THE GIANS WIN THE PENNANT!!!!

Russ Hodges' cry couldn't be more appropriate. And Giants fans couldn't be happier. The shot heard around the world, the catch and other great giant moments it's time to welcome in one more...the beard.

No single image defines the giants so much as the bullpens atrocious beards. In fact, the entire teams hair has gone haywire! But that's what we love about this team. Torture baseball and all, this group of guys is as lovable as their team mascot, kung fu panda.

Forget your east coast bias (yes, despite what ESPN's obsession has led you to believe, there is something besides yanks vs sox). Ignore the opinion of the experts (you know, the ones who all picked Atlanta and Philly to win?). And put the image of Barry Bonds far from your minds. This team is easily the most exciting and most random team left in the playoffs.

The fans are primed to celebrate again. Come on giants..it's time to give one to San Francisco!

That Just Happened

91 Minutes. That’s how long it took for the US to break down the Algeria defense. It was a drama-filled game where the players fought till the end. The team made history, and they brought a nation along with them for the ride. Extra time. A goal disallowed. England winning. It was all going wrong…and then it was all going right. With Donovan’s goal, the shouts of conspiracy were replaced with the disbelieving chants of USA. I think it’s safe to say that soccer has officially arrived in America.



The beautiful game. For all of you watching for the first time, can you really continue to argue that soccer doesn’t deserve that name? Soccer is the worlds game, and finally the US has decided to jump on the bandwagon. And let me tell you, it’s about time!

Now I’m not saying that soccer has to replace any of “the big three” sports in the US. I’m just saying that there is no reason that we can’t appreciate a sport that combines the brutal (have you seen some of those mid-air collisions?), the beautiful (what other word would you use to describe this? And I’m not only talking about how he looks ;P), and the passion (what other sport has ever stopped a civil war?).

If that sounds like something you can like, then tune in this Saturday. If there is one thing we know about this US team, it's that they live on drama. Here are a few soccer pubs in the Bay Area:

1) Kezar Pub & Restaurant
2) Mad Dog in the Fog
3) The Chieftain

Hope to see you there!

They Hate Each Other…And That’s A Good Thing!

What’s better then a really low-down dirty rivalry? Where the fans hate each other, the cities hate each other, and the players hate each other. Where the history between the teams literally sits in the stand watching their replacements continue the battle. Where the most titles have been won, the best players have laced up their shoes, and the best games have been played. The answer, in case you hadn’t figured it out already (and in that case, there is something way wrong with you), nothing!

And that my friends, is what we are privileged to be watching Thursday night in Celtics vs. Lakers. In an era where all the players seem to be friends, there aren’t many times where you can watch two teams play each other and honestly feel that they want to rip each others throats out on the way to the desired title. The McHale Clothesline? Yeah about that…never would happen today. Well, ok you’re right. Artest would quickly sign up to join that party. But I mean, he’s just plain crazy! He doesn’t need to hate you to want to kill you!

The series hasn't been pretty. I'll give you that. But you can't say that it hasn't been passionate, hard-fought and intense. The fans are into it, the players are into it, hey even the refs are having a good series! So enjoy the game. I know I plan to.

And the World Cup officially begins…

You thought the world cup began last Friday? Well, you are mistaken my friend. It actually began today, at 10 am eastern when the Swiss decided that they were going to bring some excitement to the world’s most favorite stage. Modeling themselves as Dragon Slayers, Switzerland drew first blood in month-long frenzy known as the World Cup.

You’ve heard of Spain right? Winner of 15 straight matches, an international record, until they were beat by the in the Confederations Cup? Ranked number 2 in the FIFA world rankings? Made up of superstars such as Fernando Torres, Xabi Alanso, Sergio Romas, and David Villa? Well, if you haven’t heard of them, take my word for it that Switzerland has. And the Swiss also knew that their role in this play was to lie down and die as Spain beat in their march to their first championship trophy. It was finally their time, and this was finally the team...except, today at least, it wasn’t.

