The St. John Fishermen

This is why Pedroia is my favorite player on the Sox. His confidence and swagger are what made him into what he is….a former MVP and a top 3 player at his position. Dude is a stud. Sox Nation, get ready for the Laser Show. Yankes scrubs, relax. 

While this is the “official” opening day of Major League Baseball. Smart people out there know that the official opening day is tomorrow when the future 2011 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox take the field.

With the new additions of Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and a healthy Pedroia, Lester, Beckett, Youk, and Jacoby, the Sox are primed to make a huge comeback run this season. Red Sox nation is going to be very VERY happy at the end of this season.

Every year the youngest, most talented high school basketball players come together to showcase their talents at a national level in the McDonalds High School All-American game. Such players as LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Carmelo Anthony and countless other superstars have participated in this show case over the past 33 years. This years game was held at the United Center in Chicago. Normally I would be talking about the next big things in college basketball next season, but some things caught my attention.

I don’t know where this kid thinks hes going with this look. I’ve seen a few players, notably one of the best female basketball players of all-time (Candace Parker), rock this look but come on kid, you’re on national television. At least get some under armor and tighten that look up.

Whenever Michael Carter-Williams was on the floor, all I was looking at was the back of his head. Now im all about the shout out for Cuse but honestly? You’re really gonna go out there with that on you’re head? I wonder if you could see this definition on a 3-D tv set? I’ve seen some badddd hair cuts in my lifetime…but this is one of the all time worst.

As bad as Michael Carter-Williams’ hair was, I actually kind of like what Rakeem Christmas did with his. The design in the side of the head is classic. Representing the Cuse Nation just put it over the top for me. Carter-Williams should take some notes from his future classmate.

Overall there was some solid talent on the court tonight. Im sure we got a look at some future all-americans (at the college level), NBA All-Stars, MVP’s, and maybe even a hall of famer or two.

On a side note….the Fishermen are back….well at least one fisherman

In the age where Twitter is growing at a tremendous pace, athletes are getting ripped on more and more for the stupid things that they say on Twitter. I’d like to take this moment to go back in stupid tweet history to look at a gem from Charlie Villanueva, a forward for the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA.

“In da locker room, snuck to post my twitt. We’re playing the Celtics, tie ball game at da half. Coach wants more toughness. I gotta step up.”

Its not only bad enough that he uses the worst grammar i’ve seen in a long time, but its at half time of a game?! How bout this Charlie, get off your phone and focus and snagging some boards so you can cash in some serious jack on your next pay check. Teams are not going to be dishing out paper for dudes who think its more important to catch up on their tweeting instead of listening to their coach. This was really the start of embarrassing tweets by athletes that we the Fishermen see every day. Way to be Charlie, way to be.

As a Knicks fan, I can honestly say there hasn’t been much to be happy about for a while.  ”Queen” James snubbing us, my boy D-Lee getting traded away, the Isiah era… All just very depressing.  Until we found a little ray of hope, in the form of Landry Fields (I mean, yeah, I guess Amar’e has been okay too..).   I love this guy, he can get it done on the court, but he can also get it done off the court.

He’s a funny, funny dude.  I’ve seen a couple of his videos on the Internet lately, I can’t say that I’ve been disappointed.  If this guy was anywhere else besides New York, I think he would be absolutely bored out of his skull.  The Big Apple is his playground.  Here’s one video of him posting up in a Modell’s sporting goods store in the city, posing as an employee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9tvpiJkBgA&feature=player_embedded

Also, if you’ve guys seen any of Keenan Cahill’s videos on the Web

Yeah, that person(?)… Well he and Landry (And Andy Rautins, who, I must say, gives one of the worst performances of all time here.  Come on son, if Keenan Cahill can be entertaining, you can. This will probably be the only thing you’ll be remembered for in your NBA career, you should have made it count. Anyway…) put on quite the act here to “GO NY GO”, a cute little number about the Knickerbockers.  Check it out, it’s worth the view. Roll tide, Landry, get yours.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYeOCWFUDF0&feature=player_embedded#at=42

When the San Fransisco Giants were in this past fall’s World Series, all eyes were on Brian Wilson and his famous beard. . Fans embraced it, media personae analyzed it, and everyone was talking about it. Ever since the Giants clinched the 2010 World Series Title, Wilson has become some what of a folk legend, appearing on talk shows and other media outlets.

While many people find Wilson’s antics to be very weird and eccentric, I think he is a genius. He is using social media and other technology sources to build his brand awareness. Whether it is him posting ridiculous comments on his Twitter @BrianWilson38 or on his Facebook, he is getting his name out there in the media. It has even lead to him being the cover athlete for 2k sports MLB Baseball 2k11. Without social media, who knows what Brian Wilson would have become. All I know is that I personally can’t get enough Machine, Beard, and Brian Wilson. 

What’s going on Internet?  Just making a call to all you Fisher guys and gals out there, get to the Ward-Haffey dining hall at 5:30 PM, on February 17th (tomorrow) to help Matt and my COMM 263 class.  We’re trying to get as many people as possible to start a conga line at the conveyor belt for plates at 5:30.  Please, if you’re reading this, don’t make us look like crazy people and join us… It’d help a lot. Thanks. Roll tide.  

(If you don’t know what a flash mob is, I’m going to post a couple links to some pretty cool ones.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDQPPtIS6-0

Well folks, it seems that another war of words has broken out over the twitter battlefield. This time the main list of characters include Antonio Cromartie, Matt Hasselbeck, Ray “Old Spice” Lewis, and Darnell Dockett. The shot heard round the twitter world was first fired after Cromartie bashed both the NFL owners and the NFLPA for having not come to terms on a new CBA. Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck via twitter posted

“Somebody ask Cromartie if he knows what CBA stands for.”

