Jimmy’s Blog

Yes, my hometown team, the Nats, have the worst record in baseball.  But, I feel good about the foundation they’re putting in place.  It’s going to take time, but I feel like they’re doing it the right way, especially in rebuilding the farm system, particularly with an emphasis on stockpiling pitchers.

If one looks at the statistics, the Nats are in the top 6 offensively in the NL.  They have a good core of hitters, including a few players above or near a .300 batting average, including Nyjer Morgan, Ryan Zimmerman and Cristan Guzman.  Also, Willingham and Dunn are both hitting above .280.  They also have three hitters with over 20 homers, including Dunn, Zimmy and Willingham.

The key to winning baseball, as the purists state, are pitching and defense.  Defensively, the team is playing much better fundamental baseball under the interim manager, Jim Riggleman.  In particular, Morgan has played exceptionally well in CF.  Yes, he’s hurt now but he’ll be a fixture next year.  They do need to improve the middle infield, but they get Gold Glove quality play from Zimmy at 3b and they’re well-stocked with good defensive catchers.

Pitching will be the key.  They have a number of good to very good young pitching arms.  As I’ve compared in the past, I’m hoping they build a rotation like the Braves from the 90’s – who won 14 straight NL East championships built around Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Steve Avery.   I’m glad to see them sign Livan Hernandez, who can show the youngsters how the veteran pitchers get it done.  I’d like to see them resign him for ’10 or sign another veteran pitcher who can eat up innings.

Improving the bullpen is critical to success of the next year’s team, especially since the youngsters aren’t being counted on to pitch deep into games.   Yes, McDougal has pitched well … and, Storen will be a great young arm to add to the bullpen.  But, they also need a couple of strong middle relievers.

It’s likely that Strasburg will become a stud #1 pitcher, but the success rate of the top ranked pitchers is very iffy.  But, it was definitely the right move to draft  and sign him.  And, if they continue to have the worst record, the Nats will have the opportunity to pick the heralded young catcher from Las Vegas (who some say is the best hitting prospect to come along in years).

One more month to go for the Nats – but it’s also time for football season to kick off!  Then, before we know it, the basketball and hockey seasons will start, too.  Can’t wait!

I don’t golf very often — in fact, I’ve only averaged 1 – 2 rounds per year over the past couple of years.  I do like to golf, but I much prefer to play baseball.  I play in a couple of baseball leagues – so I don’t have the time to golf.

But, I did play a round on late Tuesday afternoon … and it reminded me why it’s such a beautiful sport.

Two of my closest friends, Kurt and Thom, suggested we play a round of golf and catch up.  Kurt lives here in VA but Thom lives in NJ.  He came down to VA for a couple of days of business travel but he made time to play on Tues afternoon.

The three of us are not very good but we respect the game and move right along.  As proof, we played our round in 4 hours, which is the average pace.   On top of that, we played at Westfield’s, the course designed by Freddie Couples, and that is regarded as one of the more difficult public courses in Northern VA.

Man, it was so much fun.   We pretty had the course to ourselves — no back-ups at all.  Playing golf, hanging with your boys, having a couple of beers, smoking a cigar, etc (of course, checking email on blackberry and v-mails on cell phone, too).   Also golfing in the late afternoon / early evening as the weather cools is  a pure joy.  Simply put, life doesn’t get much better.

I didn’t score too well but I did have a couple of pars and I was putting for a birdie on the 18th hole (lipped out).  That might be the only round of golf I play this year, but it was sure was a heck of a lot of fun.  I might need to get back out there for a couple of rounds this Fall.

Will soccer become as popular as football, baseball and basketball in the US?  That’s a great question.  But, if you were one of the 72,000+ that attended yesterday’s match between the legendary Real Madrid squad vs DC United (the MLS’ most successful team in history, you would have to say that it’s going to happen in the not-too-distant future.

Yes, many of the fans were there to see several of the world’s greatest players — Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul, etc — who were all part of the $375 million in transfer fees that RM paid to secure the talents of an array of highly-skilled talent.  But, there are a number of reasons why soccer will continue to grow in popularity:

– more youth are playing soccer than any other sport — there are over 18 million kids playing soccer

– there’s a significant shift occurring in the US, r.e. demographics shifts — research states that over the next three decades, the number of Hispanics in the US will grow from 15% of the total US population to 30%.  Soccer, baseball and boxing are very popular among Hispanics, but soccer reigns as the king

– the success of the US Soccer team this summer helped stoke the popularity of soccer — if the team does well in next year’s 2010 World Cup, the growth should continue to occur

– ESPN is starting to invest heavily in soccer — having a major powerhouse media partner can only help (yes, much of the coverage will be of international matches but that will still help create more soccer fans

– the MLS has excellent management in place, at both the league and team levels.  Also, some of the new ownership groups feature highly successful people from the business, finance and media worlds.  The Seattle franchise is off to a roaring success — and new clubs in Portland and Vancouver will help, too.

