Fixing the Astros

2005 seems like a long time ago doesn’t it? It finally seems like the Astros are slowly taking the right steps towards becoming relevant again. I can’t wait for the day when I go to a September baseball game against the Rangers and the stadium is sold out because the game will directly hurt and help each teams’ playoff chances. However, there is no way of telling if that is going to be in 2015, 2025, or 2125. Here are my 5 steps to helping the Astros get through these next few years:

1. Six man rotation

I feel like this is the most logical of all my steps. The Astros are currently running a six man rotation out there right now for the last month of the season. Why not do it for the next year or two? Their oldest starting pitcher right now is Edgar Gonzalez and he is 29. There is no guarantee that he will even be on the team next year. This will help protect all the young arms that the Astros have. There is such a big deal being made about the Nationals shutting down Strasburg and the Astros don’t want to be in that position with one of their pitchers when they are finally able to contend. I’m pretty positive that the Astros’ fans would not approve of shutting down a pitcher given that it has been an extremely long time since the Astros have even sniffed the playoffs.

2. Spend a little

I don’t think it would hurt the Astros to spend a little bit of money especially if it is on the bullpen. I think the Astros should take a chance on some veteran relievers. Give them one year deals and if they have a good first half, trade them for prospects. Every team, regardless if they are in the playoff hunt or not, could always use more relief pitchers. As of today (September 10^th) the Astros’ team ERA is 4.69 which ranks 27^th out of 30 teams. The Astros have 29 blown saves which ranks 25^th in baseball but their save percentage is only 55% which is the worst in baseball. A veteran pitcher would add some leadership to the team that really doesn’t have any. Plus, they can’t be any worse than Fernando Rodriguez who has a 5.65 ERA and a 1-9 record as a relief pitcher. That means at least nine times he has either lost the lead or let the other team score when the game was tied and that involves only pitching an inning or two at the time.

3. Move Bud

Speaking of bullpen help, I would be a HUGE fan if the Astros decided to move Bud Norris into the closers role. I don’t think Wilton Lopez is the long term answer in the role now. Bud Norris has struggled and everybody keeps waiting on him to turn the corner. I don’t think he will ever be that frontline pitcher that everyone has hoped he would be. He has shown flashes of brilliance but no consistency. Right now, his strikeouts per 9 innings are 8.84 which ranks 16^th out of starting pitchers in baseball. That’s a higher rate than guys like David Price, Cole Hamels, and Cliff Lee. That is pretty impressive. He doesn’t have the true off speed pitch to keep hitters off balance throughout an entire game. His fastball/slider combination would be deadly coming in at the end of the game. Moving him to the closer role would also help keep him healthy. He has battled injuries this year. Moving him to the bullpen would open a spot in the rotation for one of the young guys and give them a chance to get their feet wet in the majors.

4. Sign Roger Clemens…

Yes, I think the Astros should sign Roger Clemens. However, not to be a pitcher for the team. I think that would just be embarrassing. I do believe that they should make him their pitching coach. Regardless if the man took performance enhancing drugs or not, he could still pitch. It wasn’t like those drugs were going to make his location that much better. Maybe it helped with his velocity and being able to stay in shape but at the end of the day, he still had to be able to get batters out. I think he would be a great addition to a team that has so many young players on it. I believe he would be able to provide a lot of insight for the young pitchers and help them progress with their careers. I would love for him to be around when Jarred Cosart makes his first appearance for the Astros. Cosart is going to be a big key for the Astros’ future and from what I’ve read, he is the same sort of overpowering pitcher that Clemens was.

5. New (Old) Identity

This step kind of ties in with the previous step. The Astros have been put in an awful situation that just got worse by having to move to the AL West. I think one way to ease the transition for the players and fans is to make Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell and even Brad Ausmus more visible with the organization. The Astros are looking for a manager and it would be awesome if Ausmus was the guy even though it is probably a long shot. I think it is important for Biggio and Bagwell to be around the players on this team. I think it is important for them to tell them that not long ago the Astros organization was one that was taken seriously and that a lot of people in the baseball world had respect for. Jim Crane needs to have those two icons involved with the team any way he can get them to.

