The College Football Industry

Over the last couple decades the NFL has vastly grown, in terms of talent and in terms of fans for various teams, but college football has grown even more over the same time. From a numbers perspective, over four college football teams average more than 100,000 fans for every home game compared to the NFL, which doesn't even have any stadiums that exceed a seating capacity of 85,000. Colleges have the benefit of having a savage student section at games, but this section only amounts to 5,000 fans. Then how do college football games achieve so much attendance? And what makes, in terms of number of fans and stadium size, college football more popular than NFL football? In my honest opinion, the only factor is the environment at college football games. The 5,000 students that cause a raucous at college home games are the heart and soul of the other 80,000 fans that attend the game. The energy that flows through a college football stadium on game day is unparalleled by any experience in any other sport. for these reasons, it is safe to say that college football is an ever expanding industry that already has plans to break all attendance records by selling 150,000 tickets to a game planned at Bristol Speedway late in 2015. If you have never been to a college football game, your time will come, the numbers don't lie!

The Extra Month Phenomenon

Today, I would like to explain the effects that a season has on a professional baseball player's body. This explanation is mainly to explain in detail why the Giants have won in 2010 and 2012 and not even made the playoffs in 2011 and 2013.
When the Giants won the World Series in back in 2010 they started spring training in early to mid February and played all the way to the evening of November 1st, when they won Game 5 of the World Series to win it all from the Texas Rangers. This season lasted a total of 9 1/2 months whereas almost all other teams played close to 8- 9 months in their season. The extra month of rest that these teams receive leaking into the next season is a major difference maker in the performance of these professional athletes for the entire coming year. This extra moth gives players a chance to rest hamstring, quads, should and elbow tendons, and many other aching body parts after the long grueling season.
The Giants, with this extra month of rest taken away from them, were at a dire disadvantage going into the 20111 season which clearly goes to explain the outcome of the 2011 season. Many players got hurt, again, due in part to the tightening of under rested muscles, or the overuse of unrested arms. Come midseason, the Giants were grueling with injuries because of the extra month they lost in the offseason.
Even though it may not seem like a significant amount of time, this extra one month rest becomes a crucial part of an athlete's professional career.
The extra month phenomenon as I like to call is a major explanation to the repeating success of the San Francisco Giants every two years. Because this time around the team has received the extra month rest like the years of 2011 and 2013.
This is why I look forward to the 2014 baseball season as a very promising one for the San Francisco Giants.
Bleed orange and Black!!!    

Season's end

I know that I haven't posted in awhile, but now that the season is officially is over for the San Francisco Giants, it is time to reflect on the past 2013 season and look forward to a clean slate in 2014. The players have all gone back to their respective homes, and won't be seeing each other until the new season. Some still in the bay, some to the opposite end of the country, and some abroad. AT&T Park won't be host to another event until the Emerald Bowl in late December. And the fans, are left alone to countdown the days until Giants baseball is back. I know that I started my countdown the very second the last pitch in Game #162 happened. 

Overall it was a season of ups and downs, but contained more downs than ups. A couple key injuries contributed to the plunge in the standings in June and July. Nevertheless, the Orange and Black haven't failed to pack the house for their last 216 home games, a record that leaks back into the historic 2010 season. Many rookies were also given their first chance at glory, to show the world the next generation of baseball. Skipper Bochy showed the world the determination of his managing skills with no matter which group of 25 guys he had day in and day out. 

Looking to next year, statistically, looks like another successful year on the horizon for the orange and black. As they have won the world series in the past 2 even number year (2010,2012). A die hard could only hope to imagine that it happens again in 2014. Logically, though, the Giants will start out with the same record as any of the other 31 teams in Major League Baseball. And from the there the battle will begin. Numbers just tell us the facts, they don't write the story and that is the beauty of baseball. 

Champions at Last

October 28th, 2012, will always be remembered in  the history of baseball as a day on which a team with so much determination. so much fight, and so much love won the World Series. The group of 25 guys which fought through two huge postseason deficits and then swept the most powerful offense in the World Series. Tigers manager Jim Leyland couldn't have said it better, "They deserved to win. We got it handed to us. If it was bloop or two maybe it would have been a fluke, but this world series win for the Giants was no fluke, it was the real deal." The Panda Sandoval, thanks to his game 1 outburst, led his team to the title and won himself a car and the World Series MVP Trophy along with it. Game 4 had its perks with 3 home runs and none better than Posey's bomb to put the Giants ahead. Giants second baseman Marco Scutaro also had his moment to shine in the clinching Game 4. He had the go ahead RBI single in the top of the 10th inning. Giants fans crowded sports stores and the streets of downtown San Francisco to get a feel for the atmosphere of champions and get their hands on some world series champions merchandise. Regardless of what the haters say, the 2012 Giants were no fluke, and they fit together perfectly like pieces of a puzzle, and they leave a lasting legacy on the game of baseball and the beautiful city of San Francisco!  

