How to Deal

This is how I deal with bad sports: Adam Levine.

Like Lady Bee, I’m still reeling from watching my beloved hockey team, the Washington Capitals, crash and burn on Monday night. It’s so bad, that I can’t even watch hockey. I know, it’s really bad. Since I’m used to this annual heartbreak, I can’t understand why, this year, I’m so depressed about it.

It’s not like the Caps don’t do this to me every single year. This year I was so indifferent about hockey. I was mad about the lockout, but as a season ticket holder, I was excited to get back to Verizon Center and spend time with my hockey family. That was what I looked forward to: happy hours, victory beers, inside hockey jokes, good times with friends and making fun of our players – not so much the hockey.

How the NBA Seduced Me Over My Morning Coffee (and What MLB Could Learn From It)

Not *that( kind of seduction, Tyson. I’m not going to complain about the tux, though.

A funny thing happened on my slog through the baseball offseason: I fell back in love with the NBA.  Well, maybe “in love” is too strong — let’s say we’re having a “friends with benefits” relationship while my one true love is studying abroad in the Carribbean. In any event I can list the teams in playoff contention in both conferences off the top of my head, or note that the Hornets have gone on a bit of a run since Eric Gordon came back, or chortle through the latest episode of Lakers’ schadenfreude with an enthusiasm I haven’t felt since the Jordan era.  How did this happen?

My Team is Going to the Super Bowl: Holy Crap!

As most of you can tell by my screen name, I’m a huge Ravens fan. I remember the day that Baltimore finally got an NFL team, and I was a devoted fan ever since. In our short existence (est. 1996) we’ve already been blessed with a trip to the Super Bowl that ended in a huge win. But I was a freshman in college who watched the game with one other lonely Ravens fan in a student lounge. I didn’t get to celebrate. I didn’t get to go to a parade, but, hopefully, this time it will be different.

A Bunch of Strong Men in Silly Hats

In the last few months of the NFL season, I have developed an obsession with the striped pom-pom hats which have popped up on the sidelines. There is just something incredibly amusing about a player trying to maintain his game intensity on the sidelines while wearing something that looks like a present from their grandmother. Since the Super Bowl is in both a warm climate and the dome, this Sunday will likely be the last hurrah for their fuzzy majesty.  Let’s bask in the goofiness with a slideshow!

Welcome back, readers! And NHL. Sort of. Not really.

Happy new year, you guys!

The NHL is set to return to arenas and HDTVs everywhere next Saturday, just as soon as that shiny new CBA is ratified. If you think for a minute that this Lady is thrilled, you are sadly mistaken. Because no.

Random Thoughts Brought To You By The Bags Under My Eyes

We’re not on speaking terms right now.

I’ve been MIA lately and for that I apologize. Since my last post, I’ve organized a husband’s birthday, ran my first half-marathon, camped in the rain overnight in the name of Girl Guides, booked Little Bee’s bowling birthday party, discovered hot yoga and watched my grandfather get married. And watched baseball. And drank a lot.

And here we are in mid-October and I am really, really freaking tired. And given how my Yankees have performed of late, really, really cranky. So here’s a few things I’ve been meaning to get off my chest:

Every. Game. Counts. (A Regular Season Wrap Up and Playoff Preview)

Let’s just put aside the fact that I had an actual rooting interest last night — everything that happened in baseball over the last 24 hours makes my brain scream this song:

As someone who has spent the last two weeks watching the Cardinals wait until the last inning to win or lose what seemed like 95% of their games, one of the most surreal things about last night was that St. Louis was the only team that got their game settled right out of the gate, batting around in the first inning and scoring five runs before recording a single out.  Which left me free to enjoy the one day MLB.tv subscription I paid 3.99 for Tuesday night as a mostly impartial fan (possibly the best 4 bucks I’ve ever spent, even if I couldn’t get the Rays-Yankees because of blackout restrictions, and had to switch to the Phillies-Braves radio feeds for the latter innings because of too much traffic on the video feed (and my crappy bandwidth).  At one point, I had three GTalk conversations going and was on the phone to my parents; 99.5 % of the discussion revolved around baseball (I did manage to discuss Christmas arrangements with my folks.  I’m not totally obsessed.)

