First off, http://www.michaelkanick.com,, the site for all things me, is on a momentary hold and will still be the source for all things Mike soon.
Secondly, I have had a blog now for 1 YEAR. I'm amazed at how fast time flies. to celebrate, I'm actualy posting today. No news of note except the anniversare de Mikepoint.
Yes, I think that was French.
Anyways, check out the blog de Margaret (in the Links section under "a cooler mk") - she's got cool shite and a rundown of her interesting and cool life.
In the words of Dub-b... "peas".
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
So, yeah, and stuff
So, I've decided I don't like Blogger anymore, and that if I had my own spot on the web, with a full site, i'd be more inclined to update.
So, from now on, go to www.michaelkanick.com for all things me. The site should be up soon, but keep an eye out. This will probably be the last official post here, and I will probably just edit it once the other site goes live.
Thanks for listening/reading.
Addendum: Congrats to my bro for being part of the team that broke the CFHS record for lowest round of 9 for a team. Great Job Ry! See his "Ink" here
So, from now on, go to www.michaelkanick.com for all things me. The site should be up soon, but keep an eye out. This will probably be the last official post here, and I will probably just edit it once the other site goes live.
Thanks for listening/reading.
Addendum: Congrats to my bro for being part of the team that broke the CFHS record for lowest round of 9 for a team. Great Job Ry! See his "Ink" here
Friday, August 05, 2005
SUNY Oswego makes it to SI.com
Yes ladies and gents, the famous bagel throwing hockey fans made it to Sports Illustrated.
You can read all about it/see a picture Here - I won't spoil it for you.
I will say this, however - the article isn't entirely correct. We didn't just come up with this whacky idea for no reason, or because of a shutout. Oswego-Plattsburgh is THE SUNY hockey rivalry. Whenever Plattsburgh scored their first goal against Oswego during the games at Plattsburgh, they students always threw Tennis Balls onto the ice, because Oswego's away Uni's are all green. We wanted revenge, Plattsburgh's mascot is a Cardinal, and bread doesn't fly well. Enter the bagel.
How do I know this? I was there. Not often you can say that for something, but I still remember little Joey Storch and I stealing bagels from the dining hall to toss. Good times.
GO LAKERS! Section KAH lives on...
You can read all about it/see a picture Here - I won't spoil it for you.
I will say this, however - the article isn't entirely correct. We didn't just come up with this whacky idea for no reason, or because of a shutout. Oswego-Plattsburgh is THE SUNY hockey rivalry. Whenever Plattsburgh scored their first goal against Oswego during the games at Plattsburgh, they students always threw Tennis Balls onto the ice, because Oswego's away Uni's are all green. We wanted revenge, Plattsburgh's mascot is a Cardinal, and bread doesn't fly well. Enter the bagel.
How do I know this? I was there. Not often you can say that for something, but I still remember little Joey Storch and I stealing bagels from the dining hall to toss. Good times.
GO LAKERS! Section KAH lives on...
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Mike makes it on ESPN
No, it wasn't for a unique sporting accomplishment.
Mike, being the Hockey nut he is, always reads and occaisionally writes to John Buccigross, the Hockey guru and utility TV man at ESPN (he has been pinch hitting on Baseball Tonight). Despite what you may think of writing to columnsts and their responses, Bucci has been one cool dude - not only does he post and reply in his column, but he also will return other interesting e-mails that don't make the column.
You can find John's latest column (and Mike's mention) Here .
Thanks to Bucci for throwing Mike in the column and keep an eye out for your favorite NHL team to open camp in September and drop the puck in October.
Mike, being the Hockey nut he is, always reads and occaisionally writes to John Buccigross, the Hockey guru and utility TV man at ESPN (he has been pinch hitting on Baseball Tonight). Despite what you may think of writing to columnsts and their responses, Bucci has been one cool dude - not only does he post and reply in his column, but he also will return other interesting e-mails that don't make the column.
You can find John's latest column (and Mike's mention) Here .
Thanks to Bucci for throwing Mike in the column and keep an eye out for your favorite NHL team to open camp in September and drop the puck in October.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Welcome Back, Old Friend
For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed Hockey. I started, like every kid, watching with my dad. He was a Rangers fan, so I grew to love the boys in Blue as well. My first hockey jersey was even a hand-me-down - one of my dad's old jersey's from his beer-league days. I remember Messier's guarantee. I remember game 7 versus the Devils. Then the entire finals against Pavel Bure and the Canucks. I remember the emotion of them succeeding so many years after the last time they did.
