Day One-Bowling Green

One of my trips for 2016 was off to a great start and as I got off work early to be driven by Kendall Morris and accompanied by Derreck Chupak to Bowling Green Kentucky for a visit to the Bowling Green Hot Rods,the Low A (Midwest League) affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Kendall likes to drive fast and stop seldom,but I must add a story to our only stop for gas in West Virginia.
I'm not sure of the exact name of our stop,but the sign following it was "Big Otter" WV and the stop was a treat.
As I pumped the gas,Derreck and Kendall went inside and reported that the cashier ran to the back of the store like the old 1980's WWF wrestler the Repo Man!


As I came in,Derreck was loudly crowing about his "new hick friend" who had touted "just down the road is the geological center of West Virginia"!
Being that I imagine that the rock that was the "geological" center,doesn't really exist by itself-I guess that he meant "Geographical",which was funny enough on its own merits,but to add "my new hick friend" cracked me up.
Cracked me up to the point of being unable to look the cashier in the eye as I checked out with Derreck and Kendall already out the door and because I couldn't look him in the eye,I got a view of this guy's name tag "Denzl" as in Denzel Washington,but missing the second "E".
I just couldn't stop laughing as I left the store and entered the car.
We discussed Denzl a good bit over the course of this trip!!

We drove through most of Kentucky,including a really neat drive through Lexington that enabled me (an old horse racing fan) to ride by Keeneland Race Course and the famous Calumet Farm.
For me,that was a really big deal just to see as we drove by..
When we finally arrived at Bowling Green (very hungry),we were greeted by the ballpark not opening until 30 minutes before the game instead of the standard 60 minutes.
That would then mean a severe cut in the amount of time spent graphing,time that would come back to haunt us later.

We did manage to get some players from the Hot Rods,which was the more important of the two teams rather than the visiting Lake County Captains,who we can see when they jump a level to High A in the Carolina League.
The best prospects were Jake Cronenworth (hitting .377 as of this writing),and former Maryland Terrapin Brandon Lowe.
We were able to meet Lowe's parents at the game as well as they were visiting from Virginia.
The most intriguing prospect was one that we didn't have a card for-left reliever Jose Alvarado.
Alvarado hit 98 on the radar gun and consistently was in the 95-96 range,but struggled with control.
A lefty arm like that will get plenty of chances with Tampa Bay and beyond.

The food at BG was memorable as in being Suns-worthy in being bad.
My hot dogs were decided upon after dreadful ratings for the burger and fries by both Kendall and Derreck.
They were average at best,but beat the reports on the pizza that Derreck and Kendall gave.
Between the crummy food and two dollars for a program that wasn't as good as the one that the Frederick Keys give away for free,the Hot Rods concessions left much to be desired.

But there were two positives to the Hot Rods.
One was sitting next to Kim,a superfan that was super into the game and knowledgable to boot.
I didn't introduce myself,but I really enjoyed sitting near her and watching her enthusiasm.
The other was Jennifer Johnson (I looked on her nametag).
Jennifer walked the concourse and seemed interested in interacting with fans,answering questions and actually listened-which is a refreshing change from the Suns.
Ms.Johnson is exactly the type of person the Suns need and if I owned the Suns,I'd be calling her tomorrow for the GM job,but in her current position,she was quite impressive-the Hot Rods need to keep her around.

I was using the "book" of a friend to try for the trip and frankly,I didn't care for it.
It was mostly me being uncomfortable with it and getting flustered,but it just wasn't smooth for me.
Every grapher has their own ways of doing things and what works for one grapher can be clunky and
difficult to handle.
In the end,it has to be what works for you in getting to what you need quickly and easily and for me,that just isn't the book.

In between games,Derreck and I discovered the outfield at Bowling Green and that gives the best access of all.
The players walk from their clubhouses to the field through a walkway in left-center field and through a set of steps,you can get players from both teams,which we managed to get a lot of players to sign between games.
We figured we would be able to finish up in that area after the game,but alas it was a fireworks night and we weren't allowed in the area.

In the end,I just didn't feel the "it factor" in Bowling Green from the fans and from a ballpark that opened seven years ago and felt like it was twice that age,
Ok,but nothing spectacular other than stretching that stadium chart a little further west...

Back tomorrow or later with day two in Nashville....

Cavaliers crush Toronto in Game one!

Kyrie Irving scored 27 points and LeBron James shooting was dead on in adding 24 as the Cleveland Cavaliers continued to steamroll their way through the Eastern Conference with a 115-84 win over the Toronto Raptors in game one of their series.
I wish I could add more about the dominance of the win,but I just don't have the words!
Game two in Cleveland Thursday night...

Swashbucklings

1) The Cavaliers have now won their first nine games of the playoffs and I'm sure that you might have noticed that I haven't done recaps of all of those games.
They were so one sided other than one game in Atlanta (that I didn't see as I was in Scranton) that I didn't have much to say.
From here on out,I'll be here...

