Om at finde sig selv

Jeg har længe debateret om et indlæg omkring mine tanker og privatliv kunne bringe noget nyt til bloggen her. Jeg gør nu forsøget og jeg tager gerne imod tilbage meldinger i komentar sektionen. 

Jeg tror alle på et eller andet tidspunkt har forsøgt at svare på det ældgamle spørgsmål: Hvem er jeg? For mig tog det indtil jeg var 17 år gammel at jeg var klar til at søge efter svarene på dette spørgsmål. Søgningen efter svaret på spørgsmålet startede en aften på en legeplads et sted i USA. Jeg var på legepladsen sammen med en god ven. På denne legeplads var der også to yngre drenge jeg vil tro de var ikke mere end 10 år gamle. Da vi ankom til legepladsen satte vi os ned lidt væk fra de to drenge. De to drenge kiggede på os som om vi havde bevæget os ind på deres område men de vendte hurtig tilbage til at lege. På dette tidspunkt gik det op for den ene af drengene at jeg ikke så helt normal ud og at min venstre arm var tydeligt kortere end den højre. Det var tydeligt at de snakkede indbyrdes om hvem der skulle stille SPØRGSMÅLET til mig. Til sidst vandt nysgerrigeden hos en af drengene og han bevægede sig over til hvor mig og min ven sad han fik fremstammet at han gerne ville vide hvad der var galt med min arm. Det er her at historien går fra at være bare endnu en af mange der har spurgt mig om dette til at være det øjeblik der ændrede mit syn på mig selv og det at være handicappet. For inden jeg havde sagt noget havde min ven rejst sig op og råbt den stakkels lille dreng i hovedt. Han blev selvfølgelig skræmt og sammen med sin ven tog de benene på nakken og løb hjem. Jeg sagde ikke noget til min ven men sad bare mest i chock over at man kunne behandle et meget klart spørgsmål med en sådanne reaktion. Da jeg kom hjem til Danmark igen gjorde jeg noget jeg ikke havde turde gøre i tre år. Jeg søgte på mit handicap som jeg kun kendte af navn den gang. Jeg fandt frem til en hjemmeside som havde alle mulige historier om folk med dette handicap det var jeg dog ikke intreseret i jeg var derimod intereseret i at komme i kontakt med personer på min egen alder som jeg måske kunne dele oplevelser med. Jeg faldt mig hurtig til rette på hjemmesiden og hurtigt var jeg derinde dagligt og læse og lære om alt det jeg ikke havde vidst før. Lidt efter lidt blev jeg klogere på hvad det indebar at være handicappet med det handicap jeg har og hvor heldig jeg egentlig var i forhold til mange andre. Jeg fandt også ud at de holdt konferencer hvor man kunne komme og møde andre i samme situation. Det var lige netop dette jeg havde ledt efter og det tog ingen tid at overbevise min mor at vi skulle med. Da dagen for rejsen endelig oprandt var jeg med min mor inde på hendes kontor og en af hendes kolegaer kom forbi da hun så mig sagde hun "Hej Mathies. *mors navn* har lige fortalt mig hvad i skal. Det lyder spænende har du nogle forventninger?" Jeg kunne ikke svare på dette. Oplevelserne fra den weekend i Denver vil for altid stå klart i mit minde. Det var alt hvad jeg havde drømt om og meget mere til. Personerne jeg mødte der eller samtalerne jeg havde alt sammen var det fantastisk. Jeg har aldrig været så glad i hele mit liv. Siden de dage i Denver har mit udsyn på livet ændret sig markant. I stedet for at være irriteret på folk der spørger til mit handicap siger jeg altid at jeg har enorm respekt for dem der tør. Jeg har også fået et størrer forståelse hvor heldig jeg egentlig er. Jeg vågner hver morgen med tanken om hvor god en dag det bliver fordi jeg ikke skal på hospitalet eller ligende den dag. Jeg kunne blive ved med hvad det har betydet for mig men jeg tror i forstår. Jeg laver ikke dette indlæg for noget specielt blot at jeg gerne vil have nogle ting sagt også kan det jo ikke handle om Barack og Red Sox det hele. Til sidst vil jeg ønske alle mine læsere en rigtig godt nytår. Jeg håber 2009 bliver et fantastisk år.

Det at være Red Sox fan........

I foråret 2004 var jeg på en rejse rundt i Europa med min skole klasse. Det sidste stop på denne tur var Prag. På denne tur var der en fan af et Italiensk fodbold hold. Han var ikke bare fan han vidste alt om klubben helt ned til hvem 2. reserve målmanden var. En aften skulle hans hold spille mod det hold jeg følger sporadisk i Italien og eftersom en anden af mine venner også var fan af det samme hold som mig satte vi ud i jagten på en sports bar. Vi fandt en sådanne satte os til rette og nød en god fodbold kamp. Midt i anden halveg scorede mit hold kampens eneste mål. Min ven og mig hånende tredje manden lidt men ikke noget der gjorde nogle noget. Det tog alligevel så hårdt på ham at han ikke snakkede til os resten af aftenen og tog et andet metro tog hjem. Den aften svor jeg overfor mig selv at jeg aldrig ville blive så vild med et sports hold at jeg ville græde efter et nederlag. Jeg tror nu at jeg ved hvordan tredje manden havde det den aften. For som Red Sox fan skal man stå model til meget og som en der blev fan i 2004 har jeg ingen ret til at sige at jeg har følt de magre år som red sox fan. Alligevel føler jeg mig som en del af den kultur der er kendt som Red Sox Nation. Jeg lever og ånder for nyheder. Jeg syntes månender November-Marts er de kedligste i hele året fordi der ikke er noget red sox. For mens det at være Yankees fan er blevet et brand på line med Armani eller Levis så er Red Sox ægte baseball. Selv her i Danmark møder man mange folk der har Yankees kasketer og jeg piner mig selv hver gang jeg går forbi dem. Jeg vil så gerne bare høre om de kunne nævne bare en tidligere eller nulevende Yankees spiller. 95% ville ikke kunne de sidste 5% er enten Amerikanere eller dansker med samme passion som mig. Jeg efterlader derfor læserene med dette fuldstændige urelevante spørgsmål: Hvad tror du der skal til for at Baseball vinder indpas i mainstream sportsmedier? Kommentarer kan skrives med navn eller som anonym.

