March Madness for UMD

March Madness began early this year with some key match ups in the Big East and ACC. In the Big East Georgetown lost of Syracuse in OT. In addition Maryland beat Duke and then lost by three to NC State. As a Maryland fan, I was really excited for the team knowing that they won a big game against Duke. In all truthfulness Maryland did not have a great season. They had a few incredibly sloppy games against FSU and Boston College. They also had two wins against Duke and beat NC State once.

Len dunks in a game against FSU

Maryland has increased their strength as this year has gone on. They have improved greatly. Alex Len gained 50 pounds of muscle which makes him an NBA prospect. Dez Wells improved over the season after facing allegations of sexual abuse before the season started. Wells played amazingly over the last two games and nobody could stop him on his drives. After a sluggish game against Duke, Alex Len woke up and played a much better game against NC State. The fact of the matter is, a team full of freshman and sophomores have somehow managed to be a contender for the NCAA tournament that starts in about a week. 

Dez Wells has come a long way
since the beginning of the season. 

If Maryland did make the tournament, they would be considered the ultimate Cinderella story. This team that started out the season after not making the tournament last year, and after recently losing hall of fame coach Garry Williams, has come forth and played their heart out in the last stretch of the season this year. The have overcome language barriers (Len did not speak any English when he came to UMD). They have also managed to make something of a desolate looking season. Maryland can look forward to the seasons to come. They have a very deep bench and many of the guys on the team are trusted. If they do not make the NCAA tournament this year they should not be too disappointed.

Overall I am excited for March Madness to begin. The bracket should be posted soon and the games will get underway. Best of luck to Maryland and most other teams besides Duke.

American League East Preview

Currently, the American League East is without a doubt the best league in baseball. While some baseball fans will tell you that the National League won the All Stars game last year or that it was not an American League East team that won the World Series. It does not matter. Here is why:

The Yankees

The Famed Yankees who could easily make their way to the World Series every year are gone. Obviously with an aging line up and a less than quality set of pitchers the Yankees seem to be depleted. However, to say that the Yankees are a bad team is just not the reality. As long as the Yankees still have deep pockets, they will still be a good team. Critics point out their injured starters and broken team. For the Yankees to be good this year, struggling to stay healthy will be key. If Alex Rodriguez and company stays healthy, they can look to have a good season.

The Red Sox

Despite a terrible season last year, even the Red Sox look much better. Some great acquirements were made in the off season will help this time who has to rebuild their once great empire. Allen Webster was a young pitcher in the minors last year. Acquired from the Dodgers, Webster is one of the top five prospects in the country. Webster will be started in AAA Pawtucket, but will most likely be moved up during the season. Players such as David Ortiz and Ryan Dempster will return for the 2013 season and should bring back some much needed leadership on the team. This year the Red Socks cannot afford to give up. They will need to find a groove and NOT play like last year's team. They will need the spark that they did not have last year.

The Blue Jays

The Blue Jays have always been known as the team that doesn't really fit into the great baseball that is played in the American League East. However, they have made the best trades in baseball during this off season. One acquisition that should really help the Blue Jays is right handed pitcher R.A. Dickey. Dickey was know last season as bringing life to the New York Mets. Obviously he is a huge loss for the Mets especially after throwing a no hitter last season. Dickey also won the Cy Young award last year. Jose Bautista is another player who should breath life into this team. Being injured most of last season, Bautista was severely missed on the Blue Jays last season. Their ERA went down by more than one run without him. Now that he is healthy and has players like Center fielder Colby  Rasmus to back him up, the Blue Jays might have a good season. They will look to make the playoffs this season. If they are to make the playoffs, they will need to work on their defensive game. They cannot depend on their pitchers too heavily.

The Orioles

After having a breakout season last year, the Orioles are looking to bring that same intensity back. Many of the players from last year with the exception of Mark Reynolds will be returning. Some of these players include Nick Markakis and other players such as Matt Wieters, Adam Jones, and J.J. Hardy who all one the Golden Glove in their positions last year. The Orioles also have a good pitching staff returning. This includes pitchers such as Tommy Hunter, Brian Matusz, Jake Arrieta, Zach Britton, Tsuyoshi Wada, Miguel Gonzalez, Chris Tillman, and Steve Johnson all of whom are fighting for some sort of role in this years Lineup. In addition Wei-Yin Chen and Jason Hammel will return to claim their starting roles after both having great seasons last year. General Manager Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter both are highly experienced and know what they are doing. Showalter has changed the entire team and caused them to make the playoffs during the previous season. Entering only his third full season as manager Showalter is what the causes the improbable Orioles to be good. The Orioles are the underdogs again this season. One fluke season cannot change this. They are also competing hard to make the playoffs. They must be consistent in their extra inning play. Without their extra inning play last year they would not have made the playoffs.

