Humbled Through Sport

My apologies for the lack of posts, but there have been many things going on in life, especially sports and I haven't been posting at all.  April/May is a big time of year in sports with baseball season starting, the hockey playoffs and the basketball playoffs.  The process gets more crazy when your favorite teams are in the playoffs and you become a professional couch potato.  At the same time, the sports have been very fun and humbling at the same time.

When the Oakland Athletics clinched the AL West on the last day of the season, a million things ran through my mind, but the thing that stood out was being able to watch the first and second games of the season in an Oakland hotel conference room with many of these same people.  Here was a team that was supposed to be absolutely terrible and they win the west.  No one believed in them except for a few fans and the players inside the clubhouse.  An amazing feeling as a fan and I felt very humbled by the experience.  I think this is what attracts me most to sports and why I am able to see things through an entire season.  A team's regular season last months at a time, so there will be the highs and lows.  Currently for my teams, they are on a high.  The Warriors who weren't predicted to even touch the playoffs are beginning their second round matchup against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday evening.  The A's have taken 2 of 3 for the New York Yankees and are playing well in the early going, which seems to never happen.  The Sharks are up 3-0 on the Vancouver Canucks in their 1st Round matchup and look to close out at home on Tuesday.

Two days ago after the Sharks defeated the Canucks 3-2 in overtime, Sharks announcer Randy Hahn retweeted the Canucks flagship radio station Team 1040.  I tuned in for an hour and fans were calling in and panicking about not being able to score goals and getting pretty much "manhandled" by the Sharks.  After the Sharks won Sunday, I decided to tune in again Sunday night and many of their fans are talking about their goaltending and inability to score.  I am humbled once again because these fans reminded me of how the Sharks played earlier this season.  After their hot start, the Sharks went on a streak where they had trouble scoring goals.  An offensive outburst would be considered to be two goals.  Goaltender Antti Niemi kept the Sharks in games and gave the team a chance.  This is what the Canucks are going through.

Josh Hamilton Appreciation Night

On Monday, April 29 versus the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the RF Bleachers headed up by Wes Mills held a Josh Hamilton Appreciation Night where we cheered for Josh because he dropped the easy pop up that set off the chain of events for the A's to win the AL West title.  During batting practice, I really wasn't sure how Hamilton would take to the friendly ribbing.  Your first thought is that he was going to be a jerk about it because he did not want to be reminded of certain events, but that evening he was far from it.  He came over and entertained the fans and accepted a few Butterfinger bars from the fans and ate them while shagging fly balls.  He was very cordial about it and even was able to take a photo with the Butterfinger.  I give him major props for doing what he did because of how humbled he was.  During the game, he threw up a baseball to Wiggi complementing her hair and writing a bible quote on it.  I thought that was awesome.  I know throughout his life, he has gone through many issues regarding drugs and alcohol and has established himself as a fine baseball player.  I commend him that he was able to battle the demons and fight through.  I know Texas Ranger fans reading this will probably think he is a douche-bag for leaving Texas, but he is my second favorite visiting player behind Kansas City Royals outfielder, Jeff Francoeur.

All Worth it after 19!

Josh Hamilton Appreciation Night did not end on Monday though as the A's and Angels played 19 innings!  At 1:41am on Tuesday morning, the A's defeated the Angels 10-8 on a Brandon Moss home run to right field on a ball that was clearly out of the yard, but Josh Hamilton did not catch it, so once again, "THANK YOU JOSH!"  Want some bizzaro baseball from the game?  Check out this blurb from ESPN... Some stuff that was not mentioned, the A's and Angels lost a combined total of 5 players due to injury.  Oakland lost Chris Young, Coco Crisp and Brett Anderson, while the Angels lost Peter Bourjos and Luis Jiminez.  The Oakland injuries forced A's reliever, Jerry Blevins to hit.  He struck out on three pitches, but managed to foul a ball off.  I thought it was awesome to do the "JER-RY! JER-RY! JER-RY" chant from the RF bleachers.  You can put that on the, "Things to Keep Yourself Entertained During a Long Baseball Game" List.

Sports are very humbling.  You can be at the highest of highs one day and then the next day be at the lowest of lows.  This is why I love sports and am very humbled.  This is also what makes me a die hard fan.  I am willing to see things through the entire year as frustrating as things can be sometimes, because I always know that in the end, everything is completely worth the wait.