Why I Love Sports - Opening Day

The Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers last night in Houston as the baseball season officially got underway, but Monday is the day we've all been waiting for.

Red Sox - Yankees, Dodgers - Giants and Phillies - Braves are just a few of the games on tap for another amazing Opening Day.  Jon Lester will be facing C.C. Sabathia, two of the best left-handers in the game, in Yankee Stadium Monday afternoon.

I have been slowly getting more and more optimistic for this season of Red Sox baseball, and after seeing the lineup and hearing from some of the players, I'm pumped for things to get underway.  A few additions to the pitching staff and a few additions to the offense seemed like trivial things months ago, but when you put everything together and look at the lineup card for today, the Sox are looking good.

Sure, this blog might turn into your typical Boston blog if the team tanks, blasting pitchers for not trying or hitters for going into inexcusable slumps, but right now, its all systems go.  I'm excited to see how this pitching staff can perform, and if they can carry the success they had this spring.  I'm more excited to see how players like Will Middlebrooks and Jackie Bradley Jr. will play right out of the gate for this 113th Opening Day game for the Red Sox.

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If you call yourself a sports fan, then this past weekend, and including Monday, have been jam-packed with awesome sports moments.  Two Connecticut schools have made the Frozen Four in the NCAA men's hockey tournament (Yale and Quinnipiac) and Michigan and Louisville solidified their spots with Wichita State and Syracuse in the NCAA men's basketball Final Four -- Louisville doing so after losing their emotional leader Kevin Ware to an absolutely horrific leg injury.

In the world of NCAA women's basketball, Louisville made waves by knocking off Brittney Griner and the defending champions Baylor to reach the Elite Eight.

The Bruins got back on track, shutting out the Sabres 2-0 in Buffalo, and the Blackhawks exploded for a 7-1 victory in Detroit.  Andy Murray was forced into a tiebreaker by David Ferrer during a nearly three hour three-set match under the hot Miami sun, but came out victorious.  D.A. Points won the Shell Houston Open, his second career victory after failing to make the cut in seven of nine tournaments he started this year, and earned a spot in the field for The Masters.

Here's to another great day of sports, Happy Opening Day, everyone.

Justin Timberlake "20/20 Experience" - Strange But Good

Justin Timberlake hasn't released a new CD since 2006, but with his latest that came out Tuesday, "The 20/20 Experience" wait was worth it.

The 20/20 Experience combines pop, hip hop, soul, jazz, latin and rock into a 10-track seamless album.  What popped out to me at first is how long each track is.  The longest is "Mirrors" at 8:06 ranging down to "That Girl" at 4:48, my two favorites on the album as it turns out, but sometimes the songs can drag a little bit in the waning minutes.

"Don't Hold the Wall" and "Let the Groove Get In" are two such tracks that don't really do much for me.  They're interesting enough to listen to musically, but they just sound like JT is trying to do too much.  But hey, pretty tough to make an entire CD of just jams, so they balance things out.

The first track on the album is titled "Pusher Love Girl," which is a great way to introduce listeners to Timberlake's newest stylings, and things kind of rollercoaster up and down from there.  There are really only four or five songs I find myself really getting into, but listening to the album all the way through makes each track make sense a little more.  It is not a CD full of club songs, and if it was, I probably wouldn't even listen to it.

You can tell JT really took his time with these tracks, and really explored every direction that they could go, making it very easy to appreciate what he's done.  The best news about this 10-song album, is that Timberlake is working on another 10-song album to come out later this year.  If you want to listen, but don't want to buy the album, check out The 20/20 Experience on Spotify.