Arizona Sports Update (With Ed Rothlisberger)

Last night, September 25, 2012, was my final chance of seeing the Diamondbacks in person this year.  Although they are currently 5.5 games back in the wildcard race and have no hope of climbing over 3 other teams to grab the final wildcar slot, I was still excited to see the D-Backs take on the home town Giants.  What most excited me was the opportinity to see who I believe will be the Diamondbacks future ace, Tyler Skaggs.  Sadly, at the last minute, they replaced Skaggs for Josh Collmenter.  I have no problem with Collmenter, overall he is a decent pitcher, but I was looking forward to seeing the 21 year old throw in only his 7th major league start.  Sadly, those first 6 starts have not been what most people would consider "impressive."  He has infact gone 1-3 with a 5.83 ERA.  But like I said, he is 21 and although the D-Backs have lost 5 of his 6 starts, I think he has shown a lot of pottential and could infact become a great starter for Arizona.  Hopefully next year he is able to have a season similar to Rookie of the Year candidate Wade Miley.  This article I am writing was going to be my in-person review of Tyler Skaggs and the future of Arziona, but since I did not get to see him pitch, I had to shake things up.  Yet still, the season may be all but over for the Diamondbacks, but I think they are showing signs of a promising future.

As I was waiting for my friend Eddie, a huge Giants fan, to get off the train last night so we could head over to the game, I started texting one of my best friends, Ed Rothlisberger, with whom I grew up with in Tucson.  For any of my readers who do not know Ed, he knows more about sports than anyone I have ever met.  He can pull facts and stats out of the his brain as if he were a computer.  He knows the names of the most obscure players and can referce games as if he were a participant in the game itself.  Ed is the real Arizona Sports Guy and I will be the first to say it, he needs to have a job in sports.  He needs to be working as a scout, analyst, reporter, ticket taker, Corn Dog vendor, or a team's General Manager, it doesn't matter, he belongs in sports.

As Ed and I began our conversation last night, after discussing for a few minutes the best show on TV, The Walking Dead (Season 3 begins October 14), we soon began to discuss the Diamondbacks' future and a few of our other Arizona sports teams.  Below is the transcript of our conversation:

Me: Well man, off to another dbacks game. Too bad I gave up hope on them 3 weeks ago.

Ed: Yeah, their chances are pretty much slim to none now

Me: I was so stoked to see Tyler Skaggs pitch tonight, I think he'll be their future ace, but last minute they replaced him for Collmeter. He throws like a tomahawk.

Ed: Yeah Collmenter has a weird throwing motion. I wish Stephen Drew would have been healthy

Me: The whole reason I wanted to go was to see Skaggs. I was gonna write about him in my article. Trading Drew may not have been good. He's not bad for the A's and he's much better than John McDonald or whoever else their putting out at short.

Ed: Yeah McDonald and Bloomquist weren't that good. Getting Johnson from the Astros was a good deal but yeah trading Drew wasn't

Me: Yeah I like Johnson. I think The dbacks are one good acquisition away from winning the NL West next year. The Dodgers are gonna implode just like the Red Sox.

Ed: Yeah they are, that trade hasn't really worked out for them

Me: I like the Diamondbacls 40 man roster. I love Adam eaton. They have lots of guys that'll be good next year, including Skaggs.

Ed: Yeah Eaton has been a good surprise, as was Miley and Skaggs...and to an extent Hill was too. I just think they need to get a good shortstop and better pitching and they are World Series bound

Me: I agree 100%. Well at least playoff bound. I don't know if I wanna keep Upton or not, he's been good lately, but he's not playing up to his contract. He'll be making like 10 mil next year and 15 mil in 2 years. I feel like all he ever does is pop out to the infield.

Ed: True...with Young coming back along with Kubel, Eaton and Parra, Upton can be traded to get us a quality player.

Me: I agree. Dude, if we could just get the Suns good, then the AZ future would be looking bright. What do you think of the Cards so far? 3-0!

Ed: I knew the Cardinals defense was good, I just didn't know it was this good. Having a great defense plus having an offense just putting enough points on the board to win...I'd say look out!

Me: I feel like they're the type of team that will not lose if they get a lead, but I worry about them having to come back after falling behind early.

Ed: Yeah I'd agree with you on that too!

Me: But I think they'll win almost every turnover battle. Any chance the Cats beat Oregon State? You gonna be at that game?

Ed: I don't have plans but I do have work off so I think I'll look in to going. I think it's going to be a defensive shoot out really. I think it's going to be close.


3 Hours later after the Diamondbacks beat the Giants 7-2

Me: Well, nice win, but just too far out to make a run now. I got to see the dbacks 3 times this year and they won all 3, so at least I can take that away from this season.

Ed: That's awesome! Yeah they need lots of stuff to happen in order to get the wild card. I want them to have a winning record at least to end the season

Me: Not that it really matters, but I think they could easily overtake the dodgers for second place. They should have a winning record they finish with 6 games at home against the Cubs and Rockies.

Ed: True but they are 6 games back in the wild card

Me:Yeah, they have no shot at the playoffs.

Ed: Yeah :-/

Me: I'm still hoping for 7 U of A wins and a bowl in Rich Rod's first year.

Ed: I am hoping it happens man!! I think it will

Me: Looking at their schedule from here out, no games are a for sure win except Colorado. They could lose all of them or win all of them, except USC.

Ed: True. I think they'll win at least half

Me: I hope so, I just wanna see progress this year. Same thing I hope to see from the Suns. Not expecting too much.

Then I went to bed.

As mentioned above in the conversation, I am truly excited for the future of Arziona sports.  I did not mention all sports teams, so I wanted to touch up quickly on a few of the teams I did not go into depth on wtih Ed.

Arizona Wildcat Football:
The Cats have started out 3-1 beating then #18 Oklahoma State in an exciting shootout with a total of 97 points being scored and then 2 weeks later, losing to #3 Oregon 49-0.  It is hard to know what to expect from Arizona this year. In the first half of that Oregon game they could have easily been leading 14-13 at the half, but instead they were down 13-0 and then got dismantled in the second half.  As I look through their remaining schedule, as I mentioned above, Arizona could win all or none of them.  But here are my picks for the rest of their season.

Sept 29 vs Oregon State: Loss
Oct 6 at Stanford: Loss
Oct 20 vs Washington: Win
Oct 27 vs USC: Loss
Nov 3: at UCLA: Loss
Nov 12: vs Colorado: Win Big
Nov 17: at Utah: Win
Nov 23: vs ASU: Win!!!

Final Record: 7-5 heading to the  Maaco Bowl Las Vegas.

