Month: July 2015

A Game in the Life

Posted on by DylanHornik

Pre-Game: You go through your routine as normal. Running, stretches, hitting, grounders. You have the pre-game jitters, just like always, but that’s because you’re barely 23 and you’re the starting shortstop for a team that’s in the middle of a pennant race. It’s like a dream come true; you escaped poverty in Venezuela to sign with an MLB organization at just 16 years old. You’re humbled by this, and grateful that this team is giving you the chance to do what you love.usatsi_7428351_110579513_lowres

1st-4th innings: You’re feeling good today. The team is on a roll, and the mood in the locker room is a little lighter. The front office just acquired two veterans with playoff experience, so they know the importance of winning these games. You’ve become especially close with the other infielders, especially the other shortstop, who you’re starting for tonight. The two of you are inseparable, both young players who are tasked with holding down the middle of the infield.

You singled in your first at-bat, ticking your average upwards towards .250, the borderline of respectability. Maybe this is the game where you begin the rest of your career, when you can finally turn it on and be considered an elite young infielder. In your second at-bat, you struck out, but the fire and passion that you have for the game doesn’t dwindle your confidence one bit. You know that you can be successful, but it will take time. Your team seems to be committed to helping you learn how to be a big-leaguer.

The game isn’t going so well. The pitcher gave up two runs in each of the first three innings and the offense is quiet, so the dugout feels a little grim. However, you believe in this team, just as they believe in you. One of your key hitters is on fire lately, and he homered again today. You believe in him, you believe that the top of the lineup can get on base so he can drive them in. You believe that the captain, who almost had to retire due to a back injury, can come back in time to make a run at the pennant. Optimism fills your world.

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5th-7th innings: The game is basically out of hand now, with your team on the losing side, but that’s not what’s giving you the knot in your stomach. The phones in the dugout are going off like crazy, meaning something important is happening. Maybe the General Manager finally pulled off that trade that he’s been promising to give your offense some help. Then your teammates start chattering. A few give a passing glance at you, but none will tell you what’s going on. Doubt starts to creep in; maybe you’re the final piece to a blockbuster trade.

As you try to shake it off, it’s your turn to bat. When you reach the plate and step into the box, the fans give you the loudest ovation you’ve ever received. Normally, the impatient fans don’t give you a welcome like that because they feel like you’re not the best option out there. Now you begin to realize your fate; the team that gave you a chance to live out the true American dream as a poor hispanic kid traded you. This is the same team that needs you to perform in order to stay alive this season, the only team you know, the only friends you have in the game where making enemies is easier than getting hits. You know that this was your final at-bat as a member of this team, and you grounded out. Here come the emotions; sadness, anger, betrayal, disappointment, but most of all uncertainty.

8th and 9th innings: The manager has no idea. No one has told him you’ve been traded. Completely out of the loop, he asks you to go back out there and play the field. You know the deal is imminent, so the tears begin to flow. These are your final precious moments with your teammates, the men you would sacrifice your personal success for. You finally get taken out in the 9th inning, before your last at-bat of the game. The captain takes you into the tunnel and gives you a hug. He tells you “whatever happens, happens. You’ll be great wherever you go. Good luck.”072915-22-MLB-Mets-Wilmer-Flores-OB-PI.vresize.1200.675.high.42

Post-game: Walking into the clubhouse, the General Manager stops you to tell you some urgent news. Fearing the worst, you take a deep breath and prepare to say thank you to him for providing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play Major League Baseball. As it turns out, you haven’t been traded; the talks fell through and you’ll remain with the team you fell in love with. Now you’re happy, and you realize it’s time to stop the flow of emotions. You compose yourself enough to give a few interviews about what’s going on and what you know.

The grateful feeling that you felt as the scrawny kid in Venezuela as you were signing your first contract comes back. You realize that baseball is business, but outsiders don’t understand that you’re a human too; that playing with your emotions is not okay. Now, your main focus is to win tomorrow’s game and keep pace with the first-place team.

