Yardbarker: Mike Mason

To Arms; To Arms - The I-Cubs Are Coming!

Mon, 11 May 2009 10:20:56 -0500

I had a nice chat before Jeff Samardzija's return engagement in Des Moines Saturday night with I-Cub pitching coach Mike Mason. We talked about Jose Ascanio's pitch counts, Samardzija's repertoire, the organization's pitcher pecking order and the effect, if any, of yo-yoing between the bullpen in Chicago and the rotation in Des Moines on young arms and minds.

Ascanio was the first order of business. It took him until his 6th start to record a win, despite a 1.01 ERA, because his pitch count leash was still so short. After a high-water mark of 81 two starts ago, he'd been pulled after 76 last time out even though he fanned the side in the 4th and 5th, his last two innings of work. Why wasn't he allowed to come out for the 6th?

"He was still closing in winter ball," Mason noted. "When the decision was made in camp to start him this year, the plan was to give him a couple starts at each pitch count level - 60, 70, 80 - as he went along and see how he handled it. The other day we figured why trot him out for the 6th just to pull him after half a dozen more pitches."

Mason had lots more to say about Ascanio before Chad Fox's elbow came undone again later that same night in Milwaukee. I asked him if the organization saw Jose as a pleasant surprise at this point.

"Pleasant is a huge understatement. He's done way better than expected," he grinned. "All along the thought was that the [Chicago] Cubs' 6th starter would come from the organization, but nobody thought 'Hosie' was the guy. Well, he's the 6th starter now. He's passed Atkins."

What about Samardzija? Passed him too?

"Ascanio is a four pitch guy. He throws a curve, a slider and a change-up that's his best offspeed pitch," Mason said. "Jeff and I are talking about him working to develop a curveball to go with his fastball and split." Apparently Samardzija's change-up isn't the complement yet to his high-nineties heat that Ascanio's is to his.

"'Hosie' used to start with Atlanta through Double A," Mason recounted. "Then he went to relief, but he's been throwing multiple pitches longer than Jeff. Jeff's attitude coming back here is great and he understands what he's got to work on."

Later that night of course, Mason's ranking of the trio of proteges in his care was borne out when Ascanio was summoned to the big leagues in the wake of Fox's latest, and maybe last, breakdown.

Yesterday Atkins responded to his snub with probably his best start of the year in pitching the team to a 9-2 win over Memphis. After a rocky start he settled down to last seven innings, the last six of them scoreless.

I asked Mason about Jeff Stevens, who appears to be the best early dividend of the DeRosa trade, although he won't be filling in at 3rd for Aramis Ramirez as DeRosa could capably have done. Stevens still has a non-existent ERA, having allowed only four hits in 14 innings. Batters are 4-45 against him for a BAA of .088, 3rd best right now in professional baseball among pitchers who've thrown at least 10 innings.

"Jeff's been very good, but he's young and he knows he wouldn't get by in the big leagues with essentially one pitch like he is here right now," said Mason. "Down the line if the bullpen keeps struggling in Chicago, I suppose they might give him a shot, but right now there's probably guys ahead of him." Mason named Kevin Hart as one of those, despite his uneven pattern so far this spring.

What about guys like Ascanio and Samardzija ping-ponging between short relief and starting?

"That's a bigger issue in terms of mental preparation than physical." according to Mason. "And even the physical part might be more with the legs than the arm because you just don't run as much if you're in the pen as you do if you're starting every five days. You have to have a different approach with your legs and your head as much as your arm if you know you might pitch any day you come to the ballpark."

I asked Mason if he mostly carries out orders from above or if he has latitude in how he works with his pitchers at the Triple A level.

"I talk with Larry [Rothschild] all the time, and he might say, like with Jeff [Samardzija], 'he's gotta develop secondary pitches,' but it's up to me what pitches we work on. That's why Jeff and I are talkin' about maybe workin' on a curveball for him. They give me assignments, but it's up to me how I work on them." he explained.

