Shark Week Wrap Up

Shark Week is over.  In fact, it's been over for a few days now (sadly...).  Before Tyler and I are completely able to let it go, however, we have a few things to wrap up...

Special thanks to Discovery Channel for the Roger Bernadina Shark Week shout out:

Thanks again to CalTort for giving us a chance to win some burritos.

Thanks to Topps for the best player blurb ever.

Thanks to this guy for getting into the Shark spirit.

Thanks AGAIN to that same guy for REALLY getting into the Shark spirit.

Thanks Lyle Lovett for giving Bernadina a Shark shout out at Wolf Trap.

Thanks to EVERYONE who thought about the Shark during Shark Week.

Finally,  thanks to the Shark, for reading our blog, and being potentially the only player who would accept this nickname so graciously.

Can't wait until next Shark Week!

More to come.

Shark Park

Yesterday, during the Nationals 5-4, 13 inning win over the second place Braves, the Shark had on pinch hit appearance.  This was the reaction of the crowd (thanks to best photographer ever, Cheryl Nichols for the shots):

Jaw-inspring.

More to come.

How We (Almost) Won Free Burritos For A Year (Again).

Here's a little story for you all on this fine Shark Weekend morning. Remember last year California Tortilla offered free burritos for a year to anyone who could get a picture of Roger Bernadina eating a fish taco? Well, no one won, but it did give the Shark a lot of publicity and a lot of photoshopped pics ended up on the Cal Tort website.

Why didn't we win this contest, you ask? Well right before Shark Week last year, Bernadina was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse  which led to THE SADDEST SHARK WEEK EVER. Boy, what a difference a year makes! I would call this THE HAPPIEST SHARK WEEK EVER with Bernadina batting 5-7 with 3 RBI's.

Anyway....now that you know the backstory we can fast forward to this year. California Tortilla opened up the contest again, with much less publicity, and maybe directed right at us in an attempt to make up for last year.  To tell the story of what happened, we have copied and pasted an email we sent to Cal Tort on the last day of the contest:


Dear Cal Tort,

As you are probably aware, we (Terry Cangelosi and Tyler Stoltenberg) are Roger "The Shark" Bernadina's biggest fans. We were the ones who nicknamed him the shark and we run the semi-popular blog www.Sharkadina.com. We love CalTort and we love the competition that you have started to catch Roger Bernadina eating a fish taco (We have submitted photoshopped pictures in the past). We would like to regale our story of attempting to win your contest.

On Friday, we bought two tickets for Sunday's Nationals game. We cleaned and pressed our shark hoods, and mentally prepared all weekend. Come Sunday morning, we stopped by California Tortilla in Bethesda to buy a fish taco and bring it down to the game. We arrived at approximately noon for the game. We baked in the sun for four hours and watched the Nationals defeat the Florida Marlins (another fish) 4-1. To prove that we were there, here is a link to us being interviewed live during the game by Fox Sports Florida.

We waited for another hour after the game, with our taco, in the hopes of snapping a picture and winning free burritos for a year. Unfortunately, the Nationals had to leave right after the game to catch a flight to Houston. Therefore, Bernadina could not come out of the park after the game to sign autographs (or take pictures) as they got right on the bus to leave for the airport. The closest we got was a wave through the window.

We did get a picture of Tyler with the taco outside the stadium to prove how close we got. 

still good after being in my pocket for 5 hrs in 90 degree weather

We also have pictures of the Sharkadina guys eating the fish tacos which is pretty cool too...

seriously, try these fish tacos. they are jawesome.

Anyway, we know that we didn't win the top prize, but we were wondering if there were any consolation prizes for our (near) success!  We'll definitely be stopping by to get fish tacos and Shark fins tomorrow for lunch!

Signed,
The Sharkadina Guys


Well, Cal Tort did come through with a consolation prize: two Shark Week T-Shirts! Here is us wearing them with the Cal Tort/Discovery Channel Shark Fins:

sharkadressed up

  Being this decked out in Shark Swag led to some Sharkanigans:

get your fin out of my face!

duh dun duh dun duh dun...ok, out of the water!

More to come.

