Are Carrie and Mr. Big still together? Did Charlotte adopt a baby from China? How is Miranda liking motherhood? Is Samantha still, uh, keeping things interesting?
Those questions, no doubt occupying the thoughts of many "Sex and the City" fans since the long-running HBO series ended in 2004, may finally be answered -- in a much-talked-of but still unrealized feature film spun from the show.
New Line Cinema is close to inking a deal to finance and distribute the film in association with HBO, John Smith, a representative at New Line, confirmed Thursday. Daily Variety reported the news Wednesday. Smith said its report was accurate and did not provide further details.
The four principal actresses -- Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon -- will reprise their roles. Michael Patrick King, who executive-produced the series, is slated to direct.
The making of a "Sex and the City" movie has been bandied about since the show left the air. There have been reports that the delay was due in some part to Cattrall, who played the sex-obsessed Samantha Jones, asking for a higher salary and creative input.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Happy Birthday Diesel
Three years ago Lefty gave birth to a beautiful baby boy (and a beautiful baby boy and a beautiful baby boy and a beautiful baby boy and a beautiful baby girl and a beautiful baby girl and a beautiful baby girl) and 3 years later that little pooch has grown into my best friend.
Hard to believe that this little pup, who I thought I could never live with,
has turned into this big black dog whom I could not live without.
Hard to believe that this little pup, who I thought I could never live with,
has turned into this big black dog whom I could not live without.
Home on the Cage
Funny article in the New York Times about Angels outfielder Reggie Willits.
In 2003, Reggie and his wife Amber decided to build a 3,000-square-foot house on five acres they own next to his family in Fort Cobb, Okla. The batting cage happened to be the first part of the house that they built.
But when the cage was finished, Reggie and Amber saw a way to save money from his minor league salary. They did not have to complete the house. They could simply stay in the cage.
From the outside, it looks like a warehouse, 60 feet long and 32 feet wide. But inside, it has everything a baseball family would ever need: a place to eat, sleep and hit.
In 2003, Reggie and his wife Amber decided to build a 3,000-square-foot house on five acres they own next to his family in Fort Cobb, Okla. The batting cage happened to be the first part of the house that they built.
But when the cage was finished, Reggie and Amber saw a way to save money from his minor league salary. They did not have to complete the house. They could simply stay in the cage.
From the outside, it looks like a warehouse, 60 feet long and 32 feet wide. But inside, it has everything a baseball family would ever need: a place to eat, sleep and hit.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
1981 World Series of Poker
Part I:
Part II:
Part III:
Part IV:
Part V:
Part VI:
Part VII:
75 players enter this year, Curt Gowdy doing the announcing with the help of Bobby Baldwin in a Members Only jacket.
They skip early round action and go right to the final table, where they are making good use of the precursor to the hole cam, the on tape cam, I guess you could call it, but at least you know what the players have as the hand develops.
Bobby Baldwin takes another brutal beat. He makes top set (9s) on the flop and Perry Green goes all in with pocket queens and makes a set on the river.
They've been showing a lot of the final table once it got down to 4 but most of the action involved Perry Green. Finally Stu Ungar got involved as he went all in with pocket kings and Green called with A-Q. An ace came on the flop, but Ungar caught a third king on the turn to double up. Ungar at this point is 27 years old, but looks 18, and he won the 1980 Main Event, so he is here defending his title.
By the last hand Ungar had built a huge chip advantage, and got A-Q of hearts, versus 10-9 for Perry Green. The flop gave Green an up and down straight draw and four hearts for Ungar. Ungar put him all in and Ungar paired his queen on the river for his second straight WSOP Main Event title.
It was great to see Stu Ungar play, he made all the right moves, slow playing, being aggressive to come back from a short stack to win his second straight title.
Part II:
Part III:
Part IV:
Part V:
Part VI:
Part VII:
75 players enter this year, Curt Gowdy doing the announcing with the help of Bobby Baldwin in a Members Only jacket.
They skip early round action and go right to the final table, where they are making good use of the precursor to the hole cam, the on tape cam, I guess you could call it, but at least you know what the players have as the hand develops.
Bobby Baldwin takes another brutal beat. He makes top set (9s) on the flop and Perry Green goes all in with pocket queens and makes a set on the river.
They've been showing a lot of the final table once it got down to 4 but most of the action involved Perry Green. Finally Stu Ungar got involved as he went all in with pocket kings and Green called with A-Q. An ace came on the flop, but Ungar caught a third king on the turn to double up. Ungar at this point is 27 years old, but looks 18, and he won the 1980 Main Event, so he is here defending his title.
By the last hand Ungar had built a huge chip advantage, and got A-Q of hearts, versus 10-9 for Perry Green. The flop gave Green an up and down straight draw and four hearts for Ungar. Ungar put him all in and Ungar paired his queen on the river for his second straight WSOP Main Event title.
It was great to see Stu Ungar play, he made all the right moves, slow playing, being aggressive to come back from a short stack to win his second straight title.
1979 World Series of Poker
It's been a while since I've watched an Old World Series of Poker on youtube, but let's get back into it with the 1979 WSOP.
Part I:
Part II:
Part III:
Part IV:
The show starts with a montage of driving to the Horseshoe while Kenny Rogers's "The Gambler" plays.
54 players in the field this year. Gabe Kaplan was among them, looking much more like Mr. Kotter than he does now.
The first big hand came when "Chicago" Sam Petrillo went all in preflop with Kings after a huge reraise by Jim Bechtel (1993 champ) with aces. Petrillo doubled up with a King in the window.
Gabe Kaplan said "last year I was the fourth one out, this year I was the sixth one out, in another 50 years I'm going to win." Kaplan doesn't play in the Main Event anymore, says it's too many players and too many hours.
Awesome hand by a guy named Lakewood Louie. The board is Ad-Kh-Qd-Jd-10h. So there's a straight on the board and three diamonds, a guy with a huge thick dark moustache puts Louie all in for his last 9,900, Louie calls and turns over Kd-10d. First royal flush in WSOP history.
Bobby Baldwin, the 1978 champ, got busted out when he made top set (8s) on the flop and went all in against Sam Moon's aces, but an ace came on the turn.
The players with large stacks kept their chips in racks, not stacks.
Another difference I noticed, players milk a short stack a lot longer then they would now, they don't go all-in every hand once they get below 10 times the big blind.
So the heads up play comes down to the amateur Hal Fowler versus the pro Bobby Hoff.
They just interviewed Kenny Rogers!
Hal Fowler doubles up to 398,000 (out of 540,000) when he makes the nut flush on the river. Bobby Hoff had the king high flush. Yikes!
And the last hand was even worse. Hoff had about 120,000 left and he got pocket aces. If he doubles up, he's almost even, he makes a small bet on the flop (3-4-J), then goes all in when a 5 comes on the turn, but Fowler wins with 7-6.
This was a really awesome tournament with some really exciting hands.
Part I:
Part II:
Part III:
Part IV:
The show starts with a montage of driving to the Horseshoe while Kenny Rogers's "The Gambler" plays.
54 players in the field this year. Gabe Kaplan was among them, looking much more like Mr. Kotter than he does now.
The first big hand came when "Chicago" Sam Petrillo went all in preflop with Kings after a huge reraise by Jim Bechtel (1993 champ) with aces. Petrillo doubled up with a King in the window.
Gabe Kaplan said "last year I was the fourth one out, this year I was the sixth one out, in another 50 years I'm going to win." Kaplan doesn't play in the Main Event anymore, says it's too many players and too many hours.
Awesome hand by a guy named Lakewood Louie. The board is Ad-Kh-Qd-Jd-10h. So there's a straight on the board and three diamonds, a guy with a huge thick dark moustache puts Louie all in for his last 9,900, Louie calls and turns over Kd-10d. First royal flush in WSOP history.
Bobby Baldwin, the 1978 champ, got busted out when he made top set (8s) on the flop and went all in against Sam Moon's aces, but an ace came on the turn.
The players with large stacks kept their chips in racks, not stacks.
Another difference I noticed, players milk a short stack a lot longer then they would now, they don't go all-in every hand once they get below 10 times the big blind.
So the heads up play comes down to the amateur Hal Fowler versus the pro Bobby Hoff.
They just interviewed Kenny Rogers!
Hal Fowler doubles up to 398,000 (out of 540,000) when he makes the nut flush on the river. Bobby Hoff had the king high flush. Yikes!
And the last hand was even worse. Hoff had about 120,000 left and he got pocket aces. If he doubles up, he's almost even, he makes a small bet on the flop (3-4-J), then goes all in when a 5 comes on the turn, but Fowler wins with 7-6.
This was a really awesome tournament with some really exciting hands.
Most Hated Mets Opponent
During Tuesday's blowout, Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez were talking about which Mets opponent in the most hated. During Wednesday's blowout they made the question their text poll.
Tasted Better on the Way In
Despite a personal best performance of 63 HBDs, Kobayashi was taken down by new hot dog eating champion Joey Chestnut. But Kobayashi displayed the guts and toughness that made him a champion by trying to swallow his own regurgitation.
Don't Disrespect Pizza Parlor KeriAnn
Despite what the fuckin assholes at Bar Stool Sports have to say someone liked Pizza Parlor KeriAnn during her Celtics Dance Team tryout. She is one of the finalists who will be competing at the Final Audition at Avalon on July 12th. The Celtics selected five finalists and put them to a vote. I don't think the vote has any say in who gets selected, but it would be nice for KeriAnn if we all voted for her and showed the Celtics brass how much we want to see her in one of those skimpy green outfits next season like her hot friend Alexis.
I love KeriAnn's most embarrassing moment, The Concierge can relate.
I love KeriAnn's most embarrassing moment, The Concierge can relate.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Never Underestimate the Heart of Champion
Rumors about a jaw injury have led oddsmakers to make Kobayashi an underdog (at 3/2) to win the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Kobayashi owns this event, Joey Chestnut is a flash in pan. Chestnut is a 1/3 favorite. You can get 15/1 on the field.
And the over/under for the winner is 57 hot dogs. You get the better price with the under, and I'm going to go with the under.
Kobayashi eats 56, Chestnut does 53 1/2 and Kobayashi defends his title, giving him 7 in a row.
Kobayashi owns this event, Joey Chestnut is a flash in pan. Chestnut is a 1/3 favorite. You can get 15/1 on the field.
And the over/under for the winner is 57 hot dogs. You get the better price with the under, and I'm going to go with the under.
Kobayashi eats 56, Chestnut does 53 1/2 and Kobayashi defends his title, giving him 7 in a row.
Did John Maine Get Snubbed?
I usually never delve into the debate of All-Star snubs but because I love John Maine and think he's been pitching great this year I wanted to examine the issue.
Jake Peavy and Brad Penny are locks, so let's compare Maine to the three other starters who made the team:
John Smoltz: 9-5 3.07 ERA 96 K 1.23 WHIP
Cole Hamels: 9-4 3.87 ERA 116 K 1.22 WHIP
Ben Sheets: 10-3 3.19 ERA 81 K 1.15 WHIP
John Maine: 9-4 2.74 ERA 84 K 1.15 WHIP
Looking at it this way, it seems pretty clear that Maine deserved a spot ahead of one of these guys, probably Hamels. But this is actually a problem with the system. Because the new player polling is done a couple weeks early, Maine's last three starts (3-0. 1.61 ERA) and Hamels's last three starts (0-2, 6.92 ERA) probably weren't factored into the voting.
But there were also three pitchers added by the manager, all relievers, Billy Wagner, Takahashi Saito and Jose Valverde. It's hard to argue with those choices, even Valverde who has 2 blown saves, has 26 saves and a pretty decent ERA and WHIP.
In summary, Maine is having a better season than a couple of the pitchers who made the team, but for that I blame the system of selection, not to selectors.
But the biggest snub is San Diego pitcher Chris Young who is 8-3 with a 2.14 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He is more deserving than any of the people I just discussed. But Young is likely going to be added to the team thanks to the "Final Vote," in which fans select one more player from a list of 5. That's where Maine got snubbed. He's not on that list. Roy Oswalt, Carlos Zambrano, Brandon Webb and Tom Gorzelanny are, but Maine is definitely more deserving than Oswalt, and probably the other three as well.
