To prepare for both, check out my overview of the University of Virginia baseball team and their dominance thus far this season for The College Baseball Blog, and my overview of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team and their surprise appearance in the Final Four after a so-so season for Examiner.

I promise original content will return to this blog this weekend, when I have time to sit down and write for hours on end.

Joe Leonard is having an awesome season for Pitt. (Photo: Pitt Athletics)

I just started writing for The College Baseball Blog, one of the premiere websites for college baseball coverage. My first piece for the site is a profile of Pitt junior third baseman Joe Leonard, who is having an amazing season for the Panthers. Pitt currently sits second in the Big East.

If you are coming to visit this site for the first time because of that article, then welcome! I am currently redesigning the site and preparing to launch a blog “grand re-opening” sometime in May, so please feel free to come back soon!

Let's Go Fishing - a childhood fave for me and thousands of other kids

Playing “Let’s Go Fishing” with my favorite four-year-old (a cousin of my fiance’s) this New Year’s Day with the dull portion of the Winter Classic flickering in the background, the topic of conversation turned from what kindergarten would be like next year to the Boston Red Sox. Favorite Four-Year-Old, like every child born and raised in the Greater Boston area, understood that he was a Red Sox fan prior to understanding that hands were for picking things up, not chewing on.

Over the summer, Favorite-Four-Year-Old and I had played “Big Papi” and “Jason BAAAYYY” in his backyard – a catch-tag megamix named after his two favorite members of the Red Sox roster. This afternoon, I wondered if he knew what had conspired a few days before.

We held our faux primary colored fishing rods over the faux thrashing primary colored fish. I sighed, and asked the question that had to be asked. “Who is your favorite Red Sox player?”

Favorite Four Year Old’s head snapped up, forgetting about the fish. “Jason BAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!” he exclaimed, proudly, with a giant grin on his face. He quickly returned to faux-fishing.

I was left with a dilemma. Was I susposed to be the one to have the “free agency” talk with Favorite Four-Year-Old, or was this a talk that his father or grandfather needed to have with him? This was an important talk in the life of a young sports fan, and I felt that it needed to come from a close relative, and not just little ol’ me.

I looked around, trying to find Favorite Four-Year-Old’s father. He was busy in another room eating. His grandfather was no where in my sightline either. Favorite Four-Year-Old didn’t seem to sense the turmoil within me.

So I said nothing and set to not lose too poorly in “Let’s Go Fishing.” In that four-year-old’s world, Jason Bay could still be his favorite Red Sox player. If only just for one more day.

Unless you’re an athlete. Because if you are an athlete, sports fans – fickle ones, at that – make it their own pastime to comment about your bad day, remind you about your bad day, and hold it over your head for days, weeks, months, years, lifetimes on end.

Heaven forbid said bad day occurs due to an injury. Then you’re “injury prone,” “weak,” “not a professional,” “disingenuous.” Injury equals weakness, and unless the limb is severed, many believe you ought to be out on the field, ice, court, or pitch.

Jason Bay is having a bad week. Maybe a bad month. (Photo: Flickr user lifes ill)

One could say that Boston Red Sox’s outfielder Jason Bay is having a bad week. Maybe a month. After he pulled a hamstring this past weekend, he had to sit out two games. Nevermind that Bay was the last Sox player to take a day off since the All-Star Game. Nevermind that the last day he had off was when he was hit by a pitch around Memorial Day. Bay suffered from a bum hamstring, and Sox fans took to the Boston.com comments labeling the guy as a “bust,” as “lazy,” as being not worth the money he allegedly is asking in a new contract.

Bay came back for Wednesday evening’s game against Tampa Bay (the 2009 home of everyone’s favorite Californian Jewish Outfielder, and your June interleague play run leader, Gabe Kapler), and tweaked the hamstring again. Hamstrings are a fickle part of your body. Any athlete will tell you that. You can aggravate it running sideways, in the beginning of a vertical jump, on the landing of a leap – all routine parts of an outfielder’s game. It shouldn’t be a great surprise that maybe Bay shouldn’t have played Wednesday. He most likely felt fine on Tuesday, and then in the routine movements of playing his position on Wednesday, felt the injury again. That happens. Heck, as a teenager, my permanently wrecked knees felt great when I wasn’t throwing roundoffs or doing my ballet bar exercises. And then I would do such things, and holy heck, I thought someone was splitting my knee open like one would take a cleaver to an avocado pit and eating the bone alive. But you wouldn’t know if you would feel the pain until you tried physical activity.

