January 31, 2012

People I HATE in Sports


There’s a good chance I accidentally left a few guys off this list so if you know I hate someone, let me know and I’ll add em on here.  Enjoy.




Nick Saban



I first started hating this guy when he was the Head football coach at LSU. Not a great reason, but since then (2002 ish,) Saban has given me many other, legitimate reasons to hate him.  He is known for being a rude, stuck up pompous dude. He coached the Dolphins. He gave up on the Dolphins, lied to them, screwed them over, and whimpered back to college football to take a job at his former employer’s #1 rivals, Alabama. That’s where he is now. I literally can’t stand how this guy looks, talks, and even coaches. I’ve heard him trash small programs, like Boise State, as much as anyone. It kills me that Bill Belichick loves this guy so much. I will never get that. I would KILL to see Boise St get a chance to take on a Nick Saban coached team one day.



Alex Rodriguez

 
My hatred for A-rod has declined over the past couple years, mostly because he stopped being such a douche once he won the world series in 2009.  However, there was wayyyy to much damage done in the previous decade for me to ever change my mind on this guy. The day he got “traded” to the Red Sox, I was PISSED! I didn’t want this guy on my team even before he became a Yankee.  Not a team player. Selfish, girly, attention-seeking weirdo. I hear he has massive paintings in his residence of him as a half centaur. Started dating Madonna? Gross. Also he ruined Kate Hudson for me so I can never forgive him for that.



Sean Avery


Another no-brainer. What is there to say about this dirt bag? He’s cheap, classless, and doesn’t respect the game of hockey. Predictably, everyone else in the NHL, including his own coach, hates this guy too, so he is getting what he deserves. It bothers me that all the fake Ranger pink hat fans support this guy just because he is a model. He’s a metro sexual and models handbags in Europe. Of course.




Matt Cooke

Another cheap, disrespectful hockey player.  Ended the career of one of my favorite players of all time to watch, Marc Savard. ESPN recently wrote an article saying Cooke has “cleaned up his act” but don’t be fooled. It’s in his DNA to cheap shot players. Think Brad Marchand with less talent, and more evil. Luckily, NHL disciplinarian, Brendan Shanahann, is probably going to suspend this guy for 20+ games the next time he targets an opponent’s head.




Jay Cutler


Cry baby Cutler. I honestly would have to stat rooting for a different NFL team if this guy was the QB of my favorite team. He is the opposite of a gamer. He is so weak and so soft that his feelings were hurt when the Broncos were *thinking*  about trading him. He is so unprofessional and so gross looking I just cant stand this guy. Gave up on his team in a playoff game. Stands on the sideline and pouts all the time.  Also, he is engaged to the ultimate bitch, Kristin Cavelleri (yea, I know who that is, I watched The Hills w my gf & I don’t care. I also watch all things Kardashian, Jersey Shore, Mob Wives, and RHONJ)






Jorge Posada


Yea I saw Mickey Mouse crying the other day in his retirement press conference, and I didn’t care at all. This greasy slime ball loser is lucky Pedro didn’t peg him in the head and kill him 10 years ago, because he could have no problem. It’s easy to talk shit from the top step of the dug out, bro.




Alex Burrows






Any true NHL fan knew Burrows was a disrespectful player even before his infamous biting of Patrice Bergerons’s fingers during the Stanley Cup Finals last year. Look him up on Wikipedia. This guy sucks. PS- Was Lucic's taunting of Burrows a game later the best thing   anyone saw in 2011? I think yes.














PK Subban

Ive gone back and forth on PK since he broke into the league 3 years ago in the playoffs. On one hand, you have an electric, talented, cocky  young guy who walks the walks. On the other you have a cheating, lying, deceiving scumbag.  I think PK has plenty of time to clean up his game and change my mind, but the fact right now is when I think about PK I think about his “trust fall” in which he tried to draw a penalty in the 2011 playoffs, and how he turtled earlier this year after a high hit against t the Bruins. Man up and account for your actions PK. Fighting Marchand doesn’t count, if he answered the bell with a real fighter, I’d respect that. Oh, and no, I don’t hate him because he’s black.



