I wake up freakishly early for school, and every morning I take a shower just to get myself out of my sleepy daze. During my time in the shower, I have pretty random thoughts. After all, I am half asleep.
On Friday morning I was thinking to myself about substance abuse policies and NASCAR (I think these thoughts subconsciously came from a NASCAR commercial I saw the night before). I thought to myself, "If a NASCAR driver was on 'speed' (the drug), would that be considered a performance enhancer?" I thought it would be great to hear of a driver who did speed to try to get an edge. The humor in that would actually make me like NASCAR a little bit. But just a little bit.
Throughout the last couple days I've been thinking about substance abuse policies, not just in NASCAR, but in all sports. Baseball (and I think unfairly) gets most of the publicity, followed by football- which has a policy, but does not grab headlines like baseball when a player is busted. I'm just curious about those other sports...how come we don't hear much about the NBA? You could argue it's the number two sport in this country now (poor baseball), but I hear nothing about its substance abuse policy. Why is that?
I remember earlier this year Josh Howard of the Dallas Mavericks going on a radio program and admitting to smoking marijuana. He also indicated that he isn't the only one in the NBA to be doing this. Now we don't need to discuss recreational drugs and their affect (or lack there of) on an NBA player's game. I just want to point out that marijuana is illegal, and if a player does not have the good judgement to stay away from such a drug during the season (while on the job), what's saying he has the good judgement to stay away from other things, like steroids? Wouldn't it makes sense for some NBA players to get bigger, faster, stronger? What about the tall low-post player who needs to bulk up? What about the undersized point guard that gets pushed around by guys like Chauncey Billups?
It's just curious to me that some sports get free passes while others get the extreme spotlight. And it's not just the NBA. What about hockey? College football? Or college athletics in general? Maybe policies are in place and I've just been oblivious/ignorant to them. Perhaps they have strong policies that work, and MLB and the NFL are just behind the times in implementing their policies. I don't know. And I suppose I could look up some information about them on the internet, but I am too lazy.
As much as I dislike hearing about guys like Clemens and their doping pasts, I would like to hear about what other sports are doing with their athletes and potential substance abusers. I like knowing that MLB and the NFL are holding their players accountable for their actions and decisions. I hate that Sportscenter spends days, weeks, and months talking about it, but I like that their are penalties handed out to idiots. I like knowing that on some level the sport is relatively clean.
I just want that feeling for all sports.
~Mikey D
I like what Adam did, and I wanted to do the same, but instead of completely copying him I'll vary it a little. Instead of making the best picks people made each round, I'll do the picks I thought were the worst. See, slightly different! In parenthesis, however, I'll put the guy I liked the best in that round.
Round 16- Cumming From Behind- Ryan Longwell- Hey, kickers suck. Out of the three that got drafted in this round, he was probably the suckiest of the bunch. (Best: Wicked Weasels-Ben Utecht...no receivers in Cincy, Carson is targeting him a lot this preseason!)
Round 15- Zoo Tycoons- Bernard Berrian- When Minnesota gets in the redzone, they run it or throw it up to Sidney Rice. I've heard that Jackson and Berrian have also struggled getting on the same page this summer. He's a good receiver, he's just not in the right offense with the right QB. (Best: 4th and Goal- Owen Daniels...60+ catches on an improving offense. Solid backup.)
Round 14- Kevinexorable- Jacob Hester- Kevin took him because I took Chester Taylor. Thing is, I don't even know if he gets 1/2 the carries if LT goes down. He will more than likely split with Sproles. (Best: Cumming From Behind- Ricky Williams...I got a starting running back in the 14th round. No complaints, even if it is Ricky Williams.)
Round 13- Wicked Weasels- Bubba Franks- This was a close one with 4th and Goal who took Shayne Graham way too early. Bubba is past his prime though, and third on the Jets' depth chart. I don't care even if Brett Favre is throwing the ball, he'll rarely see the field except to be a blocking tight end. (Best: i miss aaron rowand- Jonathan Stewart...I saw him run this past weekend, and if he's healthy, he'll eventually overtake Deangelo Williams.)