No tears were shed for former fan favorite Bay in the comments section of Boston.com. One of the first commenters to the report about his hamstring re-aggravation claimed that, “Star players step up,” and accused Bay of being lazy, and that he ought to get out there and play like a professional. Others followed the negative suit, saying that he isn’t worth the money he might get in a new contract, that he’s been nothing but a disappointment, and that he ought to be replaced by farm system players. One commenter even went as far to describe Bay as “injury prone” throughout his career – Bay, of course, being the guy who played all 162 games in 2005, 159 in 2006, 145 in 2007, and 155 in 2008. If that’s injury prone, I would hate to see that commenter describe JD Drew or Carl Pavano.

Bay had been out 2 games as of Thursday morning. He had been out maybe 4 games all season.

I know most newspaper commenters exaggerate in their comments. That the majority of commenters don’t think before they type. But listen to sports radio. Read blogs. The commenters are just joining in the negative fray of those contributors. How disingenuous is a fan that their first thought upon the injury of a player on their team is that the player is lazy or undeserving of a chance to heal? Bay isn’t the first one to be held to the impossible standard possessed by sports fans, and he won’t be the last. Athletes may be paid for their physical ability, but they shouldn’t be put down and used for glue the minute they suffer a muscle pull. Sports fans ought to lose the barbarian-ness and reestablish their humanism.

Because, after all, I don’t see strangers publicly criticizing stenographers suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome who need to take a day off, or a lunch lady for missing work because she’s sick from caught-from-first-graders flu.

Before it was even universally accepted, my casual wear has consisted of sports related shirts and jeans (or jean skirts when the weather obliges.) Thankfully, instead of wearing super large, nearly dress like football jerseys or t-shirts, many lines have come out that cater to women like me. I featured one back in January (CPR Gear) and am featuring yet another one today – Vintage Blue.

"Dottie" a t-shirt by Vintage-Blue

Vintage Blue is a female owned company out of Philadelphia (but with Boston ties – owner Liza Gonclaves was raised in Boston) who hold the exclusive license to The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League images and team names. If you have seen the movie A League of Their Own (and really, who hasn’t?) you know of the AAGPBL, which was the first professional sporting league for women in the 1940s. While a large portion of America’s men were overseas in the World War II effort, women’s baseball took the place of men’s baseball to provide sports fans with professional baseball to watch.

Vintage Blue creates t-shirts and tote bags with images from this classic and unique time in baseball history, all cut quite fashionably. These shirts make kind of-sort of tomboy me look like I actually tried to look awesomely cool.  Upon first glance, they just look like retro, comfy shirts with a fun design, but up close, you figure out that the designs are sports related.

"Martha," a very neat V-Neck that I so am buying, by Vintage Blue

In addition, just in time for the end of Earth Week, this line of shirts is eco-friendly, using chemical-free fabric and recycled paper for all tags and marketing materials. The company has been featured in a bunch of recent “Green Expos” along the Eastern Seaboard. They also contribute 5% of their profits to non-profits around the Philadelphia area and beyond, and supporting programs that encourage positive encouragement and outlets for young women.

Right now, Vintage Blue shirts are being sold in the neighborhood outside Phillies home games, at various Philly retailers and at boutiques like Boston’s Bodega. Their full line is available at their website, which also has their line of non-baseball related shirts. Even if you aren’t interested in their shirts, their website is one of the better web designs I have seen recently – graphically, it’s very unique.

The dear ladies of Vintage Blue – most especially Liza – have passed along a coupon for readers of …On Being a Sports Girl: Buy their “Catch a Foul, Steal a Kiss” shirt, and get one of their totes for free. Not too shabby! Thanks Vintage Blue, and keep churning out these fun shirts!

Catch A Foul, Get a Kiss Offer from Vintage Blue

I’m always looking for neat sportswear companies to feature on my blog. If you would like to tell me all about your line, email me at sportsgirlkat@gmail.com

Last Monday was my birthday, and Gabe Kapler, my favorite baseball player of all time, unknowingly gave me a birthday gift.  How? Because on that day, without much fanfare,  Kapler signed with the defending American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays. I wasn’t sure if he would stay in baseball this year, so his signing with the Rays is a mighty fine birthday present.

The Rays added Kapler as insurance for center fielder BJ Upton, who some sportswriters speculate may not be ready for Opening Day due to his recovery from shoulder surgery. Kapler signed a one year, one million dollar contract with the Rays.

This is a great move for multiple reasons. One, because the Rays are a divisional opponent and thus will play the Boston Red Sox multiple times. Red Sox outfielder and my favorite Canadian baseball player Jason Bay and Gabe Kapler on the field at Fenway at the same time? That might be too much for me to handle. You will literally see my brain on favorite baseball player overload.  Sparks may actually shoot from my ears.

