 | Captains Corner | |
| with David Buhr |
He's competitive. He's talented. He's bold. He's brash. He's Alex Shore. That brashness is what I believe helped put WSEM on the NWLA radar. A sarcastic mouth, bold predictions and assumptions, and the numbers to back you up generate good stories. Alex quite possibly lives by the credo, "It's not bragging if it's true". Well, he certainly has the stats to prove himself. What can really be appreciated about Alex, however, is his passion, his drive to win, and his love for the game. He generates competition throughout the league which may be one of the best things for the league. It's sad that he'll only be able to play a couple of weeks this year before a season ending surgery. I'm sure he'll still show up to games and remain an active part of the league with Twitter. Now I present to you a humbler, though no less talkative, Alex Shore.
1. How did you come up with the Westside Warriors team name last year?
If my memory serves me correctly, Woods and I entered the Rally-around-the-flag-a-palooza tournament and decided we needed a team name. Ironically earlier that day we were talking about how cool the Brother Rice Warriors (my high schools rival) color scheme and logo is. We were the only team at the time from Oakland County and ironically the only team on the west side of metro-Detroit, so thus the Westside Warriors were formed.
2. Now that the Warriors have been disbanded, how do you think you and your new team will fare in the league this year?
This is only a one-season thing. The warrior crew will be back. This is just the best way for the guys to stay active while I’m out for the season. Hopefully depending on how successful the season is, Joe and his guys, will become warriors if they need a team.
3. Between Austin Bischoff and Dennis Pearson, who do you think is better? Do you think you're better than either of them?
I respect both of these players' vast amounts. If I had to choose the better amongst the two, it would be Bischoff. My sole reasoning is that Dennis has had multiple years in WSEM and has grown into an equal player to the current Bischoff. Austin Bischoff is a rookie who still has much room for improvement, given that he will become more acquainted with the game and the league. My prediction is that after this season, Bischoff will emerge into the most dominant two-way player in the history of WSEM. Furthermore, I do not see myself superior to either of these ball players.
4. What team do you think has the most legitimate shot at winning it all this year? Do you think it'll be a repeat or will the Ducks be shot down?
In my “Science of Power Rankings” article I gave a pretty in-depth description on why the DeLoppes will run away with this title. The Ducks will NOT repeat, as a matter of fact they might not even COMPETE. Lewis was a huge addition but as we saw in September, that addition has messed up the Ducks team chemistry. If Dennis is only a threat for two to three innings on average, this team is very beatable for two reasons. First, they are far from great defensively, and second, the Ducks had a huge amount of close 1 to 2 run games that they had won in extra innings last season with Dennis pitching the whole day. Not enough depth here to win it all this year.
5. What was your favorite sport growing up?
Hockey. Always has been, always will be.
6. Did you have a favorite hobby?
Travel Baseball Umpiring
7. Did you ever have any awesome or unusual nicknames?
Shore, Jersey, A-train
8. What are your thoughts on the new pitching rule? Which team do you think will benefit the most from it? Which team do you think it might hurt the most?
I absolutely love the new pitching rule. It challenges depth and pure talent of your team as a whole. Great rule all around. The team that will benefit the most is the Deloppes considering they have already played with this rule for an entire year. Obviously enough, the team that will hurt the most is the Ducks.
9. Where do you think the biggest rivalry will lie this year?
Ducks vs WWA : It’s like a Crosby (Dennis) vs. Ovechkin (Bischoff) rivalry in '09.
10. You've kind of been the catalyst for the trash talk around the league. Do you think that it's been healthy for the league? Do you think some take it too far? Is it fair to say that you'll probably never stop with it?
I have an extensive hockey background. Playing for almost my whole life competitively, trash talking is a part of the game. As an umpire for travel baseball for nearly seven years, trash talking exists everywhere. For example “swing batter batter”, “this guy can't hit” and even coaches and parents blatantly firing their teams up while shouting negative attributes about other teams. This ties into WSEM because talking makes the game fun. This is a competitive league and trash talking is a part of competitive nature. Obviously, no one is trying to clear benches or anything, but if you can't handle some trash talk, go play softball in your local rec league. Do you think professional athletes go home and cry about what people say? The obvious answer here is "no", they speak with actions and shut people up. As far as taking something too far is concerned: once the talk gets personal and degrading, such as Michael Constanti’s article about me, I would then draw the line as too far. As long as the talk remains baseball oriented, it's "no harm no foul" to me. Lastly, I (nor the entire league for that matter) will not stop with the trash talking. It's fun and allows you to express some emotion towards our league. If you can’t handle some fun trash, I hear there are plenty of golf leagues in the Detroit area to join over the summer.
