2011 New Year's Resolutions/Look Back Through 2010

Basically, my resolutions for 2011 are just about the same as 2010's. Like maintain my current weight, and continue to workout. Visit new stadiums and arenas. Meet some more famous people. I don't really like to go all out with resolutions, but hopefully I can accomplish these in 2011.

Now, here is a quick pictureless recap of my 2010.
Watched so much of the Winter Olympics.
Went to Prudential Center (Newark, NJ), Nationals Park (Washington DC), and saw the opening of Consol Energy Center here in Pittsburgh and already went 3 times.
Got my 1st game HR ball (hit by Rickie Weeks of the Milwaukee Brewers)
Went to 2 amazing concerts. (Warped Tour 2010 and Brooks&Dunn)
Went to Florida, again! Always an amazing vacation.
Made people happy.

And that is just some of the things that I wanted to share. Next post is very soon.

Have a Happy New Year everybody!

Pictures From Maryland

Sorry people, I have been lazy from blogging lately, but here are some pictures from Maryland.

Below: Bullocks (aka, best restaurant on Earth!)

Below: A Civil War trails sign in the center of Sykesville.

Below: Entrance to Millard Cooper Park


I just wanted to share a few pictures from down there. I love Maryland, I go down there twice a year to visit some family.

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas (or any other holiday you celebrate) and have a Happy New Year!

*Short random post.

12/12/10- Steelers vs. Bengals (Heinz Field)

Great game to be at! We got to Heinz Field around 10:40, and got in line.
Below: Heinz Field entrance.

When the gates opened, we began to walk towards our seats, but stopped for some great wings first.
Below: My amazing wings.

After we got to our seats, we walked down by the first row to be close to the field, and near the away player entrance.
Below: On-field practice.

From where we were at, close to where the Bengals came out, I got to see some of the players up close.
Below: Bengals #94, Domata Peko.


*After that, my camera wasn't working good, so the rest of the pictures were taken with my phone.

Below: Game view from my seat.

Section: 128 Row: P Seat: 6.
That was the only picture that I took during the game because it was too cold to keep getting my phone out and taking pictures, sorry.
After the game, while walking across the Roberto Clemente bridge, I saw a guy with an awesome jersey.
Below: McLovin jersey.

When I got home I took the picture below.
Below: Ticket and terrible towel.


This was a great game to be at for multiple reasons, and here they are: the Steelers played a great game on defense, real Steelers football. Also since we were playing the Bengals, it was fun to talk trash on Owens, Ochocinco, and Palmer.

College Football Bowl Games!

This post is about the bowl games, and who I pick to win. The team I pick to win will be in bold. Name of the bowl will be underlined.
New Mexico- BYU vs. UTEP
Humanitarian- Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State
New Orleans- Ohio vs. Troy
St.Petersburg- Southern Mississippi vs. Louisville
Las Vegas- Utah vs. Boise State
Poinsettia- Navy vs. San Diego State
Hawaii- Hawaii vs. Tulsa
Little Caesars- Florida International vs. Toledo
Independence- Air Force vs. Georgia Tech
Champs Sports- West Virginia vs. North Carolina State
Insight- Missouri vs. Iowa
Military- East Carolina vs. Maryland
Texas- Illinois vs. Baylor
Alamo- Oklahoma State vs. Arizona
Armed Forces- Army vs. SMU
Pinstripe- Kansas State vs. Syracuse
Music City- North Carolina vs. Tennessee
Holiday- Nebraska vs. Washington
Meineke- South Florida vs. Clemson
Sun- Notre Dame vs. Miami
Liberty- Georgia vs. Central Florida
Chick-Fil-A- South Carolina vs. Florida State
Ticket City- Northwestern vs. Texas Tech
Outback- Florida vs. Penn State
Captial One- Alabama vs. Michigan State
Gator- Mississippi State vs. Michigan
Rose- Wisconsin vs. TCU
Fiesta- Connecticut vs. Oklahoma
Orange- Stanford vs. Virginia Tech
Sugar- Ohio State vs. Arkansas
GoDaddy- Middle Tennsessee vs. Miami(OH)
Cotton- LSU vs. Texas A&M
Compass- Pittsburgh vs. Kentucky
Kraft- Nevada vs. Boston College

And finally, the National Championship game!
Oregon vs. Auburn. This will be a very good game. I think it will be a high scoring, offensive game. And my pick is Oregon.

