GAME VS SHADOW RIDGE

Today was the the JV's second game and also their second win.  The game started off on a bad note when a lead off double was waisted with Wyatt Reid being thrown out at third and a scoring threat coming up empty. Then in the bottom of the first Jimmy Muto pitched in and out of trouble but had to be pulled after suffering from discomfort in his throwing shoulder. After scoring two runs in the top half of the second inning the Hawks remained scoreless until the fifth inning when an offensive blowout occurred with 13 runs crossing the plate in a half inning that lasted nearly forty minutes. Yet even after the 13 run onslaught the Mustangs still battled and put four runs of their own on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth off of Dylan Ortwein. After a scoreless top of the sixth Mike Myers was brought in to pitch and after walking the lead off hitter he settled in and got three straight outs. The game was called after the end of the sixth due to the two and a half hour time limit with the Hawks winning by the score of 15 to 9. With this win the Hawks record advances to 2-0 and puts the Shadow Ridge Mustangs at 2-1.

The game was a little messy and our pitching was not very good but our offensive output carried us through the shakiness in the other aspects of the game. Yet even during this game which was not very well played by either team their were some very good things that could be seen. Kyle Graves put down a great sacrifice bunt to advance a runner to third and nearly every one on the roster got into the game and helped in some fashion. The JV's next game is on Friday June 6th versus Sierra Vista Lions at Sierra Vista HS at 5:00.

GAME VS SPRING VALLEY

Silverado's American Legion junior team had its first game on Friday against Spring Valley. The game started off as a pitcher's duel with Kyle Graves starting the game on the mound for the Hawks. After 2 innings of no offense for either team Silverado got a rally going in the 3rd with the help of the Spring Valley starting pitcher. After a fly out to centerfield Kyle Graves worked the count for an eventual walk. After another strike out Wyatt Reid lined a ball to the shortstop who miss played it and let the inning continue. After that the pitcher gave up a four pitch walk to Jack Lavine to load the bases Mike Myers lined a ball into the right centerfield for a triple to put up the Hawks first three runs of the season. After a wild pitch to bring Myers in from third the pitcher walked the AJ Ford and then struck out Dylan Ortwein to end the the inning. After another 2 solid innings by Kyle Graves to hold the lead at four. In the top of the fifth Wyatt Reid walked and stole second and was then drove in on a double by Myers to give himself his fourth RBI of the game and give the Hawks a five run lead. Jimmy Muto came in to replace Graves on the mound to start the fifth. After walking the first batter of the inning Jimmy Muto gave up an unearned run after Myers threw the ball away on a routine ground ball to the shortstop allowing the man on third to cross the plate and putting the score at five to one. In the top of the the sixth the Hawks would put up 2 more runs on a double from Wyatt Reid. After another solid inning from Muto on the mound in the bottom of the sixth the Hawks came up with Myers getting a single as well as his third hit of the game. After a Myers stolen base and a ground out by Ford the Hawks had three straight doubles and a single pushed across four more runs to put the score at eleven to one. In the bottom of the seventh Dylan Ortwein came into relieve Muto and shut down the game by retiring three straight batters with two strikeouts.

The game was a good start for the Hawks. Offensively the boys used the extra opportunities that Spring Valley gave them through errors and walks through out the game to put themselves in good scoring chances. Defensively the game could have been played a little cleaner but it was a good game for the amount of young players that participated in the game and considering it was the first game of the season. The most important part of the game was by far and away all three pitchers dominating from the mound the entire game by not allowing any earned runs. The next game will be against the Shadow Ridge Mustangs at Shadow Ridge HS on June 5th at 5 o'clock.

KIMBO SLICE VS JOE THOMPSON

Saturday night's fight between Kevin Ferguson (aka Kimbo Slice) and Joe Thompson was interesting to say the least. Kimbo definitely has some of the most devastating punch power in the MMA world but he is a one trick pony. Slice's ground defense and sprawl are not very good although he did show a few good escapes in the beginning of the fight. Yet in the second round Thompson completely dominated Kimbo on the ground. Once Kimbo was pinned up against the cage and got his arm trapped he wore an abundance of elbows to the head. Kimbo then came out in the third round and seemed to be winded but once Kimbo drew blood from Thompson's insanely cauliflowered ear he turned it on and had Thompson rocked when the fight was stopped. In regard to the officiating of the fight I thought it was not nearly as good as the Pride officiating was or that the WEC and UFC has. The referee twice stopped the action on the ground when the fight was progressing and then didn't stop the fight when Kimbo was wearing elbows and not defending himself. Yet, when Kimbo startled Thompson in the third the fight was stopped very quickly. Overall I think Thompson doesn't have that strong of an overall approach MMA wise but was far more polished then Kimbo. Also, Thompson supposedly had a glass jaw and I think he disproved that in this fight by taking some shots on the button from a very hard punching Kimbo. Kimbo also was somewhat impressive. Not because he was polished or because he dominated the fight but because he does seem to be learning on the march and is progressing to more then just a street brawler. One last note. Good on CBS for showing a MMA card on cable television.