Note: none of the players mentioned had to be added to meet the minimum requirement of one player per team. All these pitchers have a teammate already on the squad.
Jake Peavy and Brad Penny are locks, so let's compare Maine to the three other starters who made the team:
John Smoltz: 9-5 3.07 ERA 96 K 1.23 WHIP
Cole Hamels: 9-4 3.87 ERA 116 K 1.22 WHIP
Ben Sheets: 10-3 3.19 ERA 81 K 1.15 WHIP
John Maine: 9-4 2.74 ERA 84 K 1.15 WHIP
Looking at it this way, it seems pretty clear that Maine deserved a spot ahead of one of these guys, probably Hamels. But this is actually a problem with the system. Because the new player polling is done a couple weeks early, Maine's last three starts (3-0. 1.61 ERA) and Hamels's last three starts (0-2, 6.92 ERA) probably weren't factored into the voting.
But there were also three pitchers added by the manager, all relievers, Billy Wagner, Takahashi Saito and Jose Valverde. It's hard to argue with those choices, even Valverde who has 2 blown saves, has 26 saves and a pretty decent ERA and WHIP.
In summary, Maine is having a better season than a couple of the pitchers who made the team, but for that I blame the system of selection, not to selectors.
But the biggest snub is San Diego pitcher Chris Young who is 8-3 with a 2.14 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He is more deserving than any of the people I just discussed. But Young is likely going to be added to the team thanks to the "Final Vote," in which fans select one more player from a list of 5. That's where Maine got snubbed. He's not on that list. Roy Oswalt, Carlos Zambrano, Brandon Webb and Tom Gorzelanny are, but Maine is definitely more deserving than Oswalt, and probably the other three as well.
Note: none of the players mentioned had to be added to meet the minimum requirement of one player per team. All these pitchers have a teammate already on the squad.
Happy Fourth of July
You may not know it from watching TV or reading the newspapers but America is a pretty good place to live.
Take a moment to think about that when you are enjoying your barbecues and fireworks today.
Take a moment to think about that when you are enjoying your barbecues and fireworks today.
Freedo is a Mush
Got this e-mail from Freedo before the Mets began their series with the Rockies:
"Headed to the Mets/Rockies tonight and tomorrow!!!"
The Mets lost both those games. I guess Amber wasn't with him because she is good luck. So I hope he stays home and the Mets can salvage one game of the series.
I hope you enjoyed the fireworks, asshole.
"Headed to the Mets/Rockies tonight and tomorrow!!!"
The Mets lost both those games. I guess Amber wasn't with him because she is good luck. So I hope he stays home and the Mets can salvage one game of the series.
I hope you enjoyed the fireworks, asshole.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Baseball is Poop
Whoa-Oh We're Halfway There Edition
More than half the teams have played 80, 81 or 82 games so now's the perfect time to give out some midseason awards, update our record chasers and check in on our dynamic duos.
American League MVP
Because I firmly believe this award should include an evaluation of an individual's value to his team's record, and not a best player award, I feel compelled to give Vladimir Guerrero the nod over A-Rod and Magglio Ordonez. I eliminate A-Rod because despite his gaudy stats his team has a sub-.500 record. I don't go with Mags because Guerrero has more homers and RBI, but has scored 20 fewer runs, proving that the Angels lack protection in the lineup like Magglio has in Sheffield. Plus, the Angels have the majors best record, someone deserves the credit.
National League MVP
This one was even more difficult because the guy having the best year (Matt Holliday) is in fourth place, the one guy who is carrying a plus .500 team has missed a lot of games due to injury (Chipper Jones) and the best team in the league has two equal candidates (JJ Hardy and Prince Fielder). I'm going to go with Prince Fielder here because he's first in homers and second in RBI and even though his batting average isn't great (.278) he's fourth in the league in OPS. I also get the feeling that he's the one who has made the Brewers lineup tough for pitchers to face.
American League Cy Young
Dan Haren, this one isn't even close. He's 10-2 with an ERA half a run better than anyone else in the league. He hasn't lost since April 7th, and with better offense and defense in his first two starts (when he allowed 1 ER in 13 innings), he could be 12-0 or better (he got no decisions in 4 games in which he pitched great). But I predict by the end of the season Johan Santana will once again be the clear choice in the AL.
National League Cy Young
This one comes down to Brad Penny and Jake Peavy. Although Penny has a better record and a better ERA, I think the way in which Peavy has pitched (maybe it's the strikeouts) shows more dominance, which is why I will go with Peavy. Plus I think he has the better chance to keep up this performance in the second half.
American League Rookie of the Year
Because Daisuke hasn't been all that impressive, because Jeremy Guthrie doesn't have enough starts, because Delmon Young and Alex Gordon haven't produced yet, because Fausto Carmona and James Shields pitched too many innings last year, I'm going to give this award to Hideki Okajima. It's rare that a middle reliever wins anything, but with a 0.88 ERA in a weak field, I'm going with Okajima. Beyond just stats, what I've seen of him, he's been nearly unhittable.
National League Rookie of the Year
Without a doubt, this goes to Hunter Pence. He is just a few plate appearances shy of being third in the league in hitting. He's also got 9 homers and 38 RBI and he will likely win the Rookie triple crown by the end of the year.
Managers of the Year
Ned Yost is obvious in the National League and even though the Indians were supposed to be good right now Eric Wedge looks like the choice in the AL.
Not Manager of the Year
Mariners manager Mike Hargrove could have been considered for that award, having that team in contention for the division and the wild card. But Hargrove quit suddenly, and during a 7-game winning streak, saying he lost his motivation.
Record Chasers Update
Back when the season was about a third completed I checked in on some guys having remarkable seasons and chasing all-time records:
Curtis Granderson: 15 triples, off the pace for the record of 36, but could put up a huge number
Magglio Ordonez: 34 doubles, still on pace for 68, one better than the record, but he probably needs to hit them in bunches soon
A-Rod: On pace for 56 homers and 160 RBI and about 10 more New York Post covers
Prince Fielder: With 27 homers he could break daddy's family record
Dynamic Duos
Brad Penny and Derek Lowe: 18-8, 2.51 ERA (Juice's favorite duo)
Jake Peavy and Chris Young: 17-5, 2.11 ERA (best duo)
Dan Haren and Chad Gaudin: 17-5, 2.52 ERA (best American League duo)
Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny: 14-9, 2.98 ERA (best duo you've never heard of)
John Maine and Oliver Perez: 16-10, 2.93 ERA (Mets duo)
Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman: 18-4, 3.38 ERA (best record, longest last names)
CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona: 21-6, 3.46 ERA (most wins)
John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar: 20-8, 3.17 ERA (unheralded duo)
More than half the teams have played 80, 81 or 82 games so now's the perfect time to give out some midseason awards, update our record chasers and check in on our dynamic duos.
American League MVP
Because I firmly believe this award should include an evaluation of an individual's value to his team's record, and not a best player award, I feel compelled to give Vladimir Guerrero the nod over A-Rod and Magglio Ordonez. I eliminate A-Rod because despite his gaudy stats his team has a sub-.500 record. I don't go with Mags because Guerrero has more homers and RBI, but has scored 20 fewer runs, proving that the Angels lack protection in the lineup like Magglio has in Sheffield. Plus, the Angels have the majors best record, someone deserves the credit.
National League MVP
This one was even more difficult because the guy having the best year (Matt Holliday) is in fourth place, the one guy who is carrying a plus .500 team has missed a lot of games due to injury (Chipper Jones) and the best team in the league has two equal candidates (JJ Hardy and Prince Fielder). I'm going to go with Prince Fielder here because he's first in homers and second in RBI and even though his batting average isn't great (.278) he's fourth in the league in OPS. I also get the feeling that he's the one who has made the Brewers lineup tough for pitchers to face.
American League Cy Young
Dan Haren, this one isn't even close. He's 10-2 with an ERA half a run better than anyone else in the league. He hasn't lost since April 7th, and with better offense and defense in his first two starts (when he allowed 1 ER in 13 innings), he could be 12-0 or better (he got no decisions in 4 games in which he pitched great). But I predict by the end of the season Johan Santana will once again be the clear choice in the AL.
National League Cy Young
This one comes down to Brad Penny and Jake Peavy. Although Penny has a better record and a better ERA, I think the way in which Peavy has pitched (maybe it's the strikeouts) shows more dominance, which is why I will go with Peavy. Plus I think he has the better chance to keep up this performance in the second half.
American League Rookie of the Year
Because Daisuke hasn't been all that impressive, because Jeremy Guthrie doesn't have enough starts, because Delmon Young and Alex Gordon haven't produced yet, because Fausto Carmona and James Shields pitched too many innings last year, I'm going to give this award to Hideki Okajima. It's rare that a middle reliever wins anything, but with a 0.88 ERA in a weak field, I'm going with Okajima. Beyond just stats, what I've seen of him, he's been nearly unhittable.
National League Rookie of the Year
Without a doubt, this goes to Hunter Pence. He is just a few plate appearances shy of being third in the league in hitting. He's also got 9 homers and 38 RBI and he will likely win the Rookie triple crown by the end of the year.
Managers of the Year
Ned Yost is obvious in the National League and even though the Indians were supposed to be good right now Eric Wedge looks like the choice in the AL.
Not Manager of the Year
Mariners manager Mike Hargrove could have been considered for that award, having that team in contention for the division and the wild card. But Hargrove quit suddenly, and during a 7-game winning streak, saying he lost his motivation.
Record Chasers Update
Back when the season was about a third completed I checked in on some guys having remarkable seasons and chasing all-time records:
Curtis Granderson: 15 triples, off the pace for the record of 36, but could put up a huge number
Magglio Ordonez: 34 doubles, still on pace for 68, one better than the record, but he probably needs to hit them in bunches soon
A-Rod: On pace for 56 homers and 160 RBI and about 10 more New York Post covers
Prince Fielder: With 27 homers he could break daddy's family record
Dynamic Duos
Brad Penny and Derek Lowe: 18-8, 2.51 ERA (Juice's favorite duo)
Jake Peavy and Chris Young: 17-5, 2.11 ERA (best duo)
Dan Haren and Chad Gaudin: 17-5, 2.52 ERA (best American League duo)
Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny: 14-9, 2.98 ERA (best duo you've never heard of)
John Maine and Oliver Perez: 16-10, 2.93 ERA (Mets duo)
Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman: 18-4, 3.38 ERA (best record, longest last names)
CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona: 21-6, 3.46 ERA (most wins)
John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar: 20-8, 3.17 ERA (unheralded duo)
He Was Just an Alarmist Turd...
Who knew that tree-hugging ex-politicians loved “The Sopranos”? It turns out that Al Gore is a die-hard fan, but when the series finale loomed in early June, he and his wife, Tipper, had to be on a plane for an appearance in Istanbul.
So Gore called Brad Grey, the chairman of Paramount, for a favor. Mr. Grey is also an executive producer of “The Sopranos.” Could Gore get an advance copy of the final episode?
No way, said Mr. Grey. “I’ve turned down everyone who’s asked,” he told Gore. That episode was the holy grail, and he couldn’t risk it being leaked.
But after a night of tossing and turning, Grey had a change of heart. On the Sunday of the finale, he had a Halliburton-made steel case, containing a copy of the episode, delivered to the tarmac where Gore’s plane sat in Chicago. The case was locked with a code. Gore could not open it until the plane was in the air, when he was instructed to call Grey’s office for the numeric code. Gore sent Grey a photo of himself trying to pry open the case, which Grey now keeps on his desk.
So Gore called Brad Grey, the chairman of Paramount, for a favor. Mr. Grey is also an executive producer of “The Sopranos.” Could Gore get an advance copy of the final episode?
No way, said Mr. Grey. “I’ve turned down everyone who’s asked,” he told Gore. That episode was the holy grail, and he couldn’t risk it being leaked.
But after a night of tossing and turning, Grey had a change of heart. On the Sunday of the finale, he had a Halliburton-made steel case, containing a copy of the episode, delivered to the tarmac where Gore’s plane sat in Chicago. The case was locked with a code. Gore could not open it until the plane was in the air, when he was instructed to call Grey’s office for the numeric code. Gore sent Grey a photo of himself trying to pry open the case, which Grey now keeps on his desk.
