The World Cup will bring everyone together

So far this year, the world has suffered a great deal of bad news between the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. There are over six billion people in this planet and there are several people that suffer everyday. There are also several people that are healthy and have a lot of success. Finally something that we have been waiting for all year is now here, the World Cup. Since the World Cup is starting on Friday, this will be a great opportunity for everyone to come together and root for our teams to victory. It will be held in South Africa from June 11-July 11. For one month, people will come together and cheer for their countries and even other teams.
There will be 32 teams in eight groups that will be participating in the tournament. The team that is most likely favored to win is Brazil, because they always put together a great club. Since South Africa is hosting the tournament, I will root for them because not only do their fans deserve to watch them play, but they deserve some success, like winning the pool.
This is the best part about sports, people all around the world watching the games/matches together. Remember the 2006 World Cup in Germany? What about the Olympics in February? Both events were exciting because millions of people in the globe watched all of these events. No matter what the results were, people were just happy to have the opportunity to root for their countries. Watching sports is a diversion for people that are suffering. Does it fix people's problems permanently? It doesn't, but what it will do is make people forget about their problems for the time being. Dreams become realities, so do nightmares. There will be success, there will be disappointments and there will even be a Cinderella story. In the end, whoever comes on top, that country will be jubilant about being a winner and having the chance to watch their national club play. Even if you don't watch soccer in any capacity, watch a least one match, you will not regret it.

Now in the working world

It has been 13 days since I have graduated from college and so far it been a blast. I have been keeping busy between visiting with my family and friends, getting called in for substitute teaching and doing some yard work. I know that I can't have a lifestyle like that forever, but it is keeping me going for the meantime. It is not easy trying to find a job these days. Even though there has been an job hiring increase in four consecutive months, it is not finding me a job. At the same time, I shouldn't worry too much because I can substitute teach for two weeks and then be a job coach for autistic kids ages 18-22 from July to August, so I have plenty of time.
At this point I just have to be patient and wait for my opportunity.
On the bright side, I got $950 for graduation money and a brand new car. It is a 2010 Honda Accord with a 2.4 liter engine, 4 cylinders and 177 horsepower. It feels good to drive a car and know that everything works correctly, unlike my previous car. My old car was a 1997 Buick LeSabre. The problems it had were unbelievable. The transmission fluid kept leaking, the gas gage was broken so I could never be able to tell how much gas I had left, the speedometer was out of whack but fortunately I got it fixed and finally whenever I used my right directional and then turn I would have to turn it off manually. Otherwise the car worked just fine. "The Boat" will live on.
It feels good to be home knowing that I have so many members of my family and friends that care about me. It is such a comforting and reassuring feeling that I am a likable person, which that shocks me. Even though there is a lot of drama in Massachusetts, it sure beats drinking a six-pack of Rolling Rock while watching a Celtics playoff game by myself. Even though it was not my best year of school, I still had many good memories and met a lot of cool people. It makes me sad knowing that I will never be an undergraduate student at UNH again. Every summer I would work, hang out with friends and get prepared to go back to school. I can still do the first two things, but the school thing is over.
Was college the best four years of my life? I would have to say yes and no. Yes, because I gained friends I will always love and trust, I got to student abroad and I learned so much in and out of the classroom. No, because of the homework, the rigorous schedule, the cliques and I never had a significant other. Nothing is perfect, so I am not even worried at the very least.

Hoyatoma steps aside; BP has to stop what they are doing

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama of Japan, who swept into power last year with bold promises to revamp the country, then faltered over broken campaign pledges to remove an American base from Okinawa, announced Wednesday that he would step down. He basically quit he job because his approval ratings (meaning if people like him) were under 25 percent. It was said that he was very indecisive and inconsistent of what he said he was going to do to improve the country. It is a shame that it came to this not because he was in office for only eight months, but he broke a long tradition of the Liberal Democratic Party. Looks like it was a mistake that he broke the long time political philosophy. Mr. Hatoyama is the fourth Japanese prime minister to resign in four years, which means Japan is not an easy nation to please.
BP, the English Oil Company who is responsible for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, has taken too long and has screwed up too often since the oil spill occurred on April 20th. They have made several attempts to stop the oil flow between underwater robots, the "top kill" experiment, ice crystals trying to stop the flow, etc. Even though BP's executive, Tony Heyward, said several times that BP will stop this, they have failed to do so. The oil has hit the marshlands and areas that have threatened the lives of several animal species. When is it time for the U.S. government to tell BP to stop sucking at their jobs and take over the project? Over 30 million barrels of oil is in the water and it is nearly a mile deep into the sea. This could affect the economy and transportation in several ways. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama have claimed that whoever is responsible for the explosion that has caused the oil spill will be put to justice. I will believe it when I see it. This is the worst oil spill in American history and nothing is working to slow it down, never mind stop it. If I was Obama, I would tell Heyward, "Hey man, you said you were going to clean up your own mess. The mess is not cleaned up and it looks like it won't be. It's time for us to finish it off."

Perfect games becoming less common now

On Saturday night, Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher, Roy Halladay, made history by being the 20th pitcher in Major League Baseball history to throw a perfect game. Halladay achieved this coveted milestone against the Florida Marlins by going 27 up and 27 down, 11 of those by the way of the K. This is the second perfect game this season, Dallas Braden of the Oakland Athletics throwing the first one on May 9th against the Tampa Bay Rays. We already have a no-hitter and two perfect games this season and its not even June yet. I think the perfect game is starting to lose its value.
As much as I like the fact that it was Halladay that tossed a perfect game, I am very displeased of how often a perfect game has occurred in recent years. The first perfect game ever recorded was Lee Richmond in June 12, 1880 which the Worchester Ruby Legs defeated the Cleveland Blues 1-0. Five days later was John Montgomery Ward of the Providence Grays defeating the Buffalo Bisons 5-0. There have been 18 perfect games in the modern century, four of them in the last six seasons (Randy Johnson in 2004, Mark Buehrle in 2009, Braden and Halladay this season).
The longest separation between perfect games was Charlie Robertson in 1922 to Don Larson in 1956. Basically since then a perfect game happens every four-seven years. What is happening here? Are the pitchers getting better? Are the hitters getting worse? It could be possible that the pitchers are much stronger now between their strict diets and lifting weights. Before the 1970's, baseball players never lifted weights, but they were still excellent baseball players. Jim Rice, last year's Hall of Fame inductee, said that he never lifted weights and he hit over 400 homeruns. Maybe baseball just needs to allow pitchers to smoke cigarettes and chew tobacco during games, then hitters can have a better chance. It could also be possible that it is a coincidence, but how much of a coincidence?
It could also be because of the implementation of video and scouting reports. Starting pitchers have four and five days between each start to work on their mechanics, study their opponents and how their can exploit their opponent's weaknesses. Why does a perfect game not happen more often? Because hitters also study their mechanics and the opposing starting pitcher and how their can expose their weaknesses. I honestly don't believe or even don't want to believe that current baseball players are better than players from half a century ago. I just think today's players care so much about improving their game so they can get a big pay-day. It just makes me sad that it is happening more often than it should. As a fan, there is nothing I can do about it but watch the game and probably complain about it right after wards. Who is going to be the next person to join the perfect game club and when is it going to happen?

College life is over

Since the first day of school this year I was so excited about graduating college. It is time for college life to end and it is also time to turn to a new chapter in my life. When I woke up today, I almost freaked out because it is my last day of college. All year I have been talking about how great it will be to get out of here. I am actually a little sad because I am going to leave a lot of memories behind, but at the same time, this school has taught me so much that I am ready to get into the job world and pursue my dream job. This morning I went to the commencement rehearsal and I saw some people that I haven't seen in two or even three years. When I sat in the chairs at the rehearsal, I realized that after tomorrow I am all done. It feels like yesterday when I started college in 2006. On my first day, I meet new people and I felt like four years was going to last forever. Four years goes by a lot quicker than you think because trust me, I know for sure that college goes by way too fast. I have learned so much from meeting a lot of people and from all of my classes that the world needs our help to make it a better place. I have had experiences that I will never forget. I know that I will keep my college friends for several years to come. I would have never survived if it wasn't from my friends at school. There is always room for friends, but these friends of mine are so special that a lot of other people don't even come close to how special these people are. I feel privileged to be a college student and learn from teachers who had the opportunity to make the world a better place. I am proud to say that I am one of the one percent of the world that had the opportunity to go to college/university. That is a number that will always blow my mind. I can write a book of why the University of New Hampshire is the best school in New England but I don't have enough time to write about it at this point. This school has made me a much better person than before I came here. I don't think that I would have developed into the great person I am today if I went into a different school. Although, everyone has a different experience at a different school. But my experience will always be unforgettable. Since today is my last day as a college student, it is time for me to go crazy and spend time with the people I most care about. God bless to all UNH students and I wish you the best of luck for your future. God bless me for graduating in four years. I would not be here today if it wasn't for my friends and family from Massachusetts. I will always love you more than you will know.

