Buck O'Neil

The Committee shall consider all eligible candidates and voting shall be based upon the individual's record, ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contribution to the game ~ Rule 10 of the Veterans' Committee Voting Guidelines

As a freshman, I got to meet Buck O'Neil. Here is a republishing of my post the day after I met him:

Yesterday, I had the extreme privilege of meeting Buck O'Neil. For those of you who don't know, Buck was a Negro League's player for the Kansas City Monarchs, among others, and the first black coach in the Major Leagues when he coached for the Cubs. He's been on the Veteran's Committee of the Hall of Fame since about 1981 and runs the Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas City. Not only that, he's a great person. When he entered the museum (I was at the Bob Feller Museum, more on him later), I didn't realize who he was. I saw him across the room. He started hugging the ladies behind the desk, being generally jovial. He radiated a happiness that was contagious. Everyone in the museum was full of energy, and it was 8 in the morning. He was shaking hands and talking to everyone. He made you feel like he came to see you, and I genuinely think that he did. I'm pretty sure Buck had as much fun meeting me as I did him. I was really near the beginning of the line to get his autograph, but he had a magnetic personality that made me hang around. I could have left and come back to sleep some more, but Buck made me not want to leave. Everyone was having a great time. Stories flew, people laughed, Buck told a joke. He was happy to tell anyone a story. It was just all around great. Any other time, meeting Bob Feller would have been at the top of my list, but Buck was today, and Bob understood that. Bob just kinda laid low. I got to talk to him as well. Bob was a great guy as well. He too had a genuine want to talk to everyone there. Judging by some of the other people there, he was a regular, greeting a lot of people by their first names. Yesterday was so much fun, and I'm very grateful to have gotten to meet two legends of the game.

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but it really is a shame that Buck O'Neil is not in the Hall of Fame. Buck may not have been the greatest first baseman ever, but his candidacy goes far beyond his performance on the field. The rules specifically allow for integrity, character, and contribution to the game. I can think of no one who embodies these three characteristics more than Buck O'Neil. His book, I Was Right On Time, is a great read and I suggest it for any baseball fan. Meeting Buck O'Neil was one of the greatest mornings of my life. I know a couple of other people who've met Buck, and they all say the same thing. Buck O'Neil is a great ambassador for the game. Along with his work with the Negro Leagues Museum, Buck's contribution to the game is immeasurable, and he deserves no lesser honor than to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame

Sorry, but...

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've been pretty sick. Sick enough people are inquiring as to my continued mortality in less of a joking tone than you usually use when you ask someone if they're going to live. As soon as I'm better, I promise (my kind of promise, not a real one) some new stuff.

Hooray for curling

I'm so excited for the Winter Olympics for 1 reason - curling. I got hooked watching the Salt Lake Olympics. As the opening ceremonies neared, I got more and more pumped. Adam, as usual, thought I was an idiot. "Just wait", I kept saying, "you'll like it. You don't think you will, but you will." Now guess who's talking strategy and yelling at the TV?

Curling has been on CNBC every day at 4PM this week. It's been so much nicer than in Salt Lake when curling was shown at 1 AM. Curling is this Olympics' fad sport, hence the primo air time. I'm cool with this as long as I don't have to wreck my sleep cycle to see it. The problem is that there is no curling on in the intervening years.

To me, curling's appeal is it's "everyman" simplicity. Some of the men look like your standard Wednesday night bowling leaguers. It's not downhill skiing, luge, bobsled, skeleton, or any other of a number of sports where I think you need either a death wish or a stiff drink to participate. Anybody can slide rocks on ice, and that's how it hooks you. The "Hell, I could do this" factor I call it. So you watch, and start to pick up on the strategy and nuance and begin to realize the game is much more complex than it looks. By then, you're hoping the US can maybe steal one while the Canadians have the hammer. Instead, the Canucks slide past the block, knock the US out of the house, land practically on the button and are lying two, and you hang your head. Don't understand those last two sentences? Watch this afternoon if you can. It doesn't take long at all to pick it up. That's the beauty of curling. That and Cassie Johnson.

24 - CSI Connection

I watch a lot of TV. Some would say an obscene amount. Coupled with the fact I have a really good memory, I started to notice when a lot of actors from my favorite show, 24, showed up on my second favorite, CSI. Here's who I've noticed:

Glenn Morshower
CSI - Sheriff Brian Mobley
24 - Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce

Aisha Tyler
CSI - Mia
24 - Marianne

Gregory Itzin
CSI - Norman Stirling, father of a kid who bombs places
24 - President Charles Logan

Reiko Aylesworth
CSI - Chandra Moore, lab tech who couldn't "work in this environment", left after 1 show
24 - Michelle Dessler

Xander Berkley
CSI - Sheriff Rory Atwater
24 - Mason

I feel as though I'm forgetting someone. If you know of anyone else, post, by all means post.