The message was deleted from his account, but not apparently before Cromartie responded. Being the mature and responsible adult that he is, he responded via twitter

@a_cromartie31 hey Matt if u have something to then say it be a man about it. Don’t erase it. I will smash ur face in.

Hasselbeck made the first adult move in this sequence by replying

@Hasselbeck Sorry for the joke man. No hard feelings. DB’s & QB’s have a hard time getting along I guess sometimes. lol

Ray Lewis and Darnell Docket also felt the need to chime in this argument by adding

Lewis:”Great leaders are servants first, that is who our leaders are. Players are not going to turn on each other. We are blessed with what we have and it is on all of us to keep it fair. I’m resolved to do that.”

Dockett: We have leaders, we know what is fair and the players are behind our leadership.”

Finally the last shot was fired with Cromartie responding with

@a_cromartie31 I don’t give a who about Ray Lewis or @ddockett talking about what I said. There’s 10’s of thousand ppl who will lose jobs. They taking our healthcare away and for players that have surgery can’t even get rehab once March 3rd gets here.

That was a mouthful. Here’s my take on the whole situation. Antonio Cromartie needs to shut his mouth and worry about the child support payments he needs to make for his 9 different kids. I’m not exactly sure who he thinks he is, but if I were him, I would take advantage of this new invention called grammar check before he posts his tweets. It’s one thing to go out and make an educated and well delivered argument on the behalf of his beliefs. If you’re going to post tweets like the one in response to Ray Lewis and Darnell Dockett, at least make sure you’re grammar is at least at an 8th grade level 31. Ray Lewis can do it, that’s why ladies want him, men want to be him, and animals want to learn how to talk so they can hang out with him http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnLN6DuHXPQ. On a side note, I would love to see Cromartie get knocked out by Matty “My wife’s hotter than yours” Hasselbeck just like the Jets got knocked out by the Steelers on Sunday….Roll Tide

http://cosbysweaters.com/2011/01/25/lions-lb-zack-follett-is-off-his-rocker/

Last night I was sitting in my room watching the end of the BYU v. SDSU game, a.k.a. the Jimmer Fredette Show, when I received a text message urging me to watch the video above. The video contains Detroit Lions Linebacker Zack Follett discussing his thoughts and beliefs after an interview in which he referred to teammate Matthew Stafford as a “China Doll”. According to Mr. Follett, recent reaction to his comments are acts of Satan trying to drive him off the path of the lord. Luckily for Zack, he has “Armor of God” to protect him from “Arrows sent by Satan.”

This video is a perfect example of why the NFL is working to protect players from long term brain injuries. It is obvious to anyone that Zack Follett is clearly a crazy person, or a direct disciple of God walking down his very own lit path. Either way, Zack Follett easily wins the award for most mentally unstable athlete of the week. Some advice from the Fishermen would be for “Big Z” to stop listening to all the voices speaking to him from above, and start listening to some other voices, like a psychotherapist….Roll Tide. 

I, as most of my fellow male Americans, and a lot of female Americans, spent my most recent Sunday afternoon glued to my television watching Championship Sunday in the NFL. I’m a white, twenty-something guy, All-American guy from the northeast, obviously I was watching football. The biggest story of the day should have been how two of the most storied franchises in the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers, made it back to the Superbowl. However, this would not be the case on this frigid mid January day. In fact it was the heart, or apparent lack there of, of Bears quarterback Jay Cutler who mysteriously left the NFC Championship game after suffering from an apparent knee injury, turned out to be the biggest talking point at water coolers around the nation on Monday morning. Along with this apparent lack of heart, came a slue of tweets from current and former NFL players both slamming Cutler for his lack of grit and some coming to his defense. My two personal favorites are as follows.

“Hey I think the urban meyer rule is effect right now… When the going gets tough……..QUIT,” – Maurice Jones-Drew

and

“If I’m on chicago team jay cutler has to wait till me and the team shower get dressed and leave before he comes in the locker room!” - Darnell Dockett

These guys slammed Cutler without knowing anything about the severity of his injury. Turns out that Cutler suffered a torn MCL and would’ve been questionable if the Bears had made the Super Bowl and many of the players bashing Cutler have recanted their statements. I find it funny how players and fans feel they can bash a player just because he looks like he could go back in the game. Speaking of fans that thought that Cutler should have gone back in the game, Im one of them. I don’t care if your leg is on fire. You have a chance to go to the Super Bowl, every football player dreams of going out there and leading their team to the biggest stage in all of sports. Cutler apparently didn’t feel the same. For those of you out there that feel that Cutler did the right thing by sitting out and letting his in-experienced back up blow the game for his team, i’ll leave you with this. A clip of Byron Leftwich being carried down the field by his teammates after breaking his shin. That’s heart Jay, take notes….Roll Tide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-jzYMSiNHQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvyknw4VClE

Now I know we’re telling everybody that we’re going to be talking about pro athletes’ Tweets, but I just HAD to share this.  If you haven’t seen it yet, first get out from sports’ cocoon and take a gander at the link.  This commercial for ESPN is absolutely hilarious, but it definitely captures how intense people are about their sports teams.   Personally, I am an Alabama fan, so this is right up my alley anyway, but even if you don’t like the Crimson Tide, you have to appreciate how great this is. So funny, so memorable.  The people at ESPN never cease to entertain me when it comes to their commercials. Just click the title to watch it, trust me, you won’t be disappointed. To conclude, ROLL TIDE!