I personally think a 7 win season by the Cats would be impressive in Rich Rodriguez's first season as the head coach.  Last season after firing Mike Stoops, Arziona finished with 4 wins, but I believe they are on the way up, they are making progress.  I do not expect them to be contending for the Pac 12 title any time soon, but hopefully year after year they keep moving forward.  If Rich Rod can have a few good seasons and build a decent reputation, recruits will start to come to Tucson.  But it will either take a miracle season or another USC suspension to get U of A in the Rose Bowl. 

Arizona Wildcat Basketball:
Last season was nothing short of a disappointment.  In Tucson, anything short of the tournament is a disappointment.  After making it to the elite 8 in 2011, the NIT in 2012 just didn't cut it.  But with the return of Soloman Hill for his senior year, an exciting group of Sophomores who now have experience, and 4 ESPN top 100 recruits, Arizona should be the class of the Pac 12 and should without a doubt improve upon last season's lackluster performance.  Under the direction of Sean Miller in his 4th season, the Cats are prepped and ready for a Pac 12 title.  UCLA may have the #1 recruiting class in the nation, but I trust Sean Miller to coach his #4 recruiting class better than Ben Howland. 

Phoenix Suns:

Who will even be their starting 5 this season? I am guessing that Alvin Gentry will put out a dozen or more starting line ups this year before he finally figures out which 5 players make up the best B level team the Suns can possibly become.  Phoenix has one of the worst front office's in the league and I fear they will soon fall below the Warriors and the Kings in the Pacific division.  The Suns have lost their only good player and were unable to sign a future All Star, Eric Gordon.  Last season the Suns put on the floor Steve Nash and 4 other players that would be back ups on most other teams in the league.  I personally love Goran Dragic, who returns to Phoenix after 1.5 years with the Rockets.  It was dumb that the Suns ever traded him, but I am glad that they have repented of their mistake and that Dragic was humble enough to return to the team that traded him.

I am not coach Gentry, but just looking at their roster, I am thinking the Suns day one starting lineup will look something like this:

PG: Goran Dragic

SG: Jared Dudley (But maybe Wesley Johnson)

SF: Michael Beasley

PF: Luis Scola

C: Marcin Gortat

Looks to me like a team that will be 5 to10 games under .500 and finish 3rd in their division behind the obvious division leaders, the LA Lakers and Clippers.

Arizona Cardinals:

I have no idea.  They are 3-0 and I thought they would be 0-3 at this point.  They are playing in a division that may be the best in the league this year.  I have no idea if the Cardinals will continue to play this way or if they will begin to look more like everyone predicted they would look. 

Phoenix Mercury:
They won the WNBA lottery and will de drafting Brittney Griner!!! Oh wait, I still don't care about the WNBA, never mind. 

Truth be told, I am excited about the future of Arizona sports.  I am fearful of the Suns future and wish that Ed and I could go in and fix this mess, but since we can't, we will be forced to watch a team of B level players try and compete in a division with Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Besides the Suns, all other teams show promise and hope.  Now lets just cross our fingers that the NHL lockout will end and give the Coyotes a chance to defend the division title and run to the western confernce finals.

Some drugs, a bike, and a few Dominicans

When I was ten years old one of the most historic summers in the history of Major League Baseball took place. This was before I could check scores on my cell phone or the internet. Although those Medias existed, I was too young to own a cell phone and did not know too much about the internet. Instead, my dad would come home from work each day and update me on what had happened that day in baseball. He would tell me, “Mark McGwire hit another home run today and so did Sammy Sosa.” I soon became enthralled in the race for Roger Maris’ home run record in the summer of 1998. I was born in St. Louis and although I only lived there for about 6 weeks and do not remember any of it, I had always been a Cardinals fan. I lived in Arizona and until that same summer Arizona did not have a team. It took me a few seasons to warm up to the Diamondbacks so for the summer of 1998, I was still a Cardinals fan. I desperately wanted Mark McGwire to out slug Sosa and not only win the race for most home runs that season, but break all time record for most home runs in a season. I still remember that summer as one of the most exciting sports summers of my life.


On the night of September 8, Fox ran special coverage of the Cardinals vs. Cubs game. This was the game in which Mark McGwire had the chance to hit his 62nd home run of the season and thus pass Roger Maris for most home runs in a single season. It may not have been a pretty, but that night, McGwire hit a line drive into left field which barely cleared the wall. He had broken the record which had been held for 37 years. I was ecstatic. But truthfully, I was too young to really understand the history behind that home run. Like I said, I was 10, all I knew was that home runs = fun! I liked seeing home runs; to me they made baseball more exciting. So can you imagine my devastation when I found out a few years later that Mark McGwire was using steroids when he broke that record? His record only stood for 3 years until another user of steroids, Barry Bonds, was able surpass McGwire.

I do not know why, but cheating really bothered me. Maybe it is because I was taught by my parents to be honest in all I do. I was actually angry and upset that these men who cheated were breaking records. I became a snob about it as if I were some baseball purist who had witnessed Roger Maris or Babe Ruth hit their home runs and wanted McGwire’s and Bond’s names erased from the record books.

My frustration with performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) was later magnified in 2009 when Manny Ramirez was caught and suspended 50 games for using a form of testosterone. Ramirez was coming off of one of his best seasons in the majors. In 2008 he was acquired by the Dodgers and hit 37 homeruns with a total of 121 RBIs. He also finished 3rd in batting average, 2nd in slugging percentage, and 3rd in OPS. But the stat that upset me the most was that he had a WAR (Wins Above Replacement) of 6 games, which basically means that if the Dodgers were not playing with Manny, they would have lost 6 more games than they did with him in the lineup. In 2008 the Diamondbacks (who by now had been my favorite team for several years), lost the division to the Dodgers by 2 games. In my mind, the math was simple; Dodgers – Manny = Diamondbacks win division.

Last season the Diamondbacks did finally win their division. They finished in last place the season before and somehow, with the help of their manager Kirk Gibson, they were able to win 29 more games than they had the previous season. In the divisional series they met up with the Brewers and the big bats of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. I watched all five games of that series and it seemed that each time those two came up to bat, they got a hit. In the 3 games the Brewers won against the D-Backs, Ryan Braun was 8 for 11 from the plate and scored 5 runs. He alone sunk the Diamondbacks hopes of winning the series. Braun went on to win the National League MVP that season. But it was not too long before it was announced that Ryan Braun too had failed a drug test. Although due to a technicality Braun was never suspended, the possibility that he used steroids to beat the Diamondbacks upset me.

Now let’s fast forward to today and the past couple of weeks. About two weeks ago Melky Cabrera, the Giants left-fielder was suspended 50 games for using testosterone. He was having a career season and was second in the National League in batting average. At the time of his suspension, the Diamondbacks were about 4 games behind the Giants for first place in the division. Melky’s WAR for this season up to the point of his suspension was 4.5 games. Just as in 2008, the Diamondbacks were indirectly impacted by a player using a PED.