Bangkok goes chaotic; Editorial makes right opinion about Blumenthal

All of these stories are reported by The New York Times.
A crackdown on anti government protesters launched by the Thai military on Wednesday degenerated into riots, firebombing attacks, looting and street battles after militants allied with the protest movement resisted the army’s onslaught with grenades and assault weapons. Most of the leaders of the so-called red shirt movement surrendered, but other protesters rampaged across Bangkok, setting fire to almost 30 buildings, the government said, including country’s stock exchange, a massive shopping mall, two banks, a movie theater and a television station. The government warned of further acts of violence into the night and threatened to shoot looters and arsonists. But the crackdown did not appear to have become the large-scale bloodbath that many had feared. By dusk the government said six people — including an Italian news photographer — had been killed and 58 injured, some critically. There were also reports from emergency medical personnel that at least six more bodies of people killed in clashes lay in a Buddhist temple in the combat zone. Still, central Bangkok, the heart of one of Asia’s most cosmopolitan cities, became a militarized zone, with well-armed troops lining many streets and armored personnel carriers barreling down deserted avenues. The government ordered a curfew for Wednesday night, the subway system remained shut, and embassies told their citizens living across this sprawling metropolis of about 15 million people to stay indoors. The leaders of the red shirts, who had roared into Bangkok on March 12 demanding fresh elections and calling for what they said was true democracy for the country, surrendered to the police on Wednesday afternoon to face charges of terrorism. The surrender of the protest leaders and the dispersal of the crowd are victories for the embattled government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. But the crackdown did little to heal the country’s deep divisions and may have exacerbated the resentment felt by the rural and urban poor, who formed the core of the protest movement. Rioting in the country’s populous hinterland Wednesday when the crackdown began underlined those divisions and forced the government to declare a curfew in 24 of the country’s 76 provinces on Wednesday. The crackdown began Wednesday morning when armored military vehicles that had massed in the predawn hours outside the protester’s encampment rammed through barricades constructed with tires, bamboo poles and razor wire. After weeks of back-channel negotiations with the protesters, many of whom are followers of Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister ousted in a 2006 military coup, the government had lost its patience. Infantry accompanied the armored vehicles into the protest zone, taking control of major roads as well as entering the city’s Lumpini Park, normally a rare oasis of green and tranquility in Bangkok. On Wednesday a grenade landed in one of the park’s lakes, soldiers said. As troops approached anxiety spread through the protest zone, which was located in one the wealthiest neighborhoods in Bangkok and home to many corporate headquarters, high-end shopping malls, luxury hotels and high-rise apartment buildings. Thai news outlets reported that one of the more militant protest leaders, Arisman Pongruengrong, who is also a popular singer, fled the protest zone in disguise. Mr. Arisman made headlines last month when he evaded arrest by climbing from a window as the police raided the hotel where he was staying. He was captured Wednesday evening by the police and taken to a military base outside of Bangkok. Around noon, seven protest leaders announced they would hand themselves in.
The fact that there is fighting and violence in such a peaceful country makes me very sad. As much as I am happy about people that care about their political rights and thoughts about their government, it should not have come to this. This has been going on for about two months now and I think the government has had enough of it. The government and military officials have made several attempts to make peace with the protesters but most of them still haven't budged. Too many people have been killed, even a general who was shot and killed last week. This has become such a crazy world and no one should feel safe. Stories like this is the reason why all Americans like myself should feel fortunate of what we have. We should cherish all of the opportunities we get and then run with it.
There are few sins less forgivable in American politics than claiming unearned military valor. Richard Blumenthal, the attorney general of Connecticut, may consider his false claim to have served in Vietnam to be “a few misplaced words,” as he put it on Tuesday, but, in fact, this deception seems to have been part of a larger pattern of misleading voters. As Raymond Hernandez reported in The Times on Tuesday, Mr. Blumenthal, a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate, said on at least one occasion in 2008 that he had served in Vietnam, and he failed to correct journalistic profiles over the years that included the claim. He was actually a member of the Marine Corps Reserve who never served overseas. In an unsatisfying news conference on Tuesday, Mr. Blumenthal said he had meant to say that he served “during” the Vietnam War, not “in” Vietnam. He was surrounded by veterans who said he had repeatedly used that construction over the years. But even that phrase seems intended to suggest to inattentive voters that he had a greater link to the war than he actually did. There is nothing wrong with having received multiple military deferments during the Vietnam period, as Mr. Blumenthal did, and neither those deferments nor the details of his service in the reserve have any bearing on his fitness to become a senator. But his embellishments do. Mr. Blumenthal, who has an exemplary record as attorney general, has only a few months to demonstrate that they are an aberration and not a disqualifying character trait.
People like Richard Blumenthal are why politicians disgust me. How do you "misplace words" about serving in the Vietnam War? Serving during and serving in Vietnam is a big difference. Those were very sad and brutal times in American history in the 20th century. While millions of American soldiers lost their lives fighting for their country, this guy kept being deferred from serving. It's probably because he's lazy and incompetent and the generals knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to have him serve with other soldiers who actually care about their country. I'm glad that Blumenthal supports Vietnam War veterans and also acknowledges of what they have been through since the conclusion of the war, but don't act like you are a hero because you served during those times. This is no world citizen trusts their government because all of the people involved are two-faced.

How fans deal with the Bruins choking

On Friday, Boston Bruins fans saw one of the worst collapses in NHL history, if not Boston sports history. The Bruins lost to the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 and became the third team in NHL history to lose a series when leading a best of seven games three games to zero, the Detroit Red Wings lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942 and the Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the New York Islanders in 1975. This was a sad week to watch hockey if you are a Bruins fan, a real fan or bandwagon fan. All the Bruins had to do was win one game and they would advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1992 and it would have been against their biggest foe, the Montreal Canadiens, but they didn't do it. Not only did they lose a three game lead, they actually lost a 3-0 lead in the first period to lose the series, how about that for karma.
I got over it surprisingly quickly because I am always behind my team no matter how good or bad they are. What I haven't gotten over is the annoying bandwagon fans that have been constantly bitching that they lost. They definitely jumped on the wagon when the Bruins went to the playoffs. There is no way damn way that they were fans during the regular season when the Bruins stunk up the joint until the last two weeks of the season. As pissed off as I am that the Bruins blew it, I have to admit that they got a hell of a lot farther in the playoffs than I expected. They beat the Buffalo Sabres and they had the best goaltender in the NHL this season in Ryan Miller. Does that bring you a Stanley Cup? No it doesn't. You would figure that the Flyers would be toast without Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne during the series, but the Flyers didn't quit. Gagne came back in Game Four earlier than expected and scored four goals in four games to lead the Flyers past the Bruins. The bandwagon fans have been bitching as soon as the Flyers took a 4-3 lead late in the third period when Simon Gagne scored a power play goal.
When I was on Facebook on Friday after the loss, I read eight statuses in a row that basically said Bruins suck. Who cares? Just be happy for your team for the fact that they had a chance to battle for the Stanley Cup. Being a fan for the Bruins is really tough thing to do. They are currently the hardest team to root for in New England sports right now because they choke a lot. In 1979, they blew a one goal lead in the seventh game because of a too many men on the ice penalty. Sure enough, they lost the lead on the penalty kill and lost in overtime. In 2004, the Bruins lost a three games to one lead to the Canadiens won the last three games to win the first round. They choked last year when they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7 at home in the second round. As often as the Bruins choke, I will stick to my team.
Even though the Bruins had a sad ending to their wild season, things do look bright for next year. A lot of bandwagon Bruins fans will forget that they have the number two pick in this year's NHL Draft (thank you Maple Leafs for trading a first rounder for Phil Kessel). For the off-season, The fake Bruins fans would probably want the coaching staff to be fired or a major change in personnel. Bruins head coach, Claude Julien, should not be fired. He has done a great job with this team and a change in coaching would not do anything to improve the team. A trade or two wouldn't hurt, but the Bruins should stick to free agency and see what they get first.
Things don't look too bright right now because the Bruins broke our hearts but if you are a real fan, you stick with your team to the end, no exceptions. I am very sure of myself that I will be talking about this to fake Bruins fans all summer. It will be even more frustrating when they won't give me good, factual reasons why the Bruins suck. In sports, there is always a loser and the Bruins are unfortunately on that losing side. Bandwagon fans, I will see you next April when the Bruins make the playoffs.

A week full of relaxing

I am back to writing after a week vacation. Even though I haven't needed to studied since Monday, I needed a break from my daily routine in college throughout this semester. There hasn't been a lot of interesting news updates since last week and, there wasn't anything special about my life to actually talk about. This week has been more interesting than ever.
On Monday I had my last final ever as an undergraduate student at the University of New Hampshire. It was my sports writing final and what we did was we watched a Colorado Rockies/Chicago Cubs game in 2008. The Rockies had a 9-1 through five innings and the Cubs scored three runs in the sixth inning and six runs in the seventh inning and the Cubs won 10-9. After the game, we had to write a first draft which is a running story. After we emailed our running story, we had to go to another room and my instructor, David Cataneo pretended to be the players and managers and we interviewed them about the game. David was funny because of the things the players and managers pretended to say. Then we had to write the wrap, which is the game story with the quotes from the players and managers. I got it done four minutes before the deadline. It was a lot of fun because it was my first time ever working under pressure like that. Even though it may not have gone as planned, I was happy about gaining experience of what it is like to work on a short deadline.
Since Monday, I have basically been on vacation. While everyone else is writing long papers or studying for their final exams, I have just been relaxing and doing what I want to do. I have more time to read the newspaper, go to the gym, reading and spending more time with my friends. I was actually going to go home this weekend because I wanted to break up my time from Monday until next Saturday, but my mother, my mother, the woman who is selfish about giving me up persuaded me to stay at UNH this weekend. She said that it will be my last weekend ever in college and there is a possibility that I may never see some of my college friends ever again. I then thought about it and then I realized that she is right. I can see my family and friends anytime I want. I do think that I will see some of my friends again someday, but we shall see.
Yesterday I got to meet Jackie MacMullan, a columnist from the Boston Globe and contributor of ESPN. She attended and graduated from UNH in 1982. She came back to be a guest speaker at a luncheon that the university president Mark Huddleston held for guests and alumni. The Journalism department offered all of the journalism students to meet Jackie 45 minutes before the event and seven students, including myself, accepted the invitation. Before I got to meet Jackie, I felt like I was hyperventilating. I felt like this because I have been reading her stories since I was a freshman in high school and I had great respect for her. While I was unable to get my breath, I needed to get a banana to calm my nerves. Sure enough, after I ate my banana, I felt a lot better. Finally Jackie comes in. All of the sudden I felt extremely confidant. I knew what I was going to talk to her about, but I also wanted to listen to what she had to say. She talked about her most recent released book "The Game is Ours" which is about the rivalry between NBA legends Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic" Johnson. She said that writing books "sucks the life out of you." I figured it would be, especially if you are writing about a guy who had no personality and a guy with too much personality. She also talked about her career and all of her favorite stories. When it was my turn, my question was: "Since you played basketball during college, did it benefit you when it came to covering basketball games?" She said it didn't help with her writing but it did help her when it came to talking to players. That was exactly what I wanted to hear and I was very happy that I asked her that question. We also talked a little about the current Celtics teams and it was really interesting of what she had to say about the team. She said that Rajon Rondo would not be the player he is today if it wasn't for "The Big Three" which is Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. I immediately felt comfortable while I listening to her. She was so easy to talk to. I can see why all of the players wanted to talk to her. Jackie is very nice and so outgoing. She kept telling us to get our names out there, bother as many editors as possible and show your passion. That made me feel really good that I was able to sit down with someone who went to the same school as I do and get to the top. I can tell that she went through a lot to get to where she is today. I felt like I was walking on water after I talked to her and it was a great feeling.
I am eight days away from graduating. It is a surreal feeling that I am so close to finishing. The best part is that I can relax as much as I want until then. I have plenty of time to search for jobs. I have the rest of my life to find direction in my line of work. What my job is for right now is to relax, have fun and do everything I want to do until next Saturday.

