Gäste Forum » fourth technical in the playoffs.CURT

ESPNs Buster Olney is on vacation this week, but hes still compiling roundups. View Tuesdays roundup here.Needless to say, this was not why I got into politics.It has been a strange year, to be sure. In my career, I have covered three presidential elections, five conventions and countless other major moments in politics, and its safe to say it has never felt this nasty, this uninspiring.As Ive said numerous times on CNN during this election cycle, just wake me when its over.In this year of fear and loathing, politics, for the first time, feels like a job to me. There was a time when politics was just a hobby and sports was actually my job. ??I grew up outside of Boston. When I was 7 years old, my dad took me to Fenway, and I got a photo next to a Wade Boggs cutout and an autograph from first baseman Carlos Quintana -- future Caribbean Baseball Hall of Famer. I was friends with the batting coachs daughter, who lived in my apartment complex. The Red Sox were religion. Thirty years later, I married a Red Sox fan from Rhode Island.But the Mets ... the Mets made me a baseball fan.In the late 90s, I was in college in upstate New York. I dated a guy from Queens who was a devout Mets fan, and I got hooked. It helped that the Mets were good then, which Sports Illustrated hyped by putting Rey Ordonez, Robin Ventura, John Olerud and Edgardo Alfonzo on its cover: Best Infield Ever?The answer was yes, but shhhh! It was too late -- the 2000 Subway Series against the Yankees was officially cursed.I moved to New York and eventually got a dream job. I worked at The New York Times in a department called the Index. I spent all day reading the sports section and writing abstracts for each story. I got health insurance, a 401(k) and every Wednesday off. During the season, I spent every one of those Wednesdays in the cheap seats at Shea. This job was, like, stupid good.Before politics, I became a sports fanatic. The Mets, NASCAR, the Green Bay Packers -- they all got more of my attention than the sequester (the what?), the Hill or the Donald. I wrote my masters thesis on the devotional practices of sports fans. My favorite television show was Stump the Schwab. My greatest accomplishment was getting Bill Simmons to answer one of my mailbag questions.Eventually, I got writing jobs on the side. I wrote a couple columns for NASCAR.com, and at one time, I had a regular online column for Sports Illustrated. I was in heaven.But in the years following 9/11, my passion for politics gradually grew into an obsession. Suddenly, I was skipping Shea and volunteering on a city campaign or writing think pieces for conservative publications.Just as I had cobbled together a little career in sports, over a couple years, I cobbled together a little career in politics. Neither has ever felt like a job.Until now, of course. Its just a garbage year for politics, a mechanism I genuinely believe can be good and useful -- and should be -- when exercised properly and can produce something worthy of our great republic. But nobody roots for garbage, in sports or politics. Who would have become a Mets fan in 1962, when they posted a 40-120 record, one of the worst in the history of baseball?Likewise, who would want to get into politics right now?What I do know is this election has made me miss baseball more than ever. The baseball gods must have sensed this because last fall they delivered a postseason gift to me in the form of a New York Mets World Series appearance.Watching the playoffs for the first time in years, all the old emotions flooded back: the exhilaration of a surprise 3-2 series win against the Dodgers in the NLDS, the cautious hope after dispatching the Cubs (a little too easily) in the NLCS, the familiar sinking feeling of knowing its going to end badly when Alcides Escobar hit an inside-the-park home run on Matt Harveys first pitch of the first game of the World Series against the Royals. I was right back in it, only this time, I was watching alongside my 10-month-old son.In those hours, politics didnt matter. Baseball was life. Baseball made the world right again. Baseball wasnt yelling at me or calling me names. Baseball wasnt lying or making promises it could not keep. It wasnt telling me what I wanted to hear. It wasnt pandering or pretending.Baseball was the best of us: hard work, sportsmanship, community and, above all else, faith -- ya gotta believe.I havent gotten to watch much baseball this season, unfortunately. But I know its there and that its more than just a necessary distraction from my life in politics -- its a huge comfort. Maybe after November Ill take a year off, go find some cheap seats at Citi Field (if those exist) and remember what its like to be a fan.Balenciaga Triple s Cheap .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Nike Vapormax 97 Cheap . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery. http://www.brandshoescheaponline.com/wholesale-adidas-shoes-china/nmd.html . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. Nike Air Max China Paypal . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. Cheap Brand Shoes From China .Y. -- Leading 3-0 with only 11:25 left, the Colorado Avalanche committed a seemingly meaningless penalty to give the New York Islanders a power play.NEW YORK -- The WNBA playoffs are ready to start with their own version of March Madness. Well sort of.The league changed the playoff format this season, adopting single-elimination games in the first two rounds before going to a best-of-five series in the semifinals.Im excited for it, said Los Angeles Sparks coach Brian Agler. No one knows yet how it will work out, but it should be exciting.The Sparks and Minnesota Lynx have byes until the semifinals after posting the top two records in the leagues 20th season. Minnesota will try to become the WNBAs first repeat champion since Los Angeles did it in 2001-02. Thats the last time the Sparks won a title, a skid they hope to end this season.Here are a few things to look for when the postseason begins Wednesday with the Atlanta Dream hosting the Seattle Storm and the Indiana Fever taking on the Phoenix Mercury:INJURY STATUS: Elena Delle Donne is sidelined after having surgery on her right thumb last week. The Sky have found ways to win without their star, clinching the No. 4 seed and a first-round bye. It might be difficult for Chicago to make a deep run without the 2015 WNBA MVP. ... New York has been beset by injuries toward the end of the season. Tanisha Wright (knee) played a few games before the regular season ended. Kiah Stokes hasnt played since Aug. 26 because of a hip injury. Shoni Schimmel also has been out with a concussion. The Liberty need to be healthy to have a chance to make it to the Finals.SUSPENDED: TThe WNBA handed out a one-game suspension to Atlantas Tiffany Hayes for accruing her seventh technical foul in the Dreams regular season finale on Sunday.dddddddddddd Under league rules, a player is automatically suspended one game when that number of technical is reached. The count is reset for the playoffs with a player receiving a suspension for a fourth technical in the playoffs.CURTAIN CALL: The stellar careers of Swin Cash , Tamika Catchings and Penny Taylor will end at some point over the next month. All three hope it will come after winning another WNBA Championship. Catchings and Taylor will square off on Wednesday when the Indiana Fever host the Phoenix Mercury in the opening round.Catchings won her lone title in 2012 while Cash won in 2003, 2006 and 2010. Taylor helped the Mercury to championships in 2007, 2009 and 2014.POSTSEASON SUCCESS: Breanna Stewart only lost one game in the postseason in college and that came in the Big East tournament her freshman year. She was a perfect 24 for 24 in the NCAA Tournament to lead UConn to four consecutive national championships. She hopes to continue that in the pros.I like the format, Stewart said after the Storms last trip to New York. Every game for us lately has felt like a playoff game because we needed to win to get in.---Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg ' ' '