Clean your car

Lately, I’ve started my spring cleaning.  Right before I sold my 2007 Honda Accord over a year ago (in 2012) I kept notes on all the items (or trash) that I pulled from my car with the intent of composing a blog from my discoveries.  So although over 18 months tarty without further adieu here’s the list:

·         Coffee coupon expired in 2008

·         5 old insurance cards

·         5 non working pens

·         Stack of chase bank deposit slips

·         $32 Cash

·         2 EMHT 2007 Paycheck with over 104 hours

·         Tagment which expired in 2007

·         Bret Wilson’s duck tape

·         Open pack of smokes (Not mine)

·         Columbus Destroyers vs. Austin Wranglers ticket stub for game on April 14, 2007

·         Tim Horton’s gift card

·         Someone else’s house key

·         SportsLink free beer coupons

·         5 Pairs of sunglasses

·         Green House name tag

·         Expired 2009 Wendy’s coupon

·         Umpire rules for soccer

·         2006 McDonald’s coffee receipt

·         2002 Wedding CD for Joey & Erin

·         Car’s pink slip

·         Directions to my brother’s old house in Canton, Ohio

·         Blockbuster rental card

What teams need a doctor?

Recently a friend of mine wrote a post, ARE THE CLEVELAND BROWNS THE WORST RUN FRANCHISE IN SPORTS?, so that got me thinking.  Are they?  From his results he listed the following:

1)      Dallas Cowboys

2)      Oakland Raiders

3)      Cleveland Browns

So I dove into the numbers limiting my research to the last decade to determine if his results hold water or if there were other franchises run worse.  I also limited my research to NFL teams only.  However, before I share my results on the negative, I also found some positive observations too.

In the past decade in the AFC, the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts have reached the playoffs 90% of the time while the Patriots have had a winning percentage of 0.775 with one Championship in three tries and the Colts have eclipsed a winning percentage of 0.694 with one Championship in two attempts.  Both loses for the Patriots were to the New York Giants, who have won the most titles in the last decade.  On the other hand for the Colts the one season in the last decade when they didn’t reach the post season tournament the team finished 2-14, drafted Andrew Luck with the first overall pick, and cut ties with Peyton Manning, who is now playing in his second overall Championship game and first Championship game with Denver Broncos on February 2^nd.

In the NFC, both the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers have extended play beyond their regular season 70% of the time.  The Packers with one Championship ring have won at a 0.600 winning percentage; whereas, the Seattle Seahawks with the lowest winning percentage of the four have eclipsed a 0.550 mark.  The Seahawks have one Title loss in the last decade with a chance to even the slate on February 2^nd. 

Now for the negative.  The following teams; Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Tennessee Titans; have reached the post-season tournament two times or less in the last decade with the Browns, Raiders, and Bills going home every year in the last after playing their 16 game season.  I also included the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins with my research.  Both of these teams have extended play on three separate occasions.  The Cowboys because the author who inspired my thoughts ranked them number one and the Redskins because many individuals bash RG3 and the Redskins.  

Here are the results of winning percentage for the last decade and five years for the teams listed below.

	last	decade	last	5 years
	Win %	Rank	Win %	Rank
Arizona Cardinals	0.444	10	0.475	12
Buffalo Bills	0.394	5	0.350	4
Carolina Panthers	0.500	13	0.438	9
Cleveland Browns	0.319	3	0.288	1
Dallas Cowboys	0.544	14	0.513	14
Detroit Lions	0.313	2	0.363	8
Houston Texans	0.438	9	0.488	13
Jacksonville Jaguars	0.444	11	0.325	3
Miami Dolphins	0.419	8	0.450	10
Oakland Raiders	0.306	1	0.363	7
St. Louis Rams	0.319	4	0.300	2
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	0.413	6	0.350	5
Tennessee Titans	0.475	12	0.450	11
Washington Redskins	0.413	7	0.350	6

Does anything jump out to you?  For me right away the Dallas Cowboys have the highest winning percentage, only team with a winning record, and although never reaching the final dance the winning percentage is 0.056 points behind the Seattle Seahawks.  Interesting?  I don’t think the Cowboys are the worse run franchise as stated by the other blogger, but I believe their fans hold their team to a much higher expectation.  Perhaps similar to the Seattle Seahawks or Green Bay Packers or even as high as the New England Patriots and their 90% clip.

The three teams who have yet to reach the playoffs in the last decade are ranked 1, 3, & 5 respectively with only the Raiders showing positive progress.  However, every season it seems the team is in search for a new franchise quarterback.

