The Big Five

Decisions, decisions . . . already I've come to realize that the hardest part of writing a blog is deciding what topic to write about. The choices really are endless. So, after a week of considering this, that, and the other, and the other, and the other, I've finally figured it out.

Last week my basketball season ended. The other day Michelle and I went to a hockey game. Tomorrow I'm going to a soccer game. I'm living it up with the sport's world. So, why not talk a little about sports. However, since sports is such a huge topic all it's own I'll limit it down to the fabulous Big Five. I'll let you know how I feel about them and try to explain why.

Baseball
Let's get started with the lowest on the totem poll. Pretty much, this game is funner to play than to watch . . . and I really don't like playing it that much. Of the Big Five, baseball takes the back middle seat. (But hey, according to some “The hump is good!”)

And why do I feel this way? Because I enjoy the team sports. In baseball the total amount of team play amounts to about 60 seconds. Usually there is a maximum of only three players involved in any single play. It could be the pitcher throwing the ball past the batter to the catcher. Or the batter hitting the ball, the outfielder picking up the ball, tossing to first base to get the batter out. Then there's the rare double play. Batter to the outfielder's glove, to the 1st basemen (I'll even go one more and say to the 2nd basemen,) A baseball game that makes the headlines is one where the pitcher throws a no hitter. Yep, the kind of game where nothing happens.

Hockey
OK, so there's a lot going on in hockey that I don't understand. Just the other day I learned a little bit about what those blue lines on the rink actually mean. Even though I don't always know why things are happening, but I still enjoy it.

Hockey is one a low scoring game so some people might not be interested in it, but for me the low scoring makes every play that much more intense. When the puck gets near the goal everyone is standing up and leaning in as close as they can to see what happens. Besides, who doesn't like the full speed impact? It's great to see the tactical use of a body check. Plus it's impressive how much those guys can do on a pair of skates. They are cutting and diving and pushing each other over just to get to the puck, all this being done in a pretty coordinated manner. Yeah, I said “pretty coordinated” cause sometimes it ain't so coordinate, those times are pretty fun to watch too.

Football
Another great contact sport. I would probably love it even more if the USU football team did better each season, but hey I still enjoy catching a game now and then. We just got season tickets for the Utah Blaze in a package deal, maybe I'll get more into the game.

Football keeps things interesting by giving a different amount of points for so many different things. When the game is drawing to an end everyone is talking about all the different combinations of scoring that can be used to get to the needed amount to win. Basketball is the only other game that actually has more than one point possible on any scoring situation. (Some might argue that baseball could fall into that category, but I beg to differ. It's one point for every player that passes the home plate, so even with bases loaded you still need to get all four players across that plate.) I guess that's part of what I enjoy so much about football, options. There are so many different choices to be made even before the play begins, rather they're going to devote themselves to a pass, a run, or the option. And then the defense needs to try and guess the play correctly, or just make the best out of the choice they made.

Basketball
As I mentioned earlier, my basketball season ended last week. When the USU aggies lost against KSU, It was called done till next season. When the aggies are playing I try my best to catch every game that's being played. Sometimes I can only listen to it on radio, other times I'm able to watch via the internet. Either way, I love USU basketball.

Hockey players on ice is pretty impressive, but basketball players moving the ball between and around different players to get it where it needs to be is awesome. This is a team sport at its finest. Every player needs to know what the plan is and what their part in that plan is. There are only 5 players out on the court, that's the fewest players involved in any of the games (unless a hockey team gets two of their players boxed, but that's a different matter), so one person makes a bigger difference in how the game goes. Basketball is the high scoring game, no other sport in the Big Five comes close. In basketball the stops and the scores can be a big deal.

Soccer
What can I say about soccer? It's known as The Beautiful Game. I have to agree.

Soccer has a flow that seems to appear in other games on occasion, and that's only with the best teams. Again, this game is a low scoring game and the ball spends a lot of time living in the midfield, but that's what makes soccer so exciting. When the ball moves into the 16 yard box everyone's eyes are glued to the field to see what is going to happen next, it always results in the whole stadium yelling and clapping or a mass gasp of disappointment. My theory is that the only reason some people don't enjoy soccer is because they don't understand it.

Guess that's all I'm gonna say for now, but maybe some other time I'll chit chat more about what those people who don't like sports are missing.

A New Level of Commitment

Well, yet again we've let a HUGE amount of time pass since posting something for our blog. I think the only person that still remembers this thing exists is my niece that likes to show up and feed our fish that lives at the bottom of this page. (If it wasn't for her it would probably be dead.) Now, I don't know how most people are, but I actually do have ideas running around in my head. I've looked at BookFace and decided that it wasn't for me. Guess I just feel that most of my ideas need more explanation than what is commonly acceptable to blurb about in the social network settings. Sure I keep my account so that I can . . . um . . . why do I keep my account? . . . hm. Anyways, the decision has been made: I'm making a goal for myself to have something posted here on a weekly basis. To make it even more likely to happen I'm using some of the “goal achievement standards”. Yep, I'm making it measurable, telling someone about it (you), and I'm writing it down so's I won't forget. Should be a fun ride for those of you that want to come along. I'm not promising that these posts will be interesting, or uplifting, or help you lose 30 pounds in two weeks. However, there will be something here. In fact I'll say that there will be something new here by Friday night at midnight. So in other words from Friday night at midnight to Friday night at midnight is will be one week. ( I was trying to think of some way to work in more “Friday night at midnight”, but just couldn't get ther.) No idea what all these posts will be about, possibly a lot of them will be about different rants that I have pent up inside of me. (Some future rants: People running with limp wrists; People riding bikes without using their hands; Swimming for exercise; Joggers and bikers that yell “left” as they run by; Blue poster putty. OK, I realized that my rants were taking on an exercise theme so I threw in that last one for kicks.) I might use this space just to post recent pictures of hikes/walks Michelle and I have been on. Posts might be reviews about books I've read or movies I've seen or even TV shows I enjoy watching. Maybe stuff will be posted about the last Aggie game I enjoyed or got upset about (that would probably mean I thought the refs were terrible, or it's football). Who knows, the choices are endless and I'll just try to keep going for as long as I can. If anyone was paying attention, I made sure not to say that I would be making a post on a weekly basis, this leaves the window open in case Michelle decides she wants to put something on here also. (Then my goal is met and I'm free for the week, wahoo.) With all of that being said, I'm going to leave you to ponder what might be coming in the near future, or just to just go on with life as you usually do.