Card Shark(adina)

We officially made it to day of 5 of Shark Week and managed to do a post every day this week.  This is both impressive for us (I honestly can't remember the last time we had 5 consecutive days of posts...) and lucky for you (because you, the reader, get to quietly judge us at our inability to spell wrds correctly and try to come up with things to write about).  Lucky for you because we actually do have things to write about!

As Tyler mentioned yesterday, this has been a big week for getting random Shark and Bernadina themed stuff (there is really no better word to describe it).  Firstly, as we mentioned last week, in a stunning and incredible turn of events, we randomly bought a couple 2012 Topps Roger Bernadina baseball cards...

In case you haven't seen the card yet, please read below:

As you will see, THE BACK OF THE CARD TALKS ALMOST ENTIRELY ABOUT THE SHARK NICKNAME.  As you will also see, OUR WEBSITE IS ON THE BACK OF A BASEBALL CARD.  We've had some awesome stuff happen to us, but I think this definitely ranks in the top 3...

Then, as you do with anything you get excited about, we bought as many as we could get our hands on...

These will be worth millions when the Shark gets inducted into the Hall.

The other exciting news we have for this magical fifth day of Shark Week 2012 is that Sharkadina is finally official.  Why?  BECAUSE WE HAVE BOSS SHARK BUSINESS CARDS!

Now, at baseball games, Tyler and I don't have to fumble over our words trying to explain (and spell) how to find or contact Sharkadina. SHARK YEAH!

Then, as you do with anything you get excited about, we bought as many as we could get our hands on...

These will be worth billions when the Shark gets inducted into the Hall.

Get one at a game near you!

In Other News:
We reached 1000 followers on Twitter (only a few days too late to get us to shave sharks into our hair....new attempt, 1500 by the playoffs)!
We broke the 300 likes mark on Facebook!
We broke the 100,000 pageviews mark on Blogger.
We finally have 2 real life friends (just to clear up the confusion, Tyler and Terry have no idea who these guys are.  Terry just googled "two random shark guys")

More to come.

Shark: "I love the nickname"

After Charlie and Dave read Sharkadina on the air, they had to talk to Roger Bernadina about what he thought of it. He was interviewed Nats Radio before the game on Tuesday and of course we have the clip for you! You can also watch a slideshow of some great Shark images during the interview!

The whole interview is worth listening to, but you can fast forward to 4:08 to hear him talk about us and The Shark nickname.

He LOVES the nickname and thinks this blog has "interesting stuff!" Thanks Shark!

In other news, Sports Illustrated has a slide show of "Sports Sharks" that DOES NOT include Bernadina. Please tweet them @SInow and tell them what a mistake they made!

Shark Week continues and we have some more exciting posts lined up for the next couple days about some jawesome items we have recently received in the mail...

More to come.

Radio Shark: You've Got Questions. We've Got Jaws.

You thought it was great when Shark Week started early in DC...but then Shark Week actually started and Bernadina had one of his best games of all time and this blog was read LIVE ON THE RADIO.

Last night in San Francisco, Sharkzilla really chompdowned on the Giants, going 4-6 with 3 RBI's in the Nats 14-2 victory. Shark's (near grand slam) 2 run double prompted F.P. to say: "Folks get the kids out of the water, here comes a Shark Attack."

It wasn't all offense though, with Shark making another fintastic diving catch which was again the  #1 top play on SportsCenter. This prompted the entire Nationals dugout to make the Shark Chomp:

everyone's doing the chomp chomp (yeah, yeah).

But that's not the big story...Remember when Terry and I were interviewed on the Matt Dahl radio show? Or maybe you listened last week when Bernadina was interviewed on 106.7 The Fan. Well Sharkadina made another appearance last night, only this time it was Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler who (after incessant tweeting) found the blog and read it live on the air in the 9th inning. The 5 Nats fans still listening to the game around 1:15 heard this live, but if you were asleep here it is accompanied by an artists rendition of "sharkadina.com blog site:"

Well, you're right Charlie Slowes, it WAS big on sharkadina.com blog site!

More to come.

Sharkzilla invades San Francisco

While Discovery Channel's Shark Week continues to ask viewers what they want to see crushed by a giant metal Sharkzilla jaw in their #CHOMPDOWN, Nats fans only want one thing crushed this week: The Giants.

not from Shark Week. clearly from a syfy original movie

Sharks were spotted in McCovey Cove last year and they are circling once again as the Nats look to increase their lead in the NL East over the Atlanta Braves. The Shark was a last minute add to the lineup tonight, with Jayson Werth being scratched due to "ankle soreness" AKA we need room in the lineup for Bernadina during Shark Week.

