By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Mar 20, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
”You know it’s time to change your Facebook profile information when (fill in the blank).”
I just had a ski trip cancelled…which forced me to also reconsider my FB profile information.
I list skiing as my favorite sport. When I filled out my FB profile a couple of years ago, it seemed like a good idea. Skiing as my “favorite sport” made me sound sporty and interesting–and I even believed it at the time.
But today’s cancelled ski trip got me thinking. I’ve actually only been skiing twice in the past 28 years. I really don’t think that should qualify as a “favorite sport” —even for a person who has been deceased for 3 decades.
I’ve spent more time playing skeet ball the past 28 years!
So, in a flush of full disclosure, I’m getting brutally honest and changing my favorite sport from the cosmopolitan sounding “skiing” to the more mundane but factually correct “taking the stairs” –which I’ve done more than 3 times the past 28 years.
By Ronald J. Granieri, on Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
After a four-month labor standoff, the NFL owners and players managed to agree to a new ten-year agreement that will guarantee the season will start on time. For me, that means the Buffalo Bills will open their 52nd season on September 11. In fact, as I finish this piece, the Bills are in Chicago getting ready for their first preseason game tonight. I can hardly wait.
Yes, I am excited to see the latest season of a team that finished 4-12 last year, and that has had one winning season (and two 8-8 records) since 2000.
The team that last went to the playoffs during the Clinton administration—only to be robbed of victory by a heartbreaking piece of semi-legal deception known to people outside of Western New York as “Home Run Throwback.”
[People in Western New York know it by a variety of other names, none of them suitable for this family website…]
Scott Norwood, wide right
Yes, the same team that went to four consecutive Super Bowls in the early 90s—losing the first one on an achingly close field goal attempt (videos of which I admit to watching many times, hoping for a different result), then the next three in different but equally painful manners.
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s the dog days of summer! I’m starting to think August is the worst month of all twelve: ridiculous heat and humidity, no major holidays, back-to-school shopping, Congress on vacation (OK, maybe that’s the one redeeming aspect), and so on. Yes, I know pre-season football is gearing up, but don’t forget that we are closing in on MLB pennant races. A bright spot indeed! As Pujols, Jeter, Lincecum, and Halladay jockey for the post-season, let’s talk to someone who very well may be there in a few years.
I grew up with Andrew Pevsner in Southern California, and remain close friends with him today. But while I’m sitting in classrooms suffering through law school’s Socratic Method, Pevsner is warming up in the bullpen for the Great Lakes Loons. The Loons are the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Single-A minor league club in Midland, Michigan, and Pevsner is one of their southpaw relievers. Drafted in 2010 out of Johns Hopkins, Pevsner spent his first professional season playing Advanced Rookie ball for the Raptors in Ogden, Utah. Let’s take an inside look at what it’s like to play professional baseball and live nearly every boy’s childhood dream.
Zac Byer: You have mentioned that you were not following the draft when you were selected, but rather you started receiving congratulatory text messages from friends after the pick. Did you have any expectations of being drafted, let alone in the 16th round?
Andrew Pevsner: Not really . . . I hadn’t heard from any clubs for a few weeks leading up to the draft. It had been about 10 days or so since our college season ended, I was hoping to try to get myself back into great shape and maybe go to some workouts and try to sign as a free agent after the draft.
ZB: Who called you from the Dodgers to let you know that you had been drafted? What did he say to you?
AP: My scout from the Dodgers, Clair Rierson called me. I was so excited when we were talking that I don’t fully remember what we said. I do remember him asking me how I was feeling, and telling me that someone would call me with more details later that night.
ZB: You got the call from Rierson and found out you were going to play professional baseball for your favorite team – were you able to take a breath and enjoy the accomplishment, or were you into a new routine right away?
AP: There were only about ten days between the time I got drafted and the time we went to Ogden. I took the first night to celebrate and try to soak up the moment. After that, I spent about four days working out and throwing in Baltimore before I flew to Camelback Ranch [in Arizona] for a couple days of physicals and workouts. From there we flew to Ogden.
ZB: What’s a typical day like for you now?
AP: It really depends on where we are. If we’re at home, and it’s not a lift day, I’ll get to the ball park between 1 and 2 in the afternoon. Pitchers stretch, throw and condition before shagging batting practice. After BP we have some time to get some food in the clubhouse and get ready for that night’s game.
ZB: What has been the most surprising aspect of being a minor league baseball player?
AP: You hear guys talk about the grind and staying even-keeled through all the ups and downs, but it’s something that you can’t really appreciate until you go through it.
ZB: What has been the most challenging aspect of the last few seasons in the minors?
AP: Baseball is a humbling game. Everyone fails at some point or another. Most players fail repeatedly. Learning how to deal with failure so that you can fail less often and for shorter periods of time has probably been the hardest part.
