Hotlanta, A Few Things Syracuse and Last Reflections

They don't call it Hotlanta for nothin.

In a season that didn't look too promising and a club that was on the verge of both greatness and disaster, my Atlanta Braves have crawled out of their 4-year hiatus of NL East failures, and have started to make some noise among the likes of the Phillies and Marlins. With Tim Hudson coming back presumably sometime this month, and the young Tommy Hanson being every bit as good as advertised, I feel it will be the finest pitching rotation in the division, even better than Philly's with the edition of Cliff Lee and the young fireballers in Florida capped by Jason Johnson. With a big series win in L.A. this weekend, Atlanta has returned home and swepped a Nationals team that had won 9 in a row, and opens a clutch series tonight against the first-place Phils, a team Atlanta trails by just 5 games. Call me crazy, but I think Bobby Cox and Frank Wren still have a few tricks up there sleeves for Fall baseball...

Now, on to my upcoming junior year at Syracuse. It's starting to reach that point in my "career" in which I will have to start making some serious decisions as to what I want to do this year. No question, I will continue to involve myself heavily in Citrus Tv, as I am hosting "Cuse Countdown," winner of Best Show at Citrus last year. Also, I will continue to sharpen my skills in the radio medium as I follow in the legacy of Bob Costas, Mike Tirico and Marv Albert with the rest of the best sportwriters my age at WAER Radio Syracuse. However, some internship opportunities have opened up, whether it's news channel 9, something Newhouse related or even a small Golf Channel/ESPN gig. Time will tell what I do in this predicament, and I hope I will have the audacity of making something of "go" at this...

Now, as my summer job at the Corning Museum of Glass winds down, I'd just like to say I thoroughly enjoyed working here. Whether it was serving tourists (or making fun of them at times), making my own glass or gossiping with all the temps. at lunch hour who seem to be going through a mid-life crisis, it was an enjoyable experience. It made me realize just how lucky I am to be pursuing a career as great as journalism, but one that has also made me appreciate certain things when I go on vacations, having served in the tourism business. Making a nice little lump-sum of money, and playing some golf here and there with the occassional casual beer, has me very satisfied and content heading back to the Hill for the Fall semester.


Now, to completely Copyright fraught Family Guy, it's time for a segment of "What Really Grinds My Gears." It's been a while since I've done a segment similar to this, so here it goes. What really grinds my gears is when Chicago Cubs fans cannot hold their beer. I mean, COME ON!!! I mean, yes, I hate the Phillies too, being a Braves fan. But the Flyin' Hawaiian, or any player for that matter, does not deserve a beer to be thrown on him when catching a fly ball. As an outfielder in my playing days, it would've taken a lot to hold me back from at least confronting the guy. There's a difference between a rivalry, and disrespecting the rivalry, and I know that I'd be SHOCKED if ANY Braves fan were to do that, even if it was Victorino or Beltran out there. Come on Chicago, just because you haven't won a World Series in a century, doesn't mean you have to take it out on the team that did it last year. No, you can't blame it on Bartman, nor can you say the Ivy made you do it, nor can you also say it was because Zambrano broke the gatorade cooler. I guess it's just another one of those Wrigley Field moments for fans that still haven't come to terms with how unfortunate their franchise is.