Given the ongoing bullpen turmoil in Chicago it doesn't appear Mason's workload will let up any time soon.

OTHERWISE: Greg Reinhard will start in today's noon matinee in the wake of Ascanio's call-up. In 18 innings out of the bullpen he's compiled a 0.49 ERA with 26 strikeouts and only five BB's...the PCL American North is a nice parallel to the NL Central with Iowa [16-13], Memphis [17-11] and Nashville [17-14] jockeying in the standings like their counterparts in Chicago, St. Louis and Milwaukee...Jake Fox has been day-to-day since catching some broken bat shrapnel on Friday night and taking a few stitches to close a leg wound. He's expected back in the lineup today...catcher Chris Robinson is not only hitting .394, he's also swiped five bases! For what it's worth, he's only nabbed 2/15 stealing against him...couldn't help but notice that the redhead is till red hot. Matt Murton is hitting .411 at Colorado Springs. Sometimes we take our stats with a grain of salt in the PCL...MW

Four More Players To Play For the Diamond Dawgs This Summer

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:52:34 -0500

The Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs of the NYCBL will open their 2009 season at home on the 5th of June. Dexter Kelley, Chris Peters, Mike Mason and Jordan Cannon are just four of the exciting players that will be appearing in Little Falls this summer.Dexter Kelley (Savannah State) is a sophomore outfielder from Atlanta. He is currently hitting .287 in 150 at-bats this year. He leads the team with 9 homers, 42 runs scored, 41 rbi's and 28 stolen bases. He is quite the base stealer, as he has ...

Harden Makes It Look Easy at Fitch Park

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:06:52 -0500

Rich Harden threw four shutout innings and Welington Castillo's two run home run capped a five-run 5th, as the Iowa Cubs (Cubs AAA affiliate) edged the Sacramento River Cats (Oakland A's AAA affiliate) 5-4 before an unusually large Minor League Camp crowd of 50+ at cool & breezy Fitch Park Field #3 this afternoon

The place was absoluely crawling with beat writers, bloggers, and assorted Cubs fans intent on watching an actual Cubs major league pitcher throw on a day when the big club had the day off, and they were not disappointed.

However, very few stayed for the whole game.

So for those of you who want to know how Harden looked, but also just HAVE to know how the Iowa Cubs did it,.. here is... the... rest...of... the... story...

Harden worked the first four innings, and looked pretty good. He threw 63 pitches (42 strikes - 21 balls), and kept his fastball at the belt or higher on every hitter (he struck out four and got seven fly outs, but no ground outs), mixing in a change-up curve that he had trouble commanding.

Here's Harden's day:

1st inning: 1) K - swinging (that would be ex-Cub Eric Patterson), 2) ground single to LF, 3) F-9 in foul territiry, and 4) pop up to CF.

2nd inning: 1) line out to CF, 2) line single to CF, 3) F-7 to medium-deep LF, and 4) K - swinging.

3rd inning: 1) fly out to CF 2) bloop broken-bat single to short CF, 3-A ) Koyie Hill threw out baserunner trying to steal 2nd 2-4, 3-B) Strike out - called (Eric Patterson again).

4th inning: 1) Strike out - swinging, 2) F-9, 3) F-9.

Koyie Hill was the other big leaguer Cubbie at Fitch Park today, and he was there specifically to catch Rich Harden's four innings, and get four ABs as quickly as possible. Therefore, K. Hill was permitted to hit once in each of the first four innings, where he walked hitting second in the 1st got called out on strikes twice while hitting second in both the 2nd & 3rd innings, and (hitting left-handed) sliced a bloop double down the LF line leading off the 4th (and then he got doubled off 2nd base on a fly out to RF, much to the joy and hilarity of Hill's former Iowa teammates).

The game was scoreless after four innings, but the River Cats took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 5th inning off I-Cubs RHRP Vince Perkins (Team Canada). Perkins gave up a lead-off double, and the runner advanced to third on a 4-3 GO and scored on a F-7 SF.