Amount of oil in ocean could escalate; Washington approves medical marijuana;

All of these stories are reported by The New York Times
In a closed door briefing for members of Congress, a senior BP executive conceded Tuesday that the crippled Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico could conceivably spill as much as 60,000 barrels a day of oil, more than 10 times the estimate of the current flow. The scope of the problem has grown drastically since the rig exploded and capsized into the gulf. Now, the discussion with BP on Capitol Hill is certain to intensify pressure on the company, which is facing crisis of confidence similar to what the Toyoda Motor Company has with uncontrolled acceleration-despite its efforts to control the damage to its reputation as a corporate citizen, the problem may be worsening. Amid growing uncertainty about the extent of the leak, and when it might be stanched, pressure on BP intensified on multiple fronts on Tuesday, from increasingly frustrated residents of the Gulf Coast to federal, state and local officials demanding more from the company. Instead, the company has dispatched executives to hold down meetings in the affected region, and it has turned to lower-profile social media outlets to trumpet its cleanup efforts and moves to organize volunteers. At Tuesday's briefing, David Rainey, the BP vice president for the Gulf of Mexico production, said the company was employing a variety of untried techniques to staunch the oil gushing from the well 5,000 feet below the surface. At the briefing, Mr. Rainey and officials from Transocean and from Halliburton, which was providing cementing services on the platform, also acknowledged that they did not know how likely it was that the oil from the spill would be caught up in the so-called loop currents in the gulf and be carried through the Florida Keys into the Atlantic Ocean. Also on Tuesday, the company's chief executive, Tony Hayward, told Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, that the spill would clearly cause more than $75 million in economic damage, the current cap on liability for drilling accidents. While BP continues to acknowledge its responsibility to shut off and clean up the oil, it is being barraged by government officials and civil lawyers who are redoubling efforts to ensure that the company's legal obligations are clearly defined and strictly enforced. BP has significantly stepped up its lobbying on Capital Hill, spending nearly $16 million in 2009, more than triple what it spent just two years before, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group. BP is playing to a particularly skeptical and vigilant audience in the gulf, where people have become accustomed to frustrating clashes with insurance companies and government agencies in the five years since Hurricane Katrina.
It's amazing how a story in this caliber can be so heavily downplayed until they realize its worse than it is. Oil spilled into the ocean is bad, not matter how much it is and no matter what body of water it is. It just so happens that instead of some oil being in the water, there is a shitload of oil in the water. It's a good thing that BP is paying for this because the government nor anyone else should have to. It could hurt the economy, the animals, the environment and the means of oil production. Even though the amount of oil in the ocean is escalating, I don't buy it taking years for it to clean up. Once they block the shores with concrete walls, people will be safe. Everything that becomes a potential disaster takes a long time to fix. It will just take longer than expected to clean it up.

The District of Columbia Council approved a measure on Tuesday that would allow people with certain chronic illnesses to obtain medical marijuana from a handful of dispensaries regulated by the city. The 13-member council voted unanimously to allow doctors to recommend marijuana for people who are infected with H.I.V., as well as people with glaucoma, cancer or "chronic and lasting disease." Some doctors say marijuana helps relieve nausea, vomiting, certain AIDS syndrome and some side effects of chemotherapy. For glaucoma patients, the drug is believed to help lower eye pressure. The measure, which Mayor Adrian Fenty is expected to sign into law, thrusts the debate over medical marijuana into the hands of Congress and the White House, which must decide within 30 days whether to allow the city to proceed with the plan. To block, the law from taking effect, the House and the Senate must pass a joint resolution and President Obama must approve. If federal lawmakers do not intervene, Washington will join California and 13 other states that allows residents to use marijuana for medical purposes. The measure requires patients, their caregivers, dispensaries and cultivators to register with the city, restricts dispensaries to a maximum of 95 plants, and prohibits district agencies from arresting medical marijuana users or denying them from other services. Public support for medical marijuana has remained constantly high in recent years. In an Associated Press-CNBC poll conducted in April, nearly two-thirds of the respondents supported legalizing medical marijuana.
Wow, Washington is actually close to approving medical marijuana. There have been talks about passing the law for several months, so this doesn't come much as a surprise. I don't understand why people are so against medical marijuana, never mind marijuana. It's not like the drug can actually kill you unless you smoke two pounds in one sitting which is absolutely impossible by the way. Plus, patients need to find more ways to cure if not contain the illness anyway and I think medical marijuana will do the job. I think this is a big step for attempting to legalize marijuana. I don't think that the gateway drug will be illegal for much longer with 14 states approving medical marijuana.

Durant, not James, should have won MVP

Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James won his second consecutive MVP award yesterday topping Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant and Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant. James received 116 out of the 123 possible votes to win MVP. I thought this was the wrong choice and the voting should have been closer.
I thought that Durant should have won. Don't get me wrong, James is a tremendous player to watch. He is a crazy physical specimen that is almost unstoppable, but when you have Shaquille O'Neal and Mo Williams on the floor with you, it would be inexcusable for poor play. Durant does not have that luxury of a great supporting cast. In fact, Durant had to provide his talents on a much younger team whose average age is 25.1, while the Cavalier's average age is 27.8. Just two years ago, the Seattle Supersonics were sold and moved to Oklahoma City. Last year the Thunder's record was 23-59, fourth worst record in the NBA. This year, Durant, he led the Thunder to a 27-win improvement from a year ago, making them from crappy to championship contenders overnight. He helped make Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green and James Harden from high draft choices to stars in just three short years. James never did that when he got drafted in 2003. His team got better from trades and free agency. James is a great player, but he doesn't make players around him better.
I am going to break down stats for both players: James played 76 games, played 39 minutes a game, scored 29 points per game, 7.3 rebounds, 8.6 assists, shot 50 percent, 33 percent from three pointers and a 76 percent from the free throw line. Durant played all 82 games, scored 30 points per game, 7.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, shot 47 percent, 36 from three point land and 90 percent from the free throw line. The only stats that James was better at were assists, steals and field goal percentage while Durant was better at everything else. Plus, Durant had to put up those numbers in a much tougher Western Conference than James who plays in the puny Eastern Conference.
It just shows that since James is the more popular player he would always win awards. I think Durant is more likely to win a championship than James because he has a hell of a lot of talent around him and he is more of a winner. To me, James is just a guy who puts up ridiculous stats. James' teams will always be really good, but not championship caliber because he is just show. He throws powder in the air, makes spectacular dunks and shots three pointers from as far as possible. Just play the damn game, don't act like your better than everybody, be better than everybody and someday Durant will show that kind of example. Durant is more of a team player. He doesn't talk smack and he does his job. The definition of a Most Valuable Player to me means if a team did not have this player they would be screwed and Durant is that player, not James.

