Fall Classics

Finally, the wonderful Fall Classic, the World Series, is once again upon us. This is a time for seemingly the best two teams in baseball to compete for the title of World Series Champions. Now, as a Braves fan I want to always believe that they should be in the series. This year, I honestly do believe that they have the best two teams from both leagues represented. The Yankees are stacked. They have a great line up and have proven that they can live off of a three man rotation. The Phillies are also a very talented team. They have a great line up that always seems to get it done and they have a well organized pitching rotation that works for them.

As a fan of baseball, in general, I would like to see the Phillies pull another one out this year. They won it last year and if they win again this year, the will be the second team in more than decade to do it. The first team to do it is their opponents, the Yankees. The Yanks, in my opinion, are an empire that I personally can't stand. They always seem to win and honestly, I get tired of hearing about how great they are. Plus, the Phils are a team of great guys. Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Brad Lidge, Jayson Werth and countless others on the team have proven that they are a group of guys who mesh and play well together. It reminds me of how a team, in my eyes, should function.

The managers also have their respective way of managing their teams. Girardi, goes off of the stats that he has available to him. He graduated with an engineering degree from Northwestern and seems to rely heavily on the stats that he accumulates through research. Manuel, on the other hand seems to go with his gut. Being with the game most of his life, he knows and understands the game. He is able to read the players and goes with his gut when making decisions. He has been heard saying in interviews, that if something goes wrong, he only has himself to blame for the decision and when asked about why he made the decision, he will be able to defend it.

This match up should be a pretty interesting one, starting on Wednesday Night at Yankee Stadium.

Another "classic" that will be taking place this weekend is the Georgia/Florida match-up. These two teams, and their fans, seem to always be at each other's throats ever year. The majority of fans (I know some great Florida fans, so I am not saying all) have never been to Gainsville, can't name a starter for the team besides the magnificent Tim Tebow, and during games are so drunk, they can barely stand. All they care about is that their Gators won a game and are again number 1. I'm all for supporting the team that you like, but some take a little far. This is the first year where I will not be participating in the weekend's festivities as I usually do. When I was a student at JU, it seemed that more alumnae came back for the World's Largest Cocktail Party than they came back for our Homecoming game. So, if you are around Jacksonville this weekend, be prepared for some great fans for either team, and then be on the look out for those fans who are just so obnoxious you just want them to sit and down and be quiet!

To all my friends and family who are traveling from Athens and Gainsville, please be careful and see you when you get here!

Are You Serious?

As I was reading the New York times, as I do every morning, I came across an opinion article by a man named Paul Krugman. The title of the article was "The Politics of Spite." The article began by stating that at the conservative headquarters of The Weekly Standard, there were cheers after finding out that Chicago was not chosen for the 2012 Olympic Games. He mentions that the Republican Party has the the "emotional maturity of a bratty 13 year old." He says that since it meant that President Obama didn't get his way with something that it was a win for the Republican party and that they were cheerful about it. Reading on through the article, it says that if Republicans think something will be good for the president, then they will be against it, with no regards as to whether it will be good for the country or not. Krugman says that since the Reagan years, the Republican party has been led by nothing but radicals who do not accept anyone's rights to govern. He closes the article with saying that this is an ugly truth that people who are trying to solve America's real problems need to understand.

I personally think that this man is off his rocker. I completely agree with him about one thing in his article, that politicians have become nothing but spiteful. But where I differ, is that I believe both sides are to blame, not just the Republicans. Politics in America has become a dirty business, where people are just out to better themselves. I believe that people who run for a political office start out with good ideas and truly believe in changing things for the better, but things go down hill.

I can't honestly say that one side or the other can be called spiteful. I think both sides are and the only way to help America and the morale of Americans is to work together. After 9/11 there was a unity from both political parties. Since then, Americans have split again and started working against each other instead of working together for the good of the whole. In sports, people have to work together to get the win. I believe that it should be the same in politics. We all want what is best for the country, why can't both parties work together to achieve it? I don't believe that the parties will ever agree with such issues as abortion or fiscal policies, but instead of fighting about them, why not find a happy medium that serves everyone?

Those are just my thoughts on it...