The average age of the Rangers and Angels is almost 29. The average age of the Astros is 26.2. It is not unreasonable to think that the Astros would not be able to contend in three or four years in the AL West. Obviously a lot has to go right for them but it happens. Players have to continue to develop but the foundation has been laid. The Astros have guys on their current roster that will play a key role for years to come and have some very promising prospects working their way up through the organization. It might not hurt to say a few prayers either.  

College Life: The Untold Stories

Just so everyone knows, I just used that title as an attention grabber. I’m sorry if this disappoints… I realize it has been a while since I’ve posted a blog about anything but I figure now is the time to post one more and no this one isn’t about sports.

In three days I will be graduating from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Sometimes it is hard to believe that it is finally here and then sometimes it feels like just yesterday I was moving all my stuff into my dorm with my parents in McLane Hall. I can remember the months leading up to going to college, people would tell me that college would be the four best years of my life so I should enjoy it while I can. I really didn't know what to expect or what exactly the definition of “the four best years of my life” really meant. Looking back at it now and being so close to graduation I can honestly say that my time at Mary Hardin-Baylor was truly amazing and I could have never imagined or planned what was going to happen in those four years.

As most people know, I originally decided to attend UMHB because I had decided to extend my baseball career in college and I loved the fact that they had Sport Management as a major. It seemed like the perfect marriage (that’s kind of funny because I really did find the perfect marriage so to speak but I’ll get to that later on). Also as most people know, my baseball career did not last very long. A month at most. Every now and then after I stopped playing I would sometimes get that feeling in the pit of my stomach that I made a mistake. It was until probably the last year or so that I finally came to peace with that decision. I am thankful for even the few weeks I spent practicing with the baseball team. I feel like it was a necessary experience. One of the major reasons I decided baseball was no longer in the future for me was my problem with time management. As a 19 year old, I had a lot to learn and needed some adjusting to the college life. At first, I thought that “adjusting to the college life” meant getting used to making the late night runs to Taco Bell or Whataburger or my favorite, IHOP. Really though, it meant figuring out how to manage my time and figuring out how to motivate myself to go to class. I do think over the last four years I have gotten better at both. Just to be clear, I never once had an attendance issue with any of my classes and my grades did not suffer from not going to class. I just got better at strategically planning on when I was going to skip class. I do think I figured out the whole time management stuff and that will really help me out down the road.

Corey's outdoor bed

Something I will always be thankful for is the great friends I have made along the way. Everyone has rough patches in college no matter who they are and whenever those rough patches came along in my college
career, I always had friends by my side and letting me know they are always there for me. For that, I am truly grateful. I will say I will miss all the late night food trips and the late night video game playing and really just the late nights in general. Without fail, there was always a reason to stay up late otherwise I was going to miss a great moment. I will never forget the moments like when Ethan would yell at the TV because he wasn’t very good at NCAA Football or Travis and I going to IHOP and then playing MLB The Show until the wee hours of the morning or Andy and I putting the extra mattress we had and leaving a note out for Corey telling him that is where he was sleeping that night. I will never forget winning the intramural softball championship my Junior year. It might seem silly to some people but that was a very proud moment in my life. I was glad I was able to celebrate that moment with some great friends too.

The note Andy and I left for Corey

Jax finally accepting me!

I will also never forget the night that I asked Molly to be my girlfriend. She probably doesn't believe this but I was nervous! I did not know that night what I do now. At that time, I had no idea that on July 6, 2013, she is going to be Molly McBride. I also had no idea that Jax was ever going to accept me especially since he peed the first time I went to Molly’s apartment. Four years ago when people were telling me that college would be the best four years of my life, I never really thought by the end of those four years I would have been engaged. Sometimes, though, really nice surprises come along the way. Molly is extremely special to me and it still makes me smile knowing that one day she will be my wife. These next 430 days really need to go by fast! It is nice knowing that when I sit and plan for my future that she and Jax will always be a part of those plans one way or another. I can’t wait for when we can go apartment/house hunting and finding a place that we can call “Home.” I also consider myself to be extremely lucky to have some pretty awesome future in-laws.

