the field while playing the sport they love, but just in a different type of way. Not only are the players former NFLers, but the coaches are as well.

The AAF consists of eight teams split up into four teams in the Eastern Conference and four teams in the Western Conference. In the Eastern Conference, there is the Atlanta Legends, the Birmingham Iron, the Memphis Express and the Orlando Apollos. In the Western Conference, the teams representing them are the Arizona Hotshots, the Salt Lake Stallions, the San Antonio Commanders and the San Diego Fleet. Some notable personalities in the AAF that were part of the NFL include former coaches Steve Spurrier, Rick Neuheisel, Mike Singletary, and Mike Martz. Some notable players include former running back Matt Asiata and kicker Nick Folk. There are also former NFLers in charge of the league as well, like Hines Ward, Troy Polamalu and many others.

This graphic will explain the AAF rules. They are sort of similar to those of the NFL but they are mostly different and it is very interesting when I found out about them. Perhaps this is something the NFL can implement? I have a feeling a lot of teams and fans could be okay with these.

Courtesy: CBS and AAF

References: https://www.cbssports.com/aaf/news/what-is-the-aaf-notable-players-coaches-teams-schedule-for-new-alliance-of-american-football-league/ 

Super Bowl LIII: A Total Dud!

Recently, we just completed another NFL season and it ended the way a good chunk of the country hasn't liked it to end six times: the New England Patriots winning the Super Bowl. 

Tom Brady just won his sixth Super Bowl, passing legendary running back Charles Haley for the most championships all time, who originally had five rings. The game itself was one of the most boring games I have ever seen, mostly because of the way the game transpired, up until near the end of the 4th quarter, when Rob Gronkowski caught a long pass from Brady, setting up the game's only touchdown, a 2-yard TD run by rookie running back Sony Michel, resulting in a 13-3 victory for the Patriots. 

This game was also the lowest scoring Super Bowl in history. Why do I think it was really boring? I like offense because of the way the NFL is turning. Someone told me they thought the game was awesome because it was like old school football, where defense takes over the game. Also, there were many rumors leading into the game that Maroon 5, who performed the halftime show, was going to perform "Sweet Victory", a famous song from legendary cartoon show "SpongeBob SquarePants", but unfortunately, we were tricked! 

I was watching the Super Bowl at my best friend's house, along with three others, who all grew up watching SpongeBob. We were so pumped when they played a scene from that episode but the halftime show continued on otherwise without a performance of the song "Sweet Victory". 

I'm definitely looking forward to next year. Let's hope someone else but the Patriots represents the AFC next year, hopefully my Broncos. (insert fingers crossed and/or praying emoji)