tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10914707691823283182024-03-05T01:11:32.299-05:00JMANNREVIEWThe Evolution of Sports Fansjmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.comBlogger338125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-51194158878036651372022-03-19T21:42:00.001-04:002022-03-19T21:42:09.567-04:00Why Does March Madness Mean so Much?March Madness brings out the best of us every year.When I was younger, I would enter every bracket I could. Friends, families, co-workers and strangers alike would be subject to my masterful analysis and game picking. Eventually I got tired of trying to remember who I took and how much I was losing. I took several years off.Time has passed and I wanted to get back into the game. jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-31260545501116825052020-01-26T13:29:00.001-05:002020-01-26T13:29:45.097-05:00Pete Rose Is Jealous of this Cheating ScandalThe Houston Astros scandal reminds me a lot about Pete Rose. But are these two scandals alike such that indefinite or lifetime suspensions are in order?
Pete Rose was suspended indefinitely from Major League Baseball as a result of his baseball betting while the Manager of the Cincinnati Reds in the 1980's. Before that, he was suspended for 30 days because of a nasty confrontation jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-37662084465477863492019-08-25T19:12:00.000-04:002019-08-25T19:12:15.239-04:00Ceder Point Vs. Hersheypark EndgameThat time of year again...the family vacation. While we didn't bring along Aunt Edna, drag our dog on vacation or go to WalleyWorld, we did happen to make stops at two of the region's top amusement parks. Cedar Point and Hersheypark. Time for the comparison blog!
When I first bought tickets for these two parks, I knew it would be a matter of which park was better. C had gone tojmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-2239563769354238622019-06-12T20:28:00.000-04:002019-06-12T20:28:19.881-04:00Even David Ortiz is a Victim of Our TimesNot David Ortiz too!
I was thinking this to myself when I heard the news that David Ortiz was shot in the back in his native Dominican Republic. Big Papi shot? It couldn't be happening to one of the most famous baseball players in modern baseball history. He was just 43 years old for God's sake with a wife and two kids.
After a couple of days of reflection, it's apparent that jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-13581511468880909252019-03-12T18:36:00.003-04:002019-03-12T18:36:23.237-04:00Volleyball is the Next AAU SportIt seems that Southern Alliance Volleyball is the next AAU sport for the JMR household. First it was AAU Baseball. For the past 8 years, it seems that every Summer brings a new vacation hotspot. Reading, Pennsylvania check. Upstate New York (3 times) check. Flemington New Jersey? Also check.
Then came basketball AAU. That was a hoot, traveling to places like jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-16676976377821516592019-01-30T17:55:00.001-05:002019-01-30T17:55:10.366-05:00How Patiot-Hating is a Reflection of our SocietyI grew up in Connecticut in the 1970's and 1980's. Back then the Patriots were a sometimes-successful team, but seemed so far away from me. The New York Giants were not very good, but had some fans around town. But really the two most popular football teams were the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys. The Steel Curtain vs America's team. I was on the Cowboys jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-39577092351702178892018-12-13T16:47:00.000-05:002018-12-13T16:47:06.259-05:00Welcome to Family, EllsEllie or Mookie? DLG and G were arguing about the name for the new dog a couple of days before the BIG day. I piped in with my oh so subtle guilt trip.
"What about Maddie? That was the name of my dog growing up..." I might was well have said "before she was tragically taken in a mafioso kidnapping" after that I was laying on it so thick.