May is almost here

I can't believe that tomorrow will be the fifth month of the new decade. I can't believe that tomorrow will also be three weeks left until I graduate. I am so excited that I don't know what to do with myself! May is one of my favorite months of the year because that is when spring weather stops being cold and rainy and it starts getting a little hotter and less rain. May is also when the NBA and NHL playoffs are in full swing. The Bruins and Celtics both advanced to the second round earlier this week, so it is a good time to be a Boston sports fan. As much as I really love watching the playoffs, it is always more exciting when your team is still in it. The Bruins are facing the Philadelphia Flyers and the Celtics are playing the Cleveland Cavilers. Both opponents are their rivals, so both of them should be exciting series to watch.
It also the last month of the college year until the fall, but this year I will be done for good. Many seniors that I have talked to are really nervous about graduating because they don't know what to do for a job. I am really stoked about graduating and I don't have a plan either, but like my dad said, you have the rest of your life to find a job and be stressed out. I know that I am not having much luck, but I know someday I will get a great opportunity for a job and I will not pass it up. One thing about me is, if there is an opportunity knocking on the door, I am going to answer the call and make my chances count.
Life has been great for me because I am the only one in Smith Hall that barely has homework to do. While everyone is stressing out and complaining, I am just relaxing and laughing at them. I do have homework to do. I have a 7-8 page paper for my film class due next Thursday and my revision for my feature story for Sports Writing is due May 10th. Unlike everyone else, I am always on top on my work, so whenever I get them done, I get them done quickly, which gives me have plenty of free time. This is actually the most free time that I have ever had. I need this because I have worked my ass off and sacrificed a lot of my time throughout my four years at UNH, so I deserve all of the free time that I have. I will be busy and stressed out soon enough once I get into the job world.
Since I have three weeks left in my college career, there are things that I haven't done yet that I have to do. The top four things that I plan to do is to go to the Portsmouth Brewery, go to the Red Hook brewery, go to Wagon Hill, which apparently the rumor is people have sex in a wagon, not that I am planning to do so, and do the "Slap Shot" contest at JP's Eatery in Durham. To complete the "Slap Shot", you have to eat 15 sliders, a large fry and a large milkshake in 30 minutes. People have done it, in fact the fastest time I believe is 12 minutes, which is Joey Chestnut fast. I know that I will not be able to finish it, but dammit I want to try it. As much as I love to eat I have never participated in an eating contest, not until the "Slap Shot". I just realized that my top four things I want to do have to do with eating, drinking and possibly having sex. Wow, I sound like a frat boy, weak.
Coming into this semester, I knew that graduating is going to be weird, but when it starts to get closer it hits you hard. As excited as I am about graduating, I am also sad that I am leaving. The good times definitely outweighed the bad times. I have met people that I thought I would never meet. In fact, I made friends that will last a lifetime. I will be leaving a place that groomed me to be the best journalist and even the best person I can be. I don't think I would be the person I am today if I went to Boston University or even Fitchburg State College. Everyone has a different experience where ever they go, which is why life is so interesting. It may be possible that my high school peers that got rejected from UNH my not have had as good of a time here as I did, but that is why we are all different people.
This weekend should be exciting because one of my friends from home is visiting tomorrow, which whenever he does, it is a great time. I don't have a lot of homework to do, so I can spend more time goofing around. Also, the Bruins and Celtics are both playing their second round Game 1's tomorrow. Hopefully they can win, but if they don't, they have at least four games to make it up. I just hope my last three weekends ever at UNH will be the best three weekends of my life. I just have to them count.

Before Ukraine and Russia make deal, they have to fight for it, literally; Utah missionaries get lesser charge in Haiti; Immigration a hot topic

All of the stories are reported by The New York Times
Lawmakers pelted the podium with eggs and catcalls before stalking across the aisle, putting their colleagues in headlocks and engaging other tactics not exactly covered by Robert's Rule of Order. Smoke bombs were set off in the chamber. Glue was poured into voting machines. The legislative leader directed the session behind umbrellas held by his aides, to protect him from projectiles. Ukraine's Parliament was supposed to conduct a weighty debate on Tuesday revolving around the country's sovereignty and relationship with neighboring Russia, but the proceedings often seemed more like a food fight in a high school cafeteria. At issue was whether to ratify an agreement to extend the lease on a Russian naval base on the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine by 25 years. In the end, it was narrowly approved with 236 votes out of a possibly 450, but not before Parliament appeared to do some damage to its own reputation. The two sides even got into a shoving match and tug of war over a giant Ukrainian flag. The base deal was negotiated last week by the new Ukrainian president, Viktor F. Yanukovich, who was elected in February on a pledge to patch relations with Russia, which has been severely strained under the previous president, Viktor A Yushchenko. In return, Russia agreed to cut the cost of natural gas by 30 percent. The current lease expires in 2017, and the base's opponents said Russia should withdraw after that.
To make a deal, the Ukrainians and Russians had to fight and throw things at each other to complete it. What the hell kind of relationship is that? I know that they haven't had the best relationship, but when you are trying to work together and make a deal benefiting both sides, you have to keep your cool. Not only does it make the politicians look bad, it makes them lose their credibility and trust from their citizens. They should be past this behavior by now. Headlocks and throwing eggs at each other, grow up.
A Haitian judge said Tuesday that he dropped kidnapping charges against Laura Silsby and nine other American missionaries because the children they were trying to take out of Haiti were given over freely by their parents. The judge, Bernard Si-Vil, said Ms. Silsby would be tried on a lesser charge of arranging illegal travel because she knew she had no right to take 33 children out of Haiti. He also said that Ms. Silsby deceived the other missionaries by telling them she had the proper documents to take the children to the Dominican Republic.
The missionaries got really lucky. They could have been sentenced to prison for a few years, but they got off. Being in jail for three months was the punishment they deserved. When I heard them being jailed for this, I didn't know what to feel at first. The missionaries were doing a good thing, but at the same time they were kidnapping the children. I know that it was a serious earthquake and the citizens were suffering, but sometimes in order to be a hero, you have to sit back and think whether people around you want to be saved. The children need to be with their parents until they are ready to separate. They didn't have documents to bring them to the Dominican Republic, which makes their actions irresponsible and reckless. I am hoping that Silsby gets a heavy charge for deceiving her crew and being the leader of this so-called rescue, because as a leader, not only did she let her team down, she let herself down.
Senator John McCain of Arizona took the senate floor the other day to embrace a tough new Arizona law giving the police the authority to detain people they suspect are illegal immigrants. This week, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, abruptly announced that the Senate would take up an immigration bill to address both enhanced border security and citizenship, even in the face of daunting odds. Mr. Reid also faces tough re-election battle, and his advisers believe that Hispanic voters in Nevada could prove key to his re-election. The immigration flare-up that has engulfed Washington has emerged as a political challenge for Republicans and Democrats alike as they struggle to deal with the complexities and emotions of an issue that is scrambling party and geographic lines. In the short term, Mr. Reid's vow to tackle immigration legislation this year could hurt some Democrats in the fall election, causing problems with voters who view immigrants as competition for tough-to-find jobs and illegal immigration as a drain on social services, analysts from both parties said. But the Republican Party could face long-term risks if it is identified with legislation cracking down on illegal immigration at the time when Hispanic voters are emerging as an increasingly large and engaged part of the American electorate. Both parties agree on the need for better border security. But each also has to balance how to deal with illegal immigrants already in the United States against the desires of powerful constituencies. These include Hispanics who would like to see many illegal immigrants given a chance to become legal, employers who rely on the cheap labor they provide and working-class voters who see undocumented workers as threats to their jobs at wage levels. To a certain extent, the White House has reason to be glad Mr. Reid is pushing an issue of such concern to Hispanics, a critical part of Mr. Obama's base in states like Nevada in 2008 and a group Democrats hope to energize in the fall. Some Democrats said the prospects for a legislative deal might be better in 2011, particularly if the jobless rate drops and Hispanics continue to mobilize and grow as an electoral vote.
I think that a legislative for immigration has to get done. But since the Democrats rather work with environmental issues first, which makes the Republicans wild. First off, the new Arizona law for immigration is bullshit and not what we had in mind. How the hell can you train people to know whether someone is an illegal immigrant? Anyone can be, but if the policeman nab the wrong person, shit will go down. Why not just try to work on both environmental issues and immigration at the same time? They won't because both parties care about saving their asses for the elections in November. It is six months away and all both parties care about is the election. Why not just do you job rather than worry about the election. Us voters brought you into Senate in the first place to do your job. Instead, you worry about votes.

NHL playoffs reaching hype of the Olympics

I am surprised to say this but watching the NHL playoffs has been the most exciting hockey that I have watched in many years. For such a long time, the NHL since the lockout has been really boring. A lot of players seemed to not like the new rules or restrictions the NHL and played like it. There was no fighting or big time physical hits or not showing a lot of emotion. Half of the reason that I feel this way is because my friend, Mallory is a huge Pittsburgh Penguins fan to the point where I hate hockey, but how can I hate hockey? I watch mostly the Sabres/Bruins games, but from the bits and pieces of the games that I have watched, the games have all been very competitive. I am loving playoff hockey because there have actually been some surprising results.
The Flyers, who clinched a playoff berth in the last game of the season by a shootout win did not just beat the Devils, they peed and laughed at them and then beat them again, with winning the series 4 games to 1. I personally thought the Devils were going to crush the Flyers, but it was literally the other way around. That's what makes the regular season meaningless, because it bites you in the ass in the playoffs. Even Brian Boucher played a hell of a series for the Flyers. The old Boucher, who used to be actually good is back!
The Red Wings-Coyotes series has been as good as advertised with the series tied at 3 games apiece. I personally thought they were very even teams coming into the playoffs. The Coyotes had the edge in goaltending and the Red Wings had the edge in offense. Sure enough, that is how it has been going. The Red Wings have won their games in offense, scoring seven goals in a win in Game 2, three in Game 4 and four in Game 5 and the Coyotes have won by defense only allowing two goals in each of Game 1, Game 3 and Game 6. Ilya Bryzgalov got lit up in a couple of games, but overall he has been excellent like usual. You can't expect anyone to shut down the Red Wings. Game 7 should be a great game in Phoenix. I think whoever wins this round will be Stanley Cup finalists.
The Bruins actually have a 3 games to 2 lead. I expected Ryan Miller to completely shut down the Bruins every game, but he has not done that. Miller has played well, but not as well as the Ryan Miller we saw in the Olympics when he was the tournament MVP. The double overtime game in Game 4 was one of the best games that I have seen in a long time. The game kept me off the edge of my seat the whole time. There was hitting, great scoring chances and flawless goaltending by Miller and Tuuka Rask. Whoever was going to win that game, they needed a lucky play. Sure enough, the Bruins got a power play in the 2nd overtime and it led to Maroslav Satan to deke to the right and chip in the puck under two Sabre defenders for the game-winner. Hopefully they can win Game 6 and advance to the next round.
I expected the Sharks to win against the Avalanche, but it was well played. Other than the Boyle scoring a goal to lose the game gaff, the Sharks played like they were hungry. They have the most pressure than any other team in the playoffs and they know it. It's Stanley Cup finals or bust for this team or changes will be made.
Of course the Penguins beat the Senators 4 games to 2 to win the series. They should have killed this team, but they failed to do that. They were losing 3-1 in the second period in Game 6 and they had to make a furious comeback to win the game and the series. I really don't think the Penguins are going to win the Stanley Cup this year. If they do, then the hockey gods probably hate me. That would mean that Mallory would call herself a big hockey fan because she has been rooting for the winners instead of rooting for the rest of the game.
The Capitals and Canadiens have played a good series with the Caps up 3 games to 2. I had a feeling that this would be a good series because as powerful as the Capitals are, the Canadiens are a plucky team. The Canadiens Game 1 overtime victory really did set the bar of this being a good series. Even though the Capitals have destroyed the Canadiens in their two games at the Bell Centre and winning Game 2 on top of it, the Canada boys are still in it by winning Game 5 in Washington, which the Caps have only lost five regulation games during the regular season. As much as I hate the Canadiens, I hope they win Game 6 so they can make the Capitals crap their pants for Game 7. We shall see.
The Blackhawks and Predators have been an even series as I expected with Chicago leading 3 games to 2. It has been a heavily defensive series other than Game 5 when 11 goals were scored in an overtime win by the Blackhawks, and I like that. Defensive hockey is good hockey. These teams are actually very similar to the Red Wings/Coyotes series. The Blackhawks are a powerful offensive, like the Red Wings and the Predators are a shutdown defensive team like the Coyotes. The Blackhawks have won their games because of offense and the Predators have won their game strictly because of defense. I think if the Blackhawks and Predators are on a offensive battle, the Blackhawks will every time because their have more accomplished offensive players than the Predators do. Let's hope this goes seven games, if it doesn't, well played for the Predators.
The Canucks edged the Kings 4-2 yesterday to win the series 4 games to 2. I have to admit, the Kings played really tough. They showed it in the first two games when each team won in overtime and even the two games after, but they ran out of gas in Games 5 and 6. The Kings are going to be a Stanley Cup contender for the next few years if they can keep their core players. They gave the Canucks all they could handle. Once again, Roberto Luongo got lucky and won a crucial playoff game. He makes great saves but then lets in cookies for goals. The Sedin twins had to save the day for Vancouver once again. I still think the Canucks are an excellent team, but if they think they can make the Western Conference Finals, they are going to need Luongo to play steady and not allow easy goals.