Engagement Dinner!

This is Zooey

A lot has happened over the past four years. My brother is now taller than I am and just finishing his Junior year of high school (I can still take him in a fight though). My parents bought a lake house that is beautiful. We even have had a new addition to the family in the last four years. Zooey. Originally she was going to be my dog but she kind of grew on the family (that’s an understatement). Even though we haven’t even had her for a year, it seems weird knowing it hasn’t been that long. It seems like she has been around for a while. It is not uncommon to hear a Zooey story from my parents when we talk on the phone or to get a text from Daniel telling me about all the hair she has left on my bed for me to clean the next time I’m home. I remember the day that Molly and I went to adopt her from a shelter in Austin, I had to go in her kennel to get her to come out. Now, I’m doing well if she doesn’t pee when she sees me. She has come a long way since last summer. I will also never forget when Zooey was in Belton for a month and she and Jax had a blast. Those two never stopped playing. The poor beaver toy was always a slobbery mess.

Once I walk across the stage and get my diploma, the “rest of life” starts. I do not have a job yet but I am confident that one will come up soon. I feel like my past experiences in life and spending the last summer interning for Harris County – Houston Sports Authority has prepared me for the next chapter in life. I know that no matter what challenges I will have to face from here on out that I will always have my family’s, Molly’s, and friends’ support along the way and that is something I will always cherish. A lot of the times when a student finishes a class for the semester, he or she decides that information is no longer important and tends to forget about it. Well that won’t be the case in the three days. My four years at Mary Hardin-Baylor are quite simply unforgettable. There are too many memories and too many stories to forget. I would like to thank everyone that has been part of my life the last four years, nobody will be forgotten. In three days when I walk across the stage, I want everyone to know that I have accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish in college. Thank you everyone for everything!

Why Hate Tim Tebow?

This blog was inspired by a lot of friends’ statuses on Facebook and a short chat with my good friend Andy Pipes about Tim Tebow. The main thing I want to talk about is Tim Tebow the player but most importantly Tim Tebow the person…

One of hottest topics in the last couple of weeks in the sports’ world was Tim Tebow and the NFL Draft. Where was he going to go? When would he be drafted? How much had his throwing motion really changed? All that was answered on Thursday night when the Denver Broncos drafted him with the 25th pick of the First Round. He drafted ahead of Jimmy Clausen and Colt McCoy which to many people, myself included, thought was extremely surprising. I was watching the draft with a lot of my friends at school and as soon as he was drafted remarks were made that constantly belittled him as a person. You would have guessed this guy had done something wrong. To me, I was happy to see him drafted that high. I was happy to see that he is going to be given a chance. I was happy that Tim Tebow was getting exactly what he deserved and that was a fair shot at the NFL.

The past four years the country has watched the legend of Tim Tebow grow and grow. He accumulated award after award. He broke records. He won a Heisman. He was an All American. He won two National Championships. He had it all. But yet people continually bashed him. I never understood why. What did Tim Tebow do to deserve all the critics? Was it because he won football games for the University of Florida? Was it because the way he won games was so unique that others weren’t used to it? Was it because people were jealous that he had the college football world in the palm of his hand? There were certainly times that Tebow looked like THE Superman or the closest thing to Superman anybody has ever seen. He will go down as one of the most dominating college football players of all time. He is right there with Vince Young.