Will Smith Doesn't Have To Curse on His Shirts
A-Rod's wife, Cynthia Rodriguez, showed up at Sunday's Yankees game wearing a tank top with the words "Fuck You" in fancy lettering on the back.
This upset some Yankee fans, who surprisingly had never heard those cursewords before at Yankee Stadium. Even more suprisingly, Yankees fans know how to read. Whatever the case, some people complained to stadium security who did nothing about it, but someone photographed the shirt and it ended up on the back cover of the New York Post. I guess Cynthia was competing for back covers with A-Rod's mistress.
While I have always steadfastly defended cursing (there is no reason why certain words should be "bad words," all words are wonderful), in this case I just don't understand why she thought it was a good idea to wear that shirt to a game with 50,000 people. Among those in the crowd was her own 2-year old daughter, who is obviously too young to read the shirt, but still. Also she was seated in the Yankees family section, and she should be respectful of other parents who might not want their kids to see or hear that kind of language. It really doesn't make any sense as anything other than a cry for attention.
This upset some Yankee fans, who surprisingly had never heard those cursewords before at Yankee Stadium. Even more suprisingly, Yankees fans know how to read. Whatever the case, some people complained to stadium security who did nothing about it, but someone photographed the shirt and it ended up on the back cover of the New York Post. I guess Cynthia was competing for back covers with A-Rod's mistress.
While I have always steadfastly defended cursing (there is no reason why certain words should be "bad words," all words are wonderful), in this case I just don't understand why she thought it was a good idea to wear that shirt to a game with 50,000 people. Among those in the crowd was her own 2-year old daughter, who is obviously too young to read the shirt, but still. Also she was seated in the Yankees family section, and she should be respectful of other parents who might not want their kids to see or hear that kind of language. It really doesn't make any sense as anything other than a cry for attention.
Why I Hate Watching Tom Glavine
Tom Glavine's loss against the Rockies was the perfect example of why I hate having him on the Mets.
In the third inning with one out he gave up a couple of hits (to Tavarez and Carroll) which was a problem with Matt Holliday up. Glavine started him in an 0-2 hole then he does what he always does. Instead of throwing a pitch that he might swing at (and maybe hit), to try to get a double play, or a popup, Glavine threw three pitches that were nowhere close to the strike zone. On a 3-2 count Glavine threw one right down the middle and Holliday crushed it for a 3-run homer.
I know Glavine is not a hard thrower who can attack hitters and get them out. He has to rely on guile, and get them to swing at bad pitches. But sometimes he takes this strategy to an extreme, and not only is it ineffective, it's painfully difficult to watch.
A lot of Poopheads have disagreed with me on this one (particularly Master Bates and The Concierge, who not coincidentally both say they do not have time to watch the games, just see the box scores), but there is no arguing that this season Glavine has clearly been the worst of the Mets five regular starters.
I admit that Glavine does have a good postseason history (including two scoreless performances last year) but I am very worried about putting him on the mound in the playoffs against strong lineups (where he can't pitch around their best hitters), that take pitches (and don't swing at his junk).
One more thing that annoys me with Tom Glavine, this interminable chase for 300 wins. The announcers talk about it way too much. Every start is prefaced as the chase for win numer 290-whateverthefuck. Every out or run scored is viewed as a step or an impediment on the road to this great accomplishment. Enough already.
In the third inning with one out he gave up a couple of hits (to Tavarez and Carroll) which was a problem with Matt Holliday up. Glavine started him in an 0-2 hole then he does what he always does. Instead of throwing a pitch that he might swing at (and maybe hit), to try to get a double play, or a popup, Glavine threw three pitches that were nowhere close to the strike zone. On a 3-2 count Glavine threw one right down the middle and Holliday crushed it for a 3-run homer.
I know Glavine is not a hard thrower who can attack hitters and get them out. He has to rely on guile, and get them to swing at bad pitches. But sometimes he takes this strategy to an extreme, and not only is it ineffective, it's painfully difficult to watch.
A lot of Poopheads have disagreed with me on this one (particularly Master Bates and The Concierge, who not coincidentally both say they do not have time to watch the games, just see the box scores), but there is no arguing that this season Glavine has clearly been the worst of the Mets five regular starters.
I admit that Glavine does have a good postseason history (including two scoreless performances last year) but I am very worried about putting him on the mound in the playoffs against strong lineups (where he can't pitch around their best hitters), that take pitches (and don't swing at his junk).
One more thing that annoys me with Tom Glavine, this interminable chase for 300 wins. The announcers talk about it way too much. Every start is prefaced as the chase for win numer 290-whateverthefuck. Every out or run scored is viewed as a step or an impediment on the road to this great accomplishment. Enough already.
Monday, July 02, 2007
The Most Amazing Stat I've Ever Seen
Of all the wonderful things to love about the Magnificent Pooh Holes his consistency is one of them. For me, who loves numbers, almost as much as I love the Amazing Pooh Holes, the sheer impossibility of this stat confounds me. Before getting hurt last year and missing about 20 games these were the at bat totals for Pooh Holes for his first 5 years in the major leagues:
2001 - 590
2002 - 590
2003 - 591
2004 - 592
2005 - 591
I swear this is true, you can look it up.
Update: I completely forgot that I actually wrote about this statistical anomaly last year.
2001 - 590
2002 - 590
2003 - 591
2004 - 592
2005 - 591
I swear this is true, you can look it up.
Update: I completely forgot that I actually wrote about this statistical anomaly last year.
What Should Happen to LoDuca?
SCZA reports that the Mets may let Paul LoDuca go after this season.
One main reason to keep LoDuca is that the pitching staff is doing very well, and perhaps he plays some role in that.
Another positive for LoDuca is that he is reported to be a leader in the clubhouse despite his latest outburst. And I don't necessarily believe that just because some players say they weren't upset by his comments, that it's definitely true.
While I wouldn't have a problem at all if they resigned LoDuca, if a better alternative existed (one better than Rony Paulino), I'd want to the Mets to explore it because whie LoDuca hits for a decent average he has no power, no speed, he seldom walks and his OPS is horribly low.
One main reason to keep LoDuca is that the pitching staff is doing very well, and perhaps he plays some role in that.
Another positive for LoDuca is that he is reported to be a leader in the clubhouse despite his latest outburst. And I don't necessarily believe that just because some players say they weren't upset by his comments, that it's definitely true.
While I wouldn't have a problem at all if they resigned LoDuca, if a better alternative existed (one better than Rony Paulino), I'd want to the Mets to explore it because whie LoDuca hits for a decent average he has no power, no speed, he seldom walks and his OPS is horribly low.
Mistaken Identity
A peacock had to be put down after being cruelly beaten and kicked outside a Tottenville (Staten Island) fast-food restaurant, and its assailant is still on the loose.
Witnesses said a man in his late teens or early 20s grabbed the helpless bird by its neck, struck it repeatedly with a baseball bat and kicked it in a Burger King parking lot on Page Avenue.
He then jumped onto the hood of a car and threw the peacock to the ground before running off when he saw police.
"He said 'I'm killing a vampire,'" said Felicia Finnegan, 19, who works at the Burger King and had been feeding bread to the peacock in the parking lot just after 7:30 a.m.
Miss Finnegan had gone out to look at the bird, an uncommon sight on Staten Island.
Shortly after going back into the restaurant, she heard the man screaming and saw him rip off his shirt before stepping on and kicking the bird.
"He was really beating it. I just think it was sick and demented. He shouldn't be walking around on the street," said Miss Finnegan.
The peacock never had a chance.
"We brought it back to our care center on [Veterans Road] but the injuries were so extreme, we had to put the animal down for humane reasons," said Richard Gentles, a spokesman for Animal Care & Control of New York City. "He was beaten so severely that some of the feathers fell out at the scene and others fell out at the care center. It's a horrible, horrible situation."
The beauteous bird's presence in Tottenville was explained by George Burke of Prince's Bay, who has raised peacocks for several years and gave some to a Tottenville resident a few years ago. He was appalled when told what happened.
"What's wrong with parents who let kids turn into [expletive] like that?" he asked. "I think the kid needs a little bit of psychological evaluation. Oh, what a shame."
I just don't see how this guy confused the peacock with a vampire. Was the peacock wearing a black cape? Also, if it was in the morning during daylight hours, he should have known a vampire would never be out at that time of day. What a shame!
Witnesses said a man in his late teens or early 20s grabbed the helpless bird by its neck, struck it repeatedly with a baseball bat and kicked it in a Burger King parking lot on Page Avenue.
He then jumped onto the hood of a car and threw the peacock to the ground before running off when he saw police.
"He said 'I'm killing a vampire,'" said Felicia Finnegan, 19, who works at the Burger King and had been feeding bread to the peacock in the parking lot just after 7:30 a.m.
Miss Finnegan had gone out to look at the bird, an uncommon sight on Staten Island.
Shortly after going back into the restaurant, she heard the man screaming and saw him rip off his shirt before stepping on and kicking the bird.
"He was really beating it. I just think it was sick and demented. He shouldn't be walking around on the street," said Miss Finnegan.
The peacock never had a chance.
"We brought it back to our care center on [Veterans Road] but the injuries were so extreme, we had to put the animal down for humane reasons," said Richard Gentles, a spokesman for Animal Care & Control of New York City. "He was beaten so severely that some of the feathers fell out at the scene and others fell out at the care center. It's a horrible, horrible situation."
The beauteous bird's presence in Tottenville was explained by George Burke of Prince's Bay, who has raised peacocks for several years and gave some to a Tottenville resident a few years ago. He was appalled when told what happened.
"What's wrong with parents who let kids turn into [expletive] like that?" he asked. "I think the kid needs a little bit of psychological evaluation. Oh, what a shame."
I just don't see how this guy confused the peacock with a vampire. Was the peacock wearing a black cape? Also, if it was in the morning during daylight hours, he should have known a vampire would never be out at that time of day. What a shame!
He Can Count To 12
For years people have discussed relief pitcher Antonio Alfonseca and his polydactyly, he has one extra finger on each hand.
I've never seen a picture that clearly shows the extra digit the way this one does. I don't think he has worked on a pitch that takes advantage of the extra digit yet. But I think this means he should be twice as good as Three Finger Brown.
I've never seen a picture that clearly shows the extra digit the way this one does. I don't think he has worked on a pitch that takes advantage of the extra digit yet. But I think this means he should be twice as good as Three Finger Brown.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
The Day The Music Died
On July 1, 1987 the world changed forever. The first all sports talk radio station was launched, WFAN, in New York.
At first no one thought this gimmick could be sustained, but now there are 500 24 hour sports talk radio stations throughout the country. A lot of them have some nationally syndicated programming, but what makes WFAN unique is that it's all New York, all the time.
The two keys to the station's survival were getting Imus in the Morning to anchor the station, expose it to a new audience and bring in advertisers. The other was teaming up Mike and The Mad Dog in the afternoon drive time.
As much as I hate their pomposity, their ridiculousness sometimes, and their feeling that they are never, ever, EVER wrong, I do have to give them their due. They are the originals. Everyone else is copying off them. They are the best.
I have so many great memories from listening to WFAN over the last 20 years. Many of them involve staying up too late with Master Bates listening to Jody McDonald do the "Jody Mac, do we a favor" and the "McStats" half hours. In retrospect I find it hard to believe that we stayed up til 2am to listen to a guy read us the box scores from the newspaper, but this was in the days before the internet.
And of course there was Steve Somers. He's a little better now, but if you can remember him 10-15 years ago, he knew almost nothing about sports. One time before the Jets played the Oilers in the playoffs he did his little gimmick "The Fearless........................Forrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre-caster" and on two different nights he said "for the Jets, THAT's a loss" and the next night said "for the Oilers, THAT's a loss." We also loved his Captain Midnight intro "you'll never want to miss a single broadcast of Captain Midnight, and you'll want all your friends to enjoy it too."