About a week after Cabrera got suspended, Bartolo Colon of the Oakland A’s was also suspended for using testosterone. The similarities between these two players where quite shocking; both players were having surprisingly high statistical seasons, both players were in a contract season, both players were born in the Dominican Republic, and both players were from the Bay Area. To top it all off, it just so happens that I went to see the Giants play the Nationals in what ended up being Melky’s final game before his suspension. A week later I went to see Bartolo Colon it what was his final start before his suspension. Maybe I am bad luck and maybe I should not go see the Diamondbacks when they are in San Francisco next month. Then to top off these past two weeks of baseball suspensions, yesterday afternoon Lance Armstrong, winner of the Tour de France 7 times was stripped of his medals for his involvement with steroids. What kept running through my head was Dave Chappelle’s character Tyrone Biggums saying “Drugs is all around us.” And oh how true it is, drugs are all around us and all around sports.

As per the usual, my initial reaction was to be upset, angry, and like the Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson, demand stronger penalties for those players who are caught using any form of PEDs. But over the past two weeks as I have read many articles and listened to the opinions of several baseball commentators, my feelings on the matter have surprisingly shifted. I would not say that my thoughts on the matter have changed 180 degrees, but I find myself a little bit more sympathetic towards the users of these PEDs. I would love to live in a world where baseball was drug free and every player was using their own abilities and not a drug induced manufactured strength to win ball games. But sadly, that is not the world we live in. But I believe we are headed in the right direction.

Over and over again sports analysts and both current and former athletes have said that the policy in baseball needs to change. I have heard dozens of ideas to change the current policy. Some have said that the moment you test positive you need to be kicked out of the league. Others have said that wins need to be vacated from the team and thus the entire team needs to be punished. Some have even gone far enough to say that these international ball players who test positive need to be banned from the United States and sent back to their home countries. No matter the idea that has been presented, it has been almost unanimous that the current policy is not working and needs to be changed.

My first question is this, have we forgotten what the current policy is? For first time offenders you get suspended 50 games, second time offenders are suspended 100 games, and if you are caught a third time, you are kicked out of the league. To me, this rule sounds a lot like baseball, three strikes and you’re out. Many people have said that the current policy simply does not work because people are still getting caught with PEDs. But I argue that if no one had been caught then the policy would not be working at all. Five people have been caught this season and those five will have to sit out one third of the entire season. And it seems clear to me that those players who get caught once do not make the mistake again because only one player has ever received the 100 game suspension, Manny Ramirez. I am not going to say that the policy does or does not need to be changed, but I think the current policy, although it may go against popular opinion, is truly working.

Although there are many international players in MLB, many who do not speak English as their first language, I have no doubt that each and every current player knows and understands the league’s drug policy. So why would anyone ever risk using a PED knowing that they will get suspended from their team and in the long run, hurt their chances of receiving a big contract in the future? I have thought about this and suddenly, it all makes sense. I had to ask myself, “Have I ever cheated in sports to help me win?” I wish I was the perfect example of integrity, but I have cheated in sports, especially in golf. I have missed putts by an inch or two and went ahead and counted it as a made putt. I have sent balls into the water and just gone ahead and taken a mulligan. Heck, I have even cheated in board games with my family and friends. It is a temptation each time I am the banker in Monopoly to not take an extra 20 bucks. So if I would cheat to beat a friend at golf or my wife at Skipbo, would I cheat in baseball in order to win more games, get a better contract and make millions of more dollars? I sure hope I would not, but until I am put into the shoes of these players, I do not know how I would react to such a temptation.

Let’s run through two different scenarios. In the first scenario, I am an up and coming minor league baseball player. I am in my first season after playing 4 years for my University’s team. I have been the best baseball player on all my teams since I was young. My parents paid for me to play for many different club teams and also receive private lessons. I have moved up from single A ball to double A and have my sights set on the major leagues. But for the first time in my career I am starting to play against other players who are as good as me or even better. My batting average is lower than it has ever been and I am not progressing as quickly as I would have hoped to. Making it up to the big leagues is not as certain as I once believed it to be.

In the second scenario, I am a young man in Latin America. The home I grew up in is made out of cinder blocks and is no bigger than most American kitchens. My parents work each day and live paycheck to paycheck. I have never had a glamorous life but I enjoy playing baseball on the all dirt field in my neighborhood. I started playing baseball with a broom stick as a bat and a bottle cap for the ball. Eventually I have made it big and have the chance to play in the United States. After a few seasons I am not having as much success as I would have hoped for. The game here is different than the game I grew up playing but I need to play well enough to get a new contract and hopefully help my family out back home who is still poor.

Both of these are obviously made up scenarios and although the details may not be real I believe they are scenarios which present themselves in baseball on a regular basis. Let’s look at the first scenario in which I am playing in the minor leagues and hoping to make it to the majors. It has been my dream to make it to the majors and all of a sudden the competition is getting much better. If I am presented with the opportunity to take a PED and get a lot better than I currently am, would I take the drug? Last I heard there have been over 40 players in the minors this season who have tested positive for PEDs. Obviously there are quite a few players who find themselves in this situation. They are looking at either hitting their plateau in the minors or taking a PED which will hopefully boost them enough to get noticed by their big league club. I have heard reports about how doping began for many players while they were still in the minors. This would clearly be a temptation. But a player in this situation could choose to not take the drugs and instead keep playing, hoping to make it to the top, and if he does not, he can always fall back on his college education.

Scenario two is similar, except for one big difference. If this player chooses not to use a PED and as a result does not have success here in the United States, they will be unable to provide for their family back home and they do not have a college degree to fall back on. I believe if I was in this situation it would be a lot more difficult to turn down a PED if I believed it could lead to me receiving a big contract that could allow my family and me to be set financially for the rest of our lives.

Since 2009 32 times a player has been suspended for using PEDs. Of those 32 suspensions, more than 60 percent of them have been Latin born players. I do not know their circumstances and I do not know where they came from and why they chose to use a PED, but having lived in Latin America myself, I would not be surprised to find out that they believed they needed to use a PED for some of the reasons in the second scenario.

So does that mean I believe these players should be excused for having used a PED? Of course not. No matter who they are or where they came from, they still broke the rules and cheated. All I am saying is that I do not think we should hold ourselves so much higher than them and say that we would never cheat and we would never do what they have done. I am sure all of us have cheated in a sport or in a game at some point in our lives, and the reward for cheating was much less than millions of dollars. We cannot demand that these players be kicked out of the league and deported to their home countries. Although I may stand along in this belief, I think the current system is working. Who knows the reasons behind why they chose to use a PED, hopefully these players who mess up are smart enough to not do it again. But before we brand these players as the devils of baseball, maybe we should ask ourselves, “what would I do in their situation.”