How I Learned To Get Off My Arse and Love Running

The running shoes that guided me through my first 5K and many others. Enjoy retirement, smelly Zoom Vomero+ 4s! (Photo: Bee)

17 months ago, my sister bought me the sneakers pictured above as an early birthday gift. This all stemmed from a conversation we had about how I always wanted to run the CBCF Run for the Cure and tried to learn to run but never quite got past a couple of tries. She thought it might have been the shoes, so she treated me to those pricey Zoom Vomeros.

I took them for a trial 1K run in a subdivision near my place during an unusually warm April afternoon…and thought I was going to die. I wasn’t sure what possessed me to agree to this commitment: I was never considered athletic or even remotely coordinated. I was the classic Last Kid Picked On The Team and never played sports in high school or college. I even have a distinct memory of one of the snobby girls in 9th Grade making fun of how I ran around the bases in softball during phys ed. So knowing all of this, how did I ever expect to run a 5K?

17 months later, with a number of 5Ks under my belt, I am aiming for my first 10K. 2010 Bee’s head just exploded after reading that.

With the Terry Fox Run coming up this Sunday across Canada (shameless plug to sponsor me can be found here), I thought I’d share with you, dear readers, some advice on how I got over that hump and turned those best intentions into action and water blisters. These tips may not be for everyone, but they worked for me. And if they work for even one of you, then my purpose for this post will have been fulfilled. Just don’t blame me for your occasional spending sprees on cute workout gear.

Stop making me care about interleague!

See, outside of October, this is just weird. (Photo: Reuters)

I know I’m supposed to let go my puritan ways and appreciate the “fun” and “excitement” that is interleague baseball. Yet after 14 years of interleague, I still find it weird. Not fascinatingly weird. Just uncomfortably weird. Is it just me?

My reasons are painfully obvious, but here they are for the record.

Five-Point Plan of B.S.?

This is what a concussion and a fractured vertebrae looks like. (Photo: Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

I love hockey. But the events of this past season are seriously testing my loyalty to this sport. Put it this way: there is a reason why I have grown to love baseball more in recent years.

I’ve been watching NHL hockey since Gretzky wore an Oilers jersey. Ugly, filthy hits have existed for years. But is it just me, or are they increasing?

Hump Day Hottie: Caps in Suits

Not all of these guys made the cut after the jump, but obviously the Caps love their suits!

Awhile back, I tried to enlighten the Ladies… readers on the hotness that is the Washington Capitals.  Thanks to a super sexy GQ-esque team photo shoot, I was able to show you a bunch of hot hockey players in street clothes looking super fine.  Well, the brains behind the GQ shoot decided to give us more.  This recent shoot was done in conjunction with the re-launch of Scarlet Caps, a site about the Caps geared towards female fans.  While I’m not a huge fan of the site, I’m definitely a huge fan of the photo shoots.

So follow me after the jump to see hot athletes in suits.

Being A Jets Fan is Not for the Faint of Heart, Vol. 63

Sure they loved you in February, Darelle. But what about next February?

Oh, Darelle.

Good Mourning: Letting it all Out

This pretty much sums it all up.

Well it looks like I just might still be in mourning.  It’s been a week.  One whole week since my beloved – and favored – Capitals were eliminated in the Stanley Cup playoffs.  My heart was, and still is, broken.

It’s times like this one when we realize that it’s great to be a well-rounded sports fan.  When one season comes to a close, another is either in full bloom or just beginning.  This year, that thought makes me even more depressed.  Typically, when the NHL season ends, I put my focus on baseball.  This year, I’m finding that pretty hard.

