Greensboro, NC -- I'm very late in posting my picks for the 2011 MLB season as made on The Less Desirables podcast on March 30th. As you can tell, I'm not cheating (i.e. altering picks) since some of the picks appear to be foolish. Here's a question for you -- would you still pick the Red Sox to with the AL East with their massive amount of talent yet 5-10 record?
AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Angels
AL Wild Card: Yankees
NL East: Phillies
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Giants (could go with the Rockies, but they're too risky)
NL Wild Card: Braves
ALDS:
Red Sox over White Sox
Yankees over Angels
ALCS:
Red Sox over Yankees
NLDS:
Phillies over Cardinals
Braves over Giants
NLCS:
Phillies over Braves
WS:
Red Sox over Phillies
AL MVP: Adrian Gonzalez
NL MVP: Albert Pujols
AL Cy Young: C.C. Sabathia
NL Cy Young: Ubaldo Jimenez
AL ROY: Jeremy Hellickson
NL ROY: Freddie Freeman
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
International Civil Rights Museum Review
Greensboro, NC -- I finally had the opportunity last night to visit the new International Civil Rights Museum in downtown Greensboro. This beautiful edifice, appropriately located on February One Place on the main drag of Elm Street, opened on the 50th anniversary (2.1.10) of the famous Greensboro Sit-in's. I'm not going to conduct a history lesson in this space, but more so, just comment on the museum itself.
We took a guided tour of the museum, which lasted about 45 minutes. Beginning downstairs, the tour began with a quick video of the Civil Rights movement, followed by the "Walk of Shame" -- graphic images of the victims of violence during the protests -- using 21st century technology. The tour was treated to another video; this time, it was a reenactment of the planned "sit-in" by the four NC A&T students (actors) themselves. Following the video, the tour fed in to the actual counter (F.W. Woolworth's) and location where the Sit-in's took place. A video display replayed the events that occurred on that February day in 1960. To wrap up the tour, we finally viewed some artifacts, such as propaganda, signs separating whites and blacks, and other artifacts. One artifact that explicitly caught my attention was the dual Coca-Cola machine. The vending machine was placed in the Greensboro train station; one side dispensed Coke to whites at 5 cents, while the other side dispensed Coke to blacks at 10 cents. Following the Civil Rights movement, I'm sure Coke quickly attempted to collect these machines to prevent risking their image. As our tour guide noted, "this is one machine Coke will not be getting back!"
All in all, I thought the museum was very well constructed and aesthetically pleasing. The exhibits flowed nicely, and one can tell that much money was sunk into the building. While there were rumors that the museum lost money in its first year, I believe the museum will be profitable in years to come. For that statement to ring true, Greensboro needs other landmarks, museums, or tourist sites to lure potential visitors. The problem today is that the museum is isolated downtown -- there are only restaurants surrounding the building. One can only do so much eating during a day trip to Greensboro. If you live in Greensboro, or are planning a trip to the Gate City, be sure to include the International Civil Rights Museum on your agenda!
We took a guided tour of the museum, which lasted about 45 minutes. Beginning downstairs, the tour began with a quick video of the Civil Rights movement, followed by the "Walk of Shame" -- graphic images of the victims of violence during the protests -- using 21st century technology. The tour was treated to another video; this time, it was a reenactment of the planned "sit-in" by the four NC A&T students (actors) themselves. Following the video, the tour fed in to the actual counter (F.W. Woolworth's) and location where the Sit-in's took place. A video display replayed the events that occurred on that February day in 1960. To wrap up the tour, we finally viewed some artifacts, such as propaganda, signs separating whites and blacks, and other artifacts. One artifact that explicitly caught my attention was the dual Coca-Cola machine. The vending machine was placed in the Greensboro train station; one side dispensed Coke to whites at 5 cents, while the other side dispensed Coke to blacks at 10 cents. Following the Civil Rights movement, I'm sure Coke quickly attempted to collect these machines to prevent risking their image. As our tour guide noted, "this is one machine Coke will not be getting back!"
All in all, I thought the museum was very well constructed and aesthetically pleasing. The exhibits flowed nicely, and one can tell that much money was sunk into the building. While there were rumors that the museum lost money in its first year, I believe the museum will be profitable in years to come. For that statement to ring true, Greensboro needs other landmarks, museums, or tourist sites to lure potential visitors. The problem today is that the museum is isolated downtown -- there are only restaurants surrounding the building. One can only do so much eating during a day trip to Greensboro. If you live in Greensboro, or are planning a trip to the Gate City, be sure to include the International Civil Rights Museum on your agenda!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Orioles' Roster should have been 2004 Roster
Greensboro, NC -- That snazzy little summary that follows this blog's name in the top left corner, "... your daily serving of genius" might as well be changed to "your semi-annual serving of genius." Yes, I know it's been way too long since I've written in this space, but The Less Desirables podcast has completely consumed my free time. This space should be used for random thoughts, which it will be from now on. I think, in the past, when I was an active blogger, this space was used to tell a well thought-out story, or something that intrigued me to write something about it. Let's trim down the length, and just get some thoughts published in this space!
One of my favorite times of the year is the end of March/beginning of April. The NCAA tournament is wrapping up, the long NHL and NBA seasons are coming to a close, but most importantly, it's the start of baseball! Thanks to DirecTV's free MLB Extra Innings preview (for the next two weeks), I've been able to check out each team's early season roster. After scanning the Orioles' roster this season, I had to check my notes from the infamous 2003-2004 offseason. During that time, the Orioles were able to expunge the expensive Albert Belle contract (5 years/$65M), and finally dip into the free agent pool. The Orioles signed Miguel Tejada, Rafael Palmeiro, Javy Lopez, and Sidney Ponson to multi-year deals that offseason. While it appeared to be a major splash at the time, I felt the Orioles didn't make a cannonball-sized splash. Vladimir Guerrero spurned the Orioles, and took less money from the Angels, while Derrek Lee balked at the O's offer in an exclusive trading window (he was eventually traded to the Cubs) with the Marlins. Let's check out this season's lineup:
One of my favorite times of the year is the end of March/beginning of April. The NCAA tournament is wrapping up, the long NHL and NBA seasons are coming to a close, but most importantly, it's the start of baseball! Thanks to DirecTV's free MLB Extra Innings preview (for the next two weeks), I've been able to check out each team's early season roster. After scanning the Orioles' roster this season, I had to check my notes from the infamous 2003-2004 offseason. During that time, the Orioles were able to expunge the expensive Albert Belle contract (5 years/$65M), and finally dip into the free agent pool. The Orioles signed Miguel Tejada, Rafael Palmeiro, Javy Lopez, and Sidney Ponson to multi-year deals that offseason. While it appeared to be a major splash at the time, I felt the Orioles didn't make a cannonball-sized splash. Vladimir Guerrero spurned the Orioles, and took less money from the Angels, while Derrek Lee balked at the O's offer in an exclusive trading window (he was eventually traded to the Cubs) with the Marlins. Let's check out this season's lineup:
- Brian Roberts, 2B -- On the 2004 team.
- Nick Markakis, RF -- Drafted in 2003; probably could have played on the '04 team due to a lack of prospects in the O's farm system at the time.
- Derrek Lee, 1B -- should have been on the '04 team.
- Vladimir Guerrero, DH -- ditto Lee.
- Luke Scott, LF
- Adam Jones, CF
- Mark Reynolds, 3B
- Matt Wieters, C
- JJ Hardy, SS
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