The man who paved the way for Mike and the Mad Dog (by getting himself fired) was Pete Franklin. He was the most obnoxious, ornery sonofabitch, but he was so much fun to listen to. He called people scumbags and idiots, and every other name he could get away with. He also once got reprimanded by management for not giving out the call letters, so he yelled at a caller and said something like this, "if you don't like me, don't listen to this station, WFAN, WFAN, WFAN, don't listen to WFAN!"
Papa Poop used to drive around in the car just so Master Bates would have to listen to "Pigskin Pete Predicts" (pop the Ps really hard).
Maybe my fondest memory of the station came in the early 90s when Ed Coleman and Dave Sims ("Coleman and the Soul Man") had Fax Fridays. Papa Poop sent in a fax that was read on the air. But he was misidentified as a female. You can imagine our laughter when we heard later on the radio, "Thank you for reading my prior fax, but you called me a She. I want to assure any friends or family that might be listening that I have not had any operation."
And what about those few times I called in to Joe Beningo's show. I remember one excited call after Bobby Jones had beaten Pedro Martinez.
And of course the callers, so many famous callers, Jerome, Miriam, Eli, but the best, the most famous was Doris from Rego Park. "Thank you cough-cough for your time choke and courtesy." One day Master Bates was so frustrated by her inability to complete a sentence that he screamed out "oh Doris, would you just keel over already." Sadly, she did.
Beyond all those little moments of lightness, WFAN changed the world of sports. Every move by every manager, coach and GM was now dissected by angry fans who didn't necessarily have a brain, just a car phone. I directly associate the rise in sports talk stations to the decreased longevity of coaches.
The phenomenon that is sports talk radio started 20 years ago in New York, on sportsradio 66, WFAN, the Fan.
At first no one thought this gimmick could be sustained, but now there are 500 24 hour sports talk radio stations throughout the country. A lot of them have some nationally syndicated programming, but what makes WFAN unique is that it's all New York, all the time.
The two keys to the station's survival were getting Imus in the Morning to anchor the station, expose it to a new audience and bring in advertisers. The other was teaming up Mike and The Mad Dog in the afternoon drive time.
As much as I hate their pomposity, their ridiculousness sometimes, and their feeling that they are never, ever, EVER wrong, I do have to give them their due. They are the originals. Everyone else is copying off them. They are the best.
I have so many great memories from listening to WFAN over the last 20 years. Many of them involve staying up too late with Master Bates listening to Jody McDonald do the "Jody Mac, do we a favor" and the "McStats" half hours. In retrospect I find it hard to believe that we stayed up til 2am to listen to a guy read us the box scores from the newspaper, but this was in the days before the internet.
And of course there was Steve Somers. He's a little better now, but if you can remember him 10-15 years ago, he knew almost nothing about sports. One time before the Jets played the Oilers in the playoffs he did his little gimmick "The Fearless........................Forrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre-caster" and on two different nights he said "for the Jets, THAT's a loss" and the next night said "for the Oilers, THAT's a loss." We also loved his Captain Midnight intro "you'll never want to miss a single broadcast of Captain Midnight, and you'll want all your friends to enjoy it too."
The man who paved the way for Mike and the Mad Dog (by getting himself fired) was Pete Franklin. He was the most obnoxious, ornery sonofabitch, but he was so much fun to listen to. He called people scumbags and idiots, and every other name he could get away with. He also once got reprimanded by management for not giving out the call letters, so he yelled at a caller and said something like this, "if you don't like me, don't listen to this station, WFAN, WFAN, WFAN, don't listen to WFAN!"
Papa Poop used to drive around in the car just so Master Bates would have to listen to "Pigskin Pete Predicts" (pop the Ps really hard).
Maybe my fondest memory of the station came in the early 90s when Ed Coleman and Dave Sims ("Coleman and the Soul Man") had Fax Fridays. Papa Poop sent in a fax that was read on the air. But he was misidentified as a female. You can imagine our laughter when we heard later on the radio, "Thank you for reading my prior fax, but you called me a She. I want to assure any friends or family that might be listening that I have not had any operation."
And what about those few times I called in to Joe Beningo's show. I remember one excited call after Bobby Jones had beaten Pedro Martinez.
And of course the callers, so many famous callers, Jerome, Miriam, Eli, but the best, the most famous was Doris from Rego Park. "Thank you cough-cough for your time choke and courtesy." One day Master Bates was so frustrated by her inability to complete a sentence that he screamed out "oh Doris, would you just keel over already." Sadly, she did.
Beyond all those little moments of lightness, WFAN changed the world of sports. Every move by every manager, coach and GM was now dissected by angry fans who didn't necessarily have a brain, just a car phone. I directly associate the rise in sports talk stations to the decreased longevity of coaches.
The phenomenon that is sports talk radio started 20 years ago in New York, on sportsradio 66, WFAN, the Fan.
Peterson's Training
SNY did a interesting piece showing some of Rick Peterson's unusual training methods.
The first thing he said was that he tries to establish the movements necessary to pitch in each pitcher's muscle memory. So pitchers would practice, taking their stride to homeplate again and again, without throwing, just striding.
Then he talked about the .220 line, an imaginary line of demarcation at the bottom of the strike zone where batters only hit .220 on balls pitched below that line.
To train his pitchers to pitch at or below that line he strings a rope across home plate in front of the catcher. He also has the catcher move in a few feet, which also emphasizes the need to get the ball down.
The most fascinating thing they showed was that Peterson likes the guys to throw with their eyes closed. At first they said it took time, Billy Wagner was firing the ball all over the place, but now most of the pitchers can go into their windup, close their eyes as they come down and throw a strike without seeing the target.
They never did explain why the schmuck wears a jacket in 100 degree weather.
The first thing he said was that he tries to establish the movements necessary to pitch in each pitcher's muscle memory. So pitchers would practice, taking their stride to homeplate again and again, without throwing, just striding.
Then he talked about the .220 line, an imaginary line of demarcation at the bottom of the strike zone where batters only hit .220 on balls pitched below that line.
To train his pitchers to pitch at or below that line he strings a rope across home plate in front of the catcher. He also has the catcher move in a few feet, which also emphasizes the need to get the ball down.
The most fascinating thing they showed was that Peterson likes the guys to throw with their eyes closed. At first they said it took time, Billy Wagner was firing the ball all over the place, but now most of the pitchers can go into their windup, close their eyes as they come down and throw a strike without seeing the target.
They never did explain why the schmuck wears a jacket in 100 degree weather.
Four Schnooks and a Baseball Game
Master Bates, The Concierge, Nails and I made the trip to Philadelphia to see the Mets vs. the Phillies on Saturday afternoon. Because the game was a 4pm start we had plenty of time to get there and enjoy the stadium, lovely Citizens Bank Park. But of course, when I went to pick up The Concierge, he was still in the shower.
We did get to the stadium in plenty of time to walk around. The sports complex is huge, plenty of parking surrounding Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field and the Wachovia Spectrum (the old Spectrum).
The concourse around the lower level of seats is what they call Ashburn Alley. Basically it's a wide, clean concourse, with the stadium on one side and restaurants and concession stands on the other. But they don't have typical concessions, they have cheesesteaks (Rick's and Tony Luke's) and bars (Harry the K's in the outfield) and each little beer stand has a different quality microbrew, and they are all actually cold.
Also along the alley is a Standing Room Only area, which actually surrounds the concourse on all decks. Some of the views are actually pretty good. I wouldn't want to stand the whole game, but I think the SRO tickets are only $12, so it might not be that bad. And the restuarants, you can sit there during the whole game and watch while eating and drinking and the views aren't bad. And restaurants tables are given out on a first come first served basis, they don't require a $100 deposit.
Once you get to the seats, all the seats are good, they are all pointed towards the field, and they all give you a nice view of the action.
I really hope the designers of CitiField take a trip to the Cit and copy or improve upon some of the fine amenities.
This game was also PSPCA day at the ballpark. Dogs available for adoption were entertaining fans in a special section of the concourse, but I didn't even go over to look because I know I would fall in love and Mrs. Poop would never let me adopt another dog. But they kept showing the dogs on the screen between innings, they all had baseball names (Schmitty, Pug McGraw, Slider) and I almost adopted Homer. Although maybe Homer was named after the Greek poet.
Once the game started the Mets gave us a good time, but you can read about that on the Recap.
When Carlos Beltran made a spectacular catch on a deep drive to center, right before crashing into the wall, I denoted it with a star in my scorecard. This is a practice I know Jems encourages, but evidently, the three idiots I went to this game with don't like this, as they asked for an asterisk on every play for the rest of the game.
The Concierge elected to take the Walt Whitman Bridge because he wanted to honor a famous gay American.
Philadelphia has some of the same between innings gimmicks that the Mets have. They do the Kiss Cam, and they played "Can't Get Enough of Your Love Babe," which is nice, but all the Phillies fans they showed were worried that their parole officer might see them on the big screen.
They don't have anything as fun as Learn Spanish with Professor Reyes.
At one point a dirty sweaty Mets fan proposed to his girlfriend on the big screen, she cried, said yes and then he rolled up his sleeve to show off his Mets logo tattoo on his biceps.
Speaking of biceps, the Philles employ a "Flex Cam" where sweaty guys in wifebeaters act like tough guys. Typical Philly.
Also typical Philly, we went to Geno's for dinner after the game. For the Concierge and Nails this was their third cheesesteak in 6 hours. We all ate steaks on arrival, but only Nails and The Conch opted for the Schmitter right at game time. The Schmitter is just a fancy cheesesteak, they use 3 pieces of cheese separating some fried salami, steak, tomatoes, and a special sauce. Master Bates was very proud of himself for rhyming Schmitter and shitter in a sentence.
Also typical Philly, cars park in the median, right in the middle of the road on some busy streets. I have never seen this before. Also a typical Philly greaseball (like the kind they show on FlexCam) was sitting in his apartment in his wifebeater leaning out the window. I only bring this up because as the Conch was driving, and complaining about Philly he said "look at that guy in the window." I have no idea how he saw him.
The Concierge and I didn't have too many arguments, perhaps because everytime we tried to talk Nails and the Master shouted out "they're arguing again." But we did disagree on Delgado's 2006 batting average, he said .265 and was exactly right. He also said Delgado would be within .015 of his career average at the end of this year. Assuming a like number of at bats from now until the rest of the season, he'd have to bat nearly .300 for the rest of the season.
The Concierge insisted that "Raging Bull" won Best Picture in 1980, which of course it didn't ("Ordinary People" did), and I think I could have bet him on it, but my initial offer was $1000 which Nails pointed out was a sure sign that I definitely knew I was correct. The Concierge also claimed that "I see dead people" isn't one of the most famous movie lines of the past 10 years, but Nails shut him down before he could spend an hour naming more well known quotes.
So it was a nice day trip to see a good ballgame and a nice stadium, and a good time was had by all.
We did get to the stadium in plenty of time to walk around. The sports complex is huge, plenty of parking surrounding Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field and the Wachovia Spectrum (the old Spectrum).
The concourse around the lower level of seats is what they call Ashburn Alley. Basically it's a wide, clean concourse, with the stadium on one side and restaurants and concession stands on the other. But they don't have typical concessions, they have cheesesteaks (Rick's and Tony Luke's) and bars (Harry the K's in the outfield) and each little beer stand has a different quality microbrew, and they are all actually cold.
Also along the alley is a Standing Room Only area, which actually surrounds the concourse on all decks. Some of the views are actually pretty good. I wouldn't want to stand the whole game, but I think the SRO tickets are only $12, so it might not be that bad. And the restuarants, you can sit there during the whole game and watch while eating and drinking and the views aren't bad. And restaurants tables are given out on a first come first served basis, they don't require a $100 deposit.
Once you get to the seats, all the seats are good, they are all pointed towards the field, and they all give you a nice view of the action.
I really hope the designers of CitiField take a trip to the Cit and copy or improve upon some of the fine amenities.
This game was also PSPCA day at the ballpark. Dogs available for adoption were entertaining fans in a special section of the concourse, but I didn't even go over to look because I know I would fall in love and Mrs. Poop would never let me adopt another dog. But they kept showing the dogs on the screen between innings, they all had baseball names (Schmitty, Pug McGraw, Slider) and I almost adopted Homer. Although maybe Homer was named after the Greek poet.