| Name: | Alexander Michael Shore |
| DOB: | 01/07/1993 |
| Height: | 182.88 cm |
| Weight: | 72.7 Kg |
1. How did you come up with the Westside Warriors team name last year?
If my memory serves me correctly, Woods and I entered the Rally-around-the-flag-a-palooza tournament and decided we needed a team name. Ironically earlier that day we were talking about how cool the Brother Rice Warriors (my high schools rival) color scheme and logo is. We were the only team at the time from Oakland County and ironically the only team on the west side of metro-Detroit, so thus the Westside Warriors were formed.
2. Now that the Warriors have been disbanded, how do you think you and your new team will fare in the league this year?
This is only a one-season thing. The warrior crew will be back. This is just the best way for the guys to stay active while I’m out for the season. Hopefully depending on how successful the season is, Joe and his guys, will become warriors if they need a team.
3. Between Austin Bischoff and Dennis Pearson, who do you think is better? Do you think you're better than either of them?
I respect both of these players' vast amounts. If I had to choose the better amongst the two, it would be Bischoff. My sole reasoning is that Dennis has had multiple years in WSEM and has grown into an equal player to the current Bischoff. Austin Bischoff is a rookie who still has much room for improvement, given that he will become more acquainted with the game and the league. My prediction is that after this season, Bischoff will emerge into the most dominant two-way player in the history of WSEM. Furthermore, I do not see myself superior to either of these ball players.
4. What team do you think has the most legitimate shot at winning it all this year? Do you think it'll be a repeat or will the Ducks be shot down?
In my “Science of Power Rankings” article I gave a pretty in-depth description on why the DeLoppes will run away with this title. The Ducks will NOT repeat, as a matter of fact they might not even COMPETE. Lewis was a huge addition but as we saw in September, that addition has messed up the Ducks team chemistry. If Dennis is only a threat for two to three innings on average, this team is very beatable for two reasons. First, they are far from great defensively, and second, the Ducks had a huge amount of close 1 to 2 run games that they had won in extra innings last season with Dennis pitching the whole day. Not enough depth here to win it all this year.
5. What was your favorite sport growing up?
Hockey. Always has been, always will be.
6. Did you have a favorite hobby?
Travel Baseball Umpiring
7. Did you ever have any awesome or unusual nicknames?
Shore, Jersey, A-train
8. What are your thoughts on the new pitching rule? Which team do you think will benefit the most from it? Which team do you think it might hurt the most?
I absolutely love the new pitching rule. It challenges depth and pure talent of your team as a whole. Great rule all around. The team that will benefit the most is the Deloppes considering they have already played with this rule for an entire year. Obviously enough, the team that will hurt the most is the Ducks.
9. Where do you think the biggest rivalry will lie this year?
Ducks vs WWA : It’s like a Crosby (Dennis) vs. Ovechkin (Bischoff) rivalry in '09.
10. You've kind of been the catalyst for the trash talk around the league. Do you think that it's been healthy for the league? Do you think some take it too far? Is it fair to say that you'll probably never stop with it?
I have an extensive hockey background. Playing for almost my whole life competitively, trash talking is a part of the game. As an umpire for travel baseball for nearly seven years, trash talking exists everywhere. For example “swing batter batter”, “this guy can't hit” and even coaches and parents blatantly firing their teams up while shouting negative attributes about other teams. This ties into WSEM because talking makes the game fun. This is a competitive league and trash talking is a part of competitive nature. Obviously, no one is trying to clear benches or anything, but if you can't handle some trash talk, go play softball in your local rec league. Do you think professional athletes go home and cry about what people say? The obvious answer here is "no", they speak with actions and shut people up. As far as taking something too far is concerned: once the talk gets personal and degrading, such as Michael Constanti’s article about me, I would then draw the line as too far. As long as the talk remains baseball oriented, it's "no harm no foul" to me. Lastly, I (nor the entire league for that matter) will not stop with the trash talking. It's fun and allows you to express some emotion towards our league. If you can’t handle some fun trash, I hear there are plenty of golf leagues in the Detroit area to join over the summer.