With the exception of Florida Gator fans, it seemed like the world watched and waited for Tebow to make a mistake. Any kind of mistake. Whether it was off the field or on it. Any mess up he had, people were all over it. One of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever saw was the backlash he got after he was seen crying after the loss at SEC Championship game to Alabama. Are you kidding me? The kid just gave everything he had in that game and it didn’t. I can guarantee you that he felt the weight and the pressure of the Gator fans to win that game to win an unprecedented third National Championship in four years. His entire senior year was ruined by one game. I can pretty much guarantee that anyone else that had a similar four years to that of Tebow would have done the same thing. I can remember my Senior Night in high school for baseball and once that game was over, it was pretty emotional. When we have put so much work into achieving one goal and that goal wasn’t accomplished no matter how hard we tried, it is a very trying moment afterwards. It is hard to deal with. People were ready to jump all over him about it and it was stupid. The kid poured his heart into the Florida Gator football program for 4 years and he felt like he let them down. Give him a break.

The next thing to talk about is the draft. Ever since the college football season ended, Tebow became the most scrutinized prospect in the draft. He struggled mightily in the Senior Bowl and many doubted he could play quarterback in the NFL. I guess people just assumed Tebow was going to be satisfied with his effort at the Senior Bowl? I don’t know? Tim is a great competitor and anyone that says otherwise is ignorant. He is going to work hard to change his delivery so that he will be able to play quarterback. I think it is stupid that people are just going to assume he can’t play without even giving him a chance. Let the kid play. Sure he needs to work on some things and might not be ready to play for a year or two. Many people forget that Carson Palmer didn’t play right away. I’m not saying Tebow will be a Carson Palmer or anything close to it but I am saying it is ridiculous to think that he shouldn’t play quarterback. Unless proven otherwise, he is going to be a NFL quarterback.

I’m saving the hottest issue for last and that is Tim Tebow the person. Everybody knows about his off the field work that he does. He is greatly involved with the church and goes on mission trips with his family. What some people don’t know is that Tebow was homeschooled in high school because his parents believed that it was important for him to grow in his faith and received the proper education that they didn’t think he would get at a public high school. Tebow is very active and from what I can tell, he is a great guy and great human being. Never have I heard anything bad about his character or any off the field issues and yet he is still frowned upon. Do we live in times where we look down upon people that aren’t afraid to stand up for the right things? Is it now a crime for someone to say or do something that he believes is right? Is it now bad to serve God through mission trips? Why is that so bad? Why do people have to find the negativity in that? If more people in the NFL were like Tim Tebow then incidents that occurred with Ben Roethlisberger would not be happening. The NFL has had some ugly marks put on the league in the last couple of years with Mike Vick, Pacman Jones, and Big Ben to name some of the few. In my eyes, Tebow is exactly the kind of player the NFL needs right now. They need that big name player to be able to show the fans that there are people out there that can make the right decisions with their lives…

People reading this might not agree with me because their “hate” for Tim Tebow is so strong but I will never truly understand why he is disliked so much. Never have I said that Tebow will be a Pro Bowl quarterback but I hope he becomes one. I hope that succeeds in the NFL. I hope he proves everyone wrong. I’m sure he will take personal satisfaction out of it but he won’t be rubbing it anyone’s face even though he deserves to do so. I believe Denver made a great pick and will be rewarded for giving a great person a chance to succeed. All it takes is one chance to prove people wrong… Just one chance…

2010 Baseball Preview

I’m just giving a little run down of what I think could happen this year in baseball. The season is almost here!

American League East
I have a pretty good feeling this division will once against belong to the Yankees and the Red Sox. The Rays have a good team and should be right there with the Yankees and Sox throughout the season so they can’t be left out. It will be interesting to see what they do with Carl Crawford at the trading deadline since he is in the final year of his contract. They can get some pretty good prospects for him. The Orioles are an improving team but still a couple of years away from competing for the division title. The Blue Jays have lost AJ Burnett and Roy Halladay in the last two off seasons so I don’t see them doing anything at all.