It's time for some Sharklinks:

Friend of the blog and JAWESOME photographer Cheryl Nichols wrote a great article for District Sports Page: "Shark Week” is all season in DC". It includes a summary of our nicknaming Bernadina and of course some fintastic photos. Here's a great one of Daddy Desmond doing the CHOMP!

The Washington Post has also been writing a lot about The Shark:

Roger Bernadina playing well, making acrobatic catches: "While a tremendous play, it should come as no surprise, as the 28-year-old outfielder, nicknamed the Shark, has been enjoying arguably the best season of his career."

And here is a really interesting article about Shark's bat. (Not to be confused with Bat Shark or The Shark Knight). Lighter bat behind Roger Bernadina’s offensive surge: "On Saturday, Bernadina walked up to DeRosa, patted him on the shoulder and said, only half-kidding, “This is the guy who changed my life.” Since Bernadina switched from a 34-ounce bat to a model that weighs 31 ½ ounces at DeRosa’s insistence, Bernadina, 28, has hit better and more consistently than at any point in his career."

Mark DeRosa will here on out be known as "The Shark Whisperer."

More to come.

SHARK WEEK IS HERE

Today is one of the best days of the year. It is the first day of Shark Week. This week, Sharkadina will be sharking up our blog to bring you the best, most jawesome coverage of all things Shark. Be sure to check the blog each day for exciting news and classic Sharkadina photoshops! To celebrate the start of Shark Week, why don't you buy your very own Shark Hat to wear to the next homestand? 

Today we are unveiling an image captured from a never before seen camera angle of THE CATCH OF THE YEAR. This photo was snapped the moment the ball hits Bernadina's glove and perfectly captures his expression. This photo has not been tampered with in any way:

OK, this photo was tampered with and was sent to us by fan of the blog @KarlJPotter. You too could be featured on Sharkadina, just tweet us your pic at @Sharkadina!

More to come.

Shark Jumps, Hits, Steals, and Bunts Way to Victory

Last night, Shark was catching fire! In the series finale against the Houston Astros, The Shark gave Bryce Harper a rest and started in CF and batted 2nd. He went 3-4 including one hit that almost took off the pitchers head and later in the game laid down a perfect Shark Bunt. He also had two Shark Steals bringing his total for the year up to 13!

The Shark also continued his media blitz, being interviewed by Holden and Danny on 106.7 THE FAN. Sadly, no mention of the nickname, but still a good interview!

Last night during the game while recounting the THE CATCH OF THE YEAR, F.P. Santangelo called Bernadina "Air Jaws." That got us thinking here at Sharkadina and we wanted to give some examples of sharks making great leaping catches.

First, go back and watch THE CATCH OF THE YEAR again so you can compare it with these.

First off, this Sharkadina original image from last July is eerily appropriate as the Shark's diving catch and great offense was one of the reasons the Nats swept the Astros in their four game series this year.

The shuttle program doesn't even exist anymore!

Here's a Shark Week preview from the Discovery Channel, which features a Great White named Colossus jumping into the air to eat a fake seal. The resemblance to Bernadina jumping into the air to catch a fly ball is uncanny:



And finally, just for fun and for those who haven't seen it. Here is the famous scene from SyFy original movie "Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus" in which A GIANT SHARK JUMPS OUT OF THE WATER AND BITES AN AIRPLANE.



He must have thought it looked like a fly ball.

More to come.

The Shark Speaks

Everyone is STILL talking about The Catch of the Year. And yes, he officially beat out Mike Trout's catch for best of the year. If you haven't voted yet, please do: Which Web Gem do you think is best of the best? Unless you're from Arizona, because that state has clearly been HACKED (it has 50 more votes than California and 98% for Trout) because we already know Arizonans are Shark Fans!

For those of you Shark Fans who have never had the chance to meet Roger Bernadina, you may be wondering what he sounds like in person. Well he just gave two jawesome interviews about the catch. One was in the locker room after the catch and the other was the next day. We unfortunately can't embed them, but they are worth going over to MASN to watch.