I can't wait until December 18th, next Saturday, for the bowls to start! After all the bowls are over, I will make a post about all of the bowls, and to see if I picked good or not.

Sidney Crosby's Streak!

It can be defined in one word. Amazing.

During last nights 7-2 win over Columbus, Sidney Crosby scored 2 goals, extending his points streak to 15 games, and giving him 23 goals on the season. He has a total of 46 points this year so far in 28 games. *I am so lucky to have him on my fantasy hockey team* Currently ESPN.com has Sid on pace for 135 points this season. Me and every Penguins and Crosby fan in the world would love to see that happen.

Keep the points streak goin' Sid, and keep the winning streak goin' Pens!


Pittsburgh Penguins: 18-8-2 (38pts) with a 9 game streak!

PIttsburgh Penguins Stats Leaders

These stats updated after the last game.

Goals - Sidney Crosby (18)
Assists - Sidney Crosby (23)
Points - Sidney Crosby (41)
+/- - Kris Letang (12)
PIM - Deryk Engelland (55)
Shots - Evgeni Malkin (115)
Shooting % - Sidney Crosby (18%)

The Penguins have been on a roll lately, and hopefully can keep it going!
Lets Go Pens!

Happy Turkey Day!

I wanted to say have a nice thanksgiving with whoever you are with today.
Sit back, relax, eat food, and watch football. There are many good NFL and College football games on the next few days, so enjoy them!

NFL Games Today
12:30 - New England @ Detroit
4:15 - New Orleans @ Dallas
8:20 - Cincinnati @ New York Jets

2010 MLB Awards

Post about the 2010 MLB Awards. I'm not going to go into much detail.

MVP
AL - Josh Hamilton (TEX)- .359 average with 32 HR's.
NL - Joey Votto (CIN)- .324 average, 31 of the 32 first place votes.

Cy Young
AL - Felix Hernandex (SEA)- Led MLB in ERA and Innings pitched.
NL - Roy Halladay (PHI)- 5th pitcher to win Cy Young in both leagues.

Rookie of the year
AL - Neftali Feliz (TEX)- 40 saves.
NL - Buster Posey (SF)- batted .305 and won the World Series.

Manager of the year
AL - Ron Gardenhire (MIN)- Finally won, after being runner up.
NL - Bud Black (SD)- Barely beat Dusty Baker for the award.

Gold Gloves
American League- Joe Mauer (MIN), Mark Teixeira (NYY), Robinson Cano (NYY), Evan Longoria (TB), Derek Jeter (NYY), Carl Crawford (TB), Ichiro Suzuki (SEA), Franklin Gutierrez (SEA), Mark Buehrle (CHW).

National League- Yadier Molina (STL), Albert Pujols (STL), Brandon Phillips (CIN), Scott Rolen (CIN), Troy Tulowitzki (COL), Michael Bourn (HOU), Carlos Gonzalez (COL), Shane Victorino (PHI), Bronson Arroyo (CIN).

Comeback Players
AL - Francisco Liriano (MIN)
NL - Tim Hudson (ATL)

Hank Aaron Award
AL - Jose Bautista (TOR)
NL - Joey Votto (CIN)

Roberto Clemente Award
Tim Wakefield (BOS)

11/15/10- Penguins vs Rangers (Consol Energy Center)

*First off, sorry I took so long to update this, I was lazy.

Anyway, I went to this game with my brother. My 3rd inside the Consol Energy Center. We arrived at the arena around 5:40, and went inside, and I finally got a picture of the Mario Lemieux collage.

At 6, when everyone is allowed to go to thier seats, I got some food, and then me and my brother went to our seats, and then I took a picture of warm-ups.
Below: Warm-ups

Game view from my seat.

Section 215, Row J, Seat 16.
At the 1st intermission, there was a little kid shootout, so I took a random picture of it.

Below: Random action picture

Below: Attendance

Below: Scrap

Below: Blood on the ice.

The 3rd period was insane, the Penguins scored 2 quick goals, and then the Rangers tied it up, and forced an overtime, and then the Rangers scored in OT, and won.
Below: 3-2, Rangers win.


