Month: May 2006

Welcome to the new home of the Section30 blog.  Decided that it was time that Section30 had it’s own home on the web.  Things will continue as they have done in the past but will now be at this new location.

APEX, NC — Not just any team walks onto Laura Duncan Field #2 and walks away with a victory. The fifth-place Rob’s Reel Sets found that out the hard way last night in front of a bleacher-capacity crowd, losing 16-12 to the Timberland Big Dogs in a thriller that was called after six innings due to time.

With their all-around best outing of the season, the Big Dogs improved to 1-13 on the season and played their way into a tie for last place. With just two regular season games remaining, they still have an outside shot at the 5-seed in the tournament.

“That’s big,” says first baseman Lucas Miller. “No one wants to face Parkers Landscape in that first round.” The 5-seed would play Mamma Mia’s.

Rob’s Reel Sets jumped on top early, scoring five in the top of the first. It looked to be business as usual for The Big Dogs, as three infield grounders turned out to be too much to handle.

Miller didn’t have the reach on two errant throws and the second baseman is scared to get in front of the ball, which allowed the Reel Sets to jump on top 5-0 in the top of the first.

But then the defense settled in, and The Big Dogs got down to business. With the bats hot, they answered with four runs in the bottom of the first, started with a lead off homerun by the short stop, his fifth in the last three games.

“I’m not sure why our most powerful hitter is leading off,” Miller said. “It’s puzzling.” All five of his homeruns during that stretch have come with the bases empty. But then again, the second baseman hasn’t made a play all season and is untouchable.

The Dogs added three more in the third, taking an 8-5 lead into the fourth, hardly comfortable for a team that has led in all of their past five games, only to lose in late innings.

The fourth inning tested their will to win. The Reel Sets had scored five runs to take a 10-8 lead before The Big Dogs recorded their first out; Miller chased a fly ball down the right field line and caught it against the fence.

“I think that the entire team fed off that effort. When I flipped my hat off to get a better eye on it…that was dramatic. They knew we had come to play.” Miller was 3-for-4 and had his third straight error-free game.

The Dogs took an 11-10 lead in the fifth, but it wouldn’t hold. They gave up two in the top of the sixth. Trailing 12-11 and knowing it was likely their last at bat, they rallied, putting together seven consecutive hits/errors to drive the lead to 16-12. With just one out in the bottom of the sixth, the game was over. The Big Dogs stormed the field in triumph.

“Maybe we’re peaking at the right time,” Miller added. “Maybe the slipper will fit for us next week.”

Saturday morning, while getting in an early morning workout at the gym, shaking off my week, I had this realization about life: attractive people do not get up early.

It’s not scientific, but I’ll swear by it.

I’m confident there are many ugly people that like to sleep in, so it isn’t a reciprocal relationship. And I have no explanation why us ugly people are the only ones, but I am certain that attractive people do not do anything before 10.

I don’t know why; it’s just one of the many mysteries of life, I guess.

Time for a little platoff update. For those of you who do not care, shut up and deal.

Phoenix / LA Lakers

The Suns are in trouble. Lamar Odom and Kwame are killing them in the post. Who is the player wearing number 8 for the Lakers?? Seems like a totally different player than earlier this year. And the Kwame/Caron trade isn’t looking as bad right now either. Maybe Phil Jackson is the man?

Clips / Nuggets

Nuggets suck. The only reason they are this close is that ‘Melo is a freaking beast, and Andre Miller is killing Sam I Am. Too bad Sam is giving it back on the other end.

Mavs / MEM

Mavs are going to be in the NBA Finals. And Memphis is awful. There isn’t much more to be said.

Spurs / Kings

First, Duncan is obviously not healthy. And that is a big damn deal for the Spurs. Even if they win this series, they will fall to the Mavs in the next round. Who would’ve thought that the Kings won playoff games without Bibby or Artest going off? Course, Bonzi got nasty, but Bibby and Artest haven’t been all that great. Manu’s bow to Artest was not pretty.

Detroit / Milwaukee

It is going to take Redd going off like in Game 3 for the Bucks to win. And I don’t see the Bucks winning another game in this series. This series bores me.

Cavs / Bullets

LeBron is getting way too much press. But he is nasty. And he actually hit a game winner, even if he did walk on the play. Take that WORM. One side note…I haven;t watched the Bullets play much this year, but Arenas’ mid-range game is nasty. If they get anything out of Butler or Jamison, the games will be close. This series does not bore me.

Pacers / Nets

This series bores me as well. I think the whole eastern conference is boring actually.

Heat / Bulls

Much as I hate to say this, I actually want to see the Bulls win. Riley screwed the Heat up with the additions last summer. Wade can only carry a broke down Shaq (320 lbs) on his back for so long.