A Day In the Life

Wifey's Birthday and January 2012 Update

2012-01-26T23:27:00.000-05:00

Things in 2012 have been fairly average, which is why I haven't really been motivated or inspired to update the blog. However, today at least brings some news and noteworthy things have definitely happened in the last couple weeks.

First and foremost, today was Wifey's birthday. Chrissy, pictured right here, is the newest Administration member. While we work together, our relationship has gotten significantly stronger over the last couple months. As of now, we even refer to each other as "wifey" and "hubby" which makes the situation a lot more fun. With an easy re-shuffling of the Administration, Wifey now has found her own spot. We went out for her birthday last night and things are fairly good with us, regardless of what is to happen with us in the future. Right now, our biggest priority is fixing the struggling office and make sure that we can both achieve the success that we've set out for. Either way, I'd like to wish her a very happy birthday!

Outside of that, different noteworthy events have come and gone so far in 2012. The New York Giants won all three of their playoff games and will now face the New England Patriots in a rematch of the 2008 Super Bowl. I remember exactly where I watched the game and how the reaction was at RWU when the Giants upset the Pats 4 years ago. I'm super excited to see if that can happen again this year. Another story in the world of sports was the passing of legendary Penn State head football coach, Joe Paterno. It's very difficult to take a logical side in the scandal that surrounded the ending of his football career and subsequent death. All I can say is that he is an iconic and legendary football coach and should be remembered as such. Rest in Peace to Joe Pa. Otherwise, nothing really has happened in my life. Work continues to be a battle, with the lack of of consistent production still being the biggest issue in and around the office. Family life is fine, but there isn't much time for that with all of my time being focused on work. I don't have much time for anyone else, so I have really been giving a majority of my time and effort to the job. Hopefully, it'll all pay off in the end.

I can safely say, however, that 2012 has not started out on the most positive of notes... so I can only hope that things will pick up and get better very soon!

Happy New Year and the Top 10 of 2011!

2012-01-01T09:58:00.000-05:00

It's officially 2012! The year that the world was predicted to end, according to some people that I don't pay any attention to! Regardless of supposed apocalypse that is coming in December, it is time to reflect on what happened in 2011 and how we can improve our situation for 2012! Some people like to focus on the negatives of the previous year, but I wanted to highlight 10 positive or happy experiences from 2011!

10) Rishwa's graduation from WIT- As with any college graduation, it's always such a highlight in a person's life when they are able to achieve their diploma and finish their Bachelor's Degree! The same is true with her and I was really proud and honored to be able to attend my little sister's college graduation. It was especially the case with Rishwa because of the extra time that she had to put in to finish up her degree and the few minor setbacks that popped up along the way! While it was a major accomplishment for her, it was definitely a highlight for everyone in my family!

9) New People- There is no question that 2011 brought some really wonderful people into my life. When I think about some of people that made a huge impact on my year, there is a definite smattering of new faces in that crowd. Sasha, Christina, Khadijah, Natasha, Christine, Riles, Stephen, Marqus, Amanda, Edouard, Brian, DC, Xavier, Kala, Shannon, Nona, and Marcus are some people that I met or became closer with in the last year and all of them had some impact on my year. While some of those people aren't a part of my daily life anymore, they still played some role in my work life in 2011!

8) PMG becomes C-13- There were some major work related changes that have made a significant impact on my life. When we changed our client and our broker, we also incorporated a new company and dissolved our old one. One really exciting thing about changing campaigns from AT&T to Action Aid was the chance to run and participate in more business trips. In the last few months, I've been able to get out to Philadelphia, Silver Springs, and New York City. Not only am I really glad that I got to spend a week in each of those cities, the business trips that came to our office also made a huge difference on how things are now run in Hartford. We switched offices spaces to go back to the original building that I started in and also partnered up with Frank in that same time period. While the campaign switch has been really tough in our office production and led to the loss of various people who worked with us, it has all-in-all led to some positive experiences!

7) Chicago Trips- In 2011, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Chicago 3 times. The first visit in January was an emergency trip that had to happen to ensure Behna's well being, but both of the other trips were for pure fun and pleasure! I got out there to see Soham Bhai's family and new apartment, hang out with Sabrina, catch up with HSO and SASA, and also sit in on some USGA meetings. This last trip in October was definitely the most memorable because it was right in time for Navratri Garba and also a surprise for both Romz and Behna! The other really great part of it was that I got out to both Lombard to see Vino and out to Evanston to spend some time with Shaleen! Anytime that I get the opportunity to get out to Chicago and see my friends and family is an awesome experience, but 2011 allowed me that chance 3 times and I'm grateful for that.

6) Fenway Park (Yankees vs. Red Sox)- One of the greatest things that happened while working with AT&T was the ability to attend a Yankees vs. Red Sox game at Fenway Park. Even though I've been to Fenway a couple times before and I've been to other Yankees/Red Sox games, never have I had the chance to sit in a corporate box at a professional stadium! Not only was it a beautiful summer night for baseball, but we were sitting in the corporate box on 3rd baseline! It's such a different experience being able to run in for free food being served in your own private box or going to the private bathroom and not waiting in line. I honestly felt like a VIP that night. Mike, Josh, and I had never had that type of experience so it was really amazing to be able to enjoy that. To top it all off, the Yankees won 4-2 which made the night so much better!

5) Business Building Blocks- An all expenses paid, three-day trip to Los Angeles and the opportunity to hang out with some really awesome people about to run their own companies!? Are you kidding me!? Mike and I flew out to LA to hang out at BBB and get some major insights on running your own company and how to really prepare yourself for all that endeavor actually encompasses. Not only was it great to get out there, but the best part was that I became much closer with the other members of my organization that were out there. I made some really good friends while out there, especially out exploring the local nightlife after our workshops were over! I also was named co-champion of a freestyle dance contest that was held there, which rocketed me to instant notoriety

4) "Rest and Relaxation" in Puerto Rico- Very similar to BBB, Puerto Rico was another first in my life. Many people had talked about how beautiful and amazing it was in PR and now I can join in the conversation! It was legitimately a 4 day vacation to a gorgeous resort in San Juan! We had one morning of meetings while the rest of the time was really about hanging out and just enjoying everything that the island and organization had to offer! We basically sat at the pool during the day and hung out in the casino at night! It was really amazing to just spend time in PR and get to really many of the other people that work in our business around the country. Our organization broke off from the broker right after that, so it was really a final event that everyone could come together and be in the same place! I met some amazing people, had a really wonderful time, and thoroughly enjoyed my first visit to Puerto Rico!

3) ESPN: The Weekend- I will forever be able to say that I attended the last ESPN: The Weekend! With the CJC now being an employee of ESPN and his future father-in-law also being an employee, the Administration guys and I decided to go down to Orlando in March! Not only did I attend the event, I was there in style! I hung out with Mike Golic, Collin Cowherd, and Karl Ravich in the airport. Trey Wingo was the first guy that I saw in the resort. We stayed in a luxury suite right in Downtown Disney across from the boardwalk! Not only that, but we got the chance to sit in on a live airing of Mike and Mike in the Morning at the Wide World of Sports Complex! I also got to see people like Chad Ochocinco, Rashad Mendenhall, Roddy White, Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, Merrill Hoge, Karl Malone, Frank Thomas and many others! Not only that, but I also got to ask a direct question to Bernie Williams while they were doing a feature on the MLB! It was an amazing experience that I got to share with three of my best friends and two of their future wives! I love ESPN, I love DISNEY WORLD, and I love my Administration members so how could things not have been awesome!?

2) Promotion to Assistant Manager- There is no question that one of the top highlights of 2011 was my push and promotion to Assistant Manager in May! In a matter of two weeks, I built my team up to 15 people and smashed the necessary numbers to get promoted from Corporate Trainer to AM! That was the single biggest thing that has happened in this job, especially because of all of the doors that it opened up for me after that! There is no question that it made the last 6 months significantly more fun and educational. We had the official promotion and party in July, which my parents had the opportunity to attend as well! It was great to have everyone there for me and to be really just relish my accomplishments! While most of those people that were on my team aren't with our company anymore, it was still a great run at the push and was able to get it done as quickly as I could. I am so thankful to the people that got me there because without that, some of those other highlights definitely would not have happened!

1) India- The number one highlight of 2011 was my family's visit to India in July! Not only was it our first trip as a family in many years, but it was also the first time that everyone on my mother's side was all together in the same place! We went out there for Vishu's janoi ceremony and really as a family reunion for the Vasavada side! It was really awesome to be able to spend time together in one house and have everything taken care of. The actual events were good, but the real highlights happened when everyone was just sitting around at the house. We choreographed our own dance, killed at the garba, and just all around had a really good time! The other crazy thing was my ability to sit in on some procedures at Nilesh Masa's hospital! I still find it hard to believe that I saw a live birth and other such procedures being done with no medical training or preparation! With my grandparents both being in their 80's and not being able to travel back and forth to the United States, there is no telling when we will be able to see them again! It was really great for us and for them to have everyone attend this time! It was especially good because the last time that they saw me, I was just barely done dealing with the issues at RWU and my transition to LUC! This time, there was no such stress and everyone could just really enjoy themselves!

New Year's Eve! 2011 In Pictures!

2011-12-31T14:30:00.001-05:00

Christmas Day

2011-12-25T21:48:00.000-05:00

Christmas Day!

Before we get to the actual day, Christmas Eve is a special day in my house because it's my parents' wedding anniversary. For that reason, it's usually a bigger deal than it would be in other Hindu households. Yesterday, I had the day off from work and was able to spend the day watching football with the dCOS and just being with my family. The highlight of the day was the Giants beating the Jets to keep their playoff hopes alive. Even though the day wasn't super eventful, it was still good to be able to relax and spend quality time with one of my best friends and my family.

Today, was a much different story. My family left for the airport at noon, as they are travelling to Victoria, TX to visit my uncle and the rest of my mom's side of the family. Everyone in four families is going to be down there for an entire week except for me. While I was just able to spend time with all of them in India over the summer, it still kind of upsets me that I wasn't able to go this week. On top of that, Behna and her family left for India today as well. This means that she and I will be out of contact (unless she finds time to get to the internet) for the the next couple weeks. As I usually speak to her on a daily basis, it's just one more person that I have lost contact with on Christmas Day. To top it all off, the Boston Celtics lost their season opener to the New York Knicks by 2 points! Needless to say, today has not been the best of Christmases.

While that is all the case, I cannot complain too much. Things are going okay right now, as other people are actually struggling around the world. Now being in the charity business, it's very difficult to complain about my personal situation when so many billions of people have so much less than I do. My girlfriend and I are over, six people will be getting demoted for not hitting production standards this week, I did not hit my goals for this year, and I spent the majority of the day by myself. Yet, there are many things to be happy for on this Christmas Day. I am blessed to have an great family and a solid support system when I need it. That is what continues to drive me to do the things necessary to get to where I need to be. One year from today, things are going to be completely different!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Holiday Leaders' Meeting

2011-12-19T01:15:00.000-05:00

It's really crazy how we have arrived at the last two weeks of 2011. It's really hard to believe how much has changed since the last holiday party that we had in New York City. Everything has come full circle, with the same person being my 1st generation leader. Last year, at this very same time, I had Oklan on my team and had no idea what was going to happen. I remember hearing the owner of our broker recall a story and really wanting to get promoted as soon as possible. After an entire calendar year, I still have Oklan and his guys on my team. However, I'm on a totally different campaign and have been promoted to assistant manager. As much as things have changed, they have pretty much stayed the same.

The conference was good, even though there was definite drama that always seems to accompany any major event that we try to hold. Not only was there personal relationship issues, but we had one guy from Philadelphia have to get sent to the hospital for mixing alcohol and prescription drugs. It's crazy how grown adults act when it comes to parties and drinking. Either way, besides all of the drama and related issues, it's always so wonderful to see some of my friends that work in other offices. As everyone is dealing with the transition of their new campaigns and new brokers, there is a heavy air of uncertainty and even some fear. While I'm not glad that everyone else seems to be feeling it, it definitely makes things a little bit more comforting going into the new year. We shall see what happens.

The Last Couple Months!

2011-12-11T21:21:00.000-05:00

Where the hell did the last couple months go!? I don't even know where to begin about what's been going on for basically the entire Autumn season that just passed by. All in all though, things are pretty much the same.

In work, nothing new is really going on. We had the opportunity to take a few business trips to New York City and to Philadelphia, which were both fun. It's also been good to have some business trips come in to our office, from both of those places. With this new client, there is a lot more travelling that will take place. It's definitely one of the major advantages of being on the Action Aid campaign now as opposed to the AT&T. Outside of the business trips, the new stuff has definitely been a lot more difficult to pick up. The entire office has struggled with the transition, which hasn't made anything easier on me. Being the Assistant Manager, it definitely just adds more pressure on me to become a top performer. For the first few months with this, it has definitely been a struggle. I really hope that I can start to get better at this sooner rather than later, because I have already lost a few people on my team that just couldn't hack it. I know that it's all about business and these are the ups and downs of it, but it's definitely hard to deal with. This past week, we actually moved our office space back to the original building. That should help provide some extra excitement in the office, which will hopefully help us build some momentum before the end of this calendar year.

Thanksgiving came and went, which was probably the most depressing time of the year for me. My family went to down to D.C., while I stayed at home due to work. It was really rough sitting at home alone, as I knew that everyone was spending it with their friends and families. It wasn't the most fun situation, but I got over it and had to play the hand that I was dealt. Christmas looks to be a very similar event, which will not be any easier. I just have to keep in mind that I may miss holiday events now, but I'm working hard today so I can play hard tomorrow!

Outside of work, there hasn't been much to report on. Everything is really revolving around the work life, as it has continued to do since I took this job. I don't have a whole lot of time to really spend with other people when my work life takes up 6 full days in the week. Sundays are the only day for myself and those days have been really relegated to re-cooperating and energizing myself for the following week. There are plenty of things in the world of sports that would be worth mentioning, but none of those directly affect me or any of the teams that I specifically root for. There was a girl in my life, but that is already over with... which really means that it doesn't even need to be discussed. It's just really difficult to have any type of relationship with the hours that I work and the amount of time that is needed to dedicate to a healthy and successful relationship. All in all, things are going along fine. They could definitely be better and they could definitely be worse, so I can't complain too much about the current state of affairs in my life.

I am going to make a concerted effort to really keep posting more, so stay tuned for me to get back to being a daily blogger! I'm back.

R&R in Puerto Rico

2011-09-25T20:42:00.000-04:00

Rest and Relaxation! That is exactly what you think of when looking at this picture. Cydcor, the current broker company for our organization, runs a "Rest and Relaxation" event every year in different exotic or tropical locations. This year, they held it in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the El Conquistador Resort and Golf Course. It's an event held for managers, assistant managers, and human resource managers throughout the country. It was from Thursday afternoon until Sunday afternoon, and it was a freaking blast!

The main point of the event is for all of the management team members around the nation to meet up and celebrate everyone's accomplishments. They held two promotions to organizational consultant, had an organizational wide meeting, and had a couple speeches from the CEO and COO of Cydcor. Outside of that, all we did was hang out. It was an amazing experience to be in beautiful Puerto Rico with nothing to do but hang out with friends. Almost our entire organization was there, which really allowed for us to really network and get to know each other. We had pool parties, room parties, and dinner on Palomino Island where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed. There aren't many specific details that are notable, except for that it was simply an amazing time and basically a four-day party!

Changing Campaigns

2011-09-25T20:12:00.000-04:00

A lot has changed in the last 5 weeks. I can't even believe how long it's been since the last time that I posted. I guess that things have been so busy that I just haven't made the time to update this page. However, I'm finally back.

The biggest news from the last few weeks has been the campaign change in our office. As of about a month ago, a couple of my guys and I switched over from AT&T to ActionAid. We no longer focus on sales as our new client works on donations and child sponsor-ships. It's been a pretty difficult transition for us, even though it meant actually taking a week long trip down to Silver Springs, MD to work with the people down there. We went out there for a week to really try and pick up the nuances of this new program, but everyone still seems to be having a fairly difficult time making the change over from sales to donations. Still, we're working on it and hopefully we can pick it up quickly. The one big difference though, is that it's a totally different feeling when you sponsor a child in Burundi than when I was getting people to change their cable service over to AT&T. The entire campaign is based on really helping people around the world and it's a really awesome campaign, as long as we can consistently make it happen!

Otherwise, things are going fairly well around here. Autumn has arrived and brought the anticipation of the MLB playoffs and the NFL season has gotten underway. It's been a nice distraction to the hustle and bustle of my everyday work life. The family is doing well and everything is going fine. Rishwa graduated from Wentworth in late August and has come back home to start looking for work, so we shall see what happens with that. It's been good to have a full house again, even though I'm rarely home to see it.

Business Building Blocks

2011-08-16T00:42:00.000-04:00

So... my birthday came and went and nothing much has been going on. I went down to Groton, CT for my birthday with a work business trip. Nothing special happened as all I did was go to Olive Garden with the guys from the trip. I talked to various people on the phone and on Facebook, but otherwise... it was just a regular Wednesday. Gone are the days when your birthday means something really special, as now I have officially turned 24 and become fully engrossed in my adult life.

Since then, the biggest thing that has happened was my trip to Los Angeles for Business Building Blocks! BBB is an event put on by Cydcor for all Assistant Managers (of at least 2 months) and rookie owners. Mike and I flew out on Wednesday to LA and stayed at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel, where the actual conference was being held. We had a total of 9 people from our PMG organization represented at the conference, so it was really good to spend time with other people in my position.

The premise of the conference was to discuss some of the basics about opening up your own ICL, which everyone at the conference expects to do in the coming months. We talked to various consultants, promoting owners, and people from Cydcor about some of the best practices of running your own ICL. It was extremely informative, especially because we all are hoping to open very soon. The first day was an entire day dedicated to Franklin Covey training, which is based on time management and scheduling. We learned how to use our new planners and materials. That night (Thursday), a few of us went out to Long Beach City and hung out at a club. On Friday, we went to the Cydcor offices and talked about many of the intricacies of opening an office from recruiting to becoming incorporated. The main point was the meet people like the COO of Cydcor, Vera Quinn, to having an hour talk given by Executive Consultant, John Wiggins. Everything was really informative, even if some of the information was dry. That night, we went out to dinner at Kravings in Thousand Oaks. Afterwards, we hung out at the hotel. On Saturday, we had more training given by the consultants that were present. We discussed administrators and recruiting. That night, a group of us went out to Venice to hang out at a club/bar. Mike and I flew out on early Sunday morning. All in all, it was an amazing time and probably the best 3 consecutive days that I have had in the program.

I'm really excited about the people that I met and the relationships that I forged. The highlight of the trip, outside of the people and work, was the fact that I was awarded co-champion of the BBB dance-off on Saturday morning. Jinu Park, from the OC, and I were given a draw in our dance off before the morning session. Im just honored that something I did will be rememebred as a definite memory for everyone that was present. There are many big things happening with some very significant changes coming down the pipeline, so I just have to be ready for them. My head is on straight right now, so we shall see what happens next!

Promotion Party!

2011-07-31T20:44:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the official promotion event for my Assistant Manager promotion from May. We invited four other people who were also recently promoted to come and enjoy the day with me, so all 5 of us officially got promoted together.

In the morning, everyone came out to a hotel in East Hartford for the promotion speeches and formal proceedings. My parents came out to hear Josh talk about me and listen to my promotion speech, which everyone really loved. It was a good time to get to hang out with a number of managers and other people who are at various points in the program. When everyone gave their promotion speeches, half of the people hit the field and the other half just hung out.

After our day in the field, everyone went out to the Cambrense Cafe in Hartford for the actual promotion party. It was a really wonderful time hanging out with all of the people, especially because the party was in my honor. I met a lot of fun people and danced the night away. It's amazing how much people want to talk to you and be your friend when you're successful or seen as being important. Being sober and loving to dance really helped me thoroughly enjoy my evening. It was a once in a lifetime type of experience and one that I will always remember.

Last week, I actually went to another promotion party in NYC, which was also a lot of fun. We went down to Manhattan to support a couple of other people getting promoted, in a similar party to the one that we had last night. I ended up meeting a young lady that was very interested in me, but nothing is going to come of that.

Everything is really related to work right now, with a couple of big trips coming up in the next couple months. I will be taking a business trip to Waterford from Wednesday to Saturday of this week. I'm headed out to Los Angeles for Business Building Blocks in the middle of August and then off to Puerto Rico in September! Even though I'm not loving the way things are going in the office, at least there are some big things coming up that I'm looking forward to.

In other news, Romz and Behna are mired in a huge fight which seems like it'll be ending their relationship. I haven't had much contact with many members of the Administration, because of all of my time being monopolized with work. I just need to keep finding a way to stay focused.

India 2011

2011-07-19T20:05:00.005-04:00

I have returned from India!

We left on July 3rd and got home on Sunday. After taking a day to relax and get some rest, I went back to my normal work life ag

ain. However, the India trip is still fresh on my mind.

The trip was a lot of fun, with everyone staying in one house. With my mother's entire family all being in India together for the first time since 2006, it was a lot of fun hanging out as a family under the same roof. The first few days were dedicated to shopping, with the actual stuff happening on the first weekend. We had a Garba on Friday n

ight, a Sangeet program on Saturday night, and the actual Janoi ceremony on Sunday. Otherwise, the time was spent hanging out in Ahmedabad and just really relaxing with the family. We didn't do too much travelling outside of the area, which made it much less stressful.

In terms of some main highlighted points, it was the middle of monsoon season which meant that we got rained out a couple days and lost power a few nights. The cousins from the US got together and did a dance on Saturday night during the Sangeet program was which was really awesome. The entire family got together to play cricket on a couple days, which was really fun. There was a lot going on everyday, but it was a very enjoyable trip.

The only negative from the trip was the commute back and forth, which was delayed on both occasions. We had some ridiculous difficulties and problems on the way back, but everyone made it back in peace.

One really awesome thing that I got to do while in India was spend some time at my uncle's hospital. He's an OBGYN and runs his own hospital. Not only did I get to sit in on some consultations, but I also got to be in the OR for some procedures. He did a C-Section, a tube sterilization and pregnancy termination, as well as the removal of a breast abscess. It was unbelievable to see what those procedures were like, especially in India were the standards in hospitals are not the same as they are in the US. Still, that was an experience that I'll never forget.

With all of the fun I had spending the last couple weeks with my grandparents and family, I was still ready to come back and get back to my normal routine. However, I can't wait to get back there as soon as possible.

Miles For Melanie

2011-06-26T23:41:00.003-04:00

After a long time away from my blog, I have finally returned. The last couple of weeks have been fairly uneventful, with nothing really straying far from the norm. At this point, I'm just really looking forward to leaving for India this weekend. However, the weekend was pretty good so I wanted to make sure and write about it.

Things have been tense in the office as more people come and go on a weekly basis, with many people just not being able to hack it. At this point, I've seen my team drop from 15 people down to 8. It's really been difficult keeping my positive attitude and trying to stay motivated as I watch these people just leave the company. I'm really hoping that things turn around soon, because I don't know how much more of this I can take. I am excited for my promotion party which is scheduled for July 30th, but even that just seems so far away.

Last night, I drove up to Massachusetts to have dinner with the CD. It had been months since I'd seen her, so it was really good to get up and spend some quality time with her. After closing the office, I drove up and we just spent a couple of hours together. Everything was really wonderful and I had a great time. It's so refreshing to see how amazingly our friendship has turned out even after the tumultuous times that we've had to endure.

The biggest thing that has happened in the last couple weeks was the Miles For Melanie 5K road race this morning. After Melanie's passing last summer, the family decided to build a pavilion at YMCA's Camp Sloper in her honor and memory. With that plan in mind, they put together a road race to raise some money for the project. The race attracted around 500 people today to Lake Compounce, where we ran around the town of Bristol. I've been friends with the family since I was 13 and was present during the entire weekend of her wake/funeral, there was no way that I was going to miss it. Even though I haven't been consistently keeping up with my own running and workouts, I knew that I was going to participate and finish the race. I finished the race in 28:58, which I felt was pretty good for not having run in a number of weeks. It was really amazing to see everyone there supporting the family and a great cause. It was a wonderful feeling to finish the race and to be able to help support the fundraising effort.