But the I-Cubs came right back in the bottom of the inning in a furious volley--a virtual "triple-mania"--parlaying a single, three triples and a HR to score five and take a 5-1 lead.

With one out, Luis Rivas tripled to the fence in right-centerfield, and then scored when River Cats 2B Eric Patterson launched his relay throw literally all the way to the middle of Field #2 (where the Cubs AA Tennesse Smokies affiliate was playing the A's AA club). Kyle Reynolds then tripled down the RF line, and scored on an RBI single to LF by DH Shawn McGill. Matt Camp thripled into the RF corner, and Camp scored on Welington Castillo's two-run jack over the LF fence onto 8th Street. (The I-Cubs had a total of four triples for the day, as Richie Robnett also tripled leading off the 2nd, although he was left stranded when K. Hill and Rivas struck out and Reynolds flied out).

Iowa LHP Jason Waddell (who got sent down to Minor League Camp just yesterday) pitched the 6th and 7th (24 pitches - 14 strikes, 2/3 GO/FO)), facing only six batters (thanks to an inning-ending 5-4-3 DP that followed a one-out walk in the top of the 7th). Waddell struck out one, and that was the first batter he faced, on three pitches ("Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Night").

With the Cubs still leading 5-1, RHP Rocky Roquet pitched the 8th, and really struggled. It took him 28 pitches to get out of the inning, and before he got the third out (which was a spectacular run-saving diving stop & throw to first by second-baseman Luis Rivas), he allowed a two-out bases-loaded two-run single after Sacramento had loaded the bases on a single (+ E-9 bobble by Richie Robnett) and two walks. (Roquet did get a "K" on a called third strike facing the lead-off hitter in the inning, however).

LHP Matt Smith (ex-NYY) pitched the 9th, and really pushed his luck. The River Cats scored almost right away on a single and an RBI double off the LF fence (a near game-tying HR), and then Smith loaded the bases on a couple of walks. After Iowa Pitching Coach Mike Mason made a visit to the mound, Smith got it together and retired the side on two pitches (an infield pop up and ac 4-6-3 DP), preserving the 5-4 victory.

Smith was an NRI to big league camp, but he only got into one Cactus League game before getting sent to Minor League Camp. He probably will have to pitch better in his next outing to avoid getting released.

Sam Fuld, Jake Fox, Bobby Scales, and Jose Ascanio will report to Fitch Park tomorrow.

Here is today's abridged box score (I-Cubs player only). Note that Valdez and Bautista were temporarily loaned to Iowa from the Boise-Mesa squad after the B-M kids finished their work on Field #4.

LINEUP:

1-A Matt Camp, SS 1-3 (3B, RBI, R)
1-B: Jose Valdez, PH-CF: 0-0 (BB, CS)
2-A. Koyie Hill, C: 1-1 (2B, BB)
2-B: Welington Castillo, C 2-2 (HR, 2 RBI)
3-A. Doug Deeds, CF: 1-2 (BB, K)
3-B. Robert Bautista, PH-SS: 0-1
4. Jason Dubois, LF: 0-4 (K)
5. Richie Robnett, RF: 1-3 (3B)
6-A. Koyie Hill, DH #1: 0-1 (K)
6-B. SKIPPED
7. Luis Rivas, 2B: 1-3 (3B, R, K)
8. Kyle Reynolds, 1B:1-3 (3B, R)
9. Shawn McGill, DH #2: 1-3 (RBI, R)
10-A. Koyie Hill, DH #3: 0-1 (K)
10-B. SKIPPED
11. Matt Matulia, 3B: 0-2 (BB)