Once the game started the Mets gave us a good time, but you can read about that on the Recap.
When Carlos Beltran made a spectacular catch on a deep drive to center, right before crashing into the wall, I denoted it with a star in my scorecard. This is a practice I know Jems encourages, but evidently, the three idiots I went to this game with don't like this, as they asked for an asterisk on every play for the rest of the game.
The Concierge elected to take the Walt Whitman Bridge because he wanted to honor a famous gay American.
Philadelphia has some of the same between innings gimmicks that the Mets have. They do the Kiss Cam, and they played "Can't Get Enough of Your Love Babe," which is nice, but all the Phillies fans they showed were worried that their parole officer might see them on the big screen.
They don't have anything as fun as Learn Spanish with Professor Reyes.
At one point a dirty sweaty Mets fan proposed to his girlfriend on the big screen, she cried, said yes and then he rolled up his sleeve to show off his Mets logo tattoo on his biceps.
Speaking of biceps, the Philles employ a "Flex Cam" where sweaty guys in wifebeaters act like tough guys. Typical Philly.
Also typical Philly, we went to Geno's for dinner after the game. For the Concierge and Nails this was their third cheesesteak in 6 hours. We all ate steaks on arrival, but only Nails and The Conch opted for the Schmitter right at game time. The Schmitter is just a fancy cheesesteak, they use 3 pieces of cheese separating some fried salami, steak, tomatoes, and a special sauce. Master Bates was very proud of himself for rhyming Schmitter and shitter in a sentence.
Also typical Philly, cars park in the median, right in the middle of the road on some busy streets. I have never seen this before. Also a typical Philly greaseball (like the kind they show on FlexCam) was sitting in his apartment in his wifebeater leaning out the window. I only bring this up because as the Conch was driving, and complaining about Philly he said "look at that guy in the window." I have no idea how he saw him.
The Concierge and I didn't have too many arguments, perhaps because everytime we tried to talk Nails and the Master shouted out "they're arguing again." But we did disagree on Delgado's 2006 batting average, he said .265 and was exactly right. He also said Delgado would be within .015 of his career average at the end of this year. Assuming a like number of at bats from now until the rest of the season, he'd have to bat nearly .300 for the rest of the season.
The Concierge insisted that "Raging Bull" won Best Picture in 1980, which of course it didn't ("Ordinary People" did), and I think I could have bet him on it, but my initial offer was $1000 which Nails pointed out was a sure sign that I definitely knew I was correct. The Concierge also claimed that "I see dead people" isn't one of the most famous movie lines of the past 10 years, but Nails shut him down before he could spend an hour naming more well known quotes.
So it was a nice day trip to see a good ballgame and a nice stadium, and a good time was had by all.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Master Bates's Favorite Athlete of All-Time
Wally Backman, fired by the Arizona Diamondbacks after three days, is now working his way back into the majors by managing the South Georgia Peanuts in the independent South Coast League.
Filmmaker John Fitzgerald is following the Peanuts around hoping to sell a reality series about the team, called "Playing for Peanuts."
In a possibly related development, Backman was ejected from a game after dropping several F-bombs on [the umpire] and kicking dirt on home plate. Then Backman started tossing equipment onto the field. Not only did he throw 22 bats onto the grass, he also emptied a bucket of baseballs down the third base line.
The situation was made worse by the fact that Backman's foul language was clearly audible since there were only a handful of fans left in the stadium. Some of those fans were, in fact, children.
Filmmaker John Fitzgerald is following the Peanuts around hoping to sell a reality series about the team, called "Playing for Peanuts."
In a possibly related development, Backman was ejected from a game after dropping several F-bombs on [the umpire] and kicking dirt on home plate. Then Backman started tossing equipment onto the field. Not only did he throw 22 bats onto the grass, he also emptied a bucket of baseballs down the third base line.
The situation was made worse by the fact that Backman's foul language was clearly audible since there were only a handful of fans left in the stadium. Some of those fans were, in fact, children.
Mrs. Poop's Favorite Athlete of All-Time
When Mrs. Poop was a little girl, her father used to take her and her grandmother (who being Canadian loved hockey) to Hartford Whalers games.
Mrs. Poop often remarks that she's the only person whose grandmother loves hockey.
Anyway, in those days of the old Hartford Whalers, Ron Francis was the star player, and Mrs. Poop even had a little #10 Francis jersey.
Francis played 23 years in the NHL, 10 with the Whalers, scoring 549 goals. Now he has been selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Mrs. Poop often remarks that she's the only person whose grandmother loves hockey.
Anyway, in those days of the old Hartford Whalers, Ron Francis was the star player, and Mrs. Poop even had a little #10 Francis jersey.
Francis played 23 years in the NHL, 10 with the Whalers, scoring 549 goals. Now he has been selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame.
gourMETS
The Mets released the “GourMets” cookbook, a collection of recipes from players, coaches and members of the front office. Proceeds will benefit local charities. Some highlights: Moises Alou’s stewed goat, Willie Randolph’s linguine with white clam sauce and Carlos Delgado’s grilled snapper and avocado salsa. “It’s not rocket science,” Delgado said. “If you mess up fish, you’re in trouble anyway.”
It costs only $12 and you can order it here.
It costs only $12 and you can order it here.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Habla Con Ellos
A little controversy brewing in the Mets clubhouse as Paul LoDuca is tired of being the team spokesman because so many of the Spanish speaking Mets never talk to the media.
"I'll do this [interview], but you need to start talking to other players," Lo Duca said. "It's the same three or four people every day. Nobody else wants to talk. Some of these guys have got to start talking. They speak English, believe me."
Prior to Lo Duca's comment, starting pitcher Orlando Hernandez declined to talk about moving his scheduled start from Thursday to today.
"I'm not talking," Hernandez said, before switching to Spanish. "No mas. Manana."
And later, slumping first baseman Carlos Delgado shut down his interview session once the group around his locker grew from one reporter to a handful. "I've got no comment," he said with a smile. "I'm going home."
Lo Duca just felt the need to vent. Just before lashing out at teammates, he admitted he'd been in a bad mood all day. Before the game, as the Mets were stuck with indoor batting practice because of the rain, he banned all questions about the two-game suspension he has under appeal.
"Don't ask me any more about when I'm dropping my suspension. When are you guys going to drop it?" he yelled. "I'm tired of talking about it. ... It's like the president got killed." On Wednesday, Lo Duca complained that his getting thrown out of a game was bigger news than the war in Iraq.
Ed Coleman said the main culprits of this are Beltran and Delgado. Both of them do some kind of workout after the game and are not usually available to the media right after the games, when the reporters need to write their stories. Seems like Delgado is the worst offender, probably because he's been hitting so badly. I'm curious to hear where Reyes stands in this. I'm sick of Delgado's poor hitting and his bad attitude. He's batting .220, playing like shit in the field, not hustling on the bases and not being man enough to talk to reporters about it. Fuck Delgado. They should ship his ass back to Florida because it's clear from his actions that he never wanted to be here in the first place.
"I'll do this [interview], but you need to start talking to other players," Lo Duca said. "It's the same three or four people every day. Nobody else wants to talk. Some of these guys have got to start talking. They speak English, believe me."
Prior to Lo Duca's comment, starting pitcher Orlando Hernandez declined to talk about moving his scheduled start from Thursday to today.
"I'm not talking," Hernandez said, before switching to Spanish. "No mas. Manana."
And later, slumping first baseman Carlos Delgado shut down his interview session once the group around his locker grew from one reporter to a handful. "I've got no comment," he said with a smile. "I'm going home."
Lo Duca just felt the need to vent. Just before lashing out at teammates, he admitted he'd been in a bad mood all day. Before the game, as the Mets were stuck with indoor batting practice because of the rain, he banned all questions about the two-game suspension he has under appeal.
"Don't ask me any more about when I'm dropping my suspension. When are you guys going to drop it?" he yelled. "I'm tired of talking about it. ... It's like the president got killed." On Wednesday, Lo Duca complained that his getting thrown out of a game was bigger news than the war in Iraq.
Ed Coleman said the main culprits of this are Beltran and Delgado. Both of them do some kind of workout after the game and are not usually available to the media right after the games, when the reporters need to write their stories. Seems like Delgado is the worst offender, probably because he's been hitting so badly. I'm curious to hear where Reyes stands in this. I'm sick of Delgado's poor hitting and his bad attitude. He's batting .220, playing like shit in the field, not hustling on the bases and not being man enough to talk to reporters about it. Fuck Delgado. They should ship his ass back to Florida because it's clear from his actions that he never wanted to be here in the first place.
It's Very Drafty In Here
Because Billy is the only Poophead who still cares about the NBA, I chose one of his gayest lines as the headline to this post.
And I'll start with Billy's favorite team, the Bulls, drafting Pizza Parlor Derek's least favorite player, JamesOn Curry. Curry will not be anything special in the NBA, but the Bulls also got Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray. Gray could become a serviceable big man and I get the feeling that on the right team a guy with Noah's energy could become a very useful player.
The Dallas Mavericks drafted Nick Fazekas because one 6'11" soft white guy is never enough.
One Syracuse player got drafted, Demitris Nichols. He is going to Portland which could be a good place for him because he's one of the best shooters in the draft and has decent size so he could be a good outside shooting forward to play alongside Greg Oden. And his defensive liabilities will be masked somewhat by Oden.
Update: Nichols was traded to the Knicks in a separate deal for a 2nd rounder next year. I don't see him as anything more than a role player but he can shoot so maybe he'll help during those times when Q-Rich is injured. Thanks, SCZA!
The Seattle Supersonics did what the Knicks need to do. They dumped Ray Allen, they'll probably get rid of Rashard Lewis (who is expected to meet with the Knicks on Sunday) and they are going to rebuild their team around two top five picks, Kevin Durant and Jeff Green.
The Celtics did nothing to improve themselves. What a horrible trade. Why do they need Ray Allen and Paul Pierce?
I love Cory Brewer and I love Daequan Cook.
I think Al Horford will be the bust of the draft. I never thought he was a good enough offensively player to be a real star. Plus he's going to the Hawks. Which reminds me that Acie Law will also suck. He's a shooting guard in a point guard's body, even though he's 6'4" he's less than 200 pounds.
In addition to Oden, Durant and Conley, at least one other freshman from the group of (Young, Young, Hawes, Wright and Wright) is going to be an awesome player. I predict Thaddeus Young but he'll need three years to develop. I also think Spencer Hawes gets made fun of as a big white stiff, but I've seen him play and he's more agile than that.
I have no idea about Wilson Chandler but if Sean Williams can stop smoking pot he will be a very good interior defensive presence for the Nets.
And I'll start with Billy's favorite team, the Bulls, drafting Pizza Parlor Derek's least favorite player, JamesOn Curry. Curry will not be anything special in the NBA, but the Bulls also got Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray. Gray could become a serviceable big man and I get the feeling that on the right team a guy with Noah's energy could become a very useful player.
The Dallas Mavericks drafted Nick Fazekas because one 6'11" soft white guy is never enough.
One Syracuse player got drafted, Demitris Nichols. He is going to Portland which could be a good place for him because he's one of the best shooters in the draft and has decent size so he could be a good outside shooting forward to play alongside Greg Oden. And his defensive liabilities will be masked somewhat by Oden.
Update: Nichols was traded to the Knicks in a separate deal for a 2nd rounder next year. I don't see him as anything more than a role player but he can shoot so maybe he'll help during those times when Q-Rich is injured. Thanks, SCZA!
The Seattle Supersonics did what the Knicks need to do. They dumped Ray Allen, they'll probably get rid of Rashard Lewis (who is expected to meet with the Knicks on Sunday) and they are going to rebuild their team around two top five picks, Kevin Durant and Jeff Green.
The Celtics did nothing to improve themselves. What a horrible trade. Why do they need Ray Allen and Paul Pierce?
I love Cory Brewer and I love Daequan Cook.
I think Al Horford will be the bust of the draft. I never thought he was a good enough offensively player to be a real star. Plus he's going to the Hawks. Which reminds me that Acie Law will also suck. He's a shooting guard in a point guard's body, even though he's 6'4" he's less than 200 pounds.
