Professional for a Day

Right now as it stands, it is only 9:51 am and it has already been a long day. I was up at 4 am today so that I could be to work at 5 am, and when I got out of work at 9 am; I came straight here to WGAM’s headquarters to do my part for the Home Team Saturday. We have a great show today with manager, of the Independent Professional Baseball team, Nashua Pride Butch Hobson calling in to talk baseball with the guys, a talk that will most likely include conversation about Olympic Skier Bode Miller who will play one game for the Pride tonight at 7:05 pm. This got me thinking about someone making a living playing for different independent league baseball teams around the country, could it happen. I agree it would be a long shot, but if it were to happen I see it going something like this.

First off, you would need to hold down at least a part time job when you are first starting out on this endeavor. The reason, your income will be little because it is going to take a few games of this for the fans and other teams to catch on. My suggestion is to start close to home and get a foundation for your minimal baseball skills. Over time you will gain cult status and word will spread. This is when other teams outside of your area hear about you and decide that maybe their fans will get a kick out of this guy who hasn’t played organized baseball since high school stand up and take a few at bats swinging at pretty much anything that is even close to the strike zone and a lot that isn’t.

This is when your cult status skyrockets to the E list (if you’re lucky) of celebrities. You will get talk show appearances with Good Morning America, Today, and maybe the View (I’m hoping for the View because that girl Elisabeth originally from Survivor is hot, and I think with this career path I can be ten times more successful then her current husband Back up QB Tim Hasselbeck of the NY Giants). Anyway this is where you get National Exposure and before you know it you’re getting offers to play for independent baseball teams all over the nation.

Now the ultimate goal of this is to hone your skills on the baseball diamond to the point where you might eventually get signed for an entire home stand, helping boost ticket sales for the specific team. This might also lead to a career in the Majors if by some off chance you are a natural at baseball, but never had the coaching to truly realize this. This would be amazing because you would automatically be on the A-list of athletes because of your truly inspirational story, you will win an ESPY, and you will definitely get a cover on Sports Illustrated.

Going back to the cover of Sports Illustrated, this will guarantee that your career will end dramatically and quickly, possibly a massive injury, or a major scandal being the reason. The first demise will get you the sympathy from millions of females across the nation and you will probably score more than Wayne Gretzky, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Jerry Rice, or Hank Aaron combined. The second will give you instant street cred and you will fall into that “Bad Boy” persona at this point grow your hair out and let the facial hair become scruffy, much like Don Johnson in Miami Vice, because it will complete the image and you will still score plenty with the ladies.

I would like to remind you that all of these scenarios are completely made up and the possibility of this happening to you is pretty much non-existent.

Trades, Extensions, Free Agent Signings

Here it is, my summer is winding down and I honestly don’t know where it went. It seems like just yesterday I was packing up my things and hopping in my Mom’s Mazda MPV heading north for New Hampshire’s version of Atlantis. So I’m going to use my time at my killer internship, WGAM 900, and weigh in on the summer for sports, thus far.

We will start off with Baseball, since the Trading deadline is quickly approaching and rumors are flying high with possibilities of star players trying to be Paige Davis and host their own version of “Trading Places.” My favorite one for its absurdity is Mike Lowell the Red Sox third baseman trading places with Jake Peavy the San Diego Padres hard throwing youngster. As much as I love Mike Lowell and what he has done for this team replacing a fan favorite Bill Mueller at third, I would not mind adding another young pitcher to this already attention grabbing starting rotation. This move would also solidify the rotation for years to come. I mean Josh Beckett, Jake Peavey, Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon (assuming he leaves his current role as a lights out closer), and you put any pitcher in that fifth spot and you are almost guaranteed winning four out of five every turn through the rotation. This scenario will never happen, for one the Padres would want more for Peavy then just an aging Mike Lowell despite how spectacular he is currently playing.

The other trade rumor is Alex Rodriguez for a slew of Philadelphia Phillies, including Bobby Abreu, David Bell, Tom Gordon, and possibly Pat Burrell. I hope this happens just so I can go to Citizens Bank Park on a consistent basis while I’m at school and sit on the third base line yelling at A-Rod any time he takes the field. I don’t know what would cause this to even be a possibility, but this is a terrible idea for the Philadelphia Phillies. Before you say it this is not because it would make the Yankees just short of amazing, it is because the Phillies cannot give up on this season just yet and that’s what they would do if they pull this deal off. Because they are simply giving up way too much for, well not enough.

Will there be any blockbuster deals pulled off before the deadline, deals like Nomar leaving Boston for Chicago? I honestly don’t know. I would like to see a few moves happen it always adds that storyline for commentators to report on as the post-season approaches.