After making the game-ending catch in the 12th, Roger Bernadina speaks to the media

Highlights:
Reporter: "Did you think you had a shot to get it the whole way?"
Shark: "Yeah, yeah, I knew I had a shot all the way..."
Off Screen Ian Desmond(?): "He's The Shark, he always thinks he has a shot!"

Reporter: "How about the moment running back to the dugout with everyone doing The Shark move...did you see them doing that?"
Shark: "Yeah, yeah, no my teammates are great!"

Roger Bernadina and Craig Stammen break down the film of the Shark's leaping catch

Highlights:
Kristina: "Regardless of the game situation, he's going after that ball the same way every time- that's why they call him The Shark"

Kristina: "Living up to your nickname The Shark. Do you like that nickname?
Shark: "Yeah, yeah, The Shark...I remember [sic?] those guys came up with the name, but yeah, I love it, I love it. You know, I'll stick with it.

And here's one more snippet from an article in The Washington Times- Nats’ ‘Shark’ savors his catch:

The chants were so loud Roger Bernadina could hear them reverberating as he walked through the tunnel toward the visitors’ clubhouse at Minute Maid Park Tuesday night. Reveling in another victory, the Washington Nationals turned the music up and awaited their hero of the night.

“Shark! Shark! Shark!” They screamed, as they waited for Bernadina to join them after an on-field interview, moments after his jaw-dropping catch in left-center field had saved their win over the Houston Astros. They clapped their hands with their arms outstretched, pantomiming the chomping motion of a shark, the nickname given to Bernadina years ago for the way he hunts down balls in the outfield.

The Nationals’ 28-year-old outfielder, one of the organization’s longest-tenured players, smiled at the sight of his teammates. He stretched out his arms and chomped back at them, soaking in the moment.

The Shark has arrived. Four days until Shark Week!

More to come.

THE CATCH OF THE YEAR

Remember the awesome diving catch by the Shark a couple of weeks ago to rob Nyjer Morgan? How about last year's ridiculous backwards sprawling diving catch by the Shark?  Of course you do.  After all, this is why he is nicknamed the Shark.  HE HUNTS DOWN FLY BALLS LIKE A SHARK GOING AFTER IT'S PREY.

Last night, the Shark further demonstrated this talent with a catch that tops all others...

Watch it again and again and again:

Also, to put it into context, keep an eye on the game information.  Bottom of the 12th, 2 on, 2 outs.  This easily would have been a walk-off double had the catch not been made.  To further put it into context, watch the video again, and look out for Mako Morse's celebratory Shark Chomp (still below)

There has been some great writing out there about last night's catch:

MASN: Reliving Bernadina's 12th-inning heroics 

Washington Post: Nationals vs. Astros: Danny Espinosa has 3 RBI, Roger Bernadina saves win with spectacular catch in 12th 

Dan Steinberg DC Sports Bog: The Nats react to Roger Bernadina’s game-ending catch- this has some awesome images of the players reactions to the catch!

Also you can vote for it for Web Gem of the Year here. Currently it is winning 86% to 14% for Mike Trout's catch early this season.

Just for kicks, watch the video of his spectacular catch from last year.

If there is anyone out there that doesn't believe he's the Shark, speak now. 

More to come.

Sharkadina on Fox Sports Florida

I know what you are all saying to yourself (and please correct me if I am wrong), "It's great to see that Sharkadina is posting and all, but they haven't been at a game in FOREVER!"

Let's be honest, the games are definitely the most fun.  Remember the first game Tyler met the Shark and won Fan of the Game?  Or the time, we hung out with the Shark after the game outside the clubhouse? When Terry won Fan of the Game and the Shark autographed his game worn jersey? How about when MARK GRACE TALKED ABOUT US FOR AN ENTIRE INNING on Fox Sports Arizona?!

Well, wait no more, avid Shark fans! As promised, Tyler and I (Terry) attended today's game and watched as Strasburg and the Nats beat the Miami Marlins 4-1 (Shark bunted out in his only AB).  Despite the intoxicating (or was that heat stroking) sun, baking and burning us, we sported our Shark hoods and chomped through the 9 innings.  We also brought a California Tortilla fish taco for Bernadina, but will have more information about that later...