Even if things aren't going well at work, at least everything outside of work is going well. I'm in the best physical shape that I've ever been in. I now wear a size SMALL, which is just crazy to think about. My family life is good and I'm really just looking forward to heading out to India on Saturday.

Now... if only Derek Jeter could get back to playing baseball and finish his quest for 3,000 hits!

All Work, No Play

2011-06-13T00:03:00.003-04:00

Things have been fairly stressful in my life over the last couple weeks. With everything being predicated on work, there hasn't been much going on otherwise. I've been trying my best to stay positive and motivated, but it's been rather difficult as of late. With all of the drama that continues to happen, there is no chance that everything just combines to go right at the exact same time. I'm really just losing my mind and I don't know what to do. I'm always tired after these long days of work and every day seems to just roll right into the next one. Nothing new and exciting really happens, at least nothing that is positive. Right now, things are just not going as well as I had previously hoped. There is really nothing else to say.

Memorial Day in the Chi!

2011-06-01T23:35:00.002-04:00

After getting promoted to Assistant Manager last week, it was really good to get away for a weekend. With that stress no longer being on my mind, I flew out to Chicago for my 3-day vacation.

On Saturday, I first stopped off at Soham Bhai's new apartment to visit him and the family. Satyam Bhai also came over so it was really good to see both of them, as well as Melanie Bhabhi and Priya. The weekend got off to a really fantastic start, as we just hung out and caught up while watching the UEFA finals. After that, I went up to Rogers Park to spend the night with Romz. Romz and I made our way to Evanston for dinner and then watched Pirates of the Caribbean 4. It was a good time and a good movie, as the night was really just dedicated to spending with her. She has been dealing with a lot of stuff lately, so it was nice to be able to just enjoy some one-on-one time with her.

Sunday morning came along and I went to go visit Kate at her apartment. The weather was not cooperating as a thunderstorm struck, but we just hung out for a little while. Romz had to go and volunteer at the hospital, so I basically spent all of Sunday afternoon just sitting in her apartment. With the weather being so bad, there wasn't much that I could do. That evening, Vino and I went back to Evanston for dinner. As has been our usual night, we went to Lou Mals for "The Lou" and dessert. It was really a fantastic evening as we had a chance to chat and just enjoy our time together. It's amusing to me that we have ordered basically the same thing every time we've been there to eat and it never gets old. Even while eating the same food at the same place, we still find a way to have a great time. Afterwards, we went back to her apartment and hung out with her roommates for a little while.

On Monday, I went to visit Sabrina in the morning. We went out for coffee and just chatted about many different things. While walking her back to her apartment, I randomly ran into one of my cousin's neighbors. My cover was blown as we found out that he lived in Naperville in the same subdivision as my uncle and aunt, but it turned out not to be a big deal. That afternoon, Behna came and picked Romz and I up. We headed out to Lemont to spend the night with Behna's family. Even though things did not work out as well as I could have hoped in Lemont, things ended up getting better as it progressed. We stayed up all night and just hung out, getting an opportunity in the early morning to catch up. They brought me to the airport for my morning flight so I could make it to work yesterday morning.

All in all, the trip was a success. There were a couple times where I got really frustrated with my sisters, but the main purpose was served. I went there to re-energize myself and get my motivation back for all of the work I'm currently doing, which definitely happened. While I may not see those people everyday, I know that our relationships are rock solid and I really have nothing to worry about.

Outside of that, things are going fairly well. Work has continued to be the same, with some new responsibilities starting to pick up. For the first few days last week, I didn't really feel like I had been promoted. However, now I can definitely see the changes to my position and I'm ready to take on the new tasks. I've added a new Administration member, which the position still to be determined. That now makes 9 current Admin members, all with their own particular niches in my life. While I have been so wrapped up in my work, I know that I've been neglecting some people and it really bothers me. I'm going to make a concerted effort to keep that from continuing. Also, I want to get back to my dieting. I want to maintain my current situation, if not improve it. With today being the first day of June, I think that the summer months will help curb some of my unnecessary hunger and appetite. We shall see what happens when I go to India, but I do not want to fall off between now and then.

Lastly, Shaquille O'Neal officially announced his retirement today. As one of his biggest fans, it's sad to see him leave the game after 19 seasons. I know that he's hurt and has done everything that can be done in the game, but it wont be the same without him playing. I know that he'll still be around the public eye, but it's been great to root for him for my entire life! Long live the Big Diesel.

PROMOTION!

2011-05-22T22:27:00.003-04:00

WE DID IT!

As this week has officially come to close, I can now sit back and relax.

My team smashed the necessary $4,000.00 mark that was required for the week, which means that I completed the requirements to get promoted tomorrow morning. It's really still unbelievable. I think it'll actually sink in tomorrow when I get called up in front of everyone and they actually promote me. At this point, it doesn't feel real.

It's been something that I didn't think would actually happen, ever since the day of my preliminary interview. So many people make it to Corporate Trainer and then never get anywhere past that. It's just surreal to think that I'm actually going to get promoted tomorrow and that I'm actually on my way to the top! With all of the work that I've been putting in, I'm just glad that I actually got it done. The best part of it all is that I'll be able to go out to Chicago and just enjoy the long weekend, without having to worry about anything in the office!

There is no telling what will happen in the future, but this is definitely a moment to cherish... :-)

Week 2: Update

2011-05-19T09:39:00.002-04:00

It's Thursday morning on Week 2 of my Assistant Manager push. These last few days have been totally focused on work, so much so that I haven't even been talking to anyone from outside of work. I'm fully focused on the goal at hand, even if it's really been stressing me out. Anyway, we did $1000 on Monday and really started the week off with a bang. As of last night, my team (the X-Men) have banked $2,296 and have to do $1,704 over the next four days. It's totally in my sights, but I'm still just nervous about everything. If we don't hit it, I don't deserve it... but I'm confident that my team will not let me down! 3 down, 4 to go! Let's go X-Men!

On a side note, it was Romz's birthday on Tuesday so I just wanted to wish her a happy belated birthday too! I'm ecstatic about getting this push over with and getting out to see them for Memorial Day weekend!

Post 300: HALFWAY THERE!

2011-05-15T23:52:00.003-04:00

After a long week of stressing out and really pushing everything we had, my team was still a little bit short after yesterday's count. Even though I was really hoping to have everything done by last night, we still hadn't hit the necessary numbers for week 1. I took a couple people and went and finished it today, pushing myself over the $4,000 mark and officially getting to the half-way point for my Assistant Manager push. Now we just need to really buckle down for the coming week and get it done. At this point, there is only one week ($4,000) standing between me and getting promoted! I really hope that my team brings it this week and we get everything done! The mixture of nerves and excitement are really killing me right now and it's not even Monday yet. This is the only thing on my mind right now as I continue to look forward to seeing what this coming week has in store for me! Will I promoted at this time next week? Will I have to start all over again? Nobody knows...

PUSH!

2011-05-12T08:38:00.000-04:00

It is official!

The push for Assistant Manager has officially gotten underway. On Monday night, my manager told me that the official requirements for someone to get promoted are actually five 1st generation Corporate Trainers and not four 1st generation CT's and one 2nd generation CT. I've had that many people under me for some time now, which means that we are PUSHING! In this push, the last thing that I need to have happen before I can get promoted to AM is for my team to acquire enough accounts/clients equivalent to $4,000 in total profit for each of the next two weeks. This would show that I have the ability to interview, hire, train, and lead a successful and profitable team. It would also mean that I should be on my way to becoming a manager and running my own office. At the the half way point of week one, my team has done $2,139 in profit already. We are just over the 50% mark after 3 days, with 3 days to go. RIGHT ON TRACK! I'm trying not to think too far ahead, but I'm just really excited about the possibility of getting this all done and accomplishing a major goal before Memorial Day! We shall see what happens.

The other noteworthy thing that happened was my visit to the doctor's office yesterday morning. After meeting with the NP and having an EKG done, they pretty much concurred with Soham Bhai's assessment of my condition being costochondritis. Even though it's been months of this already, there isn't a whole lot that they are going to be able to do for me. The basic precautionary measures will be to continue taking some pain medication and to just try and put some heat/ice packs on it. I just hope it goes away soon, because it's becoming more of an annoyance than anything else now. At least we know that it's definitely not something major and should take care of itself in the next few weeks.

A Poem For God

2011-05-09T08:31:00.003-04:00

Dear God,

Whether…

Thin or thick
Healthy or sick
Day or night
Dark or light
Happy or sad
Good or bad
Smile or frown
Up or down
Hate or love
Below or above
Rich or poor
Less or more
Big or little
Strong or brittle
Tough or week
Loud or meek
Short or long
Right or wrong
Love or hate
Early or late
Angled or flat
This or that
Boy or girl
Straight or swirl
All or none
Many or one
Laughter or tears
Excitements or fears
Ins or outs
Whispers or shouts
Sinner or saint
Bright or faint
Rain or shine
Yours or mine
Wet or dry
Truth or lie
Easy or tough
Smooth or rough
Now or then
No matter when…

Please make sure that you watch over the people that I love and care about.

Business Trip

2011-05-09T08:17:00.003-04:00

The past week was dedicated to me running my first business trip. Even though we were only about an hour away from the office, it was still a new experience for me. The four of us stayed in a hotel for the week and worked out of our room, as a satellite office. The week was pretty productive, especially in terms of building relationships between the team members and being able to spend a lot of time together. While that was a good thing, it also began to boil over at some points as personalities started to clash and guys got annoyed with each other. However, everything worked itself out in the end. I was glad to have been given the opportunity to have full control over a the team for a week and manage everything. We had some fun experiences outside of the work too, which of course involved going out to the bar and meeting some ladies. Nothing serious enough happened for me to get into the details, but there were definitely some girls that wanted to come back to our hotel room with us. Luckily, I was in charge of the trip and put the lock down on that idea before it even began to sprout as a good idea. The business trip in total was a good time, but also very draining. With a full week spent with the same people and everything being somehow related to work, it was pretty exhausting. The other aspect to that was also managing the people we left behind in the office and making sure that they were doing the right things while we were all gone. All in all, I had a pretty good week.

Yesterday was Mother's Day, which we just spent hanging out at home. Rishwa is back home for a week before her summer session begins, so it was nice to have the entire family back for the day. We didn't do anything major, as Rishwa made dinner and we really just kept things low key. I think that Mother's Day is a pretty unnecessary holiday, as mothers should be honored and celebrated every day. Those "Hallmark" holidays are based solely on making money and trying to boost flower/card/candy sales. Oh well. A happy "belated" Mother's Day to everyone anyway! :-)

Now that the weekend is over and I'm back from the business trip, the next big thing to look forward to is Memorial Day weekend. I'm really excited about getting out to Chicago and seeing my sisters and a few other select individuals. It's going to be difficult to fly in under the radar again, but that's the only way to do it these days. These next 3 weeks cannot go by fast enough.

Work and Work

2011-05-01T23:19:00.002-04:00

Everything has been about work for the last week, especially with all of the focus being on the AM push and what all is needed for that to happen. With nothing much new on that front, everything then was focused on the Northeast Leaders' Conference today in White Plains. About 500 people from the NE came to White Plains to talk about the current state of affairs in the business and figure out how to keep expanding. It was my first conference like this, but it was a lot of fun. Even though it took up my entire Sunday, I still had a good time networking with people from across the region. Most of the time was spent in a breakout session for people in similar situations, so our speakers focused mainly on current Assistant Managers and Senior Corporate Trainers. We got a lot of good information about how to keep building and growing our teams, hopefully to get promoted soon. The best part of the day was that I was honored with a Top Leader Award which is bestowed to the top leader in every office. I received a gold pin in front of the entire conference, which was a really nice moment. It just helps me keep motivated on the task at hand.

As the conference is now over, the next big thing to look forward to is the business trip coming up this week. I will be taking three of my team members of running a trip to Milford, which is about 40 minutes away from home. The plan is to stay in a hotel for the week and just work from down there, with all of the focus being on building some team unity and getting results. It's the first business trip that I will be in charge of, but I think that I'm ready to take on the responsibility. We will see what happens as the week progresses, as I'm just excited about doing something different for the coming week.

In a totally unrelated story, a huge announcement was just made as CNN reported that Osama Bin Laden is dead. John King cited numerous sources saying that bin Laden is dead, which will now really shift the focus on the "War on Terror" as the focal point will no longer be Afghanistan. As the manhunt lasted a whole 9+ years after 9/11, the news just randomly reported tonight that he is no longer alive. It's a really huge story, but we shall see what happens next with the troops and backlash from his followers. It's just such a huge story that I had to comment. Someone as evil as him is apparently dead, so many people should rejoice. It's a big day for the good guys.

Nothing much to report other than that, as I continue to just keep focused on my work. The biggest things right now are that this week is going to be tough for me, as the first week in May has been hard to deal with for the last few years. As I don't sleep well enough as it is, I'm just concerned that it'll bring back flashbacks and nightmares. I'm trying my best to stay positive and keep Memorial Day in the back of mind. As distraught as this week may make me, I'm super excited at the thought of seeing my sisters and family again in a few weeks. I just have to keep my head up.

Easter Sunday

2011-04-24T20:55:00.003-04:00

It has been a long, but positive week. Easter has come and things are starting to look up.

First and foremost, it appears that I will begin my push for Assistant Manager very soon. The 2nd generation guy that I needed to get on board with us has finally arrived, and it appears that he should be able to get his job done by the end of the week. If everything goes as planned, I will be pushing for Assistant Manager by the beginning of next week. That will probably entail taking out a business trip and really working hard on getting everything done, but it'll also be an amazing thing if it happens. I'm trying really hard not to focus too much time thinking about what could happen in the future, but it's definitely a lot closer than it has ever been. In terms of the work itself, things are still long and arduous... but it's easier to deal with when I have a much better possibility and outlook on how they could change in the near future. The idea of being an Assistant Manager by Memorial Day has really motivated me to get things going.

With today being Easter Sunday, it marks the end of Lent. I feel like it was a very positive thing for me to have given up eating anything from 7Pm to 7AM and it definitely has had a beneficial impact on me. I'm going to continue to try and keep that going, but not be as strict about it as I was during the last number of weeks. I know that it'll help keep my weight down and my body feeling better, which are two things I'm really working on right now.

Other than work, there hasn't been much going on in my life. The changes that I had discussed making last week have been positive. I'm doing my best to stay focused on things here in CT as opposed to being mentally in Chicago with my sisters or with other friends and family. It's been tough on some days to not pick up the phone and call everyone, especially because it was such a routine thing to worry about the Administration members in PA or UT, but I have to make sure that I focus on myself first. The exercising has helped make me feel better, even though it still hasn't kept me from randomly waking up in the middle of the night. Other than that, I'm doing fine. The chest pains haven't been as persistent, even though they do continue to pop up from time to time.

In the sports world, the Celtics finished off their sweep of the New York Knicks to advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs. They were the only team to sweep in the first round as they will now await their next opponent, most likely being the Miami Heat. They looked really solid in games 3 and 4, even though Shaq is still sidelined with a calf injury. The Yankees continue to be on top of the AL East after winning a couple games in Baltimore as will now face off with the White Sox in their next series. Derek Jeter continues his assault on 3,000 hits as he now has 2,945 for his career.

Changes

2011-04-17T21:53:00.003-04:00

On this 17th day of April, I'm officially deciding to make some changes to the way things have been going in my life. There are a number of things that have been keeping me from enjoying myself on a day-to-day basis, so now is the best time to resolve those small issues.

The first and foremost thing is that I'm going to get back on track with my exercise. I went out and ran this morning, which is something that I'm going to look to do every other day now. Now that the weather is making a turn towards warmer temperatures, there is no excuse as to why I shouldn't re-start the running. Along with running, I'm also going to begin consistently doing exercises as well. I feel like that will help tire out my body, as well as get me back in shape for some races and runs that I plan on participating in during the coming months. With this being the last week of Lent, it'll also put me back in position to begin eating more regular and healthier meals. Everyone keeps telling me that my health is most important, so it's time to take back the one thing that I have full control over. I weighed in around 168 lbs today, so I want to lose those 8 pounds to get down to about 160 or so.

Outside of that, the other big changes are going to be in my daily schedule. One of the biggest things that has weighed on my mind, has been the monotony of my life. Six days of the week comprised of work and pretty much nothing else, so now I'm going to start making sure that I do other things to keep myself excited and motivated. I'm also going to stop focusing so much attention on my sisters and their lives in Chicago or Boston. There are enough stresses on my life right here in front of me, so there is no need to keep adding other things that shouldn't affect my daily life. One last thing that I want to change is the people that I prioritize in my life. Right now, the people who are on top of the list will continue to be there somewhere. The biggest change will come in terms of who else I focus all of my attention on. With work being such a big part of everything, I really need to have a core group of people to give my time and energy towards outside of work. I think that this will help me sleep better, as well as take off a lot of the unnecessary stresses that led me here in the first place.

With all of that said and done, there is nothing that motivates me more than wanting to move back to Chicago as soon as possible. Not only does it motivate me, the thought of that still puts a smile on my face.

In a non-related story and on a much lighter note, Ray Allen drilled a clutch 3-pointer with about 12 seconds to go as the Boston Celtics beat the New York Knicks in the first game of their NBA playoff series today. It was a really tough game for the C's, but they pulled it out in the end.

Patotsav

2011-04-16T23:57:00.004-04:00

Today was a good day, at least in terms of work and the Patotsav that we had in Glastonbury. The week at work went pretty well, with nothing too major happening. Yesterday had a noteworthy event, in that one of my co-workers had their car broken into. We were at a bar after work and were about to leave when someone noticed the broken glass on the sidewalk. Someone smashed out the back passenger window, but apparently didn't take anything. The police gave us some nonsense story about how it was probably a drug addict trying to steal the gps and then getting scared away, but it's the 3rd time something has happened to his car in the last couple months. Some of the guys felt like someone was sending him a message, so we will see what happens in the future.

Today was a quick Saturday at work, especially because I knew that we had to get to the Patotsav. It's a day of celebration and prayer for Shiva, so that was the focus of the day. It was good to spend time with a lot of the other Nagar families in the area, especially because it's a very rare occasion for that large group to get together. I had a good time, even though my mind wasn't totally there. I did get hit on by a 16-year old junior in high school, which is always amusing. The biggest topics of conversation everyone had for me was about whether or not I was starting to look for a wife and how my work life was going. I played everything off well though, not letting anyone know about anything serious. I had a good time and needed the distraction for the day.

The NBA playoffs get underway for the Celtics tomorrow night as they host the New York Knicks in the opening round. It should be interesting to see if the Celtics can get back to their form, especially have faltered down the stretch. Injuries are going to be key, as Shaq is already scheduled to miss the opener. The Yankees are sitting atop the AL East right now after beating the Texas Rangers, but it's way too early in the season to say anything.

What's Going On!?

2011-04-10T21:03:00.003-04:00

There has not been much to report over the last few days, as the only thing that's been going on is work. It hasn't been too bad, even though it continues to take up a lot of my time. The real story right now has been my health. At this point, the concern has been about my costochondritis and the insomnia. The inflammation of the rib cartilage isn't too bad, more annoying than anything else. The main concern is just that it's not going away. More pressing than that is the insomnia and my inability to sleep through the night. Every night for the last month or so, I've woken up in the middle of the night. I usually sleep for a few hours and then wake up for about 20 minutes, which just leads me to be exhausted in the morning. I'm just tired of it. I have no idea what's causing either of these issues, just that they are both directly affecting each other. I just hope that we can figure it out soon and everything will be back to normal. Everyone seems to have a different opinion about what I should do, which has been one of the hardest things to deal with. I just don't have any clue as to what I should do next.

As we begin another work week, there is a possibility of going on a business trip for the second half of the upcoming week. That would be good because at least it'll change things up and mix up some of the monotony of my day-to-day life. At this point, I'm just so ready to move back to Chicago that it's all I think of on a daily basis. At least it keeps me motivated at work and is more of a goal as opposed to a dream. It's also possible that those thoughts are weighing on my subconscious and just alive in the back of my mind. That could be one of the things that keeps me from sleeping at night, but I have no idea. Chicago 2012... I'm coming.

~Yankee Tracker~ The Yankees are currently 2nd in the AL East at 5-3. They have been playing fairly well during the first week of the season, as they look to win their 3rd straight series of the season. The Bronx Bombers have 18 home runs in 8 games are are currently playing the rubber game of their first series with the Boston Red Sox.

2011 National Champions!

2011-04-05T23:44:00.002-04:00

The UConn Huskies took down the Butler Bulldogs in the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Finals on Monday night. In what was an improbable run at the title, the Huskies scratched and clawed their way to the top of the basketball mountain. As a huge fan UConn fan, it was awesome to see them win their 3rd national title. It's usually the women's team that remains standing at the end of the season, but it was the men who claimed the spot in 2011.

The season started off really well as the unranked went down to Hawaii and swept through the Maui Invitational tournament. As the season got underway, the Huskies quickly climbed up the charts into the top 10 in the nation. However, they stumbled their way into the Big East section of their schedule and finished 9th in the league. Nobody gave them much chance to win the Big East tournament, let alone really make any significant noise in the NCAA tournament. Surprisingly, Kemba Walker led the Huskies all the way to the Big East title. They dispatched of numerous top 25 teams on their way to being crowned the 2011 Big East Champions. Even after having won five games in five straight days, the NCAA selection committee snubbed the Huskies with a 3 seed in the West Region. For the Huskies, it turned out to simply be a formality.

The NCAA tournament saw Walker, Jeremy Lamb, and numerous other young players step up in crunch time. Walker was clearly the most important and best player on the floor, as he continued to carry the bulk of the scoring responsibility for the Huskies. They found various ways to win games and make it to the Final Four. After dispatching of a storied Kentucky program, the Huskies absolutely shut down the Bulldogs and claimed the 3rd national title in the history of the program.

Connecticut has been under major scrutiny this season, most of it directed at head coach Jim Calhoun. He will face a three game suspension at the beginning of next season for some allegedly, illegal recruiting that the got the program into trouble. Nobody thought that this "one man show" would make it's way past the scandal and win the national title. I was really happy for Coach Calhoun for winning his 3rd title and for basically shutting up all of his critics. It will be interesting to see if Walker leaves for the NBA next season, or if he returns to lead a team that will be much more experienced. This season saw the Huskies start three freshmen, who will all be exponentially better next season in Storrs.

Congratulations to the 2011 UConn Men's basketball team for winning the NCAA title. This is UConn territory! U-C-O-N-N! UConn! UConn! UConn!

India, UConn, and LIFE

2011-04-03T21:03:00.004-04:00

What a weekend! This weekend saw a lot of good things happen, which I was really happy about. The first and by far most important thing was the World Cup Finals that saw India defeat Sri Lanka by six wickets on Saturday. My parents and I went to a family friend's house in Glastonbury on Saturday morning to actually watch the match live. While I was only able to see Sri Lanka bat, it was still awesome to see them play. You could just feel the pride and emotion from all of the people there as they watched wickets fall or when runs were scored. I don't think I've had that type of connection with Indian cricket before, but I'm so glad that it came during such a historic occasion. It was an amazing accomplishment for Sachin Tendulkar and his teammates, as they won their first World Cup title in over 25 years. The title meant something really amazing for the team and the country, but it also had a real solid effect on me too. Being able to watch with my dad really means something special to us, and will continue to be something I will cherish. Everyone was super proud to be Indian on Saturday and I was definitely one of the leaders of that club.

The other good thing that happened this weekend was the victory of the UConn Huskies men's basketball team in the Final Four. The Huskies defeated Kentucky by one point to advance to the championship game tomorrow night, where they will take on Horizon League's Butler. I'm really excited at the possibility of seeing the men win their 3rd national title, all during times when I've been an avid fan. The women's team is playing right now, hoping to follow in the men's footsteps and advance to their national title game.