THE STATE OF BASEBALL.

Baseball seems to be in a precarious position in Las Vegas. In the years that I have been around high school baseball (pretty much  since i was 12 or 13) I have noticed a few things.

Firstly the level of athletes in the Vegas Valley has gone down remarkably from class to class. Although there is still a constant flow of good players in the Vegas area it seems that it the number and density of those players is much thinner then when i was in High School and, even more so, before I was in School.

The second thing I have noticed is that the kids have far less baseball knowledge then I had when I entered into high school. They don't understand simple baseball concepts and movements and actions. I don't think that this is because the players are not learning as fast as I or my peers did I just think that the level of good coaching has gone down over the last few years. 

The final thing I have noticed is that good leaders, kids who play the game the right way in both their physical and mental approach to the game. The kids seem to care more about how they are dressed or the way they look when they fly out or make an error. The players that are grimy, dirty, hard nosed kids are unique. The kids who pay attention to detail and don't let things slide are rare. The boys who expect to beat anybody they play against and really truly know they are better then them are gone.

The players are there and will always be there. But hopefully sometime soon the kids will start getting the coaching they need as well as developing the attitudes and the approaches they should have. Baseball PLAYERS are a dying breed. Its disappointing to see but for what it is worth I really know that Silverado Baseball will be playing and teaching baseball the right way. 

INDIANA JONES & THE CRYSTAL SKULL

So I went and saw the new Indiana Jones movie last night and it definitely stayed true to the Indiana Jones formula. It had the over the top plot points. The slap dick humor. The Russians replaced the Germans it was all pretty standard. I thought it was a decent flick but I think that the plot wasn't as good as either "Raiders of the Lost Ark" or "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" but it was definitely better then "Temple of Doom". The ending was kind of weak as well but over all it was a movie worth watching. Surprisingly Shia LaBeouf outshined Harrison Ford and if he were to take over the franchise it wouldn't be to bad. I don't claim to be a movie critic but i think was an average blockbuster movie with decent acting. The plot was a little thin but it was made up for with its grand scale and its respect for the pattern that the originals established. I would go with 2 out of 5 stars for this movie. Worth seeing if you are bored.

MY TATTOO

So my first tattoo has had some interesting reactions since i got it for Christmas when i was 17. Some people have really liked it, some people have thought it was stupid, some people have just thought it didn't really suit me but every single reaction had included a "what does that mean/represent" or something along those lines so i have decided that I could really put alot of effort into explaining it on my Blog so here it is.

My cross is not about being religious, it is more about being a reminder to myself on the way i want to live my life. This history of my cross (Which is known as a "Templar Cross" or a "Maltese Cross")is that it originated around the beginning of the First Crusade when the Knights templar used it as the symbol of the organization. The symbol was later adopted by the Knights Hospitaller. Ever since then it has been used by many chivalric orders through out the world as their main symbol. The four branches of the cross stand for the four cardinal virtues which are: Prudence, Temperance, Justice, and Fortitude. From those Branches each of the eight points of the cross stand for the 8 principle chivalric virtues which include: Courage, Justice, Mercy, Generosity, Faith, Nobility, Hope, and Endurance.

It is for those 12 virtues that I got my tattoo and still love it completely. It reminds me every day that I need to do my best to try and be a good man and to try and do my best to do the right thing. So there it is. Stop fucking asking me about it.

AMERICAN LEGION TRYOUTS 08'

Today was tryouts for Silverado's American Legion Gold and Junior Teams. Although I got sick about a third of the way through the try out I did have a few thoughts that came to me other then the fact that running 3 miles right before the tryouts was probably a poor choice but so is life. So with all that said here is kinda what I thought about the part of the tryouts that I saw and the upcoming season.

It seemed like we had a very good crop of young players that tried out for the squads this year. There were some good actions from a few of the players and i think that the Juniors will get a good influx of young talent. To go along with that group of hopefully good kids and ball players we will have a solid group of older kids. I am hopeful that we will have a good mix of kids and and hopefully that mix will we be able to make a run at repeating as the Junior American League Champions, but that is a long way away. I just can't wait to get out there and see who will be on my squad this season.