At first was rough, but now it's been a breeze

In the beginning of the week, I had three assignments that were due between Monday and Tuesday. Once I was done with those, the rest of the week would be a breeze, and it was.
One assignment I did was I wrote an article for "The New Hampshire" about the UNH Hospitality department hosting a "Tutto Tuscana" gourmet dinner for two nights. There over 200 guests between students and alumni each night. They hosted an Italian/American chef, Gina Stipo, who teaches one week classes in Tuscany, Italy about cooking and wine and was signing her cook book, "Ecco la Cucina". It was tough to cover because I was sick while I was interviewing and taking pictures, but also I was sent out during dinner. I made the assignment harder than I should have. I didn't know whether to cover the event, the students who worked during the event, or talk more about Gina Stipo. I decided to write about the event and the students and Stipo. Then I got into a groove and I sent it in on Monday. It was published in the paper on Tuesday and people seemed to like it. That is all I want.
I finally finished my feature story with Shaunna Kaplan for my Sports Writing class. It took a long time to finish because I had some many notes and it was difficult figuring out which quotes and notes I had to delete since my story had to be between 1,000-1,200 words. At one point I had over 1,800 words. I eventually finished with over 1,300 words, which isn't bad because I felt that there was some stuff I could not get rid of. The most annoying part about the story was contacting the women's lacrosse coach, Michael Daly. I scheduled to make an appointment with him at 11 a.m. on Friday. I called him and he did not answer. I called him again at noon and he didn't answer again. I was getting angry because how can he blow me off like that? The only way I can talk to him face-to-face was to go after practice and talk to him then. I went after practice and I asked him if he wanted to talk for a few minutes. He couldn't talk because he had some meetings but I could call him anytime after 7:30 p.m. When I called him at 7:30 and he answer. I called him at 8:30 and he didn't answer for a fourth time. What are the odds that you get blown off twice in one day? So I was very angry now. It was my first experience as a journalist that I got blown off by a source and I didn't like it very much. So when I went to my friend's dorm to watch a movie, Daly finally calls me back at 9:30 and I didn't answer. A few minutes later I called him back and he immediately apologized for not answering the phone and he still wanted to talk to me. So I scheduled an another appointment with him and I specifically told him that he had better be there because I have a deadline to work with. Sure enough I woke up and called him and he finally answered. He gave me some good quotes about Shaunna and I was happy. I was glad that I never gave up on him because if I did, the story would have been very short. I finished finished it and passed it in on Monday with relief. The good thing is I get to revise my story if I choose to.
The third assignment that I worked on was "What if?" for my History of American Sport and Physical Culture. The paper was about what would modern sports be like if women did not play sports, if men's sports were eliminated and how would the changes affect college campus. If all of that happen, my life would suck. In fact, the world would probably suck if there was a possibility that sports would not be what it is together. There is so much more than just athletes making money and accepting scholarships. It is about bringing people together. You are rooting for people that you don't know, and you are rooting with people you care about. Sports is exciting. There are so many feelings and emotions that happens during sports events that it changes not just the game, but it changes every individual watching the game. Whenever I got to a UNH hockey game, whenever they score a goal or get a big win, I give people I don't even know a high five or even a hug. We wouldn't do that if we were watching a movie or watching a fashion show because that would be weird. It is okay to do that in sports because it is exciting.
Otherwise, after Tuesday, my life was just a breeze. I had a couple of meetings on Wednesday and then just sat around and hung out with friends and then watch the Bruins game. Yesterday I went to my three classes, went to the gym and then went to see an Asian comedian named Eliot Chang. He was really funny and better than I expected. After that I went to play floor hockey. Of course the other team forfeited, so we just scrimmaged which was fun and we got some good practice. After that, I just went back to my room and relaxed. Today I am planning to go to the gym, relax and then watch the Celtics, Bruins, Red Sox and rounds 2 and 3 of the NFL Draft tonight. That is a lot of sports to watch in one night, but I can do it because I have the time. I am very much looking forward to Sunday because my mom and Petey are coming up to UNH to see me. It has been over three weeks since I have seen them and I miss them very much. Afterward, my friend Brandon Piel is also visiting. He was one of my good friends for my first two years of college and he graduated in 2008. It should be fun. I don't have a lot of homework while everyone does. Great for me, sucks for everyone else. That is why I am the best because I know how to manage my time unlike everyone else. I deserve to relax.

Warning of huge teacher layoffs in U.S., FDA to set limits for levels of salt in food, some European flights resume, but still confusion

All of these stories are reported by The New York Times. School districts around the country, forced to resort to drastic money-saving measures, are warning hundreds of thousands of teachers that their jobs may be eliminated in June. The districts have no choice, they say, because their usual sources of revenue- state money and local property taxes- have been hit hard by the recession. In addition, federal stimulus money earmarked for education has been mostly used up this year. In addition to teacher layoffs, districts are planning to close schools, cut programs, enlarge classes and shorten the school day, week or year to save money. Districts in California have given pink slips to 22,000 teachers; Illinois authorities are predicting 17,000 jobs cut in the public schools; and New York has warned nearly 15,000 teachers that their jobs could be cut. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, estimated that state budget cuts imperiled 100,000 to 300,000 public school jobs. In the economic stimulus bill passed last February, Congress appropriated about $100 billion in emergency education financing. State spent much of that in the current fiscal year, saving more than 342,000 school jobs, about 5.5 percent of all the positions in the nation's 15,000 school systems. States will spend $36 billion of the stimulus money in the next fiscal year, leaving their budgets short by some $144 billion. A survey by the American Association of School Administrators found that 9 of 10 superintendents expected to lay off school workers for the fall, up from two of the three superintendents last year.
This is some really scary stuff. I underestimated in how bad of shape the education budget is. My mother is a teacher in Beverly, Massachusetts and she is set to get a pink slip. There is a possibility that her contract will be renewed. It is a shame that we are spending so much money on education and teachers and people working in schools keep getting cut. There has to be something the government can do to slow down the bleeding. This is ridiculous.
High levels of salt in supermarket and restaurant foods should be declared unsafe by the federal government, according to a new report that called on the Food and Drug Administration to mandate maximum levels of sodium and food. Since elevated sodium intake contributes to high blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease, and other health problems, a federal effort to cut salt in the food people eat could prevent 100,000 deaths a year. Salt is currently considered a safe food ingredient, and there is no limit to how much of it that companies can put in their products. According to a study, daily salt intake in the United States is more than twice the amount recommended as adequate. The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents companies that make packaged food, said it will cooperate in its salt reduction efforts. Federal dietary guidelines say people should consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day, which is equivalent to a teaspoon of salt.
This is a decision that has been a long time coming. There have been so many stories and threats about obesity in American children that we forget what they eat never mind how much. I'm a huge sucker for salty foods and it may be a long time until I cut down, but I should do it. Other than calories and trans fats, sodium is one of the main ingredients to look at in the nutrition facts because it can cause heart disease. This is a start to slow down not just obesity, but for people who have heart complications.
What a jigsaw puzzle it was, with Paris open, but Frankfurt still mostly closed. Barcelona and Rome were definitely open, as was London by the end of Tuesday night. Six days after volcanic ash virtually shut down European airspace, the airlines slowly resumed flights there on Tuesday. But airlines are still uncertain about when they can return to a regular schedule And thousands of stranded travelers and would be vacationers now face a logistical nightmare as they try to figure out when their flights are going to take off- and from where. About 95,000 flights have been canceled since the volcano from Iceland erupted last week. It could now take several weeks for airlines to work through the backlog of passengers, provided the volcano does not act up. Even as flights resume, the airlines still face all sorts of uncertainties, starting with the mind-numbing complexity of Europe's airspace, which is normally of the world's busiest. One of the problems is that airlines, which have been flying increasingly full planes in recent months, have few empty seats on their scheduled flights. They also have to contend with crews that are themselves stranded and airplanes in the wrong airports. In the United States, meanwhile, many travelers have postponed or canceled trips to Europe, opting for domestic destinations or other international spots like South America. Expected ticket prices to Europe, which have risen by 30 to 50 percent from last year's lows, to drop in coming months as travelers put off trips.
This traveling issue between the volcanic ash is an absolute nightmare. The volcanic ash a couple of days ago was over 35,000-40,000 feet high, which is very dangerous for an aircraft because it can shut down the engines and obstruct the pilots view. Meanwhile people are complaining that the airlines are making a bad decision to cancel flights because of all of the travelers that are stranded. Things are so bad that trains have 30,000 more passengers than usual a day. That is a problem and it must be solved. Airlines are going to lose billions of dollars because of this and it will slow down the economy even more. The airlines should have been more prepared for situations like this because then there would not be so many stranded travelers.

