Few people would argue that former MLB pitcher Curt Schilling was a gamer. The guy’s fierce and sometimes angry competitiveness was well documented throughout his career; for many the most indelible memory of Schilling will always be his “bloody sock” performance in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS. But what many people don’t know is that Schilling is also a major gamer of another type. The live-in-your-mother’s-basement-playing-video-games-and-get-no-ass-type, to be exact. That’s right, the pitcher who struck fear into the hearts of batters everywhere is a self-admitted video gaming freak. Being the computer-smashing competitor that he is, it’s hard to imagine how Schilling treats his controllers after a bad outing. But he’s such a competitor that he actually founded his own video game production company, 38 Studios. He then went all New York Yankees on it and hired the biggest names in the fantasy gaming world to build his little dream project, including New York Times Bestselling sci-fi author R.A. Salvatore, legendary comic book artist and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, and some guy name Ken Rolston that apparently is a big deal in that realm. Schilling and his big three were at the annual Mecca for nerds, geeks, gamers, and dorks worldwide, -San Diego Comic-Con- last week to promote the game, which is due for release this fall. Listen here as Schilling discusses the designers, the game, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, and why the only diva contract stipulation late in his career was that all hotel rooms required high speed internet.

Continue Reading »

While it is hardly early for this sort of piece considering the 2010 draft took place over a month ago, I think it is time the Sombrero begins investigating some of the guys in 2011’s class.  This first piece will examine the top three collegiate arms and the top collegiate hitter.  They are all potential franchise guys with an enormous upside and the polish that first-round draft picks are expected to showcase.  These guys are not typical, though.  The hitter, and consensus top talent available, is 3^rd Baseman Anthony Rendon of Rice, recipient of the Dick Howser Trophy and BA’s College POY.  The arms are UCLA’s Garret Cole, UT’s Taylor Jungmann, and TCU’s Matt Purke.  None of these guys should be taken outside of the first 10 picks, and none of them spend a lot of the game under 94 mph.  None of them had an ERA over 3.40, and they all possess at least one 60 or above secondary offering.  They are exceptional.

Continue Reading »

Monday evening, fans at Ricketts Park saw the final two rounds of the Farmington Connie Mack City Tournament, a night closing out the most grueling and exciting week of New Mexican baseball each year (in this writer’s opinion).  Still left on the final evening were the Strike Zone Cardinals of Farmington, the Four Corners Thunder of Durango, CO, and Naataanii, an academy located in Gallup, NM.  These were the three teams most local baseball fans including myself anticipated being alive on the final night of the tournament.

Continue Reading »

Will Ryne Sandberg be the Chicago Cubs manager in 2011? Here is the Hall of Fame second baseman, on the cover of Sports Illustrated, from March 16, 1992.

Fantasy sports provide average fans a way to feel connected with their favorite pastimes in an above average way.  Previously relegated to rooting on our home teams and beloved players in voiceless anonymity, we now have the pleasure of “owning” our own teams and “managing” them the way we see fit.  While fans in some cities (Houston, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, etc.) may seem doomed by poor front office management to remain perpetually pessimistic about their World Series chances, this frustration may be at least partially alleviated by one’s own participation in the fantasy baseball world.  No longer do fans sit back passively and observe the games as they are played, they are now active participants making decisions that determine whether their team wins or loses.  Obviously, such a scenario is bound to be obsessed over and today’s fixation on the supposedly pretend fantasy game now blurs the boundaries of reality.

Continue Reading »