Round 12- 4th and Goal- Reggie Williams- Jacksonville's receiving corps is a crapshoot. Why roll the dice on him? At least go for Jerry Porter, the projected number one. (Best: Kevinexorable- Michael Turner...for the same reasons as Ricky Williams. Kevin got a starting running back while the rest of us picked up 4th string wide receivers. Makes you feel dumb, yeah?)
Round 11- Canadian Beasters- Matt Forte- If you're going to take a chance on a rookie back that's going to start, go with Kevin Smith. Forte will definitely be sharing with Kevin Jones and Adrian Peterson. (Best: Cumming From Behind- Kurt Warner...nobody threw more TDs in the second half than Warner last year! I expect more of the same: Cardinals falling behind, Warner leading the comeback. Here's hoping.)
Round 10- Wicked Weasels- Santana Moss- I get the privilege of seeing this guy play week in and week out, and he is nothing anymore. There's a reason Washington took 2 WRs and a TE in the draft this past year. There's hardly any talk about him, and if there is, it's "can he stay healthy" talk. Not even worth a draft pick anymore. (Best: Kevinexorable- Thomas Jones...he was a 1,000 yard rusher with defenses locking in on him. Now he has an 0-line and Favre...Ryan Grant type numbers, anybody?)
Round 9- Zoo Tycoons- Ronnie Brown- I wanted to say Kevin Boss, but Ronnie Brown lost his starting job...to Ricky Williams. That's saying something. On top of that he's coming off a torn ACL, which is always a long road back. So a back-up with a torn ACL injury might be worth a late-round flyer, but not this early. (Best: i miss aaron rowand- Darren McFadden...I almost went Coles, but I have to agree with Adam's post for the exact same reasons.)
Round 8- Wicked Weasels- Jason Hanson- Hey, I love him too, but no kicker is worth a pick unless it's the last round. Too hard to predict who the best one is, and they're all so close in scoring for the most part. (Best: i miss aaron rowand- Jericho Cotchery...the guy had 1100+ yards with Clemons and Pennington throwing to him. Imagine him with Brett Favre?)
Round 7- Cumming From Behind- Matt Schaub- I punched my desk when I made this pick. I wanted Cutler, and just reacted and chose Schaub. I probably could have waited a little longer for him and picked up a Dallas Clark instead. (Best: Boston Massacre- Ryan Grant...hey, if he can do it without Favre, top-10 back for sure, and Adam got him in the 7th round.)
Round 6- Wicked Weasels- Julius Jones- He's just not good! I am not convinced he can carry the load by himself, and even if he did, he's not the type of back I'd feel comfortable giving the ball to inside the ten yard line. Dallas certainly didn't. (Best: 4th and Goal- Jay Cutler...Love this guy. I know it's only preseason, but word on the street is he looks damn good.)
Round 5- Boston Massacre- Matt Hasselbeck- He has no receivers and no running game, and to make matters worse, he's hurt. I feel bad for him, because he's an excellent QB, and if he just gets some support he could be decent, but I just think there are a lot of question marks right now. (Best: i miss aaron rowand- Jamal Lewis...1300 yards and double-digit TDs in a high-powered offense. Even if he doesn't duplicate it and just comes near it, that's fantastic production to get out of your #2 back. And he's not splitting time with anyone!)
Round 4- Kevinexorable- Frank Gore- You can talk "value pick" all you want, but I hate the guy. This is just me hating Frank Gore. Well, not just Frank Gore, but Mike Martz too. There is no offense in San Fran, and if there was, it'd be a passing offense. (Best: Boston Massacre- Marques Colston...Adam, you must have done a little dance picking him up in the 4th round!)