Outside of that, the weekend has also seen some new people come into my life. The term new really means people who weren't currently there, as old friends are starting to play a more prominent role in the day-to-day things. I have consistently leaned on my sisters and Administration for things, but I'm starting to branch out more and involve other people. I feel like one of the things that has brought a lot of unnecessary stress to my life is the fact that I only really focused on a core group of people. When those people aren't available or have drama in their life, it heavily affects my mood and emotions. This way, these new people can take away some of the pressure that I put on the relationships with the people closest to me. I'm really excited about getting closer with these other people and having a fresh outlook on various situations. While my health and lack of sleep may not getting better, I'm still happy about the way things are currently going. Work, friends, sports, and family are all in a good place right now. I just need this headache to finally go away and for my health to catch up with everything else. Then... I'll be good!

The last couple days also saw the birthday of the CoS and the SoD, so I would like to wish them both a happy belated birthday!

The American League Awards

2011-04-01T09:23:00.002-04:00

As Opening Day has come for a majority of the teams, it's time predict who will win the major awards in the American League. It will also be very interesting to see what happens in the playoff races in the AL, especially with the hottest race projected to be the in the AL East. This season should be really fun for fans of the American League.

American League MVP- Alex Rodriguez (NYY)

American League Cy Young- David Price (TB)

American League Manager of the Year- Ozzie Guillen (CWS)

Hank Aaron Award Winner- Josh Hamilton

Reliever of the Year- Neftali Feliz (TX)

Comeback Player of the Year- Dustin Pedroia (BOS)

AL West- Texas Rangers

AL Central- Chicago White Sox

AL East- Boston Red Sox

Wild Card- New York Yankees

The ALCS will see the Yankees and Red Sox duel it out for supremacy of the American League, with the Yankees avenging their historic 2004 collapse by winning in 7 games.

The AL East (Tampa Bay)

2011-04-01T08:51:00.003-04:00

Tampa Bay Rays (96-66)- The Tampa Bay Rays won the 2010 AL East division by a lone game over the New York Yankees, before being eliminated in the ALDS by the Texas Rangers. The Rays had a high hopes for the season, before they ran into a hot Rangers team that eventually won the AL pennant. They knew what was coming in the winter months, as a number of their big name players departed for other teams. OF Carl Crawford, 1B Carlos Pena, SP Matt Garza, RP Rafael Soriano, and SS Jason Bartlett all left Tampa. In return, the Rays brought in veterans, OF Johnny Damon and OF Manny Ramirez. With so many pieces of last year's team having moved on to other teams, will the Tampa Bay Rays have enough left to piece together another run at the AL East division!?

The Rays will still have David Price as the anchor of their pitching staff, even though he will be followed in the rotation by a number of young, promising pitchers. James Shields, Wade Davis, Jeremy Hellickson, and Jeff Niemann are all guys that have been brought up through the Rays' farm system, with a real opportunity to shine in 2011. The bullpen will be totally revamped as the Rays lost a number of big name relievers, with newly acquired Kyle Farnsworth currently penciled in as the closer. The infield is highlighted by superstar 3B Evan Longoria, who is currently the face of the franchise. He is joined around the diamond by C John Jaso, 1B Dan Johnson, 2B Sean Rodriguez, and SS Reid Brignac. Former Tiger Damon will join an outfield that currently has B.J. Upton and Ben Zobrist. Ramirez will be the full-time designated hitter.

The Tampa Bay Rays may be very excited about their young team, with some veteran leaders sprinkled into the mix. However, the main concern is whether those young guys can stack up to the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. There are questions all around the field, none more important than in the bullpen. The loss of five different relievers will really put a spotlight on the late innings and whether the Rays can close out games. Will Longoria be able to pick up the slack in the middle of the line-up? What do Damon and Ramirez have left in the tank? The Rays are going to be in a little bit of a reloading mode, with numerous new pieces being added to the puzzle that was fairly ripped apart. The young guys will probably need at least one season to get some real seasoning and experience, which will make the AL East a 2 team race again. Expect the Rays to win 85 to 87 games and finish 3rd in the AL East behind the two giants from the Northeast. The Rays should be relevant during the season, but will fall short of making the playoffs in 2011.

Best Offensive Player- Evan Longoria

Biggest Rebound- Johnny Damon

The Pressure Is On- THE BULLPEN

Pleasant Surprise- B.J. Upton

The AL East (New York)

2011-03-31T23:47:00.003-04:00

New York Yankees (95-67)- The 2010 New York Yankees won the Wild Card, after finishing just one game behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the division title. After being eliminated in the American League Championship Series, the Yankees went into the off-season expecting to land SP Cliff Lee to solidify their starting rotation. Not only did Lee not sign with the Yankees, the rotation also saw the retirement of SP Andy Pettitte. GM Brian Cashman made some smaller moves by bringing in C Russell Martin and RP Rafael Soriano, but this was a rare off-season that didn't see any big splashes by the Bronx Bombers. The real waves made were by Yankee brass playing hardball with SS Derek Jeter. Jeter, along with CP Mariano Rivera and manager Joe Girardi, all ended up re-signing with the team. It was not, however, an easy and amicable process for all who were involved. Still, the only question is whether or not those moves be enough to out duel the stacked Red Sox and win the AL East in 2011?

Even without Lee, the Yankees still have superstar CC Sabathia as the ace of their pitching staff. Sabathia was a 20+ game winner last season and he will continue to lead the rotation, even with a couple new faces thrown into the mix. AJ Burnett and Phil Hughes also return at the top of the starting rotation, with newcomer Freddy Garcia and rookie Ivan Nova rounding out the bottom half. Future hall-of-fame closer Rivera, returns once again to close out games for the Yankees. The infield is arguably the best in all of baseball, with All-Stars at every position. 3B Alex Rodriguez, 2B Robinson Cano, 1B Mark Teixeira, and Jeter will join Martin around the horn. The outfield stays the same with Nick Swisher, Curtis Granderson, and Brett Gardner all returning from 2010. The only real change was the move of C Jorge Posada from catcher to the everyday designated hitter.

The New York Yankees missed out on signing Lee, which was the only real move that they were hoping to make in 2011. Still, there are plenty of pieces in place for the Bombers to make their usual run at the playoffs and AL pennant. The major questions that surround the Yankees this season will be about pitching. Will Garcia and Nova be able to hold up the back of the rotation? Which AJ Burnett will the Yankees get in 2011? What's going on with Joba Chamberlain? Other questions will be about age and health. Is A-Rod capable of putting up MVP type numbers again after his steroid use was made public? Will Jeter rebound from a sub-par 2010 season to earn his new contract? Are the Yankee veterans going to be healthy and productive enough down the stretch? All of these questions come up because of the payroll and names on the roster. It will be very interesting to see what happens, especially because the Yankees and Red Sox are the easy favorites to vie for the AL East/Wild Card again like they did in previous years. Except a showdown at the end of the season, with the Bombers winning about 95 games to put them in contention for the divisional title.

Best Offensive Player- Alex Rodriguez

Biggest Rebound- Derek Jeter

The Pressure Is On- AJ Burnett and Joba Chamberlain

Pleasant Surprise- Curtis Granderson

The AL East (Boston)

2011-03-31T09:06:00.004-04:00

Boston Red Sox (89-73)- The 2010 Boston Red Sox looked like legitimate division contenders, until they were hampered by injuries to some of their key players. With all of their starters returning in 2011, the Red Sox would have been primed to make a run at the AL East title. However, that was just not good enough for GM Theo Epstein and Red Sox Nation. The BoSox went out and made two of the top three biggest splashes in the off-season, by signing 1B Adrian Gonzalez from the San Diego Padres and OF Carl Crawford from the Tampa Bay Rays. The BoSox took a page right out of the Yankees' book and went deep into their wallets. The departures of 3B Adrian Beltre for Texas and C/1B Victor Martinez for Detroit, will make room for the new arrivals. Boston is stacked with big names at nearly every position and are ready to contend for the World Series title in 2011.

The starting rotation has is filled with top guys, all of whom could be considered top of the rotation pitchers for most other teams. The ace is young starter Jon Lester, who is a perennial CY Young candidate. He is backed up by Clay Buchholz, John Lackey, Josh Beckett, and Daisuke Matsuzaka. They also have veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who will also get some starts. Jonathan Papelbon returns as the closer in 2011, even after a shaky 2010 season. The bullpen is restocked with a variety of former closers and set-up men. The infield is highlighted by the newly signed Gonzalez, who will move 3B Kevin Youkilis over to the Hot Corner. The middle infield features SS Marco Scutaro and 2B Dustin Pedroia. C Jarrod Saltalamacchia and captain C Jason Varitek will split the catching responsibilities. Crawford will highlight the outfield that also is home to Jacoby Ellsbury and J.D. Drew. OF Mike Cameron will also see time in the outfield. David Ortiz is set to be the designated hitter again in the middle of a stacked lineup.

The 2011 Boston Red Sox are going to hit their way into the playoffs and there is no doubt about that. With a fearsome line-up and strong pitching, there is no question that the Red Sox should win around 95 games and be in the divisional race. The main thing to focus on in Boston will be the health of their players. Pedroia, Beckett, Lackey, Ortiz, and Ellsbury have all missed some significant time in the last couple years due to nagging injuries. While the BoSox are primed to make a title run in 2011, the loss of a couple of those players would really derail those chances. The Red Sox will once again battle their arch-rival New York Yankees for the top spot in the AL East and probably in the American League. It will be a really tight race, which may even come down to the final weeks of September. If you're a member of Red Sox Nation; memories of 2004 and 2007 are dancing in your dreams right now, as you lick your lips in anticipation for 2011.

Best Offensive Player- Adrian Gonzalez

Biggest Rebound- Dustin Pedroia

The Pressure Is On- Jonathan Papelbon and Carl Crawford

Pleasant Surprise- David Ortiz

The AL East (Toronto)

2011-03-31T00:28:00.003-04:00

Toronto Blue Jays (85-77)- The 2010 Toronto Blue Jays were right in the middle of the pack, in terms of the best teams in the American League. They finished forth in the AL East, with only the Baltimore Orioles finishing behind them. Over the off-season, the Blue Jays saw the departure of veteran OF Vernon Wells. Wells was really the face of the Jays and now he plays in Los Angeles, so the Blue Jays are really going to have to find a new franchise player in 2011. They are stocked with young talent, but not nearly enough big names to really fill the voids left by former All-Stars above the border. Will the Blue Jays be able to catch lightning in a bottle and make a run at the heavyweights in the AL East? It's a tall task to ask of anyone.

After Roy Halladay took his talents to Philadelphia, Ricky Romero became the real ace of the staff. Romero leads a young group of pitchers that are solid, but just don't scare any opposing line-ups. The rotation consists of Romero, Brandon Marrow, Brett Cecil, Kyle Drabek, and Jesse Litsch. Jon Rauch will likely be the closer in Toronto. The infield is highlighted by 2B Aaron Hill, who is probably one of the most recognizable names in the the line-up. He is joined by 1B Adam Lind, 3B Edwin Encarnacion, SS Yunel Escobar, and C J.P. Arencibia. The outfield is highlighted by Jose Bautista, who will be alongside Travis Snider and Rajai Davis. Juan Rivera will be the regular designated hitter.

The Blue Jays have a very young pitching rotation, with all five of their starters being under the age of 27-years old. They also combined to make under $2M, which basically shows how unproven they are. The biggest concern in Toronto will be whether or not they can score runs. The line-up is underwhelming and the young pitching staff will likely get eaten alive in Boston and New York. There are various questions plaguing Toronto, none being bigger than the void left by Wells. Will Hill and Bautista be able to carry the offensive load? How will the young pitching staff fair in the AL East? Did Chris Bosh really leave? Is it hockey season yet? There is a possibility that some of these young guys really shine and the Blue Jays put together a solid season, but they will probably still end up in last place in the AL East. Expect the Jays to win about 67-70 games. This will be the start of a rebuilding process in Toronto, which could a long time to be fully completed. They better still be savoring the World Series titles from '92 and '93, because it'll be a long time before Toronto is back in title contention.

Best Offensive Player- Jose Bautista

Biggest Rebound- Aaron Hill

The Pressure Is On- Ricky Romero and Rajai Davis

Pleasant Surprise- Juan Rivera

The AL East (Baltimore)

2011-03-30T09:45:00.003-04:00

The American League East has continued to be the toughest division in the entire league, especially with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees both playing there. 2010 saw the Tampa Bay Rays take the title by a game over the Yankees, but 2011 will certainly have a different feel. The additions of 1B Adrian Gonzalez and OF Carl Crawford to the Red Sox have many people thinking that Boston is the favorite to win the division in 2011. The Yankees are fairly unchanged and the Rays have lost many key pieces to their team from last season. It's going to be extremely tough for the Baltimore Orioles or Toronto Blue Jays to make any real noise in such a tough division. The main question in the AL East is going to be who wins the division and who has to settle for the Wild Card?

Baltimore Orioles (66-96)- The 2010 Baltimore Orioles finished their season a full 30 games under .500, and that was after the late change to Buck Showalter as the skipper. While many people aren't too surprised that the O's continue to be stuck in the basement of the AL East, Baltimore went out and made some significant moves in the off-season. 2011 will see a lot of new faces playing at Camden Yards; including those of 1B Derrek Lee, 3B Mark Reynolds, OF Vladamir Guerrero, SS J.J. Hardy, and SP Justin Duchscherer. Even this array of significant changes to their roster, the Orioles are still going to have a really tough time competing in the AL East. Will these new faces be able to bring back some magic to Baltimore or will it be another season at the bottom of the AL East?

The Baltimore starting rotation will be anchored by Jeremy Guthrie, who will takeover the responsibility after the departure of Kevin Millwood. Gurthrie and Duchscherer are the two guys in the rotation that anyone really has heard of, and Baltimore will look for them to set the pace for the pitching staff. The rest of the starters are Jake Arrieta, Chris Tillman, and Brian Matusz. Kevin Gregg will return as the closer for the Orioles. The infield returns two familiar faces from last season in C Matt Wieters and 2B Brian Roberts, who is coming off an injury-plagued 2010. Joining them in the infield will be: Lee from Atlanta, Hardy from Minnesota, and Reynolds from Arizona. The outfield remains intact from last season as Luke Scott, Adam Jones, and Nick Markakis all return in 2011. Former Ranger, Guerrero, will be the everyday designated hitter.

The Orioles have made some very good changes to their roster, adding some excellent defense and veteran leadership. They don't have nearly the same questions as they did going into last season, especially with holes being plugged up by recognizable names all over the field. There are still some questions though. How will Duchscherer fair in Baltimore? Will the veteran additions be able to bring respect back to Camden Yards? How much does Vladamir have left in the tank? Will Guthrie and Wieters be able to put it together this season? Will Roberts be able to fully recover from his nagging back injury? Still, their biggest obstacle continues to be the fact that they play in the same division as the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. While some people complain about the it being unfair to Baltimore, there is no question that Tampa was somehow able to make it to the World Series in 2008 without having an ultra-expensive roster. Expect the Orioles to win about 75 games in the AL East and finish ahead of the Blue Jays. There is also a chance that the Orioles get it together and actually move up ahead of the new look Rays into third. However, that is as far as they will go in 2011!

Best Offensive Player- Nick Markakis

Biggest Rebound- Brian Roberts

The Pressure Is On- Jeremy Guthrie and Matt Wieters

Pleasant Surprise- Derrek Lee

The AL Central (Minnesota)

2011-03-29T23:28:00.004-04:00

Minnesota Twins (94-68)- The 2010 Minnesota Twins captured their 2nd straight AL Central title, by making sure they won games during crunch time in September. While other teams may falter down the stretch, the Twins somehow continuously found a way to win when it mattered. They also saw the opening of Target Field, which brought an outdoor park to Minneapolis. The off-season saw the departures of 2B Orlando Hudson and SS J.J. Hardy to the San Diego Padres and the Baltimore Orioles, respectively. While they may have lost their starting middle infield, 2011 will see the return of CP Joe Nathan and 1B Justin Morneau off of the DL. Minnesota may have lost their starting middle infield, but will that be enough to keep them from winning the AL Central for the 3rd straight season!?

The Twins are one of the few teams in the MLB that will return all five of their starting pitchers from the 2010, with Carl Pavano re-signing with the club. The rest of the rotation will feature Francisco Liriano, Kevin Slowey, Scott Baker, and Nick Blackburn. All five of the starters had more than 10 wins last season, in starting over 25 games apiece. Nathan will try to return to his regular dominant self as the Twins' closer in 2011. The infield is anchored by superstar C Joe Mauer, who continues to be one of the best players in the game. Morneau will return from his concussion that kept him on the bench for the final two months of last season. 3B Danny Valencia, 2B Alexi Casilla, and Japanese newcomer, SS Tsuyoshi Nishioka round out the infield. Veteran slugger DH/1B Jim Thome will look to get a majority of the at-bats as the designated hitter. Delmon Young, Michael Cuddyer, and Denard Span will be the starting trio in the outfield, with Jason Kubel getting plenty of work as well.

The 2011 Twins are pretty well set to make a run for their 3rd straight division championship. Questions abound, however, as this season will probably not go as smoothly as everyone may think. How will the new double-play combination fair? Will Morneau be able to get back to form after missing so much time last season? Is Nathan set to return to his dominant 2009 form as the closer? Will the Twins' offense be able to figure out Target Field? Will the current bullpen configuration be able to carry them through to October? Are the Twins going to be able to coast through August and then turn on the burners in September? While the team may be one of the best in the American League, it does not mean that they do not have their fair share of concerns in Minnesota. The Twinkies know what they are getting from their superstar leader, outfield, and their fairly reliable pitching rotation; the biggest concerns are going to be with the infield and the bullpen. Expect the Twins to win another 93 games and edge out the White Sox for the division by just a few wins. It will probably be a lot closer in 2011 than it was in 2010.

Best Offensive Player- Joe Mauer

Biggest Rebound- Justin Morneau

The Pressure Is On- Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano

Pleasant Surprise- Danny Valencia

The AL Central (Chicago)

2011-03-29T22:44:00.004-04:00

Chicago White Sox (88-74)- The 2010 Chicago White Sox wished that 88 wins was enough to make the playoffs, but got a raw deal when the Wild Card winner had 95+ wins. Needing to strengthen their line-up, the "South-Siders" brought in 1B/OF Adam Dunn from the Washington Nationals, who could potentially launch 50+ home runs on to 35th and Archer. Outside of that, the White Sox front office spent a lot of money on making sure that they kept some of the big names that they already have. The off-season saw big-time contract extensions being signed by SS Alexei Ramirez, 1B Paul Konerko, and C A.J. Pierzynski. The 2011 White Sox are going to hope that they can just gain some ground on the defending champion Twins and vie for the division. One thing is for sure in 2011; if the White Sox do not make the playoffs, it will not be because of a lack of talent!

The starting rotation for the White Sox has plenty of recognizable names and a load of talent, if everyone can stay healthy. Ace Mark Buehrle has been unbelievable for the last few seasons, continuing to give very consistent performances at the top of the rotation. He will be backed up by Edwin Jackson, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, and Jake Peavy. Peavy will be out for the first half of the season as he recovers from shoulder surgery, so there is no telling how he will perform when healthy. Matt Thornton will be the closer for the White Sox, but RP Chris Sale may also see some opportunities to close. The infield boasts some solid names with the likes of Konerko, Pierzynski, Ramirez, 2B Gordon Beckam, and 3B Brent Morel. Alex Rios, Carlos Quentin, and Juan Pierre will roam the outfield positions. Dunn will mostly act as the designated hitter, unless Konerko needs a break.

The South-Siders will need to stay healthy and make sure that they play up to their capabilities. The addition of Dunn adds a huge, power bat into the middle of a line-up. If Konerko, Rios, and Quentin can produce like they are capable of doing, there is no telling how many runs the White Sox will score this season. They have speed, power in the middle of their line-up, and some proven pitchers in their starting rotation. The first question comes in as to who will replace Peavy for the first few months of the season? The next question is whether Buehrle can continue to be as consistent as he has been in the last few years? Will Konerko be able to continue launching balls out of U.S. Cellular Field? Can Ozzie Guillen keep the focus on the players and off of himself? The last question always seems to be an issue, especially when it also includes other members of Guillen's family. If things can fall into place for the White Sox, there is no reason why they can't win 90+ games this season and really make a push at dethroning the Twins from the top of the AL Central.

Best Offensive Player- Paul Konerko

Biggest Rebound- Gordon Beckam

The Pressure Is On- Alexei Ramirez and Matt Thornton

Pleasant Surprise- Edwin Jackson

The AL Central (Detroit)

2011-03-28T23:23:00.003-04:00

Detroit Tigers (81-81)- The Detroit Tigers posted a .500 record in 2010 in pretty tumultuous season, that saw them at the heart of numerous big stories. 2010 saw the passing iconic play-by-play announcer Ernie Harwell, the near-perfect game by Armando Galarraga, and the drinking problems that haunt 1B Miguel Cabrera. To help the team, on the field, Detroit brought in C/DH Victor Martinez from the Red Sox to inject some more life into an aging offense. While Martinez will mainly fill the DH role for the Tigers, he can also still catch and give the corner infielders some days off. The other move was the acquisition of SP Brad Penny, who will look to find a home in the Detroit starting rotation. The main question for the Tigers will be whether or not they can make a run at the Twins and the division title.

The starting rotation is anchored by fireballer Justin Verlander, who has continued to be a dominant ace for the Tigers. He will lead a rotation of Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, Penny, and Phil Coke. Porcello was demoted to Triple A last season, but returns to the Tigers and is penciled in to the current rotation. Jose Valverde returns to his closing role, leading a fairly strong but inconsistent bullpen. The infield and offense centers around Cabrera, who will look to keep his focus on the field. Cabrera is joined by second-year 2B Will Rhymes and youngster C Alex Avila, with veterans 3B Brandon Inge and SS Jhonny Peralta rounding out the infield. Longtime 1B Carlos Guillen, will also continue to see plenty of action in 2011. The outfield will be comprised of veteran Magglio Ordonez, Ryan Rayburn, and Austin Jackson.

The Detroit Tigers are going to need to do main things in 2011 to even have a chance at making a run for the AL Central title. They are going to need to stay healthy and keep their focus on the field. With many of their veteran players starting to show signs of aging, questions continue to arise whether or not they can continue to play at a high level. The second concern is keeping the focus of the team, fans, and media on the playing field. Dealing with the loss of Harwell, the "perfect" game debacle, and the continued drama surrounding Cabrera's alcoholism really put a lot of unnecessary stress on the team. 2011 needs to see everyone focus on the game, and put all of the other stuff to the side. The Tigers have some extremely talented players and can easily make a push for the AL Wild Card, if everyone just does their job. Expect the Tigers to come back stronger in 2011 and win 85 to 87 games. They may be in the race for the Wild Card and the AL Central division, but will fall short to simply, better teams. The city of Detroit really needs something to cheer about right now and the 2011 should definitely bring some excitement to the Motor City.

Best Offensive Player- Miguel Cabrera

Biggest Rebound- Magglio Ordonez

The Pressure Is On- Carlos Guillen, Rick Porcello, and Brad Penny

Pleasant Surprise- Max Scherzer

The AL Central (Cleveland)

2011-03-27T20:42:00.000-04:00

Cleveland Indians (69-93)- The 2010 Cleveland Indians finished just a shade better than the Kansas City Royals, which should tell you everything you need to know about how it went. In terms of making some moves to improve and strengthen their team, the Tribe inked OF Austin Kearns and IF Orlando Cabrera to one-year deals. The Indians are apparently going to heavily rely on current players that are returning from major injuries. They have a crop of good talent, but have just continued to be hampered by major injuries. It will be very interesting to see if this team can get anything going and try to make some noise in the division, which is going to be very tough this season.

Fausto Carmona is coming off a solid 2010 season, as he will return as the ace of the pitching staff. Justin Masterson will probably get a starting nod, especially with Cleveland having a young rotation. They will be backed up by second-year pitcher Carlos Carrasco, Mitch Talbot, and Josh Tomlin. Chris Perez will once again, be the closer for the Tribe. The infield features C Carlos Santana, Cabrera, SS Asdrubal Cabrera, and 1B Matt LaPorta. Jack Hannahan and Jayson Nix will compete for the Hot Corner. Michael Brantley, Shin-Soo Choo, and Kearns will likely play the outfield. There is still much question about Grady Sizemore and his health, but look for him to get the nod over Brantley if healthy.

