MLB: Hope is in the Form of Opening Day

Derek Curry — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:31:53 -0400

Opening Day.

What an amazing time for baseball.

The beautiful thing about Opening Day is that every team is even, 0-0. With this comes hope from every owner, manager, player, and fan that maybe this year will be the year. This will be the year that the team you cheer for every game will finally bring it all together and make something magical happen in the long season.

This feeling is why I think Opening Day is such an amazing time for players and fans.

I remember the first game I saw was the Indians' 1997 Opening Day game.

Everyone was so happy. You could just see in the way the players were practicing, the people were cheering, and how the vendors were actually smiling.

Ever since that game, I have gone to the Indians' Opening Day game every year, and every year it's the same reaction from everybody. People are just happy to be watching baseball.

Never mind the drama and controversy that will unfold as the season goes on.

The hope that many people feel during that first game is what keeps most fans watching the entire season. Even when the Indians were losing so much, I hated it, but I continued to watch them. This is because I still had hope that something truly amazing would happen that would lift the team past losing another game.

This may be true for others, as well.

I love the game of baseball, whether it's Opening Day or the last game of the season.

Something about that hope I feel on Opening Day just makes me love the game a little bit more on that particular day.

Opening Day.

I would love to hear any thoughts or opinions of best Opening Day moments you, the reader, have had or any great baseball moments that you have experienced.

Who is the MVP of the NBA?

Derek Curry — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:06:46 -0400

In the recent time since the All-Star break, there have been many debates between who the MVP of the NBA should be. Most analysts have it narrowed down to four players, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Chris Paul. Between these players, two of them have been named quite frequently and for good reason. Lebron James and Kobe Bryant should be the in the lead for the MVP, and that's what most analysts are saying.

There are many reasons why they are in the lead for the MVP, but there are also reasons for why it is accurate to not put Kevin Garnett and Chris Paul in the conversation. First let's start with Kevin Garnett. An amazing player who is most likely going to give you a double-double every game, yes. You can't argue with his numbers.

The thing you can argue however, he has other guys that step up as well. In recent weeks, it has not been Garnett taking the big shots and having the big games. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce have been picking up a lot of the slack, which shows that KG is not as important to his team as LeBron or Kobe is. I'm not saying he is not important, but just not as important.

Next comes Chris Paul. Chris Paul, like KG is an amazing player. The thing against Chris Paul is that he is not the dominate player that takes over a game like LeBron and Kobe. He is the best player on his team, and his fellow teammates are not as good as KG's, but they are better then LeBron's cast of players. Which means that he is still not the most needed out of the four players for his team to win. Which makes it come down to Kobe and LB.

Both of these players absolutely dominate, and even with recent acquisitions of Pau Gasol for Kobe and the new faces for LB, they are still needed for their teams to win. With this being said, LeBron, not Kobe should win the MVP and here are the reasons why.

LeBron is leading Kobe in the three main offensive categories. He is averaging 30.8 ppg (league leader), 8.2 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game. This is compared to Kobe's 28.3 a game, 6.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists. Along with beating Kobe in statistics, LeBron has also been a better closer this year. Having more game-winning or game-deciding shots made then Kobe. Kobe Bryant may be a better one-on-one defender, but defensively LeBron averages just as many steals as Kobe at 1.9 a game, and is averaging more blocks per game then Kobe (1.0 to .5).

The last point, which may be the biggest point, LB mean's more to his team then any of the other MVP candidates. Even with the much improved cast, without LeBron at the driver's seat, that team is probably fighting for the eighth seed in the playoffs in the weak eastern conference at best. LeBron means more to the league and to his team then any other candidate.

LeBron should win the MVP. Period.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Derek Curry

MLB: Hope is in the Form of Opening Day

Who is the MVP of the NBA?