The 2 Penguins goals were scored by Matt Cooke, his 4th, and Chris Kunitz, his 5th. And the 3 Rangers goals were scored by Ryan Callahan, his 5th, former Penguin Erik Christensen, his 3rd, and Marc Staal, his 3rd.

When I got home, I took a picture of what I collected at this game.


Right now, I'm not 100% sure when my next Penguins game will be, but it will be in December, so stay tuned.

Pittsburgh Power Arena Football

Wikipedia page for the Pittsburgh Power

Pittsburgh Power website

I know that the Arena Football season doesn't start until March, but honestly I am excited for the new Pittsburgh Power, they will play at the new Consol Energy Center, and the first game is in March against Philadelphia. I will go to a few of their games, just because I have liked Arena Football for year, and who knows, they might be really good. Also, according to their website, here are some of the players they have signed so far:

Offense
QB - Bernard Morris
QB - Anthony Morrelli
RB - Kenny Lewis
WR - Rich Gunnell
WR - Mike Washington
OL - Nick Henessey
OL - Richi Anderson
OL - Steven Brazzle
OL - Michael Byrne
OL - Peter Fields
OL - Sione Ohuafi
Defense
DE - Josh Gaines
DE - Terrance Carter
DL - Callahan Bright
DL - Neil Purvis
DL - Terrence Reese
DL - Demetrius Taylor
DB - Carlos Campbell
DB - Tyrrell Herbert
DB - Antonio Smith
K - Paul Edinger

The Power head coach is Chris Siegfried. Also about a month ago, the team held a tryout, which I heard had over 250 football players there, wanting to make the team, we will see soon, who will be on the team.

Congratulations!

To the San Francisco Giants on winning the 2010 World Series the other night over the Texas Rangers. It was nice to see former Pirate, Freddy Sanchez win the World Series. I originally picked Texas to win, but I was very happy that San Francisco won.

But that means the 2010 MLB season is officially over, it was a great year in the MLB, and also for me ballhawking. I cannot wait til next year, 2011 is goin' to be a great year for baseball!

Happy Halloween & October Penguins Review

Happy Halloween everybody!


And with the Penguins done with their October schedule, I'm goin' to post about the first month of the Penguins season.

Penguins Team Leaders (as of 10/31/10)
Goals- Sidney Crosby (6)
Assists- Sidney Crosby (9)
Points- Sidney Crosby (15)
+/- - Kris Letang/Alex Goligoski (8)
Shots- Sidney Crosby (52)
Shooting %- Pascal Dupuis (22.2%)

Brent Johnson is 2nd in the NHL in GAA and Save Percentage. Also Johnson recorded his 14th career shutout against the Carolina Hurricanes last night.

2010 World Series- Preview

2010 World Series between the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants. To be honest, its hard to pick which team I want to win because I picked these 2 teams to lose in the first round.

But when I put some thought into it, I pick the Texas Rangers to win. If Cliff Lee pitches like he did against the Yankees in the ALCS, and the Rangers offense plays great, they will win. I say Rangers in 6 games. In my mind, this is going to be a very great World Series here in 2010.

*Sorry, this isn't much of a preview, I just wanted to give a little bit of my 2 cents.

NFL's Big Hits

In the last few days, there has been alot of news coming from the NFL about hits. After many big hits last week, the NFL fined a few players, including one of my favorite football players, James Harrison.

Today (Thursday) he returned to the Steelers. A day after he was considering retiring from the NFL. Other players fined are Brandon Merriweather of the New England Patriots, and Dunta Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons.

Click the link below for more information.

Click here.

10/13/10- Penguins vs Maple Leafs (Consol Energy Center)

Second time inside the Consol Energy Center, I went to this game with my brother.
Below: Outside the arena.

The first time I was at the Consol Energy Center, I went through the other entrance, so I didn't see this...

The Penguins all-time team.
Below: Warm-ups

I thought this looked really cool, I took a picture of the ice during the national anthem.

Below: Faceoff and view from my seat.

My seat was Section 225, Row M, Seat 11.
Below: Attendance

When I got home, I took the picture below.
Below: Everything I collected.