The Indians are putting a lot of stock in the returns of Santana, A. Cabrera, and Sizemore; who all battled major injuries in the 2010 season. Especially Sizemore, who was one of the league's best players and brightest stars, until injuries derailed his production. There are just too many questions in Cleveland, many that don't have optimistic answers. Will the Indians see the Hafner and Sizemore of old? Can Carmona lead this young pitching rotation to some semblance of respect? How will O. Cabrera play at Second? Why is Charlie Sheen trying to be a real-life Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn? Can the swarm of gnats come back to hover around the mound while opposing pitchers are on the hill? Will praying to Jobu really help Cleveland make it to the playoffs? In all seriousness, the Indians will not win more than 70 games as they will finish in 4th place in the AL Central. Maybe they can give Charlie Sheen a contract and get some of that "bi-winning" attitude back into their clubhouse.

Best Offensive Player- Shin-Soo Choo
Biggest Rebound- Grady Sizemore
The Pressure Is On- Fausto Carmona and Orlando Cabrera
Pleasant Surprise- Asdrubal Cabrera

The AL Central (Kansas City)

2011-03-27T19:01:00.004-04:00

The American League Central was won by the 2010 Minnesota Twins, who will look to battle it out against the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers. For the last few years, the AL Central has been a three team race and it looks to be the same way again in 2011. The arrival of 1B/OF Adam Dunn to Chicago and the return of 1B Justin Morneau to the Twins will make for a much stronger race down the stretch. However, that means that the Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Indians will still to be on the outside looking in. The AL Central has continued to be a very competitive division, but it's fairly top heavy. The biggest question of the season, in the division, will basically focus on whether or not the White Sox and/or Tigers have gotten better enough to dethrone the Twins!?

Kansas City Royals (67-95)- The Kansas City Royals had a terrible season in 2010, losing 95 games. Over the off-season, Kansas City saw the departure of their ace SP Zack Greinke and the retirement of SP Gil Meche. The loss of Greinke is a huge blow, especially because he was the lone star on the roster and will be extrmely tough to replace in the starting rotation. In terms of additions to their ball club, GM Dayton Moore brought in former Braves, OF Melky Cabrera and OF Jeff Francoeur. The main questions in 2011 will be the growth and development of the farm system, especially if some of the players at the major league level show signs of declining.

With Greinke off in Milwaukee, the spot at the top of the rotation will be filled by former Colorado Rockies' pitcher, Jeff Francis. Francis is coming off an injury that kept him out all of the 2009 season and half of last season, but he will still be the ace of a very young and unspectacular pitching staff. Luke Hochevar has been tabbed as the Opening Day starter, but Francis will be the unquestionable ace of the staff. Joining them in the starting rotation will be Bruce Chen, Vin Mazzaro, and Kyle Davies.. Joakim Soria is the most recognizable name on the staff and he will return in 2011 to be the closer, if and when the Royals have a lead in the 9th inning. The infield is made up of a bunch of unrecognizable names in 1B Kila Ka'aihue, 3B Mike Aviles, SS Alcides Escobar, 2B Mike Getz, and C Brayan Pena. The outfield consists of Cabrera, Francoeur, and Alex Gordon.

The Kansas City Royals are in for another extremely poor season, as there is almost no chance that they finish anywhere but last in the AL Central. There best player is DH Billy Butler and he highlights, what is otherwise, an unbelievably lackluster roster. With such a young and unexperienced roster, the Royals' organization just continues to mail it in. With such a tough division, don't expect the Royals to win anymore than 65 games. There is a strong possibility that they will have more than 100 losses in the 2011 season. The only thing that the Royals will be competing for is the worst record in the Majors. At least they can say that Kauffman Stadium is one of the most beautiful parks in the country. It's just too bad that fans in Kansas City can't go out to see a good team play there, unless of course they are rooting for the visitors!

Best Offensive Player- Billy Butler

Biggest Rebound- Jeff Francis

The Pressure Is On- Jeff Francoeur

Pleasant Surprise- Kila Ka'aihue

The AL West (Texas)

2011-03-27T09:00:00.002-04:00

Texas Rangers (90-72)- The reigning AL pennant winners are back in 2011 and looking to repeat. They will try to do so, without the recently departed SP Cliff Lee. Lee was easily the ace of the rotation and his loss will definitely be felt during the season. Also, the departure of OF/DH Vladamir Guerrero will leave a hole in the middle of the Texas lineup. Nolan Ryan and the Rangers' front office did make some moves to compensate, however, by bringing in former Angels' C Mike Napoli and former Red Sox 3B Adrian Beltre. While they may not be able to help the pitching rotation, both of these guys are formidable hitters and will be welcome additions to an already strong lineup. The main question in 2011 is going to be whether or not the 2010 Rangers were just a fluke or are they seriously here to contend for the AL pennant again?

As Lee departed for the Philadelphia Phillies, C.J. Wilson will move into the role as the ace of the Rangers' starting rotation. He will head a rotation that also includes Colby Lewis, Tommy Hunter, and rookie Derek Holland. Recently signed Brandon Webb will look to return to his old form, after having only pitched a total of four innings in the last two seasons! The back of the bullpen is highlighted by 2010 AL Rookie of the Year Neftali Feliz. The infield will be led by the newly acquired Beltre, who pushes veteran 3B Michael Young to the bench or to designated hitter. SS Elvis Andrus, 2B Ian Kinsler, and 1B Mitch Moreland all return to their positions from last season. Napoli and recently signed free agent C Yorvit Torrealba will handle the catching duties, with Torrealba looking to do a majority of the work behind the plate. The outfield is highlighted by 2010 AL MVP Josh Hamilton, who has taken the MLB by storm over the last few seasons. He will be joined by Nelson Cruz and Julio Borbon roaming the green grass of Arlington.

The 2011 Texas Rangers are pretty well stocked to win the AL West and make another run for the AL pennant, as long as they are hit by more injuries to key players. Hamilton and Cruz both battle injuries last season and still had very good seasons, which begs the question of how well they can play when healthy for an entire season. Another question surround Brandon Webb and whether or not he'll be able to shoulder some of the load left by Lee. Off the field, the Rangers will continue to deal with Young and his continuous requests to be traded. At $16M a season, he definitely does not want to be sitting on the bench or be the everyday DH, so expect talks to continue to swirl around his future in Texas. Outside of those concerns, Texas will look to dominate a weak AL West division. Even with Los Angeles and Oakland making some moves, look for Texas to win another 90 games on their way to repeating as division champions in 2011. While they are not the odds on favorite to win the American League, the Rangers will absolutely have their presence felt in October.

Best Offensive Player- Josh Hamilton
Biggest Rebound- Ian Kinsler
The Pressure Is On- Adrian Beltre and Neftali Feliz
Pleasant Surprise- Mitch Moreland

The AL West (Oakland)

2011-03-27T08:22:00.000-04:00

Oakland Athletics (81-81)- The Oakland Athletics were an average team in 2010, finishing the season at exactly .500. Even though they were not able to sign any of the big name free agents, it does not mean that they did not make some sizable improvements to their team for 2011. GM Billy Beane was able to bring in OF David DeJesus from the Kansas City Royals, OF Josh Willingham from the Washington Nationals, and free agent OF/DH Hideki Matsui from the Angels. While those names don't jump off of the page, all three of them are proven MLB players and will be highly beneficial to the team in their push for the AL West division title. As Beane did not break his budget on off-season acquisitions, there is still space to bring in mid-season help if necessary.

The Oakland pitching rotation will return all five of their starting cast from 2010, led by Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez. Dallas Braden will look to build off of the perfect game that he tossed last season. They are joined by Brett Anderson and either Rich Harden or Brandon McCarthy. Andrew Bailey will return as the closer, helped out in the bullpen by newly signed Brian Fuentes and Grant Balfour. 1B Daric Barton, 2B Mark Ellis, SS Cliff Pennington, 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff, and C Kurt Suzuki all return for the 2011 campaign. The biggest changes are in the outfield, with Willingham and DeJesus joining Cocco Crisp to patrol the warning track.

The A's come into the 2011 season as a very young team, but does that not equate to a lack of experience. Most of the players on this roster have shown that they can play in the pros and are ready to piece it all together. While they don't have too many big names or superstars, they are a solid line-up from top to bottom. The additions of Fuentes and Balfour should definitely help out the pitching and will be key down the stretch. Expect the A's to win around 83 games, putting them smack dab in the middle of the AL West title race. If their young talent can continue to play at a high level, there is no reason why the A's can't close some of the 9-game gap that the Rangers had on them at the end 2010 season. At this point, however, it doesn't appear that they will overtake the reigning AL champions, as the A's will probably finish 3rd in the division ahead of only the Mariners. If fans in the Bay Area are looking for a World Series team, they should continue watch games at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

Best Offensive Player- Daric Barton
Biggest Rebound- Kurt Suzuki
The Pressure Is On- Trevor Cahill
Pleasant Surprise- Josh Willingham

The AL West (Los Angeles)

2011-03-26T20:40:00.003-04:00

Los Angeles Angels (80-82)- The Angels are steadily falling off as the team to beat in the AL West since their appearance in the 2009 ALCS. Their 2010 season was plagued by various injuries, none more unbelievable and detrimental than that to 1B Kendrys Morales. There is no question that the turning point of the entire season, was when Morales jumped on home plate after his walk-0ff home run and broke his ankle. During the off season, the Angels traded for veteran OF Vernon Wells from the Toronto Blue Jays. While they are getting a proven player, the massive contract and Wells' age both will prove to be major factors in whether this proves to be a beneficial move by the Halos. Will it be possible for the Angels to get back to their 2009 form or will they have a sub-.500 season as they did last year!?

The starting rotation will be major strong point for the Los Angeles Angels in 2011. The front of the rotation is led by Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, and Ervin Santana. All three of them are proven pitchers in the MLB and would be "top of the rotation" guys on any team in the league. They will be joined by Joel Pineiro and either Scott Kazmir or Joe Saunders at the back of the rotation. Fernando Rodney will takeover for the departed Brian Fuentes as the closer. Morales' return to the lineup will give a much needed boost to the Angels' offense. He will play alongside 2B Howie Kendrick, SS Erick Aybar, and C Jeff Mathis, who replaces Mike Napoli. There is still some question as to who will be the everyday player a Third; with Brandon Wood, Alberto Callaspo, and Maicer Izturis all looking to get some playing time. Wells will join the outfield that already has Torii Hunter, Bobby Abreu, and Peter Bourjos. Abreu will most likely be relegated to continuing as the full-time designated hitter.

There is no telling what will happen with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim this season, especially because they play in the wide open AL West. With a strong starting rotation and some big name bats in the middle of their line-up, it's very possible that this will be a rebound season for the Halos. They should definitely be an above .500 club winning somewhere around 85 games, which will put them right in the middle of the division race. LA will just have to hope that they don't get bitten by the injury bug again. Look for the starting rotation to lead them throughout the season, especially if some of their big bats don't show up. Also, it's very likely that the Angles will look to make a big mid-season acquisition to cement their playoff hopes. Just don't expect too much Hollywood magic or for Christopher Lloyd to be running around helping rob home runs in Anaheim!

Best Offensive Player- Vernon Wells

Biggest Rebound- Kendrys Morales

The Pressure Is On- Fernando Rodney and Torii Hunter

Pleasant Surprise- Jeff Mathis

The AL West (Seattle)

2011-03-26T19:31:00.005-04:00

The American League West is home to the defending AL Champion Texas Rangers, who won the division by a margin of 9 games. The biggest story for the division in 2011 will be whether or not the other three teams can make the division more competitive and dethrone the reigning division champions. The departure of SP Cliff Lee from the Rangers to the Philadelphia Phillies should make the division title a little bit easier for other teams to fight for. Other than that, there isn't much new going on in the American League West.

Seattle Mariners (61-101)- The 2010 Seattle Mariners looked like they were going to contend for the division title on Opening Day in April. However, the total failure of newcomer 3B Chone Figgans, the trade of SP Cliff Lee, the drama surrounding future Hall-of-Fame CF Ken Griffey Jr., the turmoil in the dugout and locker room, and a complete lack of offensive production absolutely derailed any chances of a winning season in Seattle. The 2011 Mariners haven't made any significant moves to their roster, which basically means that they are stocked with the same bullets in their gun as last season. Will they be able to pull it together and make a run out of the AL West basement?

One of the two brightest stars on the Mariners is the ace of the rotation, which is none other than 2010 Cy Young winner, "King" Felix Hernandez. Hernandez is a 25-year old ace that really anchors an otherwise mediocre pitching staff. Erik Bedard returns to the rotation from a torn labrum that sidelined him for the entire 2010 season. They are supported by Jason Vargas, Michael Pineda, and Doug Fister. Brandon League will take the closing role as the injured David Aardsma had surgery in January. The offense is not filled with too many big names, especially not in the infield. Figgins will try to bounce back at the "Hot Corner", playing next to veteran SS Jack Wilson. The right side is comprised of young newcomers, 2B Brendan Ryan and 1B Justin Smoak. Veteran C Miguel Olivo will provide some offensive depth behind the plate. The outfield is highlighted by All-Star Ichiro Suzuki. There is nothing that indicates he will have nothing but another stellar season in Right. He will be joined by Franklin Gutierrez and journeyman, Milton Bradley.

The Seattle Mariners are in for a very tough season, especially because they play in the same division as the defending AL champion Rangers and the Angels. With major inexperience in their starting rotation and their bullpen, there is question as to why people in Seattle won't be optimistic. Their pitching woes are only extenuated by their lack of offensive production, which doesn't look to be much better than it was last season. Outside of Ichiro, the lineup is lackluster at best. Expect the Mariners to win about 65 games, which will put them right back into last place in the 2011 AL West. If this keeps up, look for many teams to come knocking with trade proposals to take the "King" out of Seattle. If the right move comes along, there may be no reason for Hernandez not to follow in Cliff Lee's footsteps and hightail it out of the Emerald City.

Best Offensive Player- Ichiro Suzuki

Biggest Rebound- Chone Figgins

The Pressure Is On- Brandon League and Erik Bedard

Pleasant Surprise- Justin Smoak

A Break In the Action

2011-03-25T09:29:00.001-04:00

The Indian Cricket team adavnced to the semi-finals of the 2011 ICC World Cup yesterday, by beating Austrailia by 5 wickets. The match started early in the morning, which meant that I could watch the end of the Australian batting and the opening of the Indian batting. It was really awesome to be able to see some of the match with my dad, especially with him being such a huge cricket fan. We watched Sachin Tendulkar score his 18,000th ODI run, which was even more fantastic. While I didn't get to see the entire match or watch the crucial moments in the end, it was still special to be able to enjoy an hour of cricket with my father. They will now move on to face arch-rival Pakistan in the semi-finals.

Yesterday also saw my UConn Huskies defeat San Diego State in the Sweet Sixteen. I didn't see any of the game, but Kemba Walker scored 36 points to lead Connecticut into the Elite Eight. Everyone here is super excited about the play of our Huskies, especially being only 1 win away from returning to the Final Four. They will have that chance against Arizona on Saturday night.

Otherwise, things are going fairly well. The weather is trying to keep up with the calendar, but it's not working so well with temperatures in the high 30's and snow on the ground. Still, I'm looking forward to warm weather and baseball season. Especially because it means that I'll be able to get back outside and continue my running regiment that I started last year. Work has been up and down, especially with Josh being out of the office this week. It has definitely put more responsibility on me while he's gone. I'm ready for it, especially if it means that I'll get promoted sooner. I have been doing extrmely well with my Lent sacrifices, which has been a lot easier than I thought. Once I put my mind to only drinking water between 7PM and 7AM, nothing has really enticed me to break that promise. The only thing going on right now is this dull chest pain that I'm battling. The concern is that I know exactly what it's not, which doesn't really help much. I don't have much time to go to the doctors, so I'm hoping that it's just muscle related and caused by my constant tossing and turning throughout the night. I have to figure it out soon, otherwise Romz is going to stop talking to me... I don't know what's worse to deal with.

I will start with the AL West tonight or tomorrow...

The National League Awards

2011-03-24T00:49:00.000-04:00

After having previewed all of the individual teams in the National League, it's now time to recap the divisional winners and predictions of the top performers and award winners.

National League MVP- Joey Votto (CIN)
National League CY Young- Tim Lincecum (SF)
National League Manager of the Year- Fredi Gonzalez (ATL)
Hank Aaron Award Winner- Prince Fielder (MWB)
Reliever of the Year- Francisco Cordero (CIN)
Comeback Player of the Year- Chipper Jones (ATL)

NL West- San Francisco Giants

NL Central- Cincinnati Reds

NL East- Philadelphia Phillies

NL Wild Card- Atlanta Braves or Milwaukee Brewers

The NLCS will be a repeat of the 2010 series, with the Phillies winning the NL pennant in 6 games.

The NL East (Philadelphia)

2011-03-23T23:36:00.000-04:00

Philadelphia Phillies (97-65)- The 2010 Philadelphia Phillies boasted the best record in all of baseball by winning their 97 games. Being the odds on favorites to win their 3rd straight NL pennant, most people were shocked to see them upset by a stiffer San Francisco Giants team in the NLCS. After not winning the World Series in the last two seasons, the Phillies went out and landed the biggest free agent avilable in SP Cliff Lee. He signed a 5-year, $120M contract that which was well less than what other teams were offering. The only other major move was the loss of OF Jayson Werth, who left to sign his own blockbuster contract with the Washington Nationals. The only question is, can anyone in the NL stop the train that will be the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies!?

The biggest story about the Lee signing is that he doesn't even rejoin the Phillies to be the ace of the staff, a role which already, securely belongs to Roy Halladay. With Halladay and Lee as their 1-2 punch, the Phils will then counter with Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels as their third and fourth pitchers. Any of those guys is good enough to be the ace of a their own pitching rotations, but they all pitch for one team. Joe Blanton is going to be the fifth starter, if he ever needs to pitch. Brad Lidge will be available to close games, if any of the starters decide that they would rather not pitch a complete game that particular night. As if their pitching rotation wasn't enough to scare the opposition, the offense also boasts all-stars at numerous positions around the diamond. 1B Ryan Howard, 2B Chase Utley, SS Jimmy Rollins, C Carlos Ruiz, and 3B Placido Polanco are all household names and potential all-stars. The outfield will see more of Raul Ibanez now that Werth is gone, playing alongside Shane Victorino and Ben Francisco.

Where are the negative things that you can say about the Phillies? They sport the best rotation in the MLB and have an offense filled with all-stars at various positions. The silver lining to everything, already being shown in Philly, is the injury bug. Utley has already been battling knee problems. Howard and Rollins missed a significant number of games last season battling their respective ailments. Rookie Domonic Brown was supposed to start in the outfield, but he's already broken a hand during Spring Training. Still, everyone is set to play on Opening Day which does not bode well for other National League teams. There is a very strong possibility that the Phillies get everything working at the same time and go on to win 100 games in 2011. It's also very realistic that they have 8 All-Stars in the Summer Classic. There is no telling what this team can do as long as everyone stays healthy. The Giants may be the defending World Series Champions, but the Phillies have already put the rest of the league on notice that the road to October/November baseball will run through the "City of Brotherly Love" this season.

Best Offensive Player- Ryan Howard
Biggest Rebound- Chase Utley
The Pressure Is On- Raul Ibanez
Pleasant Surprise- Ben Francisco

The NL East (Atlanta)

2011-03-23T23:09:00.000-04:00

Atlanta Braves (91-71)- In 2010, the Atlanta Braves won the Wild Card to make it into the playoffs before being eliminated in four games by the San Francisco Giants. A very similar team returns in 2011 in hopes to fair better than they did last season. The one glaring change is the retirement of future Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox, after 25 seasons. The Braves will be led by former Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez, who can only hope to have a shred of the same success that Cox had in Atlanta. The other major change is the addition of 2B Dan Uggla who also arrived, ironically, from Florida to play for the Braves. The only real question is whether or not the Braves will be able to surpass the Phillies and take the divisional crown or will they be relegated to 2nd again?

The Braves' pitching staff is led by 2010 Comeback Player of the Year, Tim Hudson. He will be backed up in the rotation by Derek Lowe, Tommy Hanson, and Jair Jurrjens. There is some talk that a healthy starting rotation for the Braves could potentially match the four big names in Philly's rotation. That remains to be seen. Youngster Craig Kimbrel is currently penciled in to be the closer for the Braves, but there are a couple of other possible candidates for the position. The Braves offense is still centered around veteran 3B Chipper Jones, who returns off of ACL surgery last year. He will be joined in the infield by the newly acquired Uggla, rookie 1B Freddie Freeman, SS Alex Gonzalez, and all-star C Brian McCann. They are joined by Martin Prado who makes his move to the outfield to play alongside Nate McLouth and a young stud, Jason Heyward.

The Atlanta Braves have some really good players from top to bottom, both on the hill and in the field. Their biggest concerns are going to be whether or not everyone can stay healthy. There is no telling what kind of contribution Jones will be able to make after his surgery. Hudson had an excellent season in 2010, but can he put it together again in 2011 and show everyone that it wasn't a fluke? Where is the Nate McLouth that everyone saw in previous years? While the lineup will be solid, there are still a few questions that surround the Braves this season. Many people think that the Braves can have another solid season, depending on how Gonzalez handles things from the bench. Will he be ready to step in and fill the shoes left by an iconic manager like Cox? The Braves should put everything together and make a strong run at the playoffs again this season. Atlanta will win another 90+ games and probably take the Wild Card from any of the other contenders in the NL West or Central. It just doesn't look like they will have the ability to dethrone the defending NL East champion Phillies.

Best Offensive Player- Jason Heyward
Biggest Rebound- Chipper Jones
The Pressure Is On- Dan Uggla, Nate McLouth, and Craig Kimbrel
Pleasant Surprise- Freddie Freeman

The NL East (Florida)

2011-03-23T09:57:00.000-04:00

Florida Marlins (80-82)- It seems like every season the Florida Marlins leave Spring Training with another new crop of young talent. Outside of a couple of outstanding years in 1997 and 2003, that group of individuals hasn't made much of a splash in terms of the division. The off-season in Florida saw the signing of former Yankee, SP Javier Vazquez along with the departures of 2B Dan Uggla and OF Cameron Maybin. After finishing at an unspectacular 2 games below .500 in the 2010 season, the Marlins are looking to be carried a lot of young talent in the 2011 campaign. Will it be enough to have any significant impact in an extremely tough NL East!?

The Marlins' starting rotation is centered around the performance of their ace, Josh Johnson. Johnson had a spectacular first half of the season, until he started to break down with back and shoulder concerns. Vazquez will be the second starter, followed by the trio of Ricky Nolasco, Chris Volstad, and Anibal Sanchez. Leo Nunez will lead the bullpen as the returning closer in Miami. The offensive side of the team is led by superstar SS Hanley Ramirez. 2B Omar Infante arrived in Florida through the Uggla trade. The rest of the infield consists of 1B Gaby Sanchez and C John Buck, with 3B Emilio Bonifacio and and Wes Helms battling it out for the starting job at the "Hot Corner". The outfield is made up of three young studs in Logan Morrison, Chris Coghlan, and Mike Stanton.

There are a lot of bright spots in the 2011 Marlins' roster, especially with their three outfielders all being under the age of 26. There is no telling what kind of players they will turn out to be in the future, but that does them no good during this season. The questions surrounding the health of Johnson will linger throughout the season until he can show consistency throughout the year. The lack of real veteran leadership is going to hurt the Marlins, especially if they have to deal with another episode of Ramirez jogging in the field. Florida will probably win another 80 games or so this year, finishing ahead of only the Nationals in the division. However, there is plenty of chatter about the Marlins possibly clicking on all cylinders and actually make a run for the Wild Card this season. If the Mets and Braves don't play up to their potential, the Marlins have the talent to surpass them and make a break for 2nd place in the division. They have strong cast, but there will probably need to be a couple more years of seasoning before the Marlins are back in their 2003 form.