The Rays

The Rays look the least poised to win out of any team in the American League East. After a sloppy season last year they will need to strengthen before they can hope to do anything this year. The Rays have averaged 92 wins over the past five seasons, and cannot be counted out for this one. The Rays missed the playoffs last season by only a few games. They also posted the best pitching in baseball. This is what kept the team alive last year. Yunel Escobar was picked up during the off season and should help the Rays in the shortstop position. In addition award winning outfielder Wil Myers was also picked up and may possibly be brought up to the majors during some time this season. The Rays will most likely be good this year. To win a World Series they will need to improve their offense.

The O's Pitchers

The Orioles look to have a promising season this year with starting out the preseason at 7-2. Their record is currently one of the best in baseball. While the preseason is not able to tell us too much about the regular season, it can give us a glimpse of players who may be exceptional during the regular season.

Adam Jones made sure
Gausman had enough
donuts.

Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy are two top prospects for the Baltimore Orioles. Bundy was a minor league pitcher last year who only allowed one hit in his first nine appearances during AAA ball in Norfolk. The Orioles called him up as a reliever during one of their games against the New York Yankees last season where he allowed no hits. Kevin Gausman is a rookie who was acquired during the offseason. He is also a pitcher, and will most likely give the Orioles minor league depth this year. He was drafted by the Dodgers in 2009 and the Rockies in 2010, but decided to stay in high school and then go to college. He played at LSU and helped them to have a few well played seasons.  Pictured left Gausman has a ritual of eating donuts before a game and between every inning. The Orioles bullpen was what kept the time alive last season and with this two rookies, the team looks to have another strong bullpen.

Chen

Hammel

Also this season the Orioles have many competing for starting roles. Jair Jurrjens looks to make the squad after coming off of surgery on his shoulder. Tommy Hunter, Brian Matusz, Jake Arrieta, Zach Britton, Tsuyoshi Wada, Miguel Gonzalez, Chris Tillman, and Steve Johnson are all fighting for some sort of role in this years Lineup. In addition Wei-Yin Chen and Jason Hammel will return to claim their starting roles after both having great seasons last year. Last season Hammel was injured halfway through the season and was not able to return until the end. This season he will look to play an entire season after his breakout last year. Troy Patton, Jim Johnson, Pedro Strop, Luis Ayala, Darron O'Day, will return to their roles in the bullpen. Jim Johnson looks to have another great season coming off the best season as a closer in his career. Ayala, O'Day, and Strop all had great roles in the 6th, 7th, and                           8th innings last year.

Overall, it appears that the Orioles bullpen and starting pitchers will be much higher than most other teams. Last year the Orioles management were constantly bringing up and down pitchers from the minors to the majors. What the new pitchers need to figure out is that minors does not mean you will play there all season. It most likely means that you may be there for a few games and always be ready to be called up. Let's hope that the Orioles have another great season! Go O's.

Orioles Season Preview

The Orioles look to Repeat their previous season but possibly do better in the post season. With the Oriole's strong minor league system, they have a lot of depth especially with placer like Dylan Bundy. In the shortstop  osition J.J. Hardy is getting older but has Manny Machado to back him up. Machado currently plays third but many of the minor league third basemen are very good too. Jair Jurrjens was also a major acquisition during the offseason. He will bring more depth to the starting pitcher rotation that seemed to fade away at the end of the Orioles' season last year.

In addition to many good trades and acquisitions the Orioles have moved around a few players. Chris Davis will be playing first baseman in the upcoming season. This is an interesting pick because Davis failed at 1st base during the previous season and was moved around from right field to DH multiple times. Personally I do not think that it is a good idea to put Davis back at first, but I believe Showalter (the Orioles' manager) knows what he is doing. After trading away their only 1st baseman the Orioles are forced to call on Davis and hope that he can deliver on 1st base this season unlike last season. This will be interesting to see. I wonder if Davis will be able to live up to his role.