PITCHERS:
1. Rich Harden - 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (63 pitches - 42 strikes, 0/5 GO/FO)
2. Vince Perkins - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 0 K (11 pitches - 7 strikes, 2/1 GO/FO)
3. Jason Waddell - 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 GIDP (24 pitches - 14 strikes, 2/3 GO/FO)
4. Rocky Roquet - 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 1 K (28 pitches - 16 strikes, 1/1 GO/FO)
5. Matt Smith - 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 0 K, 1 GIDP (21 pitches - 11 strikes, 2/1 GO/FO)

CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Koyie Hill 1-1 CS

ERRORS (1):
Richie Robnett E-9 (bobble in RF allowed batter-runner to advance to 2nd base after bases-loaded RBI single in top of the 8th)

ATTENDANCE: 50+

And now you know... the rest of the story...

AZ Phil....................................Good Day!

Cubs Finally Get Pevey

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:31:55 -0500

And it's about time!

The Cubs have announced their minor league field staff for 2009, and while a lot of attention is given to the promotion of Ryne Sandberg from?Peoria?to AA Tennessee, there were some other noteworthy moves made as well. ?

First of all,?AAA Iowa manager Pat Listach (2008 PCL Manager of the Year) accepted an offer to be 1st base coach with the Washington Nationals, and?he?will?probably receive?strong consideration to replace?Manny Acta should Washington GM Jim Bowden decide to make a mangerial change during or after next season. The Cubs should have made Listach?their 3rd base coach and infield coach a year ago, but oh, well...

Replacing Listach as Iowa manager?will be Bobby Dickerson, who has served as the organization's roving minor league infield & bunting instructor for the past couple of years, beginning his year?at minor league camp in Mesa in March, then traveling from city to city, spending a week at each affiliate during the season (April through August) before reporting to Fitch Park for the AZ Instructional League in September-October.

But before coordinating infield & bunting instruction,?Dickerson was a very successful minor league manager with the Cubs,?most notably as skipper of the Southern League Champion West Tenn Diamond Jaxx in 2002 and then the manager of what was arguably?the best Cubs minor league team of recent times, the 2005?West Tenn?Diamond Jaxx.

Bobby D's?'05 Jaxx?featured?twenty (that's right, 20) future major leaguers, including Carlos Marmol, Ricky Nolasco, Sean Marshall, Rich Hill, Felix Pie, Ryan Theriot,?Micah Hoffpauir, Eric Patterson, David Aardsma, Matt Murton, Renyel Pinto, Jae-kuk Ryu, Rocky Cherry, Luis Montanez, Jose Reyes. Buck Coats, Ryan O'Malley, Adam Greenberg, Casey McGehee, and Carmen Pignatiello, and it isn't much of a stretch to give Dickerson at least some of the credit for the players' development

In my opinion, Bobby Dickerson is the best manager in the Cubs organization, and his talent was somewhat misused?the last three?years while he served?as a roving?instructor. Not that he wasn't any?good at it (he did a fine job), just that his talents would seem to be better utilzyed as a manager at the AA or AAA level. Hitting Coach Von Joshua and pitching coach Mike Mason return to Iowa in 2009. ??????????

As has been extensively reported elsewhere in the media, Ryne Sandberg has been moved up from Peoria to?AA Tennessee, where?Ryno will manage the Smokies in 2009.?Sandberg seemingly had a rather frustrating season?at Peoria in 2008, as he was thrown out of a number of games after being perplexed by the mediocre skill level of the umpires?in the Midwest League. The umpiring should be better at AA, but I still am not sure how much longer Sandberg is going to want to travel around the?hinterlands by bus. I think it's pretty clear he has his heart set on becoming a big league manager ASAP.

Buddy Bailey was the manager at AA last season, after having previously managed at Daytona and AAA Iowa and after serving as the organization's roving catching instructor in one other season. Bailey has been around?the minors a long time (mostly in the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox organizations), and he does a good job no matter what role he is assigned. So it isn't a "demotion" for him to move from Tennessee to Daytona. It is just a matter of making room for Sandberg at AA. Longtime Daytona hitting instructor?Richie Zisk (he lives down there) and new D-Cubs pitching coach Tom Pratt (who was the pitching coach at Boise last season) will work with Bailey. A member of the South Side Hit Men in 1977, Zisk hit 207 HR in his 13-year MLB playing career. ?

