{"id":84299,"date":"2020-12-15T14:14:01","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T14:14:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=84299"},"modified":"2023-02-28T14:43:45","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T14:43:45","slug":"living-pipe-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/living-pipe-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Living the (Pipe) Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"

The views expressed in this blog are<\/em> those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I played basketball for two years and baseball for four years at Moravian College<\/a>.\u00a0 Growing up, like most kids, I dreamt of someday being a professional baseball player.\u00a0 In college, I won some awards (MAC and BML Pitcher of the Year, Scholar Athlete) and even had a one day tryout with the Pirates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Eventually, however, common sense won out and I realized there was no way I was talented enough to pursue that dream.\u00a0 I looked at the odds.\u00a0 Only 5.6% of high school baseball players go on to play in college let alone the pros.\u00a0 And only 0.5% of high school seniors are eventually drafted by the major leagues.\u00a0 Bottom line \u2013 the chance of a high school player making the big leagues is 1 in 6,600 or 0.015 %.\u00a0 Lottery odds are better.\u00a0 At least I had my education to fall back on.\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

This brings me to David Bednar.\u00a0 David grew up in the Pittsburgh area and went to Mars High School<\/a>, where he played baseball for his father.\u00a0 Yes, he was a Martian.\u00a0 He was a good high school pitcher, but there were only three colleges interested in him.\u00a0 None of them were baseball powerhouses.<\/p>\n

Lafayette<\/a> was one of them.\u00a0 He matriculated and played baseball there for three years and then was drafted as the 1044th<\/sup> player in the 35th<\/sup> round of the MLB<\/a> draft.\u00a0 You really can\u2019t get much lower.\u00a0 Only 8 players have EVER made the Major Leagues who were drafted in the 35th<\/sup> round.<\/p>\n

David was three years into a highly valued and quality education.\u00a0 There appeared to be only one right decision here \u2013 be realistic and stay in school and get the degree.\u00a0 David Bednar decided otherwise.<\/p>\n

He is now pitching for the San Diego Padres<\/a> in the Major Leagues.\u00a0 I will let him tell you his story.\u00a0 The interview starts at the 2:54 mark:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Qrr7ut8Vuf0&feature=youtu.be<\/a><\/u><\/p>\n

From Mars to Lafayette to the Major Leagues is certainly a road less traveled.<\/p>\n

It makes me wonder if I\u2026 Get over it!!!<\/p>\n

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I asked this question last week \u2013 \u201cWhat do the Eagles<\/a> do now? After Sunday\u2019s game with the Packers<\/a>, it seemed obvious that Jalen Hurts outplayed Carson Wentz.\u00a0 Hurts inserted instant energy into the offense; threw a touchdown pass; and made quicker decisions to run the ball.\u00a0 Do they bench Wentz?\u201d\u00a0 They did bench Wentz; Hurts did many of the same things he did the week before \u2013 inserted energy; ran for over 100 yards; threw a TD pass; and helped the Eagles win the game.\u00a0 Now the Eagles have a $128 million problem or they have two potentially very good QBs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. There certainly some irony in Monday night\u2019s game between the Cleveland Browns<\/a> and the Baltimore Ravens<\/a>.\u00a0 Twenty-five years ago, Cleveland\u2019s owner, Art Modell, packed up the Browns and moved them to Baltimore.\u00a0 It has taken the \u201cnew\u201d Browns 25 years to be competitive again.\u00a0 They are this year.\u00a0 Yet they still lost to the Ravens on Monday night on a last- second field goal.\u00a0 Poor Karma.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Is it me or does it seem like there are plenty of teams that could win the Super Bowl?\u00a0 Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Green Bay, New Orleans, and the Rams are the frontrunners, but all six of them have appeared vulnerable at times.\u00a0 There certainly is no lock on these six being the only possibilities either.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. Junior Jahan Dotson, of Nazareth High School<\/a> and Penn State<\/a>, had another big weekend as he caught eight passes for 108 yards and returned a punt for 81 yards and a touchdown on Saturday against Michigan State<\/a>.\u00a0 There is talk that Jahan could leave for the NFL after this season.\u00a0 That would just add another NFL team to watch each week \u2013 the Eagles, the Giants<\/a> with Saquon Barkley, and wherever Jahan would go.\u00a0 It\u2019s a nice problem to have \u2013 but don\u2019t ask my wife.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. You may have noticed that my \u201cGuesses\u201d have gone down percentage-wise these last few weeks.\u00a0 The NFL stats show why \u2013 underdogs are covering the point spread 57% of the time.\u00a0 That\u2019s the highest percentage since 1980.\u00a0 Bettors, who often favor the favorite, are suffering because of it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Gary\u2019s Guesses: NFL Picks \u2013 (LAST WEEK \u2013 9-8; OVERALL- 131-74-1 – 64%)<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

            Las Vegas<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            Green Bay<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            Buffalo<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            Indianapolis<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            Tennessee<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            LA Rams<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            Tampa Bay<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            Miami<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            Seattle<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            Minnesota<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            Baltimore<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            Cleveland<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            Philadelphia<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            Kansas City<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            San Francisco<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            Pittsburgh<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

             <\/p>\n

             <\/p>\n

             <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. I played basketball for two years and baseball for four years at Moravian College.\u00a0 Growing up, like most kids, I dreamt of someday being…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLiving the (Pipe) Dream - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Living the (Pipe) Dream - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. 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