Verge of a Sweep

This time it was the white towels that were being waved in Game 3 of the World Series. The series had shifted to Detroit after a disappointing first two games for Detroit who got a full dose of PANDA in game one and got another dose of MadBum in Game 2. Detroit looked to righty Aníbal Sánchez to turn things around for them and he did his job pitching 7 innings on 118 pitches, but the Tigers offense stayed silent as Mr. Triple Crown failed to come through with the bases loaded and the Prince had another poor day at the plate. All these Tigers problems are leading them into a deep dark hole which nobody has crept out of. The Tigers down 3-0 face one of the worst deficits teams face in sports. The Tigers will just have to take it one game at a time like the Giants did in the NLDS and NLCS. I can't say enough about this group of guys that work so well together. Today after Sandoval hit his double, he made a heart to his bench as a symbol of how much they love each other and ow much they fight to play for each other everyday. Just a little over one week ago, Giants fans were just about dead trying to get out of a 3-1 hole in the NLCS, but now, thanks to a 6 game wining streak, they are one game away from one of sports' finest moments and jewelry pieces. Now Pablo Sandoval has been on a ridiculous tear this postseason and today he broke the record for most postseason hits by any Giant ever. Panda and the Giants will aim for the sweep tomorrow night in Detroit, and try to bring the World Series trophy home to San Francisco!

World Series Game 1 HUMMMMMM dinger

It definitely was loud tonight in San Francisco. Even if fans didn't have way overly priced tickets to the game, they were there just to be in the atmosphere of the World Series. The rally towels were out as usual, and the dream was coming true for many fans watching the series, and one person in particular playing in it. Brandon Crawford, the Gaints shortstop, grew up a Giants fan and his mom said, "He always was an athlete, and his biggest dream to play in the Fall Classic." Brandon's parents have had season tickets for almost 25 years now. They grew up taking his son to the games, and now they sit on the very same seat watching their beloved son on the field. Regardless of the dreams on the field, the Giants got off to a very fast start in Game 1 of the World Series. Panda Sandoval got it going with a solo homer and din't stop there. He hit a total of three home runs in Game 1 and propelled the Giants to a 8- 3 victory over the visiting Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night. After the game, veteran Barry Zito said, "The panda was definitely locked in tonight, and this will be a night he looks back on many many times through the rest of his life". Zito himself was pretty good. Pitching nearly six innings of one run baseball. Zito was locked in for his second consecutive postseason gem. Zito is definitely starting to look more and more like his Cy Young self exactly 10 years ago. The Giants bats will be on display once again on Thursday night in Game 2 of the Fall Classic. After this the series will shift to Detroit for the next three games. San Francisco looks to do some damage early and try to snag game 2 and a 2- 0 series lead behind young lefty Madison Bumgarner. It will be a fantastic game tomorrow night and one thing for sure: the towels, the fans, and the energy will all be back tomorrow night!    

Clincher

They said we couldn't, but we did. We defied all odds. The San Francisco Giants have won the pennant for the second time in the past 3 years and a National League record 19 times in team history. The Giants are an astounding 6- 0 in elimination games in the playoffs. No other team has ever done this, in the history of the sport. Thanks to another offensive outburst, the Cardinals starting pitcher was knocked out of the game in the third inning. The flame-throwing Cardinals bullpen couldn't even shut down the Giants explosive offense. The rain, after holding off for the whole game, did come pouring down for the last three outs but this did not affect the enthusiasm of the players and the energy of the crowd. The players were just soaked in some occult mixture of champagne and rainwater. However, none of that mattered especially for the 25 guys on the team, the 25 guys in uniform for game 7 that made it happen once again. As Duane Kuiper said, "These guys love each other too much, and that is why they keep winning. They just want to play another game with each other the next day until it is over for sure". AT&T Park rang with cheers and the noise could be heard for miles. It was the first time, for as long as I have lived, that any team got recognition on the West Coast. Joe Buck finally admitted, "AT&T Park was loud tonight. It probably is one of the loudest in all of baseball". Well, thank you very much, it's about time you realized. Many Giants fans do complain about how Kruk and Kuip should be doing the TV broadcast, but oh well. After a soggy, loud, energetic night in San Francisco, the grounds crew will get right at it to fix the horrible field as a result of today's game, and then after a off day, the Fall Classic arrives to the City by the Bay. Wednesday night will be loud for game 1, and the black and orange will be out in pride to give the World a Series to remember!