Why I hate this title...

Why is that a stupid title? Why would I pick it if I don't like it? Why I really need to think of something better. Why I hope you get what I'm doing here. Why do I even care? Why I hope your still reading.

So here's the deal I cook, but that doesn't make me a chef. I know where the first aid kit is, but I don't call myself Dr. Hollywood Hippie. I blog, but that doesn't make me a writer.

For the record, it doesn't make YOU a writer either.

But I'm not here to write about you, that would be silly and a waste of my time.

The point I am trying to make is that, yes I have Internet. Yes I figured out how to type 65+ words per minute, thank you 8th grade computer class. But Internet and typing skills does not a writer make. Neither does knowing the proper way to use whom (which I don't).

Whomever, my point is I don't like reading other people's blogs. I LOVE that you like reading mine, or at least you clicked on it by mistake in hops of finding something else and are now just waiting for your browser to refr...

You're still here, good.

Thank you.

The point is, why does everyone who writes a blog (of course I don't mean EVERYONE, so calm down) why do the majority of blogs, sports related or otherwise, have such wussy titles? If you have the balls to sit down, type out, and hopefully spell check, your inner thoughts and send them out into the world, nut up and don't be so passive!

Don't tell me, "why i think the Yankees will win..." Tell me, "The Yankees are going to win." If you are a "writer" then write and do it with authority and confidence behind your ideas. Don't worry that some other douchey person is going to leave some blow hard comment...be a man and suspend your comments. Or just let Mr. Douche leave his comment and move on with your day of tweeting and status updating. But if I'm going to take the time out of my own self involved day to read your thoughts, I want to KNOW you believe in them.

Thank you.

And that's why I think you should keep reading my blog.

;)

~ML

Start with a Dream

Instead of going into a big, "this is who I am" thing. I'm just going to jump write in.

Welcome and Thank You, for spending some of your daily internet clicking with me. My first post is "pre-written". It is my essay for the MLB Dream Job. I think I may have missed the boat, by not seeing that there was a 2nd page to the application. So here is my essay. ENJOY! ~M

Yes I am an actress, but PLEASE keep reading.

I fell in love with the game in the 4^th grade. My father let me skip school so we could go from West Point, NY to Yankee Stadium and sit in $5 (now $80) bleacher seats on opening day. Best seats in the park.  Those fans all knew each other, neighborhood gossip being traded between innings.  I’ll never forget as the wave began to circle the stadium. The bleacher fans began chanting, “Take the wave to Shea!” To this day I REFUSE to participate in the wave at any baseball game out of respect. Of course, “Take the wave to Citi Field!” is the more accurate chant now; however it doesn’t roll off the tongue quite the same. My father Clyde Curtis Ligons, wrote ‘Third Base Bag’ and ‘One Game at a Time’ which legendary Dodger Ron Cey recorded in 1976. We have always been a baseball family. When I move to Los Angeles in 2003 dad would call after every game and we’d dissect the game. I wore my Jeter shirt to every Dodgers game I attended. I believe that fans of all 32 teams can cheer their team on in a way that is respectful of the opposing team. Full disclosure I was asked to leave a bar following Game 4 of the 2004 ALDS. The Boston hat wearing bouncer and I failed to see eye to eye on his choice of head gear; Red Sox fans can be so sensitive.

I currently work as a receptionist. It is a job I enjoy because it allows me to put my organizational and time management skills to good use. As the first face clients and corporate executives see when they arrive at our office, I am very confident in the positive, energetic and knowledgeable image I represent for our company. The passion that I have for Baseball and the confidence I have in myself, is why I know I am the ideal person to represent the fans and MLB.

When the Rangers played the Yankees during the ALCS, I went from being the receptionist to the office Hazel Mae. Associates at all levels would stop by reception to talk stats and deconstruct the previous night’s game. During the 2010 season I flew to Los Angeles to attend All-Star weekend; Dallas in mid August to watch the Yankees comeback thanks to a classic Mo save and back to Dallas for the final two games of a brutal four game sweep in September. I prepared to watch the ALCS at home with my three-leg dog Bronx. (Yes, you read that right.) When the baseball angels smiled on me and I was able to snag a ticket from a co-worker for Game 2. I drove the five hours to Dallas, so I could sit in a stadium of Ranger Red and cheer my Yankees to a loss, from the VERY last row at the top of Arlington stadium.

During the 2010 ALCS fans were introduced to the three key components that will shape the 2011 season; $uper Teams, Cliff Lee in the postseason and smaller market teams weaseling into the post season.

Thanks to what I can only assume were previously undiscovered gold mines under The Green Monster and an untapped oil reserve in the Nationals dugout; the Yankees can no longer be singled out for “buying championships”. The Boss had the money so he spent it on his team.  Steinbrenner knew that you can’t take it with you, so he spent it while he was here.  The Fenway faithful are going to be surprised when they discover that a front office decision to fund the college education of the next eight generations of Crawford’s will not guarantee a postseason berth. And while the Nationals watch as Jayson Werth spends his millions on something other than haircuts, they will again be off come September. Maybe they’ll realize that kind of money might be better spent on a bionic arm…Strasburg I’m looking at you.

Cliff Lee has an opportunity to prove himself in the postseason (again). Lee may have avoided the pressure cooker that is Yankees baseball by returning to the Phillies. However someone may want to inform Cliff that the only thing allowed to have any cracks in Philadelphia is the Liberty Bell. He will have to be perfect. Lee is the face of the team. Despite the Phillies talent, Cliff is the only one who spurned the Yankees (twice) and dominated the postseason storylines. Phillies success or failure this season will ride on the left hander from Arkansas.

2011 will likely be dominated by stories about the AL East, Lee’s ERA, and Manny’s tantrums in Tampa. Meaning the Giants will ride high as returning champs. The Rangers will look to destroy the Phillies.  The Rays will find success if they block out the “way they were” headlines and continue to play NL style ball in the AL. They will battle and fight. They will ignore the hype of the Super Teams. We could see TB, LAA, SF show up in the postseason and show everyone that after 162 games legends are made on the field and not at Winter Meetings.

On April 8, 2009, eleven days before my birthday, my father passed away. I left Los Angeles to be with my mother in Texas and never looked back. I spoke at my father’s funeral and I talked about those Opening Day trips. Baseball has become my life line to my father and in the weeks following my father’s passing I remember watching a Yankees game and saying out loud, “Dad this year is going to be our [NYY] year.” I knew they were going to win the World Series that year. They had a hunger and intensity in 2009. A few trades and deals, by Cash didn’t hurt either. Watching the Captain fist pump on the final out. I closed my eyes, and said, “We did it Dad, we did it.”