I Love Ronda Rousey

Posted on by DylanHornik

She’s not the first person that comes to mind when we think of today’s dominant athletes. When we think of the top 5 female athletes of all time, she doesn’t even come into discussion until we put some real thought into it. However, now her recent success and headline-worthy quotes have put her at the absolute forefront of the sporting world. So, you better get used to these two words: Ronda Rousey.

Right now, the 28 year old Rousey is the best pound-for-pound woman fighter in the world, the UFC champion in the bantamweight division, the #1 woman fighter at 135 pounds, and some are even calling her the best female MMA fighter of all-time. She began her career in 2010 as an amateur, but didn’t make it into the limelight until she took down Miesha Tate in the Strikeforce Bantamweight Championship. From there, her celebrity status boomed, with talk-show appearances, Sports Illustrated covers, and a lucrative deal to become the first female UFC fighter.

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Rousey putting Miesha Tate in her signature armbar.

Apparently defending her UFC title 3 times wasn’t newsworthy enough, because Rousey fell out of the spotlight until UFC 184 on February 28th, 2015. There, she defeated Cat Zingano in 14 seconds, the shortest match in UFC history. As of right now, she’s one of the most talked about athletes not only because of what she’s done in the ring, but what she’s said off of it. But Rousey isn’t just an athlete with a big mouth; she’s breaking ground not only for females, but for all athletes.

It’s obvious what a strong and talented female athlete can do for young women, but Rousey is doing things differently. Take the quintessential female role model, Alex Morgan. She uses her femininity as a source of pride in what she does, and she shows younger girls that it’s okay to be a woman and play sports. Morgan, however, is doing so in a sport that is played by more than 2 million women and girls across the United States. Rousey is using the other end of the spectrum. She is pioneering a sport that has been, literally, male-only since it’s inception.

While Rousey is good-looking, she doesn’t have the outward charm that Morgan displays. However, she is as confident in her body as any other professional athlete. In that, she sends a completely different, yet similar message: it’s okay to be a girl, it’s okay to be comfortable with who you are, and it’s okay to do whatever you want, because no one should judge you. Even if they do, you can just put them in an armbar to shut them up.

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Rousey accepting the 2015 ESPY for BEst Fighter, beating out Floyd Mayweather.

It may be because she competes in a heavily male sport, but Rousey also has the swagger and bravado of a heavyweight champion. After winning Best Fighter over Floyd Mayweather at the 2015 ESPY Awards, she had some choice words for the 48-0 boxer. Staring straight into the camera, she posed “I wonder how Floyd feels being beat by a girl for once”, referencing his history of domestic violence.She decimates opponents with an unforgiving armbar, dislocating the elbows of multiple opponents. Before one fight, she even said she would rip off her opponents arm and throw it at her training team, then choke her to death. While that may be a little extreme, her unfiltered nature, in a strange way, is endearing herself to scores of both casual and hardcore fans of mixed martial marts. It’s like loving Jameis Winston or LeBron James; we crave overconfidence out of talented athletes, and Rousey certainly has nailed that market.

Almost above anything else, it seems (for now) that Rousey is real; that her emotions and reactions are not 100% calculated by some PR team that’s completely disconnected from her personal life. She says what’s on her mind and she stands up for what she believes in, without anyone telling her what not to say. Rousey is a girl with a tough upbringing that uses her fire and the chip on her shoulder to bowl over everyone she faces in the octagon. Her next opponent is Bethe Correia, who said that Rousey would “want to kill herself” after their bout on August 1st. Rousey did not take kindly to this, especially because her father committed suicide. Her response below shows just how raw her emotions can be, which is far from anything else we see in the meticulously set up world of sports.

I really do love Ronda Rousey. I hope that, in the future, more athletes model themselves after her. Her unconventional allure with her unmatched boldness makes for exciting hype leading up to each of her matches, impressive victories, but that’s not all. She is an an athlete that many can relate to, with a strong mind and an impressive future. Rousey has the ability to literally change sports into something that’s more real, not just something we watch on TV and can never connect to.

