"No Runs, No Hits, New Era: Baseball Ponders Legal Ways to Increase Offense"

John Buck: “They wanted it to go back to pitching and defense, didn’t they?” Buck said this spring in Atlanta Braves camp, a few weeks before he retired. “I think it’s a cycle that will go back and forth. If they put the emphasis on improving the offense, they’ll figure a way how.”

[http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/sports/baseball/baseball-2015-preview-in-a-pitching-rich-era-baseball-ponders-legal-ways-to-boost-offense.html]

Valentine's Day!

[http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2015/2/14/8021797/some-mariners-themed-valentines-to-give-to-your-loved-ones]

Ranking the Hawks and Broncos

Gulp. Pressure! Super Bowl XLVIII player rankings

"Forgiven People Forgive"

Notice that where Vick says “we,” McCoy says “he.” Michael Vick puts himself in a category with Riley Cooper. While LeSean McCoy seeks to distance himself from a former friend, Michael Vick puts himself next to the accused.

[http://liberatenet.org/2013/08/06/forgiven-people-forgive/]

Why Doesn't India Win Gold Metals

In his article, "Neither the Will Nor the Cash," Max Fisher discusses what makes Olympic champions.

India is a big deal. It has the world's second-largest population and its ninth largest economy; it's the biggest democracy in existence and one of the oldest nations in history. But India is not very good at winning Olympic medals. There's no single or certain answer to why, but India's astonishingly poor performance offers some insights into just what does make an Olympic winner, and doesn't.

[http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/08/neither-the-will-nor-the-cash-why-india-wins-so-few-olympic-medals]

Disgruntled Food Fans

I didn't get to go to the Mariner's home opener last night, in keeping, perhaps, with my usual opening day habits (or lack thereof). But if I had, I doubt I would have noticed the long concession stand lines. You see, I go to baseball games to watch baseball. Not to eat food. Not to drink.

So that there was even a local outcry about the registers going down and cash-only sales is disheartening, but that it becomes national "news"? Agh.

I guess I shouldn't really be surprised or discouraged; I should just be used to it by now. There's always a steady stream of people leaving their seats and coming back with mounds of food. And then leaving again and coming back with even more food.

And that's regardless of their win-loss record.

Ridiculous.

[http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyclay/2012/04/14/seattle-mariners-experience-rookie-league-opening-night-with-technical-failures/]

"Confessions of a Basketball Widow"

This is probably unfair to post now, because of how things stand now with the NBA lockout, but... I can relate:

I love the playoffs. I hate the playoffs.

I love the NBA final championship games because it means basketball season is coming to a close and I can get my husband back from the months of obsessively reading ESPN and watching post-game highlights.

I hate the playoffs because for two weeks it means living with a fan-fueled teenage zombie. There are shouts, screams, erratic movements and sweaty pacing. Like blackout dates on a calendar, games nights are sacrosanct. He talks to himself and to the television. There are occasional tears.

[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/catherine-new/nba-finals-2011_b_874953.html]

"What if Michael Vick were white?"

"No getting around it: Race is still an undeniable element of the Michael Vick story," Touré says in his article, "What if Michael Vick were white?" It's excellent and brings up many of the factors leading up to Vick's imprisonment.