Change has come to America....

Words are unescarry so i will let this youtube video from Daily kos do the speaking for me...

24 hours to go.....

Ok less than 24 hours to go. We have been at this for 21 months and then it all comes down to tomorrow. Obama is leading in the polls and every pundit is predicting a landslide. I fall in the catious to relaxed Obama supporter. I know he will win but i think it will be much closer than people predict. I just dont trust white people to enter the poling place and vote for the black guy. I mean it's so much easier to say when a pollster asks you over the phone but to do it in real life? Hard to belive. Well it all comes down to tomorrow. So get out to vote and do your part so we can elect Barack Hussein Obama the 44th president of the United States.

Also as a tribute to the Philledelphia Phillies and them wining the World Series here is thier mascot the Philly Phanitc dirty dancing with a second base umpire.

Jamesatwar video.....

Jamesatwar is a legend on youtube for his parody of songs. Here is his latetst called "Vice President - Sarah Palin ft. John McCain (Parody of American Boy by Estelle ft. Kanye West)" Fantastic stuff. And it's right here for you to see.


Vice President - Sarah Palin ft. John McCain (Parody of American Boy by Estelle ft. Kanye West)

Look at the numbers....

Let's just take a look at the numbers here with less than a month to go in this presidential election cycle. All numbers are courtesy of pollster.com.

First the national avg.



It looks more and more clear that Obama is gonna win this election. While McCain and Palin are going more and more dirty Obama is staying the course and it looks more and more like a clear victory in November. Finally one question you might have is...Mathies is Palin really that dumb. And well i dont know about you but i think she is out there. You be the judge after taking a look at this video on Youtube.

Olympic follow up....

As we all know the olympics in Beijing were a sucess for Denmark we set out to win seven medals and that is exactly what we did. But the thing is we didnt win them in expected sports rather in some obscure small sports. The thing is tho that while all the media and royalty have left Beijing there are still some athlethes out there who are competeing. I am talking of the Parolympics which are the olympics for disabled. And while Joachim B. Olsen failed in short put Jackie Christensen in short put for the one legged not only competede he happend to win the gold medal and also set a world record....Has this been covered in the danish media? of course not. So here to bring you up to speed from ParalympicsportTV The news from Beijing. The story of Dansih short putter is 1:20 in the video.

Funny time...

So today i thought why not have some fun for once. So with no futher ado a few pictures and a video to futher my point on why Sarah Palin is a disaster and why republicans in general is a disaster.

And lastly some fun from the daily show. I have no problem with Sarah Palin's teen daughter being pregnent i have a issue with the way it's precived in the media. Here to explain? Jon Stewart:
Click here

Blogs i read.

Ok now this blog has been going on for months so i thought i should share some of the blogs i read on a regular basis.

38pitches.com The official blog of Curt Shilling in it you can follow his daily dealings with baseball and his work with his firm 38 studios that is creating computer games.

thomasgertjensen.blogspot.com Shout out to my brother over there. Remeber bro all that counts is week 11.

www.toomuchrodbenson.com This is a website where up and comming NBA star Rod Benson writes about his doings and everyday life. I use it for a good laugh.

thedailykos.com This is where i get my hardcore political fix from a democratic perspective.

and last but not least the original of all sports blogs:
deadspin.com This is a must daily read for me. Great stuff.

A bit of everything.....

This blogpost is mostly to catch up on all the things that i haven't had the time to write on while i have been busy with real life stuff. There will be several sections and sub sections in this post.

Our opening topic is Politics and more specifically what is going on "over there" with the race to be the 44th leader of the free world. The vice presidental candidates have been chosen and before we know it the CDP presidental debates will be here. First let's take a look at the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden. I personally feel that Joe Biden is an excelent choice for Barack. First of all Biden provides the experience that Obama is being critizesed over. Biden has served 6 terms in the senate and many of those has been on the senates foriegn relations commitie. This will mean that Obama will have an advisor close by who can say the right things at the right moments. And not, as we saw with the russia georgia crissis, get the public sentement all wrong and then having see the opostion as the one in contact with the people and therefore gain on you in the polls. So all in all a good choice for Barack

On the John McCain side of things i saw that there were two options depending on what part of the political masses he wanted to apeal too. Option A was to go with a Joe Libermann type of person that would be able to apeal to the disgrunted democrats on the middle who feel that Barack is not thier guy and could see them voting for McCain if he had the right running mate that would be able to push him a bit. Option B was to go back to the conservative base and get someone they would support. He chose option B with Sarah Palin. But there just seems to be so many stories comming out on her that this could be trouble. He is defntly not going to win the disgrunted Hillary voters if that is what he was trying. Then there are the video of just two months ago where when asked if she is going to be the VP she answers that she doesnt even know what the VP does. And lastly the hillarious inconsitancy in her stance on pre marrige sex and the fact that her own 17 year old daughter is pregnant. The irony is just too much to take.

Ok enough politics let's move to sports

Chad Javon Ocho Cinco your da man!!. That is the greatest thing someone has ever done for sports. I love the man and i look foward to what he is going to do this comming fall.

Olympics:
Great Olympics. Loved Phelps and Usain Bolt. Hated that Kai Holm the danish IOC member got to be on TV. Great danish results. Not much more to report here.

Otherwise just wanna wish everyone a happy Labour day.
Mathies

A (delayed) mid season report

It's time for the mid season report just barely half a month late but never late than not show up right.