Underdogs are good for tournaments. If March Madness has taught us anything, it’s that people love rooting for those who are told they don’t have a chance. So in a tournament that has been seriously lacking in beautiful soccer (check that...beautiful soccer? I’d take some freaking goals even if they were ugly!), Switzerland vs. Spain was just what the doctor ordered.

And With the First Pick of the Draft...

"I was a raiders fan...but then DHB happened."

That was the quote of the day following last years draft. For those of you non-draft junkies, DHB stands for Darious Hayward Bay, easily the dumbest pick of last years NFL draft. It's been said that figuring out what the Raiders are going to draft is like trying to actually read every page of a bill passed through congress; aka, it's pointless. I tend to disagree though. True, Al Davis is notorious for going against common sense, but his picks do have a certain type of logic. You just have to unlock the key to his interesting logic, and the key is speed. Al Davis loves his toys, and his draft picks are no different. He wants them to be shiny, fast and expensive. Who cares if he can't catch or couldn't throw an accurate pass to save his life? The Raiders are hands down the most athletic team, and hey we know that's what matters...right? So workout warrior, whoever you are, welcome to the Raiders baby.

That's what should have happened...and what we were all prepared to happen...but somehow, it didn't happen! I was ready for Al Davis to be the story of the day, again, but somehow he managed to not screw up his pick. True, Rob McClain was drafted a little high. But he at least was considered a first rounder! So yesterday, for the first time in a long time, the boneheaded draft pick of the day doesn't belong to your Oakland Raiders. Nope, that dubious honor is all yours Denver Broncos.

With the 25th pick of the draft the Denver Broncos traded back into to get their future franchise quarterback. So, Jimmy Clausen...wait what?? TIM TEBOW! Yep, that was my reaction, as well as 90% of people watching the draft, when the Broncos traded up to get a guy who wasn't expected to be picked until the 2nd round at the earliest. I mean, did McDaniels not watch the truely disastrous performance by Tebow in the senior bowl? Yes, I get it. Tebow is a good guy...he will not pull a Roethlisberger on you. But is being a good guy a good enough reason to draft someone that early? I say no.

And so the quote of this years draft is:

"To lead you have to play. And there is no guarantee that Tebow will ever be good enough to play in the NFL!"

Margaritas and Baseball

Baseball is back! Finally! And I am counting down the days till my first giants game of the season. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it out to the opening series because of work. Lame and not an acceptable excuse I know, but sadly I am not paid to go Giants games. And as much as I think that is what my manifest destiny is, the workforce has yet to agree with me. One can always hope though...never give up, never surrender ;)

Anyways, in honor of Giants baseball starting (and how good does the team look!), I thought it was time to profile another amazing bar down by the stadium. If you don’t have tickets to the game, don’t worry as Tres Agaves has an atmosphere that is as good as that in the stadium. How is this achieved? Well combine tequila with people who like to drink, and you get a raucous atmosphere that is hauntingly similar to the bleachers.

Tres Agaves has the best margarita I have found in San Francisco so far. And trust me, they know that there margaritas as good as they do charge a high price for the slaking of your thirst. But, and here’s another reason to make sure to go during the Giants game, they do put on a fairly nice deal during game time. You can get a pitcher of margaritas for 12-15 dollars depending on what type of margarita you order. Each pitcher has about 5-6 glasses full of margaritas, and honestly on a hot day there is nothing better than to go to the porch in the back during a hot Sunday game drinking some great tasting alcohol. Beware though! Don’t order a pitcher after game time as I once did. You’ll be stuck with a 22 dollar bill and believe me, that takes away from cooling effect of the margarita.

I'll be there next Sunday before watching the Giants dominate the Cardinals. Hope to see you there!

First Day Recap

In case you guys weren’t able to skip work and make this day into the national holiday it deserves, I decided to do some quick hits on the first day of Madness. In return hopefully someone will return the favor tomorrow when I’m stuck at work?