Yes, the JMR family was addingjmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-92054835966613422692018-11-07T08:02:00.001-05:002018-11-07T08:02:19.591-05:002018 - Another Year, Another World Series ParadeThings have changed a lot since 2013, and things haven't changed at all. 2013 was the last year that we celebrated a Red Sox World Series victory with the Duck Boat parade. And while 2013 was different in that all of went to Fenway Park on a Saturday morning and basically missed the whole thing, 2018 saw C, G and I go to the corner of Boylston and Tremont. They didn't mindjmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-6130124108917764012018-10-17T13:41:00.002-04:002018-10-17T13:41:49.344-04:002018 ALCS - Price's Redemption?Would this game be David Price's redemption? His playoff teams (Tampa Bay, Toronto and the Red Sox) had never won a start that he made. Forget about his win-loss record, his TEAM had not won a game he started. That is an astounding achievement. And his poor 1.3 innings in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Yankees did not seem to be a harbinger of good things to come. jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-90490979906605782482018-09-28T17:21:00.001-04:002018-09-28T17:21:23.679-04:00Boston Seaport - An Oral HistoryOh boy, I thought to myself. We have a 16 year old, a 14 year old and a 12 year old at this point and its always an adventure to get them to agree to do anything. When Jen said she reserved a room in South Boston for the night and all 5 of us were going to go, I thought that the crap was going to hit the fan.
What follows is an oral history of that weekend.
Friday
C: I jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-41622505448041779202018-08-01T11:00:00.002-04:002018-08-01T11:00:24.888-04:00South Carolina is Hot in the Summer - Chick Fil A EditionCharleston, South Carolina is really hot in the Summer. I mean really hot. Think about how hot it is where you are right now. That is nowhere near how hot it is in Charleston in the Summer.
With this as a backdrop, C had his annual baseball field trip for his AAU team. Three years ago, it was Flemington, New Jersey. Two years ago it was Omaha, Nebraska. Last jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0Charleston, SC, USA32.7764749 -79.93105120000001332.3494714 -80.576498200000017 33.203478399999995 -79.285604200000009tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-50413443608314330962018-06-19T19:47:00.001-04:002018-06-19T19:47:47.306-04:00My Last Game as a Youth Sports CoachI was checking around G's baseball team to see who could make it to a playoff game, when the mom of one of my best players, said what can only be described as fitting words. Her son had stopped playing baseball and was hanging up his spikes. After 250 baseball games, 120 basketball games, 50 football games and 10 soccer games, JMR has stopped coaching and is mercifully hanging up his jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-60035936803469815432018-05-19T09:47:00.001-04:002018-05-19T09:47:20.768-04:00Maybe the Celtics' Opponents Just Aren't Very Good?A lot has been made about the Celtics' 2018 playoff run. After a shaky 4-3 series win over the Milwaukee Bucks, the Celtics cruised through the conference semifinals with a 4-1 victory over the upstart 76ers and are up 2-0 versus LeBron James and the vaunted Cavaliers. A lot of reasons have been discussed about the Celtics run without their two best players, Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward,jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-55012705760031349912018-04-12T19:18:00.000-04:002018-04-12T22:36:59.901-04:00So Ball-Hawking is a ThingSo we finally had our day in the Fenway seats. Although this was the first game our season tickets could go to, Ive had these seats - and was looking forward to this game for months. Not only that, but it was the first game against the retooled Yankees and G wanted to see Aaron Judge and GianCarla Stanton. But when G informed me that we had to take one of his buddies to the game so jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-88566851736648017002018-02-26T21:19:00.002-05:002018-02-26T21:19:51.343-05:00The Last Time at Epcot Center?First in 2009, we discovered how one could visit the countries of Europe and enjoy a lovely time exploring various cultures (wink, wink). Then in 2012 we journeyed back, a couple of years older and a couple years wiser (we stayed at a place that allowed us to walk to Epcot - and easily walk out of Epcot).