In what has become a strange MLB season it's only fitting that this blog splits up each division and takes a look back at preseason predictions and then how they are panning out.

AL EAST:
Overachievers: The Tampa Bay Rays. Everybody predicted that the rays would be good but that they would be leading the division and beating the big two(Sox and Yanks) on routinely basis was something this blogger for sure didn't see coming. They are currently in the lead of the east and should be a team to watch out for come October.

Disappointment: The big disappointment must be the New York Yankees for the first time since 1995 they don't look to be playing in October. A lot of it is obviously due to injuries at key positions but i just think that the Yanks aren't riding the youth movement and that is hurting them when their personnel is old and easily goes down.

Ahole of the division: Joba (the hut) Chamberlain. Ok so you have beef with my man Youk but do you really need to throw at him every other at bat. No you deserve the same treatment that Aarod got when he messed with Varitek.

(If your wondering I am not yet recovered from the Manny trade and when i am ready i will write my take on it)

Ok moving to the AL Central

Overachivers: It could be easy to say the worst to first White sox but i have got to go with the Minnesota Twins. We knew they had Mauer and Morneau but the rest of that lineup were a bunch of kids. So for them to be even with the white sox is just amazing. I hope the best for the twins and hope to see them come October.

Disapointment: Cleveland Indians will share the honor with the Detroit Tigers: If you have seen the movie Major League you know it's about how a former show girl Rachel Phelps takes over the indians and try to make them loose so she can move them to Miami. Well if Rachel Phlebs was a real person she would be grinning right now because the Indians have been awfull this season. They have even thrown in the towel and traded away thier star pitcher C. C. Sabathia.

As i wrote in my preseason outlook i said the Tigers were gonna miss some relief pitching but i thought they would be able to battle through it but as we now know they were not able to do so and find them self batteling with the Royals for thrid place. It lead them to trade away all star catcher Paudge Rodriguez to the NY Yankees for Kyle Farnsworth. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! All in all it has been an insane year in the AL east and we still have 2 months to go. Baseball you gotta love it.

AL WEST: Finally a more predictable division. The angles are safely in first and have all but wrapped up the division. Texas has been a nice surprise and they could be a team to keep an eye out for in the future but for now they are left to battle for 2nd position. The intresting thing is not this year but in the comming years to see if the Angles have what it takes or if the youth in Texas will pay off.

Moving to the senior curcit we start once again with the east.

NL East: Overpreformers: The Flordia Marlins werent predicted many chances in a division that contains both the Mets and the Phillies. But none the less there they are in what has gone from a two horse race to a three horse race. And with only 2 games seperating 1st and 3rd we are getting ready for another epic showdown in september resembling the one we had last year (or well that wasnt a showdown as much as it was a humiliation of the mets)

Underpreformers: We knew allready in preseason that this was the mets and the phillies division but that the Atlanta Braves would find themself so far out of contention was something i didnt expect. They are curently 10 games back and it looks like another lost cause for the Braves and maybe they should be the next team to turn to the youth movement.

NL Central or as i call it APOCALYPSE.

I cant really believe that this is happening even tho we knew it was gonna be either the Cubs, Brewers or the Cardinals going for the win it's the fact that the Cubs are so comfortable in first place that scares me. It has been 100 years since the south siders won last time but this year could actually be the year for them. The rest of the division has played out just as expected.

NL WEST:
It was Arizonas to loose in the beginning but the LA Dodgers are gaining and with Colorado only 8 games back we go into the last month and a half with all teams capable of wining.

An exciting month and a half to go so hang on tight and check back later for updates.

The History of SASHSG

Ok so it's time for some rapid fire before this blogger hits the beach for a month.
First the story of the Stephen A Smith Heckling society of gentlemen. They are two guys from New York that show up to Heckle ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith. Here are the videos from 2006,2007 and 2008.

Here is 2006. One word: Cheese Doodles.



Here is 2007. Joakim Noah is the peoples princess.



And finally 2008. Kevin Love is going to be huge.

Youtube top 5

Ok it's time for a plug for youtube.com. Which is an awesome website and also Time Magazines person of the year 2007 together with YOU.

Ok top five videos:

Nr. 5: Is a preview of the 2007 NFL by Paul Brogan from Tacoma, Washington



Nr.4: Sasha "The Machine" Vujacic on Game 3 of the NBA Finals 2008.



Nr. 3: Achmed the Dead Terrorist (Jeff Dunham ventriloquist) (Not Safe For Work)



Nr. 2: Signature intial preformance at britains got talent:



Nr. 1: I have one word for you: HUTTTELIHUT.



I could mention a lot more but check out Youtube.com for your self.

Hillary just wave goodbye....

Dear Hillary i thought you were a classy woman able to keep on topic but as you have shown so much in these past few months you have disgraced your party more and more. Every time i think you have no more dirty tricks you continue to amaze me. Exactly one week ago you went as low as anybody has every been with your comments in the USA today interview. In it you once again reiterate that because of your broad appeal with white working class voters your a better candidate than Obama. These remarks is an insult to the African American voters that have done so much for the Clintons over the years. She is painting a disgracefully picture that the only reason Obama cant win is because he is black. That kinda tactics belongs to the 40's not in 2008. She hasnt even had the remarks denounced or have her advisor's apologize for them. Her desperate nature is becoming more and more apparent and she is going dirtier and dirtier. You could say that she is going out with a bang.