What is Courage?

Posted on by DylanHornik

Last night at the 2015 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles, Caitlyn Jenner, formerly Bruce, was given the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. According to ESPN executive Laura Mandt, she was honored because  “she has shown the courage to embrace a truth that had been hidden for years, and to embark on a journey that may not only give comfort to those facing similar circumstances, but can also help to educate people on the challenges that the transgender community faces.” the decision to give Jenner this award has sparked controversy and debate nationwide, as many spectators have wondered if a different candidate should have been chosen.

That’s not the problem.

The real question we should all be asking is, “what is courage?” For all of those who don’t believe that Jenner is a deserving recipient, you probably forget that she was an American hero at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal as Bruce. She set a world record of 8,634 points in the decathlon, a grueling two-day track and field event. In the final lap, which was eventually a victory lap of sorts, she took an American flag from a fan and ran with it to the finish line. She then appeared on Wheaties boxes and TV commercials across the nation for decades, eventually marrying into the even more-famous Kardashian family. She finally told the world this year that she would become a woman, and revealed her more confident self to the world on the cover of Vanity Fair. To come out and tell the world that you have been living your whole life in the wrong body after being named “Sexiest Man Alive” is no small task.

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 15: Honoree Caitlyn Jenner (R) accepts the Arthur Ashe Courage Award during The 2015 ESPYS at Microsoft Theater on July 15, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 15: Honoree Caitlyn Jenner (R) accepts the Arthur Ashe Courage Award during The 2015 ESPYS at Microsoft Theater on July 15, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

Perhaps you think that “runner up” Noah Galloway should have gotten the award. Sergeant Galloway was injured during his second tour of duty  in Iraq. He lost his left arm and his left leg. After rehabilitation, he now competes in 5K’s, 10K’s, Tough Mudders and Spartan events. He also came in third place on “Dancing With the Stars”. Just like the message in his motivational lectures, “no excuses”, he has persevered through the most difficult of challenges to be an incredible athlete. Some were upset that ESPN would not honor an athlete who served our country with this award, which coincidentally has gone to someone in the LGBTQ+ every year dating back to 2013.

The point here is that, in sports especially, courage comes in many different forms. Imagine putting yourself in Jenner’s shoes, coming out to the world after decades of being considered the manliest of men. At the same time, imagine being unconscious for 5 days, like Galloway, and then coming back to race in events that 99% of our population wouldn’t even dream of sniffing. The world of sports is massive, which allows for incredible stories of perseverance and strength. In every sport, there’s at least one story deserving enough of this award. How about the late Lauren Hill, who was able to live her dream of playing Division I basketball despite suffering from terminal brain cancer? How about Emmanuel Mudiay, who was able to flee the civil war in the Congo in his youth to play professional basketball in China and then be drafted in the top 10 this year?

Ever since the recipient was announced, this situation has troubled me. I understand that some people believe that serving the nation and being an impressive athlete are attributes far more deserving than being an Olympic Gold Medalist and changing gender. However, to voice an opinion with the fervor and nastiness, at times, as they have been on social media is absolutely unfair. As a sports community, we don’t necessarily have to like the opposition, but at times we do respect them. We may not all like Alex Rodriguez, but when he hit his 661st career home run, an historic moment like that should be appreciated by all sports fans. Not to say this situation is similar, but we all should appreciate the different kinds of courage that Jenner and Galloway have shown.

DANCING WITH THE STARS - "Episode 2010A" - In the last element of competition, the couples performed a new routine as part of a "24 Hour Fusion Challenge." The remaining couples fused two contrasting dance styles that they performed this season and they had less than 24 hours to prepare that dance for additional judges' points, on the two-hour Season Finale on TUESDAY, MAY 19 (9:00-11:00 p.m., ET), on ABC. (Photo by Adam Taylor/ABC via Getty Images)

Galloway performing on DWTS (Photo by Adam Taylor/ABC via Getty Images)

Personally, I think that both Galloway and Jenner are more than deserving of this honor, but it’s not my place to decide who ultimately won. Being a sports fan, or just a human being, is all about rooting for success. If both have succeeded in what they want to do, then it doesn’t make a difference who wins or who loses.