Twitter Theater: Mets-Cardinals, April 17, 2010

Cards' beat writer Derrick Goold snapped this picture of his scorecard after the game. (Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

I’m sort of new to Twitter (I don’t actually have an account, I just follow people through Feedly), and the handful of people I follow right now are a)Cardinals fans or b)Ladies.  Which made a glance at my selected Twitter feeds during Saturday’s Mets-Cardinals marathon most entertaining. And now, without further interruption, Ladies…Twitter Theater presents: The Twenty Inning Game

Crappy sports weekend – redeemed!

Heading to Miller Park for tonight’s Brewers/Cards game I was in a sports funk.

My Wisconsin Badgers had lost the hockey National Championship, the Bucks had lost to the Celtics – and I work with two obnoxious Boston fans, and the Brewers had lost two straight to division rivals the St. Louis Cardinals – the first on a blown Trevor Hoffman save and the second in embarassing 7-1 fashion to a rookie pitcher on Fox Saturday baseball.

To top it off, the Brewers are historically awful during nationally televised games and they were about to face Chris Carpenter.

If it weren’t for the bobblehead giveaway, I might not have gone to the game at all.

Follow the jump to find out why I’d have hated myself if I’d stayed home

Hit & Run: It’s Spring Somewhere Edition

I want to go to there.

It rained all day Tuesday in New York, it was cloudy all day Wednesday, and by the time this posts we’ll be in the middle of yet another snowstorm/frozen rainstorm.  I really can not deal with talking about sports played on snow and ice today.  Let’s look in on spring training again, why don’t we?

Off-Week Diversion: Fantasy Dancing With The Stars Casting Call

The Super Bowl’s not for another week, the Olympics aren’t for another two, and I don’t care about the Pro Bowl.  I think this calls for a post topic that’s completely silly and unrelated to anything, don’t you?  Luckily I’ve been saving one up, ever since I saw this post on one of my favorite dance blogs. For those of you who don’t feel like following the link, all you really need to know is that the title is “I WANT CC SABATHIA TO BE ON DANCING WITH THE STARS.”

Um, you may need to stretch more than that to pull off a tango, CC.

There is usually at least one athlete contestant on DWTS  every season, but none of them has been a professional baseball player.  Ignoring the pragmatic concerns about whether the timing of the DWTS filming would conflict with baseball season (because: silly post), would CC be a good fit for the show?

Pros: Very first contestant from baseball, Yankees would probably encourage it if only to keep him in shape during off season.

Cons: Size (height, too, this is not a fat joke!) might make it difficult to find a compatible partner, might have a hard time getting votes if DWTS fans turn out to be anti-Yankee.

Follows in the Footsteps of: Warren Sapp, Evander Holyfield

But I didn’t stop there!  If scheduling conflicts were not an issue, here are some other contestants I’d like to see on the dance floor.

Yes, Again: The (Last-Minute) Case For Tim Lincecum

There is a statistically-inclined rant after the jump that I think you all need to hear.

Foodie Friday: Bee’s Football Chili with BONUS BEER REVIEW

Oooh! Look at Adrian among the fall colours (photo: Getty Images)

With sweater weather in full swing and four weeks of fabulous NFL football under our belts, our palates crave the mellow, hearty tastes of autumn: apple pie, squash and pumpkin, free range turkey roasting in the oven stuffed with two boxes of Stove Top (I realize that this kind of defeats the purpose of the whole free-from-processed-crap slow-food movement, but damn, Stove Top is tasty!)

While a recipe for roast turkey would be more fitting this weekend as it is Canadian Thanksgiving, I realize that I did promise a chili recipe quite a while ago. Promise fulfilled after the jump.

Why playing time is not an argument against voting a pitcher MVP

A hitter plays every day and hits once every nine spots in his team’s lineup.

A pitcher plays every fifth day and faces all nine spots in the other team’s lineup.

For example:

Albert Pujols has had 21 plate appearances in the last five games. For the season, he averages 21.3 PAs per five games.

Tim Lincecum had 29 plate appearances against him in his most recent game. For the season, he averages 28.6 PAs against per game.