YES WE COULD!!!! (...and how that other candidate failed)

What at once looked like a sprint and a let's get this over with and get back to the white house campaign for one Hillary Rotham Clinton turned into the Boston and New York Marathon in one. And now the American public has spoken we want the first black president in American history. And i couldn't be happier for Barack Obama. Even tho Clinton hasn't pulled out yet it's no longer metamathematical possible for her to win. Looking back at this debacle two things spring to mind. One the lenght at which these two battled it out. And secondly the way if one went down soon thereafter the candidate would be back on track. But instead of looking to the future i think we need to take time and look back because how can it be that a woman from one of the most powerful families in the democratic party can lose to a nobody from Chicago? Did it go wrong when she in October of 2007 told potential fund raisers that when "she was in the white house" hereby claiming that winning was a forgone conclusion? or was it when she started her nasty rethoric towards Obama? thereby exposing that she was on the defensive and trying everything to win. Was it when her husband former president Bill Clinton suggested that winning south Carolina was just a token gesture to a black man? In my opinion none of the above is the answer. The key to all this is former FEMALE democratic vice presidential candidate and finance director for the Clinton campaign Geraldine Ferraro and her March 7th interview with the small Californian paper the Daily breeze. You don't remember? It's ok let me refresh your mind. She had momentum at this point after losing 12 straight she takes 3 of four on Super Tuesday 1½. She was in drivers seat Obama was against the wall all the political pundits called him out saying he couldn't win the big states that his lack of working class voters were troubling. Then on the eve of the Wyoming primary the infamous interview went down. In the interview Ferraro said the following: "I think what America feels about a woman becoming president takes a very secondary place to Obama's campaign — to a kind of campaign that it would be hard for anyone to run against. For one thing, you have the press, which has been uniquely hard on her. It's been a very sexist media. Some just don't like her. The others have gotten caught up in the Obama campaign. If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.". WOOPS. Comments like that should lead to the direct firing and a denouncement of them. The only problem that never happened all Clinton did was say the comments were regrettable and then think it would go away. It wasn't until Keith Olberman on his show on MSNBC made one of his rare special comments on how this was being mishandled that Ferraro took her resignation. But in my opinion it was too late the shift had happened Clinton went from media darling to the easiest target since Nixon and Watergate. From there it just went downhill for her we had the Bosnia incident, the finnance problems and the constant negative press over her "let's throw the kitchen sink at Obama and see what happens" tactics. So it's with great joy i say Good Night and Good Luck to Hillary Clintons campaign.

Sources:

Superdelegates put Obama within mathematical reach

Keith Olbermann: Special Comment on Hillary Clinton (Youtube video)

The Caleb Campbell situation.

Vi fortsætter lige med dansk en gang til.

I den forgane weekend havde NFL deres Draft hvor de bedste college spillere bliver valgt ind på de forskelige hold. Jeg kunne sagtens kede mine læsere med en analyse af hvert hold men lige netop i denne draft var der en historie som var langt mere spænende. I den 7. og sidste runde med valg nummer 218 tog Detroit Lions Denfensive back: Caleb Campbell. Det specielle ved Campbell er at han gik i college på West Point. West Point er ikke lige hvad du ville kalde et normalt college det er nemlig det sted hvor U. S. Army uddanner deres officerer. Campebell er i den situation at han for lov til at slippe for hans service og i stedet for at bare arbejder som en recrutier hjemme i USA. I mens han gør dette sendes alle hans klassekamerater til et af verdensbrændpunktuer (Læs: Irak eller Afgahnistan)
Så mit spørgsmål til mine læsere er: Er det i orden at Campbell slipper for Irak når alle hans klasse kammerater skal af sted?

(Brug komentar boksen til at besvare spørgsmålet.)

Rivalerne.

Ja vi tager lige og laver et indlæg på modersmålet dansk.

Ali havde Fraizer.

Fc København har Brøndby.

Liverpool har Manchester United

Real Madrid har Barcalona.

Alle sports fans ved at kampe mellem de nævnte hold/personer var noget specielt de var noget som ingen ville misse og i de enkelte lande går i stå når deres hold spiller. Der er dog et rival opgør der sætter et helt land i stå. Et opgør hvor det ikke kun er fansne som er involveret i opgøret men alle fra ejerne af klubberne til spillerene. Jeg taler selvfølgelig om rivaliseringen mellem de to baseball klubber Boston Red Sox og New York Yankees.

Jeg har valgt at dette indlæg skal være for alle dem (læs: min far) der ikke kan se det fede i at sidde klokken 1 om natten og følge en sport hvor der ikke har været dansk involvering siden Olaf Henriksen trak sig tilbage i 1917? Fordi Yankees-Red Sox er så meget andet end bare to baseball hold der spiller. For at finde roden til denne rivalisering skal vi tilbage til før der var noget der hed red sox eller yankees eller baseball for den sags skyld vi skal tilbage til den Amerikanske uafhængighed krig med englænenderne (1775-1783). Under denne krig var de to byer langt fra hinanden både afstandsmæssigt men også politisk. Mens Boston var hovedbyen for modstanden mod kolonimagten var New York et fristed for støtterne af den engelske kongemagt og dennes tilstedeværelse i USA. Som vi ved tabte Englænderne og efter krigen var Boston en naturlig hoved by i det daværende USA. Sådan varede det til op i ca. midten af 18 århundrede hvor New York overtog pladsen fra Boston som hoved byen på østkysten. Sådan har det været lige siden. Alt hvad New York gjorde blev til guld. Det blev til USA's kultur og finanscentrum på østkysten. Det nagede Boston på det kraftigeste og da i 1901 flyttede et nyt baseball hold (Boston Americans) til var deres naturlige rivaler i det nye American leauge New York Highlanders. Highlanders kom dog først til New York i 1903 men med det samme var rivaliseringen i gang og der udbrød slåskampen allerede i den første kamp mellem de 2 hold. De første 20 år var domineret af Red Sox. Der var ingen tvivel om at de var det bedre hold og med spillere som Tris Speaker og Babe Ruth dominerede Red Sox. I de 20 år vandt de World series 1903 og fire gange mellem 1912 og 1918. I 1916 overtog Harry Frazee Red Sox hvilket førte til et stor salg af spillere og især gik mange spillere til rivalerne. I Januar 1920 solgte han den bedste spiller til New York. Babe Ruth blev en stjerne uden lige i New York han gjorde op med æraen af pitchers og tog baseball ind i live ball æraen. Med Ruth vandt Yankees fire world series og de lagde gruden til 26 world series frem til i dag. Der var selvfølgelig punkter op igennem historien hvor det kom frem men i 2003 var Red Sox igen de stærke. For første gang i 85 år var de set som et hold med en mulighed for at slå Yankees. De mødtes i semifinalen og spillede alle syv kampe der skulle til. Ved den sidste mulige lejlighed sendte Aaron Boone endnu engang Red Sox tilbage til Boston uden en world series titel. Igen i 2004 mødtes de i semifinalen. Efter tre kampe var yankees foran 3 kampe mod 0 de var på vej mod endnu en deltagelse i world series. I bunden af den 9. inning var yankees foran og Red Sox behøvede et mirakel. Det kom i form af udskifter Dave Roberts der kom ind som løber stjal anden og på det næste hit gjorde kampen uafgjort. I bunden af 12 inning vandt Red Sox på et Home run af David Ortiz. Red Sox var i live og de gjorde det umulige vandt de næste 4 kampe og vandt også world series. Siden 2004 har Red Sox vundet 2 world series mens yankees ikke har vundet noget.