– having famous clubs such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, AC Milan, Chelsea, etc play matches in the US will continue to help grow the popularity of soccer in the US … and these clubs will benefit from gaining news fans from the US

So, in summary, soccer has a ways to go in regard being as popular as the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, etc, but the MLS and the sport are definitely on the way – for some of the reasons stated above.  It’s clearly moving in the right direction.  It will be interesting to observe this movement in the coming years.

I went to a highly-entertaining musical last night on Broadway.  I highly recommend “Rock of Ages,” the new 80’s rock musical based on life in LA, particularly on Sunset Strip.

Those of you that know me well know that I’m much more of a sports events and concerts person vs attending the theatre.  But, my friends and I had such a blast last night.  I also noticed that audience members were smiling and laughing throughout the performance.

The only actor I recognized was the long-haired, Greek rocker from American Idol a few years ago.  He did a superb job in singing a bunch of 80’s rock classics.  Although I didn’t know the other actors, across the board, they did a splendid job.

But, of course, the 80’s rock music is the star of this show.  So many classics … from Journey, Twisted Sister, Night Ranger, REO Speedway, Quiet Riot, Styx, Foreigner, etc.   For those of you that lived through the 80’s music scene or are discovering it now as retro music, you’ll thoroughly enjoy the music. Also, you’ll love the outfits and classic 80’s hairstyles.

I DJ’ed for a long time (including over 500 wedding receptions) to pay for my grad school loans.  I played so many of these hits back in the day … at wedding receptions, college parties, high school sock hops, bar mitzvahs, etc.  So, it defintely brought back a lot of memories.

If you have a chance to see “Rock of Ages,” I definitely recommend.  You’ll be entertained throughout the 2.5 hour performance.

President Obama and his staff “get it” when it comes to women’s sports.  First, they held the first-ever celebration of the anniversary of the important Title IX legislation at the White House last month.   Then, this afternoon, they hosted and honored the 2008 WNBA Champion, Detroit Shock.

It was hot on the White House lawn this afternoon as the President honored the team.  The WNBA President, Donna Orender (she’s a rock star) as well as their previous coaches, Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn, were also recognized by the President.   The POTUS made a funny remark about honoring the former Pistons (who were rivals of his favorite team, the Chicago Bulls).

The looks on the faces of the Shock players was terrific — smiling and beaming.  I talked to a couple of the players after the ceremony — Katie Smith, Cheryl Ford and Kara Braxton.  They were all so happy and delighted to be recognized by President Obama.  They were not honored at the White House after they won the championship in ’06.

The other important item that the administration does extremely well when they honor sports team is tie in a community service project or partner.  They did this when they honored the Super Bowl Champion, Pittsburgh Steelers, at an event in May (the US military was their partner for that event).  For today’s event, they worked with a couple of the local youth groups.   The kids were absolutely beaming as they got to walk on the White House lawn as well as sit closely to watch and listen as the President honored the team.  Earlier in the day, the team visited with a couple of the youth organizations in Washington, DC (which I’m sure was a thrill for the children).

After attending the Title IX (equality in women’s sports) celebration at the White House last month, I blogged about how wonderful it is to see women’s sports continue to get more and more recognition and visibility.  It’s amazing to see the strides that have occurred over the past couple of decades.  The WNBA has been around for over 12 years … the LPGA is fighting some sponsorship issues but they continue to do fairly well … the women’s tennis tour is doing quite well … and after the previous women’s pro soccer league went out of business, the new Women’s Professional Soccer league is fully up and running.

It no doubts help that the President and First Lady have two young daughters who like and enjoy sports.  The President is obviously a huge sports fan (great move having him participate at the MLB All-Star Game) and the First Lady’s brother is  the head basketball coach at Oregon State University.

As recently as the 70’s and 80’s, a lot of women and girls did not have the opportunity to play and participate in Sports.  But, thanks to Title IX and to many different trailblazers, it’s now a whole different ballgame.  All one has to do is look around … women’s sports is thriving … from youth leagues to high schools to colleges and to the aforementioned professional women’s sports leagues.   This is wonderful to see.  I’ll post some pictures of today’s event on Facebook.   Just look at all of the smiles in the pictures.  Today’s event was surely a home run … make that a slam dunk!

After watching the British Open for the past few days, I have even greater admiration for Tom Watson.   I wasn’t much of a Tom Watson fan during his playing days … I much preferred rooting for Jack Nicklaus.  But, what he accomplished the past few days is simply remarkable.

The thought of a 59-year old person winning a major championship, regardless of the sport, is mind-boggling.  He would have been at least 10 years older than any champion.

Just think … Tom is more than 25 years older than Tiger Woods!  Yes, he was out there competing his heart out against the younger generation.   All he did was a get a par-4 on the 18th hole.  He made a nice drive into the fairway on the 18th.  He then hit a solid 8-iron right into middle of the green.  Unfortunately, it went off the green.  He still only had an up-and-down to capture the championship.  But, he putted his 3rd shot too far … and a tough 8-foot to make the par.   As we all know, he missed the putt … then played poorly in the 4-hole play-off.

