Predicting the 2011 MLB playoffs

Despite how impossibly hard it is for me to conceive of a 2011 postseason without our beloved Red Sox, there is still one way I can talk about baseball without having to relive the horror that was September 28th, 2011. (Editor's Note: While in most posts that would be a perfect place for a link to remind the readers what I'm talking about...I just can't. I can't. Go read recaps yet. I need more time.) Talk about anything else in the greatest sport on Earth. Well, here we go...sigh...

League Division Series
Yankees vs. Tigers
Detroit has had their best season since 2006 when they made it to the World Series, and with Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and Doug Fister (combined 47-15 in the regular season) on the hill for the Tigers, it seems like enough to stop the Yankee offense. After losing their last four games of the regular season, the momentum on each side of the matchup stays the same, and Detroit moves on.

Rangers vs. Rays
Rays Baseball has done it again, and Joe Maddon will be taking his team into the postseason for the third time in four years. Tampa Bay and Texas went five games in the ALDS last year, with the road team winning each game. However, with no Cliff Lee to win two out of the three games they need, Texas falters to the revitalized Rays team.

Phillies vs. Cardinals
How can anyone pick against Philadelphia? They've been the best team in baseball since mid-May, and behind the arms of Halladay, Hamels, and Lee, who the hell is going to score enough runs against them? All three have win percentages higher than .600, an ERA under 2.80, and a WHIP under 1.04 (which is absolutely insane). In a rare occurrence, Roy Halladay does not have fewer walks than starts (yeah, that's right...starts), but the highly-touted pitching staff will face no challenge in the Cardinals offense.

Brewers vs. Diamondbacks
This might be the unsung hero of the LDS; the Brewers have made the playoffs twice since 1983 (2008, 2011), which this is only Arizona's second trip since 2002. Milwaukee has the upper hand with home-field advantage, going 57-24 in the regular season, as well as a more well-rounded team. Ian Kennedy and his 21 wins aren't enough to propel the D-Backs into the NLCS, as Milwaukee moves on.

League Championship Series
Tigers vs. Rays
If you heard at the start of the 2011 season that these two teams would be facing off in the ALCS, you probably wouldn't have believed it. I'm still not sure I would, but it's certainly possible with the kind of baseball these teams play. They wear you down, but still have the energy and talent to pull out the wins in the end. Tampa Bay finds a way around Justin Verlander and use small ball to get themselves back into the World Series.

Phillies vs. Brewers
The Phillies also won over 50 games at home (52), and won six more games than the Brewers did in the regular season. While Milwaukee has the outstanding home record, it is the only playoff team to have more losses than wins on the road. Philadelphia continues to roll, as they move past the Brewers and go to their third World Series in four years.

World Series
Phillies vs. Rays
In a rematch of the 2008 World Series (which Philadelphia won in 4.5 games), Philadelphia remains unchallenged in the postseason, capturing their third World Series title. Tampa Bay gave it all it had, as it did three years ago, but the Phillies prove that they were the best team in baseball all year long. They use the excellent pitching and timely hitting that left them with the highest win total in franchise history, and Cliff Lee wins his first World Series title, despite making it to the Fall Classic in three consecutive years.

Major props to baseball-reference, which continues to be the greatest website on the face of the earth.

10 hilarious memes

StumbleUpon continues to be one of the coolest bookmarks on my browser. Here are 10 links to memes that come with my favorite one as the picture.

1. Good Guy Greg

2. Socially Awkward Penguin

3. Chemistry Cat

4. Success Kid

5. Foul Bachelor Frog

6. Insanity Wolf

7. Courage Wolf

8. Forever Alone

9. Socially Awesome Penguin

10. Paranoid Parrot

Values Game #3

List one thing you wish you could change about yourself.

It can't look good if I have the same answer now as I did three and a half months ago, because that would mean I haven't done anything about it. But maybe that's just who I am, and I can't change it. What I wish(ed) I could change about myself is that I tend to amplify negative thoughts. Whenever sometimes goes wrong, I seem to make it worse than it actually is, and fear that it could continue to get worse. But that's just because I get scared about things really getting worse, sometimes. What I should do to change this type of thinking is trust that all of the good and bad will balance each other out in the long run, and to still do what I can to have things in my life be good. No one wants to feel bad, so why even let it get to that point?

Rationalizing the last 3 games

We're making the playoffs.