I den senere tid er det ikke kun spillerne men også ejerene og general mangers der er i infight. Således udtalte Tom Warner (ejer red sox fra 2003-i dag) efter at Yankees havde købt Jose Contres i cuba.: Om jeg vil komentere på det? Ja da Det onde emperium stræker deres klamme arme hele vejen ned til latin amerika." Senest har den nye Yankees ejer Hank Stienbrunner udtalt at Red Sox nation er en gang BS og hvis man rejser rundt i USA ser man kun Yankees fans.

Ja dette var altså et kort indblik i en rivalisering der går udover sport. Håber det gjorde folk lidt klogere.

YOUR 2008 BOSTON RED SOX.

I thought long and hard about how to do this. But then i found the answer instead of writing down something for every player i will show u a NESN made montage of the 2007 team.



GO RED SOX.

MLB season prewiev....Remaing divisions

I know i know we are already deep into the season i haven't written the rest of divisions so you will get them all at once with my notes for each team instead.

NL WEST prediction.

Arizona Diamondbacks

San Diego Padres (Wild card)

Colorado Rockies

Los Angeles Dodgers

San Fransisco Giants

Notes for the NL WEST:
By far the hardest division in all of baseball. Pitching is the name of the game in this division and all the teams except for the Giants have that. Obviously having the reining NL champs in this division would make the rockies favorites but they only went to the world series based on that amazing run in September when the lost one game of their last 23. That will not happen again and that is why they loose out on the playoffs this year. They are tho all still young and cant be counted out in no way. The Dodgers are starting the Joe Torre era and he will obviously have a great effect on the ball club and i see them creating some real havoc but they will fall down the stretch. Then the Diamondbacks and the padres remain. And my reasoning for putting the diamondbacks first is their youth will play to their advantage. The padres are simply a bit too old for my likening. And finally we have the giants who now start the post Barry Bonds era. They have young pitcher in Tim Lincecum but he wont be able to carry them.

AL Central predictions.

Cleveland Indians

Detroit Tigers (Wild Card)

Kansas City Royals

Chicago Whitesox

Minnesota Twins.

Notes on the AL Central:
This division is gonna break into two halves by the all star break. It will be an endless battle between the tigers and the Indians. And then the rest of the clubs will have to battle for the remaining spots. I have Cleveland winning based on the fact that they are a better all round ball club than the tigers. The pitching duo of Fausto Carmona and C. C. Sabathia is once again gonna be dominating and i easily see both of them making a push for the Cy Young award this season and they are gonna be a vital part in putting the Indians in the World Series in 2008. The Tigers are without a doubt the most improved club in baseball in 2008. Getting Miguel Cabrerra and Dontrell Willis is gonna make i huge diffirence but while that greatly helps them they are still lacking in the vital area of relief pitching. I say that by the trade deadline you will see the Tigers despretly needing in that area. whether they will find it is another question. The Royals are obviusly still rebuilding but i think it will be the year the royals will get out of the mold of being the laughing stock of the league and turn into the potential that this ball club has. Years of petty and cheap ownership has seen a shift beginging last season and in turned out in the way they for the first time since 2004 avoided loosing 100 games. This will continue in to this year and with the emergence of Alex Gordon and Billy Butler the royals seems to be set for years to come. The Whitesox will try to rebound from a pathetic showing in 2007. They didn't really make an offseason splash move and therefore i don't consider them to do much better than in 2007. The Twins will begin the 2009 season in a new out doors ball park. That ball park was supposed to be the House that Johan built but as we all know there is no Johan in Minnesota any more. Mr. Santana went to New York for the money and the big market. In return the Twins got some prospects and Carlos Gomez is already during really well. The concern in the Twins in the rotation and even tho they added Livan Hernandez to the rotation it's just to young and too unproven. So instead the 2009 park will be known as the place that Mauer Build.

NL Central Predictions

Milwaukee Brewers

Chicago Cubs

St. Louis Cardinals

Houston Astros

Cincinnati Reds.

Pittsburgh Pirates.