In addition to Oden, Durant and Conley, at least one other freshman from the group of (Young, Young, Hawes, Wright and Wright) is going to be an awesome player. I predict Thaddeus Young but he'll need three years to develop. I also think Spencer Hawes gets made fun of as a big white stiff, but I've seen him play and he's more agile than that.
I have no idea about Wilson Chandler but if Sean Williams can stop smoking pot he will be a very good interior defensive presence for the Nets.
Chemicals Found in Staten Island
Several blocks were cordoned off and a few dozen homes were evacuated in Staten Island as police investigated a "large amount" of chemicals found at a home (199 Ada Drive) and a nearby commercial storage facility.
Authorities found less than a thousand pounds of chemicals in the home, including potassium nitrate, sulfur, mercury, and peroxide. At the off-site storage facility, authorities found about 1,500 of chemicals, mainly potassium nitrate.
There is no indication the chemicals were being used for bomb-making or anything terror-related. The man was purchasing the chemicals in bulk and reselling them on the internet.
Authorities found less than a thousand pounds of chemicals in the home, including potassium nitrate, sulfur, mercury, and peroxide. At the off-site storage facility, authorities found about 1,500 of chemicals, mainly potassium nitrate.
There is no indication the chemicals were being used for bomb-making or anything terror-related. The man was purchasing the chemicals in bulk and reselling them on the internet.
What Were You Watching?
CNN's "hard news" rep took a hit, but Paris Hilton brought in the viewers, as her exclusive tell-all with Larry King drew 3.2 million viewers -- more than triple King's regular average.
Ratings for the Paris edition of "Larry King Live" exceeded those for CNN's last two presidential debates. CNN drew 2.78 million for its debate between the Democratic contenders and 2.05 million for its Republican debate, earlier in June.
CNN got the interview after the major networks backed out. Barbara Walters thought she had the deal sealed for 20/20 by offering $100,000 which it billed as a reasonable license fee for family photos and videos.
Then NBC offered a million dollars, and Walters got pissed at the Hiltons for reneging, so she outed them. Both networks were embarrassed and Paris fell into Larry's lap.
The show was King's highest-rated since 2005 but only his 53rd highest-rated in 10 years at CNN, according to Nielsen Media Research. Some 1.4 million adults 25-54 demo tuned in for Hilton, more than three times King's regular average.
CNN exhaustively promoted the interview even analyzing it afterwards on Anderson Cooper 360. Ironically, the man referred to as the "Paris Hilton of news" refuses to talk about Paris, often called her "she who must not be named" and "the heiress." But he caved to network pressure Wednesday.
I saw the interview, I thought it was interesting. Paris was giving scripted answers and not totally taking responsibility for her actions. She said she got a raw deal, she's never used drugs, she had one drink the night of her DUI, her lawyer told her she could drive to work and she read the Bible a lot in prison. But when Larry pressed her for her favorite verse she didn't have an answer. Presumably it's like asking to decide which pair of shoes she loves most.
But she wasn't the ditzy airhead I expected, she had some real substantial things to say and I can only hope that she has realized how unfulfilling her previous lifestyle was and that she is true to her word and decides to become a more serious person who can affect positive change on our society.
Ratings for the Paris edition of "Larry King Live" exceeded those for CNN's last two presidential debates. CNN drew 2.78 million for its debate between the Democratic contenders and 2.05 million for its Republican debate, earlier in June.
CNN got the interview after the major networks backed out. Barbara Walters thought she had the deal sealed for 20/20 by offering $100,000 which it billed as a reasonable license fee for family photos and videos.
Then NBC offered a million dollars, and Walters got pissed at the Hiltons for reneging, so she outed them. Both networks were embarrassed and Paris fell into Larry's lap.
The show was King's highest-rated since 2005 but only his 53rd highest-rated in 10 years at CNN, according to Nielsen Media Research. Some 1.4 million adults 25-54 demo tuned in for Hilton, more than three times King's regular average.
CNN exhaustively promoted the interview even analyzing it afterwards on Anderson Cooper 360. Ironically, the man referred to as the "Paris Hilton of news" refuses to talk about Paris, often called her "she who must not be named" and "the heiress." But he caved to network pressure Wednesday.
I saw the interview, I thought it was interesting. Paris was giving scripted answers and not totally taking responsibility for her actions. She said she got a raw deal, she's never used drugs, she had one drink the night of her DUI, her lawyer told her she could drive to work and she read the Bible a lot in prison. But when Larry pressed her for her favorite verse she didn't have an answer. Presumably it's like asking to decide which pair of shoes she loves most.
But she wasn't the ditzy airhead I expected, she had some real substantial things to say and I can only hope that she has realized how unfulfilling her previous lifestyle was and that she is true to her word and decides to become a more serious person who can affect positive change on our society.
Baseball is Poop
Milestone Edition
Worth the Wait
Three hits from 3,000, Craig Biggio sat out 3 of the Astros last 5 games so he could reach the milestone during a 10-game homestand. Good thing he did, his 5 hits Thursday night made him the 27th and worst member of the 3000 hit club.
Congratulations, Now Get Out of Here
Frank Thomas hit his 500th home run becoming the 21st member and maybe second worst player in the 500 home run club. Eddie Murray needed about 900 games more than Thomas to do it. Later in the game Thomas was ejected for aguing balls and strikes.
Who's Next
Alex Rodriguez, Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez could all join the 500 home run club this year. They are all within 18.
And Pitchers Count Too
Tom Glavine is now just 3 wins away, finally, from 300 wins. And an interesting battle between Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux. Maddux only trails him by 9 wins and if Clemens keeps pitching this way, Maddux could pass him this year. If not, it will be interesting to see if one or both of them comes back next season to try to set the mark of most wins in the modern era, which is 363 by Warren Spahn.
Worth the Wait
Three hits from 3,000, Craig Biggio sat out 3 of the Astros last 5 games so he could reach the milestone during a 10-game homestand. Good thing he did, his 5 hits Thursday night made him the 27th and worst member of the 3000 hit club.
Congratulations, Now Get Out of Here
Frank Thomas hit his 500th home run becoming the 21st member and maybe second worst player in the 500 home run club. Eddie Murray needed about 900 games more than Thomas to do it. Later in the game Thomas was ejected for aguing balls and strikes.
Who's Next
Alex Rodriguez, Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez could all join the 500 home run club this year. They are all within 18.
And Pitchers Count Too
Tom Glavine is now just 3 wins away, finally, from 300 wins. And an interesting battle between Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux. Maddux only trails him by 9 wins and if Clemens keeps pitching this way, Maddux could pass him this year. If not, it will be interesting to see if one or both of them comes back next season to try to set the mark of most wins in the modern era, which is 363 by Warren Spahn.
Knicks Trade
The New York Knicks acquired Zach Randolph, Dan Dick-ow and Fred Jones for Channing Frye and Steve Francis.
This is a bad trade but not a terrible one. You cannot evaluate NBA trades based on talent alone, you have to look at the salary cap ramifications. The only, the ONLY way the Knicks are ever going to be good again, I mean really good, not 8th in the East, is to tear it down and start all over. They need to stop acquiring high priced players and build from the bottom. Instead of Francis for two more years at $33 million the Knicks are on the hook for four more years of Randolph at $61 million.
If you just look at the talent, the Knicks definitely got the better deal, Francis was a waste and Frye is decent, but that's about it. By the way, the Trail Blazers are going to buy out Steve Francis so they basically gave up Randolph for Frye, that's how much they think of Randolph.
One of the reasons they wanted to dump him is because of his bad behavior, they won't want him teaching how to hire girls to perform a sex show to their new star Greg Oden.
Randolph is also fat and lazy and doesn't play defense. Which means he's just like Eddy Curry, a fat, lazy defensive liability already on the Knicks. This is actually my biggest problem with the deal, the redundancy of having Randolph and Curry, two big men who need the ball to operate down low. I also think this move will have a deletirrious effect on the best Knick, David Lee. He is going to play less power forward and more small forward, making him a defensive liability, and taking him away from the low post where he is a demon on the glass.
If Curry and Randolph can work together with Marbury perhaps the Knicks can win 40-45 games this season but I don't see any way this collection of malcontents is going to be willing to give the effort on defense necessary to be a really good team.
This is a bad trade but not a terrible one. You cannot evaluate NBA trades based on talent alone, you have to look at the salary cap ramifications. The only, the ONLY way the Knicks are ever going to be good again, I mean really good, not 8th in the East, is to tear it down and start all over. They need to stop acquiring high priced players and build from the bottom. Instead of Francis for two more years at $33 million the Knicks are on the hook for four more years of Randolph at $61 million.
If you just look at the talent, the Knicks definitely got the better deal, Francis was a waste and Frye is decent, but that's about it. By the way, the Trail Blazers are going to buy out Steve Francis so they basically gave up Randolph for Frye, that's how much they think of Randolph.
One of the reasons they wanted to dump him is because of his bad behavior, they won't want him teaching how to hire girls to perform a sex show to their new star Greg Oden.
Randolph is also fat and lazy and doesn't play defense. Which means he's just like Eddy Curry, a fat, lazy defensive liability already on the Knicks. This is actually my biggest problem with the deal, the redundancy of having Randolph and Curry, two big men who need the ball to operate down low. I also think this move will have a deletirrious effect on the best Knick, David Lee. He is going to play less power forward and more small forward, making him a defensive liability, and taking him away from the low post where he is a demon on the glass.
If Curry and Randolph can work together with Marbury perhaps the Knicks can win 40-45 games this season but I don't see any way this collection of malcontents is going to be willing to give the effort on defense necessary to be a really good team.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
For $20 They'll Play With Your Putts
A strip club in Pocono, Pennsylvania named CR Fanny's (get it?) sponsored a golf outing at a local golf course. This outing included strippers giving lap dances on the course. A guy who lives across the street recorded the whole thing. You must watch this video.
Baseball is Poop
The Curse of the Poop
Ever since I wrote about two of my favorite young pitchers, James Shields and Fausto Carmona, they have both gone in the toilet.
Shields was 5-0 with a 3.08 ERA, since then he's 1-3 with a 6.48 ERA. And though he allowed 7 homers in those 4 starts (25 innings) he walked only 1 and struck out 26.
Very similarly Carmona was 7-1 with a 3.11 ERA when I wrote about him. Since then he's 1-3 with a 6.86 ERA including a disastrous 8 runs in one inning start against Oakland.
The Kid is Still the Future
The Kansas City Royals were very worried early this season because their franchise, Alex Gordon, had gotten of to a terrible start. On June 6 he was batting .173 with 3 HR and 8 RBI. Since then Gordon is on fire. In the last 18 games, he .408 with 3 HR and 14 RBI.
With Age Comes Wisdom
Wednesday night featuring an incredible 7 starting pitchers over 40 years old. Kenny Rogers got rained out and Roger Clemens got bombed by the other 5 (Woody Williams, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Jamie Moyer and Greg Maddux) went 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA. And the former Braves triumverate went 3-0 with a 0.50 ERA. And not one of them suffered a broken hip.
A Walkoff Walk off Proctor
The Yankees are reeling again. After winning 11 of 12 to get back to 3 games above .500 the Yankees lost 7 of 8 and are now 3 games below. Those losses include a 3-game sweep by the Rockies and 2 losses to the Orioles, one on that walkoff walk, and one when Clemens gave up four runs in 6 innings and didn't strike out a batter for the first time in 200 starts. Pedro Martinez has struck out at least one batter in 293 straight starts, the longest active streak.
Better Than the Babe
Ryan Howard hit his 100th home run in only his 325th game. That's the fastest to 100 in major league history. At that pace he can get to 800 in about 14 more years.
Ever since I wrote about two of my favorite young pitchers, James Shields and Fausto Carmona, they have both gone in the toilet.
Shields was 5-0 with a 3.08 ERA, since then he's 1-3 with a 6.48 ERA. And though he allowed 7 homers in those 4 starts (25 innings) he walked only 1 and struck out 26.
Very similarly Carmona was 7-1 with a 3.11 ERA when I wrote about him. Since then he's 1-3 with a 6.86 ERA including a disastrous 8 runs in one inning start against Oakland.