American League Central
I see this division being a three team race between the Twins, White Sox, and Tigers. The Tigers blew it last year and they also traded away Edwin Jackson so it will be interesting to see how they respond this year. The White Sox have one of the best overall pitching staffs in all of baseball and they have a pretty good bullpen too. Their pitching should keep them in enough games to be there at the end. The Twins are my favorites to win the division again. They always seem to produce just enough pitching and from the reports I’ve been reading, Francisco Liriano is back in top form which is not good for the AL Central. Oh and the Twins have possibly one of the best hitting catchers of all time on their roster and unless he is hurt, they will always have a chance. The Royals and Indians are still trying to play catch up but I can’t wait to see what Zack Greinke has in store for an encore performance this year.

American League West
For the first time in a long time I don’t see the Angels as being a threat in the West. This should be a close race between the Rangers and Mariners. I think the Rangers saw what it takes to win last year and now they are ready to make that next step. They need Rich Harden to be able to stay healthy and replace Kevin Millwood. They also need Josh Hamilton to stay healthy and produce the entire year. The Mariners have the best 1-2 combo in the American League with Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee and they could even be better if Erik Bedard stays healthy because he can still pitch. I’m not too sure what to think about the A’s. They spent $10 million on Ben Sheets this off season but I just see that as being a rental and trading him away at the deadline for some prospects. They could be a surprise team though.

National League East
This is the Phillies division to lose. The Braves are closing fast but not fast enough. Cole Hamels has apparently returned to Cy Young form and now the addition of Roy Halladay makes their 1-2 combo one of the best in the National League. The Braves have a good, young rotation with Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson and they have Tim Hudson coming back. Jayson Heyward is a prospect to watch this year for them. The Mets have talent but I still don’t them contending for the division title. Note to Johan Santana, I’m sorry but Halladay is the best pitcher in the East. The Marlins have a good team returning with Hanley Ramirez and Chris Coghlan leading the way on offense and Josh Johnson being one of the most underrated pitchers in all of baseball. The Nationals are slowly improving and all eyes will be on the progress of Stephen Strasburg. For his sake, I hope he isn’t rushed to the big leagues and get hurt. He is an amazing talent.

National League Central
I really don’t see anyone having a team to compete with the Cardinals. They have the 2nd best 1-2 combo in the National League of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. They also have the best 3 hole and 4 hole hitters in Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday. Their bullpen has some question marks but I wouldn’t be surprised if they get that stuff fixed. The Cubs have a great team but they are always so inconsistent that I wouldn’t put my money on them. They need Carlos Zambrano to stay focused all year. The Brewers have good, young talent but I don’t think they have enough pitching to be taken seriously. The Red are my surprise team of the division. They have the pitching to really contend and a great offense behind Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. Homer Bailey really emerged during the second half last year to go great behind Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto. If Aaron Harang has a bounce back year then things could get very interesting. The Astros could do better than expected if Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence continue to progress and Jason Castro is able to help the team. If Wandy Rodriguez is as good as last year and Roy Oswalt comes back from injury then they have a very respected 1-2 combo. Lance Berkman needs to have a huge year to get the offense going. The Pirates are going to suck and enough about them.

National League West
This is going to be the most competitive league in baseball. The Giants have the best 1-2 combo in baseball with Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain with Madison Bumgarner ready to step up behind them. I don’t think the Dodgers will be as good and that they will slowly come back to earth especially if Chad Billingsley is as bad as he had been in the 2nd half. The Rockies are basically bringing the same team back that won the Wild Card but they are getting Jeff Francis back from the disabled list to improve their pitching. The Diamondbacks are my surprise team of the year assuming Brandon Webb is healthy. Their 1-2-3 combo in the rotation is amazing. Webb, Dan Haren, and Edwin Jackson could be pretty hard to beat. I think they have a chance to surprise a lot of people especially if Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds have big years for them in the middle of the line-up. I do not expect the Padres to do anything but it should be interesting to see if they trade Adrian Gonzalez at the deadline.

