Category: sports

Spring Fever!

Posted on by Bored To Life

Baseball is finally back folks! 🙌 Today is Opening Day of the regular season for Major League Baseball. Being a native New Yorker, I will be biased and mainly following the progress of my local teams for the next 162 games, and hopefully beyond. There are many storylines to follow as the season begins as both New York clubs have made changes to bolster their respective teams in the off-season. Will the high-powered Yankees improve on last season’s playoff letdown with the addition of oft-injured all-star hitter Troy Tulowitski, among others, to supplement their power duo behemoths Giancarlo Stanton & Aaron Judge? Will the Mets be able to make it back to the playoffs with the addition of veteran hitter (and former Yankee star) Robinson Cano and 24 yr old star closer (with an MLB-best 57 saves in 2018) Edwin Diaz?

The Yankees will be at home in the Bronx to host the lowly Baltimore Orioles, with their 2nd best pitcher Masahiro Tanaka on the mound (#1 Yankee starter Luis Severino starts the season on the disabled list until May with a rotator cuff injury). And my boys in Orange & Blue, the NY Mets will start the season in Washington DC to play a 3 game series against the Nationals. This game in particular should be one to watch as it features 2 of the best pitchers in baseball (and winners of the last 3 NL Cy Youngs): 2018 National League Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom of the Mets vs. Max Scherzer (’16 & ’17 NL Cy Young winner) for the Nationals. This has only happened twice before in the history of Major League Baseball where the top 2 Cy Young award vote-getters match up on opening day of the following season. And it is happening twice again today with deGrom vs. Scherzer in the National League and Blake Snell (2018 AL Cy Young winner) of the Tampa Bay Rays vs. runner-up Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros in the American League. The last time this happened was 40 years ago on opening day of the 1979 baseball season. The Cy Young award is baseball’s highest honor for pitchers, given out after the end of each season to give recognition to the best in the game. deGrom easily won the award in 2018 with an MLB-best 1.70 earned run average, while Scherzer was no slouch as runner up with a record of 18-7 with a 2.53 era. Of course, being the Met fan that I am, I’m hoping that Scherzer has an uncharacteristic off-day and the Mets crush every ball that he hurls at them. The more likely scenario for this game is that scoring will be at a premium and this will be one of those proverbial “pitchers’ duels” with these 2 superstars toeing the rubber today. And deGrom should be able to focus a bit better coming into opening day, fresh off his brand new five-year, $137.5 million extension with the Mets. This new deal makes him the highest paid athlete in New York based on average annual salary. deGrom had publicly stated that he wanted to complete contract talks before the start of the season to eliminate that distraction, so kudos to the Mets and new GM Brodie Van Wagenen for making that happen. Prediction: Mets win 3-1. Let’s play ball! 🥎🥎🥎

**Stats & info from MLB.com and the MLB At Bat mobile app

#6 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

Posted on by Bored To Life

Love ’em or hate ’em, the New England Patriots have done it again. They have won their 6th Superbowl, beating the LA Rams 13-3, tying the Pittsburgh Steelers for most championships of all time. This also gives Tom Brady his 6th Superbowl win as Quarterback (most all-time), adding to his legacy as the winningest QB ever. It was not exactly an action packed game, as defense ruled the majority of the night. It was tied 3-3 until Brady and the boys finally scored a touchdown halfway through the 4th quarter. In fact, this was the lowest scoring Superbowl in NFL history. I don’t think that matters much to the Patriots right now, just look at how they’re celebrating in the video above. 🤪🤣

And what was up with the halftime show? It looked like Adam Levine was fighting his bandmates, fellow artists Travis Scott & Big Boi, and the camera itself for TV time. And he could not wait to tear off his shirt to expose his fully tattooed torso and prance around. Can someone say Narcissist? 🙄

I’m just hoping my NY Giants can make it back to the Superbowl next year, they seem to be the only team to be able to consistently stop Brady and Co. (Giants beat the Patriots in the Superbowl in 2008 & 2012). Congrats to the New England Patriots, 2019 Superbowl 53 champions!

Superbowl LIII (53) – GOAT edition

Posted on by Bored To Life

Superbowl 53 is officially upon us, folks. The biggest sports event of the year (and most expensive, with 30 second ad spots during this year’s telecast costing an average of $5.25 Million, the most expensive it’s ever been*) is happening this Sunday February 3rd at 6:30pm EST in Atlanta, GA. It is estimated that well over 100 million people will be tuning in here in the U.S.* Superbowl 2019 will feature the LA Rams, going for their 2nd superbowl win in their history, and the perennial Superbowl contenders the New England Patriots, going for their 6th Superbowl victory. The Patriots have been the AFC champions three years in a row, and consequently are making their 3rd consecutive Superbowl appearance. If the Patriots pull off another championship win this Sunday, it will tie them with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most superbowl championships in NFL history (6).

And all 5 of the Patriots’ championships so far have been with Tom Brady at the helm as their starting Quarterback. If they achieve a 6th Superbowl win this Sunday, it will only solidify Brady’s status as the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). Brady’s 5 championships are the most for any quarterback in history, with Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw tied for second best with 4 Lombardi trophies each. Love him or hate him, there is no denying his achievements and his status as a living legend. What Michael Jordan is to basketball, Brady is to football. If he wins his 6th Superbowl on Sunday, he will have even more in common with Michael Jordan with 6 world championships each. And although the Brady-era Patriots have had its share of controversies over the years (e.g. spygate, deflategate), they are mere minor blemishes on an otherwise stellar and storied career. At 41 years old, he is showing no signs of slowing down and had publicly stated that he plans on playing until he turns 45. Although nothing is guaranteed and anything can certainly happen, I know I wouldn’t bet against the best QB of all time. Have a happy Superbowl Sunday folks!

*( info from http://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/super-bowl-53-commercials-how-much-do-ads-cost-in-2019/l9ghpuv7kwwq1uhwy9xd35rhm )