1) ND vs. Old Dominion aged me 10 years at least: It was like football season was back and I didn’t even know it...and just like football season Notre Dame finds a way to lose at the very end. How many times do I have to watch a Notre Dame game and bite my nails till the very end? Notre Dame really owes me a serious manicure!

2) Can you think of a better way to start March Madness then having two of the first three games go to overtime?? Didn’t think so!

3) Why does ESPN not have March Madness? It is ridiculous to not have three different channels to watch every game on. I watched the double OT game of BYU vs. Florida...and while this was exciting, I really wished I could have watched at the same time the tie game between Robert Morris and Nova with 1 minute left. With ESPN, we would have a game on ESPN, ESPN 2 and ABC and I wouldn’t have been searching furiously for places to watch the action on the internet. NCAA please make this switch to ESPN happen!

4) Is it bad karma to pick against the school you’ll probably be at next year? Hope not, or I’m screwed from picking Murry St over Vanderbilt...then again, watching Murry St hit that game-winner at the buzzer was worth any bad luck I’ll get!

5) The Low Point of the Day: Wait...you have to be kidding me right? There is no way that CBS decided to turn off college basketball when a great game was going on (Butler vs. UTEP) for Judge Judy! Think I’m kidding? I wish...but believe me, I couldn’t come up with something that sadistic. Another reason for ESPN to take over (as if you really needed one!). The saddest part of the whole thing though...I wasn’t surprised at all that this happened.

6) Some trivia for you…what is the biggest first round upset ever? A 15 seed beating a 2 seed! It’s happened four times: Richmond over Syracuse in 1991; Santa Clara over Arizona in 1993; Coppin State over USC in 1997; and Hampton over Iowa State in 2001. Well…that would have been the answer this morning. Now there are five 2 seeds that have lost...welcome to the group Georgetown!

7)Northern Iowa vs. UNLV continued the theme of great games. Another last second shot to win the game..and that shot was WAY downtown. Definite NBA range baby (there will continually be dickie v quotes throughout March Madness...so deal with it)! reat opening day to the best sporting event ever.

8) A sixteen seed still hasn’t won a game against a one seed...well, there’s always tomorrow!

Navigating the Madness

It’s time for that most wonderful time of the year again boys and girls…no I’m not talking about Christmas! Even better! Mid-March has arrived and that means that the Madness has officially begun.

Tomorrow, I will sit in front of the TV from the first game at 9:45 till the last game at 9! Don’t think it’s possible? Well you are overlooking my TV-watching powers. I have the local pizza place on speed dial, which takes care of lunch and dinner, and have cleared out my day of any messy entanglements (aka work). As far as I’m concerned the opening day of March Madness is a national holiday and I am intent on treating it like one.

For those of you who are slightly more sane than I am when it comes to March Madness (aka, everyone), I have devised a quick cheat sheet concerning the upcoming tournament.

1) Filling out your bracket – Underdog Teams are fun, but they won’t win you a bracket. I know you always hear that the person who always wins the bracket has no idea what is going on, but trust me. The person who wins will not have a final four Lehigh, Temple, Old Dominion and Gonzaga. If you want to be different, stick to picking the 3 and 4 seeds to win the whole thing.

2) First Round Games that are a must see:
. a) Old Dominion vs. Notre Dame: Thursday at 9:45 am pacific; I have Notre Dame making it to the sweet sixteen, but unfortunately they got matched up against a team that can easily send them packing yet again in the first round.
. b) Oklahoma St vs. Georgia Tech: Friday at 4:15 pm pacific; if you love the NBA, watch this game. More than a few “diaper dandies” as Dickie V would say.
. c) Tennessee vs. San Diego St: Thursday at 6:45 pm pacific; my upset pick of the first two days!

3) Have food on standby: Plenty of snacks are necessary to keep up the energy. Twelve hours is a long time to concentrate on basketball games, and you guys don’t have the stamina that I have built up over my 24 years of hardcore sports watching.