Done deal. End of story. It's Baltimore, guys. Sure, we may have lost 3 of 4 to them a week ago, but it's Baltimore. Beckett, Bedard, and Lester. (Editor's Note: Shit...who the hell do we have to start Game 1 of the ALDS? Beckett on three days' rest? Lackey and his inflating ERA? Old Man Wakefield?) We're winning at least two of these games, if not all three of them. To be as nice as a person with a huge man crush on Jon Lester can be, Lester...kinda sucks this month. And by kinda, I mean REALLY sucked in his last three starts. It's the walks, the hits, the pitches thrown, the lack of innings. But it's Baltimore. He owns Baltimore.

By the time this Orioles series is over, we will have played a member of the AL East in 27 of our last 30 games (the exception coming with the Rangers series from September 2-4). Everyone has seen the Red Sox pitching a gazillion times in the division by now, so sure, maybe our pitching will blow up a little. The team ERA is 5.82, which is the highest since April. Walks and WHIP are the highest they've been this season, K/BB is the lowest it's been all year. Our starters are 4-12 with a 7.17 ERA. They haven't even averaged 5 innings per start in September.

But this team can win. We saw it last night with the extra-inning defeat of the Yankees. The magic number is 3, guys. All we have to do is break even with Tampa Bay after they play New York three times, and we're in the playoffs. Then we get to face Detroit or Texas on the road, who we're 5-1 and 4-3 against, respectively. WE'RE FINE. We just need to take it one game at a time.

A new kind of Facebook survey

Alright, I can't take it anymore.

I mean, I can, because I'll always log on to Facebook dozens of times a day, out of pure routine at this point, but I'm sick of seeing all these changes. I want to know where Facebook gets all these ideas from, to change everything, and how many people they survey to see if people would like it. One person they have yet to get answers from is moi. Allow me, Facebook.

Change: Saving all chats with every single person ever.
What do I think?: I actually kinda like this - it is cool to see how far back you and someone go, and what you said when. It's also good in the case of a heated argument, where evidence lies a few Ctrl+F's away. I do wish Facebook stuck with the (now ancient) system of "Inbox (1)," but I'm just a dreamer.
Consensus: Saving all of the chats is cool, but keep them separate from messages. The two have different intentions.

Change: This new news feed in the top right of the homepage.
What do I think?: I have no idea what the difference between this and the regular news feed is. Literally zero.
Consensus: More of something is not always better. Stick to one news feed please.

Change: Merging Top News and Recent Stories.
What do I think?: Maybe I'm overestimating the number of people that do this, but I would say that almost everyone ends up checking every story on their news feed at some point during the day. It's the first thing I do when I log on to catch up with where I left off at the previous viewing of Facebook, so wouldn't it follow that I've seen every top story? However, some manage to find a way to slip through the cracks.
Consensus: Keep it the way it was, with an option to view one or the other instead of both, overlapping, at the same time.

Generally, I like rocking the phrase "Don't fix what's not broken." Facebook overtook MySpace as the number one social networking website for a reason. Although, I also believe in some validity for it being harder to stay at the top than to get there, so maybe this is Facebook's version of trying to keep the target on their back as small as possible. I'm not sure if Facebook has anything to worry about, which would hopefully put them in a position to revert to their old ways of being simple and easy to use.

10 differences between freshman and sophomore years

It's been way too long since I had a list post, so here you go world. These are ten differences between my rookie season at Stonehill and my sophomore campaign. And I currently have I think two of these ten in mind, so here goes nothing...

1. Everyone now moves out of the way for me when I'm on my scooter, especially on the bridge by our dining commons. This almost never happened last year, but hey...I'm not complaining. I mean it's just a scooter; it's not like a bike where I'll legitimately injure you if I hit you...also...I won't hit you.

2. People know me this year! Granted no longer being a freshman/being a Peer Mentor/yelling in the quiet cafe will get you recognized, so I suppose this is the second difference in a row where I'm not complaining.

3. I brought my xBox to school this year, to play gazillions of games of NHL11. NHL11 is the greatest. Spreadsheets of games of NHL11 played are even better. HOORAY STATS!

4. Now that I no longer live 45 seconds from Dunkin Donuts, I don't get breakfast there anymore, and instead eat the most important meal of the day in the dining hall. Granted, I probably won't have a meal plan around birthday time (take notes Mom and Dad), but I have plenty of money to use for...whatever random things college kids get. I bought Moneyball at the bookstore a couple of days ago, so there's something...

5. I'm not in a fantasy football league this year. It's probably because I've had a parasitic hatred for the NFL in the previous year, and will more or less only watch the Pats if they're on. I don't follow it, I don't care about it, I just want Tom Brady et al. to bring some more hardware to Boston.

6. No more GenEds! Not that I didn't learn anything in my Literature, Religion, or Philosophy classes (Sorry, history. You continue to fail my interest levels), but I love having freedom to take courses I want this year. Speaking of which, I might pick up a second major in Psychology in addition to Math. HOW FUN! ...But seriously, that'll probably be done in like a week. Whenever I get my lazy ass on making a new four-year plan...