Joe Mauer has had 20 plate appearances in the last five days. For the season, he averages 22.1 PAs per five games.

Zack Greinke had 29 plate appearances against him in his most recent game. For the season, he averages 28.2 PAs against per game.

Child Pleeez! Athletes and the Interwebs

While this photo is quite cheezy, I'm not gonna lie - it was my wallpaper for a hot minute!

Three things led me to this week’s post topic.

 1)      My favorite athlete, Mike Green, launched his own website.

2)      I had a chance encounter with the New York Yankees.

3)      The NFL’s ruling on Twitter & Facebook.

 Since we are living in the Internet Age, it’s only natural to go to the ‘net for everything we need.  Athletes are no different.  We are all guilty of googling our favorite athletes at one time or another, and I’m sure we weren’t just looking for stats.  We were looking for personal information.  Think about how much of your personal info is available to anyone online. Now double, triple or quadruple that, and that’s about how much info you could possibly find on any given athlete or celebrity. And sometimes, those same people are putting that info out there for us to find.

Follow me after the jump where we talk about Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. Oh, and I’m sure you all want to hear about my run-in with the boys in pinstripes. ;-)

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programmiOH MY GOD JIM THOME JIM THOME JI JIM THOME

In case you haven’t noticed, the Dodgers just traded a PTBNL and cash for Jim Thome.

That’s right, the one and only

JI

JIM THOME.

They say he’ll be a bat off the bench, but I say they should just put him at first base and let him play. But that’s not even the point. The point is, THE HERO OF THE DUGOUT IS COMING TO MY TOWN. HE WILL SMASH TATERS THAT WILL GO LIKE THIS:

OFF THE BAT, OFF AN AIRPLANE, AIRPLANE EXPLODES, PASSENGER CLINGS TO BALL AS IT FALLS, PASSENGER FALLS TO DOOM, OUT OF THE STADIUM.

Or maybe even like this:

OFF THE BAT, THE BALL DISINTEGRATES, THE ATOMIC RESIDUE TRAVELS FAR FROM THIS MORTAL PLANE, REFORMS IN HEAVEN, OFF THE FACE OF OUR LORD, OUT OF THE STADIUM.

Suddenly, I care about the Dodgers again.

Calling Nick Swisher! I’m coming over!

Would you believe I’ve never seen my Yankees in person? My sad, sad story of deprivation after the jump.

My place of worship

Hump Day Hotties: AFC & NFC West

Some of us Ladies have been looking forward to football season, so I thought what better way to get everyone hyped than to feature a hottie from every NFL team.  Each week for the next four weeks, we’ll be featuring lesser-known hotties from an AFC and NFC division.

So far we have featured hotties from the AFC & NFC North and East. This week, follow me after the jump to get a peek at some hotties from AFC and NFC West.

NFL Training (Camp) Wheels: A Photo Essay

Right, Reggie. Back to work. We get it.

I love NFL training camp, not because football is upon us again (if it’s still hot, it’s still baseball season, in my mind) but because of the sheer entertainment value of the photos.   Reggie Wayne showing up to training camp in a dump truck, dressed as a construction worker?  Obvious publicity grab, sure, but funny in a look-at-the-rich-and-talented-athlete-being-a-cheesy-goofball sort of way.

Strangely enough, Reggie’s transportation related stunt reflected a similar theme in many of the less staged photos of training camps across the league : the many unusual ways in which the athletes travel to and around their team’s facilities.

So that happened.

One sentence. That’s all it took. Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the sluggers who propelled the Boston Red Sox to end an 86-year World Series championship drought and to capture another title three years later, were among the roughly 100 Major League Baseball players to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, according to lawyers with knowledge of the results.

Who cares about Manny Ramirez? Everybody already knows he’s a cheater and a prima donna manchild who will dog it on his own teammates to get his way. But David Ortiz? Big Papi? Say it ain’t so.

