The Sports Page
Given my background in Communications and my passion for sports, it should come as no surprise that there is a section of this site devoted to Sports. I'd classify my enjoyment of sports into three areas: Playing Sports, Playing Rotisserie Sports, and Watching Sports.
Playing Sports
Golf, softball, tennis, racquetball, bar games like billiards and darts, and home games with Keri such as backgammon and cribbage keep me very active. You'll never have to twist my arm to get me to play sports!
Golf has been in
my family a long time. My grandfather played until his death and even had some of
his ashes scattered on a putting green in Florida, while my father still takes his cuts on
weekends. I started playing at a young age, even recording a hole in one on a 200
yard par 3 when I was a kid, but I fell away from the game before leaving high
school. After essentially a decade off consisting of only a handful of rounds a year
in and around Champaign-Urbana, I came back with a new appreciation of the game once
moving to Portland. In 1997, I won the "King of Swings" award at the First
Annual eFusion Golf Tourney, but not for the reason I would have liked - they gave it to
me for hitting the most houses! I decided I wanted to get a little better, so I
started reading books and magazines, went to the driving range a bunch, and took notes of
my rounds during 1998. I took lessons from Nicklaus-Flick
instructor Billy Martin at the Golden Bear Golf Center. After a lot of practice, patience, and
direction from a knowledgeable teacher, things on the scorecard have improved.
I keep my informal Handicap Stats at Playerlink.Com,
- just enter in robynhercey as the Playername and you'll see my handicap and rounds
which have affected it. That's my unofficial handicap, so to get an official one I
joined the Oregon Golf Association (affiliated with the GHIN, you can track my last 20 rounds with number 7109753). Just
for fun I also tracked my rounds from 2000
and 1999. Imagine my joy when Keri
started taking lessons from Billy. She's a natural.
There are several good reference sites about golf in the Northwest out on the Internet, but the best site I've found so far is OregonGolf.
GOLF NEWS Summer 2001: Much to her own amazement, Keri is really getting into golf. She just picked up the game in April of 2001 and has even taken a few lessons. She shot a 67 for 9 holes on her first round ever at McCay Creek and has been on the fast track of improvement ever since. On May 20th she went out and shot an 18 hole 94 at the beautiful par 3 course called Sah-Hah-Lee! Toupee and I went with our wives and had a "ready golf" 3 hour 30 minute round on a picture postcard perfect day in the Rose City. In July Keri and I got to play the great little course at Manzanita courtesy of Keri's boss Jim Bruce and his wife Renee. It was a super time on and off the course and are looking forward to getting back there.
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Labor Day Golf Outing (9/3/01): Keri and Red joined the regular gang out for our weekly Monday round of golf at East Moreland. Toupee broke in his new driver, Philly found his swing again, and Keri decided she really likes her 5-wood. Phil's wife Anne and their then-almost-3 year old Bobby came over to the clubhouse to join in the post-round 5 dollar burger/2 dollar pint festivities.
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Playing Rotisserie Sports
I first dabbled with this stuff playing baseball and football board games as a kid, and haven't ever really grown out of it. The Rotisserie game involves drafting actual professional players, creating lineups, trading, and competing with 9 or more like-minded "owners" to have the best team.. Actual rules vary by the sport and the league, but my track record has been pretty solid. In honor of my Grandpa Kiki I'm always called the Fly Fishermen. The Fishermen have 3 football titles (CUFFL overall points 1997 and Fantasy Bowls in 1999 and 2000) and 3 baseball titles (1997, 1998, and 2001 ESPN league) along with a number of other finishes "in the money". I have regular competition in these leagues and it's been great meeting new people and keeping in touch with old friends in this kind of a forum.
-------------------- Fantasy Baseball --------------------
ESPN Fantasy Baseball - I'm through 6 years in the excellent Fields of Green league, and here's how I've done:
2003 - 4th place of 12 teams (A slow start prompted me to deal for Mark Prior and Shawn Green, and a strong second half kept my upper division streak alive.)
2002 - 6th place of 12 teams (Vlad almost goes 40-40, Berkman has a fantastic season, and I couldn't take advantage. Big letdown seasons from Aramis Ramirez, J.D. Drew, and Josh Beckett)
2001 - 1st place of 12 teams (MVP Guerrero, HM Berkman, Chan Ho Park, Ramirez, Drew)
2000 - 3rd place of 10 teams
1999 - 5th place of 10 teams (Injuries to Bonds and Kendall killed me)
1998 - 1st place of 10 teams, leading the league in 9 out of 10 categories for most of the season and finishing in the top 10 of all Full Season ESPN players (netting me a nifty varsity letterman's jacket as a result). This team set the benchmark by which all my teams are rated against.
- View the Final 1998 Fields of Green Standings!
- View the Full Season 1998 Overall Rankings - Here's the #7 finish that won me the varsity jacket...
- Behold the Final 1998 Fly Fishermen - With McGwire (acquired in a mid-season deal) AND Sosa having their best seasons, how could I lose?
- Check Out My 1998 Draft - Here's the players I got in order...
- Review the Season - Here are the 1998 Archives and the 1998 Active Stats...
-------------------- Fantasy Football --------------------
CUFFL Football League - This was a fun football league I played with my buddies who (at one time at least) were all in Champaign-Urbana. I retired following the 2002 season.
2002 - 11-3, Huey Division winner, Total Points and Fantasy Bowl Champion (over Jordon Fellers' Champaign Bonecrushers)!
2001 - Middle of the pack, Marshall Faulk was good but not good enough.
2000 I finished the regular season 10-4 and won the Fantasy Bowl for the second straight season, with my win coming over total points and overall money winner leader Timmy Lords of the Underworld led by Todd "Spanky" Parker.
1999 through 6 weeks I had a 3-3 record, then did not lose another game through the Fantasy Bowl (beating Tubby and The Blowfish led by their coach buddy Brian Thornber, who nevertheless edged me for the total points crown).
In 1997, I finished first in the regular season and was the Fantasy Bowl Runner Up and also finished "in the money" in 1996!
Watching Sports
Baseball, Football, Basketball, and most recently Golf are all events I like to watch in person or, depending on the team and/or situation, on the TV. Generations of Herceys and Kucinskis have watched Cubs games, with my Grandma Rose actually knowing many of the players personally having been a waitress in the 40's across the street from Wrigley. I'm still a Die-Hard Chicago Fan and will always bask in the glory of the Bulls amazing run through the 90's, and recall the 1985 SuperBowl Bears when times are down waiting for a Cubs team to go all the way (by the way, if you have a tape of that SuperBowl game I'd love a copy!). My favorite places to check for all the sports roundup are at CBS Sportsline and ESPN online and , while the Chicago Cubs Homepage keeps me in touch with my single favorite team wonderfully.
Moderator: What do you like about baseball?
Kerry Wood: What don't I like about it? I could never get enough of it.