Best Offensive Player- Hanley Ramirez
Biggest Rebound- Josh Johnson
The Pressure Is On- Javier Vazquez
Pleasant Surprise- Mike Stanton and Gaby Sanchez

The NL East (New York)

2011-03-23T09:03:00.003-04:00

New York Mets (79-83)- The New York Mets did one good thing for their fans in their 2010 season, and that was eliminate themselves from playoff contention well before the last week of September. Since then, there has been nothing for the Metropolitans and their fans to really be happy about. The biggest moves were the addition of GM Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins. The Mets ownership is facing the financial fallout of the Bernard Madoff debacle and legal issues over whether they knowingly invested in his Ponzi scheme. The team will also be without SP Johan Santana for the first couple months of the season due to his shoulder surgery in September.

The Mets are going to go with Mike Pelfrey as the act of their staff until Santana can get back to form. Pelfrey was very inconsistent last season, but he's the best of the remaining pitchers in the rotation. R.A. Dickey and Jon Niese both return as starters from last season. Free agent acquisitions Chris Young and Chris Capuano will also be in the mix, as will Dillion Gee. Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez is back as the closer, but there is no telling whether or not he'll be back to form after his legal battles and hand surgery. The offense is led by all-stars 3B David Wright and SS Jose Reyes on the left side of the infield. They are joined around the infield by 1B Ike Davis, 2B Daniel Murphy, and C Josh Thole. The outfield has some big names in Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran, complimented by the upstart Angel Pagan.

2011 is going to be another stressful season for the Metropolitans and their fans. Already facing an uphill battle in a competitive NL East, the Mets would need a lot of things to fall in place if they were to contend this season. They are also struggling with many different questions. Which Carlos Beltran will show up? Can David Wright stop leading the league in strikeouts? Is Jason Bay ready to be our big bat in the middle? What's the status of Jose Reyes and his contract? Are Ike Davis and Angel Pagan for real? Can they get by with Pelfrey as our ace until July? Pitching is going to be their biggest issue, especially because of the uncertainty that surrounds the return of Santana and the mental stability of K-Rod. With so many of their position players underperforming, you would have to expect that there are going to be some pretty strong turnarounds at the plate and in the field. Especially, with the team now being under new leadership and management. Look for the Metropolitans to bounce back and win 85 games, but still only finish 3rd in the division. There is always a lot of pressure in Queens for the Mets to do well, which will just add to the agony when they get shut down by the Braves and Phillies.

Best Offensive Player- Jason Bay
Biggest Rebound- Carlos Beltran
The Pressure Is On- Mike Pelfrey, Francisco Rodriguez, and Jose Reyes
Pleasant Surprise- Josh Thole

The NL East (Washington)

2011-03-23T00:17:00.005-04:00

There may be no reason to even preview the NL East with the way that things are stacked in Philadelphia. The return of SP Cliff Lee to the Phillies is unquestionably the biggest story in the division. Other storylines in the East will include the financial disaster surrounding the New York Mets and the second chapter of the Stephen Strasburg soap opera in Washington. It's going to be very difficult to dethrone Philadelphia as the division winner, but these other four teams are going to try as hard as they can.

Washington Nationals (69-93)- The Nationals could have possibly made the most scrutinized deal in the entire league with their signing of Jayson Werth to a 7-year, $128M contract. He will be asked to carry his weight, plus fill some of the void left by the departure of Adam Dunn in 2010. There are a lot of things working against the Nationals, especially with such a large sum of money tied up in one player. The Nats will also have to figure out what the deal is with the Stephen Strasburg saga and whether or not he will see more significant playing time in D.C.

The starting pitching for the Nationals does not boast any big names, but it does consist of a number of guys with some real major league experience. Livan Hernandez, Jason Marquis, and John Lannan are all solid starters. Tom Gorzelanny was acquired from the Cubs and he'll be mixed in to the rotation, as well as Jordan Zimmerman who is returning from Tommy John surgery. Obviously, there is no telling what will happen if Strasburg is brought back up to be a regular starter. Youngster Drew Storen will get the ball as the closer for the Nationals, in an otherwise lackluster bullpen. The offense is led by star 3B Ryan Zimmerman who continues to put up pretty consistent numbers. His counterpart at the other corner is recently signed free agent Adam LaRoche, who does bring a little bit of respect to the position as a replacement for Dunn. Veteran catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez will be behind the plate, with youngsters 2B Danny Espinosa and SS Ian Desmond up the middle. The outfield will have Werth, Nyjer Morgan, and Roger Bernadina manning the vast open space of RFK. OF Rick Ankiel arrived from Atlanta and should also see some sizable playing time.

The 2011 Nationals have a couple of big name players, but they won't make up for the majority of players that you've never heard of. Similar to their counterparts in Baltimore, the biggest issue facing the Nationals is that they play in an extremely competitive and difficult division. The inexperience at many key positions is going to keep the Nationals from winning any more than 70 games, especially when playing the Braves and Phillies 19 times this season. It will be interesting to see what happens with Strasburg and whether or not he'll come back in the middle of the season. The other story out of their farm system surround Bryce Harper and his progression from A ball up to the MLB. Outside of that, do not expect too much excitement to come out of Washington this season. The Nationals are making moves in the right direction, but this will definitely not be the year that the pieces fall into place.

Best Offensive Player- Ryan Zimmerman

Biggest Rebound- Adam LaRoche

The Pressure Is On- Jayson Werth and Drew Storen

Pleasant Surprise- Rick Ankiel

The NL Central (Cincinnati)

2011-03-22T23:37:00.005-04:00

Cincinnati Reds (91-71)- Not many people could have predicated the type of 2010 season that the Reds had, especially not when looking at the names on their roster. Yet somehow, they managed to be 20 games over .500 and fairly easily win the NL Central. In regards to the 2011 season, the only thing that the Reds did in the off-season was to follow in the footsteps of the Rockies and re-sign some of their big name guys. The Reds inked SP Johnny Cueto, SP Bronson Arroyo, 1B Joey Votto, and OF Jay Bruce to longterm contract extensions. Those four players alone could have just helped lock up the division for this coming season.

In the starting rotation, the Reds will be led by the newly extended Cueto and Arroyo. There are some injury/health concerns with Cueto, but nothing too serious that should keep him out for any significant amount of time. The back of the rotation will see the return of Edinson Volquez from Tommy John surgery, along with other names like Homer Bailey, Travis Wood, and Mike Leake. The top of the rotation is so heavy that any real production from the last two guys will just be that much more beneficial to the team. Fransisco Cordero will return as the closer; with young, fire-baller Aroldis Chapman, as his set-up man. The offense that carried the Reds to the division title is still pretty much in tact, led by reigning National League MVP Joey Votto at first base. His complimentary cast of characters around the infield include 2B Brandon Phillips, 3B Scott Rolen, SS Paul Janish, and C Ramon Hernandez. The Reds did trade for Edgar Renteria, but he'll likely be on the bench behind Janish. The outfield also packs a punch with Bruce, Drew Stubbs, and Jonny Gomes.

The Cincinnati Reds are the odds-on favorites to repeat as winners of the NL Central. With everyone back in place from last season, there is no reason to think that they can't do it again. While there are those who feel that the Reds over-performed last season, it's hard to argue the type of numbers that they were putting up in Cincy. There are some real, solid baseball players on the Reds who have brought a lot of life back into Ohio baseball. Look for the Reds to win another 90 games and beat out the Brewers for the division title again. The only thing keeping them from winning the division is themselves. Votto has exploded on the scene, just in time to continue the superstar first-baseman trend that continues to dominate the MLB. For the first time in many years, the best first-baseman in the NL Central was not a guy named Pujols, Lee, or Fielder. While they may not be favorites to win the World Series, the Reds should definitely be contender for the NL pennant in 2011!

Best Offensive Player- Joey Votto

Biggest Rebound- Scott Rolen

The Pressure Is On- Bronson Arroyo and Edinson Volquez

Pleasant Surprise- Drew Stubbs

The NL Central (St. Louis)

2011-03-22T09:10:00.006-04:00

St. Louis Cardinals (86-76)- The St. Louis Cardinals are home to the best hitter in the National League, arguably in the entire game. However, The Machine wanted $30 million dollars a season for the next 10 years to re-sign with them. Albert Pujols and his contract talk will be a huge distraction for the Cards this year, especially if there is talk of him taking off to Chicago or Los Angeles in 2012. Besides that, St. Louis enters the season having already lost IF Nick Punto to injury and SP Adam Wainwright to Tommy John surgery. With high expectations for this season, it will very interesting to see how Tony LaRussa can put everything together and get his team to focus on the tasks at hand.

The starting rotation was supposed to be the best in the NL Central, but the loss of Wainwright will make it difficult to support that argument. SP Chris Carpenter will just have to shoulder the load as the ace of the staff. He'll be backed up in the rotation by newly acquired SP Jake Westbrook second-year pitcher Jaime Garcia, and probably Kyle Lohse. It cannot be stressed enough how detrimental the Wainwright injury is to the starting rotation of the Cardinals. In their bullpen, Ryan Franklin returns to do the closing duties in 2011. The infield has a number of recognizable names, even after you move off of first base with Pujols. He'll be taking throws from C Yadier Molina, 2B Skip Schumaker, SS Ryan Theriot, and 3B David Freese. The outfield is highlighted by Matt Holliday who will be joined out there by Jon Jay and the recently signed veteran, Lance Berkman.

The St. Louis Cardinals will be among the most talked about teams in the 2011 season, with so many questions surrounding them. Moving past the Pujols contract issue and the loss of Wainwright for the season, the Cardinals will still deal with the offensive uncertainty surrounding Berkman and Theriot. They will also continue to deal with questions about their starting pitching. Carpenter could very well end up on the trading block by mid-season, especially if the season looks to be lost. The main question will be whether or not the players can compartmentalize all of this talk and focus on the game. The NL Central is going to be a tough division to win, which will not be an easy task for St. Louis this season. Look for the Cards to win 82 games and finish in 4th place ahead of the Astros and the Pirates. It's very possible that everyone springs to life and just explodes from the starting gate, but that scenario is not as likely as the first one. However, you can never doubt a team that has The Machine in the middle of their line-up.

Best Offensive Player- Albert Pujols

Biggest Rebound- David Freese

The Pressure Is On- Jake Westbrook and Kyle Lohse

Pleasant Surprise- Skip Schumaker

The NL Central (Milwaukee)

2011-03-22T08:41:00.004-04:00

Milwaukee Brewers (77-85)- During the 2010 baseball season, only 2 games separated the 3rd and 5th teams in the NL Central with the Brew Crew finishing just ahead of the Cubs and Astros. In the 2011 season, the Brewers are looking to take the next step with having added SP Zack Greinke from Kansas City and SP Shaun Marcum from Toronto. One area of concern is whether or not this is the last season for 1B Prince Fielder and 2B Rickie Weeks in Milwaukee with their pending free agencies. The other question is the mental and emotional state of Zach Greinke and whether or not he can return to 2009 numbers, now as the ace of the Brewers.

The starting pitching for the Brewers boasts some pretty solid arms, anchored down by the previously mentioned Greinke and Marcum. Both of these new pitchers have shown the ability to put up solid numbers, especially having faced dominant AL lineups for their former teams. The back of the rotation will have Yovani Gallardo and Randy Wolf, both guys who remained on the staff from last season. John Axford will return to his spot as the closer, with a bolstered bullpen to help get him the ball from the starters. The infield is highlighted by Fielder and Weeks, who are joined by 3B Casey McGehee, SS Yuniesky Betancourt, and C Jonathan Lucroy. They are combined with a solid outfield that includes superstar Ryan Braun, Corey Hart, and Carlos Gomez. Behind the pitcher, there aren't too many weak spots for the Brewers.

There is no telling what will happen with the Brewers in 2011, especially because a lot hinges on the throwing arms of their two newest members. However, the outlook is very bright for the upcoming season in Milwaukee. With impending free agency potentially taking away the right side of the infield, there is no better time for the Crew to strike and put it all together. While some other teams in the division facing formidable issues of their own, look for the Brewers to win 88-90 games and battle Cincinnati for the division title. They may not be heavy favorites to win the World Series, but the Brewers are definitely a playoff contender. Similar to the situation with the Cubs, the Crew just needs for their all-stars to play like all-stars and everything will fall in place. Expect big things to come out of Milwaukee this season!

Best Offensive Player- Ryan Braun

Biggest Rebound- Prince Fielder

The Pressure Is On- Zack Greinke and John Axford

Pleasant Surprise- Rickie Weeks

The NL Central (Houston)

2011-03-21T23:51:00.007-04:00

Houston Astros (76-86)- The Astros finished in 4th place in the NL Central in 2010 by 1 game over the Chicago Cubs. The chances of that happening again are almost slim to none with the outlook that Houston has for the 2011 season. With the departures of superstars like Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt, the Astros do not have much to look forward to in the 2011 season. Their biggest questions lie around whether or not they should keep spending the money to run that train that they have in the outfield at Minute Maid Park!

The starting pitching will not be the biggest concern for the Astros, as they are led by Wandy Rodriguez and Brett Myers at the top of their rotation. Rodriguez is the clear ace of the staff, but Myers pitched extremely well for them at the end of last season. Those two will be joined by another former Phillie in J.A. Happ, Bud Norris, and Nelson Figueroa. Brandon Lyon will be returning to fulfill the closer's role, especially because he is one of the only relief pitchers in Houston that anyone has heard of. The offense is going to be the biggest concern for the Astros as they inexperience at the corners and behind the plate. Around the horn, they will have 3B Chris Johnson, former Rockie SS Clint Barmes, former Brewer 2B Bill Hall, and 1B Brett Wallace with C Humberto Quintero behind the plate. The outfield is the most consistent; with Carlos Lee, Michael Bourne, and Hunter Pence manning those three positions.

The Astros are going to struggle to score runs and that will be their biggest point of concern. Their lack of offense and a solid bullpen will prove to be extremely costly in this division as they will struggle to win 70 games this year. With the loss of Berkman's bat in the middle of their lineup, it'll be up to various other position players to step up and fill that hole. The back of the rotation and the bullpen also scare many people in Houston, who really don't have much to be excited about in the 2011 season. There is some speculation that the Astros may actually fall into 6th place by allowing the Pirates to get out of the NL Central basement. There isn't much hope for the Astros, unless they can begin to rebuild their program from the ground up. Gone are the days of the "Killer B's" in Bagwell, Beltran, Biggio, and Berkman... as people now look to Wallace, Johnson, Barmes, and Bourne to take their place. Good luck living up to those expectations!

Best Offensive Player- Hunter Pence

Biggest Rebound- Carlos Lee

The Pressure Is On- The entire bullpen

Pleasant Surprise- Clint Barmes and J.A. Happ

The NL Central (Chicago)

2011-03-21T23:24:00.006-04:00

Chicago Cubs (75-87)- Let me start by saying that this is not the season that the storied "North-Siders" will be breaking the infamous "Curse of the Goat"! With a 5th place finish in the division last season, the Cubs will look to rebound with the addition of two former Tampa Bay Rays added to the club in SP Matt Garza and 1B Derrek Lee. The main questions for the Cubbies are going to be about rookie manager Mike Quade, the Ricketts family's ability to open up their mid-season wallets, and whether or not their stars can play like stars.

The rotation for the Cubs reads pretty nicely, being held down by the aforementioned Matt Garza as the new ace of the staff. Many people are interested to see how he pitches against NL Central opponents, now that he's out of the crazy AL East. Behind Garza, the Cubs will have Ryan Dempster, Randy Wells, Carlos Silva, and Carlos Zambrano. After last season, it'll be fun to see what Big Z still has left to offer. Carlos Marmol still looks to be the closer, but the return of Kerry Wood may make for a little bit of competition in the "stoppers" role for Chicago. In the field, 1B Carlos Pena will be filling the hole left by former Cub superstar Derrek Lee. Pena will be joined in the infield by 3B Aramis Ramirez, SS Starlin Castro, 2B Blake DeWitt, and C Geovany Soto. The outfield positions don't see much change from last season, with Alfonso Soriano, Marlon Byrd, and Tyler Colvin all returning to their positions. This leaves Kosuke Fukudome on the outside looking in, if Colvin continues to show consistent power numbers like he did last season.

The Chicago Cubs should be a bit better than they were last season, if their all-stars can play like all-stars. The number one thing that has hurt them in recent years has been inconsistency from their stars like Soriano, Lee, and Ramirez. If the starting pitching can come through and the superstars earn their pay by playing like everyone knows they can, the Cubs should be able to win at least 85 games this season. It may not be enough to win the division, but at least it'll put them in a position to at least vie for the Wild Card. There is nothing that baseball needs to see more than the Cubs breaking the curse, it just doesn't look like it'll be the case for the 2011 season. However, as long as Steve Bartman is banned from all incoming flights to Midway and O'Hare airports and all livestock are kept as far away from Addison and Sheffield as possible... who knows what could happen!?

Best Offensive Player- Carlos Pena

Biggest Rebound- Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez

The Pressure Is On- Carlos Zambrano and Carlos Marmol

Pleasant Surprise- Starlin Castro and Tyler Colvin

The NL Central (Pittsburgh)

2011-03-21T09:38:00.006-04:00

As we move on to the NL Central, there are various stories that will dominate the landscape of the the division this season. However, none of them will be bigger than that of Albert Pujols and his contract situation in St. Louis. Still, we start with the bottom of the division and the Pirates moving our way up to the 2010 NL Central champion Reds.

Pittsburgh Pirates (57-105)- The best thing about baseball in Pittsburgh in 2011, is that the people of the city are still happy that their Steelers made it to the Super Bowl and that their Penguins are Stanley Cup contenders again. There is nothing that would make anyone think that the Pirates will not be at the bottom of the NL Central again, especially after an abysmal 2010 season which saw them as the worst team in all of Major League Baseball. Luckily, most people in Pittsburgh don't even know that they have a baseball team.

The Pirates did make some off season moves, by signing a couple of guys to their starting rotation. In hopes of making them at least somewhat respectable, Scott Olsen and Kevin Correia were brought in to the mix. Both are guys who had some success in the NL East in previous years, before falling off the wagon. With no set ace or rotation, those guys will also be joined by Paul Maholm, Ross Ohlendorf, James McDonald, and Charlie Morton in the starting rotation. There is no telling who will make it out of Spring Training, but at least these are a couple guys that some people may have heard of before. Joel Hanrahan and Evan Meek will vie for the closer's role, with Hanrahan being the favorite for Opening Day. In their lineup, 1B Lyle Overbay joins the club and looks to bring some veteran leadership. He's joined around the horn by 3B Pedro Alvarez, SS Ronny Cedeno, 2B Neil Walker, and C Chris Snyder. In the outfield, the Pirates will have Matt Diaz, Garrett Jones, and Andrew McCutchen. Jones and McCutchen are pretty good players, but still don't bring the necessary firepower to do much lasting damage.

The Pirates are not going to be good enough to win 65 games this season, especially because they have to face divisional rivals like the Reds and Cards, over and over again. Their biggest weakness is their lack of financial support and their complete inexperience at various positions around the diamond. With so many young players, the Pirates would be surprised to do much better than they did last season. This season in Pittsburgh will be just another reason why football fans will be praying for the lockout to end as soon as possible.

Best Offensive Player- Andrew McCutchen

Biggest Rebound- Lyle Overbay

The Pressure Is On- Garrett Jones and the Starting Rotation

Pleasant Surprise- Pedro Alvarez

The NL West (San Francisco)

2011-03-20T16:53:00.002-04:00

San Francisco Giants (92-70)- The San Francisco Giants come into the 2011 season as the defending World Series Champions. That is the end of the story. Similar to the Rockies, their biggest moves came in the form of re-signing veteran players to keep their championship caliber team in tact. The only major change comes from the departure of Juan Uribe, which does not make that much of a difference. Especially not when you have one of the best pitching staffs in all of Major League Baseball.

"The Freak" Tim Lincecum returns to anchor an incredibly talented starting pitching rotation for the Giants. He's a Cy Young candidate every season and continues to hold his own as the ace of the staff. Lincecum is accompanied in the rotation by the likes of Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Madison Bumgarner, and Barry Zito. If that wasn't enough, Brian Wilson is also still around looking to cap off games as the closer. The starting and relief pitching will not be concerns for the Giants, especially not if those guys pitch anywhere close to how they did in 2010. 3B Pablo Sandoval aka Kung Fu Panda is back leading the offense for San Fran. He's rejoined by 1B Aubrey Huff, 2B Freddie Sanchez, and last year's NL Rookie of the Year in C Buster Posey. The only new addition is veteran SS Miguel Tejada who comes in to replace the departed Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe. The outfield has Cody Ross and Andres Torres in place, but there is still some question as to who will join them. At this point, there is no telling who will get the majority of the at-bats in that third and final position. They may just play it by committee.

The Giants are primed for another run at the NL West title, with only a few small questions still lurking after the Winter. With a filthy starting rotation and a strong bullpen, the Giants pitching takes a lot of pressure off of their offense. While the names of the players in their batting order doesn't scare too many people, their starting pitching screams dominance. Unless the Giants are hampered by injuries or a total collapse from their star players, they should easily win 90+ games and take the division crown. While they will have to contend with the Dodgers and Rockies, their starting pitching is good enough to carry them right to the top.

Best Offensive Player- Buster Posey

Biggest Rebound- Pablo Sandoval

The Pressure Is On- Barry Zito

Pleasant Surprise- Mark DeRosa

The NL West (San Diego)

2011-03-20T16:30:00.002-04:00

San Diego Padres (90-72)- The San Diego Padres won 90 games last season and just missed winning the NL West by 2 games to the San Fransisco Giants, but that was before their best offensive player and ace starting pitcher left for other teams. First baseman Adrian Gonzalez and Starting Pitcher John Garland both departed from the Padres, now set to play with the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively. Even in a team sport like baseball, the loss of those two players will have a devastating effect on the Padres this season.

The departure of the aforementioned Garland leaves a huge hole at the top of the starting rotation, which looks to be filled by Mat Latos. He's only 23 years old, but will have to step up into the #1 spot, if the Padres have any chance of being a contender this season. Latos will be accompanied in the starting rotation by Clayton Richard, Tim Stauffer, and former Red, Aaron Harang. With one of the best bullpens in the MLB last season, the Padres bring back closer Heath Bell and a various cast of solid relief arms. The problem will just be getting Bell into save situations. Gonzalez will not be easily replaced at first, but the Padres will try their best with the combination of Jorge Cantu and Brad Hawpe. The double-play combination combines former Minnesota 2B Orlando Hudson and former Tampa Bay SS Jason Bartlett. 3B Chase Headley and C Nick Hundley are the only two players that remained from last season. The outfield is made up of former St. Louis OF Ryan Ludwick, along with Cameron Maybin and Will Venable.

The 2011 San Diego Padres have some newly institued veteran leadership in all different areas, but nobody that stands out as a superstar. The lack of Gonzalez's bat in the middle of their line-up, the Padres are going to be searching far and wide for the power that they will need to compete in the NL West. Outside of Harang, their starting pitching lacks any real experience. They have too many question marks in key positions for the Padres to really make any significant run at the playoffs in 2011. It looks like San Diego will drop from a 90 win team down to a 75-77 win team. They will probably finish 4th in the NL, just ahead of the D-Backs. Unless, of course, their players can really step up and show the world that "Yo-Adrian" was not their whole team in SD.

Best Offensive Player- Cameron Maybin

Biggest Rebound- Ryan Ludwick

The Pressure Is On- Mat Latos and Orlando Hudson

Pleasant Surprise- Aaron Harang

The NL West (Colorado)

2011-03-20T15:49:00.003-04:00

Colorado Rockies (83-79)- The biggest moves that the Rockies made in the offseason did not involve bringing any new faces. Their biggest deals were re-signing three of their best players to long-term deals. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, Outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, and Starting Pitcher Jorge De La Rosa all signed big contracts to solidify the core of the Rockies for many years to come. However, that will not help Colorado from stumbling through the final couple weeks of September and out of playoff contention like they did in 2010. The Rockies have some key pieces in place, but can they put everything together again like they did in 2007!?