Williams Sisters

4 reasons. The first is that they scream and grunt when they play tennis. I am 100% sure they do it for show. I understand a little grunting, but I used to watch these girls play and they never grunted. The 2nd reason is that they are part owners of the Miami Dolphins.The 3rd reason is beacause I have seen Serena, multiple times, belittle and ridicule a court judge because he didn't rule in her favor. The 4th reason is the strongest- I absolutely cannot stand when athletes pull the race card, for no good reason. Their dad is their coach and agent, and some of the things he says on their behalf make me want to puke.  In the past he’s even gone so far to say court judge’s are racist and consistently make calls against his daughters because they are black. And, for the record, I hate Serena significantly more than Venus, who seems to be less attention-hungry. 






BONUS- Commonly Hated Athletes Who I Actually Like

Lebron James- Don’t hate on him because of the decision to go to Miami. That’s just dumb. He had every right to go where he wanted, and he decided to go play with his friends in South Florida.  Sorry he didn’t stick around in loserville- Cleveland- where he lived his whole life. Anyone reading this would have made the same choice.   Lebrons the man. I saw him play in high school when ESPN broadcasted one of his games live, and he was so captivating that I have never gotten over it. I hope he wins back to back to back titles and shuts everyone up.

Tiger- The ultimate gamer and most dominating athlete of all time when he’s at the top of his game.  I have little doubt he finds his game and returns to #1 and I root for him every single tournament he enters.

Kevin Youklilis- So you hate this guy because he is intense? I love him for it. Love that he brings intensity to baseball, and I wish there were many more players like him in he game. Pedroia comes to mine. I love those 2 guys and would take them on my team any day.

Michael Vick- I obviously don’t support the dog-fighting scandal he was involved in. I am still not even sure how deep he was into the dog fighting, and it seems like he did WAY more time than he deserved. I’d rather see people who rape girls and murder actual human beings in jail. Dogs aren’t humans, & he seems legitimately remorseful. Plus, he is electrifying to watch play football.



Am I missing anyone? Who do you hate? Feel free to leave some comments!

January 22, 2012

Boston TE party



Finally, game day has arrived. It feels like we’ve been waiting for this game for a lot longer than a week.  I’ve been reading tons of news stories on this game all week, and the more I think about it the more convinced I am the Patriots cant lose. For 2 reasons:

1.     They can’t lose because if they do, that means Brady & Belichick are somewhat normal. If you’re from the same school of thought that I am, that both Brady and Belichick are at the top of the respective jobs in all time NFL history- then you agree with me that they cannot lose this game. I have no idea how the Ravens plan on stopping Gronk, but if they do, rest assured knowing Hernandez and Welker will more than pick up the slack. 1 thing I am worried about, though, is Hernandez’ health. I do not like this concussion problem he has dealt with all week. If AH absorbs a big hit early on, and gets knocked out of the game, I won’t be near as comfortable.

2.     They can’t lose because this is a revenge game. I’m a big believer in the revenge factor, as a lot of my close friends probably know. If you thought 'Brady looked angry last week, just wait until tonight. He is going to light it up. He is 6-1 all time vs the Ravens with that 1 loss coming at home in the playoffs. I fully expect Brady to have a monster game. I know the Ravens are good, but I’m guessing Ed Reed probably won’t sniff the ball at all today (Last week Brady avoided Champ Bailey like the plague.)


Basically I just do not see the Ravens being able to stop our pass attack. The pats D is a bend-don’t-break type of squad, which should be alright. As long as our DBs keep everything in front of them (Torrey Smith is very fast) we should be fine. Ray Rice is a stud but he isn’t unstoppable. Pats take the lead early, force the Ravens to throw, and Flacco folds in the pressure.