7. I'm like...realizing what I want to do by the end of my four years here now. Last year, I was this happy-go-lucky freshman who didn't know nothin' 'bout 'nothin, but now I'm a happy-go-lucky sophomore who essentially could stay at Stonehill forever if they let me...between everyone I've gotten to know, and all the people I've had the pleasure of encountering, I want to keep doing this sort of thing. Like Peer Mentor and Student Ambassador and stuff...I love that I get paid to talk about how awesome Stonehill is. And you all know how much I love Peer Mentor.

8. Classical music has become almost a regularity for me while I do homework now. There's something about it...it's quite peaceful. And as I type this, I'm listening to Avenged Sevenfold play heavy guitars and scream at me...good thing I love almost all music.

9. I'm not playing nearly as much guitar as I was last year. Granted I've only been at school for under a month, but it's partially attributed to having my guitar out in the open right next to me, as opposed to having to cross the room and take it out of my bag to get it this year. I also miss my electric guitar...which will be in my room eventually. I love it.

10. I also have a lot more hidden symbolism in various posts. This is more of a post-freshman year thing than this actually happening sophomore year, but there definitely is some spread out throughout posts. If I did a good job of wording things the way I want, then very few people should understand what they mean, but I kind of like that. It means that while I'm opening up to everyone with the words I post, there is still some I keep with me, and I'm fine with that.

Title Town

I've decided that my blog has had too many wordy posts recently. So, here is a picture of each Boston sports team with the championship trophy. Why? Because we rule.

Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup Champions

Celtics 2008 NBA Champions

Patriots 2001, 2003, 2004 Super Bowl Champions

Red Sox 2004, 2007 World Series Champions

 

Excerpts from "This I Believe," part 6

Well, it took way longer than I hoped, but I'm finally embarking on finishing This I Believe. I haven't had any involvement with it, voluntary or through Peer Mentor yet this year, but what better to do on a beautiful Thursday morning than to read outside and get some closure on a book. So, without further ado, here we go - the final excerpt post from This I Believe.

(Allison, Jay, and Dan Gediman. This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women. New York: This I Believe, 2006. Print.)

- "I considered some of the awful things my grandparents and great-grandparents had seen in their lifetimes: two world wars, killer flu, segregation, a nuclear bomb. But they saw other things, too, better things: the end of two world wars, the polio vaccine, passage of the civil rights laws. They even saw the Red Sox win the World Series - twice."
Okay, maybe 30% of the reason this is here is because of the Red Sox, but the other 70% I do find worthy in and of itself. This essay was written by a 16-year-old boy, talking about his grandparents' lives, the life of his father, and his own life, and how tomorrow will be a better day. And sure, maybe we can't really conceive of it right now that we can cure AIDS and cancer and make peace in the Middle East, but no one could conceive polio vaccines, civil rights, suffrage, or the end of the Curse of the Bambino.

- "But as long as you did the very best that you were able to do, then that was what you were put here to do, and that was what you were accomplishing by being here. And so I have tried to follow that out - and not to worry about the future or what was going to happen...you have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best you have to give."
Eleanor Roosevelt put in words what I've been trying to for a while now, and whatever I could saw in reflection upon her quote would still pale in comparison to what she says...so, I'll let this be.

- "Sounds simple - when someone dies, get in your car and go to calling hours or the funeral...'Always go to the funeral' means that I have to do the right thing when I really, really don't feel like it. I have to remind myself of it when I could make some small gesture, but I don't really have to and I definitely don't want to. I'm talking about those things that represent only inconvenience to me, but the world to the other guy."
This is a really cool concept. True, too - everyone should do these things, because they absolutely do mean a lot to the other person. Which in turn should mean a lot to you, too. Think about professional athletes who get paid millions of dollars to play a game. To them, a little kid screaming and waving a baseball and Sharpie at them is just another little kid. But to that little kid...that athlete means the world to them. That athlete is their role model, and having an autographed baseball will complete that child's life. So go to the funerals. Sign the baseballs. It will mean more to someone else than to you. But the beauty of that sentence is that you get to end it three words early.

So there it is. The last essay isn't in this post, because it didn't really hold any value comparable to the three above. But I'm okay with that - the end shouldn't be your assessment of how something was - you should take the whole culmination into consideration, which is why I definitely loved this book. Some essays meant essentially nothing to me, and I even skimmed over some, but others, at least the ones you've read on my blog, do speak to me. Enough that when I find another inspirational time, and am in a ready state of reflection, I'll begin work on my own This I Believe statement. As far as any preview is concerned, I have no idea what I'll write about. Literally, zero idea. But I guess that's what makes it thought-provoking.