Next topic is the Boston Celtics, they finally agreed on a contract extension with Paul Pierce. This solidifies the chances of Pierce remaining with the Celtics for the remainder of his career. This is truly an awesome story, because it is very rare in this day and age that a player of Pierce’s caliber stays with one organization throughout a career. There is still the possibility that he will be traded if his ego becomes too much for the team to handle, but I don’t see this being an issue because Pierce is the one who went against the wishes of his agent and opted not to test the free agency waters and made a commitment to the cause of winning the elusive 17th championship. So anyone who talks bad about Paul Pierce and his overall attitude really doesn’t know anything about basketball or what a move like this says about someone’s character.

The Patriots are in the process of signing their draft picks and have yet to sign a lot of their high draft picks, which raises questions on what is holding up the process, but as I always do I put my faith and trust with Belichick and whatever he does is a spectacular move.

Well time is running out on my internship so I will wrap this up, because this is Joe the Intern and I’m signing off…Peace.

Two Days in a Row?

Not since Winter break has something of this caliber happened...Boston Joe is updating his blog...two days in a row!!! Holy shit you say, and yes it is true. The reason for this second post in less than 24 hours is the nagging reports coming out of my third home Philadelphia, on Allen Iverson being traded to another NBA franchise. I don't know if the hype is the same in other NBA cities is the same as it is in Boston for the chance to get a guy like A.I. but I'm sick of the talk, and the idea of getting a guy like Iverson scares me.

I do not think Iverson is a bad player; actually, I really do respect him. I gained a lot of this respect over the 2004 Summer Olympics when he really shouldered much of the blame for the losses and barely took any of the credit for the wins. In my eyes that displays a lot of character, he deserves to win and I will always enjoy watching him play. Even with my praise for him, simply entertaining the idea of him coming to Boston scares me because I am a Paul Pierce fan and I have been since a game against the Orlando Magic his rookie year. I just don't see how both can coexist in the same environment for 82 games a year, not to mention training camps, practices (something A.I. is not a fan of), and possibly playoffs. I just don't see it happening. Both guys have gone on record saying they would love the chance to play with the other, but they seem to have different personalities, personalities that I would think would clash undoubtedly.

Curt Schilling said, on the Red Sox 2004 World Series DVD, It's not hard to get along when everyone’s purpose or goal is the same thing, or something like that. I agree with that, but I don't think the Celtics could win with the team the Celtics would have if Iverson came to town. In order to get him we would have to give up a lot of our young talent, an aspect of the team that I feel will make this team very good a few years down the road if the Celtics can hold on to most of them. Also the Celtics do not need any more guards, the team is full of them. They have a team full of 6'7" swingmen, and more point guards then I think they know what to do with. Yes, Iverson is heads above any point guard on the Celtics roster talent wise, but Iverson has been in the league 10 years and the constant abuse he has taken over the years is bound to catch up with him sooner rather than later, making him not as effective as he has been in the past.

What the Celtics need is a big man, someone who can dominate the middle much the way Bill Russell did in the 50s and 60s. It would be this aspect of a team that will get the Celtics their 17th championship that has eluded them since 1986.

Lets recap, Iverson is a great player and he deserves to win somewhere, but that place is not Boston. He would not help this team anymore then any other guy of his stature or heart could. The Celtics need a big man end of discussion.

Mid Summer Classic

The Major league All Star game was this week and I have to say one thing...If I ever hear Big and Rich perform their song about coming to my city, I guarantee I will kill someone. It started in February of 2005 when they did the halftime show at the NBA All Star game, in with one of them; I believe it was Big, wearing a Rebel outfit. This is the NBA, a league dominated by the hip hop generation, You have Allen Iverson and Shaq who in the past have put out rap albums, not to mention that about 98% of the league is black. Who thought it was a good idea to have a country music act perform at halftime, or one wearing a rebel costume for that matter? Then there was College football every Saturday when the boys at ESPN rolled into another college campus this song was blaring. I'm sick of this song and with it out living the average shelf life of a hit song by about a year and a half, not since who let the dogs out has a song been so over played in the world of sports, and that includes Gary Glitter's Rock part II which has been banned in the NFL since Glitter is facing charges of Child Sexual Abuse in Vietnam.

As for the game, the NL has not won an All Star game since 1996. This year was no different. The AL won again with Papi and Mark Loretta starting the game, Jonathan Papelbon was there in uniform, but did not pitch, and Manny the top vote getter in all of baseball opted not to attend to rest his knee that has been bothering him for quite sometime. Though none of the guys from the Red Sox had much say in the win, with the win coming in the 9th with one strike to play with, Michael Young hit a triple and won the game along with the All Star games MVP, Congrats to you Michael Young.

In other news, Paul Pierce agreed to an extension, today with the Celtics, and I turned 21 a week ago today, so I have survived the parties and hope to have many more to come. Have a good week...until we meet again.