Pats win 33-23


NFC game- Should be a GREAT game. It’s real tough going against the 49ers at home after last weeks miraculous win, but honestly with a gun to my head I’ll take the Giants. They know how to win on the road. They have a near-elite QB in Eli. They have an asshole coach who won’t let them turn the ball over. They have experience. & the world is destined to see the Pats-Giants re-match game.  

Giants win 31-27

January 9, 2012

Bruins vs Canucks thoughts & other notes

I was lucky enough to be sitting 1st row on the glass for the 1/7/12 Bruins vs. Canucks Stanley Cup rematch game. First, I want to say that you cannot truly appreciate the speed that these guys play at until you at ice level. I’ve sat there before, but every time I see a game in the first row I leave in awe. The speed at which these guys play is just off the charts insane.

Everyone knew there was going to be a lot of carry over from the Finals last year. It was a dirty, physical, grueling 7 game series. During the playoffs, fighting is all but forgotten, & the referees are a lot more lenient of play; they would much rather let the players decided the outcome of those important games. A lot of what you saw in last year’s finals wouldn’t be allowed in the regular season. So, when the 2 teams met Saturday, as expected, the referees were very involved in the game- to the point where I feel as if they had a major influence on the outcome of the game.

I haven’t had a chance to re-watch the NESN broadcast of the tilt, something I almost always do, so I am still somewhat foggy on the details of the game that I missed. I have however seen multiple replays on a few of the more important plays. Here are my thoughts on the 2 most impactful plays of the game:

  1. Fight at the benches in the first period; Lucic gets tossed
This whole sequence started 4 minutes into the game. Stone Hands Paille was heading to the bench for a change, & on his way in, weasel Alex Burrows (the biter) slashed the back of his leg. Sugar Shawn Thornton saw this, and went after Burrows in an effort to stand up for his teammate. Burrows then waved his stick in Thornton’s face/throat area, I am not sure if he actually made contact with the throat or not, but that doesn’t really matter- that shit doesn’t fly in hockey. The scrum was building right in front of the VAN bench, and Bruins players rushed in to help. Milan Lucic, who was replacing Paille, jumped in the middle in an effort to assist Thornton, who was fighting off 3 guys on the ice and a couple players from the VAN bench. At this same time Horton squared off with Dale Weise in one of the longer, better NHL fights I’ve seen this year.

Anyway after the dust settled the referees determined that Lucic had come off the bench to join the scrum, so they gave him a 2 minute minor and a game misconduct, meaning he had the rest of the afternoon off. Of course Vancouver’s #1 powerplay  unit scored on the ensuing man advantage, giving them the early lead in the game. After the game was over the NHL immediately rescinded the game misconduct assigned to Lucic after videotape proved he didn’t come off the bench to join the fight, rather he was just replacing Paille.

So the referees kicked him out for no reason. My guess is the VAN bench swayed the referees by crying and bitching that Lucic came off the bench. I am not sure what the fallout of this will be but I certainly hope a fine and suspension is delivered to the on ice officials. Not only did it directly lead to a goal, but it removed one of our best players for the entire game.

  1. Brad Marchand’s clipping penalty
Late in the 2nd period with the score tied 2-2, Brad Marchand & Sami Salo were in the middle of a very spirited shift; they had each delivered a hit to each other and were battling hard along the boards. The puck swung around the boards to Marchand’s wing, he looked up, and with Salo charging in, Marchand got low and upended Salo. The referees determined the hit was illegal; they called a 5 minute major for clipping and a game misconduct.

Here is how the NHL defines “clipping”- (which, for the record, I do not think I have EVER seen this penalty called, and I watch a lot of hockey)

44.1 Clipping - Clipping is the act of throwing the body, from any direction, across or below the knees of an opponent. If an injury occurs from a “clipping” infraction, the offending player must be assessed a major penalty & game misconduct.