Playoff Predictions
Divisional Round:
Yankees over Twins
Red Sox over Rangers
Phillies over Giants
Cardinals over Braves

Championship Round:
Yankees over Red Sox
Phillies over Cardinals

World Series:
Phillies over Yankees

A Call to Leadership

Tonight I was giving the opportunity to attend a dinner a Minute Maid Park in Houston and it was sponsored by a good family friend, Coach Glen Estopinal, and the MVP Foundation. The theme of the dinner was leadership. I was able to hear Coach and Mr. Lou Presutti, the founder of Cooperstown Dreams Park, talk about leadership and it got me thinking about the idea. So I guess I could say that this dinner inspired me to write this.

A majority of people that hear the word leadership hear it in relation to sports. When sports fans think of a player that is a leader usually people like Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning, and Lebron James come to mind. Their teammates look up to them to lead the way. As basic as that sound it is true. But leadership doesn’t just have to pertain to sports. It also pertains to life. There are many leaders out in the world and you don’t have to be a high ranking official to be a leader. Anyone can be a leader. However, not everyone has what it takes to be a leader…

A leader is someone that is not afraid to take action. A leader is someone that is ready to take that first. A leader is someone that shines in the highest moments of life but shines even brighter in the lowest moments of life. A leader is not afraid to admit mistakes. A leader also will not make that same mistake. A leader is someone who is willing to lay everything on the line for any one person. A leader is someone who can gain the trust of others. A leader has your back at all times even in the most difficult situations. A leader is willing to push others to be better. A leader is not going to let someone get in the way of their dreams. But more importantly a leader is not afraid to stand up for what is right even if it is not the popular thing to do…

There are so many other things that a leader can be and those are just some of the important things. Being a leader has a lot of responsibilities and that person has to be willing to accept those responsibilities. To all of those who read this, this is a call to leadership. Do you have what it takes to be a leader? When someone is in need are they going to look at you as someone they can count on or just another person? It is up to you. You can never have too many leaders and the world needs more of them…

Bama Won... End of Story...

First off, I want to clear some things up. My favorite college team is Illinois and it always will be. I am a loyal fan to Illinois regardless if they are playing in the Rose Bowl or finishing the year at 3-9. I also have no problem saying that they sucked this year in football. I will not sit here and make excuses for their pitiful performances this year… Now, of all the college teams in Texas, I am a Texas A&M fan. People think that means I “hate” Texas but I do not. I just choose to cheer against them and I cheered against them on Thursday…

For all of you A&M, Tech, OU, Nebraska, and whoever else were cheering and talking trash against Texas in the national championship this is for you. I guess someone misinformed me about who was playing in the national championship. From reading a lot of comments from other fans you would have thought Texas was playing in the Independence Bowl against Georgia… Oh wait, that was A&M who finished the season with a LOSING record and you LOST to Texas regardless of how well you played against them. I guess that is enough to talk smack to a team far superior to you in talent… That makes a ton of sense. That goes for every other team that lost to Texas this year. You LOST and Texas won… End of story…

I will also not sit here and question Colt McCoy’s toughness. He is the only one that knows if he could have come back in the game and I will leave it at that. It was sad to see him go out the way he did. He was a good competitor and it isn’t surprising that he will leave college as the quarterback with the most wins. Congrats on a great career. You fall under the same category as Derrick Roland of the Texas A&M basketball team as worst way to end your senior year…

