Currently

Sentence of the Week

1."We're going to run the organization from the top down. We're controlling player personnel. Thats our job. There's this belief in baseball that a team starts with the manager, but it doesn't

This is my favorite because i believe that this is how a team should be ran, from the top down.

Books read
The Baseball
Moneyball

Pages this week
267
Semester total: 993

Finally finished book #3

This week, i decide to finish reading "The Baseball", and to begin reading "Moneyball", since the movie has came out finally. I like reading the books of movies before i go to see them in the theater. So once i finally finish, i might have to go see Moneyball in theater. Moneyball is a great book for baseball fans to read. Starting out, Billy Beane, a regarded as a top prospect in the 1980's. He was contemplating whether going to Stanford or if he wanted to sign a big league deal and make the big bucks, while also giving up his top of the line college education. After he signed his deal, he became nothing more than a minor leaguer.

The Baseball

Did you know that teams in the MLB hire a person just to rub mud onto a baseball?

This is true, because when a baseball is brand new, the leather doesn't have enough grip for pitchers to hold on to. So these people rub a mixture of mud and a liquid, nobody knows exactly what the liquid is because its a secret part of the recipe, so that the pitchers can have just enough grip on the ball. In the 60's and 70's, they used to just rub either dirt or mud on the ball, until they the batter's complained because they counld not see the ball therefore they had trouble hitting it. The MLB tried as many things to get grip as they could, but everything they tried either had too much grip, or was too dark for the batter to see. Then someone came up with the mixture of mud and the special liquid as the perfect thing to rub on the baseballs to get grip and not be to dark so that the players can see them.

The Baseball

This week, I started to read 102 Minutes, a book about 9/11. However, I realized that students were reading this in a class, so I had to stop reading that book. Instead I found a book called “The Baseball” by Zack Hample. This book as the title suggest is about a baseball, but not just any baseball. This goes into the way that a baseball is made from inside out. It also gives some tips on how to walk out of a ballpark with your own souvenir, a baseball, from the game. Zack Hample is what people like to call a Ball Hawk. Ball Hawks are people that go to games not to watch them, but in order to walk out of the ballpark with as many souvenirs as possible. This book also goes into detail about the history of a baseball. Did you know that if you caught a foul ball in the early years of baseball, you had to throw it back onto the field of play? In the early years, if you were caught keeping a foul ball or a home run, you could be arrested and fine up to a 100 dollars (that was a lot back then). However, fans these days keep the balls as souvenirs, unless the away team hits a foul ball or home run, in this case, fans throw the ball onto the field of play as a sign of disrespect.

Sentences of the month

1.."That which does not kill you can only make you stronger"- Coming Back Stronger
2."We may be down, Shane, but we're not out"- High Heat
3."Were gonna pound the ball! We're gonna hit'em in the mouth"-Coming Back Stronger
4.When you least expect it, the opportunity will present itself. You never know when it's going to come"

#1 is my favorite because it is entirely true. The quote is showcased at every point in life.

The book I read this week was "The Baseball" by Zack Hample

Pages of the week: 209
Semester: 726

Currently

Pages this week: 168
Semester total: 517

Coming Back Stronger

Coming Back stronger is probably the best book that I have read in all my life. It gives an in depth look at the players life. It also gives me and other readers a look at a different side of the players. Normally all we get is the negative look that the media tends to over exaggerate. I knew most of the stuff that had happened to him past 2006, and this made me remember everything that had happened to him. I enjoyed this book, because I look at Drew Brees as a role model for me. Seeing all the adversity that he had to go to just to get back to a starter in the National Football League, made me look at him with such respect. He had to go through so much adversity of tearing his labrum in his shoulder.

Coming Back Stronger, part 2

This week, I’m continuing to read “Coming Back Stronger”, by Drew Brees. This book gives an in-depth look at the life of Drew Brees. The part that I’m reading now is his life from the 2005 seasons when the he was still with the San Diego Chargers. That year, the Chargers were predicted to go the Super Bowl, representing the AFC. However, during that season, Drew hurt his shoulder, and the Chargers had a record of 9-7, finishing behind two teams in there division, not making the playoffs. After the last game of the season, he flew down to Alabama, to visit the top orthopedic surgeon in the nation, Dr. James Andrews. When he got down there, he found out that he had a torn labrum in his right shoulder. After the Chargers found out about his injury, they decided that they didn’t want to give him a long term contract, if he couldn’t perform at his best. The Chargers had just drafted Philip Rivers 2 years before, and the organization felt that it was time to move on. So during the off season, and during his rehab, Drew had to begin finding teams that were interested in him. He found only two teams that wanted him to be the starter, and was willing to give him a long term contract. Those two teams were the Miami Dolphins and the New Orleans Saints. Both teams planned visits for him and his wife to visit their facilities during the offseason. On his visit to New Orleans, the organization gave him and his wife a tour of the city, which had been destroyed by hurricane Katrina a year before. When Drew saw the devastation he was drawn in, and saw it a possible place to help and rebuild the community from the ground up. While on the visit, the Saints never made him take or pass a physical. However, when he went to visit the Dolphins, they did everything the Saints did, and added a physical, which put the thought that they didn’t believe he was physically able to be a starter again in the NFL. So with all this, he finally decided on the Saints.

Friday

Books i've read:
Coming Back Stronger- Drew Bree's
Quiet Strength-Tony Dungy
High Heat- Carl Deuker
Pages This week:191
This semester:349

Sentences of the week
1."Were gonna pound the ball! We're gonna hit'em in the mouth"-Coming Back Stronger
2."That which does not kill you can only make you stronger"- Coming Back Stronger
3."When you least expect it, the opportunity will present itself. You never know when it's going to come"

These are my favorite sentences because its just a good way to live life by. These are also pretty famous quotes and they help to pick you back up when you may be down.

Coming Back Stronger than ever

In the memoir written by Saints starting Quarterback, Drew Brees, goes through his life from the time his parents got a divorce, until he was hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy in 2010. While in High School, Drew had always wanted to play baseball in college, and more importantly in the College World Series. Coming from a athletic, and competitive family only could help Drew as he progressed as one of the top quarterback in the NFL. His mother was all state in track, volleyball and basketball while in high school. Drew describes him tearing his ACL as the most important event that has happened in his life. This really made him reconsider playing football at all, or just to focus on baseball. He decided to come back stronger than ever, and continue to play football. Drew ended up being the starting quarterback for the varsity his junior and senior seasons. Although he had been a starter at his high school for 2 seasons, Drew was not heavily recruited out of high school. The three colleges in Drew’s vision were Brown, Kentucky, and Purdue. He ended up choosing Purdue, because he loved Joe Tiller, the coach at the time, and knew that their school of business was one of the best in the nation. Turns out that Purdue was the best choice he ever made. While at Purdue, he meet the love of his life, now his wife, and leading Purdue to its first Rose Bowl, although they lost to the Washington Huskies.