Ok another tight division. I have the Brewers winning by no more than 2 games over the Cubs. The Brew crew is young it has good hitting and solid pitching. The only problem for the crew is their closer Eric Gangé of Red Sox infamy. I think a nuclear device is more stable than Gangé. And the same can really be said for the closer in Chicago. Kerry Wood is just as fragile as Gangé and it's gonna be fun to seem between them and Joe Borowski (Cleveland) who is gonna blow the most saves. The Cubs lineup also added some Japanese flavor with outfielder Fukadome he is an exciting player and has already proven that he is clutch when he hit a three run homer off Eric Gangé in the bottom of the ninth on opening night. He will be a good player but the cubs wont win this year either even tho they have waited a 100 years now. The Cardinals is hitting wise one of the most feared teams in the league but their pitching is cause for concern. They will stay in the hunt for a long time but eventually fall short. The Astros are still in rebuilding mode but should be able to make some noise. Behind the likes of Carlos Leee, Miguel Tejada and young phenom Hunter Pence they should be able to tease the big 3 in this division but not more than enough because the pitching staff is abysmal at best. I cant even name a single pitcher and i had to look at their depth chart to see who it is and that is bad.
For the Reds it will be more of the same even with Dusty Baker as manager. Dont count them out tho. Joey Cuoto is an emerging pitching star but still it wont be enough in a tight division.
The ever rebuilding pirates once again fall to last place in the central. Pretty much the same as the astros. Pretty decent hitting with Xavier Nady and Nick Mclouth. No real pitching.

We are delibretly skipping the AL East.

NL East predictions.

New York Mets

Philadelphia Phillies

Atlanta Braves

Washington Nationals

Florida Marlins

The Mets and the Phillies were last year neck and neck all year until the Mets made an epic collapse which allowed the Phillies to move into first and win the division. The Mets added one Johan Santana to the rotation and that will be a huge boost. He will be an unstopable force on the mound and he is the reason the mets win this year. The Phillies are led by Ryan Howard and last years MVP Jimmy Rollins. Their pitching staff is anchored in youngster Cole Hamels and old timer Jamie Moyer. Speaking of old timers in pitching....Tom Glavine and John Smoltz on the same team in Atlanta i mean combined they must be 150 years old at least....I kid I kid. Again the Braves are a good team but they are missing the last pieces to reach the two top teams. The nats are still rebuilding and it's gonna be some year before we see them in the top but it's at least looking up for them unlike the Marlins. That team is a Mess. The Cheapness of the owners were once again on display this off season when then traded away Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to Detroit for a bunch of prospect. A disgrace of a trade and they should be lucky if the loss column doesn't reach triple digits.

AL East prediction

Boston Red Sox

New York Yankees.

Tampa Bay Rays

Toronto Blue Jays

Baltimore Orioles.

The red sox will be presented in a separate post.

The Yankees start year one of the Joe Giradi era. Also new in the Yankees organization is owner Hank Stienbrunner. The old Stienbrunner (George) is now too weak and has retired to Tampa but that doesn't mean we wont get good quotes from Hank. Hankenstien has already made some outrages claims and he is gonna be a fun addition to the rivalry. The team on the field is one filled with stars more specifically 209 million $ worth of stars. Complementing the best 3B/SS duo in baseball is a outfield headlined by Johnny $ellout and eternal prospect Melky Carbrera. The pitching staff is good but i am concerned with the youngsters Kennedy and Hughes. The team in Tampa Bay is less Devil and more rays this season. The team is good and loaded with young talent but the pitching staff is lacking and the race for third will be between them and the Blue Jays. In that race i have a feeling this is the year the Rays make the push and be the third team. Toronto is in for another good year and could be up there with the Yanks and Sawx but then again they could also collapse. If their pitching can hold up they have a chance to stay in the mix but i dont think it will hold up and they drop to fourth. Rounding out the East is the Orioles they are still rebuilding and it will be some years till they can contend for third.

World Series prediction.

Red Sox over Mets in 6.

MLB season prewiev....AL WEST edtion.

Ok we are now mere days away from the start of the MLB season start in Tokyo, Japan where the Boston Red Sox will face off against the Oakland A's in the highly publicised opening series. We will return to that series in a later post but now we set our sights on the AL West.

2007 Final Standings:
Name: W-L GB
Los Angles Angles of Anhiem 94-68 ---

Seatle Mariners 88-74 6.0

Oakland A's 76-86 18.0

Texas Rangers 75-87 19.0

Offseason moves by team

Angels: The biggest signing was without a doubt Torii Hunter. Hunter brings incredible defence and a above average bat to LA. He has in previous seasons shown his power potentiel. The only real concern with Hunter is that he is Injury prone but after he missed only two games in 2007 he should be ready to go. In the pitching department the Angles accuired Jon Garland from the White Sox for shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Garland isn't a top of the rotation guy but he should be able to eat up around 200 innings.

Mariners: The big new guy in Seatle is pitcher Eric Bedard. Bedard is comming off a 13-5 3.16 season in Baltimore and should provide a good young boost to the Mariners rotation that also includes "king" Felix Hernandez. Also accuried to the rotation but under little less fan fare than Bedard is Carlos Silva. He will provide good solid inning eating but nothing spectacular. The loss of Jose Guillien to the Royals was adressed with the signing of Brad Wilkerson.

A's: The A's we saw last season is no more. The "moneyball" era of Billy Beane is offcially over. Gone is Mark Kotsay, Nick Swisher and Dan Haren and the list just goes on forever. The replacements are ventren guys that are on thier back end of thier carrer such guys as Mike Sweeny and Emil Brown. Of course both very capable guys but let's face it they played in Kansas City not exactly the baseball town of America.

Rangers: If the A's lost a lot of players the Rangers gaiend a lot of players although the quality of them is sketchy. No doubt that Milton Bradley and Josh Hamilton have great qualities but the antics of Bradley that will hunt him this season will be a problem and also with the only pitching help accuried being Jason Jennings it will be another tough season for the ragners fans.

2008 prediction

Los Angles Angles of Anahiem

Seatle Mariners

Oakland A's

Texas Rangers.

The Mariners will be the only serious challenge to the Angles. if Ichiro turns in another great season and the pitching works out then it will be a close race all the way to September but ultimtly the Angles will prevail.

Random thoughts....