Round 3- Wicked Weasels- Patrick Crayton- I like Crayton a lot this year; he's a great sleeper. But he's a sleeper! Take him in the 10th round. (Best: i miss aaron rowand- Larry Fitzgerald...I like him a lot. With Bryant Johnson gone, Boldin unhappy, and Warner at the helm, I expect nothing but better numbers than last year's.)
Round 2- Wicked Weasels- Brett Favre- At the very earliest, try him in the 5th! You probably could have had him in the 6th, 7th, or 8th rounds! 2nd!?!? Ugggh. (Best: Zoo Tycoons- Tony Romo...second best QB; he'll duplicate last year's stats, if not better.)
Round 1- Wicked Weasels- Peyton Manning- Look, when you have LT on the board and then you take the 2nd, not even the first, best QB (and it's arguable he's even 2nd best...) on the board, you automatically win the "worst pick of the draft" award. (Best: Boston Massacre- Marion Barber...I don't need to say anything, do I?)
My Tallies:
Worst
Wicked Weasels- 7
Kevinexorable-2
Cumming From Behind-2
Zoo Tycoons-2
Canadian Beasters-1
4th and Goal-1
Boston Massacre-1
i miss aaron rowand-0
Best
i miss aaron rowand-5
Boston Massacre-3
Kevinexorable-2
4th and Goal-2
Cumming From Behind-2
Wicked Weasels-1
Zoo Tycoons- 1
Canadian Beasters-0
Hmmm...I guess from my results I think Grace and Adam got the most for their money and they spent it wisely. Conversely...Brian, not so much.
I think it's really interesting how Adam had a couple picks on his best list, while I had them on my worst list. Shows how different fantasy opinions can be, and how it's all how you look at someone. One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Anyway, LT is officially on the block.
And that championship belt on my logo, Adam? That's for champions only, sorry. Haha, just playing. Remember when I had nothing to do all summer? Yea, I was serious about that...
~Mikey D
Today I tried my first message board post!
I went to a fantasy football message board and posted my thoughts on taking Marion Barber with the second pick. Within an hour I had the most commented thread.
I pretty much laid out my reasoning for choosing Barber with the second pick (basically my last blog post) and challenged the rest of the online community to refute my reasoning or make a case for a back that is rated higher. Basically, tell me why I should take Adrian Peterson over Barber. Or Westbrook over Barber. Not too much to ask.
My responses can be paraphrased like this:
"Dude, you're fucking stupid."
"Dude, Westbrook is way better than Barber."
"Dude, AP is a beast."
"Dude, Barber is like 7th on boards and AP is like 2nd."
Sigh.
When I respond with...
"Why I am stupid. Tell me why. I gave you reasons for my choice, tell me why I'm wrong."
or
"Why is Westbrook better than Barber...right now. I know he was better last year, but tell me why now."
or
"Why is AP a beast? He was up and down all last year and had only two monster games."
or
"Draft boards are typically incorrect. They are to be used as guides, not as strict laws to follow."
...I get more of:
"Dude, you're dumb."
Message boards are frustrating. I don't think I'll do that again.
~Mikey D
Not that this matters much to anyone but me, but I'm deciding between two guys for my number two pick: Adrian Peterson and Marion Barber. If the draft were today, it'd be Marion Barber.
I've wrestled with this a lot in my mind, but the only thing that's really holding me back from making Marion Barber the pick are the so called "experts" who have him a lot lower on their boards (low first-early 2nd...not around when I pick again).
Here are Marion Barber's numbers as a "back-up" (I use the quotations because he had more carries than Julius Jones, despite rarely starting):
985 rush yards, 10 rushing TDs, 44 receptions, 282 yards, 2 receiving TDs
Not bad. More things I like about Barber:
~Gets all the goal line carries.
~Never been injured. Knock on wood.
~He's used as a receiver. AP is not.
~In a high powered offense, like Addai.
~His offensive coordinator loves him. That can't be a bad thing.
~He's young. He's not approaching the death years for a RB (30).
