#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)
<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!! </editorsnote>
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay
Howdy folks! Well at least this week there is more than one sport for me to talk about. Last week was one hell of a dead period, but this week I actually found some stories to talk about!
My posts are typically put up on Tuesdays so that means that I didn’t have a chance to talk about the MLB All Star game last week. Well, I can certainly live with that. I am an American League fan because I support the Angels, and to be honest the game was basically over after the first inning. The starting pitcher for the AL and reigning Cy Young and MVP winner, Justin Verlander, was flat out shellacked after giving up five earned runs in his only inning of work.
This was unexpected, but the reason for it was obvious in my opinion. Verlander was throwing his fastball in the high 90’s for the entire inning, and even though he can do that it if he chooses, it isn’t part of his normal repertoire. The fans love to watch the 100 MPH fastball, but Verlander makes his money with his 90-92 MPH 2-seam fastball. It’s the less appreciated cousin of the fastball, but the two-seam heater adds a lot of movement for only a small loss of velocity. A casual spectator may think that a pitcher is more effective based on how fast he throws. Ironically, this isn’t true at all. The key to getting a hitter out is changing speeds and directions of movement to keep the batter off balance and out of his comfort zone. I believe that Verlander was so “amped” up to start the All Star game, that he literally forgot how to pitch effectively. The reason this happened? He is human!
I don’t mean to dwell on JV’s poor All Star performance. The guy is a great pitcher (tied for Jered Weaver as best in baseball in my opinion), a great teammate and as far as anyone can tell he is a good person. I guess I was just trying to write about the All Star game, and honestly the entire game began and ended with Justin Verlander’s first inning. In the end the National League ended up winning by the score of 8-0. Melky Cabrera had a hell of a performance and won MVP of the game, but the real significance comes from the fact that the National League now holds home field advantage in the World Series because of their victory in the All Star game.
Now, we are left to watch the second half of a marathon known as the baseball season, and once again the parity of the league stands out most of all. At this point, there are no guarantees and even the Yankees are vulnerable to being eliminated from playoff contention. The Pirates (perennial last place finishers) ended their first half as first in their division and the Phillies (perennial first place finishers) are currently last and 14 games back in their division. Who knows what will happen next?
In other sports news…the NFL season is just about to start up again! Pre-season is right around the corner, and sports fans everywhere get to be frustrated by their favorite players “holding out” on their teams and not playing in order to get more money. Well, at least that is normally what happens. As I was deciding to write about the NFL contract disputes earlier this morning, I realized that the two biggest disputes in Matt Forte and Ray Rice ended up signing contracts yesterday and today. While I am sure there is an endless list of players preparing their bitch ass hold outs, I have a lot of respect for the organizations and players who agreed to sign these contracts rather than deal with a seemingly endless hold out that will only hurt the team in the long run.
Fantasy football fans need to remember these contract signings most of all. Matt Forte and Ray Rice signing with their teams means that they are once again the primary backs on the field for every down and odds are they will provide you with the fantasy points you need to win a championship.
In future weeks I will be writing about the upcoming football season, including fantasy, and I will also be breaking down the current MLB season and the Olympics. I can’t wait! I hope all of you have a great week and don’t forget to tweet me @DerekJ_AllDay to talk to me!