Potentially the worst thing ever

So I really hate fire drills. I say fire drills over fire alarms because 1) a fire drill implies a fire alarm, and 2) you expect the alarm coming once you see a fire truck or something outside. Once the alarm goes off, I can bear it, because it's just loud noise...I sometimes even harmonize with it haha. But the worst part is anticipating the alarm going off, because you know it's going to be loud and you know it's going to happen, but you just don't know when. And that sucks.

And of course, the fire drills are going to happen at the beginning of the year, because of the fire codes and what not. So when I was walking into Villa this morning, I saw a fire equipment van outside and began nervously awaiting the alarm. To the point where I put my Bose headphones on to block out some sound...yeah...then I endured a shower of hoping it wouldn't go off while I was wet and naked. Luckily, so far all that's happened is the elevator alarm (I think) going off for one second...luckierly, I don't have a fire alarm in my room, so it's just the noise in the hallway that I'd hear. Although I'm not sure how lucky I'd be if there were an actual alarm...I dunno. Fire drills suck. I don't want to have one. Ever. I know how to walk out of my building. And if worse comes to worse, I can fit through my windows...right?

Never forget

For a few years now, I (as I'm sure many other students have) have gone a September 11th without writing about it during class. Granted in 2011 and 2010 it was a weekend and thus we had no class, but even in the later years of high school, it was more for brief reflection instead of "What does September 11th mean to you?" Well, I've decided to break the streak and write as I did in middle school about September 11th.

9/11 is one of a handful of flashbulb memories I have, and one of two that doesn't include the Red Sox winning or losing a pennant (the other being the night we heard of Osama bin Laden's death). When I visited my parents at home for their 25th anniversary on Tuesday, my mom and I were watching a Discovery Channel special on 9/11, and she asked me what I remember from that day.

I remember walking into the library with all of the 4th and 5th graders, and being given a piece of paper to give our parents once we got home. Someone briefly explained what happened, but not to the extent that we really knew about it. At lunch that day, the news of the attacks was on the TV behind the lunch ladies, and everyone understood more about what was going on. It was still obviously extremely hard to grasp, and I remember asking my mom what happened when she picked me up that day.

So what does September 11th mean to me? For a while, it was just that surface-level, write-about-it-in-class sort of thing, but I have a deeper connection to it now. I didn't know anybody who lost their life on 9/11, but I'm thankful to be able to see all of the unity in our country in the last ten years. America and its people have honored those who served, memorialized those who we have lost, and have become stronger since then.

There's always one picture I think about to represent our country, and it's the picture of George W. Bush on the mound at Yankee Stadium for Game 3 of the 2001 World Series. I don't remember the scene as well as I remember 9/11, but I do know that that has to be one of the greatest baseball/America pictures ever. It was a moment for everyone to come together, which has certainly happened since September 11th, 2001. It really is amazing what people are capable of, especially when they are all striving for the same goal as one.

Values Game #2

Name one goal you have before graduating from college.

I remember during the Values Game that I said I wanted to develop who I was as a person, leaving my answer brief and open-ended to interpretation. But now, I realize that I have an actual goal.

I want someone to attend Stonehill because of the tour they had when I was their tour guide (this would obviously happen in the future because I haven't given a tour yet as a Student Ambassador), and then see one of my Orientation students become a Peer Mentor because of the fun they had during the Summer and Fall Orientations, as well as how awesome they think Stonehill is. I know that's kinda two goals, but it's the same meaning in it, I think, so it's okay.

In other words, I want to make a difference at Stonehill. But saying that would still be leaving my answer brief and open-ended to interpretation. Time I put real meaning to those words now.

5 bands I badly want to see in concert

I've been holding off on this post for way too long, and it's been due to a plethora of having no time on my hands, doing nothing with my time once I get it, and some third thing. Alas, I finally talk about the five bands I would absolutely love to see live. This does not necessarily mean that these five bands are my favorite, or that these are in any order, but these are just five bands that I'm pretty sure I would love to see. Multiple times. In the same week. And buy the DVD set.

1. Foo Fighters. I was close to getting tickets to see them at the TD Garden in November, but there are no reasonably-priced-for-a-college-student-with-a-summer-job tickets that aren't behind the stage. I'm sure the music would be great still, but if I'm going to a Foo Fighters concert, I wanna see every hair on Dave Grohl's thickly bearded face. But it would be so awesome to hear them just scream during parts of their songs, as well as hear one or two of their songs acoustically. For any Foo Fighters fan who hasn't yet, check out some of their songs on the DVD Skin & Bones. Some really good songs are there.