The Orioles may be a slightly different team this season, but they still have many of the same members. Many of the pitchers, starters and relievers, will be back this year. These pitchers are a big part of the team and played a major role in the Orioles winning last year. All of the other players on the Orioles will remain the same most likely with a possible change in the outfield. Overall the Orioles will still be a very good team this year. In a time where the Yankee's dominance seems to be coming to a close, the Orioles will look to possibly win their division this year. I think that they have a very good chance at winning this division. It will be an interesting season. 

Video about Silver Spring

This is my video about Silver Spring. I shot it with my Panasonic Lumix that I received recently.
I think it came out well. I went around the Downtown area and filmed myself walking around. I had a clip of the guy who sells the nuts near city place but he saw me filming him and gave me a look so i decided not to use it. The first shot is outside my house. All of the rest are just around Downtown Silver Spring.

Here it is:



I used Windows Live Movie Maker to create this project. This is because I wanted a time lapse of sorts at the end and wevideo was not capable of this. So I tinkered around with Windows Live Movie Maker. I think I will use Windows Live Movie Maker from now on. The quality of this movie maker was much better than wevideo and did not require a watermark on the video at the end.

That's all for now.

Have fun watching the Pro Bowl! Go NFC!

Harbowl

The Ravens and 49ers are in the Superbowl this year. This is incredibly exciting because these two teams are great, and the two coaches Jim and John Harbaugh are brothers. This is the first time that two brothers are coaching against each other in the Superbowl. It is also a rematch of the 2011 Thanksgiving game that ended with a 16-6 Ravens victory. This game proves exciting for both the Ravens and 49ers who powered their way through the playoffs to get here.

The Ravens
Let us take a look at the Ravens chances of winning and how they got to the Superbowl.The Ravens started out the playoffs with many doubting them. Many newscasters and sports writers wondered how could a team that only won 1 game in its final five of the season win the Superbowl. The Ravens seemed to settle some doubts with a blow out victory of 24-9 against the Colts. Even after this victory many including myself doubted that the Ravens would win their next which was a match-up against the hot Peyton Manning and his Denver Broncos. The Broncos were the number one seed in the AFC this past year and throughout the game the Ravens struggled. Despite being down seven and time expiring Joe Flacco through a a deep ball to Jacoby Jones. Jones caught the catch and the Ravens went on to win in O.T. The Ravens then played the New England Patriots. This game was a rematch of last year's AFC title game in which the the Patriots defeated the Ravens. In that game kicker Billy Cundiff botched a last second field goal and caused the Ravens to lose. Flacco and the Ravens looked to put that game behind them and win the game. The Ravens proceeded to blow away the Patriots in the second half of the football game. With a 28-13 win the Ravens booked their ticket to the Superbowl. The Ravens will have a tough match-up in the Superbowl. Colin Kaepernick is an exceptional quarterback who exceeds in the running game. The Ravens will have to keep him in the pocket but also look for players like Michael Crabtree who look for the long ball Kaepernick is capable of throwing. If the Ravens do all of this they will win.

The 49ers
The 49ers have had an exceptional season this year even after changing quarterbacks mid-season. With an 11-4-1 season the 49ers secured a first round bye in the playoffs this year. Kaepernick then led the team to a stunning 45-31 victory over the Green Bay Packers. The 49ers then went on to recover from a 17 point deficit against Atlanta Falcons. They won that game and now Jim Harbaugh hopes to lead his team to victory on February 3rd.

The Game
While not knowing as much about the 49ers, I believe the game will be well fought by both sides. Both teams made the Superbowl which already shows they are two of the best teams in the league. In addition many sports predictions are showing a very tight game. I believe that the Ravens will win the game partially because they have more experience and more to fight for because of Ray Lewis. Whoever wins, this year's Superbowl looks to be a good game.

GO RAVENS!!!

My opinion.......

