Pick a team, any team.

For nine out of twelve months, I live in New England--that puts me in Red Sox Nation territory.

For the other three months, I live an hour north of Philly. By default that should make me a Phillies fan.

I guess it makes sense to me, that because I live in both places, I average out a team somewhere in the middle: The New York Yankees.

:::waits for the boos::::

The New York Yankees have been my favorite team since Wade Boggs graced third base for them. My brother was the one who pointed Boggs out to me when I was younger. I haven't looked away from the Yankees since, except when I enjoyed Bogg's run on the Rays for a bit of time--so for a little while you could call me a Rays fan. 

And before all that: I was a Cubs fan and a Braves fan, because at one point in time my little league teams were called the Cubs and the Braves.

This past year I even rooted for the LA Dodgers a bit. As Joe Torre moved, so did a little bit of my heart.

And at the beginning of the season, after news broke about the rookie pitcher who had been in a car accident, I couldn't help but root for the Angels.

The point here is that while I am a Yankees fan at heart, I believe that it is okay to like other teams.

:::Waits for more boos:::

I love the Philadelphia Phillies, because every time I walk into that stadium I witness a great game.

I enjoy the Boston Red Sox because they have something very important to me: my wedding venue. The only witness that I need at my wedding is the Green Monster.

I like the Atlanta Braves because Chipper Jones has always been a respectable player.

I like the Baltimore Orioles, because at one point Cal Ripken Jr. was a premier ballplayer--steroid free, and nothing but respectful out on the field.

I think that it is way too hard to claim a team, at this point, for many reasons. 

1. Players get traded all the time. How can I just stop liking a player once he is traded, especially if I followed him through the farm league, through the minors, and right onto the field. (Chase Utley).

2. A team isn't just the players on that field, a team is an atmosphere. It is an atmosphere created by the fans, the coaches, and the announcers. If the atmosphere is great, I can't help but falling for the team.

3. I have respect for any ballplayer who makes it in the big leagues (the right way), and can take the heat from the media and still perform to his top ability.

4. Fantasy Baseball is my defense. I have never played Fantasy Baseball, but for all those people who do and who nag me that I can't like the Yankees...and the Phillies...and the Dodgers: Isn't that essentially what you are doing, picking your favorite players--the best players--who are from a variety of teams? 

I think that I will stop saying I am a Yankees fan. And just start saying that I am a players fan.

And no it isn't because of the sweep this past weekend.

Going to "Church"

Have you ever walked into a gym, and realized that no one around you talks? Everyone is synchronized in their steps on the elliptical, their breaths on the treadmills, their cycles on the bicycle. Each person's eyes are fixated either on the world in front of himself or herself, or on a book or magazine. Going to the gym, is like going to a church. Silence surrounds, people take part in the same routines, and at the end of the day, people feel refreshed. For many, the gym, is their church.

Here is an aural postcard that I have made that states some of the other similarities. Enjoy.

Going to "Church"

"Mathketball" and "Student-Athlete"

There is Math.

There is Basketball.

There is Mathketball.

There is Student.

There is Athlete.

There is Student-Athlete.

This is slightly laughable, seeing as this past week One Tree Hill used the term mathketball to describe what people who attend elitist elementary schools play at recess as opposed to basketball. But I would like to use it, here, as a way of describing the balance between math and basketball that person needs early on in life--and even extend that on to the word more well known: Student-Athlete. In high school, we develop life skills by playing sports--as well as in college. Sports are our extra-curriculars in high school that help make us diverse, and well-practiced in every-day aspects of life. We go to school for 6 hours a day, and we play our sports for two or three hours a day. We are student-athletes.

Yesterday,  the Associated Press released information that a high school basketball player from San Diego High School in San Diego, CA, by the name of Jeremy Tyler, is dropping out of his junior year of high school to play professional basketball in Europe.

Now, I have heard of many players skipping their last few years of college to go on to the NBA. Heck, even non-athletes skip their last few years of college to go professional--Bill Gates for example. But I question any student-athletes choice to leave high school.

In fact, even the NBA said has a rule that basically says, "Hey, kids don't drop out of high school to play pro ball with us, because we won't draft you until you are at least 19." 

At the high school level, you are still considered a young-adult. You are at time in your life when you are making decisions that will affect you for the rest of your life. Dropping out of high school prohibits you from going to college right away when you decide you want to go back to school. Going professional means never having the opportunity to play college ball, where most players acquire skills and show off to the professional level coaches in a pool of people that are also hoping to make it big one day. I can't even say how much it has been stressed in my life that being a student-athlete means being a student first and an athlete second. I understand that this could be different for a basketball player--seeing as neither of the sports that I played had professional sports, but should a junior in high school really be growing up so fast? Should athletic students really just become athletes before the age of 18 or 19? Even younger kids who go on to perform in the Olympics go through home-schooling.

Also, how will it feel years down the road to know you missed out on your senior season of basketball? Your high school graduation? Your high school senior week? What happens if in his first few months, or years, of going pro, he suffers a career-ending injury. What happens if his junior year of high school is the year that he has plateued. Going from high school to college is challenging enough as the pace of sports is just so much faster. I can't even imagine how much faster a professional basketball game moves in comparison to a high school game. What does it tell people who look up to him? 

Sometimes people ask me who I would sit down to eat lunch with, dead or alive, if I had a choice.

I think Jeremy Tyler would be my latest choice--however, I wouldn't want it to be for another ten or twenty years. I would only have one question for him:"Was it all worth it?"

A Listen

Have you ever wanted to go to a place because of the way it looked in pictures in a book or on a television screen? The answer to that question is probably simple: Yes. 