A Letter to DeAndre Jordan

Posted on by DylanHornik

Dear DeAndre Jordan,

First off, congrats on finally deciding to rejoin the Los Angeles Clippers for the foreseeable future. I think you made the right choice to return to a team that was a game away from the Conference Finals. Now, the Clippers can keep their nucleus of talent intact, and Lob City can reign once more in the Staples Center.

A lot of people have taken offense to the way you’ve handled yourself in the last week. They’ve called you a coward, they’ve called you a traitor, and they’ve said that you owe the whole NBA an apology. You, DeAndre Jordan, do not need to apologize to anyone. It is your right to make yourself happy, and in the business world, that should be the only driving force behind all of your decisions. If you felt that Dallas was not where you wanted to be, then good for you for making an intelligent, and completely understood, change of heart. Mr. Jordan, you should not be penalized or criticized for doing what is best for you and your inner circle. If your agent isn’t on board 100% with what you want to do, then just dump him. You, and your agent, are going to get paid either way, so why not be happy?

Mr. Jordan, you don’t need to call Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. In fact, Cuban should blame himself. In the free agent “moratorium”, negotiations may be had, but official contracts are not allowed to be signed. While I understand that you did not sign a contract in that time, Cuban and his team of professional recruiters schmoozed you to the point where you felt that you couldn’t say no.

The Mavericks essentially burned themselves by unfairly luring you into a false sense of comfort and once you awoke from that lucid state, you realized where your heart truly is. Some are using you, Mr. Jordan, as an example of why the moratorium should be terminated. However, your case just shows that NBA front shouldn’t get their hopes up, and shouldn’t toe the line that much during the first week of July. They need to remember that the pawns they are playing with are people who are capable of making their own decision, like you, and for that, they should stay in their lanes and distance themselves slightly from free agents during this moratorium. I don’t care that Mark Cuban was looking all over the Houston area for you, he essentially did it to himself.

Besides the business elements of your busy week, you created bay far the most entertaining social media buzz this year. You got JJ Redick, Chandler Parsons, Chris Paul, and even Kobe Bryant to engage in a Twitter war that left bystanders in stitches and kept us waiting for more. It is not often that someone can create such a national stir while staying mum the whole time. You just did what you needed to do, and let everyone else do the publicity, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

What’s more important than the Twitter fracas was the fact that you kept sports fans everywhere busy during an otherwise boring week. Other than your decision, Mr. Jordan, the biggest topic of discussion was an often-injured defensive end for the Giants injuring his hand in a fireworks accident (idiot). Don’t even get me started on how good this is for the NBA, how it will make things more interesting during the season, blah, blah, blah… Anyway, I don’t think that we, as a sports community, could seriously take the NBA Summer League or the MLB All-Star Game as the big topic of the summer for much longer. So thank you for giving us the opportunity to cash in our opinions and for diverting us from 4 hour baseball games.

My final word to you, Mr. Jordan, is simple. Don’t listen to what other players have to say about what you did, especially certain Mavericks (attention: Chandler Parsons). They may say that you’re not ready to lead a team, or that you’re not man enough to be a franchise player, but none of that will matter in the Summer of 2016 after you survived a deadly Western Conference and made it all the way to the NBA Finals. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even be hoisting the Finals trophy after picking apart a poor Eastern Conference team in 5 games. If I were you, I wouldn’t have moved either, solely because the Clippers are stacked (more so than the Mavericks). Good luck to you, Mr. Jordan. I wish you the best.

Sincerely,

Dylan Hornik

All-Star or All-Snore?

Posted on by DylanHornik

Don’t call it a comeback.

