Here We Go

Well, we made it to post #2. So we got that going for us, which is nice.

Eric and I have been talking for a while about starting a sports blog. We seem to spend at least a few minutes each day conversing about the day’s sports news, whether that be debating Bochy’s choice of pinch hitter or marveling over how much Pau Gasol’s neck-beard makes him look like a turkey.

More often than not, our conversations center on baseball. Comparing stats, proposing hypothetical trades and recalling past Cy Young winners. Things usually end with telling Eric that Derek Jeter is a first-ballot HOFer or forcing him to remind me how many Super Bowls the Steelers have won.

In any event, we figured others might find our commentary on sports (and sometimes life) mildly entertaining and occasionally even informative. And for that reason we bring you this Bay Area sports writing project.

The turn of the calendar and the start of 2011 offered a good time to get the ball rolling. 2011 offers a lot to look forward to, both in and out of sports.

Like Eric said, the biggest story of 2010 (and for this author, 2011) is the San Francisco Giants. The Giants stretch drive and playoff run was without a doubt the most exciting sports experience of my life. Truth be told, it’s still difficult to move on and care seriously about any other sporting event. I’m trying to get pumped up for the Steelers game this weekend. But the truth is, if they won the Super Bowl this year it’d almost be, to me, stealing the spotlight from the Giants in my sports consciousness. I feel like all organized sport should go on a 9-month fast to truly honor the Giants. Having said that, I do hope the Steelers pull it out on Saturday. And I hope they expose Terrell Suggs for what he is: a cross between a bratty 5^th grader and Sloth from the Goonies.

In other news, Spring Training is only weeks away. I walked down to AT&T yesterday during lunch. It was strange to see it so gray and deserted only months after seeing a mob in front of Willie Mays Plaza setting toilet paper on fire after the World Series.

There are a lot of question marks going into next season: What will we get from Miguel Tejada? What will happen to Mad Bum’s arm after his innings increased by 70 last year? Will Huff ever lay off a curve ball at his ankles with two strikes?

But more than all of that, it will be interesting to see what happens to the culture of baseball in the Bay Area the year after a team winning the World Series. Something tells me baseball will be a lot more “in.” For a while at least.

Will the honeymoon wear off when the Giants are 8 back on May 1? Will I still be able to buy a $1 ticket on StubHub for a Wednesday night game against the Nationals?

Lots of unkowns at this point.

But what I do know is that last night the sun set at 5:11pm. Tonight, at 5:12pm.

It’s staying a little bit lighter, a little bit later.

Baseball is almost back.