When my little brother got older and started liking hockey too, we used to have "Guys Nights". Once or twice a season the three of us would go get a nice dinner and then head to a Binghamton Rangers game. It was great for me because, not only did I get to share the experience with them, but I got to watch all the future Rangers play. I went on to college, and my Hockey life grew there, too. Regular season games were free, and Oswego was pretty good - usually in the top 10 in the nation for D3. There were no bad seats in the house, and I can hardly remember missing a game.
When Hockey reached a labor impasse last year, it was like watching a friend go away for a while. All those games I would watch, the cheering, the excitement, the experience, they were all gone. So you can imagine how happy I am that Hockey is back.
I don't know even if it will be on TV. I'm pretty sure the Rangers will not be good. But I'm excited that I will be able to watch (even if it's only one or two games, in person), and read and hear about Hockey again. My friend is back. Welcome home.
When my little brother got older and started liking hockey too, we used to have "Guys Nights". Once or twice a season the three of us would go get a nice dinner and then head to a Binghamton Rangers game. It was great for me because, not only did I get to share the experience with them, but I got to watch all the future Rangers play. I went on to college, and my Hockey life grew there, too. Regular season games were free, and Oswego was pretty good - usually in the top 10 in the nation for D3. There were no bad seats in the house, and I can hardly remember missing a game.
When Hockey reached a labor impasse last year, it was like watching a friend go away for a while. All those games I would watch, the cheering, the excitement, the experience, they were all gone. So you can imagine how happy I am that Hockey is back.
I don't know even if it will be on TV. I'm pretty sure the Rangers will not be good. But I'm excited that I will be able to watch (even if it's only one or two games, in person), and read and hear about Hockey again. My friend is back. Welcome home.
Monday, July 25, 2005
The Psychology of a Losing Streak
No, I’m not trying to be Tom Cruise, nor can I go jump on Oprah’s couch to discuss this one. But I am going to bring up what I will call the Reverse RFK Effect.
That’s right, I named it. And for good reason, too. All year we’ve heard how RFK helps the Nats. The deep fields, the mislabeled distances, the fact that it was so different from other parks around the league set others off balance. We were used to it. They weren’t. If the fans are the 10th man on the baseball team, RFK is the quiet, unobtrusive 11th – one more tool we could use to beat other teams who were used to power hitter friendly confines.
When the Nats were winning, confident, even when they were underdogs, this played into their mentality beautifully. Now, however, mired in the worst streak of the season (3-8 since the all start break, 4-10 counting the last series before the break) I think RFK did the reverse to the Nats – in this past home stand, it hurt them.
Now, before you lambaste me like folks lambasted Tommy boy (deservedly), let me explain. Those of you who have participated in team sports, especially a team that is close knit, will have a better understanding of where I am coming from. These guys love each other. This is a team not born from talent, but born from a common desire to win and to not let one another down. When one of the guys starts to slump, the other guys want to perform better to pick him up. The more guys who start to slump, the more the other guys try to carry the team. We see this a lot in sports. The problem here is that baseball is a true team sport. To score runs, you must have guys on base – games are not one on solo home runs alone – at least, not very often.
When they start to press, though, the home run, the big hit, the double off the wall becomes the goal – not the single to get on base. This is where the Reverse RFK Effect comes into play. RFK is bar-none the hardest park in the league to hit home runs in. RFK is where long drives go to die. RFK is a singles park, or a double in the gap – that’s how the Nats won so many in the first half. But when they start to press, when Jose Guillen and Brad Wilkerson start thinking they need to crush every ball to make up for injuries and slumps, the team runs into this kind of stretch where we lost 2 of 3 from the MLB worst Rockies and got lucky in one game (Thank You, Willy Taveras) to not get swept by Houston. The swing at bad pitches. They expand the strike zone. They put so much weight on themselves to succeed that they are crushed in clutch situations. And RFK makes it worse by making those one or two pitches you might actually get a hold of into long fly ball outs, not homeruns or doubles off the wall.
The Reverse RFK Effect.
Will they come out of it? I think so. The question is, how long before they do? The Atlanta series (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) is ill-timed. I would have rather been in Miami against the Marlins for those days and then hit Hotlanta over the weekend. These are the stretches that separate the good teams from the bad, however. If the Nats can take 2 of 3 from Atlanta, they’ll be fine. If not, we may be in for a hot, sticky, sub .500 August.
From Nationals Pride
That’s right, I named it. And for good reason, too. All year we’ve heard how RFK helps the Nats. The deep fields, the mislabeled distances, the fact that it was so different from other parks around the league set others off balance. We were used to it. They weren’t. If the fans are the 10th man on the baseball team, RFK is the quiet, unobtrusive 11th – one more tool we could use to beat other teams who were used to power hitter friendly confines.