I really hate the Redskins. Well hate is a strong word...... Yes and I still strongly dislike the redskins. I am a Giants fan. The Giants lost this year. Redskins fans believe that they will win the Superbowl. This is just NOT accurate.
Yes I get that RG3 is good. He is. RG3 may be one of the best rookie quarterbacks of all time and has surpassed all expectations. But even a hardcore Skins fan knows that without him the Redskins would not be where they are now. I would also like to point out that RG3 is new and does not have playoff experience.



I may sound like a bitter Giants fan who is disappointed that his Superbowl Giants were not even able to make the playoffs. I am and that is part of what fuels this post, but I really do have my doubts about the Deadskins.
Who else do they have? Other than RG3 who is on the Redskins? I have seen multiple skins games this year and I have also seen multiple dropped catches, fumbles, and sloppy protection of the quarterback. This sloppy protection came through in RG3's leg injury. I feel bad for RG3. While he has turned the team around and a few rookies have shown through but this team is not ready to make the Superbowl. As a blogger Rashad Red put it "They’ve won three playoff games since their Super Bowl win in 1991. That was 20 years ago, people. They’ve had like five winning seasons since. Most fans would conclude from this that their team isn’t exactly a dynasty. Oh, but not redskins fans. Every year they’re, supposedly, one player away. Get into any kind of debate with a redskins fan, I guarantee you he’ll bring up that two decade ago Super Bowl… as if it validates their delusions. Every team in their division (Dallas, Eagles, Giants) has been to a Super Bowl since ’91… So it doesn’t."
So I am sorry Skins fans this is just not your year. The Skins are a team that is turning around. I mean NOBODY expected the Redskins to be in this position (the playoffs). So if they make a Superbowl run I will be highly impressed.
To the Skins fans: Have hope, your team is improving! However, they will not win this year. They will need some serious good luck to have Superbowl contention. The Skins will make some good trades over the off-season and have a good year next year.
While I do not like the Redskins I see how the are a good team next year! Do not get your hopes up Skins fans expect a famous crash and burn.

Oh and to those who feel the need to say "haha the Giants lost," I would like to say that our record looks better than yours. Redskins have won 1 Superbowl since 1990. The Giants have won 3 Superbowls since 1990 and lost one Superbowl. One of these three wins was....hmmmmmmmmm.......I don't know........LAST YEAR. Point reached.


I am sorry if you are a Redskins fan and you found this article biased. It was.

The Case for Mark Reynolds

The Baltimore Orioles had a breakout season this past year with having a winning record that took them to the playoffs. What the Orioles really need to do now is bring back the players that helped them so much last season.
Some of these players are the obvious ones, such as Matt Wieters, Adam Jones, and J.J. Hardy who all one the Golden Glove in their positions last year. One of the less obvious players to bring back was Nate McLouth who was recently signed for another year after a great breakout season.

One player who I believe should have been resigned is Mark Reynolds. Sadly the Orioles gave up on Reynolds and traded him to the Indians, but here is why Reynolds should have been resigned. Reynolds drew 73 walks last season leading the clubhouse for the second straight season. Along with this Reynolds was tied for the third most home runs on the team with 23 homers 15 of which came from the final 50 games of the season. Yes it was apparent that Reynolds suffered the worst slump of his career hitting bellow .200. He finished the season with .221 and had a great end of the season. As an article on mlb.com describes, "A well-liked player in the clubhouse, Reynolds played through numerous injuries during the season. He was hit by a pitch six times during the regular season and twice in six postseason games. Health was a question to everyone but Reynolds, who deflected any notion that he might need to miss time." The Orioles need good team players like Reynolds, players who can lead the team and show their strength. Reynolds may have had a shaky offensive season but showed skill at first base after being moved from third.
Reynolds showed tremendous skill at first base this season and was always right on target when fielding the ball. He also was a huge force towards the end of the season by hitting so many home runs.
Why the Orioles gave up on Reynolds is plain and simple. They did not think that he hit well enough to stay with the ball club. For a team that has done so poorly, one season sure seems to have put a lot of confidence in the Orioles. If they are willing to give away a player like Reynolds they can go ahead and do so. However, if the Orioles are hurting on first base next season, I won't be too surprised.

The Football Season Heats Up

The NFL football season is really starting to heat up with tight competition in many of the divisions and only a few teams so far guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. With the AFC North the Ravens have a two game lead over the Steelers which is incredibly tight considering that there are only three games left on the year to play. The NFC East and North are equally tight. The Giants are leading the Redskins and Cowboys by one game. The Packers and Bears are tied and lead the Vikings by only two games.

