The Brighter Look MOVES!

Attention faithful readers,

I have moved my site to WordPress, effective immediately. The new site:

http://www.grburkhardt.wordpress.com/

See you there!

ABL Podcast - Episodes Three and Four

As many of you know, I love the radio. My goal has always been to broadcast sports, but doing them on the radio would be even better. That's why I started the ABL podcast. It gives me a chance to talk about sports, which is exactly what I love to do. And I hope you love listening. In episode three, Carter Rodriguez tries to fuel my new love for the NBA playoffs in our NBA podcast, and in episode four, Rob Guliano and I talk about everything else: playoff beards, NHL playoffs, favorite scenes from sports movies, and we list our favorite sports media personalities. Plus, in episode four, Rob and I have another installment of "Today in Craig Sager's Wardrobe"...what a great segment. Thanks for listening!

Episode Three

Episode Four

The picture we talk about during the Craig Sager segment (aka the funfetti cake plus a carnival lollipop plus a Litebrite toy)

Sports Fan Kryptonite

This is the most dangerous sentence for a sports fan:

If (hopeful statement about your favorite team)...(pause)...you never know.

For example, I live in Athens, Ohio. I go to Ohio University. I go to school with a LOT of Cincinnati Reds fans and a LOT of Cleveland sports fans. For fan bases that have been deprived of championships (or simply winning, in Cleveland's case), that sentence has been verbally sputtered prematurely so many times that it makes the sports fan in me weep, because t's nearly impossible to avoid.

In most cases, I root for every drought-prone franchise to win - Chicago Cubs? Yup. pre-2004 Boston Red Sox? Absolutely. Detroit Lions? Matthew Stafford, let's win a ring. Philadelphia Flyers?........don't get crazy.

I want fans from everywhere to feel the joy I felt when the Steelers won the Super Bowl or the total euphoria that washed over me when the Penguins won the Stanley Cup (the second of those being much more rewarding.) But the Reds are 26-20, tied for first place in the NL Central, and I frequently have conversations with my roommate Tony that go a little like this:

Tony: WOOHOO! REDS WIN!

Grant: I saw that! Another come-from-behind win too, that's pretty sweet. Think they can keep it up?

Tony: I definitely think so...I mean if they can survive until July, get (Edison) Volquez off the DL and call up (Aroldis) Chapman, they can move some guys to the bullpen and win 90 games. 90 games wins the NL Central, or at least gets the wild card spot...You never know.

The funniest part? As a similarly woe-stricken Pirates fan (Pirates haven't had a winning season since '92, Reds haven't won a World Series since '90), I completely understand his logic. Take, for example, April 18, 2010...just a little over a month ago...my Pirates had just finished a three-game home sweep of Tony's Reds, were 7-5 and were a half game out of first place. Conversation, please (note: ever since NBA teams started using "Los (nickname)" on their jerseys, we've called the Pirates exactly what I did in this conversation):

Grant: LOS BUCCOS! They win again!

Jason (friend from Pittsburgh): Dude, stop. You do this every year. Just stop.

Grant: But seriously! If they can sustain this pitching until June, they can call up (Pedro) Alvarez, stick him at third, move Andy Laroche - who's batting almost .400, by the way - to second, and have a killer lineup! Dude, you never know!

There was room for optimism in Pittsburgh. All the Pirates had to do was compete in their next series, a three-gamer at home against Milwaukee, a team Pittsburgh never plays well. Even if they won one of three, but genuinely competed with the Brewers, I'd have been one happy fan. Heck, 8-7 in the first fifteen games is 86 wins in a season!

Series result? 

Game one: Milwaukee - 8; Pittsburgh - 1. 

Game two: Milwaukee - 8; Pittsburgh - 0. 

Game three: Milwaukee - 20; Pittsburgh - 0.

My team fell flat on its face. Bye-bye, optimism.

So I've finally figured out that this is not only a problem, but a genuine disease. Attention championship-deprived sports fans: avoid the You-Never-Know syndrome. Symptoms include: throbbing headaches, misplaced hope way too early in a season and mindlessly believing that the plot from "Major League" could actually happen.

The You-Never-Know syndrome - the kryptonite of all sports fans. 

"But Grant, is there an antidote besides finally winning a title?"

I wish I had a better answer for you, friends, but there is not. However, if you believe you have the symptoms of YNK, there is a silver lining. 

You're completely normal. There's no way out, but having hope, even when misplaced, is better than having no hope at all. If you never have hope, you weren't a fan of that team in the first place. 

Because, for me, I'd rather have hope at 26-20, 7-5 or even at 0-0 than to start the season saying, "there's no way this is our year. I know it isn't."

So, winning-deprived fan bases, please keep the faith. Because you just never know.

-----------------------------

Stay tuned for episodes three and four of the ABL podcast, when Rob Guliano joins me to talk about our favorite sports media personalities, and when Carter Rodriguez makes an appearance to fuel my sudden liking for the NBA playoffs.

ABL Podcast - Episode Two

Episode two of the ABL podcast is uploaded to the site! In the second episode, Tanner Smith and I talked about the NBA/NHL playoffs, mustaches, bad wardrobes, more crowd colors, and our favorite scenes from sports movies. Enjoy!

Link to the ABL podcast - Episode Two

Green Men:

Hilliard Davidson Pranks Hilliard Darby Fans:

Our favorite sports movie scenes - the number ones

Tanner's favorite scene from a sports movie:

Grant's favorite scene:

Today in Craig Sager's Wardrobe - the Exploding Cantaloupe:

Trey Hillman - former KC Royals manager and owner of a great mustache:

ABL Podcast - Episode One

I have a new wrinkle to "A Brighter Look."

Podcasting. Short, fun, more personal audio files of me talking sports. Don't worry, I'll keep writing on the site, but talking is just so very fun, so I'm taking advantage.

Here's the link to the first ever ABL podcast.

A few things for you, now the listener, to know:

1. I'm asking for you to be a part of my cast. How can you do that? EMAIL ME. abrighterlook@gmail.com is the way to get in touch with the podcast and get your opinions heard. This week, if you listen, I'm asking you to submit your favorite crowd color (Penn State white, Golden State Yellow, etc.)...so you should definitely do that. I'll be reading the responses on the cast next episode.

2. This is just a trial thing for me, so if there's any way you think I could improve it, please let me know. I really enjoy radio, and since I can't quite broadcast radio straight to your ears, this is the next best thing.

Here are some pictures of the best crowd colors:

1. Penn State - White

2. Golden State - Yellow

3. Philadelphia - Orange

4. Champions League - Multi-colored (aka - making us look like amateurs)