Now to talk about the game, I’m confused as to who won? I could have sworn Alabama did. Wasn’t the final score 37-21 or something like that? And I think Alabama had 37. I understand that losing McCoy was a huge loss. I will not deny that. But I cannot figure out how Garrett Gilbert was not prepared for that game. Isn’t he the second string quarterback? I guess that is why he came out there after McCoy was hurt but he was clearly not prepared for that game especially in the first half. The last football game Texas played was December 5^th. They had over a month to prepare for that game and Gilbert wasn’t ready? That is a mistake by the coaches. McCoy is not superman. He is great but not even close to superman. To me there is no excuse why all 2^nd string and even 3^rd string players should not be able to be ready to go into the game at any point after having a month to prepare for the biggest game. People will use the argument that Gilbert is a true freshman. Yes I agree that it was a tough situation for him to come into. To me the “true freshman” excuse is no good either. Matt Barkley for USC went to the Horseshoe and beat Ohio State as a true freshman and I can guarantee you that the atmosphere was almost as similar to that of the National Championship. Even if McCoy is hurt you still have to have a quarterback out there playing. You still have to play with the players you have. You still have to prepare your players to play even if they are the back up to one of the most prestigious quarterbacks to ever play college football. And that is the same for every sport. In baseball you prepare your pitchers for every game the same way regardless if it Roy Oswalt, C.C. Sabbathia or Brian Moehler or the next big prospect. If they aren’t prepared they aren’t going to succeed. It is as simple as that. At least if you are prepared you have been given that chance to have a chance. From what I could tell he was not prepared but they were able to make halftime adjustments and I give credit to Texas for that. The kid will be the next great quarterback at Texas.

One thing that annoyed me about the game is how sure Texas fans were so sure they would have won if McCoy had played. There is no guarantee that would have happened. I can promise you that Alabama’s game plan on offense changed immensely once McCoy was out of the game. I can also promise if McCoy had played, McElroy would have thrown more than 8 passes. I would have to imagine that Texas knew they were going to get a heavy dose of running from the Bama offense and they had to know Bama was going to run even more once McCoy was out. Yet, they still gave up 205 yards in the running game. So, having said that, I don’t think Texas fans can say they would have won if McCoy hadn’t been hurt. Would their chances have been better? Yes. Was Texas the better team with McCoy? We will never know. You can only guess and that is the end of that.

In the end, Alabama won 37-21. Alabama is the National Champion and I don’t think there should be a mark against them for winning. They won the game they had to win. Both teams had outstanding seasons and it won’t be long before both of them are in the National Championship again. I know for Texas fans it is easy to come up with excuses for why they lost but hopefully you will understand where I am coming from.

"There are two options: You lay down or you keep going."

For this entry I would like to take a look at the Wimbledon final between Andy Roddick and Roger Federer. It was a spectacular event to watch but I’m going to mostly focus on the effort put forth by Roddick and what it exactly meant. I think we found out a lot about Roddick from this match.

First let’s take a look at the rivalry, or what was supposed to be a rivalry, between Andy and Roger. Going into that final last Sunday, Federer had an 18-2 record against Roddick. Three of those victories were in Grand Slam finals, two at Wimbledon and one at the U.S. Open. This matchup was supposed to be the next great rivalry. Instead it became a huge one sided affair with probably the low point coming in 2007 during the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Federer simply was outstanding. Many people believe that it was the best match he had ever played. Luckily for Roddick, he was able to win his first and only Grand Slam before Federer really got going.

As fate would have it, Roddick was to play Federer in the finals of Wimbledon for a third time. In 2004 when the two met in the finals for the first time Roddick won the first set and seemed poised to take down Federer until a rain delay which clearly favored Roger. Then, in 2005 they met once more in the Wimbledon final but Federer easily won in straight sets. This time was supposed to be no different. Many “experts” thought Federer would win easily in straight sets. After all he was only one victory away from making history by winning his 15^th Grand Slam title.

Well, the so called “experts” could not have been more wrong. What happened on Sunday will go down as one of the best matches ever played. It is even surprising that the best player that day didn’t even win and no, Federer didn’t lose. Roddick was simply amazing. It had been well documented that after last year’s second round exit at Wimbledon, Roddick did some soul searching so to speak and revamped his game. But nobody, and myself included, would have ever thought he would be so much improved at this point in his career. Nobody, other than himself, thought he would stand a chance against Federer. Maybe he would win a set but never be a real threat to Federer.

Now I’m going to actually talk about what went down on Sunday. Roddick and Federer were on serve in the 1^st set with Roddick leading 6-5. Roddick was somehow able to break Federer and win the 1^st set 7-5. I’m sure a lot of people had flashbacks of 2004 when Roddick won the 1^st set and looked well on his way to his first ever Wimbledon title. Would this be any different or would the great Federer show why he is perhaps the best tennis player to ever play?