Mr. Perfect

It happened again. The third time it happened this season. 27 up and 27 down, a perfect game. I do not know why I still get so giddy about a perfect game. It seems to be a historic feat that becomes less and less historic each time it happens. I listen to ESPN radio each day at work and all day today all I have heard is that the perfect game does not matter anymore. It happens too much and is no longer exciting. After hearing both analysts and reporters express their feelings on the matter, it got me to thinking, why am I so enamored with the perfect game? Each time I hear one is about to happen I immediately quit what I am doing and search for a way to watch or listen to the game just to catch a piece of history. The truth is that yes, 26 percent of all perfect games in the history of baseball have happened in the past 4 seasons. And those 4 seasons are the equivalent of less than 3 percent of the history of Major League Baseball. So if a person says that the perfect game no longer matters because 26 percent of all perfect games have happened in the last 3 percent baseball’s history, that person probably does have a valid point. But I am here to say that all those people who no longer get excited for perfect games are missing out on one of the greatest accomplishments in all of sports.

I am not a Mariner’s fan. My wife is from Seattle and I have attended a total of two Mariners games in my life and at each of those games I was cheering for the other team. But when Felix Hernandez was about to pitch his perfect game, I became a Mariners fan because I wanted to witness history. My brother-in-law Michael sent me a text in the 6th inning to tell me that Felix was perfect up to that point. I immediately went to MLB.com to listen to the game on the radio. Felix finished out the perfect game by striking out 12 of the 27 batters he faced with a total of 113 pitches. All 12 of his strike outs came on off speed pitches, mostly sliders and curve balls.

Felix had not lost a start in over two months, which is quite a feat playing for a team that is in last place in their division. But even though he had not lost and even though he had come close in the past to a no-hitter, I don’t think anyone could have predicted a perfect game yesterday. Well, except for maybe Felix himself. In his post game interview he said that he realized he was perfect in the third inning and that he kept telling himself over and over again that he had to do it, he had to throw a perfect game. It had been on his mind since April 21 earlier this year while Phillip Humber of the White Sox threw a perfect game against the Mariners in Seattle.

What made yesterday even more exciting for me was that my brother-in-law was at the game. But not only was he in attendance, he was sitting in the “King’s Court,” a cheering section set up specifically for King Felix on the days he starts in which all fans wear yellow shirts with his number 34 on them and hold yellow signs with a giant “K” on them. What a day this must have been for him. He is one of the most devoted fans to any team that I have ever known. Of all the major sports, baseball is the one in which a single game matters the least because there are so many of them. One football game makes a huge impact on the season because there are only 16 NFL games. But there are 162 baseball games and it is hard to argue that every single game is important. But I have no doubt that if he could, Michael would watch all 162 Mariners games. This is quite impressive, but even more impressive considering they are not very good. For him, being in attendance at the first perfect game in Mariners history and sitting in the King’s Court is something that he will be able to tell his kids about. It is one of those events in the life of a sports fan that will be next to impossible to ever top. That is just one reason why a perfect game still matters, but there are so many more.

I believe that there is no other accomplishment by a single player in all of sports that rivals the perfect game. In what other sport can you go 27 for 27? Even when Michael Jordan would score 60 points in a game he still missed some of his shots, he was not “perfect.” Even if a Tom Brady throws 6 touchdowns in a game it is inevitable that he will have a few incompletions mixed in with all his passes. In all other sports, a perfect game does not exist. Perfection is not accomplished in any other sport. A golfer, no matter how great his round was, will still miss a putt. A soccer player will still have a bad pass or a miss shot at goal. I am not saying that these accomplishments by other athletes are not significant and do not matter, I am simply saying that the perfect game in baseball is an accomplishment unlike anything else in sports.

The fact that perfection can be accomplished in baseball is something special because baseball is a sport in which greatness is accomplished through imperfection. If a batter has a game where he goes 2 for 4 from the plate, 50 percent, that is considered a great game. But if a wide receiver only catches 50 percent of the passes thrown his way or a basketball player only makes 50 percent of the shots they take in a game, they have been unsuccessful and would not be celebrated for having accomplished anything. In baseball, if you can get a hit 30 percent of the time you are having a very successful season. Baseball is a game of failures, which is why a perfect game is that much more special.

I can remember the exact moment when I began to fall in love with the perfect game. It was on July 23, 2009. I had been living in South American for two years and had not seen a minute of any American sports. Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays. In the top of the 9th inning, only 3 outs away from a perfect game, Gabe Kapler hit a long shot to center field which caused the White Sox centerfielder, Dewayne Wise to chase down the ball. Wise made one of the most spectacular catches I have ever witnessed. He made an over the shoulder catch, ran into the wall and bobbled the ball. Through all that he still hung on to the ball and made the first out of the inning. What made this even more incredible was that Wise has just entered the game to replace Carlos Quentin. He had been sitting in the dugout for the previous 8 innings and was put into the game just in time to make the perfect game saving catch. My only explanation was that it must have been angels. Some foster boy who made a bet with his dad about his team winning the pennant must have prayed for angels to come and they showed up just in time help Wise make that catch. That kid must have seen an angel giving Wise a back rub and waved his arms signaling for the manger to make a switch and put Wise in the game.

When that game was over and I watched the highlights over and over again on Sports Center and online I kept thinking that if only one mistake had occurred that entire game would have been for nothing. If Buehrle had made one mistake or if one member of the team missed a ground ball or if Wise did not track down that fly ball, it would not have been a perfect game. Everything has to be perfect. Even the umpires have to be perfect, just ask Armando Galaraga. For a perfect game to happen, everything must be perfect, and that’s why it’s called a perfect game.

So for everyone who says the perfect game no longer matters, I disagree. It may be happening more frequently than ever before, but in the 143 years of Major League Baseball it still has only happened 23 times. That is still an average of one every 6 years. Baseball goes through fazes. 15 years ago we were in the era of the long ball with Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa. Right now we may be in the era of the No-hitter. We should enjoy it while we can because who knows when this era will end. There was once a span of 13 years from 1968 – 1971 between perfect games. Who’s to say that a drought like that can’t happen again?

