This was quite a busy week for my legs.  I started strong on Sunday, playing softball at 11:30 am.  I followed that warmup with a few hours of touch football at Greenlake park, and then yet another 25 mile bike ride with triathlete-in-training Graham.  On Monday I played ultimate, Tuesday I played softball, and today I played softball again.  Interspersed in there are a few games of table tennis (real table tennis, for those of you who scoff at that...it's not terribly tiring, but it's not easy on the legs because of the lateral movement).  At this point, my right knee and left groin are starting to rebel against my desire to play more sports.  I have tomorrow off, but Saturday and Sunday will have at least 4 softball games between them!  Most awesome (until I tear something).

As for the softball game today...it was not one to remember.  I am on a team run by a Jewish community center on Mercer Island.  My friend Justin put together this team, and non-JCC members can also join the league (paying $90 instead of $40...no operation required ;)).  We play in the "C" division of the softball league.  The divisions range from A to D.  Most teams in the C division are marked by competence but inconsistency, ours included.  Today definitely leaned toward the inconsistent part of the range.  I pitched the game (my first time doing that in a real game), and the other team just teed off on me.  They were hitting line drives all over the place, and shooting ground balls through the gaps.  Few hits were actually reaching our outfielders.  A few inopportune fielding errors by our team created some blowout innings.  Hopefully I will get the chance to pitch again.  I threw strikes with consistency, and I want to see whether all teams light me up, or whether this team was just having a banner day.

If you want to see our individual statistics, Justin is keeping them in a spreadsheet on his web site: stats.  Keep the following in mind, before dissing me for my relatively poor stats :) -- to simplify scorekeeping for our baseball-novice scorekeeper, fielders choices and errors are counted as hits for the batter.  I have benefitted from this scoring quirk only once in 14 AB, which in general is less than the other members of the team.

I'm just glad my ERA isn't recorded in those stats...a number that big might just crash Excel...

If it ever...EVER...stops raining on weekends out here, I just might be able to play some freaking softball on Sundays.  I joined a recreational softball league with some friends, and so far all my $90 registration fee has bought me is two Sundays of rainouts.  Splendid.  On the plus side, the weather was nice this afternoon and I rode my bike around Redmond some more.  Next weekend I will see how far I can get on the Burke-Gilman trail, which runs from Redmond to Seattle, around Lake Washington.

Time for a brief recap, several days late.  The game was quite awesome.  The Sonics clinched the series in this game, so the crowd was going nuts.  Plus, this game didn't suffer from adrenalitis after 3 quarters, since the Sonics spent most of the 3rd quarter erasing a deficit and the 4th quarter putting the game away.  Luke Ridnour, the Sonics point guard, also pulled off a sick no-look pass on a fast break.  He ran after a long rebound, dribbled it behind his back once to avoid 2 Kings defenders, then passed it across his body without looking to Rashard Lewis, who was past half court on a fast break.  It was the most awesome play I've ever seen live.

The NBA playoffs are now in full swing (and have been for a week or so...I procrastinated on this post for the entire week).  Andy and I split a 20 game season ticket package with another guy from Microsoft (who has been getting this package for a few years), so we were able to get 4 seats per playoff game for the first round.  We hit game 2 last Tuesday.  This was the first playoff game I've attended in any sport, and the crowd energy is just awesome.  The Sonics amassed a 25 pt lead in the 3rd quarter, at which point the crowd adrenaline level kind of peaked.  The 4th quarter was kind of a let down for the team and fans, as the Kings made a late surge.  The Sonics pretty easily held them off, winning by 12 or so, but it would have been nice to end the game on a high like at the end of the 3rd.  Andy and I are going to the game tomorrow as well.  The Sonics are up 3-1, so this game could clinch the series.  Should be awesome.

The coolest thing that happened at the game actually occurred between quarters (and no, I'm not talking about "Quick-Change," the pseudo-magic halftime show).  Between the 1st and 2nd quarters, there was a half court shot contest.  Two fans had one minute to make a half court shot, shooting at opposing baskets.  The first to make the basket would win a trip to Sacramento to see game 3 or 4.  If neither made a shot, a third person would win the prize.  I was expecting an entertaining 60 seconds, with moderately coordinated guys heaving basketballs up, relying on their rapport with God, Vishnu, Buddha, or Mooby the Golden Calf to guide the ball into the hoop.  I was a bit shocked when the guy I was watching made his first shot!  The thing touched nothing but net.  And just as I was saying how improbable that was, Andy noticed the other guy prancing around with his arms in the air.  Why was he so happy?  HE ALSO MADE HIS FIRST SHOT!  Initially, the guy whose shot went in first was given the prize, but this drew cascades of boos from the jazzed up crowd.  A few minutes later, they wisely decided to award both guys the trip to Sacramento.

All in all, an exciting night.  Tomorrow, I expect that the free throw noisemakers will spontaneously transmogrify into wads of cash, in an attempt to match the improbability of the events from game 2.

In a shocking turn of events, Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts did not hit a home run today (though he did go 2/4).  For those of you not following Major League baseball religiously (read: those normal people not in multiple fantasy baseball leagues), one of the most surprising stories in the young season is the slugger act Roberts has been putting on in Baltimore.  Looking at his current numbers, one could almost say that we are witnessing the emergence of a new slugger in the already potent Oriole offense.  If I had to bet, I'd say he can't possibly keep this up.  Roberts' history and size paint an unclear picture:

  Vitals: 5'9, 178 lbs, 27 yrs

  2003: .270, 22 doubles, 5 HR, 46 BB

  2004: .273, 50 doubles, 4 HR, 71 BB

  2005: .364, 1 double, 7 HR, 13 BB (so far)

Based on his size, Roberts is not your prototypical power hitter.  His past numbers back this up, as he maxed out at 5 home runs in 2003, and had 12 in his major league career prior to this April.  The 50 doubles he hit in 2004 suggest developing power, but given that Roberts stole 52 bases in 2003 and 2004 combined, surely some of those doubles were the result of fleet feet and not power.  Roberts' improving plate discipline is interesting, though.  His walks increased dramatically last year, and early indications are that this patience has carried over to this year.  If Roberts is able to control the counts he faces and wait for "his pitch," he may actually keep this up (modestly anyway...can you really expect 50?) and add some pop to second base, a position with aging stars (Jeff Kent, Brett Boone) and few MLB-visible prospects to fill the void (Alfonso Soriano, though he's lost some luster after doffing his Pinstripes).

