The Little League World Series is the best sporting event ever.  Yes, better than the Super Bowl, the Olympics, March Madness, and even the real World Series.

I’ve enjoyed watching this yearly event ever since I was in Little League myself.  This is why it’s great:

• The players are 11 and 12 years old.  One kid from Japan was sub-70 lbs.
• Instead of stats like “Batting Average: .325″, they show stats like “Favorite Food: Pizza”.
• It’s truly a “world” series, with tons of teams outside the US and Canada participating.
• The players are 11 and 12 years old.  Some are 6-foot, 70-mph-throwing beasts.
• Everyone gets to play.
• Every team has a $0 payroll.
• The quality of play is generally very good.
• Instead of celebrating amongst themselves after a win, the team shakes hands with their opponents.
• The players are 11 and 12 years old.  And wear their emotions on their sleeves.  The postgame interviews are hilarious.

I love it, and it’s kind of a big deal.  One early-round game drew over 40,000 fans.  For the sake of comparison, the Mariners are averaging 24,000 fans a game this season.

-Nick

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The resemblance isn’t as good as Eric Wedge and Ron Swanson, but still pretty close.  And now that Wedge has lost the mustache, it makes it a little tougher.

-Nick

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Bryn travels to Albuquerque for work quite a bit, and last week she brought home this sweet Albuquerque Isotopes hat for me.  Ever since I learned they were a real team I’ve been wanting some swag.

The Isotopes are the AAA team for the Dodgers, but the name comes from The Simpsons, which is why they’re awesome.  Compare the hat to one from the show:

The Springfield Isotopes appear in several episodes, but in the most famous one Homer discovers the club’s owner’s secret plans to move the team to Albuquerque.  He stages a hunger strike and eventually the team agrees to stay in Springfield.

The episode aired in 2001, and Albuquerque club changed their name in 2002.  The Isotopes name was hugely popular among fans both in New Mexico and around the country, with fans buying up more Isotopes merchandise than for any other minor league team.  Apparently they even have statues of Homer and Marge at the stadium.

And while Springfield has its nuclear plant, the name is appropriate for New Mexico as well, since Los Alamos and Sandia labs are based there.

-Nick

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This week a friend pointed out the similarities between Mariners manager Eric Wedge and Parks and Recreation star Ron Swanson (played by Nick Offerman).  I took the liberty of putting together some pictures:

Living in California I don’t get to hear Wedge speak much, but I can imagine him talking in a similar no-nonsense tone, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a baseball version of Ron’s Pyramid of Greatness in the clubhouse.

-Nick

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No trip to St. Louis would be complete without seeing the 10-time World Champion Cardinals play at home.  They’ve got a beautiful new park that opened in 2006.  It felt similar to Safeco and the other new-style parks.  We went on Memorial Day, braving the steamy 90-degree weather and sellout crowd.

(Everyone else is still hiding in the shade, since this was before the first pitch.)

The Giants opened it up with a grand slam early (that’s what you get for walking the pitcher), and the Redbirds couldn’t come back.  We did see Pujols leave the yard with a solo shot though, and that got the locals excited.

Our hotel was right across the street from the park, so we had great views and easy access.  So close in fact that the Giants stayed there too.  We saw Tim Lincecum getting a golf-cart ride over to the stadium and after the game we saw Freddy Sanchez as we were getting out of the elevator.

I’m making slow and steady progress on my Stadium Quest — now halfway there — but this was my first foray into the NL Central.

Still need 15/30:

American League: Toronto, Cleveland, Chicago, Kansas City, Minnesota, Texas

National League: Florida, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Houston, Arizona, LA, San Diego

-Nick

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“My Oh My” — Sweet Dave Niehaus tribute video by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.  Goosebumps.

-Nick

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Not so much that I’d root against the Mariners if they faced in the World Series, but with the M’s becoming accustomed to their perennial home in the cellar, it’s kind of a non-issue.

Giants fans took plenty of heat earlier this decade for their steadfast support of Barry Bonds, but with that behind them, they’re a pretty good group.  And the team is fun to watch too — no real superstars, but plenty of personalities.

This is a sweet video one fan made for their playoff run.

-Nick

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I thought this was a really cool video on ESPN:

-Nick

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These streets will make you feel brand new.

I spent the last few days in New York for the Affiliate Summit conference.  The speakers were great and I brought home some good ideas to move the biz forward with.

This was my third trip to the Big Apple in 13 months, and even though I’m a product of suburbia, I’m learning my way around the concrete jungle and having a good time doing it.  Walking to the conference hotel in the morning with the crowded sidewalks and noisy streets and tall buildings and sticky humidity, it’s kind of a cool feeling, like you’re a part of something bigger.

Had the chance to check out the new Citi Field for a Met’s-Phillies game.  It was really rainy, but it was ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball so they just kept adding sand to the field and played through.

I saw something I’ve never seen before in a big-league game — a ground-out to right field!  The Phillies pitcher hit a sharp line drive to right, looking like a solid base hit, but Angel Pagan was playing shallow, fielded it quickly, and fired it to 1st for the out.  It was awesome, what every right fielder dreams of, right?  We actually had front row seats (in the upper deck), but as you can see from the umbrellas it was better up top under the overhang.

Cool stadium.  Huge, but very vertically built so even way up top you’re still not too far from the action.

Other highlights of the trip included hanging out with friends old and new, late night pizza and street food, and seeing John Oliver from the Daily Show at the airport.  Then it took 14 hrs to get home, LGA –> BWI –> DEN –> SFO, ugh.

-Nick

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My friend and die-hard M’s fan Robb has started “A Down to Earth Seattle Mariners Blog From a True Fan.”  Check it out for analysis on the latest Mariners news and live game-updated threads.  So far so good, although if the team doesn’t turn it around quick it could be a long summer.

-Nick

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