This post will be a little of this and a little of that.
I will have two sections one for politics and one for sports. If you don't care for my wievs on American politics then skip that section.
Politics section:
Gov. Spitzer of New York is in deep trouble after it was reaveled that he was involved in a prostitute ring. What can i say other than "Man you Fed up" (see what i did right there :-D) He will now resign and if i were him i would move far far away and never seek any public office ever again. Which brings me to a person that is seeking the highest public office in America that of President. Senator Hillary Clinton is looking more and more like a desperate power hungry maniac that will pull out every dirty trick in the book to try to win. I know that Obama also is hitting the dirty tricks but to say that the only reason Obama is winning is because he is black is just too low. I know it was only an aide but still it doesn't look good. There is now no more scenarios in which she can catch Obama and he looks more and more like the winner but let's wait and see. It will come down to the superdelegates and i think in the end they will realize that they cant go against the popular vote because if they do they will be alienating the young vote and that is basically giving the election in the hands of McCain.

Sports section:

First we turn our attention to the Beckett situation. I am of the opinion that a little rest will do Mr. Beckett well and he should not be let anywhere near the opener in Japan. I say rest the guy and then get him going in April. I mean we don't need him in April we need him in October. And the Red Sox are deep enough at starting pitcher to be fine. Now the other big news in sports (Ok i admit it Beckett is only news if you are an obsessed red sox fan like yours truly) involves Yankee stadium being used for a Hockey game in January 2009. As you all know the old Yankee stadium will be torn down in 2009 because the Yankees will move to a new stadium. Now baseball purist will tell you that it's blasphemy not to have the final event at Yankee stadium be a baseball game. So many other events have been hosted at the stadium so making the last event a hockey game shouldn't be a problem. I say that "The house that Ruth build" easily also can be "The house that Jagr tares down". Now i like the thinking by the NHL here that it would be the Rangers against one of the original six. If i were the one i would take the offer that currently is a home and home series with the bruins. So the first game is at Yankee stadium and then the year after that have the outdoor game at Fenway park. It will all be good for the NHL.
I will be back on the blog next week with my MLB season predictions.
Mathies

A legend walks away....

On Tuesday it was revealed that Brett Farve has decided to call it quits. The greatest quaterback in my life time has stopped. Nothing that is said or written will ever describe the career that Mr. Farve. whether it's the Passing record or the TD record. (or for vikings fans the Interception record.) There is nothing bad to take away from him. The way he played the game was special and the way he carried himself off the field he always seem to have fun with the game. The NFL has lost one of it's greatest and most durable players ever. In closing all i can say is thank you Brett.

Hillary, Oscar and Sid the kid.

This blog piece was supposed to soley be about the tirade that Ms. Clinton went on today at a meeting in Cincy. Let's just say she got a little out of hand. I was going to write that she has lost the race and the right thing for her to do would be to bow out and concede defeat. While i was thinking over what to write i read a masterfull piece on the vine and came to the conclusion that it was much better. So if you wanna know why the best thing Hillary can do in this campaing will be then go read here:
http://mscyprah.newsvine.com/_news/2008/02/24/1321839-the-best-thing-hillary-clinton-could-do-for-march-4th

Now tonight there are the Acadamy awards or better known as the Oscars. I will give you two reasons while i will be watching tonight.
1. My countryman Viggo Mortensen is nominated as best male actor for his role in Eastern promises. First an foremost have you not seen eastern promises yet? Then turn off your computer right now and go to the nearest theater don't worry i will wait. That movie makes for my MUST SEE movie list of 2008 so far (2. on that list is Charlie Wilsons war). Viggo is awesome in this movie and he plays the role to perfection. Just go see it.

2. The host of tonights big event is Jon Stewart known of course from his comedy central show The Daily show with Jon Stewart. He is really funny and a most see comedian of this era. First there was Carson then Letterman and now we have Stewart. He is primed for getting Letterman's spot on CBS when he retires. Those are the two reasons i will be watching tonight.

Now it's time for me to make pancakes and sit back and enjoy Sidney Crosby kill the San Jose Sharks.
-Mathies

Andy Pettitte and the truth...

I could easily just refer you to what Jayson Stark wrote on ESPN.com but instead i will try and say what he said in my own words. Yesterday Andy Pettitte reported to spring training in Florida and for an hour he faced the NY media hoard. Here he answered every possible and humiliating a human being can get to answer when he is in the situation that Andy Pettitte is in. Andy told about his HGH use. How he had acquired HGH from his father and how his relationship with Roger Clemens has gone sour in recent times. He even told how his wife had shown him bible verses on the flight to Washington which prompted him to tell the investigators everything. In my opinion it has put Clemens in a very bad and damaging light. I feel that it will be only a matter of time before he has to face the perjury chargers. Good luck to Mr. Clemens with that. Next time i blog about baseball i hope that it will be a blog on the awesomeness of the red sox season.
-Mathies

Roger Clemens vs. Congress II

As i wrote yesterday it would be limited what i would be able to catch of the hearings with Clemens and Congress turned out i only caught the last half hour. Not that it really mattered because the proceedings went just according to what the "experts" predicted. Clemens denies ever touching HGH and steroids and Brian McNamee says i injected Clemens. It's allot of hearsay but the most interesting person in this whole spectacle if you will is a man that was not present yesterday Andrew Pettitte. He told the investigators earlier that he had taken HGH twice once with the help of McNamee and once with the help of his dad who was taking it for his health problems. The reason that Pettitte is such an interesting person in all of this is because he has such a tight bond with Clemens and he is basically the only reason that Clemens decided to return to pitching when he unretired in the 2004 off season making it possible for me to see him in July of 2005 when he came to Denver while i was there. Now the question remains who is telling the truth and who is lying and most likely will face a perjury charge? In my eyes the legacy of Roger Clemens is tainted and his "Hall of fame career" is no more. Next watershed event in this very interesting show will be Monday when Pettitte will report to spring training with the Yankees and he will face the NY media for the first time. And who knew the worst day of the year (valentines day) would turn out to be so interesting. By the way welcome home Pitchers and Catchers lets get this baseball season rolling.