2008?Daytona Cubs?manager Jody Davis has been reassigned as the organization's roving catching instructor.?I'm not sure if this is exactly the best role for Jo-Dee, especially since he was an "offensive-first" catcher in his playing days.?

Jody's predecessor as the organization's roving catching instructor was Casey Kopitzke, and he actually was an outstanding defensive catcher in his playing days in the Cubs organization.?But Casey quite obviously is a bright guy?with a future as a manager, so he has been named the manager at short-season Boise for 2009. As Boise manager, Kopitzke will run Extended Spring Training at Fitch Park April-June and will manage the EXST Cubs.?Kopitzke's pitching coach will be David Rosario (he was the pitching coach at Daytona last year) and the hitting coach will be?ex-SF OF Desi Wilson (he was hitting coach at Peoria last season). ?Standing?6'7, the players really look up to Wilson. ??

Last year's manager at Boise was Tom Beyers, and he had been a long-time organizational hitting instructor in the Cubs and Dodgers organization before trying his hand at managing.?Beyers spent a lot of time working with the Boise and Mesa hitters at Fitch Park last Spring, as he served as the de facto hitting instructor a lot of days. (Boise hitting coach Josh Arteaga?apparently was not invited to return in 2009). With Casey Kopitzke taking over as the?Boise manager, Beyers has been reassigned as hitting coach on Ryne Sandberg's staff at?Tennesee, where?the best Cubs minor league pitching coach (Dennis Lewallyn) will be returning for his third season.

Sandberg's replacement as manager at Peoria will be the organization's new guy, 46-year old Marty Pevey, who has been both a major league?coach and minor league coach and manager with the Toronto Blue Jays over the past 13?years.?Pevey was a catcher in his playing days (he got a "cup of coffee" with the Montreal Expos in?1989). Rich Bombard will return to the Peoria Chiefs as pitching coach in 2009, and ex-DET OF Barbaro Garbey will be the Chiefs hitting instructor (he was hitting coach at AA Tennessee last season).

The AZL Mesa Cubs play at Fitch Park after the Boise Hawks leave for Idaho in June, and the AZL Cubs will be managed by Juan Cabreja, who the manager for the DSL Cubs #1 team in the DSL last season. Cabreja replaces Franklin Font as the AZL Cubs manager, as Font has been reassigned as the organization's roving infield & bunting instructor (replacing Bobby Dickerson).?Font seemed a bit over his head last year as AZL Cubs manager. Rick Tronerud returns as the AZL Cubs pitching?coach, and Ricardo Medina returns as the AZL Cubs hitting coach. The avuncular Tronerud is the guy who is responsible for converting position players to pitcher at Fitch Park.?

The Cubs will continue to operate two clubs in the Dominican Summer League (DSL Cubs #1 and DSL Cubs #2), with Alberto Garcia (a one Cubs minor league 1B)?the new manager?for DSL Cubs #1 (replacing Carbreja) and Venezuelan?Franklin?Blanco returning as manager of DSL Cubs #2 (Blanco was the Cubs coach assigned to the Twins/Cubs co-op team in the Venezuelan Summer League in 2007). Leo Hernandez returns as pitching coach and ex-MLB INF Ramon Caraballo returns as hitting coach for DSL Cubs #1, while?Anderson Tavarez (who was a pitcher in th Cubs organization for several seasons) returns as pitching coach for DSL Cubs #2. Leonel Perez, who served as a player-coach ("mentor") at Daytona in 2008 after blowing out his arm following?a conversion from catcher to pitcher a couple of years ago, has been hired as the DSL Cubs #2 hitting coach. ?

