Thoughts

Today is Mother’s Day in the United States and also some other countries, but for my mom it is a double special day as it is her birthday as well. Every five years or so this happens and it becomes Mom’s weekend. Of course Mother’s Day isn’t limited to one day but every day.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!

I love you.

Waking up this morning in Denver to some spring snow, it was a frozen day. While the roads were still warm enough to prevent snow from gathering on them there was a dusting of wet snow on the other surfaces. April is indeed the third snowiest month in Denver, but the snow this morning was a good way to start off a weekend of hockey at the Pepsi Center.

The Frozen Four, the final four of the NCAA D-1 Men’s Hockey Championship, is in town for the first time since 1976 and first ever at Pepsi Center. Even though three teams from Colorado made the tournament none of them advanced to the frozen four. However with strong college hockey teams in Colorado and an interest in the sport it will be watched. In the first match this evening Boston College will play the University of North Dakota, followed by Michigan and Notre Dame squaring off with the winners playing on Saturday.

Even though UND is the top seed overall, I am picking Michigan to win it all this year for their first championship in hockey since 1998. Last year Michigan State won it all, so if my prediction is correct it will stay in the state which looks like a hand for another year. Will I be correct? Saturday will reveal that answer.

While 3 games have already been played in the 2008 Major League Baseball season, today marks the start for the remainder of the teams. What would be opening day without some early spring chill in the air but it is like this every year. Most folks know I am a die hard Chicago White Sox fan so it shouldn’t be surprising I am looking forward to their game against Cleveland later today and will list on XM while working. In 2005 when they won it all, it was right after the Red Sox won it all…. and who won last year, the Red Sox…. hmmm. Yes it would be nice to have another run, but the AL Central this year is the toughest division this year so I won’t hold my breath but will be optimistic.

Even though we have 6 months in the season, I thought I would predict who would win each division and see if I am even remotely close come the end of the season. So here it goes.

American League

East: New York Yankees

Central: Detroit Tigers

West: Anaheim Angels

Wildcard: Cleveland Indians

National League

East: New York Mets

Central: Chicago Cubs (pains me to say that)

West: Arizona Diamondbacks

Wildcard: Atlanta Braves

Of course I would love to see the White Sox in the above list, I am posting this with my head and not my heart. We shall see what happens in the next few months, as the season progresses.

Play Ball!

With photography the main topic of this blog you probably think I will talk about bracketing as a method of taking multiple photographs of the same scene to ensure at least one image has the correct exposure. Most weeks you would be correct, however we are in the four day window where many people across the United States are filling in their NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament brackets for fun, office pools or trips to Nevada. With the exception of those years when Christmas occurs in the middle of the week, this is probably one of the least productive weeks in the workplace.

As people are filling out their tournament brackets on paper or online, there will be a lot of questions and tough decisions for them to make. Some of the questions include where is Siena located and why are they in the tournament, how come South Alabama is playing in Birmingham if they are not a top four seed in their region, will George Mason be the same team of 2006 when they made it to the Final Four, why isn’t there this much excitement for the Frozen Four, and of course will Arizona beat West Virginia just to name a few. So get those pencils or the mouse ready and make those picks by Thursday, and if you were wondering I am thinking a west coast team will take the title this year which is not one of the picks of the many commentators breaking down the brackets. UCLA, Arizona… nope. Think the school where Jim Harbaugh is the football coach, and their mascot is a tree. Do you have a different thought on who will win?

Oh and in case you were wondering where Siena (Loudonville, N.Y.) or any other team is located, take a look at the following map.