Watch the video of the play for yourself . Towards the end the hit is replayed in slow motion.



How in God’s name does anyone think that is at or below the knees of Salo? It clearly above his knees. Marchand did NOT deserve this penalty and should have remained in the game. Of course, Vancouver went on to score 2 goals during ensuing 5 minute powerplay, including the game winner.

I have seen Marchand do this EXACT same thing before, only in those instances no penalties were called. He is a small guy playing in a physical NHL. I do not blame him one bit for this move. Salo was charging at him, clearly with the intent on laying a huge hit on Marchand 2 feet off the boards (an extremely dangerous play in itself), and #63 saw it coming & protected himself the only way he could. I would rather him upend Salo 15 out of 10 times than take that hit, which could easily have led to a possible concussion. Sorry, but you can’t penalize a short guy just because he went low to avoid a major collision. He didn’t hit him at or below the knees and he didn’t deserve a penalty.

Today Brad Marchand has a hearing with the NHL, and will probably be assessed a fine and short suspension. I think this will have more to do with his repeat offenses more than anything else. (I can’t and won’t defend his slew foot earlier this year, and his elbow to the head of a player last year. Both of those infractions deserved penalties and fines.)

Anyway you see my point. Both the Lucic and Marchand penalties were unwarranted. We lost our 2 best left wingers for a combined 60 minutes & 3 of the 4 VAN goals were scored directly from these plays. The referees deserve a lot of the blame in this poorly officiated contest.

BUT instead of being upset or depressed, Bruins fans, we should be encouraged. I am even more confident now that the Bruins are the best team in the NHL than I was before this game. If this were the playoffs, those bullshit penalties are not called and the Bruins win in convincing fashion over the best team in the Western Conference.

Let’s end this post on a high note. Here are some orgasmic stats and bits from the Bruins team this year:

The Bruins are 19-0 when leading going into the 3rd period

The Bruins have scored the most goals in the NHL this year (Bruins have also played in the least amount of games)

The Bruins have given up the least amount of goals in the NHL this year

The top 4 players in the NHL in +/- are as follows: Seguin (+32) Marchand (+27), Chara (+27), Bergeron (+26)

Both Tuukka Rask & Tim Thomas are in the top 5 in both save percentage and GAA

The Bruins have more penalty minutes than any other team

The Bruins have the 2nd most fighting majors

The Bruins are the only team not to give up a short-handed goal

The Bruins have the best road record in the league at 12-4

The Bruins have had the 2 longest win streaks in the NHL this year

The Bruins have the most shutouts in the league with 7

The Bruins have the best faceoff percentage in the league


I think it’s safe to say this year’s team is far superior to last year’s Cup-winning squad, which probably makes other teams wet the bed at night. If the Bruins can avoid major injury, I honestly cannot see them losing a 7 game series to anyone, so hopefully a repeat is in the works.

PS- Can you imagine how good our team would be with a healthy Marc Savard? The one weakness of this team is a middling powerplay… which was Savard’s specialty. I sometimes dream about the Savard-Seguin connection that could have been.


PPS- Here are 2 videos I found from last year's Finals vs Vancouver. Someone please tell me how these aren't the same or very similar to the incident from this past Saturday? Neither of these plays resulted in penalties.








January 5, 2012

Wes Welker- NOT elite

A couple weeks ago my friends and I had an intense debate on whether or not Wes Welker is an elite NFL wide receiver. The discussion started when I read something online about Jermichael Finley saying that his agent was planning to argue that Finley should be paid as a Wide Receiver rather than a Tight End when he becomes a free agent this off season. I assume his argument is because he is a pass-catching tight end & doesn’t really fit the mold of the traditional Tight End. (My take- Finley is a TE. So what if the position is changing and becoming more offensive? You’re still a TE. Deal with it.)


Because the Packers & Finley probably won’t agree to a long term contract, there is a strong possibility of the team placing it’s one and only “franchise tag” on him, which basically means he is under contract for the next year & his salary would be the average of the top 5 highest paid players at his position.