Read the rest of… Zac Byer: An Interview with L.A. Dodgers Minor League Pitcher Andrew Pevsner
By Jason Atkinson, on Mon Aug 15, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
A first here at The Recovering Politician: Contributing RP Jason Atkinson directed and produced the following short film about a trout-fishing trip he took last week with his son in Montana. Stay tuned to the end for an hilarious, live-action imitation of Big Mouth Billy Bass (You know…the singing fish mounted on the wall):
Amongst all of the other disasters, wars, famines and plagues of locusts going on this week, Tiger Woods fell out of the Top Tenprofessional golfers list for the first time since 1997. Here’s a quick reminder of why he was there so long. [Greatest Shots (2005-2009)]
Will Tiger ever come back to dominate the field, terrifying his competitors, crushing his rivals and making Phil Mickelson squeal? Kevin Maguire (among many other golf pundits) thinks not. [ESPN]
Novak Djokovic continued his winning streak yesterday at the French Open, breezing past Thiemo de Bakker 6-2, 6-1, 6-3. He has now won 38 straight matches this season. He would need five more wins to beat John McEnroe’s Open era record of 42. Can the gentle Serb beat Nadal at Roland Garros and Mac’s record? [LA Times]
It’s not too often that the RP has a piece about table tennis in the Politics of Swing. But here’s an interesting piece about the dominance of China in the sport, and the consequences for Chinese players that have moved abroad and want to play for their adopted countries. Apparently, the International Table Tennis Federation has made it difficult for Chinese émigrés to do so because of the fear that it will “hinder . . . the development of local talent.” This must be a problem peculiar to the table tennis universe. [New York Times]
The French Open begins (en fin!) today. Who will be the champion at Roland Garros this year? Nadal? Djokovic? Federer? Qui sait? Here’s a look at the All-Time Top 25 Men’s French Open Players throughout the years. [The Bleacher Report]
Is there something in the Guinness in Northern Ireland? Several weeks ago, Rory McIlroy suffered a very public implosion in Augusta after leading the Masters for two days. This past weekend, fellow Irishman (and RP favorite) Graeme “G-Mac” McDowell had a monumental meltdown at the Players Championship at Sawgrass. McDowell explained what happened to [The Guardian].
As you may have seen, golf great Seve Ballesteros passed away way too young in life on May 7. Here’s a look back at the Spanish legend. [Golf.com]
In yet another indication that South Africans are steadily taking over the professional golf world, Ernie Els (at a young forty-one years of age) has been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Els becomes only the second active player to be inducted into the elite club. [ESPN]
Yesterday marked a historic first in American tennis—and not a joyous one: for the first time in 40 years, not a single American man or woman was ranked in the top 10 in singles. A few weeks ago, the RP noted the same trend in professional golf. Here’s the question: does it really matter for the sport or its fans? Let us know! [New York Times]
Summer is coming and it’s time to start thinking about vacation! What could be better than a golf trip to the land where it all started? If nothing else, you can dream, Tiger. Definitely on the RP wish list. [Championship Golf Courses of Great Britain and Ireland]
This week, the Recovering Politician takes two very distinctive looks at tennis: one beautiful, one grotesque. Marvel at the former in this stunning collection of today’s top female tennis players in slow motion presented by the New York Times Magazine: [The Beauty of the Power Game]
And let’s see if you remember this classic skit from Monty Python’s Flying Circus. If you’re of a certain age, it was certainly hard to forget. Enjoy! [Tennis Anyone?]
In case you missed it, one of the few boxers to ever knock Muhammad Ali to the floor died this week. Ali led some of the many tributes to Sir Henry Cooper. [The Guardian]
And finally, the RP is sure that you’ve heard of the next generation of professional golfers that are taking over the game from old fogies like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk et al. These young whipper snappers also bring along with them a new generation of WAGs—brought to you by [Golf.com]
Need more evidence that golf is a cruel, evil game? Watch these playoff shots in Sunday’s Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links. It wasn’t only the tournament that was on the line—it was also the number one spot in the world. [ESPN]
And in the “does America have to dominate every sport?” category, is it really that terrible that 16 of the top 25 golfers in the world ranking “are non-Americans”? Does that fact alone, dear readers, dampen your enthusiasm for following the game? LET US KNOW! [Gene Wojciechowski]
Check out this dead-on spoof of the English and English sport from the Netherlands. If you’ve never understood (or wanted to understand) Cricket, have a soft spot in your heart for the Brits and love Monty Python, this is for you. [Jiskefet]
As we all know, there’s been an epidemic of below the belt punches and vicious upper-cuts inside the beltway over the last couple of decades. Unfortunately, the results are not always as entertaining as these. [YouTube]
You may have heard that professional golfer Kevin Na took 16 strokes to finish a par four hole last week. He is truly the new hero of all hacks and duffers out there. Unbelievably, though, his is not the worst score ever on a single hole on the PGA Tour. Know who owns that inglorious record? (The RP wonders if alcohol may have played a role?) [About.com]
And by the way, if you missed Na’s ordeal, you’ve got to watch this painfully fun video with great audio. [Bleacher Report]
Americans, of course, don’t like to lose. We especially don’t like to lose to other countries, right, patriots? But how about getting completely, embarrassingly pounded by the Germans? This falls into the WTF category. (And, yes, WTF stands for World Tennis Federation—WTF did you think?) [Tennis-X]
The Duke Lacrosse story has now gone from sad to sadder to tragic. [CNN]
Finally, there have clearly been great movies about boxing (Rocky, The Fighter come to mind) and golf (Caddyshack, definitely qualifies, The Legend of Bagger Vance is questionable—although it does have Charlize Theron in it), but have there ever been any good movies about tennis? LET US KNOW!!
”You know it’s time to change your Facebook profile information when (fill in the blank).”
