Leaving California, Feeling Tallahassee

No, not me.  Not anytime soon at least.  Instead, the title of this thread relates to Defensive End/Linebacker Glen Stanley.  Stanley is a top-15 JUCO recruit who had previously signed a Letter of Intent to enroll and play football at the University of Southern California (SC).  Now, however, following the recent sanctions at SC and the fact that he is enrolling as a Junior and would not be able to play in a bowl game at SC, Stanley was released from his Letter of Intent by SC and has decided to enroll at Florida State University.  In a quick post to Tomahawk Nation by Bud Elliot, Stanley was quoted as saying, "My heart is at Florida State. I have a great connection with all the coaches."  He also added, "It was tough to leave USC because I liked the coaching staff but I want to play for a championship and play in a bowl game."

Can't really blame Stanley for leaving SC.  He came in at a tough time and being a JUCO player wouldn't have had the opportunity to play in a bowl game at all.  Of course, we here at LCFM are thrilled with his decision to bring his skill to Jimbo Fisher and Florida State.  Looking forward to seeing you in Oklahoma, Glen!  Go Noles!

Brian Bannister Part Two

Since I started the story on Monday, I figured that now that Part Two of the video of SNY.tv's Ted Berg's interview of Royals pitcher Brian Bannister.  Here's the rest of the video in which Bannister breaks down some numbers, interesting stuff.

Brian Bannister: Class Act

I recently came across this video on MetsBlog.com showing an interview with former New York Mets and current Kansas City Royals starting pitcher, Brian Bannister.  Bannister came up to the major leagues with the Mets in 2006 and was having a solid rookie season before he was slowed by an injury.  Bannister and the Mets came within one game of the World Series that season, falling to the eventual world champion St. Louis Cardinals in seven games in the National League Championship Series.  In December of 2006 the Mets traded Bannister to the Royals for a young, hard-throwing relief pitcher Ambiorix Burgos.  Burgos appeared in only 17 games for the Mets in 2007 before running into some off the field problems.

Recently, Ted Berg of SNY.tv was able to catch up with Bannister when he was in New York for the Royals series against the Yankees.  Take a look at what ensued:



I've always been a fan of Brian Bannister and have always kept an eye out for his line in Kansas City Royals box scores.  Apparently, he's also a pretty good interview!  Keep up the good work, Brian!

Back in the Saddle Again

Hey Gang! I'm sure many of you are wondering where in the world I have been for so long and the answer is, "right here!" This poor little spot on the "Internets" has just been incredibly ignored by me lately and this little post is not necessarily a sign that things will be different in the near future! Truth is I've been crazy busy since the last post. Law school, well anyone who actually reads this has heard all too much about how crazy law school can make an individual, a trip back home to Minnesota following Spring Semester Final Exams and then right into Summer MBA Classes. I've managed to mix in a little fun with a few baseball games and a couple trips to Hollywood Park for some horse racing and a free concert or two (Starship was amazing, Devo was...um, Devo?!).

I think I'll focus this post on the most recent of these events, tonight I witnessed my first ever LIVE Mets win! I just got back to the IE after spending the night at Dodger Stadium for the New York Mets @ Los Angeles Dodgers game. As you can see from the cell phone pic highlighting this post (taken from our seats) I had a pretty solid view of the action. Johan was as good as I had remembered since seeing him throw in the Metrodome during his Minnesota Twins days and, whatdoyaknow Jason Bay showed up for one of the first times this year! I had high expectations for Johan tonight with the Mets desperately needing a win and since the last time I saw him throw in person he put up 17 strikeouts through 8 innings against the Texas Rangers in the Dome before giving way to Joe Nathan in the 9th (much to the chagrin of the Twins fans in attendance). Tonight, he wasn't quite as dazzling, but he was vintage Johan going 7 and allowing just one lone run (on a play in which a slightly better throw from right field and a catch by Henry Blanco (Hank White) would have nailed the runner at the plate). Besides Johan, I had the pleasure of seeing my "cousin" Ike Davis drive a Vicente Padilla eephus pitch over the wall in center field for his 12th home run of the year. But the biggest offensive play of the game came in the 8th when Jason Bay (whose struggles in the clutch this year have been well documented) cleared the bases in the 8th inning with a 2 out 3 run double that stretched the Mets lead to 6-1 virtually assuring the Amazin's of victory. Bay also had the defensive play of the night when he crashed face first into the left field bullpen gate making an amazing running catch to end the 2nd inning.

All in all, it was a pretty great evening and it brings my 2010 MLB games total to 6 with the standings as follows:

1. Minnesota Twins 2-0
2. New York Mets 1-0
3. Los Angeles Angels 2-1
4. New York Yankees 1-2
5. Los Angeles Dodgers 0-3

It also brings the Mets record to 1-3 lifetime in games I've attended, let's hope that keeps trending upward!

Looking forward to the next MLB adventure, I'll do my best to tell you all about it here at "Living California, Feeling Minnesota!" Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Is This Thing On...

First Post of 2010. Good for me! As you can probably guess, this semester has been INSANE!!! I feel like my life has been a whirlwind since finals of last semester! Even through my "winter break" it doesn't feel like I've had a single break, but it's been fun! Maybe sometime I'll be able to fill you in with all of the details. Ha!

For now, I figured I'd just stop by and say 'hi' and let everyone know I'm still alive and kicking and even remembered that this site existed. Keep on keepin' on, everybody.

Happy Easter!