When the Nats were winning, confident, even when they were underdogs, this played into their mentality beautifully. Now, however, mired in the worst streak of the season (3-8 since the all start break, 4-10 counting the last series before the break) I think RFK did the reverse to the Nats – in this past home stand, it hurt them.
Now, before you lambaste me like folks lambasted Tommy boy (deservedly), let me explain. Those of you who have participated in team sports, especially a team that is close knit, will have a better understanding of where I am coming from. These guys love each other. This is a team not born from talent, but born from a common desire to win and to not let one another down. When one of the guys starts to slump, the other guys want to perform better to pick him up. The more guys who start to slump, the more the other guys try to carry the team. We see this a lot in sports. The problem here is that baseball is a true team sport. To score runs, you must have guys on base – games are not one on solo home runs alone – at least, not very often.
When they start to press, though, the home run, the big hit, the double off the wall becomes the goal – not the single to get on base. This is where the Reverse RFK Effect comes into play. RFK is bar-none the hardest park in the league to hit home runs in. RFK is where long drives go to die. RFK is a singles park, or a double in the gap – that’s how the Nats won so many in the first half. But when they start to press, when Jose Guillen and Brad Wilkerson start thinking they need to crush every ball to make up for injuries and slumps, the team runs into this kind of stretch where we lost 2 of 3 from the MLB worst Rockies and got lucky in one game (Thank You, Willy Taveras) to not get swept by Houston. The swing at bad pitches. They expand the strike zone. They put so much weight on themselves to succeed that they are crushed in clutch situations. And RFK makes it worse by making those one or two pitches you might actually get a hold of into long fly ball outs, not homeruns or doubles off the wall.
The Reverse RFK Effect.
Will they come out of it? I think so. The question is, how long before they do? The Atlanta series (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) is ill-timed. I would have rather been in Miami against the Marlins for those days and then hit Hotlanta over the weekend. These are the stretches that separate the good teams from the bad, however. If the Nats can take 2 of 3 from Atlanta, they’ll be fine. If not, we may be in for a hot, sticky, sub .500 August.
From Nationals Pride
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Preston Wilson?
Yes, I know Jim Bowden knows more than I do. I still have a right to question, however. At the time of this writing, Wilson was (in the hitter friendly confines of Colorado, no less) hitting .258, with a meager .322 on base percentage (OBP) and was slugging around .491. Yes, these numbers are also close to his career averages. How, then, will he transfer to the Nationals, especially in a ballpark where long balls go to die? I understand this is a team built on pitching and defense, but the rationale for adding Wilson was to add pop to the lineup, and I don’t see much… especially considering he was in the top 10 in the NL for strikeouts. We dumped Endy Chavez for being a free swinger, so why did we grab Wilson? I’m willing to wait this one out before giving a final verdict, but I gotta say, I’m skeptical of this one.
I do, however, like the Mike Stanton pickup. The Nats bullpen was getting tired, and in this signing they got a serviceable pitcher on the cheap with a good track record and he’s another lefty. In fact, Lefties were hitting around .150 against him (righties hit around .480) so we now have a left handed specialist to get out guys like Carlos Delgado and a guy who can eat an inning or two if the team gets behind.
I’m waiting for the next deal though. Bowden keeps preaching pitching, yet we have had two trades (Spivey and Wilson) were we gave up a pitcher for a hitter. Sure, we’d never have Spivey if Ryan Drese hadn’t been there, but we are getting closer to the point where we might need a more experienced starter who can go deeper into games.
If only we could clone Livan Hernandez.
Until next time, see you on the message boards. Sign the Petition!
From Nationals Pride
I do, however, like the Mike Stanton pickup. The Nats bullpen was getting tired, and in this signing they got a serviceable pitcher on the cheap with a good track record and he’s another lefty. In fact, Lefties were hitting around .150 against him (righties hit around .480) so we now have a left handed specialist to get out guys like Carlos Delgado and a guy who can eat an inning or two if the team gets behind.
I’m waiting for the next deal though. Bowden keeps preaching pitching, yet we have had two trades (Spivey and Wilson) were we gave up a pitcher for a hitter. Sure, we’d never have Spivey if Ryan Drese hadn’t been there, but we are getting closer to the point where we might need a more experienced starter who can go deeper into games.
If only we could clone Livan Hernandez.
Until next time, see you on the message boards. Sign the Petition!
From Nationals Pride
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)