Additionally, the move allows Kapler, who is a California native, to play in a warm climate.  While he coached in a warm weather climate with Greenville in 2007, he hasn’t played in a warm weather climate for several years.

Will this allow for more shirtless photo ops, by chance?

Either way, this move by Kapler means that I will have to add to my ever-growing “Gabe Kapler T-Shirt Collection.”

My Gabe Kapler T-Shirt Collection. I'll soon add a Rays shirt to the mix.

I really think my fiance is sick of buying me a new Kapler shirt every year.  (Truth be told, I bought the first one myself.) Although, it does mean he doesn’t have to think that hard about an anniversary gift.

See, this is a win-win-win situation for all involved: Kapler extends his career for another year and gets to play someplace where he won’t worry about games in 40 degree weather. I get more opportunities to see Kapler play. And my fiance has his anniversary gift to me predetermined for another year.

Don't worry, Rian Lindell - I'm still thankful for you.

This Thanksgiving day, I have a lot to be thankful for. In the spirit of many blogs today, I will now provide a laundry list of all the things – sports related, that is – that I am thankful for:

I am thankful that the Buffalo Bills are still in Buffalo.

I am thankful that Dick Jauron has resisted the urge to throw in JP Losman when Trent Edwards has gone through his growing pains.

Reluctantly, I am thankful for Rian Lindell, because for every 47 yarder to win the game he misses, he blasts 50 other field goals and extra points through the uprights. (And I still don’t understand why more people are not naming their sons Rian with an i.)

I am thankful for the Buffalo Sabres’ third jerseys, because they remind me of my childhood.

I am thankful that the Florida Panthers aren’t completely running away of the mess that the Rochester Amerks are in, and actually will face the fans and address their growing concerns about the team.

I am thankful that Gabe Kapler came back from retirement and coaching the Single – A Greenville Drive to play for the Milwaukee Brewers, and had a few moments of greatness during the season.

I am thankful that of all the players the Boston Red Sox could have received in a trade for Manny Ramirez, they got Jason Bay. From a pox in the clubhouse to everyone’s favorite humble Canadian.

I am thankful that the NCAA is recognizing Steve Young’s accomplishments both on and off the field in January by giving him a 2009 Silver Annerversary Award. In case you aren’t familiar with his story, while Young was setting passing and rushing records in the NFL, he was going to law school in the off-season.

I am thankful for the lacrosse dynasty that is the Rochester, NY professional lacrosse. Big ups for making my hometown relevant.

I am thankful for all of the junior and senior elite gymnasts, like those I saw during the US Championships, who might not ever make it to the Olympics, but put such effort and energy into their sport anyway.

I am thankful for original floor exercise routines and music, which are way too few and far between. I am also thankful for unique and fun balance beam mounts.

I am thankful for Phil Kessel finally, finally, finally being used correctly in the Boston Bruins playbook and having a smash up season so far because of it. (I am also thankful because he’s cute.)

I am thankful that a college hockey player I watched while I’ve had season tickets has actually played in a NHL game (John Curry.) You don’t have to leave college early and/or be drafted at age 18 to play in the NHL.

I am thankful that former Hockey East goalies are getting mega NHL love this year, with Ben Bishop playing with the St. Louis Blues, Cory Schneider getting called up by the Canucks, Curry playing with the Penguins, and Jonathan Quick getting time up with the LA Kings.

I am thankful that the senior class of the Boston University Terriers men’s hockey team have kicked the intensity up a notch this season, and hope despite the current slump, they continue to play with such drive.

I am thankful that the Mullins Center at UMass Amherst is so amusing.

I am thankful for the Skating Monk, aka the Providence College Friar, and his participation in the Hockey East Semifinal mascot game despite PC not being in the semifinals.

I am thankful that hockey has such a lively and fun online community.

I am thankful for all of my blog readers, for letting me fulfill my teenage dream of being a sportswriter (despite in a much different way than what fourteen year old me imagined.)

And, I am thankful for coffee, without which none of this would be possible.

That is, until this afternoon, when Manny Ramirez was involved in a three-way trade for everyone’s favorite Canadian baseball player.

Jason Bay, welcome to the Red Sox. I finally have another hottie outfielder to drool over. And, did I mention that he’s CANADIAN?!

Yes, I knew of Bay’s existence before today. It’s been a running joke between my boyfriend and those in my fantasy baseball league for a good two years that Bay is my second favorite baseball player solely based on the fact that he is Canadian. (In case you haven’t noticed from knowing me/reading previous entries, I’m obsessed with Canadian things. All born-and-bred Western New Yorkers are.) Never mind the fact that he’s not too shabby of an actual baseball player – 22 home runs already this year – what really matters is that he’s Canadian and somewhat pleasing on the eyes.