Carmelo Martinez?will return as?the?Cubs Dominican?Field Coordinator (he basically oversees the two DSL Cubs teams).?Melo Carmelo was the temporaray manager of the Peoria club last August, the night of the big brawl at Dayton, when pitcher Julio Castillo got arrested for aggravated battery and SS Gian Guzman suffered a broken leg (Ryne Sandberg was at Cooperstown that weekend).??

Besides Jody Davis being reassigned as the organizaation's roving catching instructor and Franklin Font being reassigned to the position of?roving?infield/bunting instructor, the organization's Hitting Coordinator (Dave Keller),?Pitching Coordinator (Mark Riggins), and Outfield/Baserunning Instructor Bobby Dernier?(with Sandberg, the other half of the Cubs "Daily Double" in 1984-85) return to the same jobs?in 2009.

30-year old Danny Fatheree (Kerry Wood's catcher in HS) was re-signed to a minor league player contract for 2009, but he will probably once again actually serve as a player-coach ("mentor") for the young Cubs catchers at Fitch Park, helping kids like Matt Cerda learn the finer points of?catching. I think Fatheree would make an outstanding manager some day.?And 26-year old?Korean OF Min-Kyu Sung (who played college ball in the U. S. at Nebraska-Omaha) will be back with the Cubs in 2009, serving as a player-coach ("mentor")?wherever the young Korean?kids (Rhee, Lee, Min, and Ha) are located.??????

One-time Cubs 3rd base coach?and long-time minor league manager Dave Bialas continues to serve as the Cubs Minor League Field Coordinator, supervising the organization's roving instructors and?the managers and coaches with the eight Cubs minor league clubs. Bialas reports directly?to?Oneri Fleita.

Player Personnel Director Fleita is a bilingual Cuban-American from Miami who was an All-MVC catcher?at Creighton in the 1980's,?where he played for Coach Jim Hendry.?Fleita played briefly?in the?minor leagues?with the Orioles, before becoming a successful minor league manager in the Baltimore system.?Fleita?was hired by Hendry as a minor league manager?after Hendry was named the Cubs Player Development Director in 1994, and then Hendry appointed Oneri?the Cubs Latin American Scouting Coordinator in 1997 after Hendry took over as the (combined) Scouting?& Player Development?Director.?Fleita?replaced Hendry as the Director of?Player Development in 2000 when Hendry was appointed Assistant GM, and then Fleita was?promoted to the position of "VP - Player Personnel" in 2007.?He?gives a lot of?attention?to the Cubs minor league operations in Latin America.?

Fun in Las Vegas...and I still have money in my bank account!!!

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:43:57 -0500

Well finally I am entering the week of X games. I am very excited to get this week underway as well as over with haha. I am so glad I decided to come to Vegas and get into a fresh scene before X. It has been a blast here. I have been able to ride FMX for a hour or two and then hop on my other bike and ride the supercross track to get in some time for Speed and Style. I can't thank Carey Hart enough for letting me, an australian, my mechanic, a photographer, and a filmer all come crash at his pad and use his facility. It feels kind of cool to do the whole two-a-day deal, I feel like I'm in the NFL in training camp getting ready for the season. It has been pretty intense though, it's been 105 degrees here at 6 P.M. so no matter when we ride we still want to die!! All in all I feel I am prepared as much as I can be for this thing, I know for sure my chances in FMX are slim because I haven't really came up with that crazy trick that's going to cut it, but I feel I have a good chance in Speed and Style and maybe even step up so I'm going to give it a 110%! I did have to let loose a little last night, we got to go down to Hart's bar "Wasted Space" in the Hardrock hotel. It was a blast! Carey said he has been having quite the famous crowd in there since it's grand opening 2 weeks ago, Joel and Benji Madden as well as Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie all have been in, so I figured I would really add value to the place, can you imagine what people thought when they heard Mike Mason was going to be there!! Haha, ok I am off fantasy island now so we will just say me and my buddies had a great time. Best part of the night was at 3 am right before we all left, big, fat, old Mike Tyson walked in with a small little white chick, how odd? I wasn't going to say anything to his face though so I just finished my Coors Light and hit the door! Well I have one last day of practice here tomorrow and then I make the drive to LA to get on the X games kick!! I will try and post up blogs daily from there to keep all you guys updated, if anyone is into that! Mike Mason saying byeeee!