Boston's recent struggles at home

I'm not going to lie, New England fans have been severely spoiled for the last decade with six championships between the Patriots (3), Red Sox (2) and Celtics (1). At that point, New England fans shouldn't complain for the next ten years. But New England fans always complain because we always want more. I want more, but it is hard to get more every year because the competition always gets better. What has really ticked me off recently is for the past year, all New England teams have stunk up the joint at their own buildings. Before this year, I have always felt that if a team is able to win on the road, they are a playoff team because they should be able to win at home. I still feel that way, but I also believe that when a team is at home, not only do teams have to win at home, they have to make sure that after the games, the visiting teams cry to their mommies and then get hit by a belt by their daddies. I am not seeing that with any of the Boston teams this year and it is making me angry.
I know its early in the baseball season but the Red Sox are 1-5 at Fenway Park this year, third worst in the Major Leagues. This includes five straight losses since Opening Day. You probably think I'm an idiot because the Red Sox had the second best home record in the Majors last year with a 56-25 record. Remember Game 3 of the American League Division Series against the Angels when the Red Sox were leading 6-4 with two outs in the top of the ninth inning? Yeah, they lost that game 7-6, leading to a sweep, and that game left The Red Sox organization and Red Sox nation with a bad taste in their mouths since then. The Red Sox's play at Fenway this season sure reminds me of the 9th inning of that game.
Remember when the Patriots had an 8-0 home record last year? I don't, because when they get their fannies beat to the ground by the Baltimore Ravens 33-14 in the AFC Wild Card game at Gillette Stadium last year, it negated their home record. It was a pathetic showing for a team that is supposed to protect home-field advantage. Let's hope they actually have a good draft this weekend and make up for that B.S. game last year.
The Celtics play at home has infuriated me this season. They were 24-17 at home this season, seventh in the Eastern Conference. Really?! In the previous two seasons, the Celtics have compiled a 70-12 home record, the type of success elite NBA teams have at home. The fact their underachievement at the TD Bank Garden makes me frustrated not just as a Boston sports fan, but as a sports fan in general. When you think of "The Gaden," you think of dominance, passion and sacrificing of the body to win each and every game. Not only were they 27-27 after the Christmas Day beat down against the Magic, but they also went 14-13 at home. They had a mediocre record at home this year because they dragged ass half of the time. There is no heart, no energy and no passion at "The Gaden." Sure they had a tough comeback win at home in Game 1 in the first round of the playoffs against the Miami Heat. But they were down by 14 in the third quarter at home to a team that has one superstar (Dwanye Wade) and a bunch of crap behind him. This should not be happening to a supposedly elite NBA team. Now that the playoffs are here, they have win the whole thing to make me forget about their pathetic home record in the regular season.
The Bruins were also embarrassing at "The Gaden" this season. Their 18-17-6 is fourth worst in the Eastern Conference. It was so bad that four teams that were eliminated from the playoffs (Islanders, Lightning, Hurricanes and Thrashers) had better home records. I do admit, the Bruins earned being in the playoffs. They worked hard and played anybody who did not have a broken bone, torn muscle or even a concussion. But thanks to their solid 21-13-7 road record, they are in the playoffs. When the Bruins played at home this year they lost a lot of their games to teams they should have beaten and there were games that they didn't even show up against good teams. They did have some good wins at home this year, but nothing to jump up and down about. I'm not as angry at the Bruins as I am with the Red Sox, Patriots and Celtics because the difference is I am used to the Bruins losing. They have not won the Stanley Cup since 1972, and if they don't pick up their game at home during the playoffs, it will be just another failure like usual for the Boston Bruins.
I don't care if you don't believe me about the recent failures at home for Boston teams. I don't care if any of the New England teams don't win every year, but what I do care about is them playing well when their own fans spend hundreds of dollars and go all of the way to see them play and then they end up seeing them play like garbage. Apparently they didn't watch the old Under Armour commercials when the message was "We must protect this house!"

Busy busy busy

I knew on Sunday that this was going to be a critical week and so far I have executed. Monday was the busiest day of the week. I had a meeting with an applicant of the UNH Psychology professor job. I am part of a student representative panel that interviews the applicants and I have been doing it for the past week and a half. I review the applicant's cover letter, resume and then figure out questions to ask. It will very informal, which is nice. I go to the meetings on select days that the counseling center coordinator, David Cross chose for me, so I have only had to go to three meetings thus far and I have one more on Friday. After that, I interviewed with Shaunna Kaplan, a tri-captain for the UNH Lacrosse team and her two teammates Ilana Cohen and JoJo Curro for my feature story for my Sports Writing class. She just so happens to be a two-sport athlete at UNH. She plays lacrosse and soccer. I thought this was a cool idea for my feature story because from what I know of there are no other athletes at UNH that play more than one sport. Shaunna carries herself well. She is honest, selfless and her teammates are crazy about her. She is a senior and is a kinesiology and a sports studies major. So far so good. I had my Sports Writing class at night and it was cool because my professor brought in a guest, Karen Gregon, who is a writer for the Boston Herald. We talked about gender and she also told us some stories that she did. It is always enlightening whenever I learn about Journalism from a real professional.
Tuesday was also pretty busy. I went to my Germs class and then went to the Commencement Fair. I went there to get my cap and gown and a Life is Good shirt. The Life is Good shirt is really cool. It is light blue, long-sleeved and in the front it says "Class Dismissed" with Jake smiling wearing a graduation cap and in the back it says "Do what you like. Like what you do. UNH 2010." They were giving out Life is Good shirts because the founder of the company, Bert Jacobs, is the Commencement speaker. After the fair, I went back to my dorm to do some homework and then went to a class, went to the gym and then went to my two classes, which are back-to-back. After class, I went back to the dorm had to do an online quiz for Germs. I got an 80 which isn't bad. After that, I relaxed for the rest of the night.
Wednesday was the only day that was mellow. I didn't have class which always makes my day easier. The only two things that I had to do was to go to a meeting with my Sports Writing teacher, David Cataneo, and went over a couple of assignments. I did an opinion piece about the new NFL playoff overtime rules and that was mediocre. We also went over my column about the New Jersey Nets' CEO Brett Yormark and a fan, Chris Lisi, having a "brown bag summit." That also turned out to be just average. The good thing is that I can edit them and send them back to David. The other thing I had to do was to talk to the UNH soccer manager, Michael Jackson, about Shaunna. At first he said a lot of the same things about Shaunna and it got annoying. So before the interview ended I asked Jackson, "Is there any questions that I didn't ask that I should have?" At first Jackson was hesitant and then said a couple of more things about Shaunna and then we hung up the phone. Three minutes later, Jackson called me and then said all of these things about Shaunna that I wanted to hear. After he said the additional stuff he said, "I'm glad that you asked that question. It seemed like I didn't have a lot to say at first but when you asked that question, that was when I figured out what I wanted to say. Good for you." I was very pleased.
Yesterday was an ordinary Thursday. I had three classes and also went to the gym with my friends Melissa and Kendra, which was productive. Smith Hall also had a Men's Floor Hockey game at 8:30 p.m. Of course, for the second consecutive week our opponent did not show up, so we won by forfeit. We actually scrimmaged against another team that also had a forfeit. The opposition won 10-3. It wasn't as bad as the score says but we did play a lot better, which it doesn't say a whole lot.
Today will also be busy. I have an interview with Michael Daly, UNH lacrosse head coach. Hopefully he can give me some good input about Shaunna. I also need to talk to Shaunna again and ask her a couple of more questions. At 1:15, I have a meeting with an applicant of the UNH Psychology professor job. After that, I have an interview with cookbook author Gina Stipo, who is going to use her recipes for the Tutto Toscana Gourmet dinner at a UNH dining hall. UNH hospitality majors will host the dinner and I am writing the story for the school newspaper "The New Hampshire." After that, hopefully I can go to the gym. I have to go back to the dining hall again tonight and take some pictures and maybe interview more people. It is a cool assignment because I love food and I am curious about what kinds of recipes the chef will have. After that, maybe I will get to see my friends. This weekend will be tough because I have a lot of homework, but it's okay because I need to be busy anyway.