~Has big play capability.
~Runs behind 3 Pro-Bowl offensive linemen.
Like I said, my only problem is nobody, and I mean nobody, in their right mind is taking him above guys like AP, Joseph Addai, and Brian Westbrook. But the more I over think things =), the more I feel like he's going to be a top-5 running back. I mean, Westbrook and Peterson weren't considered top 5 backs last year, and they finished 2-3 behind LT. And Westbrook was drafted where Barber is currently going!
So the question going forward is do I go with my gut, or do I go with the safest picks, the ones nobody can really question. I usually do the latter...but perhaps this is the year I listen to that gut a little bit more.
***
Alright, let me try and make a few predictions:
1) Joseph Addai will be a fantasy disappointment.
I know, Indy backs are like gold. And gold is still pretty valuable, last time I checked. But I can't help but be nervous. I've seen Addai play a few times, and it seems each and every time he takes a hard hit he's out of the game for a few series. I feel like he's been lucky for his first two years, and that this may be the year he misses a few games due to injury. I also don't like that Indy brought back Rhodes and drafted Hart (who, if Addai gets hurt, will be money as a fantasy back. A prediction inside a prediction. He runs fucking hard). Those backs are going to take carries away from Addai. A final reason Addai worries me is that he wore down towards the end last year, and didn't come through during the fantasy playoffs. I need my back to perform in weeks 15 and 16, not 1 and 2 (although that's nice). Will he be a top-10 back? Yeah, probably, barring major injury. But a top-5...I don't think so this year.
2) This will be the last year of the LT reign.
Okay, you know I'm high on Barber. Peterson has already broken through. McFadden seems like he's ready to go in Oakland. There's a shift coming, and it's moving away from the LJs, Rudis, and soon to be LT. He's getting near that magical age of 30, which is never good. Couple that with being the workhorse back for a team for 7 years (7!?!?) and those carries will start to take a toll. I still think he has one good year left in him, but that good year might only be 1300 yards, 350 receiving, and 13 TDs. That's bringing him down to earth, where the rest of the elite backs are. But after that? Well, he may not ever post those number 1 back numbers again.
3) Tom Brady will throw 30+ TDs...but closer to 30 than 40.
Look, he's not going to throw 50 TDs again. "Well it could happen!". No, it won't. History says it won't, and defensive coordinators won't let it. One year later, I would put my money on 30+, but less than 40. The Patriots have already said they're going to run more, and with defenses scheming to stop Brady, who can blame them with capable backs like Maroney, Faulk, Morris, and Jordan? The thing that also worries me is that Brady is hurt right now. He's off on the wrong foot (I know, I crack me up too). While the preseason isn't that important, he still has yet to take a snap in a game. This might just be me, but I can see this being one of those injuries that lingers throughout the year. If so, why would the Patriots even consider throwing as much as they did last year? Doesn't make sense. They will run the ball, protect Brady, and use Moss and the passing game as a decoy.
4) Jason Witten and Antonio Gates were 1-2 in TE scoring last year (in most scoring formats). They will not be 1-2 this year.
The thing that worries me about Witten is that he's never been much of a scoring threat throughout his career. His 7 TDs last year were a career high, and there were plenty of other tight ends that had more TDs than him. He's always good for the yardage, which is nice, but can you bank on him for the TDs? Gates' foot is worrisome to me, and like Brady, I think it's going to be a nagging injury. It bothered him all last year, and if he came into camp this year fully healed, I wouldn't worry...but he's still hurt. He's not better. With this being the deepest TE group in years, there are plenty of other guys that could (and I think will) step up and have just as good and even better seasons than Witten and Gates.
5) The only rookies worth drafting are Darren McFadden and Dustin Keller.
Love me some Brett Favre! Keller is already being used as weapon at tight end by the Jets, and Brett loves his tight ends. I'm not saying he'll post top-TE numbers, but he'll be better than most. Think Donald Lee. He might be a great bye week filler or injury replacement to pick up late in the draft. Darren McFadden speaks for himself. Of course if injuries hit, guys like Mendenhall are worth picking up. But if everything stays as is, there are only two worthwhile rooks.
