Rules for Pitching Success

In 1908 Baseball Magazine published an article titled, "Rules for Pitching Success". The article was written by pitching legend Cy Young...yes THAT Cy Young.

Young had the six commandments of pitching. Here they are:

1. Pitchers, like poets, are born, not made.
   
2. Cultivate good habits: Let liquor severly alone, fight shy of cigarettes and be moderate in indulgence of tobacco, coffee and tea...
   A player should try to get along without any stimulants at all. Water, pure cool water is good enough for any man.


3. A man who is not willing to work from dewy morn until weary eve should not think about becoming a pitcher.


4. Learn to be patient and cool. These traits can be cultivated.


5. Take the slumps that come your way, ride over them and look forward.


6. Until you can put the ball over the pan whenever you choose, you have not acquired the command necessary to make a first-class pitcher. Therefore start to acquire the command.

Thanks Cy for the advice. These wise words still hold true in today's game.

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With the holiday seasons coming up I'll be passing along some online coupons to sports stores so check back throughout December. First one, if you have any kids the best site for baseball equipment is Baseball Express. I don't have any coupons for them, but check this page out for links to the Baseball Express clearance and discounted areas.

Red Sox Not Allowed to Beat the Yankees!

It's OK Jonathan, we'll get through this. A Massachusetts proposal to ban spanking has been submitted by Democratic Rep. Jay Kaufman. Parents would face charges of abuse or neglect, according to the Boston Herald.

No spanking. This puts the Red Sox in a difficult predicament when facing the Yankees, having to choose whether to do their jobs, or face the law.

Sean Fitzgerald, Kaufman’s chief of staff, the Herald says, "But the problem is the boundary is often overstepped. The right to hit should never be the right to hurt.”

Where does this leave A-Rod? Oh, wait. He's clear when playing the Red Sox in October, he can't hit.

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Now you can buy and live in an Ewok house, this is not a joke.

Thanksgiving Football without TV

I'm up in the Blue Ridge mountains kicking back in a log cabin. It's a wet 40 degrees, still waiting for some snow, but probably won't get it. I had to watch the Thanksgiving games online using Gamecenter, which was a tough watch. Of course, not as good as watching the real thing, but you gotta love technology. I was still able to follow my fantasy football RB, R.Grant for the Packers rack up 100+ yards and a TD.

I leave you with an unbelievable video of the talented Tim Nolan who can do anything with a basketball and ping pong.



The Master Of Balls - The best video clips are right here

Babe Ruth Autograph for Sale on EBay

Do you think it's real? Looks like he just bought one of those fake replica ones and then dropped it into a cup of coffee. No way he gets $870,000 for this. The description on the auction is shaky with bad grammer, like a 5th grader wrote it. >>

Throw in a Baby Ruth candy bar and I'll think about it. Why would a Yankee fan want a Red Sox team ball? Why would a Red Sox fan want Babe Ruth's autograph? Give it to the Sandlot kids and let Smalls hit it over the fence again.

A-Rod MVP

Congrats to A-Rod! I guess most valuable now means, "totally flakes out in the playoffs when it really counts".

-Jason

The Biggest NFL Surprise

It's Week 11 of the NFL season and the biggest surprise has got to be the Green Bay Packers. At 8-1, the Packers are pretty much a lock for a playoff spot. Brett Favre has passed for over 300 yards six times this season.

When I heard in the off-season that Favre was coming back I was the critical guy. Why was he doing this? Simple. Favre was just hanging around to break the career TD passes record...which he has done. How selfish! Their 8-8 record in 2006 looked alot better then it actually was. Their defense was one of the worse in the league, they were 4-8 12 games into the season. The 2005 season was worse, at 4-12 it was the first time the Packers had a losing season since 1991. Favre threw an awful 29 picks.

Yet, in '07 Favre's performance and the Packers 8-1 records has become a great story! Those who thought Favre was washed up have to eat their words. He's still got some left in the tank. Enough for '08?

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Check out this drawing of what the coming Sports Illustrated cover could look like. >>

Watch a cool time lapse video of a Sunday at Lambeau Field, Green Bay Packers. >>

Future Barry Bonds Excuses

The Bonds news is nothing we weren't expecting. The funniest part is that Bonds will STILL try to claim innocence. Here are some things he could say in his defense:

• "I swear I thought that was just decaf coffee."
• "I'm just big boned."
• "The Giants was the team I was playing for, not refering to how huge I am."
• "Everyone rubs cream on themselves and don't know what it is."
• "People would just give me stuff and I'd take it, I didn't know what it was."
• "Mark did it first."
• "I still had to hit the ball."
• "Those weren't my pills."
• "It's because I'm black."
  

Maybe that brace he wore on his arm was a spring loaded power swinging mechanism. Barry, your toast. You obviously didn't read Game of Shadows. It's all in there. They got Marion Jones, your next buddy boy. Give Hank his record back!

Here's a little crazy sports clip to wake you from your boredom.

BCS Poll Must Go!

If this year doesn't wake up the NCAA authorities to give the fans what we want, a playoff system, then no season will. It seems like every week the top teams are falling only to be replaced with new teams that will fall as well. Is it that hard to figure out. Is it really that complicated? I mean, I thought of this in under 10 minutes, yet it's been almost 10 years and the NCAA remains passive. Their are two easy solutions.

First option, win your conference you move onto the BCS Playoffs. Use the bowl games that are already in place to host the BCS Playoffs.

Second option, take the top 10-12 BCS ranked teams and have them fight for the National Championship in a playoff system using the bowl games that are already in place to host those playoff games.

Was that so hard to do NCAA? It's not rocket science. It's only going to make your jobs easier and become less prone to criticism. Make it right. This current system is a joke.

BCS Top 10 Rankings
1 LSU
2 Oregon
3 Kansas
4 Oklahoma
5 Missouri
6 West Virginia
7 Ohio State
8 Arizona State
9 Georgia
10 Virginia Tech

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• Peyton Manning throws six interceptions
• Boxing Movies

I Pulled Off The Impossible

Recently, my wife and I celebrated our Anniversary. As with all guys, we have no idea what to buy our wives for this ever-so-meaningful and historic day in our lives. The Anniversary gift is critical. You mess up here and the ripple effect with last well over 3 months. I knew a guy who actually forgot this day….I KNEW a guy.

I am proudly here to tell you I pulled off perhaps the gutsiest Anniversary gift of all time…and hit a Grand Slam!!! Our Anniversary was days away and I had no clue what to get. Jewelry, flowers, chocolates, a night out…it’s all been done before. I wanted to get her something we both could enjoy, something that would last and would bring us closer together.

It’s days before THE DAY and we are walking around the mall. I want to check out Game Stop and she wants to look in a clothing store. So we split and each do our own thing for a few minutes. I’m browsing at Game Stop and before I knew what I was doing I’m buying a Nintendo Wii along with an extra controller and game…for our Anniversary. I even told the cashier, “I’m in big trouble here in a few minutes.” He laughs. As I meet back up with the wife and reveal to her “our gift” the confusion turns into sheer joy! I have pulled off the impossible! I bought a video game system for my wife!

It’s now been a few months, the dust has settled. I’m still a hero. Our Nintendo Wii has brought us closer together. We box, bowl and play tennis together all of the time. It’s provides us with some healthy competition, physical interaction and exactly what I wanted to do…bring us closer together. She loves the Nintendo Wii because it’s not really a video game, it is so interactive that women look at it as more of a workout.

Gentlemen, Christmas is coming. Do the right thing.