Finley’s 2012 salary if he is franchised as a TE: $5.4 million
Finley’s 2012 salary if he is franchised as a WR: $9.4 million


During this debate, at one point I said if I ran a team I would invest heavily in lineman, defensive players, and QB, as opposed to skill players such as running backs and wide receivers. I mentioned that, similar to Finley, Welker is going to be a free agent this off season and I fully expect the Patriots to place their franchise tag on him, meaning he will make that $9.4 million next year- a hefty raise from his current $2.45 million annual salary. He had signed a 5 year deal previous to the 2007 season (His first with the Pats.)

 I think the Patriots will franchise Welker because they have proven throughout the past decade or so that they do not, for the most part, like to allocate their resources in those skill positions. Why? My guess is it has to do something with having #12. It’s been proven that Tom Brady makes every wide receiver he plays with significantly better (which isn’t a surprise, he’s one of the best QB’s ever to play the game). Let’s take a look at yearly averages:

Deion Branch w/ Pats: 55 receptions, 739 yards, 4 TDs (4 seasons)
Deion Branch w/ everyone else: 44 receptions, 559 yards, 3.5 TDs (4 seasons)

David Patten w/ Pats: 52 receptions, 791 yards, 5 TDs (3 seasons)
David Patten w/ everyone else: 25 receptions, 348 yards, 1 TD (5 seasons)

Randy Moss w/ Pats: 86 receptions, 1,301 yards, 17 TDs  (3 seasons)
Randy Moss w/ everyone else: 75 receptions, 1,208 yards, 15 TDs (7 seasons)

Reche Caldwell w/ Pats: 61 receptions, 760 yards, 4 TDs (1 season)
Reche Caldwell w/ everyone else: 19 receptions, 237 yards, 1.5 TDs (4 seasons)


This list/these stats do NOT include:

-Players like Jabar Gaffney, who rarely played WR for the Pats and was mostly used as a KR
-Randy Moss’ last season (3 teams, & he basically quit)
-The countless # of WR who played well with NE & did absolutely nothing anywhere else. David Givens comes to mind
-Deion Branch’s rookie season or the season he played for both the Pats and Seahawks

Lastly, If your wondering why I included Reche Caldwell, it’s because he led the Patriots in receiving in 2006.

Here is my point with these stats: Tom Brady makes his wide receivers better. I know there are a million variables that affect those stats above, but I think the point is clearly made that WR are significantly better in New England than anywhere else, because of Tom Terrific.

This bring us to Wes Welker. Here is a brief summary of his pre-patriot career (Got a lot of this from Wikipedia.org): 

-In 2004, Welker signed as an undrafted free agent with the San Diego Chargers. Welker made the Chargers out of training camp, but was released after the first game of the season. Head coach Marty Schottenheimer later acknowledged that in terms of roster cuts, releasing Wes Welker was the biggest mistake he ever made.

-Welker then played parts of 3 seasons with the Dolphins. In 2005, Welker was promoted to the third wide receiver spot behind Chris Chambers and Marty Booker. He finished the season with 29 receptions for 434 yards, but did not score a touchdown. He also served as a kick returner and punt returner, and was above average in both categories,.

Side note- Against the Pats in his rookie season, Welker had touchdowns on both a kick and punt return, he kicked an XP and FG, AND recorded a tackle all in 1 game.  That's Awesome.

-During the 2006 season after rumors that he would be cut during the preseason, Welker ended up being the lone bright spot of the struggling Dolphins offense. For the season, Welker had a team-best 67 receptions for 687 yards and one touchdown.

So then Welker joins the Pats in 2007. What happened next? He bettered his CAREER totals in the first 10 games of the season in every category. Over the next 4 years Welker dominated, and became one of the best WR in the game statistically. Even in 2008, when Brady went down in week 1 for the season, Welker still managed to creep over 100 catches.