                AFC North

Ravens' Ed Reed and
Steelers' Hines Ward . 

In my opinion the Ravens have the AFC North wrapped up. They are a quality team that plays consistently unlike the Steelers. The Steelers on the other hand are using a third string quarterback that is far past his prime. However, third string Charlie Batch has been playing well and was able to lead the Steelers to a win against the Ravens this past week. I think the Ravens will win and the Steelers will get the wildcard.

NFC East
Also impressive was the Redskins win against the Giants last week. The Giants are my team and obviously I was incredibly annoyed that the Skins pulled off a win, however, it was an impressive victory and RG3 looked great. The Cowboys also look impressive but the Giants are the team that has been more consistent that both of these team during the entire season. I expect the Redskins will either make the playoffs 

                                                                                         and lose the first game or collapse.

NFC North

Lastly is the NFC North. This is a very difficult division to call because the Packers and Bears and currently tied with the Vikings only two games out. However with the Packer's star quarterback Aaron Rogers, it seems as if the Packers have an advantage.This is what  may appear on a glance but the Bears are at an advantage on defense with all of the turnovers they force. The Vikings are having a fairly mediocre season and rebuilding a team that is left a shell of what it once was. For this division I would have to pick the Packers who have consistently made the playoffs for the past few seasons. The Bears are a highly competitive team, but have not returned to the full rage of what they were six or seven years ago. 

The Superbowl

The Superbowl is unpredictable at this time of the year in my opinion. I would like to say  it will be the Ravens or the Giants or both, but right now I cannot.  Especially since only one team in the NFC and three teams in the AFC have qualified, this years biggest game is somewhat unpredictable. Right now the three AFC teams to watch are the Patriots, Broncos, and maybe the Texans. I would also look for the underdog Ravens. The Falcons, 49ers, and Giants seem to be the teams to beat currently in the NFC but in such a tough league it seems as though this will change. Keep an eye on the games tomorrow and prepare for a great January of football. 

NHL Lockout

As many know the hockey season has not begun yet due to the greediness of the players and owners of the NHL. Yet even though the fans have voiced that they want hockey back, owners and players refuse to compromise. The problem with this lockout is that it really is over little things. The Bleacher Report wrote an article about how mediation could have saved this season. The owners and players believe that they are too different and refuse to talk to one another. However, this is not the case. Both the owners and the players are ritch males who have no idea what to do with their money but still want more. If the owners and the players just realized that they are both currently making large handfulls of money they might stop this stupid lockout.
As the Washington Post described in an article today, those who work for the NHL are being hurt. Those who work in the back offices are currently out of a job that they need to make payments and buy food. The NHL lockout is affecting more than just the owners, players, and fans. It is also affecting the hardworking Americans who make the hockey games possible every game. If this lockout is not solved quickly then workers could be more seriously effected than they are now. This is something that needs to be solved.

A lockout used to be able to greab the attention of headlines and make people react. Now that the NFL, NBA, and now the NHL have had lockouts fans are just sick of all the lockouts. People have woken up and seen that lockouts are silly and acomplish nothing. The NHL just needs to compromise and stop being greedy.

The Wiz

Rajon Rondo

Yesterday I went to the Washington Wizards home opener against the Boston Celtics. I really only went because my dad had free tickets from work, but I also wanted to see players like Rajon Rondo go crazy on the Wizards. I thought that the wizards would get destroyed and I would get to see a huge Celtics victory. After the first 20 minutes of the game this was the case and I became bored seeing the Wizards get destroyed by the Celtics. I went and got some food and when I came back the game was much closer. The Wizards made an amazing comeback and outscored the Celtics in every quarter except for the first where they were dominated by 20 points. Rondo who had 20 points in a game against the Heat was limited to 8 in this game. The Wizards defense looked dominant after the first quarter and kept it a tight game.

Webster's last second shot

It was really impressive to see the Wizards come out and play a good game. From what I have seen in past years and this year the Wizards cannot seem to pull together a good team. Defensive plays were the key in this game and the wizards came out strong dominating on the defensive end of the court. The Wizards could not seem to take good shots and seemed to lag coming down the court.
One thing I saw that the Wizards needed to improve on was their shooting eye and last second shots. In the final 20 seconds of the game Martell Webster took a terrible shot instead of passing it. In a post-game interview he said he thought he had the shot. From my eyes there was no chance of him making the shot. It was a bad shot and as a player Webster needs to know when to take a shot and when not to. Here is the video of the shot.