2. Daughtry. Daughtry is in the same group as Foo Fighters, where I don't have to know what song they're playing to keep listening to them. Granted, most of Daughtry's songs are very similar, but I love the style of every song, so I keep on listening to whatever. One song I can think of that I love hearing on Pandora is "Crashed," posted below. Daughtry is also one of the few bands that can convince me to buy an entire album just because I love two or three of their songs. The same gritty, heavy-rock guitars that Foo Fighters would bring would also be there during a Daughtry concert, which is why I'd also love to see them.

3. U2. Good God, I hope these guys keep playing until they're like 80 years old. Bono has, in my opinion, the most incredible voice I've ever heard, with an unprecedented vocal range. Unlike the previous two bands, U2 has a lot of variety in their songs, where you can listen to something like Bad one day and Pride (In the Name of Love) the next. Granted a U2 concert is probably a bagillion dollars to go to, but it'd definitely be worth it. (Editor's Note: Yes, I am entirely aware that this completely contradicts my 10-word hyphenated description of my financial status, but U2 is just amazing. The end.) Not to mention that The Joshua Tree is by far the greatest album ever. I honestly couldn't tell you in under 5 seconds what my favorite U2 song is, however. That's because 1) all of their songs are awesome, and 2) there are many songs for many moods. I've listened to U2 in about 10 different scenarios, so it's hard to say which one comes out on top. For now, I'll leave it as a tie between "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (posted below) and I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.

4. John Butler Trio. Yeah, I've already seen them in concert once before, but it was honestly the best concert I've been to (out of 5. Granted it's not a lot, but I'm sure this will still be my favorite concert after 10 more concerts). JBT is the perfect combination of jamming, the typical 4- or 5-minute song that everyone loves singing at the top of their lungs, concert theatrics, emotionally magnificent songs, and Ocean. I've already talked about Ocean, so I'll post a video of John Butler jamming. I could listen to him do this all day long...it's like you know something amazing is going to happen soon, but you have no idea when, so the suspense and tension builds up the entire time, making the actual jamming awesome.

5. Dave Matthews Band. This was close between DMB and the honorable mention concert I'll talk about next, but I feel like DMB would put on a really good show. After I was introduced into the not-on-the-radio DMB music, I realized that it's not the Dave Matthews I know. For me, there are three categories to the DMB I know of. One, "Ants Marching" and "What Would You Say?" are the first two songs I heard, and have always been like the definition (to me) of mainstream DMB. Next comes stuff like The Space Between, Stay (Wasting Time), and Satellite. The second-tier stuff that most people had heard of, but not everyone, and was getting into his music a little more. Then there are the songs that would sound awesome in concert, to hear DMB yelling and jamming and all that fun stuff I love so endearingly ("Where the World Ends," "Some Devil," and other songs). However, I'm a sucker for jamming, as everyone knows very well by now, so below is a link of Warren Haynes (who plays with the Allman Brothers Band) playing with DMB.

Honorable Mention: Explosions in the Sky. Explosions in the Sky is how music should be sometimes. No words. It's funny though - I realized a few days ago that lyricless music does have lyrics - it's the meaning everyone fits to the melody and surrounding parts. For many songs, the words never change, so why can't the melody stay the same for lyricless music? In the same manner that anyone could finish the sentence "She was lookin' kind of dumb," I know what comes next once I hear part of an Explosions in the Sky song. Granted, I really only know one album, but that's all I need for now. It's a peaceful 43 minutes for me, and I'm really interested to see what they're like in concert, where no one's singing along with every word.

So there it is. Five (or six) bands that I'd love to see in concert. But for now, studio versions will have to suffice. Not like I'm going to complain about that or anything.

Satellite

It's about pushing yourself to the edge until you're about to fall off. It's about having the courage and enthusiasm and the kick-ass attitude to do what others say you can't. It's about not backing down, not giving a fuck, attacking everything you do, and looking back on what you did and being damn proud of it.

You can't fill your cup until you empty all it has
You can't understand what lays ahead if you don't understand the past
You'll never learn to fly now 'til you're standing at the cliff
And you can't truly love until you've given up on it

Trapped

I just thought of Mal in Inception and how she felt trapped by what she thought was her reality, when in fact it was the complete opposite of that. She wasn't able to break free from her constrictions, not even with the help of Cobb. Everyone who has seen Inception knows this, but it's been on my mind for the last 10 minutes or so, and given the theme, I figured I shouldn't let this idea remain inside of me.

On another note, I really need to watch Inception again.