4) Dismiss your Bracket Quickly: I always feel bad for those people who can’t appreciate a good upset. Honestly, unless you have an interest in the game other than getting one more meaningless point in a bracket you aren’t going to win, go for the upset. Just much more arresting television and even better, you’ll feel like you’ve been part of that once in a lifetime upset.

In the words of Dickie V, “March Madness…It’s awesome Baby!” So sit back and enjoy!!

Movie Magic

In honor of the upcoming Oscars, I thought I would discuss my favorite class of movies...the sports flick genre! Surprised?? Ha, yeah I didn't think you would be. But seriously though, sports bring out all the best and biggest emotions we can feel. So it's not that weird that some of the best movies of all times are about sports.

So here are my Sports-themed Oscar Awards:

1) Best Actor: Kevin Costner in Bull Durham
If you haven’t seen this movie, you need to. Kevin Costner is the Kings of sports movies, so it’s only fair that he walks away with my Best Sporty-Actor Oscar.

2) Best Actress: Sandra Bullock in Blind Side
Hey, one of my awards matches an actual Academy nominee! Blind Side is in the top ten of my favorite sports books and Sandra easily steals the show. Not even Julia Roberts (who turned down the role) could have done a better job.

3) Best Supporting Actress: Gena Davis in A League of their Own
Classic for any girl athlete, so if you have a little girl who loves sports make sure she sees this movie. I’ve seen it at least a hundred times and still die during the “THERE’S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL” scene.

4) Best Supporting Actor: Denzel Washington in Remember the Titans
My favorite football movie of all time; it walks the line between cliché and realism like a pro.

6) Best Adapted Screenplay: Miracle
As the Miracle on Ice is the best sports moment in history, it’s not surprisingly that the movie is equally compelling. It’s amazing to see how true to the story Disney stayed. Watch the bonus scenes and you’ll see them show movie clips side-by-side with the actual footage of the game; there is not a single difference between the two. “Do you believe in Miracles?” sums up the movie nicely.

5) Best Movie: The Field of Dreams
Honestly, there is not a better movie out there, let alone sports movie. End of story!

Quite the list right? And that doesn't even include Rudy, Rocky, Caddyshack and other classics!! Enjoy the Oscars...and let's go Sandra!!! Knock them dead!

24 Special Memories

In honor of my 24th birthday, I figured it would be appropriate to list the 24 biggest sports highlights of my life, in no particular order, to date! These include personal games I played in, the best games I’ve ever watched and professional games I’ve been lucky enough to attend. So without further ado:

1) State Champions: Second year club team won in overtime to become state champions! Still have the medal proudly displayed at the top of my trophy case.

2) Yankees 2009 World Series Champs: Watching with my sister and boyfriend got to see one of my teams actually win it all!

3) Super Bowl Pats vs. Giants: We had bought my dad the 19-0 t-shirt…only to then watch the Patriots somehow lose the game they never in a million years should have. Great game, miserable end.

4) Bush Push: Five years later, still to painful to think about

5) USC vs. Texas BCS Championship: Best revenge ever. Just as it looks like Reggie and the Trojans are going to run all over the Longhorns, Bush attempts a stupid lateral resulting in a fumble that was a complete game changer. Lauren’s ankle might have been hurt in the celebration after the Longhorns victory, but it was a small price to pay for such a great moment.

6) Harvard-Yale Sophomore Year: Double OT and a Harvard victory. I only barely remember it…but hey that’s part of the fun! ☺

7) First ever Redskins game: After being lured to rooting for the Redskins by Greg, I finally got to see what the hype was all about. Definitely worth the wait. Thanks again for the tickets!

8) Red Sox End the Drought: After 86 years, the Sox finally win a world series during my first year at college in Boston. I guess I was their good luck charm, lol.

9) Harvard-Princeton Sophomore Year: My first ever start as a Varsity player at Harvard

10) USA vs China: As a young female soccer player, watching the USA win in a shootout against China was the coolest thing ever. Though it was dreadfully hot and I was literally stuck to the stone seat I was sitting on from my sweat, I didn’t dare leave my seat during the second half for fear I would miss the winning goal.

