Inside the Head of a TV Junkie

Congrats to Matthew Mitcham from Australia (and only openly gay athlete in Beijing) for winning gold in the men’s 10m platform diving event last night.  The event was amazing and came down to the last dive of the night.  He scored 112.10 out of a possible 114.0 points on his last dive, propelling him past the Chinese favorite.  To read more about Matthew, check out his profile located on NBCOlympics.com.  You can watch the final dives here.  Video below of Matthew taking with reporters outside the diving venue in Beijing.

Seriously?!?  Both the US Men and Women drop the baton during the qualifier race in the 4×100 relay!?  This doesn’t happen!!

Maybe it was the handmade country tags that both teams were wearing on their chests?  Seriously, what the hell was that about?  Does Beijing provide those or do the teams themselves?

Okay, I realize that this post is a bit behind schedule.  I’ve been very busy with work and Mike.  :)  Anyway, the 4th of July this year was full of good times.  My friend Erin had come up from Sierra Vista for a weekend of Diamondbacks baseball and invited me to go to the game on the 4th.  There were going to be fireworks after the game and I figured, why not!?  Last year I spent the 4th sitting out at Tempe Town Lake from 7pm in 100 degree heat*, let’s just say that this was much better.  For my $10, I got to see a baseball game (we lost) and fireworks in an air conditioned ballpark?  What could be better?!  The photo above is one I took of the fireworks after the game.

I also attended another game with Erin on Saturday.  Again, the D-Backs lost.  Oh well, it was still fun!  I’ve been to more baseball games this year than I have in the past two years.  I think the thing I like most about going to baseball games is that you don’t really have to watch the game.  Don’t get me wrong, I watch the game but I also spend a fair amount of time socializing.

*For those of you not familiar on how things work in Phoenix, Arizona, it can easily be over 100 degrees for hours after the sun has gone down.

One thing I love about watching the UEFA Euro Championships are the national anthems in the beginning of the matches. Each side sings and it’s just kind of an awesome thing to see.

Anyway, that got me thinking about a few of my favorites and, if you can imagine, they are all on YouTube for our viewing pleasure.

God Save The Queen

Das Deutschlandlied

Oh Canada

The Euro 2008 football championships begin on June 7 and I can hardly wait. ESPN and ESPN2 will be airing every game this time around, thanks in part to the success they had with the World Cup two years ago. Unfortunately, most of these matches will be during the day and I won’t be able to watch them live. The final match will be played on Sunday, June 29th in Vienna. I may have to make my way down to the George & Dragon pub to view a few matches. It’s always great to watch football matches surrounded by other fans. Also, it’s interesting to see how many people from the participating countries are here in Phoenix.

The most exciting matches will be the Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and Final. The dates for these matches are as follows: June 19 - 22 - QFinals; June 25-26 - Semis; June 29 - Final.

Every two years I’m rewarded with a great football championship.  Thank goodness for the Euro Championship.  The four years between World Cups would be quite difficult to deal with if it wasn’t around.  A small fact, for those of you who like learning new things, this is the third most watched sporting event in the world after the World Cup and the Summer Olympics.  Kinda crazy.

This post is a bit late but whatever.

Two weekends ago, [Mike] and I went to the Milwaukee Brewers game at Maryvale Baseball Park.  The day was actually  kind of hot and the game wasn’t very well attended.  We were surrounded by people from Wisconsin who were all uber excited about watching their team and being able to wear shorts in December.  I remember checking the weather forecast for Milwaukee during the game and I believe the temperature was something like 23 degrees.  Yikes!  We were at about 81degrees by the 3rd inning.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from that day.  Enjoy!

(The Chorizo Sausage Won!)

Baseball season is quickly approaching and the spring training season is just around the corner. I seem to go through these phases with different sports. I get really into one for a year or two and then I switch to a different sport. I have never really been one to memorize stats or things of that nature, but I do go and cheer on the team.

Contrary to what some may think, this is not a fair-weather type of deal. Case in point, I was a season ticket holder of the Phoenix Coyotes for 2 years and during both of those years, they were either last or second to last in their division. Another example, I’m a current season ticket holder for the Arizona Cardinals and they have been mediocre at best (the real motivation for my season ticket purchases was getting a guaranteed seat in the new stadium and seeing my Pittsburgh Steelers these past two seasons).

Back to baseball… Every weekend in March I have tickets to spring training games around the Valley with [Mike]. This will help me to get ready for the upcoming D-backs season. I will not be getting any sort of season ticket package to the Arizona Diamondbacks but I do plan on attending more games. My goal is to go to Opening Day this year against the LA Dodgers. This is the 10 Year Anniversary of the AZ Diamondbacks franchise and to celebrate they are getting a brand new video scoreboard. This thing will be HUGE and will be the largest in the majors. I’m kind of excited to see it (read: “nerd”).

Before I end this post, there’s one more thing that I just thought of while writing this entry. The Diamondbacks have been around for 10 years and, yet, we have not hosted an All-Star game. Why is that?!

Ok, so I would have blogged yesterday but I didn’t get home until late because of the soccer match.

This was probably one of the best sporting events I’ve been to. I don’t think there’s been a game where I’ve stood as much as I did at this one. I was so nervous that we would lose the game, Wednesday was the longest day for me!!

Some not so fun experiences at the game… ummm… overcrowded restrooms (for the men at least). Yeah, so overcrowded that many people just decided to use something other than a urinal to do their business (yes, the sinks… and the drains in the floor). Good times!

Check the pictures (of the game) in my album!

I’m not sure how many of you watch NFL football but last nights Cowboys/Seahawks game was bizarre!

With just over a minute left in the game, the Cowboys were down 21-20 and were forced to make a field goal as they failed to gain a first down from inside the 10 yard line. You could sense the crowds dread as they figured the game was over and their beloved Seahawks were doomed to lose the Wild Card game, ending yet another promising season in disappointment. Then the unexpected happened!!

The ball is snapped….

Romo bobbles the ball! What?! This never happens? The kicker practically falls on his ass missing the ball! What?! This is insane! Romo picks up the ball and runs for the end zone… and it subsequently tackled on the half yard line…. just inches from winning the game for the Cowboys.

Cowboys lose 21 - 20 on a bobbled snap… it’s all the fault of the QB… the rookie QB in his first playoff game ever.

“It hurts, it hurts real bad.” - Tony Romo

So, I went to the football game between the Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears on Monday night. Needless to say, the Cardinals lost. What’s really bad about them losing was the way they did it. Cardinals were up 20 - 0 at the half and we go on to lose it 23 - 24 at the very end of the game… on a missed field goal.

STOP RUNNING THE DAMN BALL. LET MATT THROW AND CALL HIS OWN PLAYS!!

On that note, good job Matt! Hopefully the Cardinals coaching staff will remember that you led USC to two National Championships… USC teams that could easily beat the AZ Cardinals. Keep up the good work Matt! Hopefully you can save this team from mediocrity!!