The 3rd entry

A long long time ago in a pasture far, far, away when I was a little lad, short, shy, and awkward, my mother told me(in her rough,abrasive, Georgian accent) "son, why don't ya go out there and make some friends for the love of god." With an incredulous look, I looked at her and said, "mother, I have a friend in God." Now, my mother is as religious as they come, however, she didn't want me to be a loner. In response, my aging mother embraced me and said, "we're going to get you involved in some activities"! Let's try karate! I said, ok!

I went to my first Karate instructional meet. I was 4 years old, and I stood roughly 3 feet tall. Everyone at the meet looked well kept, professional, and glad to be there. Me, actually I can't recall really how I felt, but I do remember thinking that a sumptuous Twix bar awaiting my young taste buds after the meet was a good enough reason to make a fool of myself. The instructor showed us a few basic moves, a few high kicks, and some other stuff. Whatever, I wasn't really into it, but I did my best, for I wanted to make my mother happy. Well.....I wanted the twix bar. So, out of a whim, I kicked sporadically in the air, while yelling "aya!!!" That's what the 3 Ninjas did, so I kept going while thinking of my favorite childhood movie. My instructor was however, quite livid and stridently yelled "Chase, what are you doing, quit that this instance!" My young, developing brain didn't take well to being punished, so, I started crying, and feeling distraught I yelled the first thing that came to my mind, "I just want to make friends!" Ashamed and a tad embarassed, my mother took me by the arm and dragged me out of the gym. That was the first and last time I took Karate.


The characters, names, and events in this blog are purely fictional. Any reference to real people is purely coinincidental.

The Dirty Birds

With Football season now underway, baseball has gone on the wayside in media attention(well at least until the World Series, which is a time for baseball fans to drop their beloved hometown team, and cheer for whoever is taking enough steroids to win the whole mamabajama.) In terms of media attention, football is the focal point for sports fans and beer slinging junkies. And since the Braves are now 8 back in the wildcard, I too, have become a beer slinging, cheesehead junkie, even though I'm a devout Falcons fan, and they have nothing to do with cheese. Thus, I will write this blog on the Falcons.

Matty Ice, also known as Matt Ryan, rings in the beginning of his sophomore season with a successful victory over the Dolphins. Matt Ryan didn't have a great game, but he had a solid game. He threw for 229 yards and 2 touchdowns, but the overarching story for all Falcons fans is the superb play from the newly acquired star TE Tony Gonzalez, who caught a key touchdown to add some much needed insurance to the Falcons lead. However, the future hall of famer Tony Gonzalez wasn't the only pertinent contribution to the Falcons recent win over the Dolphins. The Falcons Defense was very stellar and actually shut out the Dolphins up until the fourth quarter, which is a huge suprise to anyone critquing the Atlanta Falcons this season. A defense that lost veteran linebacker Keith Brooking and veteran safety Lawyer Milloy, sucessfully only gave up one touchdown and procured 3 fumbles and one interception. With the defense showing signs of being much much better than expected, and the offense having the potential to put up 40 points, I will gladly put on my beer hat and my falconer wings and cheer on the dirty birds, Yeah!

Braves Win!

Whatever kind of braves fan you are, modest or obsessed, you have to realize that the Braves 2009 team is much better than last year, and possibly even better than 2007. Ok, let's just say since 2005, which was the last time they made the playoffs. The Braves see themselves just 3 games back from the Wild card spot after over-coming the ever problematic Marlins last night.

The Marlins are the youngest, and the smallest market team in the Major Leagues. What does this mean? The Marlins are the kind of team that are a nuisance on the older players who are most of the time playing to earn a paycheck, like the Braves. However, with that said, the Braves have not faltered in their ability to get the job done in the last two games. Who can you thank for our recent streak? Yes, the Braves have succeeded with consistent starting pitching, with solid performances from each of their starters, but that's not a ground-breaking story this season, the Braves have done that all year long. It's the surging performances from the unsung heroes of our team such as, Matt Diaz, Martin Prado, and the rehabilitated Omar Infante. What do they all have in common? They are bench players who have struggled for their spot on the starting roster, and also, their salary is similar to many of the Marlins players.

The reigning American League champion Tampa Bay Devil Rays were a prime example last year of pure ability and passion for the game, and evidence that sometimes high paycheck can get in the way of your focus for the game and its importance. The Braves have that spark needed from the aforementioned triumvirate, and I can't way to see how the rest of the season unfolds.

Watch the Braves battle it out with the Marlins in the 3rd game of this 4 game series tonight at Land Shark stadium beginning at 7:10.