11) 8th Grade City Champions: My dad coached my basketball team every year and this was the last year he was ever my coach. Of course, we went out in style with a city championship!


12) Senior Olympics: Okay, so beer Olympics shouldn’t count. But Currier House winning the Tug-of-war challenge summed up why my college house was the best one ever!

13) 2008 Summer Olympics: Michael Phelps…need I say more?

14) USA vs. Germany World Cup: We might have lost the game, but we announced for the first time that American Men weren’t the pushover they used to be. Waking up at 4 am in the morning has never been more worth it.

15) Red Sox Climb back from a 3-0 Series deficit: Even though I wasn’t rooting for the Red Sox, it was cool to be both at Game 4 and Game 5. Never seen a crazier atmosphere then when the Dave Roberts stole 2nd.

16) Celtics vs. Lakers 2008 Game 1: Ended my graduation going to the much-anticipated Lakers vs Celtics series. Had my family with me, my childhood friend Lauren (one of the grads), and Katie Fifer (another one of the grads) and her family with me. And to top it all off, the Lakers lost!

17) Senior Softball Season: One of the tightest teams I’ve ever been on and one of the best. We conquered Vegas and the Delphic league. Undefeated regular season, o yeah!

18) Michigan vs. Harvard: Tommy Amaker comes to Harvard, and what does he deliver but a home court victory over the Wolverines! Finally got to rush the court like other normal schools!

19) Davidson Storms the tournament: March madness is all about the upsets, but my particular favorite was when we were introduced to Curry. Has a single player ever dominated that event to the same extent? I don’t think so.

20) Sanchez’s No Hitter: Sitting in a bar in San Francisco, it was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. Greg and I had started watching in the 3rd and agreed that we wouldn’t leave until he lost the perfect game/no-hitter. The night started off as any other, but ended in shots!

21) Bean Pot: One of the truly unique Boston sports events out there. I went every year and got to experience it with some of my best friends, my dad and my boyfriend.

22) Red Sox Ring Ceremony: Again, I don’t like the Red Sox. But it was crazy to see that many grown men crying.

23) Tiger US Open: Who else could win a golf tournament on one leg!

24) Last High school soccer game: First round of playoffs we played a much bigger public school. We ended up winning 3-2. I scored once and assisted twice. The last assist of my high school career couldn’t have been better. After beating the right defender, I charged to the goal. Though I had an open shot, I saw my sister streaking towards the goal out of the corner of my eye. Drawing the goalie and the last defender to me, I crossed the ball to Katie. One sliding shot later, and Campbell Hall had one in overtime with a Kerr-to-Kerr goal.


Sports are special because they bring people together. I’ve been lucky to share some greats sports memories with those who are closest to me. Here’s to the past 24 years of great sports memories, with many more to come!

A Change in the Air

It’s almost spring...and no that doesn’t signify to me better weather, nice flowers and cute dresses. I live in California remember? I get those things all year around!! ☺ What spring does mean to me is that finally, baseball is here again!



For those of us not lucky enough to be able to travel to Tempe Arizona or Orlando Florida for spring training, we have to amuse ourselves by closely studying miner leaguer stats to get the inside scoop on who might be called up. Some how though, reading data on ESPN just doesn’t give me the same thrill that seeing those young bucks in action does. Still...something is better than nothing right? And though I might not be able to see the teams in action right now, that doesn’t mean I can’t fantasize about opening day!

All my fantasies about sitting in the sunshine watching the Giants battling it out have led me to these thoughts about the upcoming season:

1) Giants win the NL West, but Lincecum, though the leader in ERA, doesn’t get his
3rd straight Cy Young

2) Giants win the first playoff series, but lose to the Cardinals in the NL
Championship Series

3) The Angles don’t make the playoffs for the first time in 3 years as the Mariners
win the Devision

4) Detroit Tigers make the playoffs, but lose to the Yankees in AL Championship
Series

5) Red Sox fans realize that Lackey was let go for a reason

6) Stephan Strausberg wins NL rookie of the year and gives Nationals fans a reason
to go the stadium

7) Sandaval, aka Kung Fu Panda, makes it to the all star game this year


Well that’s what I think anyways! We’ll do a wrap up at the end of the season to see how right I was. If you can’t wait for opening day and missed the Giants Fan Appreciation day in February, don’t worry you have another chance to get your baseball fix with the Oakland A’s.