So after reviewing the numbers what are my rankings for the worse run franchises in the past decade?  I’ll give ya my top five.

1)      Cleveland Browns

2)      St. Louis Rams

3)      Buffalo Bills

4)      Oakland Raiders

5)      Detroit Lions

So if these teams are broke how can they be fixed?  I’m not expert but here are some observations:

Cleveland Browns:  The friend did a good job detailing the Browns problems.  No need to beat a dead horse.

St. Louis Rams:  Currently the Rams play in the toughest division in football with two members playing in the NFC championship game and a third member finishing with 10 wins and not qualifying for the post-season tournament.  With that said the Rams have been close to .500 hundred with 7 wins in three of the past four years.  With the second overall pick in the upcoming draft courtesy of their trade in 2012 with the Washington Redskins, the Rams need to determine if Sam Bradford is their franchise quarterback.   With two first-round draft picks this year if no, after passing over RG3 in 2012, select a new signal caller; otherwise, plug some other holes to compete in a tough division.

Buffalo Bills: Last season the Bills replaced their head coach and drafted a quarterback in the first round.  Now the QB needs to stay healthy on the field, and the team needs to push beyond the hump of six wins which they have been stuck on for the last three seasons.

Oakland Raiders:  Where do I start? Consistency?  Direction? Seems like every season the team is either looking for a quarterback or a head coach. The team hasn’t seen success since they were lead by Jon Gruden.  This year the Raiders select after the Browns at 5, and three of the four teams in front of them are in the quest for new signal callers too.  Someone may be calling the Rams who are sitting at number 2 to make a trade if there is a must-have franchise QB.   Draft day drama.

Detroit Lions: Of the teams in the top 5, the Lions may be the quickest to succeed.  The Lion play in a division where 9 wins may reach the post-season.  Interesting though heading into next season they will have a new head coach although many candidates migrated to other post first.  They need the fewest pieces, and the Lions currently have experienced personal at all of the key offensive positions.  The defense needs addressing, but this team could win quick.

Do you agree with me? Or have a different top three?  Please share.

Peace out have fun and remember to always save your fork.
UNC

PLEASE PASS THE POPCORN

A few days ago I watched Argo, the 2012 Academy Award for Best Picture.  The remaining nominees were AMOUR, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, LIFE OF PI, LINCOLN, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK,  Zero Dark Thirty. Remarkably, five of these movies I’ve heard of with two of the movies I defiantly want to see.

Not to spoil the movie but the Argo is about a spy, Tony Mendez casted by Ben Affleck, whose objective is extract 6 Americas from the Canadian diplomats home in Iran during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis (I was four then FYI). What is remarkable about this flick is that Argo won the Academy Award for Best Picture but the director, Ben Affleck, was not even nominated as the possibility for the Academy Award for Best Director. All five of the other movies nominated for best director were also nominated for Best Picture (IN CAPS ABOVE).

After seeing Argo on my drive home, I was pondering how many of the past winner for Best Picture have I seen, have I heard of, or if my artistic knowledge would be better if I saw the movie. So I researched the past winners to see how many I’ve watched or even knew.  To keep the list short I’ve only listed the movies since 1975 with a few exceptions. The movies I’ve watched are bolded.

