Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Sweet Goodbyes

   To start this post, I need to come clean; this post has nothing to do with beliefs, business, or baseball. Call it what you will (a non-related post perhaps?) but I need to put down some thoughts as I get back from my last home Wake basketball game.
    I can remember growing up waiting to come to Wake. I was able to attend a few games in middle and high school and those times will always be looked upon as wonderful moments in my childhood. The rocking, loud, and tie-dye clad student section awed me as I vowed to one day carry on the Screamin Demon ethos. That day has now officially come and gone, and I now face watching the games online or on TV as I will be no longer a Wake student. Do not get me wrong, I will be back in the Joel at some point. But not with such regularity, not in the same section, and not with such dear friends.
     So what is it about Wake basketball that made the drive back to Wake silent as three friends sat in sadness and reflection on the past four years? What about saying goodbye to friends and fellow passionate Wake fans- not to mention that last look into the Joel- makes life seem so sad? I posit that it is not the actual sport, the physical building, the players, or the history of Wake basketball. Do all those play a part? Of course they have their place in the experience, but I think it comes down to the community.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Yankees Sign Ibanez- B/R App Essay

    The following post is my application piece sent into Bleacher Report for a possible part-time writing position with the site. Check them out at  http://bleacherreport.com/. It is more concise in analysis than I would like, but it was fun to put together and share a sabermetric viewpoint on a current transaction.


Sunday, February 19, 2012

Baseball Time

    I am typing this post as I look out at the snow coming down in the frigid air, and I am reminded of Rogers Hornsby and his famous quote, "People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." Many of us have been waiting for several months, proverbially staring out windows, waiting for the day to come where we would have baseball again.
    That day is here! As of today, every MLB team has seen their respective pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. In a few more days, position players will report and the first few scrimmages will begin in earnest. While I will be unable to travel to either Florida or Arizona for Spring Training, I am content with the thought that I can wake up tomorrow and begin to see pictures of players throwing, running, or talking with fans. Many people wax eloquently about the magic of Spring Training, and I am not going to be able to top such loquaciousness, but I want to offer my meager thoughts on the excitement that permeates my being as I consider the upcoming season.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Birthdays and Beginnings

   Let me begin this post by saying 'Happy Birthday' to my favorite (and only) niece, Caroline Eva Johnson.This rather long blog post is my attempt to look at the past year in the lens of the joyous occasion of a birth and how God can work through the painful events of life to show us His mercy and love.
     Some of you may not know this, but Caroline was born to wonderful parents (you know that part!) around 6 pm on February 19, 2011. You also probably do not know that this was only about 18 hours after I was written up by the Winston-Salem police for alcohol consumption (BAC was 0.01, but still...) of an underage person. That evening/ early morning was bad. After all, that had happened once before, so this time it was a permanent event on my record. I can vividly remember talking with the policeman and feeling deeply ashamed and frustrated for being so stupid.
       Even more than just that one event, I was in the midst of an intense search for a finance internship (and trying to pass my asininely difficult finance classes) which had consumed my time and energy, leaving me a rude, selfish finance student with the sole goal of personal success, no matter the cost. Trust me, I was a pretty bad person. On the exterior was a smart, funny, Christian guy with friends and a lot of positives. On the inside, I was quite distant from God and was 'burning bridges' left and right. I was struggling to find peace and was trying to find true happiness through riches, romantic relationships, social status, and secular pleasures. And then my phone rang.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Beliefs and Baseball



   I want my first subject post to be about two of the namesakes of the blog. Before I begin, this blog will in no way be me trying to get more details about a tragic event. It is not me trying to blow up a small personal matter into something bigger. This is me simply trying to come to terms with a recent event.
   Any attentive reader has probably heard about Josh Hamilton and his recent admittance to an alcohol relapse. His press conference happened Friday, and in it he addressed very little of what actually happened. What we know is that he went to a bar and had a drink. He hung out with people. He did things he is not proud of. Period. End of story. Press conference over.
First Post

   Hello there reader! For those of you who do not know me, I am a senior, Finance major at Wake Forest University. I was recently in a Legal and Business class and a guest speaker came in and talked about the merits of blogging, especially for improving writing and being able to talk about a blog in job interviews. Combined with the fact that I have been wanting to blog for a while, I decided to start a blog myself. The point of the blog is to share my views on three subjects: Beliefs (Religion), Business (Finance, Accounting, current events), and Baseball (sabermetrics, fantasy, etc). The title of the blog reflects those three main interests in my life. As followers, please leave constructive comments, compliments, and general thoughts. This is to be an open forum where I express thoughts but everyone is welcome to give input.
   Feel free to follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Google+. Until next time, continue to be a blessing to those around you.