As the kids have gotten older, I am now starting to wonder if our 2017 trip to Epcot jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-81970078618487188402018-02-10T08:34:00.000-05:002018-02-10T08:34:25.945-05:00Unsolved Mysteries and the 2018 New England PatriotsScene and Action! Robert Stack comes in from a foggy road "join us and you might be able to help us solve...a mystery. Cut to Keely Shaye Smith staring the camera down describing the mysteries that are unfolding at Patriot Place. The Patriots, coming off of a thrilling OT Super bowl win over the Falcons, were looking to make it three Super Bowl wins in 4 years. But in the jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-38282761238341259362018-01-15T20:03:00.001-05:002018-01-15T20:03:15.652-05:00Avoiding the Tampa Serial Killer at Busch GardensJust kidding about the the Tampa serial killer. Well, not kidding about his existence, just kidding that we just avoided him. Let's forget about him for a second, though, since he was captured the week before we arrived. Our fourth annual winter vacation took us this time around to my Brother's house down in Tampa and my Mother's rental house just outside of Orlando (for anotherjmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-38503320053861195602018-01-02T21:22:00.000-05:002018-01-02T21:22:30.924-05:00Is Isaiah Thomas a Forgettable Celtic?It's Isaiah Thomas' first game with the Cavaliers tonight. I have to admit that I totally forgot that he hadn't played a game since hurting his hip in the playoffs last year. The boys both ask me when and where the game is on. I'm mildly interested, but only because there is no football on. It's really tough for me to watch the Cavs unless they are playing the Celtics. jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-23873964067449590392017-11-26T13:11:00.000-05:002017-11-26T13:11:20.558-05:00Lonzo Ball is (Somewhat) Overrated - Celtics Recap"You want to see the Lakers?" I asked G incredulously when he said that he wanted his Christmas Present to be the Celtics game against the Lakers.
"Yeah, Dad. I want to see Lonzo Ball" Now I know that Ball was one of G's favorite rookies, but it was odd to me that he wanted to focus on someone who was such a high profile reality star. If I had a dollar every time that G showed jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-92104961964778913672017-10-31T19:14:00.000-04:002017-10-31T19:14:15.785-04:00Could the Dodgers and Astros World Series Be the Best Since 1986?Hey, I get it. Last years world series was really good. And the Cubs broke its 500 year world series drought. 2014 was also good as the San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals in 7 games. The 1997 World Series and the 1992 World Series had exciting back and forth games. Kirk Gibson gave us one of the most iconic moments in World Series history with his Game 1 walkjmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-90359359835937694172017-10-17T20:21:00.003-04:002017-10-17T20:21:44.500-04:00The Kyrie Irving Era Has Begun and LeBron James Can't Stand ItOf course LeBron James had to make it about himself during the Kyrie story.
"Oh my knee!" James weasels as the camera shutters are furiously fighting for his attention. "Oh I don't think I can play until I decide that the attention is squarely focused on me, then I can play." James can't fool me with his inside voice. This is not Irving's homecoming as much as it is James'
Whojmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-19273376569466957762017-09-25T09:54:00.003-04:002017-09-25T09:54:44.500-04:00NFL Protests - Aren't We All Losing?Yesterday marked a sharp turn in the Colin Kaepernick saga. Whereas just a couple of weeks ago only a handful of players were taking a knee or showing some sort of support for those who were, this past weekend showed teams around the league kneeling, sitting, interlocking arms or even not showing up for the National Anthem. Spurred on by President Donald Trump's call to "fire" all of jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-62096211659347884062017-08-29T22:05:00.003-04:002017-08-29T22:06:10.260-04:00Conor McGregor ThoughtsWhen we first invited up tot New Hampshire for the weekend, the first thing that i told my buddy was that i would bring the beer and he would get the fight. The Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor fight. I was excited for the fight, for the first time I was excited for a fight since perhaps Mike Tyson was a relevant fighter. It didn't matter that McGregor was going to get KILLEDjmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-9965091778462616082017-08-22T19:51:00.003-04:002017-08-22T19:51:39.593-04:00Cooperstown Dreams Park For the Last TimeI thought I was done last year with Cooperstown Dreams Park when G went there with his 12 year old team. fast forward to 2017 and the 12 year old team this year ran into a rash of injuries. Because G is young enough to play again, the coach asked us whether he would want to go again. I didn't even need to ask him. He had already sensed it and started making plans. Hejmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091470769182328318.post-86177591955331597752017-07-30T21:11:00.003-04:002017-07-30T21:11:25.208-04:00Surfing in the NortheastHang loose, man. That is what I expected to hear when DLG got her surf board for her 11th birthday. It was a long board and that is about all I know about the style. I am not a surfer of oceans.
After watching Soul Surfer with the family, it's probably better that I don't learn how to surf, anywhere. I have sweet blood that sharks would love.
DLG had been going to jmannreviewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017393811143941412noreply@blogger.com0