Top 10 from the Playboy Mansion

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:51:42 -0500

Without too much difficulty, I could have put together a Top 25 list. Instead, I'll stick with 10 and also include six videos from the Mansion. Seems like a fair compromise. Before we get to numbers two through 10, let's first take care of numero uno. 1) The Yardbarker women (Crystal, Sandy, Samantha and Jessica). I learned the hard way that it's not easy to interview a beautiful, naked woman. What's there to ask? "When was the last time you had to buy your own drink at the bar? Never? OK." Fortunately it was an easy lesson to swallow, and frankly I feel fortunate my brain didn't entirely shut down from sensory overload. For a minute or five, I thought it might. Here's a video with Crystal, Sandy, Samantha and Jessica. Now on to the remainder of my personal top 10 list from Fight Night at the Playboy Mansion. 10) Watching Brian Norman get KTFO by Henry "Sugar Poo" Buchanan. Norman's entire upper body was blasted through the ropes, and his head hung limp over the edge of the ring. Nearly immediately he began telling the ref that he was OK. That he wanted to continue. But he had already run out of gas, and Sugar Poo was a few punches away from destroying Norman, who started the fight strong and looked initially to be the better fighter. That's my only boxing moment on this list. I figured I had to include at least one. But one is enough. ESPN aired the fights but didn't even bother to so much as a write a legitimate fight preview beforehand, so I feel like I've done my due diligence with the above half-brained attempt to write about boxing. And here is a short fight preview that we filmed in the backyard of the Playboy Mansion. 9) Hugh Hefner has his own zoo. I don't, no one at Yardbarker does, and I bet you don't either. If you do, call me. We'll have a few drinks and teach the monkeys some mixed-martial-arts moves. Unless of course that would be illegal. Don't want to end up in the clink like Mike Vick. Still, though, think about it. Monkeys. Fighting. Cages. Here's a quick look inside Hef's private zoo. 8) I have some video from the Mansion's "Boom Boom Room," but I think that's going to stay off the Internet. At least for now. I'm not entirely sure it's officially called the Boom Boom Room; however, I do know that it's a small room adjacent to the game room. The floor is more like a bed than anything else. There is also a trapeze nearby. Let your imagination run wild. Don't let me know what you're thinking, though; I don't want to know. Please. 7) The Game Room. I don't care how old I get. Game rooms will always be awesome. Especially at the Mansion, where "Hugh likes to gobble up those balls." 6) I get the impression that Hugh Hefner doesn't grant very many interviews, which is why I was somewhat surprised that he spent a few minutes with the Yard. So without further adieu, please welcome the one and only Hugh Hefner to the Yard. 5) Hugh Hefner wore entry-level Reeboks to the party. If you weren't Hugh Hefner and you tried to wear them to, say, anything other than a pickup tennis match, you probably would be laughed at. But Hugh is Hugh, and Hugh can do whatever Hugh wants. I sincerely regret not snapping a photo of them. 4) The Playboy bunnies, "The Girls Next Door," and the women in the crowd. There were scores of beautiful women in the crowd, dressed appropriately, which was good because the outfits on the bunnies and also "The Girls Next Door" were dated. They looked like something out of 1986. I think the bunnies need a makeover. Not that I'm complaining. But seriously. Step up your game. (I can't believe I just managed to complain about Playboy bunnies. I deserve to be punched in the face.) 3) Motocross rider Mike Mason made an appearance. It's always good to meet verified-athlete Yardbarker bloggers, but it's even better when it happens at the Playboy Mansion. Mike's a cool guy. Crystal agrees with me. 2) The Grotto. End of story. - Dewey HONORABLE MENTION: Pete attempting to do aerial tricks on the trapeze; meeting Chuck Liddell

Freestyle motocross blogging begins!!