Oakland Fan Appreciation Day: April 3rd, at 10 am – 12:30 pm
Is free and takes place outside Oakland Coliseum. You can meet coaches and players while playing interactive games!

Sitting outside watching sports with friends…there is nothing better in my opinion. So here’s to spring...and here’s to drinking at 1 pm on Sunday afternoon and it being ok. So see you at the ballpark come April! And don’t worry, you’ll definitely recognize me. I’ll be the one double fisting beers and devouring brats!

2020: Let the Campaigning Begin!

Staying with the Olympics theme, I think its time that they were brought back to the United States, don't you? And I have the perfect location...Los Angeles! Now those of you who know me know that I have no love for the LA area. It's materialistic, neurotic, smoggy and generally not a pleasant place to be. But do I think it can host an amazing Olympics games? Heck yes!

Lets be honest. Chicago had no chance. I blatantly root for everything and anything involving the US and Sports...but even I had a hard time thinking that it would be a better in Chicago then in Rio de Jinero. If we wanna get the Olympics back in our back yard we got to offer the committee something a little more enticing then the depressing sight of Cubs fans reminiscing about their latest post-season failure...and what better setting to offer to them then the glamor of Los Angeles! There is one thing that LA is good at, and it is being hot; both weather-wise and people-wise. Hollywood stunners are a dime a dozen when walking around downtown. Can't you just picture the Greek-style Olympic Adonises intermingling with the stars? More condoms then ever would be used in the Olympic village...and that's insane as they already hand out 100k!

Not only will the Olympians feel right at home as they will be mingling with their people, aka the beautiful. But also, it's already set up to host all the games! The coliseum can be used for track; Rose Bowl for soccer; Poly Pavilion for basketball; Dodger Stadium for baseball...getting the picture yet? I know I'm sold! The glitz, the fame, the beauty, the sun...what's not to like?

2020...Los Angeles Olympics. Let's make it happen!

Olympic Failure?

American Idol had better ratings then the Winter Olympics did on Tuesday night. That's right; Americans would rather watch the future Clay Aiken's of the world then see the long programs of pairs figure skating. And as much as I wanna be mad at America, I can't quite find it in me to blame them. Don't get me wrong; I love the Olympics! Just, um, the Summer not the Winter. In 2008, you couldn't drag me away from the television. Hell, even my 90 year old aunt was mesmerized by Michael Phelps and the Redeem Team!

There is not one single sport that gets to me the way that swimming and track does in the Winter Olympics. Sure, I find the Flying Tomato entertaining and love watching American women dominate in figure skating. But if I miss it, I won't be devastated. And I sure as heck won't make my schedule around watching certain events like I do during other world-wide events such as the Summer Games and the World Cup. I always thought that there was something wrong with me and that I was just not getting the fun of watching people go flying down the mountain at neck-breaking speeds. Cool Runnings is one of my favorite movies of all time...shouldn't bobsledding hold the same thrill for me?

I know other countries don't feel the same way I do. Canada, for example, shut down businesses and schools when they announced their Mens Ice Hockey team. Me, I couldn't name 3 people on the USA team. Does that mean I won't be rooting for them? No. I already have booked at table at ESPN Zone for USA vs Canada..if only so I can watch some Canadians bring their flags with them and go crazy at the bar (trust me...it happens).

Still...if something else comes up that offers better entertainment..I just might have to skip the hockey game. When else have I been ever able to say that. The answer is never. And if I feel that way, a self-proclaimed sports fanatic, how can I blame others for tuning into American Idol over NBC? I can't and that's a shame. Come on Olympics. You can do better than this.