June: The Friendly Confines [Fukubukuro 2010]

Wrigley Field is baseball. No other ballpark I’ve ever been to has exuded quite so much of that je ne sais quoi that makes baseball so great. You know, I think I do know what makes Wrigley so great for baseball. It’s the fact that no matter what year it is, no matter how many garish Toyota signs are up in the outfield, or how the game of baseball has changed since its inception, the Cubs show up in a Wrigley laid out almost identically to its opening day in 1914, complete with a manual scoreboard and ivy walls, and play ball in a park that has become one with Chicago. Wrigley Field is a constant. No matter what you do to it, watching a ball game feels like you’re back in the 1950s. Wrigley is comforting in that way. It immediately makes you feel like you’ve been watching baseball there forever, even during your first visit. ...

January 7, 2011 · 4 min · el33tcapitan

MLB 2010 Season Projections [Wednesday Morning Quarterback]

Another year, another season! 2010 looks to be another good one. The Marlins don’t look like they’re about to run away with their division, but the Rays have a fighting chance this year. I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s back up and go through this division by division like we do every year. AL East After a (glorious) season where the Yankees didn’t make it to the playoffs for once, the Bronx Bombers came back with a vengeance and took it all. The Yanks may have lost Damon and Matsui, but they’re still in a strong position in the AL East and look poised to make the playoffs in the division. Players are getting older on that team and the pitching isn’t as strong as they’d like, but, barring some kind of major injury, I stand by that prediction. ...

March 31, 2010 · 9 min · el33tcapitan

Wow, A LOT Has Happened [Wednesday Morning Quarterback]

I’m pretty sure that I haven’t mentioned anything about the NFL this year, which I find hilarious, considering that I use a modified football saying as my sports category. Now’s as good a time as any to talk about it, I guess, since the regular season is over. As far as the playoffs go, I’d like to see the Ravens advance to the Super Bowl, but that’s just because they’re the local team. If we’re lucky, we’ll also get to see Brett Favre face-off against the Green Bay Packers (and hopefully knock them out) too in this postseason. Beyond that, I haven’t paid enough attention to the NFL this year to really care one way or another. ...

January 6, 2010 · 3 min · el33tcapitan

World and Japan Series Results [WMQ]

It’s time for Wednesday Morning Quarterback, your weekly sports round-up. It’s all old news by now, but the World Series champions for this year were the New York Yankees. Powered by a ridiculous performance by Hideki Matsui, the Yanks pulled far ahead early in the game as Matsui clobbered anything Pedro Martinez threw at him. It wasn’t a massacre, but it wasn’t pretty either. World Series Time-Lapse by Robert Caplin from Robert Caplin on Vimeo. ...

November 18, 2009 · 2 min · el33tcapitan

Super Ichiban Travel Blog Part IX: It's A Small World [II]

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“375” caption=“Good riddance! I mean…I’ll miss you!”] [/caption] The day opened with some sadness. David, who had already missed a week’s worth of school, had to finally head home. In fact, most of the tour was going home unless they paid to go to Tokyo Disney Sea or had other plans in Japan to attend to and once that was done, we’d be down to eight, including myself, who were going on to see the rest of the teams of Japan. ...

October 5, 2009 · 16 min · el33tcapitan

Citi Field vs. Yankee Stadium [WMQ]

It’s time for Wednesday Morning Night Quarterback, your weekly sports round-up. Instead of the usual sports roundup today, it’s going to be a battle of the new stadiums. That’s right, it’s Yankee Stadium vs. Citi Field! [caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“A view of Citi Field from the parking lot”] [/caption] VS. [caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Yankee Stadium from the subway platform”] [/caption] ...

August 6, 2009 · 8 min · el33tcapitan