Sporting Venues

SBG and Will have posted all of the stadiums they've been too. Having spent all of my creative energy on an early Valentine's Day yesterday, I'm just going to mooch(plagarize, flat out steal) this idea. Here we go-

Baseball
Metrodome - Twins
Wrigley Field - Cubs
(New) Comiskey Park - White Sox
Kauffman Stadium - Royals
Busch Stadium* - Cardinals
Miller Park- Brewers
Shea Stadium - Mets
Camden Yards - Orioles
Great American Ballpark - Cincinnati
Veteran's Stadium* - Philadelphia

Baseball - Spring Training
Surprise Stadium - Rangers, Royals
Phoenix Municipal Stadium - A's
Peoria Sports Complex - Padres, Mariners
Maryvale Baseball Park - Brewers

NBA
Market Square Arena* - Pacers
Conseco Fieldhouse - Pacers

NFL
Hoosier Dome - Colts (Preseason)

NHL
I'm saddened to realize I've never been

NCAA Football
Drake Stadium - Drake University
Memorial Stadium - Indiana
Kinnick - University of Iowa
Butler Bowl - Butler University

NCAA Basketball
Knapp Center - Drake
Wells Fargo Arena - Drake

Soccer
Soldier Field - US v. England, Chicago v. Columbus, Real Madrid v. Chivas Guadalajara
Estadio Olympico - Barcelona v. Espanyol
Cownie Sports Complex - Drake

Minor League Baseball
Bush Stadium* - Indianapolis
Victory Field - Indianapolis
Sec Taylor - Des Moines

Minor League Hockey
Pepsi Coliseum - Indianapolis
Madhouse on Hickman - Des Moines Buccaneers
Wells Fargo Arena - Des Moines Stars

*Indicates that this stadium is no longer functioning in this capacity, like it's been imploded.

US Soccer

Let it be hereby noted that this is the first post of my new system.

Tonight at 10 Central Time, the US Men's National Team is going to play Japan on ESPN2. Everyone should watch. The MNT is coming off of a 5-0 ass-whooping of Norway 2 weekends ago. Even His Holiness Pope Eddie XXIII scored a goal! To get everyone in the mood, click here to see MNT member Clint Dempsey rap up a storm. It takes a second to load, but it is totally worth it.

New? Improved?

I'm going to try something new around here and see how it works. It'll still be sports related for the most part, with the random personal item like Spain thrown in. I'm going to try to do more little things, like linkdumps or little blurbs. I've decided I'm too lazy to actually sit down and write more than a paragraph or two most of the time. I'll try to lay down a big post once in a while, but it won't be very often. I find it too hard to get myself motivated to write longer posts. Most of what I have to say has been said already by someone else in a much nicer style, so I'll link to them instead of repeating an opinion for the upteenth time. And by all means, if you find an article you think I'd like, let me know. Same goes for if you write one, I'm not above whoring out this blog for articles that pass my very stringent (HA!) guidelines.

The Best of Spain

As I promised, I'm getting around to talking about Spain. And only 1 month later. Here are some of my thoughts on Spain.

First of all, the weather in Spain was, for the most part, wonderful. It was at the coldest 40F. While you sorry bastards were freezing in Iowa, I was debating whether I really needed my coat or not. The only bad weather was, of course, during the soccer game. I'd never been caught in a downpour like that since my very first baseball game. I don't remember if there was a torrential downpour during my first NBA game or not, not that it matters since they're inside.

Barcelona was a very cool city. It currently ranks second on my all-time cool cities list, right behind Edinburgh, Scotland. Two easy steps to having a good time in Barcelona. 1) Head to the Barri Gotic, 2) Walk around. There are so many civilizations built on top of each other in this part of town that there is nowhere near anything resembling urban planning. We spend a solid 5 days here and kept finding new streets we hadn't gone down yet. And make sure to get the Barcelona Card. Unlimited Metro usage, free or discounted admission to many museums and attractions, and the book that comes with it is very handy for figuring out what to do next.

On the "Way Better Than Expected" Front, we have the Barcelona Maritime Museum. I have to admit, we only went in because 1) we got a discount with our Barcelona Card, 2) They let us store our backpacks, and 3) We were cold. Once we got in there, it was way better than I would have ever imagined. They gave us free audio guides, instead of those other places that made you pay. The building itself was the old Gothic shipyard, something like 800 years old. There was a full sized ship, as well as many models. They were acutally building one of the models right there in front of you, then apologizing about the mess. Bah! I say, it was pretty sweet to see the craftsmen working on the model. You might have been able to get me to pay extra for it.

Overall, the best parts of Spain were almost entirely in Barcelona. It is a pretty chilled city, you can just walk around and do your thing. There's the attractions of any big city, but Barcelona definately lacked that big city rush that I've felt in London or NYC. You don't have to get up early because nothing is open until 10 anyway, so just go ahead and sleep.

Here's my plan for a great day in Barcelona - pick one thing you want to do. If it's within walking distance, by all means walk. (Alternate use of the plan: Pick a direction and start walking). But either way, and here's the important part of the plan, leave plenty of time for other stuff. On your way there, you're invariably going to pass stuff that your brain says "Hey, what was that? That looked cool." Instead of having to say "Sorry Brain, but I've planned too much for the number of hours in the day. We must stick to the schedule." You can say, "You know what, we've got plenty of time and that does look pretty sweet. Shall we? Yes, let's." Then on the way back, walk a different way. More stuff to go "Hey, let's stop" over. And by all means, stop and do it. Here is my philosophy on travel in one easy to digest blurb from which "the plan" was spawned -

You can never, ever see everything there is to see, so don't even try

Instead of trying, just take it easy and see whatever strikes your fancy.

To My Favorite Fan

Hey Boog!