***
Just a few more days!!! Can't wait. Always a good time.
~Mikey D
I was looking through the Lions/Bengals game recap today, and read the last score the Lions had:
-Drew Stanton 10 Yd Run (Dave Rayner Kick)
Seems like only yesterday that was a State boxscore. Ah, memories.
~Mikey D
P.S.- Calvin Johnson looked fantastic, for what it's worth. That TD catch he had...Kitna targeted him his entire route, never took his eyes off him. Could he surpass Williams as our number 1?
Grace and I just got back from our week-long beach extravaganza. We were down in the Outer Banks in North Carolina for five days and then went up to Ocean City for another two. It was relaxation in it's finest form: beach in the morning, beach in the afternoon, eat some grill cooked food for dinner, and then relax in the hot tub. For a guy who likes to do nothing, I couldn't have asked for more. Only one day of rain, so we lucked out there, and all-in-all it was one of the best vacations I've ever been on. I'll put some pictures up sometime soon on that little slideshow thingy that flashes photos. I know you just can't wait!
Coming back from vacation means it's time...FOR MADDENOLIDAY! For a third consecutive year Grace has bought me Madden. I have yet to play it, but I'm excited. I live for sports games, and this is the best of the best. I'm hoping for some more cool mini-games, smoother online play, and a game play setting that is in between 'All-Pro' and 'All-Madden' (I'm too good for Pro, not good enough on Madden). There is also a downloadable new cover for the game with Brett Favre in a Jets' jersey that you can print out, but not one for the Wii yet. Perhaps they are redesigning it so that Adrian Peterson is on the front, as he was the most deserving cover boy. Then Kevin would draft him and he'd be cursed and we'd all have a good laugh.
Oh yeah, coming back from vacation means two more things: the start of school and the start of school. Yup, the kids come back in a week, but I have to report tomorrow to prepare. And when the kids start school in a week, so will I. My three grad classes begin, and my life as a couch sitter-onner and TV watcher will be done. Christmas break cannot come soon enough. I have no idea how I'm going to manage myself with all my school shit along with Grace and football. Some things will have to be neglected...and I have a feeling it will be this blog (haha, you thought it was going to be you, right Grace? Only on Sundays baby, only on Sundays). Expect the posts to be few and far between. Sigh.
Hopefully I'll get a post in on fantasy football before I get too busy. I do have some thoughts, believe it or not. We'll see. The draft is coming up!!! Woooooo!
Random thoughts:
-Fuck you Tigers.
-Team USA looks good in basketball.
-Mr. Bolt from Jamaica sets a world record in the 100...while celebrating during the last 15 meters!?!? Holy shit.
-Congrats Michael Phelps. Not only was winning 8 cool, but the way you won them was even better. Dramatic relays, dominating blowouts, and split-second finishes...a little bit of everything.
-I could never live in a rural area. By rural I mean rebel-flag toting rural. The kind of rural if you walked into a bar, NASCAR would be on every TV kind of rural.
-Sand crabs are scary.
-Jellyfish are equally scary.
-Grace dislikes tunnels, I dislike bridges. So driving over the Chesapeake Bay bridge with it's 3 bridge segments and two tunnels was quite an experience.
-Salt water tastes like salt. Huh.
-I'm going on a diet. I ate way too much this past week.
-The more I think about it, the Lions have a fantastic chance at ending up with the number 1 pick next year. There is nothing (besides two injury prone receivers) to really like about this team.
-I will still root for the Lions, even as the ship snaps in half and sinks to the bottom of the NFL-ocean, filled with Lions' fans with paper bag heads.
-We could have had Adrian Peterson. Ugh.
-I'm hungry, so I'm going to go eat.