The starting rotation of the Rockies is very much anchored by Ubaldo Jimenez, who started off last season as a surefire lock for the NL Cy Young Award. Unfortunately for the Rockies, he only won 4 games after the All-Star break and totally fell of track in the 2nd half of the season. Only time will tell which Jimenez will show up for the Rockies this season. De La Rosa is a strong number 2 starter for the Rockies, who will also have Jason Hammel, Jhoulys Chacin, and Aaron Cook. Huston Street looks to fill the closer role once again, hoping to return to form. In the field, the Rockies are led by all-stars Tulowitzki in the infield and Gonzalez in the outfield. 1B Todd Helton, 3B Ian Stewart, 2B Jose Lopez, and C Chris Iannetta round out the infield. Dexter Fowler will play alongside Gonzalez in the outfield, while Seth Smith and Ryan Spillborghs platoon in right field.

The Rockies have a number of absolute studs on their team, but they are the epitome of being a top heavy team. After Tulo and Car-Go, their offensive production completely falls off. The same is said for their pitching, after De La Rosa and Jimenez. The main question continues to be whether or not their stars can carry them all the way through September. Everything seems to point to another disappointing season in Colorado, where the Rockies will probably finish exactly where they finished last season. At about 85 wins, Colorado will miss the playoffs again. They will definitely play a factor in the NL Wild Card, but won't be good enough to beat out all of the other competitors.

Best Offensive Player- Troy Tulowitzki

Biggest Rebound- Huston Street

The Pressure is On- Jorge De La Rosa

Pleasant Surprise- Dexter Fowler

The NL West (Los Angeles)

2011-03-20T15:17:00.006-04:00

Los Angeles Dodgers (80-82)- The Los Angeles Dodgers will be under new leadership as the 2011 campaign gets underway. Former manager Joe Torre retired and joined the MLB front office as the Vice President of Baseball Operations. This leaves the duties to rookie manager Don Mattingly. With this being "Donnie Baseballs" first season as manager, it should be interesting to see what happens with the Dodgers who drastically underperformed last season. A sub-500 season is just not acceptable in LA and the Dodgers will look to come back strong this season.

The starting rotation is anchored by numerous seasoned veterans with a mixing in of a couple younger arms. Ted Lilly, Vincente Padilla, and Hiroki Kuroda are all still around from last season. Newcomer John Garland also joins the staff, which still includes Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley. Jonathan Broxton returns to the Dodgers as the closer, but will really need to have strong first half of the season or he will be replaced by any one of the other members of a deep LA bullpen. There aren't too many changes in the LA lineup, with 1B James Loney, SS Rafael Furcal, 3B Casey Blake, and C Rod Barajas all still in place. The Dodgers did lure away SS Juan Uribe from the Giants, which is the only major change in their lineup. It will be interesting to see who plays 2nd base, as both Furcal and Uribe are shortstops. The outfield will be anchored by Matt Kemp and Andre Either, with left field being open for competition during Spring Training. There are currently four players that could potentially win that starting spot.

Los Angeles needs a major bounce back season from numerous players on their roster, especially after their terribly disappointing 2010 campaign. Now under new leadership, it will be imperative for Mattingly to get his guys off on a fast start. Even though he has veterans in every position, there is still need for the Dodgers to show everyone that they can and will contend for the NL West. If their offense can produce the type of numbers that their capable of, the Dodgers can absolutely win 85-90 games and put themselves in a position to earn a playoff berth. The loss of Manny Ramirez will not kill them, as long as whoever steps into left field can hold his own. The starting pitching also has great potential to put a stamp on the division, as long as everyone stays healthy.

Best Offensive Player- Matt Kemp

Biggest Rebound- Andre Ethier

The Pressure Is On- Jonathon Broxton and Clayton Kershaw

Pleasant Surprise- Chad Billingsley

The NL West (Arizona)

2011-03-20T14:40:00.009-04:00

With March Madness well underway and the NBA regular season continuing, baseball fans are very excited about there only being 10 days left before Opening Day! The UConn Huskies advanced to the Sweet Sixteen with a win over Cincinnati last night and the Boston Celtics are tied atop the Eastern Conference with the Bulls after beating New Orleans. With both of my basketball teams doing just fine, I turned my attention to the ICC World Cup where India defeated West Indies by 80 runs today. As all of my favorites teams, not the Cowboys and the Russian Polo squad, in good positions right now; I am ready to turn some of my attention the MLB!

As we get prepared for the upcoming Major League Baseball season, I was asked to do a preview of the upcoming baseball season. With that, I am going to breakdown every one of the divisions over the next 6 days. I will start in the NL West and then make my way to the AL East. Today, We start with the defending World Series Champions and their National League West counterparts.

Arizona Diamondbacks (65-97)- The D-Backs only won 65 games last season and probably won't fair much better in the 2011 season. They have looked to reload the bullpen, which was one of the worst in the MLB last year. However, a lack of strong starting pitching does not inspire too much hope in Arizona.

Their projected starting rotation consists of Daniel Hudson, Ian Kennedy, Zach Duke, and Armando Galarraga. J.J. Putz looks to anchor a terribly ineffective bullpen as the new full time closer. The biggest problem for Arizona's pitching staff will be getting the ball to Putz, who hasn't actually been an everyday closer since the 2007 campaign. The position players don't strike much fear into the opponents either. The D-Backs have 3B Melvin Mora, 1B Juan Miranda, and 1B/3B Geoff Blum all looking to split playing time at the corners. SS Stephen Drew and 2B Kelly Jonhson are still in place up the middle, with C Miguel Montero behind the plate. Justin Upton, Xavier Nady, and Chris Young are set to be the three guys roaming the outfield in Arizona.

The Diamondbacks don't have much hope in the 2011 season. With a very inexperienced starting rotation and no real ace to lead them, their problems start right from the top. The bullpen was awful last season and shouldn't be too much better this year, unless they can find a way to rejuvenate Putz and consistently get him into save situations. Offensively, the losses of Mark Reynolds and Adam LaRoche are also going to hurt them. I don't foresee the D-Backs winning many more than 70 games this season. They play in a tough division and won't be able to stack up against the likes of the Giants or the Rockies.

Best Offensive Player- Chris Young

Biggest Rebound- Justin Upton

The Pressure Is On- J.J. Putz

Pleasant Surprise- Daniel Hudson

Holi Mubarak!

2011-03-19T19:48:00.002-04:00

Today marks the beginning of Holi! With that being said, Holi is a holiday for people to reflect on their lives and get rid of some of the negatives. It's a holiday where Pralad sat on Holika's lap in the fires during his solemn penance to lord Vishnu. It showed his true love and devotion to the lord as Holika was burnt, but Pralad escaped unharmed. The holiday is capped off by the festival of colors and a bonfire. It's a big deal in the Hindu religion and not a holiday that is taken lightly.

With that being said, today was a day of a lot of reflection. Things have not been going as well as I would like them to, which means that there is no time like the present to fix those things. The biggest issue has been with my own emotional wellbeing. My biggest concern has been coming from the people that I have allowed to control my emotions and mood. I feel like the wrong people have been given then the keys to my life and I need to get them back. At this point, I can no longer allow for others to have such a strong ability to affect my emotions based on their actions. Even though that was a goal of mine for 2011, it has not been going as well as I had hoped. For that reason, I know that I need to work on that. After that, I know that I need to keep myself mentally focused on the things that are in my power to change. There is absolutely no point in worrying about things that I have no control over, especially if they are not directly related to me. These are the two major things that I need to work on more as the year progresses.

I have also realized that I'm looking for someone. Subconsciously, some of my unhappiness comes from a feeling of my life being incomplete. It seems that everyone around me has that one special person that they are always with or who cares deeply about them, but I don't have that person. That then pushes me to care and worry more about the people who don't need me to be as involved as I am, especially for people like my little sisters. I know that I'm misdirecting some of that love and energy that should be given to this one "special" person to other people, which is putting some strain on our relationships. As I realized that today, it's just another thing that I know that I need to work on. I just hope I find someone soon or figure this out, because it's really having a negative effect on my mood.

However, it is a holiday! Rishwa and Samir are here for the night. It's good to see her again so soon, especially because I didn't get to see her much during her Spring Break. We're having a good amount of people to the house tomorrow, which will also be good. I'm going to do my best to keep positive and not be focused on the wrong things. Let's go. HOLI MUBARAK everyone!

Day By Day

2011-03-13T22:30:00.003-04:00

Today was Selection Sunday in the NCAA where the 68 men's college basketball teams are selected for the tournament. March Madness officially began today which means that baseball season is right around the corner. The UConn Huskies won the Big East Championship last night over Louisville, which earned them a 3 seed in their bracket. It'll be interesting to see what happens this year with the team, especially because they have seemed very inconsistent in their play even on their way to winning the Big East tournament. I'm just glad that they won and that March Madness means Opening Day will be coming soon.

Other than that, it's been a fairly normal week in my life. The LENT sacrifice continues as we move on with not eating between 7:00 PM and 7:00 AM. As I found out, the weekend is absolutely going to be the hardest time to keep focused on my goal. It's much easier not to eat after I get home from work at 10:00 PM than it is to sit at home and not eat anything in the late evenings. However, I know that I just need to stay focused and should have no problems.

Everything else is going fine. Rishwa was home on Spring Break over the last week, even though I didn't get to see her very much. With my work schedule and her sleep schedule, I probably saw her for a total of 4 hours during the entire time that she was home. She will be back next weekend, so I'm not too upset that we didn't get to spend much time together. She liked my gifts that I got her from Disney World, as did everyone else that I got something for. Even though I spent a solid amount of money on the items, I'm glad that I took the time to buy something for everyone and that they loved them.

Other than that, there continues to be drama with different members of the Administration. Luckily, I'm not involved in any of it so it doesn't consume my life. I am making my best efforts to stay focused on my work and not think about what everyone else is doing.

The last note is that I went and saw Kimmy at the hospital where she was transferred on Friday. It's a rehabilitation type of facility, but one that she absolutely hates being at. Her condition has drastically improved, as we were able to have a conversation and talk about how things are going. I was there for probably 25 minutes and we just chatted about things. I'm glad that she's doing so much better, even though she's miserable being confined to her room and supervised activities. At this point, all of that is just exponentially better than where she was a couple weeks ago. It was an amazing recovery and I'm just so glad that she's doing so well.

Post 250: LENT

2011-03-09T23:27:00.003-05:00

So... my 250th post has finally arrived. With my not posting everyday anymore, it has taken a lot longer than it should have. However, we are finally here! I look forward to the day when I take some time to just go through and read everything that is saved here.

I just wanted to write about my sacrifice for LENT. Even though I'm not Catholic, I have been making the 40 day sacrifiece for the last few years. I have given up different types of food, but this time I wanted to do something harder. I decided that I would give up eating solid food from 7:00 PM until 7:00 AM. I feel like I end up eating a lot of junk food during that half of the day, so now I'm just going to fast for those 12 hours everyday. It shouldn't be too difficult because of my late work schedule and my need to sleep through most of that time, so we shall see how it goes. With today being Ash Wednesday, it was my first night of making the sacrifice. So far... so good!

The other big thing about today is that it marks the anniversary of Christopher "Notorious BIG" Wallace's death. As someone who is a huge fan of hip hop and especially Biggie Smalls, it's always good to see the outpouring of love that comes out on March 9th for the rap/hip hop legend. Even so many years after his death, people still love his music and his contributions to the genre. Rest in Peace Notorious BIG!

Disney World!

2011-03-07T23:18:00.008-05:00

Early this morning, I arrived home from my 5 day trip to Orlando, Florida. It was an interesting trip which did not go how I expected. There were some really great parts and some tougher parts. However, I'm glad that I had the opportunity to spend some time with my Administration officials and to make the trip.

I flew down on Wednesday afternoon from Hartford. Knowing full well that I was going to attend ESPN: The Weekend, I half expected to see some people in the airport heading down to Orlando for the same reasons. Actually, I ended up being in the terminal at the same time that a couple ESPN personalities were heading down for the same trip. Mike Golic, Colin Cowherd, and Karl Ravich were all at Bradley Airport at the same time that I was. I spoke to Mr. Ravich about the upcoming baseball season and talked a little bit about his perspective on it. It was an exciting way to begin my trip. The flight was uneventful and I made it to the resort without any problems. That night, we just hung out around Downtown Disney and sat by the pool. It was a pretty relaxing day.

The next day, the four guys woke up early to attend a live taping of Mike and Mike in the Morning. The CJC had made reservations for us to attend the show, so we woke up early and went out to the Wide World of Disney complex to watch them tape the show. It was really awesome to see the guys up close and just see how a taping works. It was interesting to see the tape delay on television as well as how the production team works with the hosts to run the 4-hour show. We had to go pick up the dCOS's girlfriend from the airport, so we didn't stay to see anyone at the taping. That day, the six of us went to EPCOT for the day. The weather was nice and it wasn't too packed, so we were able to do a couple of rides and attractions before heading over to Hollywood Studios for "Fantasmic" in the evening.

Friday was the best day of the entire trip, with ESPN: The Weekend kicking off at Hollywood Studios. It was really special to see all of these huge superstar athletes and television/radio personalities in the same place.

The list of people that I saw includes Dr. J, Chad

Johnson, Rashard Mendenhall, Bernie Williams, Frank Thomas, Karl Malone, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, and a few other big time people. This picture is actually of me on televsion asking Bernie Williams a question about his favorite World Series Championship. It was really special for a huge sports fan like myself, especially because it mixed together Disney World, a few really close friends, and sports! That day, I also got cast as an extra in the Indiana Jones show, which was just another exciting thing that happened. That night, we just hung out at the resort and ordered pizza.

Saturday wasn't anything too exciting as half of the group stayed in the resort to tan and relax while the other three of us went to Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom to finish off the rotation of parks. The places were both really packed, but it was nice to just see the other two theme parks and do the important rides and attractions that we had come to see. Yesterday was pretty ridiculous in terms of my return trip, with my flight being delayed by 2 hours and 15 minutes, which meant I didn't take off from Orlando until 9:35 PM and landed in Hartford around midnight. Everyone else had left for their respective destinations earlier in the day, so I spent the entire day by myself at the airport. It was not a fun way to end the trip. However, I'm still glad that I went.

As usual, there was plenty of drama with this trip. The fact that the SoD's relationship situation is in a huge state of flux was an underlying theme for the entire weekend. It didn't help in terms of his stress level, or for the stress level for the entire group. Also, there was some huge drama in Chicago with Behna and her boyfriend, which I heard about for over an hour on Thursday night. On top of that, the last guy on my team decided to quit working for us which means that I'll be dealing with that setback starting tomorrow. All in all, it was a lot of fun. I just wish that the circumstances that surrounded this trip were different. At this point, I am just going to cherish the memories and look forward!

Status Report

2011-02-27T20:38:00.004-05:00

Since Thursday morning, I have stopped by the hospital twice to see how Kimmy's been doing. Today, she was moved from the ICU over to the intermediate treatment wing. She's still heavily sedated and dealing with many different ailments, but there are many positive signs. It's been really tough to see her lying in the room, but I'm just overjoyed that she averted any long term damage or complications. Many people have been reaching out to help, but it's been good to actually visit the hospital and spend some time with her family and friends. These kind of things are always so difficult to deal with, especially because it was so unexpected and such an avoidable situation. At this point, I just keep praying that she'll have a speedy recovery and everything will be back to normal soon.

Besides this situation, things were fairly good this past week. One other negative thing that happened was that the screen on my cellphone randomly stopped working on Friday night, which now means that it'll take a while to get it fixed. I'm currently using an older phone to carry me through the next 10 days or so, but it's just a major annoyance dealing with a different phone and having change everything again. Otherwise, I had a good week at work with my last necessary guy getting hired and becoming an Account Executive. Once this guy becomes promoted, which should happen by the end of the week... I will officially start the push to become an assistant manager. I have a very good group of guys and I'm ready to make the push, once I come back from Orlando.

The Disney World trip should be a lot of fun, especially because it'll be one of the first times that a number of my Administration guys and I will be going out of town together. We did the Cape Cod trip in the summer, but it wasn't anything like this. I'm especially excited because it'll be a trip to Disney World for ESPN: The Weekend, which basically just mixes together a number of my favorite things. I'm ready to get out of here and have some time to unwind after a crazy last few weeks. It's just been difficult to deal with the emotional and mental stress from this Kimmy situation, the dCOD and her hospital visit, the SoD breaking up with his girlfriend, and all of the drama that comes from having 4 younger sisters! As much as I ask to be the "go to" guy, it has become tough to to deal with in these last couple weeks.

Terrible News

2011-02-25T00:17:00.003-05:00

It's been a tough past 24 hours. My former Administration member, Kimmy, is currently in the hospital dealing with life-threatening injuries sustained in a drunken car accident from last night. She was a pedestrian and was hit by a drunk driver outside of a college campus where she had been partying. Currently, she's dealing with some major injuries including potentially serious brain/head issues. I'm just so overwhelmed by this that I don't even know what else to say. I'm just praying that my girl will be okay.

For more information, check out the link to the story. http://www.wfsb.com/news/26976693/detail.html

The Time Has Come To Talk Of Many Things...

2011-02-20T09:48:00.004-05:00

The last week was had numerous things happen in it, just nothing that was noteworthy enough to write about at that time. Valentine's Day came and went on Monday, with nothing major happening. With all of my life being dedicated to work and my closest friends and family, the "holiday" was not really anything different than any other day of the week. I'm also the type of person to think that every day should be celebrated as Valentine's Day, so it's even less of a reason as to why people should go crazy for one particular day. Outside of that, the week was pretty normal with work and life. It was my mother's birthday on Friday, so that was something different. I didn't have the chance to spend much time with her because of work, but I did get her a card and some small things. I continue to feel like nothing new is happening, but I know that will change in a couple weeks when a couple of Administration members and I head down to Orlando for ESPN: The Weekend. I'm excited about that.

In other news, the ICC World Cup started up yesterday with India beating Bangladesh by 87 runs. Even though most people in the United States don't care about cricket, it's still pretty exciting when the World Cup is being played! Especially because India has a really solid team and could very well vie for the championship! Also in sports, the NBA is at the All-Star break and it was interesting to see the All-Star festivities last night. I really enjoy it because it's something that only happens once a season and brings some new life to the redundancy of an 82-game season.

One thing that I was just notified about was that the DCD was in the hospital, with some pretty severe complications from a spell of dizziness that led to her fainting and having an extended hospital stay. She fell down and hit her head really hard, so they had to run a spinal tap and ran numerous tests to make sure that things were okay. At this point, they are still unsure of what was the cause of her fainting. It's just really scary to hear stories like this, especially about someone that is so close to me. Her mom and boyfriend were there at the hospital with her, otherwise I would definitely have made the trip out to PA to be by her side. While I'm not happy about the fact that I was just recently told of this, I'm just glad that she's okay.

I guess there really aren't too many dull moments in my life...

The UNHCR and Promotion Party

2011-02-13T15:50:00.004-05:00

This week brought about another party in New York City as another person was being promoted to assistant manager. The beginning of the week was pretty uneventful, as it continued to be the same as every other week. On Wednesday night, my manager told me that I would going down to NYC on Friday with a couple other people from my office to be present at the promotion party and to also check out the UNHCR campaign. Nothing noteworthy, that I can write about publicly, happened until Friday.

On Friday morning, we left early in the morning to head to mid-town Manhattan for the promotion. Five of us, including my manager, were on the trip. The promotion was pretty boring, as the real fun of the day was shadowing people working with the UNHCR. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees is a sister organization to UNICEF, helping mainly women and children around the world that are in disaster areas ravaged by natural disasters and other major conflicts or events. The people that I was shadowing, went out to different neighborhoods in New York City and basically were collecting donations. It was a really interesting experience to roam around a few blocks in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and ask people for donations to the United Nations. The girl I was with is also a Senior Corporate Trainer in her company, so we were able to discuss many different aspects about the business as well as have fun. I wasn't really happy about the safety situation, especially for her as we were definitely not in a "safe" environment. However, we played it off and had a good time nonetheless. It will be interesting to see what happens in terms of whether or not we decide to work with the UN in the future months after relocation. After a full day of that, we all went out to a couple bars to celebrate the promotion. That's where the night got pretty crazy as people ended up getting more drunk than they should have and we got locked out of the apartment we were supposed to be crashing in. We ended up staying in a hotel in New Jersey, which turned out to be fine. It just made for a really crazy night, as we had to walk some 25 blocks to get my car at 3:30 AM. I love New York City, but those type of nights just stress me out.

Other than my trip to New York City, nothing much has been going on. My life continues to revolve around my work and my dealings with the drama that continues to consume the people closest to me. I know that I'm going to have to put my foot down someday and tell these people that I need to take a break from being there for them all of the time, but right now is not the best time for that. I just need to hurry up and get promoted, so I can move back to Chicago and that should really help things out considerably.

One piece of really good news is that pitchers and catchers reported in the MLB, which means that Spring and baseball season are right around the corner! Until then, GO CELTICS!

Super Bowl Sunday

2011-02-06T22:24:00.003-05:00

It is officially Super Bowl Sunday and the "big game" just ended with the Green Bay Packers beating the Pittsburgh Steelers by a final score of 31-25. I wasn't really rooting for either team to win, but I'm kind of glad that the Steelers did not win their 3rd championship in the last 6 years. Either way, it was a pretty good game and I watched with the male Administration members and their girlfriends. It was good to just hang out and watch some football, especially with all of us having such ridiculously busy schedules. The game is over though, which means that the world can now focus on basketball season and the upcoming spring training.

In terms of real life, things have been going fairly well with my new position at work. As a Senior Corporate Trainer, I now sit on weekly conference calls as well as manage my team of people. I had one of my guys quit unexpectedly yesterday, which was pretty tough to handle. However, I know that it's a part of business and I should get used to that if I want to run my own company one day. Otherwise, my team has been putting up some pretty good numbers and should be ready to begin my push for assistant manager as soon as recruiting picks up again. It's been really tough to interview people with the terrible weather we have been having, but that should be fixed over the coming weeks. It's hard to look too far into the future, when I know that my whole team could fall apart at a moment's notice. At this point, I'm just trying to stay positive and look at the bright side of right now.

Outside of work, there hasn't been much going on with me. There is always some drama out in Chicago, but nothing that I want to get into details about. Everything that happens always seems to be the biggest and worst of all possible eventualities, which only makes them that much more difficult to deal with from here. As my sisters, family, and friends continue to deal with things... I just keep focused on the goal of moving back to Chicago by the end of 2011. Then, I'll be in the area and can actually do something about all of the craziness that seems to be encompassing so many people that I care about. In positive news, a big shout out to Shreya Behn and Phil on their engagment. I'm really excited for her and at the thought of another Baxi family wedding coming up soon!

Promotion!

2011-01-28T23:11:00.004-05:00

This has been a pretty tough week. After arriving home on Tuesday, the last thing that I really wanted to do was to think about work. Even though my trip was over, I was still mentally in Chicago. Even now... there are many times when I catch myself thinking about my sisters, family, or friends in the Greater Chicago area. With all of the drama that transpired over last weekend, it's been really difficult to stay mentally present.

Today, things took a small turn for the better as I officially got promoted today to Senior Corporate Trainer. This basically is a title bump, but a huge title bump in that it means I'm very close to begin working on getting promoted to Assistant Manager. It means that I have a significant number of people on my own team and that my team consistently produces a certain amount of profit for the company. I'm just excited because it means that I'm moving in the right direction and that I'm just so close to beginning to realize my goals. Romz already said it, but this really just means that I'm one step closer to being back in Chicago for good!

An Update from Chi-Town Part 2

2011-01-25T14:33:00.004-05:00

After staying over at Vino's apartment on Sunday night, yesterday was a pretty eventful day. The campus was alive with students heading off to class and it really made me miss my days as a college student. With the new construction going on, it was also surreal to see how different things have become in the past 12 months.