Its Just Like Climbing a Ladder (Part 1)

It's July. Can anyone actually believe that June is already over? I feel like each month of each year just disappears so much quicker that the previous months and previous years. Before I know it I will wake up and be an 80 year old man. I will have a new hip, play shuffle board, go to bed by 6 pm, and probably be on my third or fourth marriage. Sounds like the life. Summer it always exciting, but when it comes to sports, some years, it is amazing, other years, its kinda dull. Last summer was the World Cup and I still, 12 months later, miss it. This summer, well, I guess its the women's World Cup, but that just isn't the same. So we are left with baseball. Don't get me wrong, I love baseball, but sometimes, the season is just so long and you need another sport to watch. I have enjoyed the Soccer tournaments so far; the Concacaf Gold Cup and the Copa America which just got under way yesterday. But each of those tournaments are only three weeks. Next summer will be Olympics and European Soccer Championships, but well, this summer just feels like an off summer for sports. Ironically, it also feels like an off summer for movies. I can only name 4 movies that even look semi-interesting to me: X-Men, Super 8, Captain America, and Cowboys vs. Aliens (I know that breaks many girls hearts that I did not include Harry Potter on that list). I really miss coming home from work in the afternoon and kicking back with a delicious Mountain Dew and watching some basketball. My heart breaks to think that the next time I will watch an NBA game could possibly be November 2012. I have said it before and I will say it a million times again, for that very reason, college football and basketball will always be better than professional. Last time I checked, none of the college sports were going on strike any time soon (even though quite a few teams are basically on strike with their NCAA violations and suspensions). So, what I am trying to say is... I am running out of compelling and exciting sports stories to write about, Summer 2011 is not an exciting sports summer.

But...
I fell like there is one sports story out there that the average American sports fan has not heard about. I watch Sports Center every single day, literally, and I do not recall this being mentioned even once (the one and only time my fellow haole broda Neil Everett has let me down). But if we were watching any sports channel in South America, well, this story would be top news, possibly the biggest news of the year. Let me explain what has happened recently in the Primera division de Argentina (Argentina Top Soccer League):

As many people know, most countries in South America are soccer crazy. It is a part of life. Soccer is more important than providing food for your family to eat (sadly, that is not an exaggeration). Argentina is no different, in fact, it may be worse than many of the other South American countries. When I lived there and played soccer with the locals, they literally took it as an offense when I, a white American, scored a goal on them. Although you can find soccer clubs in every city of the country, no matter which city you are from, you are a fan of one of two teams: River or Boca. Club Atletico River Plate is from Buenos Aires, the country's capital, and has won 33 national first division championships, more than any other Argentine team. They have been around since 1901. Club Atletico Boca Juniors is also from Buenos Aires, but a poorer side of town. They have won 23 league titles and been in existence since 1905. These two teams are rivals, according to Yahoo Sports, this rivalry is listed as one of the 10 greatest rivalries in sports. Just to give you an idea of the magnitude of this rivalry, other rivalries listed on the top 10 were Ali vs. Frazier and Red Sox vs. Yankees. But I would say that this rivalry is bigger than either of those. When it comes to Red Sox vs Yankees, although many people watch it and are intrigued by that rivalry, unless you are from Boston or New York, you are not gonna be devastated if the team you're cheering for loses. It is a rivalry of two cities. But the River/Boca rivalry is not just two cities, it is an entire country. Friendships can be ruined by the outcome of this game. Here is what Yahoo said about this rivalry "The match has been a traditional war of the classes with Boca considered the working class side while River Plate are sometimes referred to as 'Los Millonarios'. No matter where these two teams lie in the league, weeks of hype, and often crowd trouble, surround the game. It is not just Argentina where the game attracts huge attention: the whole of Spanish-speaking South America is gripped by Superclasico fever. When these two do battle, an entire continent stops to watch." Attending this "Superclasico" was listing number 1 in an article written by The Observer titled "50 Sporting Things you Must Do Before you Die".

So now that I have set the stage for what I am about to tell you, maybe what has happened in recent weeks will make a little bit more sense.

Neither of these two teams have won a championship since 2008, but Boca has been closer to the top than River in recent seasons. River has consistently found themselves towards to bottom of the 20 team league. In Argentinian soccer, as well as in other soccer leagues around the world, if you are not playing well, that means that you may get kicked down to the lower league. It is called getting relegated. Since in most American sports, we do not have different levels of professional sports, this concept does not make sense to lots of people, so to best explain it, it would be like a Major League Baseball team moving down to Triple A and a Triple A team moving up to the majors. This happens every year. Some move up and some move down, it is just like climbing a ladder. But some teams, they are always gonna be in the top division. Some teams have just earned their spot and no matter what, they can never be knocked down. For those of you familiar with European soccer, teams like Manchester United, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid, teams that even on off years, never will play so bad that they come close to being relegated. River and Boca are teams like that, they have been the powerhouse teams of Argentine soccer for over a hundred years now, the thought of one of them dropping down the the B division is not even imaginable, its absolutely absurd.

Now, lets snap back to reality. June 26, 2011, this past Sunday, River Plate faced off against Belgrano de Cordoba in a possible relegation game. As I previously mentioned, River has not been playing well lately, they had actually been playing so bad that they were forced to play a two game playoff against Belgrano, a team from Argentina's second largest city Cordoba. The team that scored the most goals in the two combined games would win the series. Each team played one game at home. The first game which was played in the home stadium of Belgrano was won by the home squad 2-0. The second game was played this past Sunday in Buenos Aires in the largest and nicest stadium in the entire country, the home of River. Since River lost the first game by two goals, they would have to win this game by at least two goals secure their position in the top division. After only five minutes, River was already ahead by one goal, meaning that if they could figure out a way to score one more goal in 85 minutes and prevent Belgrano from netting one of their one, River would not be relegated. The game went to the half, still 1-0 in favor of the home squad. But 15 minutes into the second half, Belgrano would tie the game up. River would have a few more chances, including a missed penalty kick, but when the final whistle blew, Belgrano would finish with a 3-1 aggregate score; they had won the playoff and had advanced to the top division.

The game had to be finished early. River's fanatic fans began to riot in the stadium and throw things onto the pitch so much so that the referees decided to finish the game before the full time had been played. This rioting continued into the streets for hours. Special police forces had to be put into place the confront the the angry and shocked fans. Tears fell from the eyes of some of the toughest men, men so tough that they on a daily basis call cow intestines and blood sausage their dinner (both of which are actually very delicious). According to reports, close to 100 people were injured in the riots, both by the police and by fellow fans (Watch this video). This relegation is not just sad for these fans because they love their team, it is humiliating for them to now be playing in the division below their arch rivals. River has won more championships than any other team in that country, they are owners of the Nation's largest stadiums, and they will now be playing against teams from much smaller cities who have stadiums not much bigger than many high schools (trust me, I have seen some of them). Yes, it is true, River can eventually make their way back up the ladder, but they will forever be remembered for having been relegated to the second division. And trust me, the Boca fans will never let them live this down. I personally am a fan of River, they are my favorite Argentine team, but I am not in any way a fanatic like those who live in that country. But just because I am a fan, my friends from Argentina have sent me messages on Facebook making fun of me because my team is no longer at the same level as Boca.