~Mikey D
Awesome. Just awesome. I was jumping around the living room pounding my chest it was so awesome.
It had the storylines. Michael Phelps and his eight gold medals. The French talking trash ("The Americans? We are going to smash them.")
And it had the ultimate comeback. We were even after our strongest swimmer (Phelps) swam the first leg, and fell behind after our inexperienced swimmers got smoked on legs two and three. Then the three-time olympian got in the pool against the world-record holder in the 100m. Over. Done. Finished.
With 50m to go, I just expected the French guy to just pull away...but the exact opposite happened. The 33-year old American got closer. And by 8-hundreths of a second he won. The Americans won. And I went nuts in my living room.
The reaction of Michael Phelps after the race was priceless. That should be the poster, the face, the image of the American rally call for this and Olympics to come. The primal screams were intimidating, and I was glad he was on our side.
And for good measure, the camera caught Phelps screaming, "Fuck you!" in the French direction. Some would say classless, but it was pure emotion, and I loved it.
I'm not usually a swimming guy, but again, that was awesome.
~Mikey D
During my undergrad years I was told I needed to develop an "Educational Philosophy" (or 'Teaching Philosophy'), which is basically how it sounds: my own set of principles of education.
I always thought it was the most awful of things I've had to sit down and write. How do you go about defining a philosophy on something that should not be determined by you in the first place? I mean, if every educator, from your kindergarten teacher to your ancient college professor, had their own educational philosophy, nobody would be on the same page! Educational standards and expectations would be all over the place!
So I did what I usually did in college. I bullshitted. I think it sounds good.
I am starting my graduate work this coming fall, and I have begun reading a book by Howard Gardner called "The Disciplined Mind". Gardner is highly respected in the education field, and I read a couple of his books awhile back. Today, while reading, I found myself liking Gardner a little bit more.
I'm sure I'm going to be breaking all sorts of copyright laws here, but I wanted to share this part, as it struck a chord with me:
"At conferences, I try to avoid unpleasant exchanges. But the speaker- a prominent neuroscientist- had managed to raise my hackles. In front of an audience of influential policymakers, he had made a bald assertion: "This is the decade of the brain. We are going to know what every region of the brain does and how the various parts of the brain work together. And once we have attained that knowledge, we will know exactly how to educate every person."
Extreme statements beget extreme responses. Standing up in the audience at the conclusion of the talk, I retorted, "I disagree totally. We could know what every neuron does and we would not be one step closer to knowing how to educate our children."
After the session, I engaged the speaker in discussion. I began by asking for an example for what he had been claiming. He immediately cited the teaching of language: "We know now that children easily absorb patterns, and particularly the patterns of language, when they are young. Therefore we should be teaching foreign languages to children during the early years of life."
"I am not convinced," I replied. "In the first place, everyone (and everyone's grandmother) has always known that young children pick up languages- and particularly accents- with ease. We did not need brain study to tell us that. Second, some research suggests that the military knows how to teach languages far more effectively than do parents and grandparents."
I went on: "But that is not my principal point. I'm arguing that decision about what to teach, when to teach, and even how to teach entail value judgments. Such decisions can never be dictated by knowledge of the brain. After all, if children learn patterns well when they are young, that constitutes equal reason for teaching them math, music, chess, biology, morality, civility, and a hundred other things. Why should foreign languages get priority? You can never go directly from knowledge about brain function to what to do in first grade on Monday morning. And the decisions one makes about teaching languages might well differ, and properly so, depending on whether you live in Switzerland, Singapore, Iceland, or Ireland."
And so our discussion terminated. I don't think I convinced the speaker, and I admit, in retrospect, that I overstated my case. I find brain study- and its first cousin, "mind study"- fascinating; I would be the last person to question their importance for society as a whole, and for those of us interested in the education of future generations. But my central point stands. Education is too important to be left to the classroom teacher, the school board, the central ministry, the neuroscientific community, or any other single person or group. Decisions about education are, in the final analysis, decisions about goals and values; those are properly made by the larger, informed community and not by any privileged sector, even one fortunate enough to be unraveling some of the mysteries of the human mind."
