Welcome to My Mind

2020 has been easily the weirdest year in recent history. A sport that typically plays 162 games in a season was reduced to 60 games in two months. It helped to introduce more teams to the playoffs, saw extra-inning changes, seven-inning doubleheaders, three batter minimums for relief pitchers, and many more. What we got was an exciting, action-packed two months of baseball with small COVID problems here and there. I made predictions before the season in March and when the season was reduced to 60 games, I amended my predictions and altered them to fit the reduced schedule. As I do every year, I want to go back over my predictions for the season and show just how bad I am at predicting what to expect. I'll start with my predictions for the season then talk about my standings predictions as well, ending with my awards predictions. My Predictions for the Season Revisited Prediction 1: There Will Be 3 No-Hitters So close, yet still so far away. There were only 2 this season in the 60 ...

There is no better time of the year than the last two months. November and December are my favorite months of the year and a lot of that is about the festivities. But no matter how much things change, there are some constants year after year. The best of those are the festive films that are played over and over for two months. My goal is to lay out my favorite films centered around Christmas. There is no limit to the genre so anything goes as long as Christmas plays an important part. I'll talk about what I like about them and some things I don't like since I can admit none of these films are perfect.  Before I get into my list, there are some criteria and points of clarification that I should make. First, there will be some notable omissions, like "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street". I can admit these films are old and classic Christmas films but I've never been a huge fan of movies like these. They should probably be on this list, ...

The Rays are in the World Series and whether they win or lose, it's a major accomplishment all in itself. Maybe this is me prepping for a moral victory and a series loss, but I won't even be mad. I have been a fan of the Rays for as long as I can remember. I'm not sure when or what the exact reason is or how much of it is attributed to living in Durham, NC, home of Tampa Bay's AAA affiliate, the Durham Bulls. Growing up I frequented the DBAP to watch players I hoped to become future Rays. I have also been to several Rays games, including July 26, 2010, when Matt Garza threw the only no-hitter in Rays history. Some of it could also be the rooting for the underdog. They are towards the bottom of the league in payroll and have to compete in the same division as the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Watching them beat the Red Sox in '08 and the Yankees this year in the playoffs was nothing short of satisfying. I think the Rays should be considered "America...

The Canes season has come to an end in rather quick fashion, but that doesn't mean we can't look back at it fondly. There were a lot of positives that came from this weird season. This was only the second time since relocation and the first time since 2000-01 and 2001-02 that that Canes were in the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. There were some spectacular performances in both the regular season and postseason that are worth mentioning as well. In this post, I'll break down what I hope to see happen this offseason, an offseason checklist if you will. I'll start with my evaluation of the regular season and postseason, as well as give out some season awards for the team. I'll then move into the upcoming free agents for the team and what I think we should do with them. I'll also talk about some players I think could be moved via trade in the offseason. Next, I'll focus on the draft, though I'll admit I'm not as knowledgable about NHL prospects outsid...