Mon, 05 May 2008 21:17:09 -0500

Howdy Yardbarker diehards, my name is Mike Mason and I am a Freestyle moto guy. I'm here to keep you guys filled in on my world. This is my first post on YB so I figured I would use it to introduce myself and my sport if many of you aren't familiar with it, so here goes. I started riding dirtbikes when I was five years old, thanks to my pop's who at the time was heavily involved in the motorcycle scene. He has been taking me to all the races since I first can remember, and ever since I was a 5 year old kid I knew I wanted to ride a motorcycle for the rest of my life, regardless of making it as a professional or not. When I was 17 I decided to turn pro, the sport was starting to take its toll on my family as everything became more expensive as I became better. I was traveling more, breaking bikes often, and entry fees had become too expensive. Turning pro I knew I could at least make 400-700.00 a weekend locally and much more than that at the bigger races so that would help out a lot. I caught my first big break in a series that tours the states in all the major arenas. They had racing and a best trick competition, which was perfect for me because I loved racing, but also messed around with doing tricks in my spare time. It was mainly racers who did the best trick comp and they never had much in the way of tricks, so I was pretty much set to make a thousand bucks a week just from that plus whatever prize money I made from racing, so things were looking good!! Of course with our sport like any sport comes injury, and 2002 seemed to be my year for everything to catch me at once! I had torn some ligaments in my shoulder which caused it to dislocate constantly and I also tore my ACL so my knee would dislocate from time to time. I decided just to fix my shoulder since it was bothering me more at the time. Surgery and rehab went perfect on my shoulder and I was back riding just four months after surgery. The bad news is that 6 months after my shoulder surgery I came up short on a jump at a Freestyle show in Milan, Italy and ruined my knee for good. Back to surgery it was and with a ACL its not quick. It took me about 7 months to recover and get to a 100%. At this point I was pretty much off my bike for a year and when I came back I had lost the drive and desire to keep racing. I was dead broke, my body was feeling beat up, and my mind was not into it. Right around the time all this happend my best friend had bought 7 acres and made a freestyle course on it. I decided to go out and ride with him and just mess around, not take anything to serious and just have some fun riding again. Well it ended up being the best time of my life, hitting new jumps and learning new tricks daily made me motivated to ride again, I decided to focus 100% of my efforts into FMX (freestyle motocross). After my first year I had a good bag of tricks and the backflip, which was pretty much key if you wanted a career in FMX. In 2005, just my second full year I finished third overall in the Dew action sports tour, which is basically the second biggest FMX contest next to ESPN's X games. In 2006 I won some Europe contests, finished second overall in the Dew action sports with one win on the season, and earned my first X games medal, a bronze, in my first apperance! Life was good and I had finally started to see my life long dream become a reality. Like anything good though there is going to be some bad times, in 2006 during my success, I also broke my collerbone, knocked myself out a couple times and tore my other ACL, so once again I was feeling beat up. I went into 2007 not feeling like myself and constantly worrying about my knee. I managed to get another third overall in the Dew action sports tour, but that was pretty much the only highlight of 07'. I decided to take some time off, get my knee fixed and let my body heal up and feel good for 08'. It is now 2008, the contests and demos are underway and once again I am feeling healthy and ready to make a comeback and get back to the top. As I type this I am in Australia doing a 10 week tour and the day after I get home from here I fly to Baltimore to start the Dew tour again. I will be posting frequently and keeping you all updated on cool stories or parties or hot girls, whatever it may be that I come across over here!!! Hope my story didn't bore you too bad, because I am not a very good typer so that took pretty much every ounce of brain power I had!! Take care and stay tuned!!!