I have always wanted go to to Wrigley Stadium, where the Chicago Cubs play, because it looks absolutely amazing in pictures. I have always wanted to get married in Fenway park, because of how beautiful it looks. And I have always wanted to witness a basketball game in Duke's gym because of how crazy the atmosphere appears on the television and how amped the fans seem during shots caught on camera.

But what about the sound of a place. What about the sounds of our favorite sport places? What does Wrigley Stadium sound like? What would be the acoustics of a wedding in Fenway Park? What would our ears go through if we sat through a Duke basketball game in their own gym? 

What do our places of sport sound like? 

Here is the University of Rhode Island gym's soundscape--that I took several weeks ago, beginning with the cardio room and moving on to the weight room.

Take a listen here:

URI Gym Soundscape

Run, Run, Run, As Fast as You Can

Natural runners are a rare breed. I have always said that their muscles develop differently, their metabolism is naturally faster, and for some reason their body is built to look perfect in spandex. But every year, every weekend, there are opportunities for people who don't have those special muscles, that awesome metabolism, or that attractiveness in spandex to go out and run a race. There are fun runs, mile runs, 5Ks, 10Ks, 5 milers, 1/2 marathons, and full marathons. 

People run these all for different reasons. Some people are doing it to get fit. Others are doing it to donate to a special cause. And others are doing it to win. At my first 5K, I met a woman who was running her first 5K as well. She said to me, "Are you doing this for fun, or for the kill." I responded by saying, "I am just here for the experience." Another woman that I met had been running for over thirty years. She was surely in it for the kill. I watched kids take part in the earliest race of the day, the fun run, and then I watched more kids take part in the mile run. Even kids who had to walk the whole mile--did it. It was an extraordinary experience. So I can only imagine what people are feeling today at the Boston Marathon.

According to the Boston Athletic Association's website, the first Boston Marathon took place in 1897, and has moved several times. In the early years of the Boston Marathon, the length was 24.5 miles. In 1927, the race extended to 26 miles. 

Today marks the 113th Boston Marathon. 

Most marathons take place through out the year and people can register on their own to run in them. This includes half marathons as well. But for the Boston Marathon, one must qualify. It isn't enough to just want to run a marathon at some other point in the year, no someone must be in it for the kill, in order to qualify. 

In order to qualify, one must race in another race somewhere else that is considered a "qualifying race." At this race, a person must finish the race by a certain time determined by their age bracket. For example, according to the B.A.A. website, a male who is in the age bracket of 18-34 must finish in under 3 hr and 10 minutes, and a female in the same age bracket must finish in under 3 hr and 40 minutes. 

There are several age groups, and even two separate categories. The Boston Marathon doesn't discriminate against the handicapped, as it holds a Push Rim Wheelchair race as well. 

Approximately 25,000 people are set to race today--and they will be run, run, running as fast as they can.

Spring into action

As many college athletes can agree, there is no tougher season than the off-season. The off-season requires getting oneself mentally and physically prepared for the next season. It is all about forgetting past mistakes, close losses, and even big wins. It is about setting new goals and higher expectations. It means getting up at the break of dawn and practicing when the rest of the people in the same time zone are sleeping. It means harder runs, longer practices, and tough lifts. It means pushing oneself above levels ever expected, so that one can perform at peak level next season. It's all about dedication and commitment. And it all feels like hell while its happening.

For many athletes, the off-season can serve as their season. Seeing as not all college athletes are starters or second-string, many college athletes see their off-season as their one chance each year to get to play and prove oneself for the following year. It is the athlete's opportunity to get playing time and remember what it felt like to be on the field when he or she was the star athlete at their high schools.

Spring season is that opportunity for college field hockey players.

Many college field hockey players can attest that the spring season is no walk in the park. However, playing in spring tournaments is the huge pay-off after all the early mornings. 

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to go to Princeton University to watch a spring field hockey tournament. Six teams competed in an all day tournament. Among these teams were: Princeton, UConn, BC, Temple, PSU, and Syracuse. And each team looked great out there--sure each team had things to work on, but if this is a prequel to the Fall 2010 season, then people should be getting really excited over the growing sport.

First, the sport has evolved this year, as new rules have been implemented at the NCAA level. Originally, when a foul occurred players would have to place the ball where the foul happened, and then pass or hit the ball to a teammate. Now, players can take the free hit and turn it into a free dribble. Instead of passing, players can now take the ball themselves to new space. The pace of the game is now faster, and the players seem to be getting acquainted  with the rule very quickly. However, the rule is subjective in the eye of the ref, meaning refs are going to call the rule differently, because there is no exact science to the new rule. 

As the competition went on through out the day, players tested out their practiced chip shots, reverse chips, passes, and new spin moves. Everything looked smooth, and the girls seemed genuinely excited to be out on the field playing.

There was however one "casualty" during the day. The tournament lost a ref for the day following a ball hitting him in the face. The ref needed to be removed from the field and stitched up. This wasn't the only wild ball that caught someone off guard. #6 for Princeton took a chip shot off the head, from a BC player's stick, in the first game of the tournament. She went down, but within minutes was standing again. When Princeton took the field again for their second game about an hour and a half later, #6 was back on the field playing. 

That's what these tournaments are all about--being tough and showing that you didn't go through the spring training for nothing. More teams need athletes like that, ones who aren't afraid to get back out there after getting taken out--literally. 

Spring season is a time to fines the skills, but also to prove how tough one really is. With a stellar spring like this, one can only imagine how fantastic the fall will be.