Despite a comeback the Wizards could not win.

Overall the Wizards played well. Obviously they still need to improve if they hope to win games. I was excited by what I saw because of the potential of some of the young players on the team. I hope to see more games this season.

Giants, Ravens, and Being Part of Something

Eli Manning

I talked about my favorite baseball team last week and because their season is now over, I can talk about my favorite football team.
I have been a Giants fan for as long as I can remember. I have always been asked why I was a Giants fan when I live near D.C. and a lot of people think I only like them because they are a good football team. I really am a Giants fan because my dad grew up in New Jersey in an area where almost everyone commutes to New York to work. He was a Giants fan and I have followed him. It also helps that the Giants have won the Super Bowl twice that I can remember and have a lot of star players on their team. My whole family on my dad's side are Giants
fans and when we visit them in Jersey I can talk football. I am also a Ravens fan too because of my Mom's family.

Ravens Logo

The Ravens are more of my backup team but I really love Baltimore and root the Ravens. I really get into the NFL season even though I have never myself been interested in playing football because I am way to weak to do so. I watch football almost every Sunday and try to get all of my homework done before Sunday so that I can watch my teams play every week.
When I found out that the Super Bowl was on my birthday this year I was ecstatic that only happens every four years and it is always something special. The last time the Super Bowl was on my birthday was fifth grade and the Giants came back to win in the final minutes of the game.

Tom Coughlin after the 2007 Win

Having the Super Bowl on my birthday this year will be like an additional present if one of my teams makes it. I know that what I just wrote sounds a bit strange and sounds like I am obsessive in football. I really am not obsessive I just like the feeling of rooting for a team and knowing that you support something that's bigger than yourself. This may sound cornball, but it's true. Once in a while whether it be sports or the presidential election it is fun to root for someone or something. It gives you a break from everyday life and can ad excitement you do not always have. If one of my teams wins the Bowl or Obama wins the election it gives you a sense of pride that you were a part of something. So whether it be sports or the election we should all find something to root for. It makes us a part of something bigger and opens up our inner competitiveness that we try to keep down the rest of the year. Being a part of something can give people a whole new personality.

Orioles

So this is my first post that I have been given freedom to talk about what I find interesting. I have decided to talk about my favorite baseball team who are the Baltimore Orioles. I really enjoy baseball it is one of the sports that I can watch because of the fairness and simplicity of the game.

Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE -
Presswire

David Carson

Sadly tonight before the Orioles will take the field tonight the Braves fans have decided to protest a call. They are currently throwing beer cans and trash onto the field because of a blown call by the umpire. The call was late, but this does not justify throwing trash on the field. The braves fans are just being unruly. There has so far been a twenty minute delay and officials are beginning to worry for safety of the players. Baseball is a good sport. It is not
supposed to have unruly fans throwing trash on the field.
Now that the protests at the Braves v. Cardinals game are over I can get into my baseball team. First of all the Orioles have had losing seasons for the past fourteen years. The last time the Orioles were in the playoffs was 1997 and I was only a few months old. You can imagine my excitement when the Orioles made the playoffs. No matter what happens tonight I will be satisfied with making the playoffs.
What the Orioles have to do tonight to win is have steady pitching from Joe Saunders and have some successful hitters. Chris Davis will need to step up and get the homers that I know he is able to hit. Players like Mark Reynolds and Jim Thome will have to get on base to make sure Davis's homers count for more than one. Even if all of this does not have a great game. The Orioles are an interesting baseball team. They are all good players, but none are big names. The Orioles seem to pick up a lot of bad players who they make great. Part of the credit needs to go to the manager Buck Showalter who has been an amazing addition to the team. The team overall has defied logic and won games with a team that was predicted to come in last in their division.
When I learned that we were going to use these blogs for something other than just school assignments I can honestly say that I was excited. I think that using these blogs for something other than school will give some depth and substance to the blogs that I don't think really existed before. My blog will most defiantly be much better from now on.