Anyway enough facts. Here’s where I make my case:

Despite the elite stats, I do not believe he is an elite WR in the NFL today.

What does “elite” mean?  Dictionary.com says “A group of people considered to be the best in a particular category, especially because of their power, talent, or wealth.”

Now, this is where the confusion lies. I believe Welker is a top 10 WR in the NFL. By some people’s standards, that means elite. The way I see it, there is a small group of NFL WR who are clearly better than Welker. Those are the elite players in my eyes. Here are their names:

Calvin Johnson
Andre Johnson
Larry Fitzgerald

Then there is the next tier of guys. Still some of the best receivers in the game, but I would not put any of these guys in the same class as the 3 guys above. (In no particular order):


Roddy White
Greg Jennings
Brandon Marshall (when he tries)
Mike Wallace
Wes Welker
Hakeem Nicks
Dwayne Bowe
Marques Colston
Vincent Jackson (when he tries)
Reggie Wayne


And these are the guys I could imagine becoming elite in the near future:

Jordy Nelson
AJ Green
Kenny Britt (please be healthy)
Julio Jones
Dez Bryant
Percy Harvin
Victor Cruz (go Umass!)
Denarius Moore (Kind of a reach, but he is NASTY so you never know)


Yes, I understand Welker has a different skill set than most of these players. His M.O. is quickness, great hands, reading the defense, and making guys miss for a high YAC (yards after catch) total. He is elite at all these things. However, that still doesn’t make him an elite WR in the NFL. Sorry. And I know some people reading this think I am holding Welker’s size against him. Let me make this clear: I do NOT think height = elite or you have to be tall to be elite. Steve Smith was elite for a period of time on the Panthers & he is the same height as Welker. Smith was a downfield threat, he put up numbers with a mediocre QB (Delhomme), and he was always double teamed. And guess what- the Johnsons and Fitzgerald line up in the slot from time to time as well. And they are just as dangerous as Welker. But they have the higher skill set to play the outside that Welker just doesn’t have.

Also- Sorry to say, but life’s not fair for us short guys. So yea, maybe if Welker was 6’3” he would be able to make plays downfield and in the endzone, but he’s not, so he doesn’t, and he cannot be considered elite.


Here are some other possible definitions of “Elite” that support my case:

1. An elite WR makes his QB better, not the other way around

I think it is clear that Tom Brady was just as good pre-Welker as he is now with Welker. Being an already great quarterback, it would obviously take someone very special to actually make Tom Brady better. Someone like... Randy Moss, an elite WR at the time.  

On the flip side, Welker was an average player at best before he was inserted into the Patriots offense in 2007. Think about this: What if Wes Welker was on the 49ers? Or Rams? Or Seahawks? Does anyone really think he puts up 100 receptions without a top 15 QB throwing the ball to him? In 2006 with Joey Harrington throwing the ball in Miami, Welker had 67 receptions. In 2007 with Brady he had 112.

2. Elite WR are consistently double or triple teamed & they beat it

Welker is rarely double teamed. In fact, a lot of times a linebacker lines up against Welker, not even a corner or safety. The few times I can remember Welker being double teamed, he was a non-factor. I searched long and hard for proof of this (either supporting or opposing my view) but I couldn’t find anything. However, I do know the Johnsons & Larry Fitz are never, EVER left on single coverage and they obviously put up competitive numbers every year. 

3. Elite WR are irreplaceable

Can you imagine what the Cardinals offense would look like without Larry Fitzgerald? Shambles. Look at the Texans offense this year without Andre- significantly less explosive. If Welker went down with injury, the Pats would be fine. Remember when Welker went down with an injury that kept him out of 3 games in early 2010? In those three games Welker missed, Julien Edelman averaged seven receptions per game. That would put Edelman on pace for 112 catches over a 16-game season & he's not even a real wide receiver. 