Can you imagine what this would be like, the Yankees, the team who has won more championships than any other MLB team, getting knocked down to triple A and being replaced by, I don't know, the Albuquerque Isotopes? Or what if the Lakers or Celtics got knocked down to the D-League for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. For me it is a shocking concept to think about. And it got me thinking about just that; what if in American sports, we too had a system of relegation? In part 2 of this story, I will look at which professional American teams deserve to be dropped down to the second division.


(I'll explain some of the pictures: The very first one is a picture from a recent River vs. Boca match. The second one is a Belgrano fan showing off his Belgrano tattoo. Getting a a tattoo of your favorite team is actually very common. Another photo is one what a Boca fan in Argentina sent me. It is a milk carton showing a mission child, except the picture of the missing child is replaced with the logo of River. This final picture is me and a few of my friends when in Argentina, we ran into the Belgrano team at a hotel.)

Its beggining to look a lot like Christmas...

Well, it may not be looking like Christmas, but it sure feels like it. It is the happiest time of the year. It is that time where everything, work, school, friends, and sadly, sometimes family, takes a back seat to college basketball. Its March Madness, the greatest time of year. Back on February 1, my good friend Indiea sent me a text that said, "Hey Jimmy, do you know what next month is?" Of course I knew. You can ask me any day of the year, how many days until March Madness starts and I will give you the days, hours, and seconds until the first game tips off. Ok, so that last part was a lie. But nevertheless, I love March!
So lets take a look at this years bracket. It took me a long time to fill out my bracket this year. College basketball has been so unpredictable and honestly, I have no idea who is going to come out on top. I can very easily see all four number one seeds advancing, just like in 2008, or I could see not a single one making it, just like in 2006. So ladies and gentlemen, here we go. I give you my picks for each region. I will tell you which team looks poised to upset, which first round game you will not want to miss, my possible dark horse to make a run late into the tournament and possibly sneak into the Final Four, and who will actually be playing in Houston. So here we go, lets dance!

EAST

Upset- Washington. Although they will easily be able to beat Georgia in the first round and no one needs to consider that game an upset, in round two, they will run into the red hot, North Carolina Tar Heels. UNC has won 14 of its last 16 games and both of those losses came to their arch rival Duke. This second round match-up will be played in Charlotte and will without a doubt be nearly all Tar Heel fans. But the Huskies have the momentum from their conference tournament. Unlike North Carolina who lost in the championship game by 18 points, Washington, led by the very talented Isaiah Thomas, won their conference tournament over the top seeded Arizona Wildcats on a Thomas buzzer beater. UNC starts two freshman in the backcourt. Two very talented freshman, but they will not match well with the experience and strength of the Huskies. U Dub will stun the Heels in North Carolina and move to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year.

Best First Round Game- George Mason vs. Villanova. I am looking forward to this match up. The Patriots shocked the world in 2006 making it all the way to the Final Four as an 11 seed. They will be playing a really really really talented Villanova team who has lost five straight games. But the Wildcats were knocked out in the first round of the Big East tournament and have had more than a week to rest and prepare for this tournament. Coach Jay Wright will have them ready to play. Although I think Nova will lose its sixth straight game and end their season, I expect this to be a close game from jump fall to final horn.

Team To Watch- Did you know that Xavier has made it to the sweet 16 three straight seasons? I didn't know that either until it came up on my ESPN ScoreCenter app for my phone. Look for the Musketeers to make it a third straight year. They have the A-10 player of the year Tu Holloway who averages 20 points a game. The biggest problem for Xavier will be their depth. If they want to make it to the Sweet 16 for a third year, they will have to knock off two Big East teams, Marquette and Syracuse. But I am here to tell you, they can and will do it.

Final Four- Kentucky. Winning in March is about one thing, getting hot at the right time. I would argue that these Wildcats may be the hottest team in the country right now. The think John Calipari's team has all the talent to make it to the Final Four, but the question is, do they have the maturity? I can see this team making a long run in the tournament, but I also would not be too shocked if they lost in the first round to Princeton. Somehow, someway, I see Johnny C getting his team to his third final four. He would join Rick Patino as the only other coach to take three different to the Final Four. Oh wait, his other two Final Fours were taken back by the NCAA, so never mind, he is looking for his first Final Four appearance.

WEST

Upset- Oakland. I think this may be the most cliche first round upset pick on everyone's brackets. I worry that Texas will be so sick of hearing that they are going to lose to Oakland that they will go out and run them into the ground. But Texas sure knows how to choke in March. This team has all the talent needed to make a Final Four run, but in a matter of three weeks has managed to slip from the number 2 team in the nation to a number 4 seed. Look for more slipping. Oakland has played West Virginia, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, and beat Tennessee in Knoxville. They are no stranger to playing big teams. They lost only one game in the Summit League this year and will be full of confidence against struggling Longhorns.

Best First Round Game- Arizona vs. Memphis. This may also be the most heart breaking game for me. Somehow, the committee chose to match my two favorite college basketball teams in the first round. I have loved Arizona since I knew what basketball was. I still consider March 31, 1997, one of the greatest days of my life, the day Arizona won their only National Championship. I have been a fan of Memphis basketball for only two seasons. Why? Arizona alum and one of my personal heroes, Josh Pastner, is their head coach. Pastner was on that National Championship team and was an assistant coach under Lute Olsen after he finished playing. I have admired him since I was a little boy and even use to write him letters. Now, in only his second season as head coach and first appearance in the tournament, Pastner will face his former team. Arizona was the regular season Pac-10 champs and fell seconds short of winning their tournament. Memphis finished forth in Conference USA but won their tournament to receive an automatic bid. Arizona has a better overall team led by Player of the Year candidate Derrik Williams, but Memphis is young, talented and confident. They believe they can beat anyone. I think and hope Arizona will come out on top, but if they have to lose to anyone, I will be less mad that it is Memphis.

Team to Watch- San Diego State. They are a number 2 seed, but lets be honest, no one thinks they have a chance to go anywhere. San Diego State has never even won a single tournament game, not one, not even once. But just watch, the Aztecs know how to rebound and clean up the glass. They are led by Kawhi Leonard one of the most athletic players in the nation. They have a fairly favorable half of the region and I think they will make a run to the elite eight without too much difficulty. Sadly, in that game, they will run into Duke.

Final Four- Duke. The defending champions. Last year Duke was considered the worst of all the number 1 seeds, yet somehow, they won it all. This year history repeats itself. Duke once again is the lowest rated number 1 seed, but is probably playing in the easiest of the four brackets. Their biggest test will probably not come until the regional finals against San Diego State. There is possibility that they may also get back Kyrie Irving from injury. If he can make even a small contribution to this team, well then, game over. Duke is too experienced, too well coached, and too much, well, Duke, to not make it again to 16th Final Four.