After a significant absence, I’ve returned to bring in ‘da noise and bring in ‘da funk. I’ll admit, I missed some significant stuff, especially in baseball (Cue A-Rod talk, cue Mets talk, cue Cardinals cheating talk). However, I’m making my stoic return just in time for the nation’s favorite sporting spectacle: the MLB All-Star Game. Well, not really. I haven’t met a single person that actually likes every part of the Midsummer Classic, from the voting system to the events to the fact that it actually counts for something relatively important.

While the MLB ASG fared better than the NBA and NFL last year in viewership, with just over 11 million viewers, this was the first time that baseball had the most-watched All-Star game since 2010, and the numbers have been steadily decreasing in the span. Compound the decline in Nielsen ratings with the debacle surrounding the Kansas City Royals and this year’s voting (at one point they had 8 players lined up to start), it is clearly time for Major League Baseball to revamp its midseason break.

Alex Rodriguez. currently leading Designated Hitters with 16 homers, was left off of the AL roster.

Alex Rodriguez. currently leading Designated Hitters with 16 homers, was left off of the AL roster.

Voting is not going to change. Baseball uses a fan vote, a player vote, and input from the manager of the All-Star squad, which really isn’t a problem as long as the fans come out and vote. What the execs need to do is make the All-Star break more interesting for TV viewers. This would create a larger, more diverse fan base, which is exactly what the MLB has tried to do for years (see here for more). Right now, there is one major event besides the All-Star game during that break: the Home Run Derby. While the derby has always been wildly popular, it has undergone a facelift this year to make it more interesting. Contestants get a 5 minute clock to see how many dingers they can hit, and participants go 1-on-1 in a bracket-style format until a winner is declared in the final. Adding more contests, perhaps with more fan interaction, is the key to reviving the All-Star game.

The MLB should take notes from the NBA. As far as All-Star festivities are concerned, they’ve got it right. The night before the game, they have a slew of events lined up each year, including the Shooting Stars Challenge, the Skills Challenge, the 3-Point Contest, and the Slam Dunk Contest. It is entirely possible for the MLB to create events like this. When I was 12, I played a baseball tournament in Cooperstown, and throughout that whole week they had events that could be copied by the MLB. Among these were a baserunning contest and a “Golden Arm” contest, where contestants threw from centerfield to home plate and tried to hit a target. Wouldn’t it be exciting to see which speedster can motor around the bases the fastest, or which defensive stud really has the best gun in the bigs? The fans could even vote on who they want to see in the challenges from a list of candidates. Just two simple events could make the All-Star break exponentially exciting.

The MLB revamped the HR Derby, but should they add more events?

The MLB could get fans involved too, maybe getting them on the field with some of the best and brightest talents in the game. Imagine getting a chance to get one at-bat against Felix Hernandez or Jacob deGrom, and if you get a hit, you win $50,000? Or how about this: A softball game mixed between fans and current players? Let’s face it, the Celebrity Softball game is an absolute joke. But if you put real competitors out there with some overly-excited fans, the results may be good TV.  Besides that, the MLB would get the chance to sell more tickets for the break and in turn, they would have the opportunity to create and sell more overpriced ASG merchandise.

The only other option for the MLB is to admit that the ASG is nothing special and get rid of it’s importance. If no one is watching it, then it shouldn’t decide who gets to play Game 7 of the World Series at home. None of the other 4 major sports have their All-Star games count for anything anyway. The only reasons that the MLB made it count back in 2003 was so that viewership could increase and to give players a greater incentive to win. Now ratings have fallen, and the World Series has only gone to Game 7 twice since then (2011 and 2014). To think that a big-league player would take this game as seriously as a game in September is ridiculous.

But the execs at MLB headquarters are too set in their ways to take away what they just put into the game 10 years ago. Instead, the only way to beef up the All-Star game is to ramp up the events surrounding it. Now that I’m back, let’s hope that the MLB can bring the ASG back from the slippery slope of TV views.