The Kid is Still the Future
The Kansas City Royals were very worried early this season because their franchise, Alex Gordon, had gotten of to a terrible start. On June 6 he was batting .173 with 3 HR and 8 RBI. Since then Gordon is on fire. In the last 18 games, he .408 with 3 HR and 14 RBI.
With Age Comes Wisdom
Wednesday night featuring an incredible 7 starting pitchers over 40 years old. Kenny Rogers got rained out and Roger Clemens got bombed by the other 5 (Woody Williams, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Jamie Moyer and Greg Maddux) went 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA. And the former Braves triumverate went 3-0 with a 0.50 ERA. And not one of them suffered a broken hip.
A Walkoff Walk off Proctor
The Yankees are reeling again. After winning 11 of 12 to get back to 3 games above .500 the Yankees lost 7 of 8 and are now 3 games below. Those losses include a 3-game sweep by the Rockies and 2 losses to the Orioles, one on that walkoff walk, and one when Clemens gave up four runs in 6 innings and didn't strike out a batter for the first time in 200 starts. Pedro Martinez has struck out at least one batter in 293 straight starts, the longest active streak.
Better Than the Babe
Ryan Howard hit his 100th home run in only his 325th game. That's the fastest to 100 in major league history. At that pace he can get to 800 in about 14 more years.
Help a SCZA Out
SCZA's station is holding an internal contest to promote their new partnership with youtube. Whichever employee posts a video on youtube that gets the most views, or gets to 10,000 first wins an iPhone. SCZA posted his famous on-air appearance describing the dastardly duo who terrorized Boston with light-up displays of cartoon characters.
All SCZA wants you to do is click, minimize and ignore. If we each do this 100 times SCZA has a chance.
All SCZA wants you to do is click, minimize and ignore. If we each do this 100 times SCZA has a chance.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Song of The Week
"Charlene" - Anthony Hamilton
Sometimes coming up for inspiration for these Songs of the Week is difficult. But then I was reading an article about racecar driver Lewis Hamilton and his father's name is Anthony which reminded me how much I love this song.
This Anthony Hamilton has a great smooth smoky soulful sound.
This is an awesome song and I even tried to convince Mrs. Poop to name Baby Poop Charlene, but she said no.
Sometimes coming up for inspiration for these Songs of the Week is difficult. But then I was reading an article about racecar driver Lewis Hamilton and his father's name is Anthony which reminded me how much I love this song.
This Anthony Hamilton has a great smooth smoky soulful sound.
This is an awesome song and I even tried to convince Mrs. Poop to name Baby Poop Charlene, but she said no.
Who Are These Guys?
I'll give you stats of two players. You tell me who the guys are. I'll post the answer in the comments section tomorrow.
Player A - rookie season: 280 AB 22 HR 43 RBI .293 BA .952 OPS
Player B - rookie season: 312 AB 22 HR 63 RBI .288 BA .923 OPS
Player A - 2007: 209 AB 14 HR 37 RBI .273 BA .884 OPS
Player B - 2007: 207 AB 17 HR 53 RBI .256 BA .938 OPS
Player A - rookie season: 280 AB 22 HR 43 RBI .293 BA .952 OPS
Player B - rookie season: 312 AB 22 HR 63 RBI .288 BA .923 OPS
Player A - 2007: 209 AB 14 HR 37 RBI .273 BA .884 OPS
Player B - 2007: 207 AB 17 HR 53 RBI .256 BA .938 OPS
Does It Count?
Mrs. Poop has now attended two Mets games this season. Because Baby Poop is now a viable fetus with brain activity and can react to sounds, does that mean Baby Poop has been to two games. Or does first official Met game status start outside of the womb?
Our Day At Shea
Mrs. Poop and I took in Monday night's 2-1 walkoff victory from our plush rightfield seats at Shea Stadium.
We started the evening with a trip to Joe's Shanghai. Mrs. Poop was excellent handling the pork steam buns, serving them out without piercing them and spilling the soup everywhere. We managed to avoid tongue scalding, although Baby Poop was pissed that hot liquid was pouring on its head and started kicking. We were satisfied with our efficiency because the guys at the next table had soup all over their plates, we kept it in our mouths and in our spoons.
Then it was back to Shea for the game. We got a nice view from the subway of all the body shops that are going to be torn down. You can't see from the street but their are hundreds of them, stretching for blocks. When they get replaced with restaurants I wonder if it will hurt business at Joe's on game nights. There were at least 3 other tables occupied by people headed to the game. Hopefully Joe's can survive without that business. Or even more hopefully, Joe's will open a new location across from the Stadium.
We had our new digital camera, and a nice low perspective of the field from the loge level so we got some good pictures.
Of course I took several shots of Pooh Holes. Someday I'll tell Baby Poop all about the magnificent Pooh Holes.
Professor Reyes taught us that "David Wright esta en la esquina caliente" means "David Wright is at the hot corner."
Kiss Cam was also good, several funny couples including one girl who mushed the guy next to her when he leaned in. Something tells me they were just friends and he'd been waiting years for this opportunity.
Mrs. Poop missed half the game wandering around the concourse looking for water, ice cream and of course going to the bathroom. That's what happens when you bring a pregnant woman to the game.
Mrs. Poop hates So Taguchi. He is soooooooooo taguchi.
I remembered why I knew Russ Springer. He got ejected after hitting Bonds because he didn't want to give up #714.
We went home happy thanks to Shawn Green's game-winning homer.
We started the evening with a trip to Joe's Shanghai. Mrs. Poop was excellent handling the pork steam buns, serving them out without piercing them and spilling the soup everywhere. We managed to avoid tongue scalding, although Baby Poop was pissed that hot liquid was pouring on its head and started kicking. We were satisfied with our efficiency because the guys at the next table had soup all over their plates, we kept it in our mouths and in our spoons.
Then it was back to Shea for the game. We got a nice view from the subway of all the body shops that are going to be torn down. You can't see from the street but their are hundreds of them, stretching for blocks. When they get replaced with restaurants I wonder if it will hurt business at Joe's on game nights. There were at least 3 other tables occupied by people headed to the game. Hopefully Joe's can survive without that business. Or even more hopefully, Joe's will open a new location across from the Stadium.
We had our new digital camera, and a nice low perspective of the field from the loge level so we got some good pictures.
Of course I took several shots of Pooh Holes. Someday I'll tell Baby Poop all about the magnificent Pooh Holes.
Professor Reyes taught us that "David Wright esta en la esquina caliente" means "David Wright is at the hot corner."
Kiss Cam was also good, several funny couples including one girl who mushed the guy next to her when he leaned in. Something tells me they were just friends and he'd been waiting years for this opportunity.
Mrs. Poop missed half the game wandering around the concourse looking for water, ice cream and of course going to the bathroom. That's what happens when you bring a pregnant woman to the game.
Mrs. Poop hates So Taguchi. He is soooooooooo taguchi.
I remembered why I knew Russ Springer. He got ejected after hitting Bonds because he didn't want to give up #714.
We went home happy thanks to Shawn Green's game-winning homer.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Which is Gayer?
Several years ago Josh perpetrated a horrible act upon me, Beers, Michael and Anton (I may have those names wrong, if I left you out, I'm sorry). We went to the movies to see "The Thin Red Line." When we went to sit Josh demanded that we leave at least one seat between us as a buffer. This led to the five of us dispersing throughout the theater. So when the movie started, and it was the worst movie ever made, we all hated it, but when we look around it seemed as if everyone else was enjoying it, so we didn't leave early. All because Josh thought it was gay to sit next to another dude in a movie theater.
At Bill's bachelor party, Josh, Smokey and I caught a cab. When I suggested someone sit in the front seat, Josh demanded that all three of us sit in the back.
At Bill's bachelor party, Josh, Smokey and I caught a cab. When I suggested someone sit in the front seat, Josh demanded that all three of us sit in the back.
Sextuplets - Update
Another of the Morrison sextuplets of Minnesota died. The Morrison six were born 22 weeks premature, 3 died within a few days, now Cadence Morrison died, Lucia Rae and Sylas Christopher are the last two remaining.
Still the Morrisons say their faith keeps them strong, failing to see how their faith helped contribute to their current situation.
There are no new updates on the Masches sexes from Arizona so I'll assume that no news is good news on that front.
Still the Morrisons say their faith keeps them strong, failing to see how their faith helped contribute to their current situation.
There are no new updates on the Masches sexes from Arizona so I'll assume that no news is good news on that front.
Nice Pants - Update
A Washington DC judge threw out the case of Roy Pearson who was suing his dry cleaners for $54 million because they lost his pants and therefore violated the sign in their store that said "Satisfaction Guaranteed."
Almost everyone viewed this as a frivolous lawsuit by a judge who had a greater grasp of the law than he did of reality.
Almost everyone viewed this as a frivolous lawsuit by a judge who had a greater grasp of the law than he did of reality.
Sam Alexis Woods Photos
In a move aimed at controlling the flow of information, and preventing paparazzi from camping out on their lawn, Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren posted pictures of their new daughter, Sam Alexis Woods on TigerWoods.com.
Interesting the way you can see very little of Elin in these pictures, just her hair, which is nicely done up.
Interesting the way you can see very little of Elin in these pictures, just her hair, which is nicely done up.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Busy Beavers
The Oregon State Beavers are your National Champions in baseball for the second straight year. Nice beaver, thank you I just had it stuffed.
The team struggled during the season, and according to their coach Pat Casey, people would have put the odds of them repeating at one in a million. "But it’s like the guy said in ‘Dumb and Dumber,’ that means we’ve got a chance.”
They didn't even need Mets first round draft pick Eddie Kunz (pronounced coons, not raccoons you idiot), their closer, in either of the game.
The team struggled during the season, and according to their coach Pat Casey, people would have put the odds of them repeating at one in a million. "But it’s like the guy said in ‘Dumb and Dumber,’ that means we’ve got a chance.”
They didn't even need Mets first round draft pick Eddie Kunz (pronounced coons, not raccoons you idiot), their closer, in either of the game.
Whatever Happened to Darren Baker?
My favorite World Series moment is when the ball rolled through Buckner's legs. Mrs. Poop's favorite moment is when JT Snow scooped up 4 year old Darren Baker from home plate during the 2002 World Series.
Now Darren is in second grade and starting to play little league. He made a guest appearance on Baseball Tonight with his father.
Dusty said whenever Darren makes a nice play he asks if it's a webgem.
Darren got very embarrassed by this. But after no-selling some of the webgems ("that was all right") he came alive on the last one, and then gave the double shocker. Glad to see he's growing up right.
Now Darren is in second grade and starting to play little league. He made a guest appearance on Baseball Tonight with his father.
Dusty said whenever Darren makes a nice play he asks if it's a webgem.
Darren got very embarrassed by this. But after no-selling some of the webgems ("that was all right") he came alive on the last one, and then gave the double shocker. Glad to see he's growing up right.
This Old Black Lab Just Ain't What He Used To Be
We took Diesel to the dog park for the first time this summer. For the uninitiated, a dog park is a fenced in area where dogs can run off leash. To some it may seem unnecessary to have a park for that, but having your dog off leash in our town violates an ordinance, and we don't have a fenced in yard.
So Diesel seldom gets to spread his wings and let loose after a tennis ball, other than at the dog park.
When Diesel was an impossible pup we used to take him all the time because it tired him out and we could leave for hours and he wouldn't be crazy. Now that he is so good (I swear, he really is), we never need to take him. So we hadn't gotten there yet this year, but Sunday was our day (because we have to leave him all day Monday).
As soon as I take his Chuckit out of the closet he knows where we're going and starts freaking out.
The dog park is very crowded on this day but I find some room and throw Diesel some tennis balls. He zips off after them and of course doesn't bring them back (I don't know why they call him a Retriever, he's just a chaser) but he's running well and getting tired. The some crazy woman with a Labradoodle named Waldo starts up a conversation. She thinks Diesel's panting sounds like whistling which is what Waldo does and people are nervous and the vet never said anything, did the vet say anything about Diesel. I tell her no, he's 100% fine just winded and she asks to use my chuckit, she throws a couple for Waldo while Mrs. Poop takes Diesel for rehydration.