Oh, sure, the evidence was there. Anyone who watched him hit in Minnesota and then watched his complete turnaround as a hitter in Boston had to wonder. Was it enough to point to how much he’d drastically altered his swing once starting for Boston? Was it enough to chuckle when he told us that the only drugs he ever took were beans and rice? Was it worth it to ignore just how massive he was in Boston, how he became the ‘Big’ part of ‘Big Papi’? Could we just pretend all that wasn’t there because he seemed like everything that was right about a player- that he was a guy who’d put the whole city on his back with a twinkle in his eye, a gleaming smile and a swing like thunder? Well, yes. Yes, it was. Papi couldn’t be that kind of guy. He’s Papi, for God’s sake.

Well. We were wrong. And whether you believe his story that he had no idea he’d ever tested positive and doesn’t know how he could (even if you buy his cover that he may have bought some energy products from the Dominican in his youth) have tested positive for anything, or whether you so desperately want to believe this couldn’t be true, it is. Sure, nobody knows what he tested positive for yet. Sure, it was six years ago and there wasn’t a policy and accidents happen (just ask JC Romero) and blah blah blah excuses excuses. You know who else tested positive in 2003? Barry Bonds. Alex Rodriguez. Sammy Sosa. Manny Ramirez. Jason Grimsley. Not exactly innocent company.

Hockey Hotties on the Rise

NHL.com has inspired me! After doing Top 10 features on the Finns, Russians and Swedes (oh my!), I thought the Ladies… could get in on the Top 10 action.  While my choices are less stats based and more looks based, I still think the following hotties are names to remember for next season.

So without further ado, here are 10 hotties on the rise.

What’s Your Fantasy? The Ladies… talk Fantasy Baseball

Smart move: Drafting Grady Sizemore. Bad Move: Losing your job over it!

So if you’re like me, not only do you love sports, you love fantasy sports, as well.  Personally, I feel like managing a fantasy teams helps me be a better fan.  But that’s a topic for another day.  Today, I’m going to let you in on my drafting strategy.  I know we’re just past the All-Star break, but it’s never a bad time to discuss the make-up of your team and how it came to be.  Now is the time in the season where you take a step back and evaluate your talent. 

It’s make or break time, people!  If you’re looking for the answers to your fantasy team woes, this post may not be the best answer, but I can sure help you with some strategy for the future after the jump.

The Awesomosity of Roy Halladay, Part Trois

In which I am not any more repetitive than I need to be, when I say,

ROY HALLADAY IS THE BEST PITCHER IN BASEBALL

ROY HALLADAY IS THE BEST PITCHER IN BASEBALL

ROY HALLADAY IS THE BEST PITCHER IN BASEBALL.

9 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 7 K, 0 BB, 105-78 pitches-strikes.

He’s averaging 3.95 batters faced per inning.

Ricciardi, if you trade him, I will seriously consider getting my passport renewed so I can personally come up to Toronto and kick your ass. (Theoretically.) I mean, it’s just like, have you heard your fanbase, at all? And plus, read this. Like, just read it. You don’t need to go and make good people worried about stuff, do you?

Jerk.

Anyway, in the event of any further anger, y’all should go here and type in “JP Ricciardi” (or the name of whichever GM has wronged you recently) and just keep on clicking “Generate another Rumour” until you’re too busy laughing to bother remembering that your fist may have a date with a pillow on which you’ve taped a crude drawing of their face.

Also, look how well they’ve been doing without Vernon Wells! Looks like he doesn’t feel so Wells, eh? Oh damn I am funny. (/defense mechanism’d)

Good morning. This has turned into a rant. I’m going away now.

Hump Day Hotties: Sports Movie Crushes

Today has officially been dubbed “Dead Day” at my work since we’re hurting for any type of live sporting event.  Some of my coworkers have suggested having a sports-themed movie day, and that got me thinking about some of my favorite sports-centric movie characters.  I polled the Ladies to see what movie characters they crushed on as teenyboppers (or as grown women – we don’t judge!).

Follow us after the jump to see our crush-worthy choices!