Before the game started, I made a sign at the game that said "Martin's Maniacs" on it. The Penguins lost the game 4-3. The 3 Penguins goals were scored by: 1st goal, Chris Kunitz, assisted by Evgeni Malkin and Alex Goligoski. 2nd goal, Max Talbot, assisted by Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy. 3rd goal, Sidney Crosby, assisted by Ben Lovejoy and Matt Cooke. The 4 Toronto goals were scored by: 1st goal, Colton Orr, assisted by Luke Schenn and Mike Brown. 2nd goal, Clarke MacArthur, assisted by Tomas Kaberle and Dion Phaneuf. 3rd goal, Francois Beauchemin, assisted by Luke Schenn and Mike Zigomanis. 4th goal, Clarke MacArthur, assisted by Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin. In the 2nd period, there was a sweet fight between Deryk Engelland and Colton Orr. Also, Evgeni Malkin had a penalty shot chance in the 2nd period, and he missed.

My next Penguins game should be in the middle of November, when the Penguins play either the New York Rangers or Vancouver Canucks.

My Jersey Collection Video

More jerseys and videos soon!

2010 Ballhawking Stats

Here is a post for my 2010 ballhawking stats.
STATS BY MONTH
April- 3 balls at 2 games, 1.5 balls per game.
May- 10 balls at 4 games, 2.5 balls per game.
June- 4 balls at 4 games, 1 ball per game.
July- 14 balls at 6 games, 2.33 balls per game. 1 Game HR ball (Rickie Weeks)
August- 8 balls at 4 games, 2 balls per game.
September- 12 balls at 6 games, 2 balls per game.

Most balls in one game- 6 (5/4- Pirates vs Cubs)
Total- 51 balls at 25 games, 2.04 balls per game, 18 hit, 9 found, 24 thrown.

PLAYERS/COACHES I GOT A BALL FROM IN 2010
Garrett Jones, Joel Hanrahan (2 balls), John Russell, Derrek Lee, Randy Wells, Billy Wagner, Evan Meek, Lastings Milledge, Rickie Weeks, Brad Lincoln, Adrian Gonzalez, Darren Balsley, Livan Hernandez, Jason Heyward, Doug Slaten, Mike Morse, Matt Diaz, Jim Lett (2 balls), Pedro Alvarez, Andrew McCutchen, Ross Ohlendorf, Colby Rasmus, Trever Miller, Adam Dunn, Carlos Rosa, Chris Carpenter, Ryan Doumit, Brandon Moss, Brett Wallace.

AUTOGRAPHS
Mat Latos, Manny Sanguillen, Kent Tekulve, Daniel McCutchen, Joel Hanrahan, Evan Meek.

71 TOTAL LIFETIME BALLS

And lastly, pictures from the 2010 season.
Below: Opening Day 2010 (Pirates vs Dodgers)

Below: McKechnie Field (Bradenton, FL)

Below: My dinner at EVERY Pirates game.

Below: Rickie Weeks game HR ball (Actually, ball #41)

Below: Nationals Park entrance.

Below: Game used bat (Tagg Bozied)

Below: New Bill Mazeroski statue outside PNC Park.

Below: Last picture of PNC Park in 2010.


P.S. The MLB Division Series is NOT goin' my way so far!

2010 MLB: Final Month Review/Stats/Division Series Predictions

This is supossed to be a post about my 2010 ballhawking stats, but I decided to change that to many final month review.
So here we go...
Now that the 2010 MLB regular season is over, its playoff time. The playoff teams this year are, Tampa Bay, NY Yankees, Minnesota, Texas. And for the NL, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Cincinnati, and San Francisco.
Final 2010 Standings
AL East
Tampa Bay 96-66
NY Yankees 95-67
Boston 89-73
Toronto 85-77
Baltimore 66-96
AL Central
Minnesota 94-68
Chicago 88-74
Detroit 81-81
Cleveland 69-93
Kansas City 67-95
AL West
Texas 90-72
Oakland 81-81
LA Angels 80-82
Seattle 61-101
NATIONAL LEAGUE
NL East
Philadelphia 97-65
Atlanta 91-71
Florida 80-82
NY Mets 79-83
Washington 69-93
NL Central
Cincinnati 91-71
St.Louis 86-76
Milwaukee 77-85
Houston 76-86
Chicago 75-87
Pittsburgh 57-105
NL West
San Francisco 92-70
San Diego 90-72
Colorado 83-79
LA Dodgers 80-82
Arizona 65-97

