About the Author
The name's Ben Heck. I am 17-years old, and about to start my senior year at Queen Anne's County High School in Centreville, MD. I stand at 5 feet 8 inches and weigh 140 pounds. I am a Marylander, but I have been a Pittsburgh Steelers fan my entire life (my dad is from Pittsburgh).
I love writing, and talking about sports here on AGM, and I plan on going to a University to major in communications and/or sports management.
2007 AGM Most Improved Writer
2008 AGM Fantasy Football Champion
2008-09 AGM Fantasy Basketball Third Place Finisher
2009 AGM Fantasy Baseball Sixth Place Finisher (out of 14 teams)
Also check out my work at http://www.badnewsbloggers.com//
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Team USA: In it to Win it!
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I am officially tired of hearing the phrase “the World Baseball Classic is a joke.”
Yes, it’s quite obvious that some changes need to be made, but that will come with time. This is, in fact, only the second WBC so far. I feel as though the fans of baseball, especially here in America, should respect the ‘Classic and enjoy watching 16 Nations battle for bragging rights, especially since both baseball and softball have been dropped from the Olympics (for now, at least). If so many people enjoy the Olympics, why not the WBC? Other than the bad timing, what have you got against it?
I don’t think the whole “injury risk” excuse is a good enough answer, to me. You are getting paid millions to play the sport you love, and always will love, and every player trains hard to avoid injuries as much as possible, but you risk injury just waking up in the morning. Has that ever stopped anyone before? No.
I, for one, am glad that there are guys like Adam Dunn, Jake Peavy, Jimmy Rollins, Derek Jeter, Dustin Pedroia and all the other current USA ballplayers that appreciate the gift they have been given.
If there is anyone out there that says the USA players don’t want to win this, then you obviously have not watched any WBC games this spring. They have certainly shown the kind of fire that is needed to win the trophy, de-throwning the defending champs, Japan, in the process.
If the above statements are not enough to convince you that Team USA is competing to win, take a look at this article written by ESPN.com’s Amy K. Nelson: [1]
Mark my words, Team USA will put up a heck of a fight against Japan come Sunday night (8 PM ET), with Houston Astros ace, Roy Oswalt, on the mound. I must say, I agree 100% with this man's recent AGM article ([2]). These guys do want to win, and Japan has shown their weaknesses this time around. A couple of teams have already proven that they (Japan) are, in fact, beatable. So don't underestimate Team USA in this matchup.
If the U.S. ballplayers, most notably Adam Dunn (who has hit a couple of round trippers this WBC), can get a few hits off starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka and make some plays on defense, they certainly have a good chance to defeat Ichiro Suzuki's team and advance to the finals.
Bad news in all of this? My prediction for the championship--Japan over USA--is no longer intact. But, it's all good as long as Davey Johnson's team shows up to play.