• 1928 (1st) Sunrise Wings – Just because it’s #1 & we all should be smarter.
• 1939 (12th) Gone with the Wind – Who hasn’t, Oh wait me!! But I know It’s a big collector item among older folks.
• 1959 (32nd) Ben-Hur – Watched in film class in college but don’t remember the movie.
• 1965 (38th) The Sound of Music – Who hasn’t, Oh wait me!! 
• 1967 (40th) In the Heat of the Night – I’m really curious if this movie is based off of the TV show which is a favorite of my maternal grandfather
• 1972 (45th) The Godfather – When I had my deviated symptom drilled through I watch the entire Godfather series.  A few weeks ago I learned there was a book too based on the movie.  Can’t wait to read.
• 1974 (47th) The Godfather Part II               
• 1975 (48th) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest             
• 1976 (49th) Rocky             
• 1977 (50th) Annie Hall – I think, maybe??
• 1978 (51st) The Deer Hunter
• 1979 (52nd) Kramer vs. Kramer     
• 1980 (53rd) Ordinary People            
• 1981 (54th) Chariots of Fire             
• 1982 (55th) Gandhi           
• 1983 (56th) Terms of Endearment 
• 1984 (57th) Amadeus       
• 1985 (58th) Out of Africa
• 1986 (59th) Platoon           
• 1987 (60th) The Last Emperor        
• 1988 (61st) Rain Man       
• 1989 (62nd)  Driving Miss Daisy     
• 1990 (63rd) Dances With Wolves – One of my All-time favorites right next to Bull Durham
• 1991 (64th) The Silence of the Lambs         
• 1992 (65th) Unforgiven – Great movie, never a clue the flick won this award     
• 1993 (66th) Schindler's List
• 1994 (67th) Forrest Gump – Once again great movie, never a clue the flick won this award
• 1995 (68th) Braveheart – AWESOME MOVIE
• 1996 (69th) The English Patient
• 1997 (70th) Titanic – took a girl on a date to this movie however I drank so much soda that half way thru the movie I had to wee and interrupted many people in my row on my way to the water closet.  Needless to say I’ve never seen the movie from point A to Z.  But I know the boat sinks.
• 1998 (71st) Shakespeare in Love    
• 1999 (72nd) American Beauty        
• 2000 (73rd) Gladiator      
• 2001 (74th) A Beautiful Mind
• 2002 (75th) Chicago          
• 2003 (76th) The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King – The worst part is I’ve seen the first two
• 2004 (77th) Million Dollar Baby
• 2005 (78th) Crash – I should because I own his entire music libary        
• 2006 (79th) The Departed
• 2007 (80th) No Country for Old Men            
• 2008 (81th) Slumdog Millionaire    
• 2009 (82th) The Hurt Locker           
• 2010 (83th) The King's Speech        
• 2011 (84th) The Artist       
• 2012 (85th) Argo               

So after reviewing the list I’ve watched 9 out of the last 37 movies honored with Academy Award for Best Picture. (I’ve only included Titanic because I’ve watched most of the movie)  Can you do better?  Any one movie a must see?  Any single lady want a date night with me to watch Titanic?

Anyway until next time, be safe & have fun,

unc

Kickball

Since I was laid-off last year at the end of February, I have found the bulk of my work as contract work. This is employment that is either not steady, based on events in the area, or climate dictated. No complaints but can create some lulls between jobs or keep you extremely busy other times.

About a month ago an opportunity was advertised looking for kickball umpires for the Jordan Gross' Celebrity Kickball Tournament so I replied yes. Didn’t hear anything for almost two weeks, so I was under the impression I didn’t receive the slot. Then, the week of the tournament I received an email that I had been chosen to umpire the tournament.

As the days got closer to the kickball tournament, I received two other work possibilities. One was to umpire a flag football shift at MLK Park while the second was to umpire my first NSA tournament in Rock Hill. I knew I would receive more compensation in Rock Hill, but I was raised to always honor your first commitment. Ends up the best decision I made was sticking with the kickball.

Jordan Gross' Celebrity Kickball Tournament was a fund-raiser function hosted by Jordan Gross of the Carolina Panthers. Gross has played tackle his entire nine year career in Carolina. There are not many sexy stats for offensive lineman.

So on April 30^th the fourth annual Jordan Gross' Celebrity Kickball Tournament was held at Providence High School at 1800 Pineville-Matthews Road, Charlotte, NC, 28270. Mr. Gross started this tournament four years ago to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation which affects his own niece.

The tournament began with eight companies entered in a double elimination kickball with the winning team playing the Carolina Panthers. There were teams who wanted to play for fun then they were teams who thought they receive an NFL contract. The intensity varied from field to field to team to team. In the end Duke Energy stood strong to play the Panthers in the Pros vs. Joes match-up.

My role in the tournament was that I umpired double-elimination games, co-umpired for the semi-final and final game and then for the prime game I was the third base umpire. Very little real action happens at third base, but I am in the background of a photo of the Carolina Panther number one overall draft selection quarterback Cam Newton from the Auburn Tigers. (I’m still working on receiving a copy of the photo for my scrapbook.)

During the prime game the Panthers hosted contests where Joes would either catch passes from quarterbacks Jimmy Clausen and Matt Moore or toss passes to Steve Smith and Armanti Edwards. They were other cute contest such as when a child out-ran Sir Purr around the bases with the help of some key blocks by the players.

Some of the Pros present were Jimmy Clausen, Matt Moore, Steve Smith, Armanti Edwards, DeAngelo Williams, Cam Newton, Jordan Gross, Ryan Kalil, Geoff Schwartz, Travelle Wharton, Kenny Moore and Chris Harris.

In the end the final score was 9-2 behind several homeruns kicked by the Pros, but after all the games and contests with the Panthers players the real winner was Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Glad I made the right decision.

