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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

What's the hardest thing to do in sports?

By Chad Garner
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
One of my facebook buddies, Robert Valera of Leominster, brought up a good point today as he asked the question, "What is the hardest thing in sports to do for the average person?"
He lists hitting a Major League fastball, tackling an NFL running back, hitting a 3-point shot against an NBA player, hitting a hole-in-one in golf or stopping a shot by an NHL player.
Is there a right or wrong answer? No way.
But as far as I'm concerned, I'm going to wipe away two selections right away: 3-point shot and stopping a puck. The puck might be the easiest since you just need to put pads on and hope Sidney Crosby hits you with the puck. If you're 300-plus pounds, you've already taken away the majority of the space in between the pipes so you're chances of deflecting one away is pretty good.
The 3-point shot, I know it's hard, but does anyone really play defense in the NBA anymore? I'm guessing Kobe Bryant would play off of you and allow you to pop in a trey --maybe not.
Tackling an NFL running back seems like a no-win situation -- Adrian Peterson goes 1 on 1 with you and you stand your ground, but he complete smashes your face into the turf. It can be done, but you might never recover from your multiple fractures. 
But my point is that even though you shouldn't have any business tackling a pro football player, it can be done. Not brute strength vs. real brute strength, but dive at his legs and upend him. You don't have to be powerful to do it, cut him low and hope his knee doesn't ring your bell or you'll definitely have a concussion. 
Best advice: flop on the ground and pray he loses his balance while trying to leapfrog over you -- that's still considered a tackle.
I'm not really buying the hole-in-one deal, either. How many 80-somethings do you read in the paper that recorded a hole-in-one on some course? More people do it than just Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, right?
I have no patience for golf and am really bad at it, but I almost did it a long time ago when golfing with my father-in-law. I think the shot was 100-plus yards away, I could have thrown the ball onto the green from the tee, but it doesn't matter the course length.
Hitting a Major League fastball is no joke. 
There's a reason why so many people can't play the game at a high level. Failure is the nature of the beast in baseball. It's one thing to brag that you hit an 84 mph fastball as a college baseball hero, but 92-95 mph and even higher in the majors is a lot different. 
Sure, you could stick out your bat and get a piece and foul it off, but I'm saying that doesn't count. Be a mouse and try to bunt ... again, that doesn't count.
We're talking about being a real man and taking a big league cut. Oh, don't forget, pitchers tend to not always hit their target, too. So look out, getting drilled in the head or ribs should always be in the back of your mind.  Your reaction time is next to nothing while facing real MLB heat, this isn't Wii baseball you're playing. I suppose you could get lucky like everything else and make real contact, but it's not as easy as many might thing -- but those are usually guys who couldn't even make their Little League team. Or if they did, it was because daddy was the league president.
Hitting a MLB pitcher is easily the hardest thing in my book.
Do you agree or disagree?

Lester Continues To Allow Big Inning To Do Him In

By Erik Pesta
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff


Jon Lester took a 1-0 shutout into the bottom of the fifth inning last night in Minnesota. Unfortunately, he left the fifth inning with a four run deficit the Red Sox would never recover from, as they went on to lose, 5-2. In what is becoming a bit of a trend, Lester was once again bitten by a big inning after a strong start. The Sox lefty had been cruising, giving up only two hits through the first four innings, while impressively using two strikeouts to get out of a jam in the second. Then, in the bottom of the fifth, Twins third baseman Brendan Harris singled to lead off the inning. After Delmon Young few out, Matt Tolbert reached on an infield hit, which was followed by a run-scoring single from Nick Punto. Denard Span then grounded out, scoring Tolbert before Joe Mauer drew a walk. With two on and two out, Justin Morneau hit a line shot just above the baggy in right field for his 14th homerun of the year, putting the game out of reach in the process. Nick Blackburn pitched well for the Twins, giving up just one earned run on eight hits through seven innings pitched. The young right hander also struck out seven while walking only two, while recording his fourth victory of the year.

David Ortiz moved down to the sixth spot in the order - finally - and doubled his first time up, to go along with a double in the fourth inning. It remains to be seen if Ortiz can start producing now that he has less pressure on him to drive in runs. J.D. Drew took over the third spot in the order, and is likely to remain there throughout the experiment since he bats from the left side of the plate. Jacoby Ellsbury had a big night for Boston. He led off the game with a single, extending his hitting streak to a league-leading 21 games. He singled in the seventh as well, giving him the team lead in multi-hit games with 18. The speedster also stole two bases, giving him 20 for the year, and scored both of Boston's runs. Ellsbury continued to show his defensive prowess, when he made a ridiculous diving catch to rob Delmon Young of certain extra bases on a line drive into the gap in the fifth inning.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-2, 10.32) takes the mound for Boston tonight, against Minnesota's Kevin Slowey (6-1, 4.23 ERA). First pitch is at 8:10 from the Metrodome.