Mathies

Roger Clemens vs. Congress

On the eve of the Congressional hearing with Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee i felt like sharing my thoughts on the whole thing that was started back in December with the release of the Mitchell rapport. In it Clemens was one of many players named for taking steroids during the so called steroids era in baseball. There are tons of question that will need answers and most likely will get answered tomorrow because if Clemens continues his denial it will be interesting to see who lied McNamee or Clemens. And the following perjury charges that will be a sure follow up on tomorrow. So my only advice is tune into ESPN or watch it on MLB.com. As Steve Phillips said "This will be better reality tv than you will ever see." I will see how much i can catch but i will be there for sure.
-Mathies

History has a sense of irony...

The clock is nearing 4 AM. 7 people are gathered around the TV like if it's alter and giving the only sermon that matters. And then as if you had just won the lottery the room explodes. My dad is mid air when he realizes that he is about to knock over the coffee table with all the bottles,chips and other goodies. I am sitting but i am pointing at the tv and screaming "Plaxico Plaxico Plaxico". I hug and high five everyone around. In the corner my dads friend Morten is sitting with his face buried in his hands. He knows that all the gloating during the year. That the Perfect season shirt he is sporting is worth exactly nothing. On Sunday it was the 42nd edition of the Super Bowl. What a game it was. It wasn't the most scoring game but that was good for excitement and the fact that the game was close all along was very good. Unlike other superbowls i have witnessed this was exciting from start to finish. In the end all i can do is congratulate all my New York fans and all the Giants players. It was a great ride but Boston cant have it all.
Mathies

Woha what a weekend/upcomming week.

Ok for a fan of American culture like me this coming weekend and week are some of the biggest of the year. Sunday we have Super Bowl 42 the pinnacle of sports in America. No 7 game series here just one game to determine the world champion. And then on Tuesday we have super duper Tuesday when half the country votes for a candidate in either the Democratic or Republican primary. Let's start with the Super Bowl. This year it's the New England Patriots vs. the New York Giants. Don't even get me going on the implications of another Boston vs. New York analogy. Also don't get me started on the Eli Manning to do his brothers bidding bandwagon because it cant simply be done. The Pats are simply too good. They are what perfection looks like. You double cover Randy Moss?? We will just throw it too Wes Welker! You cover him?? let's see if Donte Stallworth is open. He is not?? let's hand it off to Lawrence Maroney. That o# is offensive. Tom F Brady will get it done and he will once again win a MVP award.

Now we move to Super Duper Tuesday. Disclaimer: This is blog is biased and the view is mine and only mine if you wanna comment please keep it SFW. Thanks

Tuesday will be the most important day in this primary season since it will probably solve both two horse races that we have going right now. On the republican side it's John McCains to loose and with the endorsements he has gotten lately (Rudy and the governator) it looks very much like he is going to win the nomination. On the Democratic side it's Clinton in the lead but as Poul Høj pointed out in his article in Berlingske the other day i think it's dawning on the Americans that if they get her they also get Bill. I for one would not like to see that happen and i hope that Obama wins every state voting on Tuesday even if thats highly unlikely. It will be exciting indeed. I for one will be watching the Democratic debate that will be on CNN tonight at 8 pm ET.
And finally three small words: YES WE CAN.

Life's a kick-bookrewiev

Ok anybody that just know a minimal thing about me knows i love sports and especially American Football. Well my interest in American football comes partially from my dad but also from following Morten Andersen. Well today January 25th the latter's autobiography was released and i had a preordered copy waiting for me so it came in the mail (with my new web cam as well.). The book is written in co operation with Jimmy Bøjgård (danish broadcaster on the NFL). The book in of it's self is very good and it gives a nice and rather good look into the life of a professional athlete. There is compared to other biographies by athletes i have read the distinct difference that Andersen does not involve his personal life as much as some of the others i have read. In reading it all i see is a bunch of stories put in chronological setting and then told with Morten's own comments. Also another dig is the layout. For instance there is a part of the book where he is telling a story and then suddenly there is a picture series over a few pages that explains his kick and kicking technique. I am a real sucker for all the anecdotes and of those there are plenty both the good ones and the bad ones. I also like that the book was able to get in digs at both Bobby Petrino and Michael Vick who both deserve what was coming to them. I will say the book gets 3 points out of 5. It lacks in layout and personal stories. On the plus side i liked that charity chapter and the stories of the great kicks of his career. Best Kicks
Mathies

And the blogging co menses.

Hey Everyone welcome to my blog. This will be my blog that will tackle everything from politics through sports to my personal life experiences. This first blog will be used as my personal reflections on my recent trip to America. The trip went to Phoenix, Arizona and we even made a road trip to Southern California and Mexico. Going to America is as always a hassle and this time was the first time i really felt what the winter delays can do to your body and mind but it also solidified my love for American people. While in Detroit airport waiting for my delayed flight i had a drink with a women i just met. See this would never happen in Denmark or anywhere in Europe if you ask me and sure someone will call it shallow i call it the American spirit. The same repeated it self while waiting four hours in Chicago. Once in Arizona it was mostly relaxing the first couple of days i just did a lot of super bowl/red sox/chiefs shopping and played golf. Niels introduced me to some really cool people and he got the crazy idea of going to SoCal and Mexico so off we went on Saturday. I set up a meeting with my VACTERL friend in LA and living right next to her house was pretty cool and also the fact that i finally met her after all these years of talking on the computer. Then the ride went to Santa Barbara and to visit one of Niels friends and then it was back down to attend a real Hollywood party. Then it was down to Mexico for nothing but cheap and legal beer. Then back to Arizona for some more golf and watching the AFC and NFC championship games. Now i am back here in Denmark a lot of money poorer but a lot of experiences richer. It will be a long time till i will be back but then i will be back with a vengance and proberbly go for a very long trip (at least a month).