Major League Baseball Dream Job

Last month I applied for the Major League Baseball Dream Job. One essay was about why I enjoy baseball while the other essay is about what i believe will be the biggest 2011 baseball story. Below are copies of the essays I submitted. Please read when you can. Thanks.

Hello my name is Mike Uncapher, and since April of 2008 I have resided in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before then, I lived in Marion, Ohio where my passion and love for America’s pastime was birthed and molded with the assistance of my maternal grandparents.

I can remember spending evenings at their house in Fremont Ohio splitting our time between watching the Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves on their television. Grandpa and I would always joke with Grandma that the Indians did well when she would leave the room. The odd thing was that this was usually the case, and we would hear Grandma yelling from the kitchen asking us what just happened on the television. Our usual joking response was for grandma to stay in the kitchen until the inning was complete because the Indians were in the middle of a scoring rally. Although writing this article I never recall her jinxing the Braves.

At their house I would sit on the floor with my baseball card collection scattered all over the living room searching for the player being announced in the game to see if I owned his current bubble gum card just to read his professional stats on the back. If I didn’t own the card the next day grandma and I would purse the baseball card shops in Fremont Ohio to find his card. The card that I remember us searching the most for in my youth with no avail was Joe Carter’s 1984 Donruss Rookie Card. We never found this card together but one birthday I received his card as a gift. Carter eventually became my favorite all-time baseball player, and I recall crying the day the Cleveland Indians traded him to the San Diego Padres. I believe that is the day when I learned that baseball was also a business.

The other fond memories that I have from visiting grandma and grandpa’s house was hearing their baseball tales and learning about the all-time greats. I recall hearing stories about Herb Score when he pitched and not announced games, Rocket Bob Feller, and the great Hank Aaron. These were just a few of the tales that I will cherish like a pirate lusts the gold in their treasure chest.

At home growing up as soon as school was over, I would rush home to watch the end of the Chicago Cubs game to hear Harry Caray’s baseball tales. After finishing my homework and divulging dinner if I was permitted by my parents I would watch the Indians game. If the Tribe were not on television, there were always the Braves who seem to be on television every night on TBS. Although a passionate Indians fan, this is where I believe my love for baseball blossomed because I was able to watch any team and respect the Game completely.

Today, I watch any game I can which is typically the National games, or I listen to the Indians’ broadcast streamed on the Internet.

As spring training opens for Major League Baseball there are two prime stories that will linger all season and even into the offseason. The easy big story is: “How will the St. Louis Cardinals react to Albert Pujols entering free agency at the conclusion of the baseball year?” Pujas holds all the cards because he is even able to reject any trade offers. He has also informed the Cardinals that he will not negotiate a contract extension once he arrives to Spring Training. A date that was missed by the Cardinals.

The other current big story which I’ll expand upon is: “Will the Philadelphia Phillies starting pitching staff lead their team to a World Series title and if not what went wrong?” As a reminder barring injury the Phillies are expected to unroll Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Roy Aswalt, and Joe Blanton as their starting five.

Many bloggers and analysis have compared the expectations of the 2011 Phillies staff to the accomplishments of the 1993 Atlanta Braves staff that were lead by Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Steve Avery. Some rank the 1993 Atlanta Braves staff as one of the all-time greatest starting pitching staffs. The ionic item about the 1993 Atlanta Braves was that they were defeated by the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series. I’m sure the Phillies do not want a repeat in history.

In the past couple seasons the Phillies have acquired in trades Roy Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jays and Roy Aswalt from the Houston Astros respectively. Then last winter they surprisingly won the bidding war for the services of Cliff Lee defeating the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers. By signing Lee as stated earlier on paper the Phillies could have one of the most dominant starting pitching staffs in 2011.

On offense the Phillies made no huge additions, but they did lose outfielder Jayson Werth to free agency to the Washington Nationals. Hopefully for the Phillies with a healthy season from shortstop Jimmy Rollins and second baseman Chad Utley, their offensive output can compensate for the loss of Werth. There also may be belief within the Phillies management that rookie outfielder Domonic Brown is ready for the big leagues. So by letting Werth leave, the Phillies used the philosophy of addition by subtraction by opening the clog that could have prevented Brown from receiving consistent playing time.

With all this said, I have the greatest sympathy for the Philadelphia Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel. He is handed the keys to a potential great pitching staff, a reliable bullpen, and the past history of a great offence featuring first baseman Ryan Howard, Rollins, and Utley. All three of these gentlemen are past MVP winners. If the Phillies falter this year Manuel could quickly become the fall guy.

I’m confident that I’ll be hearing about the highs and lows of the Phillies all season including the offseason if there is not a World Series title in Philadelphia.