Happy Sportsday

All I have left is this photo. Hunter and I playing baseball in the field across the street. this picture is the kid I remember. He always loved baseball and being outside. Whether it was 100 degrees and humid outside or a complete downpour, we would be outside doing something. The usual was baseball, his favorite sport. He was always a competitor and loved to win.

I especially remember this day. It was his birthday party. Most kids on their birthday want to hit a pinata, open presents, and eat cake. Not Hunter. He saw a birthday as the perfect opportunity to put together a game of baseball. He needed to try out the new bat he just got. That bat was his baby. I'm pretty sure he would have took it with him to first base if that was legal. Not all the kids had gloves so his parentshad to dig up some old worn out gloves and we'd have to trade between innings. The game didn't last long which was a disappointment to Hunter. He couldn't understand why no one else was as excited as him to play baseball. To him baseball was the best sport in the world and everybody loved it.

Once we picked up all the equipment we walked back to his house and he got a brilliant idea. "Let's play football!" he exclaimed. This caught everyone by surprise. We didn't really want to play football but it was his birthday. Then his Mom came out and explained to him that football wasn't such a good idea because someone could get hurt. I could tell he was distraught that he would now have to resort to normal kid birthday fun.

NHL Lockout

Yes! Finally, after 133 days it's back! I know, it was tough living without it. Wait, what? You don't know what I'm talking about? You didn't even know anything was missing? Well obviously it's the NHL. Yes, you know it, the National Hockey League.If you had no idea what I was talking about in the beginning, don't worry about it. You can join the majority of people who didn't know the NHL was in a lockout. I, however, am really excited for this season and am very relieved that the lockout has ended.

On Jan. 6, the NHLPA(NHL Players Association) and the NHL reached a deal ending the lockout which had surrendered 625 regular-season games. The season began last Saturday as 28 of the 30 teams faced off. The two sides agreed to a 10-year CBA(Collective Bargaining Agreement) which raised the salary cap to $64.3 million. The salary cap (amount of money a team can spend on it's players in a year) was probably the most important discussion during the lockout. The NHL wanted to have a cap of $60 million while the NHLPA was hoping for a $67 million cap.

The first thing I have to say is "C'mon man!" I think I am speaking for most NHL fans when saying I am disappointed about the loss of over half of the season. I don't understand why it has to come to this. Seriously, these players are getting paid millions of dollars but still want more. Sure they have a very rare talent that people like to see, but that is why there should never be a lockout. It decreases the fan base. Without the fans the players are nothing. Maybe people should just stop going to the games. I wonder how long it would take for all the teams to go broke? There are people who are really good at working a forklift. The reason they're not getting paid millions is because there aren't fans who pay to watch. The lockout is not only hurting the fans but also the NHL itself.

Sure the cons far outweigh the pros during this lockout, at least for the fans, but there still are some pros. The biggest one for me is just the flat out interest I have gained in the sport. In previous years I would see the occasional highlight on Sportscenter but never really paid much attention to it. However, this year, I'm not sure if it's because of the lockout or just a coincidence, I am following it closely and even playing it. Everynight I find myself checking to see if the Wild are playing, I am in a fantasy hockey league, and even in a real league in town. Not sure if we can call it a league but I'm going to anyway. All I wanted to point out is that the lockout isn't totally bad.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/nhl-lockout-over-players-owners-reach-tentative-cba-102905515--nhl.html

The Man in the Leather Jacket

A black 1967 Chevrolet Impala, leather jackets, and Kansas (the band not the state). Anytime I see or hear any of these things one word pops into my head, "Supernatural". More specifically, I picture Dean Winchester, the leather jacket bearing, sawed off shotgun weilding, hunter of anything supernatural. Dean Winchester is played by Jensen Ackles in the long running TV series "Supernatural". Dean and his brother, Sam, travel around the U.S. with the purpose of saving as many people as they can. Dean is a master at killing evil things. He packs a punch but this is not the reason he is my favorite character. His biggest trait is his unselfishness, that is what makes him my favorite character.
When I started watching the series I really had my doubts about Dean. I was on Sams side all the way. Dean was just too mean. He was always yelling and getting on Sams case. Not only that but he seemed to only care about himself.
After about season three it hit me, hard. Dean was not the bad guy I made him out to be. Everything he was doing was to protect someone. However bad each situation appears I have not seen Dean do something because it would benefit himself rather than someone else.
Although Dean may have a tough time showing it he loves his family. In season six Dean gives a clearer meaning of family. "Just because you're blood doesn't mean you're family. You have to earn it." Deans family consists of random people from all over that he cares deeply about. Dean would do anything for his family. He proves this in a very unusual way. After being done with hunting for about a year Dean has found a woman that he is thinking about marrying. They live together with a kid (not Deans kid). When suddenly a monster finds him and endangers his family. Dean leaves. Someone might ask, "How is that loving?" Dean loved them so much that he knew they would never be safe living with him. It caused Dean enormous pain to leave them but he made a sacrafice that many people may never understand. Dean is a true hero because he will do anything to protect the well-being of others.