ShineTime Sports

06/28/2024

Game 7's usually come with anticipation and apprehension. But perhaps I wasn't ready for the seismic shift in the sports landscape if the Oilers came back down 3-0.

Here's a recap of my thoughts about the spectacle and my viewership of Game 7.

How the Sports World Avoided an Apocalypse in Game 7

06/14/2024

What does it mean to come home? To return from a prolonged absence to a place where you grew up and where your loved ones care about you, miss you, and consider you one of their own - independent of where your new path has taken you.

Once in a while, we see this "hero's return" in sports....where an athlete who created his legend in one city returns for the first time and receives a spirited ovation unlike any other.

In this week's Shine Time Sports newsletter, I write about how baseball best captures this embrace between fans and the returning hero.

When Legends Return to Their Former Stadium

05/06/2024

I'm intrigued by the concept of a "second favorite team".

Do you have a "second favorite team" and why?

04/27/2024

Here are several reasons why you might have a "second favorite team"

- Growing up, your second team was featured in the national game of the week or on national television ….like TBS for the Braves or WGN for the Cubs
- Your favorite player from college went to a pro team
- You care about other family members’ teams
- If you moved to a new city and want to be part of their culture
- You have an American League team and a National League team

If you have a second favorite team, what's your reason?

The Benefits of Having a Second Favorite Team

03/01/2024

This week's article is about the division within New York City - the only city with two teams for each sport. While most cities use their one team per sport as a way to unite a city, NYC has created its intra-borough rivalries - utilizing sports not as a civic unifier, but as a totem for choice, plethora, and abundance.

How Intra-City Rivalries Hurt Civic Unity

02/13/2024

As the NFL season has come to a close, we'll remember this as the Taylor Swift season. A few ways she mimicked or influenced the NFL and sports landscaped include:

1) A shift in how sports programming is promoted
2) A muddled message about the growth of women's sports
3) A potential disruption in the integrity of competition

Please read my article about these observations and more, including a prediction that aged gracefully (note the confetti 😀 )and if you would like to read more articles, please subscribe!

How Swift Impacted Sports for Better and Worse

01/31/2024

1. Playing the "disadvantage" at sea level
2. Playing for only one team
3. Playing for only one team that wasn't committed to winning
4. Putting Denver baseball on the map

These are some reasons Todd Helton's Hall of Fame candidacy is stronger than people think.

Please read to find more.

Why Mr. Rockie's Stats Don't Tell the Whole Story

10/31/2023

Loudest Sports Moment #5

In college, I worked for a small Rhode Island radio station WBRU-FM. We received press credentials to the Bruins games and fortunately I was able to take part in their 2011 Stanley Cup run. Sitting on the farthest end of the press box (I was just 20 so I didn't have the best seat), I witnessed my first Game 7 and felt the tension of a Game 7 OT. The medley of joy, relief, and nirvana bellowed out from the crowd as Nathan Horton sent the B's into the second round.

Horton scored this goal in ot to knock of Montreal in the 2011 playoffs

10/16/2023

"But despite war being tragic, catastrophic, and consequential, Americans still have this intrinsic love for war. In order to feed our insatiable American appetite for war, we need something that simulates war. Something that provides us warlike rituals without fatal repercussions. I’m not talking about reenactments by hobbyists or former personnel. We need new wars, enticing wars, wars where attrition, valor, and strength determine which side will ultimately triumph. We need football."

Here's an except from my latest article about my time living in Israel, parallels between the Israel-Hamas war and football, and a hope for a utopia where we one day the only wars we speak of are carried out on the football field.

If only war's best metaphor was enough

10/10/2023

Loud Moment #6

Piggy backing off my previous post, Game 4 of the 1999 World Series solidified the Yankees late 90s dynasty. Final game of the century, Clemens' first title, chaotic scene overall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI70rDsTUrA

10/27/99: Mariano Rivera gets Keith Lockhart to fly out for the final out as the Yankees win their second straight World SeriesCheck out http://MLB.com/video...

10/05/2023

"Unlike life’s burdensome topics, sports' most basic nature is “play.” In its playful function, sports becomes a secure vehicle to address fun memories and stay away from those memories which can be too disturbing. For men, talking about sports is this loophole, this “safe space” - a veiled masquerade towards expressing nostalgia. "

Here's an except from one of my favorite essays I've ever written. It's a sociological take on men's escape into sports and how the frivolity of reminiscing about former ballplayers brings men into this joyful sanctuary.

If you enjoy this essay, please subscribe my newsletter (top right corner) or share this post. If you do either, let me know and I'll respond by rattling off former players from your favorite team :)

How Sports Became a Cheat Code for Male Nostalgia

10/04/2023

Loud Moment #7

My dad took me to Game 4 of the 1999 World Series. Given that he could have given this hot ticket to a friend or sold it for hundreds (today it would be thousands), I look back and appreciate how he opted to take his 9 year old son.

Given the Yankees were up 3-1 in the bottom of the 8th, three outs away from the World Series crown, Jim Leyritz's bomb was the insurance and icing on the cake for which Yankee fans could accept certainty they were going to be Champs for the second straight year.

10/27/99: Jim Leyritz clubs a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth in Game 4, the final home run of the 1990sCheck out http://MLB.com/video for more!Abo...

09/27/2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJVSRV0AgBg

Loud Moment #8

This might be cheating, but I have to put my first Penn State game as the 8th loudest sports "moment". Visiting my cousins at Penn State right before Thanksgiving week, the Nittany Lions put on an offensive barrage against Nebraska - scoring 6 TDs...in the first half alone. Although there was a downpour for certain points of the game, the fans were even more intense as I imagined.

09/26/2023

For this week's article, I tap into my appreciation of Cy Young - not the person or award - but what his W-L record represents. Baseball fans may know Cy Young as the most wins all-time, but he also has the most all time losses. Think about that: the award for best pitcher in each league is named after the losingest pitcher.

In the article, I discuss how our fear of losing in our lives can stunt our path towards victory and the ways losing and winning go hand in hand more than you think.

If you enjoy the article, please subscribe!
Thank you :)

Acknowledge Losses that Serve a Purpose

09/22/2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKE4Oc0_yjs

Loud Moment #9

Coincidentally in NYC for a friend's wedding, it was great timing to go to my first Knicks game in 7 years. Although the Knicks made the playoffs in '21, this year's Knicks had Jalen Brunson and a scrappy roster ready for a playoff run.

Brunson's three pointer was the dagger in Game 4, not only ensuring the Knicks were up 3-1, but making it highly likely the Knicks would win their first playoff series in a decade.

09/21/2023

In reflection of the Tottenham post I made on loud sports moments, I'm posting a Top 10 of the loudest sports moments I witnessed live. Each of the next ten days will be a louder moment than before

10) Curtis Granderson's Leadoff Home Run
2015 World Series Game 5
Down 3-1, Mets were on brink of elimination and needed to give the fans an early reason to believe a comeback was possible. Though we choked this game away late, it was a raucous way to begin an evening of hope.

11/1/15: Curtis Granderson gives the Mets an early lead with a solo home run to right-center off Edinson Volquez in the 1st inningCheck out http://m.mlb.com/...

09/20/2023

The Orioles just clinched their first playoff birth since 2016. I think Grandpa Joey would be happy!

09/20/2023

Four plays! After six months of Aaron Rodgers hype, what was it all for?

Here's this week ShineTime Sports Newsletter - capturing an unfiltered recap of my reaction of Aaron Rodgers' injury and how a Jets fan prepared (or at least tried to) for this let down.

Also please subscribe if you haven't already!

How I (Tried to) Prepared Myself for the Aaron Rodgers Disaster