My Second Grade Teacher

Sorry for not writing until today. I started a new job which requires many hours plus I had to fit in a Padres game somehow.

Mrs. Forkner was perhaps my least favorite teacher in my 12+ years of adolescent education. She would always force me to do things I did not want to do and get me in trouble whenever she felt like it. I seemed unfair to me, but I had to deal with it. I wanted the district to let her go and replace her with somebody better. But due to her experience in teaching, I knew that would not happen. I also saw teachers I liked in high school get let go because of their lack of experience. Why am I discussing this? Because that is what I see from the San Diego Padres right now. Ian Kennedy has had his good years. This year, meanwhile, he has struggled. Saturday was no different. In pitching 4 1/3 innings on Saturday and yielding run after run to run his earned run total up to eight. Even though he is coming off the DL, Bud Black should have known that Odrisamer Despaigne was our hottest pitcher right now. To replace him with veteran Ian Kennedy totally reminded me of my early education. Despaigne has deserved the job, especially after limiting the Rockies to only 2 earned runs over 6 2/3 innings...in Coors field. Yet Kennedy will not be relegated to the bullpen as he ought to because of his track record. Sure he almost won the Cy Young award in 2011 with the D-Backs, but that was the past. Today is today. It's time to move on to the better pitcher, not the one with the best career.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team has been looking kind of iffy when it comes to consistency. After beating the Rockies twice in a row, they went on to fall twice in a row to the Rockies and then again at home against the Dodgers. We finally pulled out a win on Sunday with a brilliant start from Brandon Morrow, the second hottest pitcher on the roster. I just hope the Padres don't flop against teams like the Astros, who enter play in first place in the AL West. Right now it is looking like other teams are poised to make a run at the postseason while the Padres will stand idly by watching others dominate the scene.

As much as baseball is on my mind, basketball is as well. The NBA playoffs have begun! A few series are already over, including the Cavaliers and Warriors, arguably the favorites to make it to the finals. Those two teams swept their respective series and awaiting their next match-up. The Wizards also swept the series against the Raptors, which reminds me of a hilarious meme shown here in this paragraph. It will be interesting to see this week who will come out of their respective conferences into the second round because the Spurs and Clippers are all knotted up at 2 games apiece. I predict that that series will go to a game 7 scenario. Comment below to let us know what you think will happen in the remaining series.

I do not have much time, unfortunately, but I hope to be able to watch at least some of the draft this coming Thursday on ESPN at 8 ET. The NHL playoffs are underway and are broadcasted throughout the week on NBC sports network. The favorites out of the west, the Anaheim Ducks, and looking to take the Stanley Cup for the first time in over a decade. Thank you for reading this post and feel totally free to leave a comment or opinion in the comment box below.