First Lady visits Haiti, more students in college waiting list

These two stories are reported by the New York Times. In her first solo trip overseas as first lady, Michelle Obama made an unannounced visit to Haiti yesterday, flying in an Army helicopter over Port-au-Prince, the earth-quaked-damaged capital, meeting with Haiti's president and first lady in the ravaged National Palace and dancing with young children trying to get beyond the destruction of their homes. She was also accompanied by Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden. Mrs. Obama entered a safe area set aside to provide therapy to traumatized children living in a giant squatter camp in the Champ de Mars, Port-au-Prince's central plaza. The goal of the trip was to keep attention focused on Haiti's plight, "We're at the point where the relief efforts are under way, but the attention of the world starts to wane a little bit," Mrs. Obama told reporters. I am surprised to hear that this was only Michelle Obama's first solo trip overseas. I'm a little disappointed that she did not go to Haiti sooner, but at least she gives a crap and actually went to Haiti. She made a difference with helping children, starting with the "Let's Move" campaign, which began in February, that is supposed to focus on spending money to help solve problems with the high rates of children who have obesity. I hope this is the beginning to more of her travels because with her intelligence and her dominant personality, the world needs a person like her and she should continue to visit more countries in need because I think her advice can make a difference.
This is the time of year when college start accepting students or put them on their waiting list. Late last month, Duke University announced that it had 3,383 applicants on the waiting list, which is about twice the size of the entire incoming freshman class. They had a record 27,000 freshman applicants and have place 856 more on the waiting list than it did a year ago. Duke's best guess is no more than 60 will be admitted from the waiting list. Most Ivy League colleges had sharp jumps in applications, as did the University of Chicago, Northwestern, Stanford and M.I.T. M.I.T., which had a 6 percent increase in applicants, increased its waiting list by more than half to 722. Last year, it accepted few than 80 from that list. Yale, which had a slip dip in applications this year yet still admitted fewer than 8 percent of the applicants, placed nearly 1,000 others on the waiting list, an increase of more than 150. Dartmouth increased its list by about 80 to 1,740. These numbers show two things, the first thing is applying to colleges is getting so competitive that there will not be any room left in the college for incoming freshman. It is an issue because it will force colleges to spend more money that they may not have to expand. That is what happens when there is a recession, students would rather go to college, get a bachelor's degree and start out fresh rather than just start working. The second thing is this is good timing for me to leave college. I have noticed that UNH is accepting more students and it is starting to get more crowded than usual. When I leave college, I won't have to deal with even more snobby freshman, I can just go to the real world and probably not get a job for months. Hooray for life!

NHL Playoffs start this week

After a long, grueling 82 games, the NHL playoffs is finally here. Some teams were meant to be in the playoffs and others made a late rally to make it in the big dance. In the playoffs, the regular season doesn't matter anymore. The 121 points the Washington Capitals got this year doesn't matter in the playoffs anymore, neither does the Boston Bruins being last in the league in goals scored matters either. As much as the NHL has made me angry this year and in years past, I am actually happy with these Quarterfinals match ups. Here are the match ups and I will choose who wins the series and why.
Capitals vs. Canadiens
The Capitals have the best offensive player in the league in Alex Ovechkin, have seven 20 goal scorers, two of them scored 40 goals and are first in the league in power play success rate with 25.2 percent. However their goaltending situation is a little iffy. Neither Jose Theodore or Semyon Varlamov played spectacular this year so choosing which one will play will be interesting. The Candiens are actually second in the NHL in power play success rate with 21.8 percent, so they have that going for them. They also have a solid goaltender in Jaroslav Halak who could potentially be a series changing player. Even though the Candiens direly underachieved this year, they are in the playoffs which means something. The Capitals surplus of talent will be too much for the Canadiens to handle, so this series should not last long. Capitals win series in five games.
Devils vs. Flyers
The Devils have Martin Brodeur playing in net. The Flyers have Brian Boucher or Michael Leighton countering him. Definitely a mismatch in that department. The Devils finally have a scoring punch with Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise that can play with anybody. Even though the Flyers were inconsistent all season, they fought and grind into the playoffs and they deserve to be there. As long as any team has Chris Pronger (in this case the Flyers do), they will hang around with anybody. However, the Devils will prove to the Flyers that they made the wrong decision winning in the last day of the season to get their ticket punched into the playoffs. Devils win in five games.
Sabres vs. Bruins
This will be the best goaltending match up in this round. Ryan Miller vs. Tuuka Rask. Both goalies are #1 and #2 in the NHL in goals against average and save percentage, Rask is #1 in both categories and Miller is #2. It will be quite a treat watching both goalies play but Miller gets the edge because he has more playoff experience and he will build on his Olympic tournament MVP performance. The Bruins did win the season series 4-2, but their lack of offense will be an even more glaring weakness once they face Miller. It doesn't help that they lost their top three defenseman and their top scorer for the playoffs due to injury either. Sabres win in six games.
Penguins vs. Senators
Even though the Senator have some injuries throughout the year, they played well enough to make the playoffs. Although, having Alexei Kovalev missing the playoffs with a torn ACL will be a major blow to their playoff chances. Daniel Alffredson and Jason Spezza will be the keys to their playoff hopes. The Stanley Cup Champions Penguins, like the previous two years, are just too deep to match up with. Their top three centers are Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal. No team will be able to counter that kind of talent. Penguins win in five games.
Sharks vs. Avalanche
On paper, the Sharks should crush any opposing team in the Western Conference. Since the Olympic break, the Sharks mediocre 11-7-2 record shows they can be beaten. This is the year the Sharks go deep in the playoffs or there will be a major team shakedown. The Sharks have the top first line in the league with Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley and one of the top goaltenders in the league in Evgeni Nabokov. The Avalanche are a solid team all around. They have Craig Anderson in between the pipes who had stellar season with 38 wins and seven shutouts. They also have a good nucleus with Paul Stastney, Chris Stewart and Milan Hejduk that will play with anyone. They will give the Sharks quite a battle, but it may not be good enough to overtake their talented roster. Sharks win in seven.
Blackhawks vs. Predators
I chose the Blackhawks to make the Stanley Cup Finals this year and I am sticking to it. Their goaltending situation is a major issue that they have to address. Christobal Huet was their guy coming into the season, but vastly underachieved so Antti Niemi will most likely take over the starting goaltending duties. Even though they have scoring talent that can counter anyone, their defensive play is just as dangerous. The Predators are a pure defensive team and they will stick to the play in this series. They don't score a lot of goals, but they have balanced scoring to make up for it having nine players who scored 10 goals or more. Pekka Rinne had a solid season with 32 wins and seven shutouts. This will be an excellent defensive series, but the Blackhawks offense will score enough goals to get past this round. Blackhawks in six.
Canucks vs. Kings
The Canucks are built to succeed in the playoffs this year. Henrik Sedin played over his head this year winning the Art Ross scoring title with 112 points. They also have a good offensive group in Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Alex Burrows and one of the well-known Olympic players Ryan Kesler. The player that may hold them back is Roberto Luongo. Even though he is an elite NHL goaltender, he has a resume of choking in the playoffs. Just a thought. The Kings are a weird team to me. They are sixth in the NHL in power play success rate with 21 percent but 20th in penalty kill with 80.1 percent. What are the odds that they are a playoff team with an awful penalty kill? This is a young talented group with a combination of veteran players. To me, Anze Kopitar will be the key player of the series. His massive size and offensive skills will be a difficult match up for the Canucks. They also have a good young goaltender in Jonathon Quick who posted 39 wins this season. This will be a fun series to watch, but the Canucks playoff experience will be too overwhelming for the Kings to handle. Canucks win in six.
Coyotes vs. Red Wings
The Coyotes are great story in the NHL this season. With several threats that they might move to another location and the NHL owning the team, they fed off the adversity and played like an elite NHL team all year. They have the pieces to make a deep run in the playoffs. Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov is scary good, posting 42 wins, a .920 save percentage and eight shutouts. He also has some experience in the playoffs. Even though their offense may not scare anyone, don't forget about Shane Doan, Radim Vrbata and newly acquired Wojtek Wolski and the fact they have four 40 point scorers. The Stanley Cup runner-up Red Wings struggled throughout the first half of the season with injuries and inconsistency. But once they got healthy, they caught fire and took off with a 16-3-2 record after the Olympic break. Goaltender Jimmy Howard opened some eyes this year with his terrific play the Red Wings desperately needed. He will keep them in the season because he is tough and a gritty player. The Red Wings are at full strength with Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom and Johan Franzen all healthy and ready to go. This will be the best series in this Quarterfinals. Both teams are evenly matched and fun to watch, but someone has got to win. Coyotes in seven.

Six weeks and counting...

Every day I look at my calendar and count down the days of when I am graduating. 44 days left! As happy as I am about graduating, I am finally realizing that I am going to miss being a college student. There is so much free time and I take advantage of every minute of it. But there is still plenty of time left, so I have to make it count.
My classes this semester are so easy, I'm getting bored. Although I really like my Sports Writing class. David Cataneo tells a lot of cool stories about athletes and coaches that he covered over his career as a sports writer. He tells a lot of stories about former Red Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell, former third baseman Wade Boggs and former Celtics great Robert Parrish. It is so surreal to hear stories about athletes my dad looked up to. Whenever I tell my dad those stories, he is always surprised and excited to hear about them. What that class provides me is not just learning how to become a better sports writer but believing in myself. Confidence is an issue for me sometimes and that is something I need to overcome. Throughout my whole UNH career as a journalism, all I hear from current journalists and editors is that the journalism job market is going down the tubes and we should have a backup plan. Come on, your role is to encourage us to carry the torch that you handed down to us and have us report the news. We are the future of journalism and you guys are afraid of keeping your jobs. If you are worried about the future, at least say some good things about today's journalism that could be beneficial, not all bad things.
Speaking of journalism, the UNH journalism program had a special guest, Dana Jennings, a 1980 UNH graduate on Wednesday. He works at the New York Times as an editor and also used to worked for the Concord Monitor. He seems like he really enjoys being is journalist, which is something I need to hear. The main reason why he was there was because he read a memoir about his life during prostate cancer. I don't know the title or how many pages there are, but what I do know is that it is powerful, emotional and breath-taking. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer on April of 2008 and it seemed like it was a very difficult time of his life. Jennings explained when you have prostate cancer, you experience hormonal things like a woman, hot flashes, really emotional but fortunately does not get a period. At one point it was stage 3 cancer, which it could have taken his life. It took about a year for the cancer to go into remission but still has to have a checkup with the doctor every three months. He wrote a blog about writing about his cancer and it was a big hit. Jennings explained that too many people write about having cancer instead of writing about how having cancer changes you. What I learned is whenever you are facing adversity you have the urge to become a better writer. You write about all of your thoughts and it surprises you how good your writing can be. I felt like I improved as a writer when I studied abroad. I know that I am not the greatest writer in the world but what I do know is that I will keep trying to improve and someday I will be the best because I am extremely competitive and will do anything to win.
The Red Sox season is finally underway, which means my life is finally relevant again. They did lose two out of three to the Yankees which stinks. The good thing is that they have 159 games to go and have plenty of time to improve. I am really excited of how this team develops since they are built for pitching and defense this year. I bet that Red Sox fans and the Boston sports media is already complaining about the first three games but I'm not. I get to hear the crack of the bat, see hitters get called out on strikes, see controversial calls and see awesome diving catches. This will be my my 12th season watching the Red Sox. It's hard to believe it has been that long. I am just stoked that baseball is back!

