The Wild Ride of the MLB All-Star Game

So it’s the tenth year that the All-Star Game actually mattered in terms of season play for Major League Baseball. The winning league gets the home-field advantage, as opposed to the previous system which alternated the home-field advantage between leagues. The opinions range from loving the idea to hating the idea to the holy heavens, and not really much in between.

The argument in favor of adding the value to the All-Star game is that the expedition game will never end in an atrocious tie that we experienced a decade ago on that fateful Milwaukee night while at the same time will pretty much require for the players to put forth an effort to win.

Can I please repeat my disdain for that All-Star Game that ended in a....ugh...tie?

This required effort will prevent the All-Star Game from transforming into the atrocious Pro Bowl on the NFL. Because let’s be honest, baseball’s all-star game is far better than that of the NBA and the NFL. That way the viewers get their money’s worth, as well the advertisers and the fans that watch the game.

Now, the argument against the inclusion of value to the game is that it is pretty darn unfair to determine who has more home games in a World Series with an exhibition match. They say it’s not fair that a bad performance by the American League led to the Rangers having to lose the World Series in St. Louis last season. It also took away the fun and carefree attitude of the game that we used to experience back in the day. The baseball players don’t really get a break---and with 162 games in the season, we can definitely argue that they deserve one.

But in my opinion, the biggest reason behind the dropping of ratings is because the inclusion of interleague play, which damaged and tarnished the mystique of the drastically different American and National League. The rarity of seeing a Yankee go up against a Pirate is diminished mildly because now Interleague exists, and it occurs several weeks a year. It has nothing to do with the players involved, because the talent pool has expanded everywhere, and we get about a dozen teams that compete until August. But as long as Interleague exists, the All-Star Game loses a little interest.

For me, I believe we should remove the value of the All-Star Game, make it a fully fan-run voting process, and hand home-field advantage to the team whose league won the year before. This will add more interest to the World Series, as teams like the Braves and Marlins can (just for a few days) actually root for the Cardinals for the chance to get the Home Field the next year. But the All-Star game should be back to its carefree fun games, even if it won’t increase the ratings.

MLB, saving the All-Star Game is next to impossible because of the way the world works today. If you want to make it more of an experience, it requires destroying interleague, eliminating the value tag, and truly giving the fans the ultimate power to vote everybody in. And then throw in some surprises like cameo appearances, performances prior to the game, and just a more in-depth look to the players that are in the All-Star game.

There are ways to improve the Midsummer Classic.

Having it determine the World Series home field?





Nah.

The Wimbledon That May End All Arguments

July 8th, 2012 could be the day.

This could be the day in which we have no other choice but to honor Roger Federer as the greatest player in the history of tennis. The arguing can die down, all the counterpoints can be discontinued, and there is nothing else we can do but marvel at his greatness.

~16 majors.
~#1 for four years in a row at one point
~Tied more most semifinal appearances
~Has won all four majors at one point
~Just one week behind Pete Sampras for most weeks as the #1 player

Despite all he has accomplished, there’s still debate on who is the best player of all-time. John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Rod Laver had been mentioned in conversation over the years whenever Roger gets compared to recent dominant winners. But if Roger can beat Andy Murray when England in its entirely is not on his side, if he can beat Murray after surviving upset bids, outlasting Nadal’s run, and ultimately beating the strongest player on tennis today in four quick sets, what more could this man possibly prove to make sure he is considered the best of the sport?

I will be the first to admit that Pete Sampras had held my #1 ranking for the longest time, even after each of his records were getting shot down by Federer himself. However Federer in recent years has won me over by his ability to stay in tune with the far younger and still spectacular competitors like Nadal (who may also be considered one of the best), Djokovik (currently the strongest man in tennis), and underrated folks like Andy Murray and David Ferrer.

This is where we stand: Roger Federer can win his 17th major, can get the #1 ranking once again, and can win his 7th Wimbledon title all in one swoop. And all this is happening at age 30 (approaching 31) ---in a sport when age 28 is considered old. Despite Murray being far younger, Federer is still the favorite to win. At age 30 being the favorite to win a Grand Slam? That’s definitely impressive. And that is sign of greatness.

And come tomorrow, it could just be another piece of evidence showing that Roger Federer is indeed the greatest player of all-time. We can argue it all we want today, but if Wimbledon 2012 is won by Roger, then no arguing will be allowed. Similar to Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, and Muhammad Ali, Roger Federer will be the undisputed king of his sport.

"It was Supposed to be our Year"

Let's repeat it again----------
It was supposed to be our year.


As a sports fan of any team every once in a while you will start a season with high aspirations, high expectations, and the heavy thirst for the championship. But there’s nothing worse than not meeting those expectations. There’s nothing worse than watching your talented team not deliver---and with baseball it’s even worse because the season is so long.

In my case, we have the current Tampa Bay Rays roster lingering in fourth place---in the toughest division in all of sports. Now granted it’s been a lot of bad luck with over 10 players on the DL at one point, and currently a half-dozen players still roaming the disabled list, we still don’t look like the Rays organization that eeks out wins and finds a way to frustrate their opponents.

Our luck with rookies has definitely run its course as we see the likes of Jennings, Moore, Cobb not really provide the firepower upstart rookies in the past have provided. And our luck with pickups have faded this season as Matsui, Pena, Scott, Lobaton, and especially (especially) Molina have not really helped out much of anything throughout this season. Even worse Molina’s supposed abilities as a catcher have not been on display yet, as our starting pitching’s numbers have not been as strong as last season. Our defense has gone a few steps down with our apparent abilities of making errors in costly moments, and even our clutch small ball abilities have not been as good.

Someone at ESPN jinxed us because they picked the Rays to be in the lower end of the division before the season started because they believe their luck with the pickups, rookies, and has-beens was eventually going to run out. And this is what is occurring as injury after injury plague us, and close loss after close loss continues to hamper us. Do we still have time to turn things around? Oh most definitely, but with this always-competitive division you can only fall off the track for so long before you lose the chance to ever catch up to the rivals. The Yankees are killer, the Red Sox are finding their steps, and even the Orioles won’t be backing down anytime soon (I predict August).


Watching the Rays this year has been frustrating not just because we are low, but because this was supposed to be the time that our recent rookies started improving, that our new rookies were supposed to be fresh off the gate, and our pickups were going to provide the extra oomph we needed to take control of the division and reach the playoffs again. And as of now, none of this is really happening. We aren’t playing Tampa Bay Rays baseball, and it hurts. But hey, as a baseball fan, there’s still hope. Every season is a marathon, not a sprint.

A marathon we are currently losing.

The thought still lingers:

“This was supposed to be our year”