It is doubtful that Wes Welker will be signed to a long term by the Patriots after his franchise tagged is applied. I really hope he IS here long term, but I just don’t see it happening.

My last point is this: Welker is clearly an elite WR in fantasy football. In today’s sports world, number games dominate, so I can see why some people automatically assume Welker is an elite NFL WR. Just think: would anyone consider Welker elite if stats weren’t recorded or kept? I think no. 

It’s not elite to catch 8 yard passes & make a guy miss. It’s elite when you have 2 guys all over you and make a downfield catch at full speed. Have you ever seen Welker do that?


Welcome to my Blog

Welcome to the 1st entry of my new Sports Blog. I need to write this post to clarify a few things:

-I am not a great writer. Don’t expect world class language from this blog. Also, I may use some vulgar language from time to time but Ill try to keep it mostly PG 13.

-This is also my first blog ro internet posting experience. Bear with me. I'm sure over the next few weeks I'll get the hang of it and things will look better.

-I usually have very strong opinions & I’m working on admitting when I am wrong.
There will be a decent amount of personal stories & I will be referencing a bunch of inside jokes from time to time. I will also probably have tons of posts about fantasy football, so you will get to know a few of my close friends by name. I argue with them a lot, but it’s all in good nature.

-I highly recommend and I really hope I get a lot of comments from my readers. Feel free to offer a differing opinion. I will try my best to always respond. I promote accountability so feel free to point out when I’m wrong or mistaken as well. Also- If there is something you would like me to write about, just let me know.

-I am hoping to have guest writers from time to time. If you want to write something, let me know first, then send it to me and I’ll post it for you on my blog. I already have an idea where I want to get my friends Jeremy and Wilson to do a mock NFL draft in early April, I know they have done this before and I thought it was great.


My very brief sports background:

Like all kids, I played a bunch of sports when I was growing up. I was raised as a Boston sports fan in multiple states. I currently play Ice Hockey, Dodgeball, Golf, Tennis, Racquetball, Running, Skiing, and Beer Pong. I wish I still played baseball & I also have some football experience. I was the light-weight (115 lbs or less) B team QB in 7th and 8th grade, I don’t think I ever threw a TD pass but I do think I ran one in once. In high school, I played double back up Cornerback, and I routinely got annihilated at practice. I started working at a golf course when I was 14 and my first Summer golfing I got a hole in one at Banbury golf course in Eagle, ID on hole #16. Even with the Ace, I still shot a 103 that day. I also have a new found love of racquet sports- both tennis and racquetball are 2 of my favorite sports to play, and I really wish I played both much more often.

In 2009 I graduated from UMass & got a B.S. in Sport Management. The best decision I ever made up to that point in my life was to take the leap of faith, move across the country, and go to UMass. I was also an ice hockey ref during high school. Also, I played in the annual Church basketball weekend tournament for 2 years in high school, I applied for a scholarship for college when I was a SR and was awarded $200, so technically, I went to college on a basketball scholarship. At Umass, 1 winter my friends & I decided to play intramural b-ball, & in our 2nd game of the season we played some guys from the football team. 1 minute into the game I was the only defender back on a 3-1 fast break, and one of the huge black wide receivers decided to dunk the ball, and he shattered the backboard all over me and him. It was pretty cool and the league called the game a tie so I think it was a moral victory. We lost every other game. I played on a co-ed intramural volleyball team one Fall and that team ALSO lost every game. Ouch.

Oh, and I worked for the Bruins during the 2010-11 season, I got a ring, and then in late June after we won the cup I walked into Mr. Peter Chiarelli’s office and before I even sat down he said “Pack your things & get out of my face cuz your fuckin fired!”

Ok well that last line is a joke, it didn’t actually go down like that- but I did get laid off, which sucks, but at least I can say I have more rings than Dan Marino, Charles Barkley, Barry Sanders, Alex Ovechkin, Lebron James, WES WELKER (hopefully not for long,) and Ted Williams combined.