Shoppers are spending again, a man dead at John Lennon Airport

According to the New York Times today, retails sales have gone up last month comparing to March 2009. Luxury goods have increased by 22 percent, home furnishings, furniture by 13.8 percent and specialty apparel by 5.2 percent. When the financial crisis hit in late 2008, consumers retrenched heavily. That was a problem because customer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of all economic activity in the United States which led to the economy's decline. Total industry sales are predicted to increase by 10 percent compared with last year, which would make March the seventh month of growth in a row, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, an industry group. The most meaningful sign of recovery is that employers added 162,000 jobs last month, although the unemployment rate is still 9.7 percent. This is very good news. For about two years, several Americans were saving money in case they lost their jobs or they were looking to buy lets say furniture on sale. The fact that customers are spending more is a good way to boost the economy. The retail sales for Christmas and any other shopping season has gone down significantly, which slows down the economy. Seeing that job hiring has gone up is a sigh of relief, but the recovery is not over yet. Just because things are getting better doesn't mean the economy is saved. This time has and will continue to test our patience about with the economy. The number said it all in the beginning, two-thirds of our economy is on customer, so keep spending if you have it, but don't go crazy.
At Liverpool John Lennon Airport, three passengers, Willi Jarant, Gitta Jarant and daughter Anke Anusic had a flight to Germany on Saturday. The problem was, Willi Jarant was not breathing. Mrs. Jarant and Anusic claimed that he was sleeping, but when he was checked on, he was dead at age 91. The Greater Manchester Police arrested Anusic and Mrs. Jarant for suspicion of failing to give notification of death. They have been released on bail and are to appear in court on June 1. Some reports suggested that Mr. Jarant might already have been dead for 24 hours and that Mrs. Jarant had been trying to smuggle his body back to Germany, where the couple is from, to avoid the considerable expense and hassle of formal repatriation. Both Anusic and Mrs. Jarant said that he was breathing when they left their home in Manchester for the airport. Mr. Jarant suffered from Alzheimer's disease, had been treated for pneumonia in a local hospital and that they had waited until he recovered to go back to Germany. He was wearing sunglasses because he had wanted to shield an unsightly eye from fellow passengers. This sure is an unusual story. It is something that you don't hear of everyday. What Anusic and Mrs. Jarant is saying is very believable. If Mr. Jarant had as many illnesses as the reports said he did, both woman should have been more aware of his health. Being dead for 24 hours is a long time. I was surprised that they didn't know he died in the first place.

Baseball is back. What will be the standings?

Last night's game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox starts the MLB season off with a bang. A ferocious game between the hated rivals was over when the last pitch was thrown. Neither team had a right to be comfortable throughout the game. Just ask the Yankees pitching staff who failed to hold a four run lead in the fourth inning and a two run lead in the seventh inning. Even though the Bronx Bombers' bats started out hot, they cooled off in the 8th and 9th innings when it counted. Last night's game showed Bosox fans that their offense is a lot better than they think. Even though they don't have a proven 30 home run hitter, they still have players in the middle of the order that can drive in big runs. You saw that from Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Adrian Beltre and even Marco Scutaro. Beckett didn't pitch a good game last night. I think he had the opening day jitters and he wanted to start his season off by beating the Yankees. His command of the curveball was way out of whack, which led to him relying heavily on his fastball and changeup and the Yankees took full advantage. If there is anyone on the team that I am not worried about this year, it's Beckett. He'll bounce back because that is what good staff aces do. You'll see.
I know that this is late, but I am going to predict the final standings for the baseball season. I will mark down the teams and a brief summary why.
American League East:
1) Red Sox: Three pitchers who have won world series clinching games makes Terry Francona's job that much easier. Good bullpen and their offense will find the big bopper within their organization or by trade. And they can catch the ball
2) Yankees (Wild Card winner): Remember these stats for the World Series champions, C.C. Sabathia pitched over 266 innings, A.J. Burnett pitched over 234 innings and Andy Pettite pitched over 235 innings. That's going to wear them down and the Yankees are going down with them.
3) Rays: Good young arms, a legit closer and a terrific young offense. Competing against the Red Sox and Yankees is going to be too much for them once again.
4) Orioles: They have a great nucleus in Nick Markakis, Matt Wieters and Adam Jones, but the young arms will let them down once again.
5) Blue Jays: Trading the best pitcher in baseball is going to hurt them, but it cuts payroll and it finally leads them to a new direction, sound player development.
American League Central:
1) Twins: Losing Joe Nathan is going to kill their bullpen but they got the arms to fill in the void. Starting pitching will be unpredictable but their offense is lethal and playing in a new outdoor ballpark will fire these guys up.
2) White Sox: Great starting pitching staff led by Jake Peavy and Mark Buerhle but a new transition in their offense my not be enough to win 90 plus games.
3) Tigers: Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello are a scary 1-2 punch, but having two rookies Austin Jackson and Scott Sizemore in the every day lineup is too many outs to risk.
4) Kansas City: They have some great pieces in AL Cy Young winner Zack Grienke, Billy Butler and Joakim Soria. They just don't have anybody else to help them out.
5) Indians: Having Jake Westbrook back should help the young staff. Four players in the starting lineup with two years or less with major league experience will have some road bumps on the offense.
American League West:
1) Mariners: Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee leading a staff would make any fan base pumped up for the season. Adding Milton Bradley is a solid high-risk, high-reward move. With Ken Griffey Jr. in the clubhouse, Bradley will be fine.
2) Texas Rangers: The offense will be a better offensive club this year now that Josh Hamilton will be healthy, Julio Borbon be in the lineup everyday and Elvis Andrus in his second year of development. They have a good bullpen and adding Rich Harden is a bold move.
3) Angels: The departures of Vladimir Guerrero, John Lackey and Chone Figgins are very important names and it will hurt the team. Who will replace them? They have a nice team, but this will be the year that they will have a setback.
4: Athletics: Signing Ben Sheets for $8 million was a big gamble. They have a lot of upside in their starting rotation in Sheets, Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Justin Duchscherer and Dallas Braden. Although, their offense doesn't have enough thump for them to be a threat in the division.
National League East:
1) Phillies: With the addition of Roy Halladay, the Phillies just got a lot scarier. With their uber powerful offense, Halladay will have a chance to win 25 games.
2) Braves (Wild Card winner): Their back end of the bullpen in Takashi Saito and Billy Wagner will be much more dependable than last year. Their starting pitching is among the National League's best and their offense has enough thump to be a major threat to the Phillies.
3) Marlins: Best move of their off-season? Signing Josh Johnson to a long-term extension. With Hanley Ramirez coming off with a batting title, he is evolving into an elite hitter. Their starting rotation is pretty good, but their bullpen terrifies me.
4) Mets: Getting Jason Bay was a good addition, but how will he react to playing in Citi Field? Who will step up behind Johan Santana? Will Francisco Rodriguez bounce back from a 6.75 ERA in the second half?
5) Nationals: Two words, Stephen Strasburg. He will have to wait until June, but he will sell tickets.
National League Central:
1) Cardinals: Any team that has Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday will always be a world series contender. The question is, can they get there?
2) Cubs: They have the roster to compete. With the departure of Milton Bradley, the clubhouse and the organization is pumped. The problem is, they got Carlos Silva. Talk about lose-lose.
3) Brewers: Adding Randy Wolf will help their rotation a lot. Having an another year of Trevor Hoffman will help their bullpen. They will hit, but their pitching will let them down once again.
4) Reds: They have the pieces to get to the playoffs, but losing Edinson Volquez until August is going to hurt them.
5) Astros: Too many bloated contracts to players out of their primes and the worst farm system in baseball equals total disaster.
6) Andrew McCutchen looks like he will be a superstar. Hopefully they won't trade him for an average veteran player like they usually do. They have no one to protect him either.
National League West:
1) Rockies: This team is loaded with good, young talent. Troy Tulowitzki is back to his elite self, the offense is stacked and Ubaldo Jimenez is a true ace. If they get anything out of Jeff Francis, that would be a major boost.
2) Giants: Two-time NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum paired up with Matt Cain will keep any team in a race. Did I forget that their pitching behind them is filthy? Who will step up and help Pablo Sandoval? How will Aaron Rowand perform in the leadoff spot?
3) Dodgers: With Manny Ramirez showing his age and Clayton Kershaw as the only proven starting pitcher, this team could be in a lot of trouble.
4) Diamondbacks: Getting Edwin Jackson was a smart move. With Brandon Webb starting the season on the disabled list, Dan Haren needed someone to back him up and Jackson will rise to the occasion. A.J. Hinch is still an inexperienced manager and will hurt their team. At least they have Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds as their big boppers.
5) Padres: They had a great finish last year winning 37 of their final 62 games. Can they do it again? When will G.M. Jed Hoyer trade Adrian Gonzalez? When will Heath Bell get traded?