My first stop was to see Sabrina at her apartment. The story of how Sabrina and I met is a really random and funny one. I had just transferred to LUC when Sabrina was an incoming freshman. We met on a school trip to the area Target, where Sabrina was heading to return a microwave that was broken. Being that I was on the trip just to do some small shopping, I offered to carry the microwave into the store for her. After we did our own shopping, Sabrina then had the issue of carrying her replacement microwave back to the bus and then to her room. Of course, I could not just let her go and do that by herself so I carried the microwave to her residence hall. Since that day, Sabrina and I remained friends and would run into each other all around campus. With my visit being so sudden, she wasn't sure if we would have time to hang out... but we figured it out. I spent about an hour and a half at her apartment catching up on things and just talking about our lives. It was amazing to see how easy it was for us to pick right up after not having seen each other for months. It definitely was a good start to the day. After leaving Sabrina's apartment, I went and had lunch with Mauli. We sat and talked about what's going on with all this drama and caught up on each other's lives for another 2+ hours. Mauli and I talk on a regular basis, so it wasn't as if we needed to catch up on months of stories. Still, we sat and just chatted for a while.

Once lunch was over, I did not have any definite plans so I just hung out on campus and met up with some administrators and staff members that worked in the various student-related departments. Nothing really happened that was noteworthy, outside of donating blood and going to the aarti and surprising everyone that had come to participate yesterday. It's always funny to see everyone's reactions, especially now that I don't look anything like what I used to look like when I attended LUC. I hung out with different people throughout the day, just for a few minutes to catch up and show my face. The evening was devoted to more time being spent with the raas team and helping them prepare for their competition on Saturday. After that was over, I went back to talk to Behna one more time before I left. It was another really heartfelt but difficult conversation to have, but I think we left it in a good spot. I spent the night at Vino's place again, before Romz rode the train with me to the airport and I made my way back home.

Overall, I would have to the say that the trip was a B+. In terms of my reason and objective for making the trip, nothing significant was accomplished except for laying the groundwork if there is (God forbid) a next time. Outside of that, it was really good to see everyone and hang out for a couple days. I'm glad that I still have a significant number of friends out there that would help me out if I needed anything. I'm also glad that I got to spend some quality time with people and didn't have to worry about doing anything else other than what I wanted. Even though I'm worried about what's going to happen next, I'm still glad that I made the decision to go. If nothing else, this trip proved that I care enough to be there no matter what. It sends the message that you don't mess with the family.... end of story. Now it's back to my regularly scheduled programming...

An Update from Chi-Town

2011-01-23T22:17:00.005-05:00

It's Sunday night, which means that more than half of my trip out here to Chicago has already finished. I'm sitting in Romz's apartment right now with nothing to do, so I figured that I might as well get started on recapping the first part of my secret business trip.

I flew in to Midway Airport early yesterday morning, with my touching down at about 9:30 CT. I wanted to spend as much time out here as possible, so I took the first flight out. By the time I made my way up to Rogers Park, it was about 11:00 AM. Even though it was late morning, most of the people were still sleeping and/or recovering from their Friday night activities. First, I went over to visit Kate and dropped my bag off at her apartment. After that, she and I went to the women's basketball game where she had to work. I got to see a couple of other people that I was supposed to see, who also happened to be working at the double-header that Loyola was hosting yesterday afternoon. After a quick stay at the game, I went over to Simpson and hung out at the raas practice. LUC recently created their inaugural competitive raas/bhangra team, which I would have loved to participate in had I still been a student here. I got to see a lot of my friends that still go here, as a majority of the team is comprised of people that I danced with in the SASA show. It was wonderful to see them and help coach and critique their rehearsal. They showed me a lot of respect, for being a choreographer/dancer myself. I basically spent the majority of the day with that group, as the hours quickly passed while they continued to practice for their show next weekend. Romz is on the team, which also allowed me to spend some time with her as well as the entire rest of the squad.

Around 7:30, I went over to Vino's apartment to pick her up for dinner. She had decided to try out Lou Malnatis, so we took the train up to Evanston to eat. It's always a great time hanging out with her and dinner was nothing different. It was really wonderful to see her after 5 months. We split a pizza and then made our way back to her place to hang out. I did not make any concrete plans otherwise, which allowed me to be very flexible in my scheduling. Around 11:00 PM, I came back here to Romz's apartment where Neha and Behna were waiting for me. Neha had come to visit for the weekend, so Behna wanted to take her out and show her a Saturday night in the "college" life. I wasn't up for anything crazy, as I was still pretty upset at that point. We all just ended up at Hamiltons to hang out for a couple hours. It was packed, as usual. Nothing much happened there, besides seeing a couple of people that I randomly bumped into. It's always so funny to see people's facial expressions and reactions when they realize that it's me. After Hamiltons, we all came back here because the girls were hungry. We brought them back to Mertz and then came back. Romz and I finally had our chance to talk, which did not go as well as I had hoped. As usual, people keep listening to that damn Jamie Foxx song and "blame everything on the alcohol". As a non-drinker, I will never understand how that works. Anyway, we should be back on good terms now.

As a side note, I do have to say that it really bothers me when people try to claim that I love some of my family members more than the others. Anyone who knows me understands that family is very important and that's it. I don't play favorites and just the notion that I love one of my sisters or cousins more than the others is just plain ridiculous. It was brought up as a possible concern recently and I just needed to publicly refute that idea.

This morning, I went to brunch with Kate around 11:00 AM. It was a quick meal, as we didn't have much new to discuss. Even though I haven't seen her in months, I'd been pretty well updated on what had been going on in her life. After brunch, I came back to the apartment to hang out. Romz left to go do her things and I headed off to see Behna and finally have the "talk" that I had flown out to Chicago for. While the Bears game was on, I decided to sit down and discuss the situation at hand. This was just a little bit more important to me than watching the football game, even if it was the Packers and Bears in the NFC title game. Anyway... things went pretty well. We had a productive and necessary conversation, which made my trip out to Chicago well worth it. I definitely would not have been able to say the same things or really hammer the points home as well on the phone or on Skype. After that, we also went out to Evanston to have a quick bite at Panera. Behna loves that place, so I figured I would take her. After that, she went back to her place and I returned to this apartment. Since then, I've been hanging out and just waiting for Vino to call so I can go to her place.

I have a number of people still left to see tomorrow, which will be really good to end the trip on a positive note. I came out here with one purpose and one goal in mind. Even though I was not able to produce the results that I wanted to, I know that this was absolutely the best decision. Days like this, times like these, and situations similar to this one are what define my relationships with the people that are important to me. If not me... then who? Even though this was a secret trip that I didn't tell many people about, I still feel that this was what needed to be done. I just hope that this is the last time that I need to make an emergency trip out to Chicago because one or two of my family members needs me. Let's just hope that the next time I see the Chicago skyline, it'll be because I'm moving back here!

What Is Going On!?

2011-01-21T09:50:00.004-05:00

It's hard to really understand what's been going on over the last couple weeks. As positive as some things have been, that's exactly how terrible other aspects of my life have been going. I don't even know where to begin.

In terms of work, things are going very well. I have put on 5 people on my team, which means that I'm in line to get promoted very soon. As long as things continue to go this well, I should be moving up by the beginning or middle of next week. There is also some major talk about relocation, which would mean that I would take some people and move out to help open another office. At this point, the talk is about moving to northern New Jersey, so we shall see what ends up happening. The possibility of getting promoted and then transferring to another office is pretty exciting, as long as I'm sure that's what I want to do. Right now... I'm not sure about anything. I'm just trying to enjoy my current success and hope that it leads to much bigger and better things.

Outside of that, things are not going well. The last 5 days have been especially hard, with drama in Chicago involving my little sisters. As much as I want to just blow up and discuss some of the details of the issues, it's probably better that I keep the story as generic as possible. Needless to say, the current situation is pretty dire and needs to be dealt with right away. It's been really difficult to focus on what's been going on at home, especially while things are not going well out there. When you get phone calls at 3:00 or 4:00 AM and people are crying on the phone, it does a lot to shake things up. It's exactly what's been happening for the last few days and I just need to put an end to it. People have told me to just turn my phone off and deal with things in the morning, but every one of those calls was more urgent than the next. All of it has culminated in my need to head out to take care of this business on my own. I will be flying out tomorrow morning and staying for a few days. I hope things can get resolved. My biggest worry is that things are going to get worse, but that remains to be seen.

I can just hope and pray that this all gets taken care of, because I honestly can't deal with this anymore.

In some positive news, a couple of the Administration members and I are planning a trip down to Orlando for ESPN: The Weekend in March. I'm really excited about the idea of a vacation with my boys, especially if it all happens. We actually got together last night to discuss some of the details. Nothing is set in stone, but it looks very promising. At this point, I'd rather think about anything else than what I'm going through right now....

The First Week of 2011

2011-01-09T19:18:00.002-05:00

2011 has gotten off to a fairly slow start, with nothing much special going on yet. Everything has been focused on work and more work, with there really not having been much time to do anything else. The best thing that has happened so far has been the promotion of another guy on my team at work, which means that I now have two corporate trainers on my team and I'm securely set-up as a promoting leader. Other than that, nothing much is really going on.

The biggest thing about last week was my new mentality about how I'm going to handle 2011, especially in terms of the people in my life. This year, I'm going to do whatever it takes to stay mentally present in the moment. One of my biggest problems as always been worrying about other people, even those people who aren't anywhere close to me. I have always allowed other people to control my emotions and I'm not going to let that anymore. The other thing that I'm working on is not giving 100% effort to people who don't deserve it. As I saw with the temporary removal of my former PS, I'm spending too much time and energy on people that I shouldn't be. Both of these things go hand in hand and I'm going to work on both of them together. If there was anything that I wanted to work on this year (at least on a personal level), these would be the things. It hasn't started off on the right track, but I'm going to work on it more starting today.

Welcome to 2011

2011-01-02T21:36:00.003-05:00

It's 2011! Are you serious? It feels like yesterday was Y2K! It's hard to believe that 2010 is already over and we're quickly moving towards the "teens" of the 21st century.

Things have not started off on the best notes for the 2011 year. New Year's Eve was pretty uneventful, even though I had the day off from work. I was supposed to have big plans, but nothing actually came to fruition. I ended up having a low key night with a couple of the Administration members that live close by. We just hung out until the ball dropped and then I came back home. I had just seen them on the previous night anyway to celebrate the CJC's engagement, so that next night wasn't really a big deal.

New Year's Day was a pretty good way to start off 2011. In the morning, I drove up to Worcester, MA to give the CD some Patriots' tickets that one of my family friends decided not to use. It was really wonderful to drive up and see her and her new boyfriend, especially after not having seen her in a long time. On the way back, I stopped in Springfield to visit with Romz and her cousins. She is in New England to get together with some family here, so I figured that I would make the trip and visit. We hung out at her cousin's apartment, got some lunch, and did some grocery shopping for last night's dinner. It was a good time, even though it was a little bit awkward hanging out with her cousins and their friend. Still, I had a great time and it was wonderful to see her. I was packed to potentially spend the night, but I ended up coming back home last night and just hanging out. This morning, I had breakfast with the PS and then went to the temple in Middletown. Other than that, nothing much noteworthy has happened this weekend. (The Giants being eliminated from playoff contention today is about the only thing, that and the Michigan Wolverines and UConn Huskies getting embarrassed in their respective Bowl Games yesterday).

The main topic that I wanted to touch on today was the idea of New Year's resolutions. I didn't make any yet. There are things that I want to work on in 2011, but none that really can or will be steadfastly stamped as being resolutions. People resolve to lose weight or find a new job, but I really need to work on things mentally and internally. The biggest thing that I want to do in 2011 is stop letting other people's action (or lack of action) affect my mood. I always put a lot of effort into my relationships with people that I deem are important in my life, only to be devastated when they don't seem to come through on their end. The worst is when those people aren't geographically close by, which makes it even more difficult to keep in close contact with them.

This year, I'm going to work my hardest to not allow those people to affect my daily mood or control my emotions. If you're someone who deserves 200% of my attention and concern, then you're going to have to earn it. Otherwise, I refuse to waste my time. It's a lofty goal and one that I've continued to work towards for many years now. This, however, will be the last stand.

2011 looks like it could be a big year for many people, so I'm very anxious to see how it all turns out. There are many things that I want and hope will happen, it's just a matter of if they actually do. The only thing that I can focus on is that I'm healthy and have a great family and support system. There was a time when things did not look this positive, so the main thing I can do is hope for more "green arrows" and forget about the negative things. Lock 'N Load.

~Administration Note~ With the new year beginning yesterday, today will be the first day of a temporary removal of the PS from the Administration. This is a temporary removal and will be assessed accordingly.

2010... The Low Points

2010-12-31T14:14:00.003-05:00

As I just finished posting about, there were many positive things that happened in 2010. From the numerous trips to Chicago to attending Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, I had a pretty good year. However, 2010 was not a year of solely highs. There were various negative things that happened which should be pointed out.

The year had started off with the LSAT and goal of applying to attending law school. It didn't happen because I didn't get in to the schools that I had hoped for. Not only that, but I wasn't sure if spending the money to go to school for another three years was a move/choice I wanted to make at that time. With law school plans put on hold, it was time to find something else to do.

That led me to working for the U.S. Census Bureau, which was a decent job. A problem arose when the Department sent me a letter saying that something had been flagged in my background check, so they put me on temporary leave. The temporary leave ended up being for a couple weeks, which basically took me right out of the middle of the actual working season. I spent the time coaching softball and organizing the Relay for Life, but it was still a big blow to have something ridiculous like that impede my work. Soon, the Census had finished up and I was back to being unemployed.

I then moved on to looking to go back to SLCC as a counselor, instead of as a staff member. Everything was set to go, until the last minute.... when they decided that they weren't sure if I was ready to be a counselor for that age group of conferees. It was a major blow, but one that I had to take. It really turned me off to the camp, but we shall see what the summer of 2011 may bring for that.

Over the summer, the New York Yankees and their fans had to deal with the passing of PA announcer Bob Sheppard and principal owner George M. Steinbrenner. As a huge Yankees fan, it was tough to hear about to two Yankee icons dying within a couple days of each other. It may not seem like the biggest deal, but it definitely had some affect on my life. Not only did they pass away, but one of my close friends and neighbors also suddenly died of a brain injury. It was a very trying time for everyone in the community, with the girl being on 19/20 years old and suddenly dying. We've had to deal with numerous deaths of young people in Southington, but this was one of the hardest ones ever.

The biggest story of 2010 had to be my father's heart procedure to implant a stint into his LAD artery. Right after Spruha Behn's wedding, my father found out that he had extreme blockage in one of his coronary arteries and they had to do the emergency procedure in Chicago. It was one of the hardest things that I've dealt with in terms of family, but luckily... I was surrounded by everyone and was able to overcome that scare. Everything went smoothly and we were all able to return home safe and sound.

Lastly, I got into my first car accident earlier in the week. It was a very trying time as I posted about, especially because of the ramifications that it'll have on my car and work situation in the near future. Everyone is okay, but it was just really rough going through it.

2010 was full of many wonderful and some not-so wonderful things, but it was a good year in all. Everyone is healthy and happy, which is the most important thing. We shall see what 2011 has in store for the Mayor of South Town.

The Top 10 of 2010

2010-12-31T13:38:00.007-05:00

2010 is officially ending today. It's hard to believe that an entire year has passed since I graduated from college. Many things have happened in 2010 and there is no better time or day to reflect on those events and changes. With that being said, I present the Top 10 of 2010.

Honorable Mentions) Chicago/Ann Arbor Trip, Hot Jam, and Cape Cod- Surprising Vino and everyone else for her birthday in March. I flew out to Chicago and surprised my little sister on her birthday, as well as spending some quality time with other friends from Loyola. I got to see Kate and also visit Chrissy in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was a pretty good trip, all around. Over the summer, I had 8th row seats to Hot Jam which was headlined by Ludacris and Drake. It was awesome to see Luda again, which seeling Lloyd Banks, Drake, Nikki Minaj, Birdman, BOB, Gyptian, and the New Boys all in concert in Hartford. I also went to Cape Cod in August with some of the Administration members. It was the first time that we all made a trip out of state together and the first time that I stayed at "The Cape", which was a lot of fun.

10) Getting into physical shape- At this time last year, I weighed in somewhere around 195 lbs. There was a time during last winter that I tipped the scale over 200 lbs. Those days are long gone as I worked hard to bring my weight down around 168 lbs, where I currently am. I fit into medium sized clothes again, while now being able to donate a majority of the big clothes that I wear. I'm probably in the best physical shape that I've been in, in a very long time. Running and more running... helped me gain back my physical shape.

9) LSAT- I studied for and took the Law School Admission Test in February. With the plans having been to apply to and attend law school, the LSAT was a big deal earlier in the year. I did fairly well, for only having studied for 6-8 weeks before taking the exam. Even though I did not end up attending law school this year, it was still a big deal to have taken the exam and scored where I did.

8) Manchester Road Race- I ran in my first road race this year. After having finally gotten into the proper shape for it, I went out and completed the 5 mile Manchester Road Race in under 48 minutes on Thanksgiving Day. I'm someone that never enjoyed running, but it was a great feeling and accomplishment to have completed a 5 mile road race with 15,000 people. I did a 3K earlier in the year, but the 5 mile really made me feel proud of how far I've come. The next step is a 10K race in 2011.

7) Kevin Negandhi and ESPN- Right around the time that I took the LSAT exam, I sat down and wrote an article about SportsCenter anchor Kevin Negandhi. To do the piece, I actually had the opportunity to visit the ESPN headquarters in Bristol and get a behind-the-scenes tour from him. As a huge sports fan, it was a really amazing experience to get such a tour. Not only did I get to meet some more athletes and personalities, but I also completed and published the piece about him. It was a great time and a definite highlight of the year.

6) Relay for Life- I've always been very active in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in Southington, but never really got to participate other than to attend the event. With having free time in 2010, I was able to join the committee and actually take on a very significant role in the planning and execution of the 2010 Relay for Life. I took care of the public relations and also co-chaired the volunteers committee, which allowed me to really get a good look at how much work goes in to an event like that. It was a really rewarding experience and I'm glad I had the time to participate as much as I did.

5) Yankee Stadium Opening Day and Ring Presentation Ceremony- One of the biggest highlights of the year was being able to attend Opening Day at Yankee Stadium. As a huge Yankees fan, it's a rare occasion when you can be at the Stadium for the Home Opener. This game was much more special because they also presented the players with their 2009 World Series Championship rings. It was so awesome to be in the stands when my favorite players were being given their rings and when the stadium was buzzing with Opening Day excitement. I don't know if I'll ever make it to another day like that, but it was great to be able to have been present at that one.

4) Spruha Behn's Wedding- It's hard to believe that my 4th cousin just got married a few months ago, but it was really wonderful to have been able to attend. It's a really great time when my dad's entire family is able to get together, which only ever happens at major family functions like that one. I was able to spend quality time with my family, as well as hang out with some Loyola friends that were around for the beginning of the semester. Family weddings, especially in my family, are spectacles like no other... and this one did not disappoint.

3) Chirag and Sonia's Wedding- Even though we're not directly related, this was just like another family wedding for me. I was specially invited to attend, which just made the event that much more special for me. I was able to be present for every event, along with having Soham Bhai let me stay in his room so I could hang out at the after-parties. The wedding was amazing and a lot of my close friends and family were invited. The weekend of festivities was capped off by my solo dance performance at the reception, which I still can't believe actually happened. Indian weddings are always magnificent and this one was right there on top.

2) Premier Management- There is no question that in this economy, one of the most important things would be to find a full time job. That is exactly what happened in August, which I am very thankful for. Even though I don't love going to work every, single day... I'm still very glad to have a job that has a future for me. With the way things are going, I could make some good progress in the next few months and even get promoted to management by the summertime. I've been nationally ranked, locally ranked, and even invited to business trips and holiday parties. I have a job that pays my bills and that's what's important right now.

1) Focus on Family- There is no question in my mind that the most important thing that happened in 2010 was my focus on my family. Whether it was my actual family or my "unofficial" family, there has been an extraordinary amount of attention that was paid to family this year. The relationship with my sisters has become unbelievably strong, while continuing to be close with my cousins that live all around the country/world. It's been fantastic to strengthen ties with family, while forging new bonds with people who have become as close as family. People like Vino and Behna are all as important as Soham Bhai and Shreya Behn. I have spent a lot of time in 2010 making sure that family comes first and I feel like it was the best investment that I could have made. Who has it better than I do?

Car Accident...

2010-12-28T15:27:00.003-05:00

As amazing as this weekend was, that's how awful today has been going.

Last night, the Six Pack got together for a little get together to watch MNF and the UConn basketball game. Everyone was able to make it, which made for an interesting couple of hours. It's always good for the six of us to get together and hang out, but it wasn't the same anymore now that everyone is a different place in their life. Still, we hung out for a couple hours and reminisced about old times. It made for a good ending to a 4-day holiday weekend.

This morning, all of that changed. From the moment that my alarm went off, things seemed like they were off. For whatever reason, I could sense that today was not going to be a good day. I had no clue how that premonition would could true. I filled out some thank-you cards and headed to the library to print some stuff before work. Everything was going fine, but I could still sense like things weren't going well. My mind was in a lot of other places, so I wasn't 100% excited about getting back to work today.

I left the library to head over to pick up one of the guys on my team, like I always do. As I was driving by Hubbard Park, my car began to skid on some black ice. I was doing less than the speed limit and was not occupied with sending text messages or talking to anyone on the phone, so none of those were factors in my car swerving. I lost control of the car and began to spin around. I did a 450, while bouncing off the driver's side door of an oncoming car. Like a horror movie/nightmare, I can still see myself in the car spinning around and then stopping with the rear end of my car in the middle of a snow embankment. The people in the other car were all fine, with one of the rear passengers complaining of some slight dizziness. They took him to the medical center to get checked up, but everyone else was fine. The front end of my car was totaled and there was significant damage done to the other car. Luckily, everyone was okay. The police came and filed a full report, as both cars had to be towed to different body shops. On top of that, the investigation officer claimed that I was driving at a speed not appropriate for the current weather conditions and then added on a speeding ticket. For certain, I will be pleading not guilty to that charge. The COS came to pick me up and dropped me off at home, so I could call the insurance company and begin the claim process.

At this point, it was just really unnerving. Even though it happened this morning, it's still the only thing that I can think about. With it being my first car accident, it's hard to really mentally calm down and look on the bright side. The only thing that I can think about was the order of events which led me to be at that point on the road at that exact second. One second this way or that way... and I'd be at work with no problems right now. I'm also really concerned with what's going to happen next, in terms of possibly needing a new car. I should be looking at the positives, but all I can think about is how everything just turned from good to bad in the matter of a minute. This is not the way that I wanted to end 2010.

I'm just emotionally drained right now. We'll what tomorrow brings...

Christmas Continued...

2010-12-27T18:15:00.002-05:00

Apparently, Christmas wasn't over on Saturday night. After posting about my visit to New Jersey to see Behna and the engagement of the CJC, I figured that the weekend excitement was pretty much over. I just happened to be very wrong.

Yesterday, Mother Nature decided to blast the East Coast with a huge blizzard that dropped over a foot of snow on us. If that wasn't enough, it also knocked out the power lines in my neighborhood for almost 14 hours. The power went out at about 10:45 PM and didn't come back on until 2:00 PM this afternoon. Not a big deal, considering that I got the day off from work due to the terrible driving and working conditions. It was good to have a nice 4 day holiday weekend, especially because I did all of my travelling before the snowstorm hit.

All of this is good and well, except for the fact that the Celtics and Giants both lost big games this weekend. That would have put a slight damper on things, had I not got an amazingly generous gift from Romz today. After having talked numerous times about visiting Chicago this Spring, I had ended up planning on hitting up ESPN "The Weekend" at Disney World in March with some of the Administration members. Those plans would have taken the place of going to Chicago, especially with airline tickets being fairly expensive right now. Not knowing about the Disney World plans, Romz took it upon herself to purchase the tickets from Southwest to make sure that I'll be getting out to Chicago in the next few months. It's just crazy that she spent a few hundred dollars to make sure that I'd get out there, especially considering that she's flying in to New England this coming weekend. I'll get to see her on Sunday, along with flying out in a few months to visit my entire family for free. It's probably one of the most expensive and nicest gifts that I've ever gotten.

I don't know what I did to deserve having sisters like this, but I'm not complaining. Right now, things are good. Happy Holidays!

Christmas Eve/Christmas Day 2010!

2010-12-25T23:23:00.008-05:00

This was a Christmas to remember!