An angry Mrs. Poop comes storming over asking for the car keys because she needs to get bottled water out of the car for Diesel because the gallon jug we brought is missing. This dog park has no bowls (it used to) and no place close by to fill up water so its best to bring your own. On her way back she sees three old people have our jug that we brought. Because she "doesn't like confrontation" she sends me over to get Diesel's water. I walk over, say "can I take this back?" and grab our water. The old people don't try to stop me. Here's the weird thing. They weren't borrowing or sharing. They hadn't spilled a drop of it yet. If they wanted some, they could have filled their bowl and left it where we put it down. They didn't they just took it over to where they were sitting. Very strange.
After that we finally got some nice running and fetching in and Diesel was exhausted. I spotted an entlebucher, a very rare Swiss mountain dog, that I had seen once on "The Dog Whisperer." I wanted to find out more because it seems like the one breed of dog other than lab, that Mrs. Poop and I both might like to own some day.
If you ever go to a dog park, and you want the dogs to attack you, you should be eating food, and running. Some little girl did that and every dog in the place was after her. Then she kept picking up this ball and running with it, and every time Diesel chased her. Then she started taking pictures of Diesel. Very strange.
Finally, Diesel was so exhausted we had to take him home but before we could we almost had an incident. Every dog park has two gates, they open into a small square so that if one gate is closed, no dogs can get loose. As we were leaving, a couple was bringing in their dog. As they opened the inner gate to let their dog in, their bratty kids opened the outer gate to ask for ice cream money. Thankfully we had Diesel on the leash, and no other dogs escaped. But this is why Focks is nervous about letting Bauer go to a dog park, because people are idiots.
But the trip was worth it, Diesel had a great time, he was so exhausted he barely moved the rest of the night and he should be good to be home tonight by himself.
And I stepped in dog poop.
So Diesel seldom gets to spread his wings and let loose after a tennis ball, other than at the dog park.
When Diesel was an impossible pup we used to take him all the time because it tired him out and we could leave for hours and he wouldn't be crazy. Now that he is so good (I swear, he really is), we never need to take him. So we hadn't gotten there yet this year, but Sunday was our day (because we have to leave him all day Monday).
As soon as I take his Chuckit out of the closet he knows where we're going and starts freaking out.
The dog park is very crowded on this day but I find some room and throw Diesel some tennis balls. He zips off after them and of course doesn't bring them back (I don't know why they call him a Retriever, he's just a chaser) but he's running well and getting tired. The some crazy woman with a Labradoodle named Waldo starts up a conversation. She thinks Diesel's panting sounds like whistling which is what Waldo does and people are nervous and the vet never said anything, did the vet say anything about Diesel. I tell her no, he's 100% fine just winded and she asks to use my chuckit, she throws a couple for Waldo while Mrs. Poop takes Diesel for rehydration.
An angry Mrs. Poop comes storming over asking for the car keys because she needs to get bottled water out of the car for Diesel because the gallon jug we brought is missing. This dog park has no bowls (it used to) and no place close by to fill up water so its best to bring your own. On her way back she sees three old people have our jug that we brought. Because she "doesn't like confrontation" she sends me over to get Diesel's water. I walk over, say "can I take this back?" and grab our water. The old people don't try to stop me. Here's the weird thing. They weren't borrowing or sharing. They hadn't spilled a drop of it yet. If they wanted some, they could have filled their bowl and left it where we put it down. They didn't they just took it over to where they were sitting. Very strange.
After that we finally got some nice running and fetching in and Diesel was exhausted. I spotted an entlebucher, a very rare Swiss mountain dog, that I had seen once on "The Dog Whisperer." I wanted to find out more because it seems like the one breed of dog other than lab, that Mrs. Poop and I both might like to own some day.
If you ever go to a dog park, and you want the dogs to attack you, you should be eating food, and running. Some little girl did that and every dog in the place was after her. Then she kept picking up this ball and running with it, and every time Diesel chased her. Then she started taking pictures of Diesel. Very strange.
Finally, Diesel was so exhausted we had to take him home but before we could we almost had an incident. Every dog park has two gates, they open into a small square so that if one gate is closed, no dogs can get loose. As we were leaving, a couple was bringing in their dog. As they opened the inner gate to let their dog in, their bratty kids opened the outer gate to ask for ice cream money. Thankfully we had Diesel on the leash, and no other dogs escaped. But this is why Focks is nervous about letting Bauer go to a dog park, because people are idiots.
But the trip was worth it, Diesel had a great time, he was so exhausted he barely moved the rest of the night and he should be good to be home tonight by himself.
And I stepped in dog poop.
Put Your Money Where Your Bias Is
There is no question that in this country there is a tremendous liberal media bias. For whatever reason the people who get into the news business are mostly liberals. I don't know why this is, I guess the young conservatives are at Goldman Sachs making huge bonuses.
Now that doesn't necessarily mean their coverage is biased, but you have a pretty good idea that it's at least somewhat affected. And I think this is the #1 reason why the Fox News Channel caught, passed and now kicks CNN's ass. Of the people who want to watch news they agree with, liberals have a bunch of choice, conservatives have one.
But everyone in the media denies this bias. MSNBC did a study of all political contributions made by journalists to interest groups and to candidates in national elections only. They all have to be disclosed and I think employer is part of the disclosure process.
143 journalists made the list (a very small fraction of the total journalists, but as we will see, a representative one) and 9 times as many gave to Democrats as to Republicans.
Now that doesn't necessarily mean their coverage is biased, but you have a pretty good idea that it's at least somewhat affected. And I think this is the #1 reason why the Fox News Channel caught, passed and now kicks CNN's ass. Of the people who want to watch news they agree with, liberals have a bunch of choice, conservatives have one.
But everyone in the media denies this bias. MSNBC did a study of all political contributions made by journalists to interest groups and to candidates in national elections only. They all have to be disclosed and I think employer is part of the disclosure process.
143 journalists made the list (a very small fraction of the total journalists, but as we will see, a representative one) and 9 times as many gave to Democrats as to Republicans.
What Really Happened
Monica Emerson was trying to take her young son through security at Reagan National Airport. Her son had some water in his sippy cup and she was told that she couldn't get through security with the water still in the cup. No liquids past the checkpoint. The rules apply to everyone, even former Secret Service like Emerson.
The rule is a bit much, but there's no selective enforcement, everyone has to abide by it. Even two year olds, no liquids means no liquids, for anyone.
So Emerson got pissed and said "ok, I'll spill it out," and she dumped the water right on the floor. That of course only caused more trouble and she was detained even longer.
After the incident Emerson told everyone in the media that she was picked on, and all she had was water for her two year old son, and it accidentally spilled and the big bad TSA hassled a poor innocent mother and her young child and why don't they catch some real terrorists.
Sounds like a great story, except for one thing. The TSA said "oh yeah bitch?" The TSA released the surveillance video of the incident, something they NEVER do, and it clearly showed Emerson purposefully dumping the water on the ground in the security checkpoint area.
So she bitched about having to follow the rules, then she flashed her Secret Service badge, then she spilled the water on the ground and finally she lied about the whole incident.
Put her on the permanent no-fly list.
The rule is a bit much, but there's no selective enforcement, everyone has to abide by it. Even two year olds, no liquids means no liquids, for anyone.
So Emerson got pissed and said "ok, I'll spill it out," and she dumped the water right on the floor. That of course only caused more trouble and she was detained even longer.
After the incident Emerson told everyone in the media that she was picked on, and all she had was water for her two year old son, and it accidentally spilled and the big bad TSA hassled a poor innocent mother and her young child and why don't they catch some real terrorists.
Sounds like a great story, except for one thing. The TSA said "oh yeah bitch?" The TSA released the surveillance video of the incident, something they NEVER do, and it clearly showed Emerson purposefully dumping the water on the ground in the security checkpoint area.
So she bitched about having to follow the rules, then she flashed her Secret Service badge, then she spilled the water on the ground and finally she lied about the whole incident.
Put her on the permanent no-fly list.
Rosebud
10 years ago the AFI came out with it's list of top 100 movies. Thanks to a friend who worked in a video store and gave me free rentals, I saw most of the top 50 movies.
Wikipedia has the side by side of the two lists.
But here are a few thoughts:
Citizen Kane deserves to be #1. It really was a fantastic movie, especially when you consider the time period in which it was made.
Casablanca and The Godfather for 2 and 3 are a tossup. Both so great, yet so different.
Raging Bull moved all the way up to #4 from #24. I'm shocked and I couldn't disagree more. While I think it's a great movie, and an enjoyable movie, to make the top 10 it has to be near perfect and Raging Bull goes on too long, there is too much cursing and fighting and jumping around. At 24 I agree, at 4 it's a reach.
My favorite of all the movies I discovered while watching the oldies is #5, Singin In The Rain. Definitely the best musical ever. Funny, smart, well-done, just a fantastic movie. No, I'm not kidding.
Only four movies made since the list came out made the list: Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Sixth Sense, Saving Private Ryan and Titantic. Terrible choices.
Shawshank Redemption made the list. Thank God. If you add Gump and Pulp, 1994 was probably the best year for movies in a very long time.
How did Toy Story make this list? There are about 10 other movies in its genre that are better including Shrek and Finding Nemo.
If you haven't seen these movies which are on the list, don't: Midnight Cowboy, Easy Rider (no plot, just pretty pictures), The Deer Hunter and A Clockwork Orange.
If you haven't seen these movies which are on the list, rent them: Bonnie & Clyde, North by Northwest, 12 Angry Men and The French Connection.
Wikipedia has the side by side of the two lists.
But here are a few thoughts:
Citizen Kane deserves to be #1. It really was a fantastic movie, especially when you consider the time period in which it was made.
Casablanca and The Godfather for 2 and 3 are a tossup. Both so great, yet so different.
Raging Bull moved all the way up to #4 from #24. I'm shocked and I couldn't disagree more. While I think it's a great movie, and an enjoyable movie, to make the top 10 it has to be near perfect and Raging Bull goes on too long, there is too much cursing and fighting and jumping around. At 24 I agree, at 4 it's a reach.
My favorite of all the movies I discovered while watching the oldies is #5, Singin In The Rain. Definitely the best musical ever. Funny, smart, well-done, just a fantastic movie. No, I'm not kidding.
Only four movies made since the list came out made the list: Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Sixth Sense, Saving Private Ryan and Titantic. Terrible choices.
Shawshank Redemption made the list. Thank God. If you add Gump and Pulp, 1994 was probably the best year for movies in a very long time.
How did Toy Story make this list? There are about 10 other movies in its genre that are better including Shrek and Finding Nemo.
If you haven't seen these movies which are on the list, don't: Midnight Cowboy, Easy Rider (no plot, just pretty pictures), The Deer Hunter and A Clockwork Orange.
If you haven't seen these movies which are on the list, rent them: Bonnie & Clyde, North by Northwest, 12 Angry Men and The French Connection.
Juneteenth
Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is an annual holiday in fourteen states of the United States. Celebrated on June 19, it commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas.
Here is a sampling of what happened on Juneteenth this year:
In Milwaukee, Pat Kasthurirangaian was pulled from his car and beaten, he says, by as many as 50 people. Kasthurirangaian says his right eye socket is broken, he has a broken nose and constant headaches.
In Syracuse, police closed down the celebration after multiple fights and two stabbings.
And in Austin, two men were driving and the car accidentally hit a small child, causing non-life threatening injuries. A mob surrounded the car and attacked the driver. The passenger, David Rivas Morales got out to help his friend. He was beaten to death.
Here is a sampling of what happened on Juneteenth this year:
In Milwaukee, Pat Kasthurirangaian was pulled from his car and beaten, he says, by as many as 50 people. Kasthurirangaian says his right eye socket is broken, he has a broken nose and constant headaches.
In Syracuse, police closed down the celebration after multiple fights and two stabbings.
And in Austin, two men were driving and the car accidentally hit a small child, causing non-life threatening injuries. A mob surrounded the car and attacked the driver. The passenger, David Rivas Morales got out to help his friend. He was beaten to death.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)