The 2^nd set was when things started to get interesting. Both players were on top of their game and held serve to force a tiebreaker. Roddick seemed to be set to win the 2^nd set when he was up 6-2 and serving for the set. But then, everything fell apart for him. Federer decided to show why he had won 5 of the last 6 Wimbledon finals. Federer ended up winning the 2^nd set tiebreaker 8-6. I bet you could not have found one person that thought this match wasn’t over. Roddick was supposed to lay down and let Federer win his 15^th title.

The 3^rd set was about the same as the 2^nd. The surprising thing was how well Roddick was still playing even after the 2^nd set implosion. Again, the 3^rd set went into a tiebreaker and Federer won again. He was now one set away from history.

However, Roddick would not go away. He was able to break Federer’s serve for the second time in the match early in the 4^th set. He was able to hold his serve and win the 4^th set 6-3. This was not supposed to be happening. He was not supposed to push Federer to limit at Wimbledon. He was not even supposed to be there. But the one thing that might have surprised people was that he wasn’t even supposed to be playing as well or even better than Federer. This was a total shock to the tennis world.

Now comes the 5^th set. It was truly amazing to watch. Federer was to serve first which gave him an upper hand in the match. As long as he kept serve he would never have to worry about possibly losing the match on his serve. Keep in mind, that Federer had not broken Roddick’s serve all match. It was hard to believe that Roddick could possible lose this match with his serve only being broken once. The pressure started to mount when it became 6-6 in the deciding set. Now one little mistake could cost either of them a chance at the most prestigious title in tennis. Roddick seemed to catch a break at 8-8 when he had two break points. Federer easily erased those with his suddenly big serve that he had all match. Federer would go on to serve 50 aces throughout the match which is easily his career high. No real threat ever appeared until the score was 15-14 with Roddick serving. Federer was finally able to get championship point and did not waist it. Roddick had a miss hit that went long and Federer was now the champion again.

Here are some stats from the match:

Federer had 50 aces, 107 winners, and only 38 unforced errors

Roddick had 27 aces, 74 winners, and 33 unforced errors.

The final set lasted 95 minutes which is as long as some matches take to play.

The match required 77 games which is a Wimbledon record.

The match lasted 4 hours and 16 minutes which is only about 30 minutes shorter than the finals last year.

Now for the analyzing part, to me Andy Roddick might not go down as one of the best tennis players of all time but he might go down as one of the best competitors of his time. The heart and determination he showed on Sunday was truly something to behold. His mental game can only be compared to that of Nadal’s. For the first time ever, Roddick’s name was mentioned in the same breath as Federer’s but for a good thing. Roddick showed he has what it takes to be a champion. Sure he did not win but he was the better player that day. He had it all. He was matching hit for hit, point for point, serve for serve, with the best player of all time. He had Federer on the ropes and let go of the grip ever so slightly. It was just enough for a player of Federer’s caliber to take advantage of it. We can learn a lot from a man when he is backed into a corner and we learned a lot about Andy. As he said, “There are two options: You lay down or you keep going.” The entire tennis world thanks Roddick for choosing the second option. It provided one of the best matches ever played. I think we got a taste of how much people really appreciated his effort when the fans at Wimbledon starting chanting his name after the loss. When has that ever happened before? Roddick might not win another Grand Slam title but when he loses it is because a lack of skill, not because of a lack of effort. These next couple of months will say what kind of man Roddick really is. Will he continue to strive to get better or will finishing second to the greatest player this sport has ever seen be enough for him? Only time will tell. Roddick finally has put hope into American tennis. Maybe we there will be a new image to come from America. We will not lie down but yet we will fight no matter the circumstances.

Here is a great quote to finish this entry:

“In great attempt it is glorious even to fail” – Cassius Longinus