2) LeBron James hit his first nine shots,including a crushing dunk as he cut around DeMarre Carroll.
James finished 11 of 13 from the floor and sat most of the second half.

3) Kyrie Irving's 27 points also built the lead that allowed him to sit the same in the second half.
Considering the noted fragility of Irving,any rest that he can be given is a positive decision...

4) The 31 point win was the largest ever for Cleveland in the playoffs and they did it by driving to the basket.
James did not hit a three pointer and the teams stretch of double digit three pointers ended.

5) Toronto missed center Jonas Valanicuius for the game and the ailing center will miss game two as well.
Without the bulky center taking up room in the paint,the drives to the basket will continue.

Podcast: Chasing Cardboard Episode 2!

The podcast returns with Chasing Cardboard with Derreck Chupak and Kendall Morris from the road!
We catch up on lost time and discuss our trip to Kentucky and Tennessee...

Scranton What?

Last Sunday after work,my good friend and often travel companion Doug Hopkins made the three hour trek up I-81 to Scranton PA for my first trip to the home of the Railriders,the AAA Affiliate of the New York Yankees.

Scranton is a ballpark that was completely renovated and reopened in 2013 and unless you know that,you would assume that it was a new stadium.
PNC Field was a stadium with wide concourses and lots of room in an open area when you enter the stadium.

I didn't eat at the stadium because we were planning to eat afterward,but I walked around and there were plenty of places with food concessions.
The seats were pretty decent as far as size goes for width and plenty of leg room as well.
With my aching knees often times,my knees will tighten up in the better seating area,but it didn't happen once at PNC Field.

PNC Field also is built into a mountain with lots of exposed rock clearly visible around the bowl of the outfield.
It has some neat features as high above the outfield,you can see some restaurants and shopping from the stand along with a grassy area to sit in the outfield area,which is becoming more of a standard feature in newer minor league parks.
Visually,it's not outstanding,but it's solid and I'd rank it as above average..

If you are a Yankee hater,this may not be the place for you,because the Railriders have completely bought into the Yankee mystique-almost to the lack of real attachment to the teams own name and image.
There are far more attention paid to the Yankees affiliation than the name Railriders and I don't really have an issue with that.
I bet that they get their fair share of traveling fans from New York (about two hours away) that buy into the Yankee marketing and I heard more New York accents than I've heard in years.
The team brings in older Yankee legends on certain days each month and the team store has more Yankee items than for the hometown branding.
My favorite part of the day was the "Racing Yankees".
Different teams have various gimmicks,but this added a baseball flair to it as Billy Martin,Mickey Mantle,Joe DiMaggio and Thurman Munson raced around the field.
I thought that was pretty cool.

The game moves along there and doesn't have the ear-splitting noise and time wasters that some parks have (Hagerstown).
It isn't as much that they don't have them (they do),it's just that the noise level is so much lower,so you can ignore if you wish.

This game had former Yankee (among others) Nick Swisher attempting a comeback,so after the game,most of the graphers were on the Yankee side attempting to add Swisher along with powerhitting prospect Aaron Judge,who smashed a long homer in this game.
Scranton's clubhouses are on opposite sides of the field,so you cannot do post game for both teams.
I needed top 100's for both team,but needed more for the visiting Lehigh Valley Ironpigs,so did them.
The graphers didn't really say much to Doug and I,except for one guy who was pretty helpful.
I did reasonably well for AAA, as I was able to get the first two top 100's for the 2016 set in Lehigh Valley's Nick Williams and Jake Thompson along with some more players from the new Reading top prospect set.
I needed three top 100's for Mark Appel,the former top overall pick in the draft,who the Phillies traded for over the off-season.
Appel was very nice,but a one per,so Doug helped me out,so I was able to get the 2014 and 15 finished,but still need the new card finished.

Doug and I usually try to find interesting places on trips to eat and this was no exception as I did homework on tripadvisor and came up with Cosmo's-a cheesesteak and fries joint that learned from the famous Philly steak places in Gino's and Pats.
My volcano chicken cheesesteak (this sub was unavailable in beef for some reason) and volcano fries were very good,
It's a few miles from the ballpark (Cosmo's is in Scranton,with the stadium in suburban Moosic),but worth going out of the way for.

I'd consider myself pleasantly surprised by Scranton and I can't really think of anything negative to say about the trip.
I'd certainly return!

Cleaning out the inbox-Sports edition.

The sports inbox needs to be cleaned and I'll start with the unveiling of the Sacramento Kings new logo as they prepare to enter a new arena next season.
I like the new logo because it is very much like the old Kansas City Kings logo that the team used for years when they first arrived in the capital of California.
The funny part is the picture from USA Today,which takes the Kings and Atlanta Hawks logo,turns them upside down and looks a lot like a game of PacMan...

Sports Illustrated posts an oral history of the first great quarterback crop in the NFL draft from 1971.
The crop did not produce any Hall of Famers,but did have two Super Bowl winners in Joe Theismann and Jim Plunkett along with two players that were considered among the best of their time in Archie Manning and Ken Anderson.
Its interesting looking back at just how little news that the draft created in 1971 compared to the media behemoth of today.....

