Let The Games Begin

No, it's not time for the Olympics.  That's next year.  Remember, every Leap Year is also a Summer Olympics.  Nice reminder, huh?

Anyway....this is about Baseball - the greatest sport that has ever been played.  Today is Opening Day for baseball.  And yes, some of you could make snarky comments about how boring baseball is or how long the season is, but I don't care.  Baseball is great to watch and listen to because it reminds me of my days growing up in Arizona.

Back in the olden days, Arizona didn't have a baseball team and therefore we had to root for others.  For the most part, my parents rooted for the Cubs and the Dodgers.  Everyone loves the Cubs because they are known as the "Loveable Losers" - a team that can't seem to make it to the World Series.  I have a feeling they won't be making it there any time soon, either.  As for the Dodgers, I think my parents liked watching and listening to them because they lived in California for a little while when they first got married and went to a few games.  That, and I think they really like Vin Scully.  Who doesn't like Vinnie?  He's the voice of the Dodgers and it will be a sad day when he finally retires.

But now that I'm grown up, there is a baseball team in Arizona (granted, sometimes it doesn't seem like a professional team, but they are a team nonetheless).  Something else is that I appreciate more about the game of baseball now than I did when I was a kid.   Back then, I loved to play baseball and watch baseball.  Now, I like to learn more about the game.  I like the strategy involved in some of the more exciting, close games.  I like to try and think like a manager.  Maybe it's because I want to one day manage a little league team (and Abby is going to play baseball, not softball) and I like to see if I can guess what's going to happen.  Of course, you can't always guess what each manager is going to do, but it's still fun to try.  But I also suppose that's why they play the games, because no one can guess what's going to happen.

I've seen on ESPN all of the predictions of the new baseball season and while I can concur with most of them, I think it will be pretty interesting to see what happens if certain teams don't live up to those expectations.  It's just like the NCAA bracket.  All of those Number Ones gone, with people that no one expected to be there still playing.  Such is the game of baseball and what makes it so fun.


Until next time.

UPDATE: #30.  Woo hooo!