SOUTHEAST

Upset- Richmond. The Spiders were able to win the A-10 tournament and steal a bid into the madness. I think they got a favorable draw with Vanderbilt in the first round. This is one of the games that I just feel. I do not know too much about Richmond. I have only seen them play for a few minutes, but sometimes, you just have to make a few picks simply because it feels right, this is one of them.

Best First Round Game - Georgetown vs. USC. I am going out on a limb here and assuming USC is going to beat VCU in the play-in game, but come one, we all know that will happen. This game will be interesting because Georgetown has not been playing good ball ever since Chris Wright injured his hand about two weeks ago. The Hoyas are a very talented team, but they live and die off of the contribution of their leader Wright. If he is able to play, they should be able to beat the Trojans. But USC has one of the most impressive big men that I have watched play all year, Nikola Vucevic. He will give the bigs of Georgetown problems down low.

Team to Watch- Purdue. The Boilermakers flirted at times with a number 1 seed, but had a few late season losses and dropped back to a 3. Purdue, to me, is better than every team in this bracket, save Kansas. I think their sweet 16 match up with Notre Dame will be a close one, but I do not think the Irish are as good as advertised. I simply have not seen too much that has impressed me about Notre Dame. I believe Purdue will give Kansas a fight in the regional final game, but will most likely fall short. But JaJuan Johnson could very easily take over that or any other game and will his team to victory. Look for Purdue to make a run late into the tournament.

Final Four- Kansas. Bill Self is too good of a coach to let what happened to his team last year repeat this season. The Jayhawks were the overall number 1 seed last season, but were knocked off in the second round. They look to me to be the most complete team in the nation. They have experienced guard play and have two amazing twin-brother-towers up front. The Morris twins are something special to watch and I believe those two will lead their team to a Final Four.

SOUTHWEST

Upset- Wofford. I know that by making this pick I am upsetting many of my friends, including my own father, who is a BYU graduate. But Wofford has a big man named Noah Dahlman who I believe will give the Cougars too many problems on the boards. BYU has struggled since the loss of Brandon Davies to get rebounds. Dahlman is a talented rebounder and post scorer. I sure hope that I am wrong about this pick. I hope BYU makes a deep run into the tournament. I would love for the Cougars to prove everyone wrong and show that they can win without Davies. But sadly, BYU needs more than just Jimmer, and in their last few games, I haven't seen enough from anyone but him. It is possible that Fredette out scores the entire Wofford team all by himself, but deep down, although it hurts me to say it, I think the Terriers pull off the upset.

Best First Round Game- St. Johns vs. Gonzaga. If you know anything about college basketball this year, you know that St. Johns has beaten some pretty good teams. The only problem is that they have beaten all those teams, with the exception of Villanova, in Madison Square Garden. Gonzaga got off to a slow start, but won the WCC tournament and once again is dancing. The Johnnys have not been to the tournament since 2002. They have nine seniors on their team, but not a single one of them has been to the tourney. Gonzaga has a well worn pair a dancing shoes and coach Mark Few knows what it takes to win in March. This should be a fun game to watch.

Team to Watch- Kansas State. The preseason number 3 ranked team Kansas St. Wildcats did not look like a very good team for the first half of the season, but ever since upsetting their arch-rivals, the Kansas Jayhawks, K-State has been one of the hottest teams in the county. I love their Senior point guard Jacob Pullen. For a while, it looked like the only way for them to win was for Pullen to have a big game. Although that still is true to an extent, the rest of the team has blossomed as of late. They also may be the most motivated team in the country because who would want to have to be in a locker room with their coach, Frank Martin, after losing a game.

Final Four- Florida. This region was for me the hardest to predict. I do not think Florida is the best team in this region, but I think the cards may just fall in to place for them and they will find themselves in the Final Four for the first time since they won back-to-back National Championships.

NATIONAL CHAMPION- Kansas Jayhawks. For the second straight year I am picking Kansas. I do not know why. I personally do not want them to win it all, but I do consider them the most complete team. They also will be playing with a chip on their shoulders not wanting to repeat the collapse they had last season in the tourney. I believe the Kansas Jayhawks will be cutting down the nets on April 4.

The All NBA Cool Team

I was talking to one of my best friends the other day (or as the kids on the streets are calling it these days, my "bestie"), who is probably the most faithful reader of my blog. She was telling me that all too often she has to skip over lots of parts in my articles simply because they have too many facts and stats and she just doesn't care. Well, guess what? I have created this entry just for you. In honor of next weekend's NBA All-Star game, I am creating my own all star team. And no, this is not a list of who I consider the leagues best players. This is instead a list of 7 guys who have not yet made an All Star team who I consider some of the coolest guys in the NBA. I call this my "All NBA Cool Team".

Jared Dudley
I had to start it off with someone from my favorite team, the Phoenix Suns. He makes my all star team for two reasons: first, he is the most nonathletic player in the NBA. When he goes up for a lay up, he can barely get his feet off the court. He has no athletic abilities, yet he is still the spark for the Suns second team. When he comes in off the bench, he shoots more than 40% from behind the arc and he hustles his butt off. He plays 100% the entire time he is on the court and will very often come up with a big offensive rebound or a tough defensive stop. And second, he is hilarious. He is known for having some of the funniest tweets.

Monta Ellis
This guy will one day make an All Star team and will probably win a few NBA scoring titles. But until then, he makes my all time cool list because of who his wife is. For the last couple of seasons, Ellis has been one of my favorite players to watch. I think the Golden State backcourt is the most exciting in the entire league. But when I found out that Ellis was married to a former Police officer from Memphis, I said to myself, "Dang, that guy is cool." She is older than him and is the reason that he has turned his life around. Marcus Thompson from the Oakland Tribune wrote this about Ellis and his wife:

Juanika is a Memphis police officer who is six years older than Ellis, who turns 25 later this month. She didn’t go along with whatever Ellis said and had no problem “putting me in my place when I needed to be put into place,” he said.

She told Ellis he was wrong for saying he couldn’t play with point guard Stephen Curry and advised him to apologize. She implored Ellis to let go of his beef with the organization, that he was only hurting himself by carrying that weight.

“It’s always good to have that person, that better half, to keep you grounded,” Ellis said. “It’s great to have that someone you can sit down and have that comfort with. All that partying and stuff, I did that. It wasn’t successful for me. I just go home to a peaceful house. It’s just lovely right now.”

Yep, Monta and his boo are pretty dang coo. (Sorry, that was lame.)