In the age of steroids, the legitimacy of Roberts' improvement will be brought into question.  Considering the increased scrutiny by Major League baseball and the Government (...sigh...), though, you'd think it would be foolish to use banned performance enhancers in such plain sight.  So there must be another explanation.  Luckily, I have a perfectly logical theory...it's the city of Baltimore.  Every few years, some mischievous phantom decides to imbue an otherwise average player with superhuman, 'roid-esque, Bonds-like abilities (please excuse the redundancy).  The last true "victim" of this Mid-Atlantic Puck was Brady Anderson.  Anderson, a lead-off hitter like Roberts, enjoyed a good career before and after 1996.  He averaged roughly 17 home runs during his glory days, hitting 24 in 1999, combined with 80+ walks and 20+ stolen bases in numerous seasons.  The summer of '96, though, that was a different story.  Anderson exploded for 50 home runs, placing second in a classic home run race between Mark McGwire (52) and Ken Griffey Jr. (49).  If you compare Anderson's and Griffey's batting stats for that season, that are nearly indistinguishable, with Griffey besting Anderson in RBIs primarily due to batting position, 140 to 110 (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlbhist/alltime/leaders?breakdown=2&type=0&sort=8&year=1996).  This outburst by Anderson nearly defies belief.  If Brian Roberts continues at his current pace, or anywhere near it, he could give fans another underdog to root for in the yearly race for the various batting titles, a 5'9 David going up against going up against Goliaths like Pujols (6'3, 225) and Thome (6'4, 246).

And despite the fact that I will curse him every time he goes up against my fantasy team (who would draft a second baseman with no known power!?), Roberts' ride will be a kick to watch.

As week two of the baseball season wraps up, here are some interesting things to note:

• The Phillies still can't assert themselves in the NL East.  First they lose 2-1 to the Nationals, then they beat the powerful Cardinals 2-1.  At least give me some consistency!
• I will never pick anyone but the Braves to win the NL East until it actually happens once.  It seems like they get worse on paper every year, yet they still manage to pull it out.  I think they could field nine 60 year old women and win that division (Bobby Cox might enjoy that more too...).
• The Yankees are tied for last in the AL East with the D-rays, at 4-7.  That's always a good thing.
• I hate the Marlins.  They have five wins, and four of them have been complete games by their starting pitcher.  What is that?  Plus, look at their runs scored vs. runs against...what 5-6 team has 47 RS and 23 RA?  Nonsense...
• Terrell Owens is a greedy...oh wait, that's football.

As many of you know, I recently organized a Pro Club basketball team with some people at work.  I've been out here for almost three years without playing on a sports team (except ultimate frisbee), so I was feeling a bit deprived and lazy and finally convinced enough people at work to sign up (which isn't as easy as you might think..."fat" and "kids" are very popular excuses).  We play in the C division (C = crappiest), and it's a good thing we chose this division.  In our first game, the other team scored 15 points before we scored our first two (courtesy of free throws by yours truly).  At halftime, we were losing 30-4.  Yes, we scored four points in twenty minutes of basketball.  We were a bit better in the second half, outscored 30-20 (for a 60-24 loss), but overall it wasn't pretty.  The highlight of the game was the first play of the second half, when one of our players hit a three pointer and was fouled, resulting in a four point play that doubled our score.  We won our next two games 36-33 and 58-46, so we've made great strides...specifically, the strides of a 6'7" forty-something named Bruce, the former test manager for my team.  He definitely brings the Shaq factor to our team, drawing double teams and scoring with relative ease using his girth.  With two wins, we should be a lock for the playoffs (6 of 7 teams make it).  Given our current rate of improvement, I think it's reasonable to assume that we'll cruise to the division championship, and we'll be taking on Team USA by the next Summer Olympics.  I mean, they did only win a bronze medal...

It is that wonderful time of year when the morning dew glistens on the newly green grass and balls both soft and hard careen dangerously through the air.  Yes, baseball season is upon us, and finally I am on a softball team.  It only took 2 years.  We had practice today at 10 am (which of course meant I showed up at 11).  We ran a more structured practice today, going over the cutoff system (which naturally led to catcalls about the system being down...from me anyway).  Next week, I plan to concentrate on cutting my swearing in half (a requirement, due to league sportsmanship rules).  I figure if I meet that goal every week, I'll be able to play a whole game by the end of the season.

Fantasy baseball season is also in full force.  If I am to keep this space at all fresh, I think most of my rantings will be on this subject.  Fantasy sports is really a staple of my life at this point, much like food, water, and "Scrubs."  There isn't a day in the year when I don't have an active fantasy team, and I'd estimate 1/2 of my IM, browser, and phone data bandwidth is used up by chatting about fantasy or obsessively refreshing browser windows to see whether Miguel Olivo's 2-1 count is 2-2 yet.  I have two teams this year (pretty average for me), which I'll go over in later entries (a strategic cop-out to leave me with more material).  Both have potential to do well, but it's tough to tell this early.

Anyway, it's time to see whether my computer incident last night actually fried my hard drives.  Wish me luck...