It was a short work week, with us having yesterday and today off in observance of the holiday. The biggest thing about this weekend was my planned trip to New Jersey to visit Naina (Behna). Her family flew in on Thursday to spend time with some of their relatives, so I figured that I should go and meet them in NJ for a few hours yesterday. I expected to take her out to lunch and then head home, but I got a whole lot more than I had planned for.

After having asked permission from her parents to come and visit, I made my way down there in the morning to arrive at about noon. With nobody doing much traveling on the morning of Christmas Eve, I had a very uneventful 3-hour commute to the house at which they are staying. I got in about noon and immediately was told that I was invited to spend the afternoon and stay as long as I wanted. Yesterday was Neha's (Naina's younger sister) birthday, so I had to stay for a little bit and celebrate the day. I knew that would happen, so I had already brought a present for her. We all went bowling in the afternoon and then just hung out in the evening. I helped out in the kitchen to prepare dinner and then took the liberty of doing the dishes after dinner. The rest of the night went into cutting the cake and just hanging out. I had not intended to crash their overnight, but they all seemed to be fine with that idea so I stayed over. We stayed up late just hanging out, all 8 of the "kids" that were staying there for the weekend. I got up early in the morning, waited for everyone else to wake up, had some breakfast and then left to come back home.

It all seems well and good, but there is a silver lining to this story. Prior to my visit to New Jersey, Behna was just another person who I considered to be like a younger sister to me. Obviously, I was aware of how strong our relationship was and how much she considered me to be like an older brother to her. I was not, however, really cognizant of that fact until I saw how much our relationship resembled a real brother/sister relationship in front of her actual (blood) family. Over these last 6 months, I knew that we were really close and just assumed that I continued to play some small role in her life. After spending 24 hours with her and her family, I realized that I play a much more significant role. I realized how important I really am and how important she really is to me. There are things that we talk about or things that she tells me that nobody else has any clue about. I was really moved to see the closeness that we had, especially in person. It moved me. It was like no other feeling, especially not one that I can say I've experienced much of before. Even though I have a younger sister, our relationship was never quite like this one. This one is special and it's just amazing how tight we really are, especially considering the way we met and length of our relationship.

The main point is that this Christmas made me realize that there is still a lot going on for me, even outside of work. Even though I work 55 hours a week, I still have and take a lot of time and energy for the people that are important to me. I was able to see what it felt like to be that "first phone call" person and understand what it means to have someone totally depend on you. I can't remember the last time that I felt that important in someone's life... so it was a really big wake-up call for me and a hell of a Christmas present.

I didn't expect much this Christmas... so I really got a whole lot more than I could have asked for.

In other news, the CJC got engaged last night. Yesterday, which was Christmas Eve as well as my parents' wedding anniversary, will also now be known as the date when he proposed to his long-time girlfriend. It's crazy to think that one of my best friends of 11 years and Administration members is engaged! It seems like yesterday that we were in 8th grade on the middle school baseball team. Time sure does fly...

On a final note; depending on the outcome of a fantasy football match-up taking place tomorrow, there may be a special guest feature posted soon. We'll just have to wait and see what happens in the NFL over the next couple days.

Merry Christmas everyone! Happy Holidays!

Two Weeks Went By

2010-12-19T22:46:00.002-05:00

With nothing much to report over the last few weeks, I haven't even made the effort to post anything here. The majority of my life has been absolutely consumed with work and the rest of it, doesn't have things going on that I could really write about. Everything outside of work is mostly drama related, which I wouldn't want to publicly comment on anyway.

This weekend, however, I went to New York City for the PMG holiday party. The national consultant, Raf, and his guys threw a party for the entire organization. It was awesome to be able to hang out in New York City on a Friday night in mid-December. I went down to Manhattan with my manager and a couple of other guys from the office (only the ones that were selected) and we went to hang out. The morning started off with an organizational meeting and some speakers, followed by the afternoon of me shadowing someone who works in a different office (on a totally different campaign). It was really interesting to see them go out and do their work in midtown Manhattan, as compared to the way things work here in Connecticut. We then went out for the actual holiday party and then to a bar afterwards. It was one of the most fun nights that I have ever had in NYC, especially because we stayed in a hotel in midtown and just hung out for the entire day/night.

Outside of that, there isn't much to report about. Things continue to be the same as they always are, with nothing else really happening. My parents are working hard and my sister is spending the holidays in California with her boyfriend. I don't have many plans for the next few weeks, so I just plan on taking it easy with my consecutive 3-day weekends coming up.

It was a weird day today, when I realized that it was December 19, 2010... which means that an entire year has passed since I officially graduated from college. It's really a strange feeling to know that I've been a college graduate for that long already, especially considering how I got there and where I am today. I'm just trying to keep my head down and not really think about things like that. At this time next year, I plan on being back in Chicago anyway. We'll just see how it goes.

In sports related news, the UConn Women tied the UCLA win streak of 88 consecutive wins. They will look to set the all-time record on Tuesday against Florida State. The Celtics just won their 13th consecutive game, as they continue to fight through different injuries to stay atop the NBA Eastern Conference. The negative story belongs to the New York Giants, who just gave up 28 points to the Eagles in the 4th quarter and lost their game today. If they are a Super Bowl contender, then they surely didn't show it today. I was embarrassed and ashamed at their absolute meltdown in the 2nd half.

That is the way that the Christmas week has begun. I'm still smiling from my night in the "Five Boroughs", so hopefully that will lead to a positive few days before the holiday weekend.

The Week that Was

2010-12-05T23:05:00.002-05:00

It's going to be an abbreviated post tonight, with nothing much having taken place this week. There are some significant highlights, which I will surely get to.

The first of them being the "Leader" magazine was published for the month of November. The Leader is a monthly publication put out by the national parent company for the company which I work for. In this publication, they publish articles about local companies and highlight certain individuals that are doing big things around the country. Another feature in the magazine is a monthly ranking for all of the different offices, working with the different clients. In the November issue, the magazine had a list of the foremost representatives for the month of October. Out of over 600 people working with AT&T in the country, I had been ranked at 18th in the country! It was really awesome to see my name in the magazine, especially because I was the only person to be featured in my entire office. Even though things have been up and down at work, it was definitely a pleasant surprise to be noticed for my contributions.

The second big thing that happened this week was that Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees have unofficially agreed on a deal. With the superstar shortstop having finished up his 10 year contract in 2010, the entire league was waiting to see what would happen in terms of him re-signing or testing the market. With over a month of contentious talks in the media between both sides, sources are finally reporting that Jeter has agreed to a 3 year deal worth over $50 million dollars with some contingency option for a 4th year. I'm just glad that the deal is done and Jeter will remain a Yankee for the at leas the next three seasons. I know that will be long enough to get his stats back up and show the entire baseball world that this past season was just a bump in the road and that he's still got it.

Other than that, nothing too special has been happening. The UConn football team will be facing Ohklahoma in a BCS bowl for the first time in the school's history after the Huskies won the Big East conference yesterday. I hate the BCS system, but I'm glad that Connecticut is going to be in the national spotlight for something other than basketball. This game will put UConn on the college football map!

Work's been tough, with the weather getting blisteringly colder. It's going to be tough for the next few months, but we'll see how it goes. At this point, it's still so much better to have a job than to not have one. I do have to say that drama seems to be popping up in a lot of different places, with various people. I'm not a big fan of having to sit here at home and deal with everyone from hundreds of miles away, which only makes things worse. Hopefully, everything will work itself out soon.

5-Year Class Reunion

2010-11-28T19:49:00.002-05:00

It was really hard to believe that last night was my 5-year high school reunion. It's been 5 1/2 years since I last was a student at Southington High School, as it is already 2010. I was debating whether to even attend the reunion until the last minute when Sully called to tell me that I had to go. What would the reunion be without "The Mayor" in attendance?

In terms of the actual event, I think it went really well. A lot more people showed up, than we had anticipated. Based on the people that had accepted the invitation on Facebook, we didn't expect nearly that many people to make an appearance. However, we had well over 120 people show up throughout the course of the night. It was good to see everyone that I haven't seen in a long time, even the people who I only had a passing acquaintance with when we were in school. It was more fun to hear about how things have drastically changed for some people, while nothing has changed for many others. It's amazing to hear how some people are now engaged or married, with children, or getting ready to be getting divorced by the age of 24. Most people are in school or working, while others are looking to get redeployed overseas or are in between jobs. Pretty common for any graduating class after 5 years, especially in this economic state.

It doesn't make sense to individually pick out people that I was glad to see and others that I could have gone without running into. However, I did want to touch on the fact that people haven't changed much. It was interesting to see the dynamic of the function, as an overwhelming majority of the crowd really talked to the same people that they talked to in high school. These people have been friends for over a decade and came back to the reunion only to basically hang out with the same people they came with. Even after all this time, the group dynamic hasn't changed much. I wasn't expecting much difference in terms of who would talk to whom, but I didn't think it would be as obvious as it was. If there were ever defined cliques in my high school class, those same groups of people were well represented last night. On the flip side, it was really tough to see the same people stand in the corner by themselves. Even after 5 years and even though we are all in our early-20's, the same people are being left out or ostracized from the mainstream group. While everyone's lives may have changed for the better or worse, the people are overwhelmingly the same.

All in all, it was a good time. It was good to go and I'm glad that I got to see everyone. It was tough thinking about where I am now as opposed to where I wish I was, but those are thoughts that everyone really has. Everyone has had things happen since high school that they wish had gone differently, so I'm not going to pretend like I'm the only one who has taken a different course.

As I say, "My road to success is under construction..."

Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T21:14:00.003-05:00

Thanksgiving 2010! It's hard to believe that it is already the last week of November of 2010. It's been different being back home after having spent the last two Thanksgiving holidays in Chicago, but I'm glad to be able to spend this holiday with my parents. There are just so many things to be thankful for this year.

The first and most important is my health and the health of my family. After completing the Manchester Road Race (just under 5 miles) in an official time of 47:29, I know that I'm in the best physical shape that I've ever been in. In addition to that, my parents and family are doing well. With my father having his health scare back in September, it means more to be able to say that he's doing well. The health of my extended family has also been up and down with individuals battling certain ailments or issues, but everyone is steadily recovering and on their way back to being 100% again.

With everyone's health accounted for, the next thing that I'm most thankful for is the people in my life. Obviously, I'm extremely thankful for my loving parents. Without them, I would not be who or what I am today. Besides them, I'm very thankful for my younger sister(s). All of them. Rishwa tops the list, with my unofficial little sisters right there behind her. Ravina, Naina, and Roma are all as important to me as anyone else in my life right now. Along with my "immediate family", I'm also grateful for my extended family. All of my cousins (whether by blood or not), aunts, uncles, nieces, and grandparents. They are really one of the best families that someone could ever hope for. Outside of my family, my friends (especially the Administration) gets the next spot on the list of things that I'm thankful for this year. All 8 current members of the Administration are very special and their importance cannot be understated.

I'm also very thankful for numerous other things. I'm thankful to be able to have a job that allows me to pay my bills. I'm thankful to have a good working environment, so I don't wake up dreading going to work every day. I'm thankful to be able to live my life without having to worry about needing a place to sleep or finding food to eat. I'm thankful to be living in the United States. Most importantly, I'm thankful to have reconnected with God.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Promotion Party Weekend

2010-11-14T21:28:00.002-05:00

Things have been going pretty well at work, the last few days. I had a pretty crazy day on Thursday, but things are better now.

Thursday consisted of me taking out one of the most random and unprofessional interviews that I ever could have. This was after I had just put another new guy on my team. She was, in one word, crazy and I couldn't believe that she even made it to her 2nd round interview. The girl wanted to fight some people and almost got everyone in my car in trouble. I can't even get into what kind of day that turned into, as I'm just glad that I won't be dealing with her anymore. The worst part about Thursday, after this crazy interview, was the fact that I got a call from Romz about a possible medical situation that she may be going through. We will find out tomorrow what the prognosis is, so my fingers are crossed about that.

Outside of that, things are going well. We had the promotion party for Josh on Saturday, as many other people came up from their offices to share in our celebration. I got to meet a lot of managers and owners, which really helped put the job back into perspective. It was awesome to see all of these people, make a lot of good connections with people from Philly, DC, Jersey, and NYC. The day was good and the actual party was out of control as usual. Everyone got drunk and out of control. The Press Secretary showed up, so it was good to see her again. In total, the weekend was fun. Rishwa was also at home this weekend, so I got to spend some time with her as well.

Other than that, nothing much is going on. My foot feels better, so I hope I'll get some time to go and run a little bit in the morning. Another work week begins tomorrow, as my father is leaving for Ohio on a 3-day business trip. It'll just be my mom and myself in the house, but nothing big about that. Back on the grind tomorrow.

Southington Football Controversy

2010-11-10T08:27:00.003-05:00

Southington High School Football is something that is very important to our town. It's very important to many people who live and work here, as it's really the one team that everyone rallies around in terms of high school sports. It has a tradition of being one of the top programs in the state, with numerous star players every, single year. Having won the State championship in 1998 and falling just short in 2006 and 2007... the Blue Knights are already in the spotlight in terms of attention from other schools in the state.

That being said, the SHS football program has been under fire the last couple days. Before I get to that, there is some backstory here. The former coach at Southington High School, Bill Mella, had his own controversy where there were questions about money from the booster club and misallocation of funds. The entire situation and ensuing investigation brought a lot of questions and concerns from former and current players, assistant coaches, town residents, and town officials. The investigation did not indict Coach Mella, but it did lead to the resignation of some of his top and most beloved assistant coaches. Coach Mella proceeded to resign his post as head coach, opening up the door to a slew of potential candidates for the position.

The job really came down to two candidates in terms of viability, one being former Southington star Dan Patterson and the other being former rival star D.J. Hernandez. Patterson's entire family, basically, has played football at SHS and he was one of the assistant coaches on the program since his graduation. Hernandez was a 3-sport star at Bristol Central and went on to play at UConn. His younger brother, Aaron, is the current starting TE for the New England Patriots. Both men had good resumes and were up for a highly contested position. To the surprise of many, DJ (Who I also personally know) got the job over Patterson.

Fast forward to this week. The Blue Knights, now coached by DJ Hernandez, were playing Manchester High and ended up winning the game 28-14. After the game, Manchester filed a grievance with the CIAC (Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference) that Hernandez was cheating during the game. How was he cheating? He had taken a fallen Manchester armband with the playbook on it and attached it to his clipboard. As they would make calls from the opposing sidelines, he would call them up to his defensive coordinator on the radio. Hernandez admitted to the allegations, but claims that he only used the armband on a handful of plays during the 3rd quarter. He has since been suspended for 1 game by the school.

It's really hard to see where this is going to go. A storied program with a former high school superstar as its first-year head coach, getting into a ridiculous situation like this. The guy understands that it's cheating to do that, even if you already have the game in hand. Your team is 6-1 going into the game and you have no need to look at their playbook. It just brings so much unneeded attention to the team, the coaching staff, and the entire school.

How are you going to the gain the trust of your program back? How do you tell people that they should emulate your actions now? Why would players want to play for your program that cheats to win? How do we know that this is the first time you've done something like this in the 2010 season? There are just too many questions and not nearly enough answers.

With that said, I stand behind him as a coach and as colleague that I have known for some years. He was a stud in high school baseball, basketball, and football when he played against us and I was happy to see him play at UConn as well. He made a mistake and nobody deserves to be crucified for their mistakes. Was it a bigger mistake than expected, absolutely. However, it is still a mistake and he'll just have to learn from it.

I just hope this ship gets righted soon, for DJ's sake as well as the sake of the entire Southington Football program. Until then, DJ, you have my support.

As my friend and SportsCenter anchor K. Negandhi commented, "(it was) sad and embarrassing". Sir... that pretty much says it all.

Check this Story on ESPN

Update Time

2010-11-10T08:08:00.003-05:00

Many things have happened since Halloween which I haven't been able to write about.

One of the most significant things that happened was the passing of Election Day, last Tuesday. With the entire country unsure of the current state of the US economy and healthcare, the Republicans (led by this some-what ridiculous tea-party) gained an overwhelming majority in the House. The Democrats were able to hold on to their slight margin in the Senate, but there was still a huge shift in the political direction of Capitol Hill on Election Day. It will be really interesting to see what President Obama has to say at his next State of the Union address in January, after he suffered a major setback in these mid-term elections. I'm going to predict a major gridlock for the next two years of his presidency, as Republicans will not really be willing to support any significant pieces of legislation on his current agenda.

In more local news, the entire state of Connecticut went back to being a "Blue" state as Democrats were successful in all 5 House races as well as the contested Senate race and the Governor's race. The Governor's race was actually just recently decided after a major standstill and controversy over who had actually won, but Dan Malloy ended up being named the victor over Tom Foley. It's going to be interesting to see what happens now, especially for us in a state which is already in such a high deficit.

We also had Diwali and the "Indian New Year" come and go this past weekend. Diwali is a really special holiday, especially for a "Ram Bhakt" like myself, so it's always good to participate in any cultural or religious programs that come along. I didn't do anything special this year, except go the temple on Saturday night. With work taking up so much of my time and many people my age not participating in any programs, it was a pretty low key year in terms of celebration.

One pretty awesome piece of news is that I have officially registered for the Manchester Road Race coming up on Thanksgiving morning. My friend Ruth and I will be participating for the first time together, as I have finally gotten into a physical shape where running in races is possible. :-) The race is about 5 miles long, so nothing too crazy. However, it will be my first ever road race and I'm really excited about doing it. Recently, I've been battling shin splints in my left leg... but I fully plan on running right through any discomfort to make sure that I finish the race without stopping and/or walking. My bib and timer just arrived in the mail this morning, so now it's really official that I will be a participant this year.

The last thing that I wanted to comment on is that Derek Jeter just won his 5th AL Gold Glove this season. It's hard to say whether or not he really deserved it, as many people that he's never deserved any of the ones he has gotten. As a big fan of his, my opinion will never be unbiased... but I do feel like this one may not be AS deserved as prior awards or accolades that Jeter has garnished. At this point, I think the entire Yankee fan base is much more concerned with getting the guy re-signed to our team. I wouldn't have cared if he won or didn't win the Gold Glove, as it's just another trophy on his already Hall of Fame mantle. The haters will continue to hate, but the guy just keeps on winning. I'm not going to complain about that.

This upcoming weekend should be fun, as we're having a promotion party for my team leader who we got promoted on our last business trip. The party is on Saturday and we're expecting over 120 people that night, so it'll be fun to meet new people and see how crazy it really gets. I'm also expecting to go on a date that night, so I'll give more details as they develop.

Things are at the status quo right now... which is okay for the time being.

"I refuse to be complacent with the status quo..."

Halloween

2010-10-31T20:29:00.003-04:00

Today is a Halloween.

That's about the end of it.

For the last couple years, even though I went out for a little bit... Halloween hasn't meant a whole lot to me. It's a big deal for college parties and a big deal for trick-or-treating. Outside of that, it really doesn't mean anything to me.

The last week was the same as usual, with all work and nothing else. We're losing more people from the company and not really gaining many more, which unfortunately isn't helping grow our numbers. Still, the people that are there... continue to keep doing what they need to do. It's tough some days to get motivated to go into work, but I keep on plugging along. There is one goal in mind and anything less just wouldn't cut it.

Election Day is coming up on Tuesday, which has the entire country in a major frenzy. The GOP is looking for major upsets as Tea-Party candidates are looking to shift the majority in the Congress over to the Red side of the aisle. In Connecticut, there are some major seats up for election as the candidates continue to battle until the final seconds. With 2008 having been such a historical election, 2010 looks to be as important to the direction in which our country will go. I'm excited to see what happens, especially after all of the millions of dollars in campaigning that our local candidates have done in recent weeks. This could be a milestone election, especially if it goes the way that many people are predicting it will.

Just have to keep my head up!

Weekly Update

2010-10-24T18:57:00.002-04:00

With work taking up most of my time right now, I only have time to post weekly updates. It has been a week since I last posted, so I wanted to keep up with what's been going on. This past week was a little bit tough with some things going on, so let's get right to it.

The first thing was that we had a death in our Nagar community as the mother of a close family friend succumbed to cancer last weekend. On Sunday, my parents got back from New Jersey and the three of us went to the house for a prayer ceremony. The next two days were then spent away from work, as I attended the the funeral ceremony and dealt with all of the services. It was a really emotional event, even though she was an elderly woman who lived a lot longer than people had expected. The craziest part was being in the funeral parlor when they put her body into the cremation chamber. It's an image that I don't think that I'll forget about for a long time.

The rest of the week was pretty much normal, with work and more work taking over. The biggest other thing that happened was the Yankees were eliminated from the postseason as they lost 4-2 in the ALCS to the Rangers on Friday. I went out to watch the game with a whole group of the Guju people in the area. There were about 20 of us that went out to the bowling alley to play a couple games and watch the game. It was awesome to be invited out with the group, now being a part of the "big kids table" circle of friends.

Rishwa came home this weekend and my family went to a Nagar function last night, to officially end the Navratri season. Everyone had a good time and it was good to spend more time with our community in Connecticut. This morning, the PS and I went out to breakfast as we normally have done on Sunday mornings. After that, she stopped by to meet my parents and see the house.

I really wish there was more to highlight and talk about, but everything has been really focused on work at this point. I did randomly meet Mike Golic and Jonathan Coachman from ESPN this week, which was really awesome. Mike Golic was in West Hartford and I talked to him for a minute. "The Coach" was stopped a stoplight in Bristol next to me, so I rolled down my window and talked to him for a minute. Needless to say, I was pretty pumped about that.

We have new hours at work starting this week, so we'll see how it goes.

Back Home

2010-10-17T20:29:00.003-04:00

Another week of being in Milford has finally ended, with our team achieiving our goal. Josh was able to reach his standards and will get promoted to Assistant Manager tomorrow, which is really awesome for him. Even though I struggled through another week of the trip, I'm really glad that we were able to do everything we needed to do to get him promoted.

Last night was the Navratri garba at the Expo Center, which was fun. There were over 1,200 people there and the place was crazy. The only issue was that the floor was concrete, which means that my feet were killing me after I left. It was fun to be with all of the people from here, but it also brought back a lot of memories from the garbas out in Chicago. I still had a good time, especially because it was the nightcap of a successful day.

This morning, I went to the Breast Cancer Awareness walk in Hartford with Team Tonya. After having not seen many of these people in months, it was really wonderful to support a good cause and also spend some time with some good people. The weather was gorgeous and the entire park was packed, so it made for a good morning.

This evening, we went to a family friend's house for a funeral prayer (bhajan). It was a really weird experience, from the perspective of someone who has been to many wakes and funerals. The singing took place for exactly an hour and then it was over. It was amazing to hear everyone sing together and be able to mourn a loss in such a different way. Even though it was a somber event, it was still really educational and inspiring.

~Yankee Tracker~ The Yankees and Rangers are tied at 1-1 in the 2010 ALCS as the series shifts to New York for game 3 with Andy Pettitte taking on Cliff Lee.

Business Trip

2010-10-10T08:11:00.002-04:00

I was going to post much earlier than this, but today is the first day I just got back from my business trip to Milford. Team Boss and one other person were sent to Milford for a business trip to begin Josh's assistant manager push. For him to become promoted, his team has to do over $4000 in profit for the week. I actually had a huge part in helping him achieve that goal this past week. The only somewhat downside of that now, is that we are going back to Milford for the next week too. Everything went pretty well on the trip, except I lost my team member. Isaac decided that he wasn't cut out for his company and decided to quit in the middle of the day on Wednesday. We dropped him off at the train station, gave him some money for a train ticket, and wished him the best of luck. It was a pretty stressful day/week, but I'm glad that we did so well. With work being my entire life right now, it's no surprise that there is nothing much else going on.

My father's health has recovered, which is a very positive thing. After his procedure in Chicago, he has taken to his lifestyle change pretty well. Even though I don't really see him or spend much time with him, I can tell that things are looking up from our brief interactions.

In other news, the Yankees swept the Twins out of the ALDS last night. Starting pitching and timely hitting have carried them towards the ALCS, which will begin once they figure out who their opponents will be.

All in all, life is pretty good right now.