Hardball Times has an excellent oral history on the Doug Mirabelli trade in 2006.
Mirabelli was a generic backup catcher with one plus skill-the ability to catch a knuckleball.
That skill generally is like being an excellent surfer in the Arctic Ocean,but on a team with with a knuckleballer,it's worth its weight in gold.
Those Red Sox needed Mirabelli by employing Tim Wakefield,but yet traded him away over the previous winter and expected Josh Bard to catch Wakefield,which quickly proved to be a less than successful expectation.
This tells the story of the trade and the extraordinary extremes that were used to get Mirabelli to catch on the day that he was obtained from the San Diego Padres....

Jim Weber at the SI Cauldron discusses how much better NFL Helmets used to be and writes what helmet each team should be using.
I agree with all of his choices except for two- Weber would keep the current Redskins (I'd use the Lombardi yellow R helmet) and he would go back to the 80's Giants with the GIANTS name across it (I prefer the current NY logo),
Other than I like Weber's pick with the heavy on tradition selections!

Eleven Warriors has an excellent article on the late Drushaun Humphrey,who passed away as Ohio State's top recruit at running back in 2002 (Yes over Maurice Clarett) from a heart condition suffered during a high school basketball game.
It's a good read on Humphrey,but it covers other points as well-Clarett,Toledo's decline,high school sports and recruiting of the day.
Another point that I didn't know was one of the things that the NCAA went after Jim Tressel on when he was relieved of his duties was giving Humphrey's mother a 2002 championship ring and his high school coach a Buckeye jersey with Humphrey's name and number on it.
Please tell me what Tressel or Ohio State got out of that gesture to have it be an official reprimand?
That's the stuff that drives me nuts about the NCAA...

The Guardian looks at the best show on the fledgling Fox Sports One and its charismatic host Katie Nolan.
Garbage Time has been the only show on FS1 that I even try to see and Nolan is the main reason why.
Nolan attacks issues,but not in an obnoxious way and I think has the potential to be a star in the industry in a way that far surpasses the Erin Andrews of the world.
Nolan isn't afraid to take stands (like her takedown of Dallas Cowboy Greg Hardy and the softballing of him by the media) and prides herself on being more than just eye candy-I like her.

Finally,wanted to wrap up with a word or two on the graphing circuit-I have been having a great time and hope to have a post on my weekend trip up to Scranton up tomorrow or Thursday.
I'm behind but not out!!
Until then!

Boxing Challenge-Canelo wipes out Khan-Is GGG next?

For five round Amir Khan appeared to be using his speed and jab to keep himself in a fight with a much bigger man.
The problem was the fight was scheduled for 12  and when Canelo Alvarez crashed home one booming right hand against Khan-the knockout of the year followed and the evening was concluded with a sixth round KO that allowed Alvarez to retain his WBC middleweight title.
The bigger question is will Alvarez fight the fearsome Gennady Golovkin in his next fight?
Look for that discussion on next week's podcast.
I picked up three points (win,method and bonus point for round) in the Alvarez win and R.L,Malpica added two.

On the undercard,Ramon and I would each add three points in different ways.
Both of us would receive two points for David Lemieux's 4th round KO of Glen Tapia,but one point in different ways as I picked up one in Curtis Stevens knockout of Patrick Teixeira and Ramon added one for Frankie Gomez's decision win over Mauricio Herrera.

In Europe,both of us added two points for wins by Anthony Crolla (knockout winner over Ismael Barroso) and Kubrat Pulev (split decision victor over Derreck Chisora).

For the weekend,I finished with eight points and Ramon finishing with seven to move the season total in my favor to 55-45....

Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge vs R.L.Malpica rolls on with a PPV card and two fights from Europe.
Some of these fights are not quite up to the quality that usually are in the challenge,but we decided to mix things up a bit...
I currently lead the challenge 47-38.

The Canelo Alvarez show moves on as he defends his WBC middleweight title against the smaller Amir Khan.
The interesting part of the fight almost comes afterwards to see if Alvarez fights Gennady Golovkin next...

WBC Middleweight Title 12 rds
Canelo Alvarez vs Amir Khan
R.L: Alvarez KO 2
TRS: Alvarez KO 6

Middleweights.10 rds
David Lemieux vs Glen Tapia
R.L:Lemieux KO 5
TRS:Lemieux KO 6

Welterweights.10 rds
Mauricio Herrera vs Frankie Gomez
R.L:Gomez split decision
TRS:Herrera split decision

Middleweights.10 rds
Patrick Teixeira vs Curtis Stevens
R.L; Teixeira  KO 9
TRS: Stevens split decision

WBA Lightweight Title.12 rds
Anthony Crolla vs Ismael Barroso
Both:Crolla Unanimous Decision

Heavyweights. 12 rds
Kubrat Pulev vs Derreck Chisora
R.L;Pulev unanimous winner
TRS;Pulev KO 10