Times like these I am happy I work a few blocks away from Fenway Park, because I will be traveling down there early next week to procure a Jason Bay Red Sox shirt. It’s a rare occasion when a player you like ends up going to the team you root for – for example, the only time Steve Young was ever in a Bills uniform is whenever I use the “create a player” feature on older versions of Madden, and Hot Forward Who Cannot Be Named will probably never play for the Sabres, Bruins or Amerks. Therefore I’m going to milk this Bay-to-the-Sox for all its worth. He’s hot, he’s good, and he’s Canadian – what else do you want?!

So I decided to wear my Buffalo Bills hat to Fenway Park — two days after the Patriots decided to decimate the Bills 38-7 on their quest to become the NFL’s most annoyingly unbeatable team.

I deemed this “My Great Social Experiment.” Would I elicit sympathy or taunts? Would Red Sox fans be sober enough to notice? Do Bostonians even pay attention to football on weekdays?

When Chris came to pick me up at work before the game, and he saw me decked out in my Kapler t-shirt and Bills hat, he asked me (rightfully) what the heck I was doing. “Embarking on a social experiment,” I cheerfully pronounced as we made our way out of the office.

“What type of social experiment?”

“I want to see what people’s reactions are to the hat.”

Chris snickered. “Ask you for your address so they can send you sympathy cards.”

Undeterred, we headed over to the park. Our first reaction was in front of Marsh Chapel, when a undergrad girl called out, “Ooh, the Bills! Go Bills! I like the Bills!” Chris then did his “I’m going to walk four steps ahead of you so people don’t think we’re together” move.

My hat didn’t elicit anymore responses until we were in the park getting food and expensive beer. I sat down at a bench after procuring the beer and waiting for Chris to get out of the longer hot dog line. There was two guys and a girl across from me. The girl looked at me and said, “Hey, I’m a Bills fan too.”

“Really?”

“Yep. And these guys,” she gestured to the two guys flanking her, “won’t shut up about Sunday.”

“Oh, yeah,” bragged the one on her right. “Where’s JP to save you guys now?”

“Go Patriots!” drunkingly boasted the other. Then he got serious. “Really, though, it is horrible how many players they’ve lost to injury. They just have some horrible luck.” We all nodded seriously (or as seriously as two drunk guys and their getting there female companion could.) My new friends and I spent a few more minutes discussing that beer should come in Capri Sun like packages at ballparks.

And…I’d love to say I got more reactions, but I didn’t. I guess one would say that the conclusion I could come to would be that Bostonians don’t care about football on the weekdays, but I think it was the combination of beer and the similar colors of the Bills, Patriots and Red Sox. Or that I’m really so short that no one notices me. Yep, that’s probably it.

*********

As you know, the Red Sox went on to win the American League East a few days later, and play their first Divisional series game tomorrow against the Angels of either Los Angeles, Anaheim or both. I keep flip-flopping between thinking that the local media is acting like the Sox have a direct ticket to the World Series and thinking that the sports media is strangely subdued. Channel 5 (our ABC affilate) as we speak, led their 11pm newscast with five minutes of unimportant Sox news, like who will be singing the National Anthem for Game 1 (oh gosh, The Standells are singing the national anthem! The Standells! You know, that studio band who sang a song they didn’t even write about Boston because they had never been to Boston? The song that became Boston’s anthem, despite making the town sound like the puritian but violent heck hole that it is? What a PERFECT choice! Channel 5, you amuse me.) Oh, and now, they are bashing the decision to sit Wakefield. The Channel 5 sports anchor just told us that it is “unfair” and “unfortunate.” Um, last I checked, Mr. Hollahan, you are a sports anchor, not a sports commentator, and I am looking for information, not your opinion. And anyway, had you watched any Red Sox games, you’d realise that Wakefield is old, ineffective, and should have been yanked two innings earlier than he was in any game he played this season. Look, Boston, the guy is old. In Buffalo, when guys are old, they trade them to places like Green Bay, San Diego, Washington and Miami, where they continue to have quiet, mediocre ends to their careers (Don Beebe, Steve Christie, Bruce Smith and Thurman Thomas, I’m looking in your directions.) So do like Ralph Wilson, and trade Wakefield already. Put him out to pasture. Let him fade gently away, until he decides to write a large print hardcover autobiography about him finding G-d especially when playing for the Packers (that time, I’m specifically looking in Don Beebe’s direction. And yes, my father owns his autobiography.) And then you still really won’t remember him all that much.

Oh, and now we’re getting the sports anchor’s Wakefield soapbox again. Hi, really, put that away.