But, imagine what he accomplished.   He’s going to make so many more athletes in the their late 30’s to late 50’s, especially golfers, think they can can continue to compete at a higher level.  He opened many eyes and ears.   This will have a positive effect on older athletes.

The thing I admired the most is how he handled the defeat.  He could have sulked and complained.   Instead, he handled it with incredible grace and dignity.   The mark of a great champion is not just how they win, but also how they lose.  Tom Watson taught many us how to do this in a world-class manner.   He is already one of golf’s all-time greats, but he can now walk away with his head held just a higher.  He is champion and he is one who provided us memories that we will not forget for a long, long time.

I had a great night last night … I was able to combine two of my favorite non-profits.

I’m on the board of directors for the Asian-American LEAD organization – a terrific non-profit which promotes the well-being of low-income Asian American youth and families and the Capitol Movement Project — an organization which strives to create opportunities for underprivileged DC area dancers to train and perform at an expert level.

My newest mentee is a wonderful young 4th-grader who’s family is from China.  I blogged about her in the past — she expertly sang a solo song at our AA LEAD annual fund-raising dinner this past Feb.  I was so impressed that she had the guts to get in front of nearly 500 people.

I’ve offered her family to pay for her singing, dancing and tutoring.  So, last night was the first session.  We went to the hip hop classes for 7 to 13 year olds offered by the Capitol Movement Project at their new beautiful dance studio at 14th and Crittenden St.

My mentee was shy at first — especially since this was her first time in a dance studio and the first time taking hip hop lessons.  But, after about 20 – 30 minutes, she embraced the teachings.  She liked it so much, she even took in the training for the Mystics junior dancers.  We were there for 2 1/2 hours!  I’m so proud of her.  I’ll be taking her there for the next few Friday evenings — I know she’ll continue to get better and better.

America is indeed the land of opportunity.  And, I’m very proud of organizations such as Asian-American LEAD and Capitol Movement Project that both do so much to help the children in the greater DC region.  If you’re interested in learning more about either organization, please email me at JimmyLynn@aol.com or go to the sites — http://www.aalead.org and http://www.capitolmovement.org.

I went to the Cubs @ Nats game earlier tonight.  I know the Nats aren’t playing too well and have the worst record in the MLB, but I still LOVE having major league baseball back in town.   I was at the Red Sox – Nats series a couple of weeks ago where Nats Park was completely sold out — Red Sox Nation travels well.  I was expecting the same thing from Cubs fans but that wasn’t the case.  There were about 27,000 fans at tonight’s game.

Tonight was Game 1 under the new management regime of Jim Riggleman.  Unfortunately, they played just like they did under Manny Acta.  Overall, they played pretty well but they had a couple of errors and a bad mistake on the base paths (getting picked off 1st base in a 2-run game is inexcusable).

But, I firmly believe in what the Nats are doing.  I like the foundation they’re building with the pitching staff.  Pitching and defense are keys to building a winning club.  And, I like the young arms they have in the current rotation as well as the minors.  Yes, they HAVE to sign the number one pick, Strasburg.  I know his agent is going to try to hold the team ransom but I think they’ll be able to work something out.

They also have a legitimate line-up, unlike last year’s squad.  They have a number of major league caliber hitters up and down the line-up … Morgan, Guzman, Johnson, Zimmy, Dunn, Willingham, etc.   Dunn is among the league leaders in homers and Zimmy, Johnson and Guzman are hitting above .300.

It takes a while to build a winning club.  The Expos had their minor league system completely depleted.  It’s smart to build the foundation first, then let the younger players develop.  This is much than trying to add older, expensive free agents (what both the Orioles and Redskins have tried to do but without much success on the field).  Give it time, DC, the Nats will come around.  We’ll have a winning, competitive team on the field in a couple of years.  For now, appreciate the beautiful ballpark and enjoy watching MLB action (it’s much better than not having any baseball here – as was the case for the previous 35+ years).

I had an excellent two days in New York City.   A bunch of sports meetings on Monday and Tuesday plus a a great dinner with friends at Rosa Mexicano near Union Square.

I’m continuing to put things in place for my new JLynn Associates business.  It’s going to continue to take time but I feel good about the movement over the past three months.  It’s refreshing to be out on my own, but it’s also a bit daunting.  So many things need to get checked off the list in order to get fully up and running.

Hiring a lawyer, accountant, web designer, etc.  The fact that I’m also going to be partnering with a firm to do business in China and Japan needs I’ll also need to hire multi-cultural agencies to help with creating marketing collateral in other languages.

I did check out the new “High Line” in NY.  It’s where the former railroad used to run.  The High Line runs from Gansevoort St, in the Meatpacking District, to W. 20th St.  It’s an elevated walkway with wild flowers and plants growing.  They did a great job with it … it’s apparently designed after a similar elevated walkway in London.

Whenever I blog about NY, I normally always mention pizza.   Unfortunately, didn’t get a slice on this trip but I did have great Mexican, Japanese and Chinese meals!   Oh, and it  hit a spanking diner, too.   There’s nothing like a NY or NJ diner.  Classic.