AL Leaders
AVG- Josh Hamilton (TEX) .359
HR- Jose Bautista (TOR) 54
RBI- Miguel Cabrera (DET) 126
ERA- Felix Hernandez (SEA) 2.27
W- CC Sabathia (NYY) 21
K's- Jered Weaver (LAA) 233
SV- Rafael Soriano (TB) 45
NL Leaders
AVG- Carlos Gonzalez (COL) .336
HR- Albert Pujols (STL) 42
RBI- Albert Pujols (STL) 118
ERA- Josh Johnson (FLA) 2.30
W- Roy Halladay (PHI) 21
K's- Tim Linecum (SF) 231
SV- Brian Wilson (SF) 48

Good news for me, and other Pirates fans, we have the 1st pick! Again...
And now for my 2010 MLB division series predictions.
ALDS
Texas/Tampa Bay: My pick, Tampa Bay, not only cause the Rays are my second favorite team, it is because they have an overall great team with everything needed to win the World Series. Texas has all of this as well, but I strongly believe the home-field for the Rays will help them win the series. Rays in 4.

New York/Minnesota: My pick, its hurts to say this but New York. Because the Twins will not have Justin Morneau, but still this is going to be a great series. I see it going all 5 games. Yankees in 5.

NLDS
Cincinnati/Philadelphia: My pick, Cincinnati, because the Reds have been underdogs for years and now its their time to shine, but the Phillies with good pitching will make this a 5 game series. Reds in 5.

Atlanta/San Francisco: My pick, Atlanta, because its Bobby Cox's last year, and I'd like to see Atlanta play good for him, the Giants have great pitching which will make it hard for the Braves excellent hitter. Braves in 4.

9/28/10- Penguins vs Blackhawks (Consol Energy Center- Pre Season)

My first time in the new Consol Energy Center. I thought the entrance to the arena was amazing.
Below: Arena Entrance

Basically, the whole arena was amazing, I didn't find anything bad about it. I heard so much about the scoreboard at the arena, and when I got to my seat I took a picture of it.
Below: Scoreboard

Below: Pre-game warmups.

Below: Opening faceoff.

Below: Random game action shot.

Below: Penguins win! 4-1!

Below: What I collected at this game.

I sat in Section 234, Row A, Seat 2. Very nice seat, it looks like there is not any bad seats in the area.
The 4 Penguins goals were scored by Evgeni Malkin, Dustin Jeffery, Nick Johnson, and Mark Letestu. And the 1 Blackhawks goal was scored by Kyle Beach.
My next Penguins game will be on October 13th vs Toronto.
And below is a video I made at this game.

9/25/10- Pirates vs Astros (PNC Park)

My last game of the 2010 season, it was sad to have this year come to an end.
I took the picture below, as I approached PNC Park for one last time in 2010.

Down the street there was a huge cheerleader event goin' on which, at first I thought alot of these people would be at the game.

When the gates opened at 4:30, everyone went down to the bleachers and right away I found a ball in Section 137 in the last row.
Below: Bleacher crowd during BP.

Nice low, crowd in the bleachers.
I didn't get another ball til around 5:30, when the rest of the stadium opened and I searched the sections above the Clemente wall, found nothing, and then went down to Section 140, where within a minute of two, I got 2 balls both hit by Brett Wallace.
Below: Astros BP

I left the stadium after BP, to go home and watch the Penguins pre-season game, but before I went home I checked in the grass out on the riverwalk, to try and find another, found nothing.
Below: Grass on the riverwalk

And then walking across the Clemente bridge, I turned around and took one last picture and look at PNC Park for 2010.
Below: PNC Park

When I got home I took the 2 usual pictures.
Below: Everything I collected

Below: Upclose on the 3 balls from this game.


SEASON STATS
3 balls at this game
51 balls at 26 games in 2010
1.96 balls per game (BPG)
71 TOTAL LIFETIME BASEBALLS

2010 Ballhawk season review/stats post soon!