Eric Gordon
Also, Gordon will one day soon be an all star. He is in the top ten right now in points per game, but I put him on my list because I think he is the most overshadowed player in the entire league. He is having the best season of his career and no one is noticing. How come? Well first, he plays in Los Angeles where people only care about the Lakers, and second, he is having his best season at the same time that Blake Griffin is having one of the all time greatest rookie years. Not to mention that if there was a Ms. America for YouTube, Griffin would win it with all the play he is getting. No one has even noticed Gordon, yet Eric still goes out each night and does work.

Andre Iguodala
Why does he make my team? Well, he is leader of a young, exciting, and soon to be very good 76ers team. He is fun to watch and he also played his college ball at my favorite school, the University of Arizona. But mostly he makes my list because he has the most fun name to say, Andre Iguodala. Just try it, its fun, trust me.

Rudy Gay
I liked Rudy ever since he was at UConn. I have always liked his style of play. He is the type of player that if I was a general manager, I would figure out a way to get him on my team. He is a natural leader, he can score, rebound, and defend. But the biggest reason he makes this list is because he had the all time best self promotion video to get him on the All Star team. Check it out.

Serge Ibaka
He may not be on an All Star team this year, but he will be competing in the dunk contest. But that is not why he made this list, he made it cause he is the definition of cool. First of all, Andre Iguodala may have the most fun name in the NBA, but Serge has got to have the longest. His full name is Sergeballu LaMu Sayonga Loom Walahas Jonas Hugo Ibaka. What? He is from the Congo and is the third youngest of 18 children. Uh huh, crazy! He was so poor when he grew up that he used cardboard for the soles of his shoes. He did not know much English until he came to the United States after he was drafted. Everything about this guy screams cool.

Caron Butler
The last guy on my list makes the All NBA Cool team because of a certain addiction that he has. I usually do not think addictions are cool, in fact, they are not cool, unless you have the same addiction I have. That is right, an addiction to Mountain Dew. But just like the good man that he is, he was able to defeat his addiction, something I have not yet been able to accomplish. He told Yahoo Sports last year:

I lost 11 pounds this summer by giving up Mountain Dew. That's right Mountain Dew. A lot of people don't know I'm a Mountain Dew addict so I guess this is my confession.

To try and give this up was crazy for me! I was going through withdrawals. I was in the bed sweating. My wife would turn over in the bed and ask "Are you OK?" Honestly, those first two weeks without The Dew [were] the roughest two weeks of my life. I'm talking headaches, sweats and everything. Before that I drank at least six 12-ounce Mountain Dews a day.

It was so bad at one point that I had to have a cold one right there at the night stand before I went to bed. I had to get the coasters and let it drip a lil' bit and just have it waiting on me. Come 2 a.m., I'd wake up out of my sleep, I'd pop one open and hear the fizz sound ... and just down it! Then I always had to have another one in the morning when I woke up. Before practice I had one too and before games I would knock back two.

And that is my 2011 ALL NBA COOL TEAM!!!

Messi and Company

I am starting a charity. I have not yet decided what it should be called, but its goal is to help poor college students experience the world and make their dreams come true. Let me tell you a little bit more about it: The goal is to save up about $1,500 so that a poor and quite weird looking college boy could fly to Barcelona, Spain and have to opportunity to live out his dream and go to a soccer match at the Nou Camp, where he could see his favorite club, Barcelona FC, and his favorite player, Lionel Messi, in person. Who is this young man whom I am looking to sponsor and send on this vacation of a lifetime? Well, that would be none other than myself, of course.
I have to admit, I am tired of having to watch soccer on my computer and well, instead of upgrading my cable to a package that includes a few soccer channels, I think it is smarter to just go ahead and send me straight into the action, send me all the way to Spain. Now may be the best time of all time to see the champions of the Spanish La Liga. Barcelona just defeated Hercules 3-0. This victory was their 15th straight win in the Spanish primera division, which ties a record, one that has been held by their rivals Real Madrid, for nearly 50 years. And if, or should I say, when, Barcelona defeats Atletico Madrid next Saturday, they will break that record. But they are playing so good right now, that record may get as big as 25 or more. I do not see anyone in the near future beating them. They are that good, and they are a few steps above all other clubs in La Liga.
But lets not forget that this team, at one point early on in the season, did not even look like they would be capable of defending their championship. Barcelona bought David Villa from Valencia over the summer. This meant that two of the worlds greatest scorers, Villa and Messi, would be playing next to each other. Of course, adding the World Cup's leading goal scorer to the roster would seem to make an already great team better. But after winning their season opening match, they faced Hercules at home in the Nou Camp. Hercules had just one season earlier been promoted to the primera league after13 years in the lower divisions. In front of 62,000 fans, Barca lost their home opener 2-0 to the Herculanos. For the next week, it was all the talk of La Liga, what is wrong with Barcelona? No one could figure it out. That game was on September 11. Barcelona then won three straight matches and on October 3 they had a draw with Mallorca. So after six games Barca had 4 wins, 1 tie, and 1 loss. Not a bad start, but not up to their potential. Since that tie to Mallorca, Barcelona has won 15 straight matches. But they have not just barely won these matches, no no no, they have been walking all over the rest of the league. When they are out on the pitch, it looks like a group on big bullies picking on the kindergarten kids. No, it is worse then that, it looks like the worlds greatest army is going to battle against a group of kids with only squirt guns. 10 of those 15 wins have been by more than 3 goals. Four of them have been by 5 goals or more, and one was by 8 goals! This included a 5-0 victory over their arch rivals, Real Madrid in "El Classico".
But it is not just Messi, the two time European player of the year, who is getting it done for Barca. He does lead the team with 21 goals on the season, but David Villa has 14 and Pedro has 12. This means that three of the top goals scorers play for the Catalans. Messi is getting help, but he also is helping, assisting on 14 goals so far this season. Their defense is also not allowing opposing teams to score on them, they have posted 11 shut outs in La Liga. Barcelona knows how to do all the essentials. They posses the ball for on average 70% of the game. They have a solid midfield, led by Andres Iniesta and Xavi, who know how to distribute the ball to the attacking players or be patient and wait for something to develop.
Everything is going well for Barcelona. They are on top of La Liga by 4 points, they are rolling through the Copa del Rey, currently in the semi-finals on a crash course to meet Real Madrid in the Finals. They also finished top in their group in the Champions League and will meet Arsenal on February 16 in the round of 16. That will certainly be a tough match against the number two team in the English Premier League, but one that I am confident they will win. Everything is going well for them right now, including being the proud owners of the prettiest road jerseys in all of sports (which is also part of the charity, and if you would like to purchase it for me, just click here).
If Barcelona can keep winning, they will rack up 25 straight wins in La Liga before their next meeting in El Classico with Real Madrid on April 17. A slip up here or there would probably be expected by any normal team, but lets be honest about it, Barcelona is not any normal team and may just finish the season never losing again, 32 straight wins.