...because, the best part of the game was that we had the opportunity to be interviewed LIVE on air during the sixth inning on Fox Sports Florida! We were interviewed by the talented sideline reporter Allison Williams:

Terry and Tyler do a synchronized Shark wave on FSMarlins

If you had the opportunity to watch it live, lucky you!  If not, you can watch the bootleg version below:

In other news, we also are getting some more attention by the media, as our story was featured on BreakThru Radio in there article about five famous guys with the nickname "The Shark" Just Call Me "The Shark"- Shark Week. Of course, one of those guys is Roger Bernadina.  Check out this article, because honestly, they do a better job talking through the origin of the nickname than we ever do...

More to come.

Shark Fever

A shark-themed epidemic is sweeping Nationals Park!

With Shark Week only a week away, Shark fans are coming out in droves to support the Nationals and their favorite player.  Jimmy Kloke (who we met about a year ago) and his family have been donning shark hats to recent games, rooting for the Shark.  The reception has been well received and  Sharkadina appreciates every Shark fan we can round up!  With the exception of one small interference issue, we love seeing the Shark Fever spreading all over the park. Even FP Santangelo (who loves calling Bernadina the Shark) apparently sported a Shark hat!

The Shark Fever reached a new intensity last night in the second game of a double header with the Miami Marlins (Nats won game 1, but lost game 2).  During the president's race, the president's came sprinting out of the center field gate with swim caps.  It was a close race until the they rounded the right field corner, when A SHARK BURST OUT OF NOWHERE AND ATTACKED TEDDY ROOSEVELT!

I know what you are thinking, "why would one of Roger Bernadina's relatives attack Teddy Roosevelt?!"  Well, I believe I have found the answer.  I think (though I have no proof) that this shark was not a Shark at all, but a HUMAN DRESSED AS A SHARK!  FP noted that it was "the most mutant looking shark [he's] ever seen in [his] life."  Check out the Let Teddy Win or click below to watch the video and be the judge if this was a real shark or someone wearing fake shark garb (despicable).

As we mentioned before, Tyler and I (Terry) will be at the game tomorrow with our original shark hoods and fish tacos.  Plus we might have another surprise up our gills...

More to come.

Shark Tanks at Full

The Shark Tank is back!

... and the results are immediately clear!  After dropping 2 games to the Phillies and there filthy fans. the Nats shut out the Phils 3-0 tonight.  The fact that the Shark only came in as a defensive sub at the end of the game only goes to prove how much control the Nats really had.  They didn't need the Shark Knight to rise this time (which is okay so long as I have @valliant306's jaw-dropping poster to stare at for an unhealthy amount of time).  If the Shark had played, I'm sure the outcome would have been even more lopsided, though Jonathon Papelbon would have been in a little more pain...

In other news...

The Sharkadina Tank is back, too!

After a long hiatus, I (Terry) am back to posting alongside Tyler.  I am the first to admit that Tyler's recent posts (especially this one, and this one) were brilliant and Sharkadina 3.0 is going to stay strong through October.  Because of a stupid work schedule, I've been out of commission since July 4th, and as it turns out, neither of the Sharkadina founders have been to a game since July 6th (what the SH**K?!) The plan is for that to change on Sunday, when Tyler and I can both go.  We just need to get tickets.

In addition to our traditional Shark garb, we will be bringing with us one additional item.  That item, of course, is a California Tortilla Fish Taco!!  For the second year in a row, @CalTort is offering anyone who can get a picture of the Shark with a fish taco,  free burritos for a year.  We want those free burritos and we are going to get them.  Apparently, they didn't believe it when we snapped this picture last year...

Maybe it was the fact that Hanley Ramirez was the fish stuffed in the taco... I dunno.

More to come.

Shark Knight Rises POSTER

Our series of Batman themed posts (BatShark Begins and The Shark Knight Rises) has inspired the most epic image in the history of Sharkadina, Roger Bernadina, Sharks, or even dare I say, Batman. And that's saying something:

This image is too good for words. It was created by a mystery graphic designer who is a friend of @valliant306.  All we can say is thank you for sharing this piece of art with us and the world - it is a better place because of it. Between this and the best Shark drawing of all time, the quality of Roger Bernadina/Shark fan art is really booming right now. Keep them coming Loyal Shark Fans!

More to come.