***
There was a reason my educational philosophy assignment was awful: it was unfair to ask me to make a decision on what goals and values I would instill. Do I have an opinion? Sure. But it's not my opinion, or the opinions that a few of my colleagues and I might share together, that should define a philosophy on education...I could spend a few pages writing on this, but I'll just end it with, what I think, is a fitting analogy: It'd be like choosing the flavor of a cake for a party of a million people without first asking/surveying the group on their preference. I may think they want carrot cake, but if they end up wanting chocolate...then what?
It's a bad party.
~Mikey D
January 2009!!! It's officially back:
Now I have to say I have forgotten virtually everything from the last season, so I am fuzzy on so many things. Tony?!?! I thought he died...
There is also going to be a two-hour 24 "movie"on November 23rd called "24-The Exile". It is supposed to bridge the gap between last season and this season. I would call that must-watch TV in order for me to pick up where I left off with season 6, which seems sooooooo long ago.
Welcome back, Jack.
~Mikey D
Grace graciously (haha, that's funny because her name and 'graciously' are like the same) picked the names out of a hat today. All complaints can be forwarded to her.
2008 Draft Order:
1. Brian
2. Mike
3. Kevin
4. Amber
5. Stacey
6. Grace
7. Adam
8. Dave (Grace's coworker)
Getting closer to football....
~Mikey D
Grace got free tickets from an old friend who is working in the D.C. area to last night's Phillies-Nationals game at the new National's Park, so it was our chance to see what the new park was all about. We sat in right field on the lower tier (there is an upper and lower level to right field) about four rows from the field. We had a great view of the entire field of play.
This was my second Phillies-Nationals game, and much like last year the Phillies fans came out in droves. I'd say the stadium was 50% Phillies fans, and that is not an overestimate on my part. I've said it once and I'll say it again: Philly fans are some of the most loyal and dedicated fans I have ever seen.
Back to the stadium. My opinion of it? Welllllll, it's just 'eh'. First, let me complain. Sitting in right field in seats that were $35 a pop, there are certain things you expect. One, the fucking scoreboard. The Nationals decided to put their gigantic HD scoreboard up in right field, right above us. Since there is a second tier, we were unable to see anything the scoreboard had to offer. That's just awful in my opinion. To not have the scoreboard centrally located for fans is baffling to me. They had an ivy-covered area in centerfield...with nothing above or around it. You know what would have been great there? A scoreboard. A scoreboard that I could see.
While the stadium is nice and new, there is nothing about it that makes you go 'ooo' or 'wow'. For traditionalists that don't like a lot of extras that's a good thing, but at the same time, I was hoping they'd have something that would make the stadium stand-out and make it its own. Instead the stadium just looked plain and came off bland. I can see fans loving it for this year, but five years down the road what will draw fans to the park? What about the stadium will make families want to spend money and come down to the yard. Certainly not the quality of baseball...ooo burn.
And now the thing that completely turned me off to this stadium- the atmosphere. There was absolutely no life. Last year, this is what a Nationals-Phillies game sounded like:
We got nothing close to that this year. You know how the PA guy announces the home teams' players' names in a fun and exciting voice, and the visiting teams in a low, monotone voice? Well it was low and monotone for everything! There was no "pump up the crowd" music. Da-da-da-da-da-da- CHARGE! None of that. Nothing! A National's pitcher would strike out a batter and there was no applause, no music, no nothing. Just a monotone announcing of the next batter. Even the Philly fans couldn't get into the game, and that's just remarkable in my opinion. It was beyond boring and lame, and in this over-stimulated day and age, just unacceptable.
If you're going on a national ballpark tour (Adam), leave this one until the end. It's not worth it. Or maybe you'd want to do it as soon as possible just to get it over with.
~Mikey D
