According to everyone in the media there is quite a QB dilemma brewing in Philadelphia. to anyone with common sense who has ever followed the Eagles, they know better. Andy Reid is a terrible head coach. he makes awful clock management decsions, he has the most predictable play calling (run once every 6 series') and he has no zest, no pop, no bravado behind the podium. but if theres one thing Andy Reid is, its committed to his game plan and players.
But the media seems to love the idea of vick as qb and i truly believe they have NEVER fully grasped the idea of Kevin Kolb as the qb. why's this? there are a few reasons:
-- Mike Vick has been to an NFC championship game (in philly no less)
--Mike Vick has a few records, has had a few amazing big breaks, and is a big play QB
--Kevin Kolb went to a little school, had little exposure, and "rusted" on the bench
--Kevin Kolb just doesn't look like an elite passer/gun slinger
Does this make a quarterback dilemma? No, does this set up for the world saying "Hey Andy, your an idiot..."? probably. but this is NOT a convroversy until:
--Vick starts this weekend and blows up for 300 passing yards and 200 rushing yards (or as i call it, Denard Robinson statistics)
--Kolb comes back in time for the host of the McNabb led Redskins and stinks up the linc
THEN Andy Reid is set up with a QB dilemma. as long as Vick has been able to sit on the bench like steamin willie beamen, no one remembers JUST HOW electric he is. Kevin Kolb isn't going to just show up as 2010 Aaron Rodgers, but maybe 2008 Rodgers. rusty, not the best team/competitor, but flashes of brilliance and in 3 years at the helm, dynamic and all-pro. But can philly fans actually rest with the idea of rebuilding when a true competitor and leader festers on the bench making $5 dolars? no, will they, maybe. if everyone keeps saying there is a massive qb controversy, there WILL be a massive qb controversy. until then the true Philadelphia faithful might just be blinded by love enough to realize what a sinking ship they're on
but hey, thats just me.
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Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
The Harrisburg Stizzlers
For several years now i've participated in a fantasy football league with the guys in the family (and yes, that does include my sister Linda). To say i've competed in the league is to say that i was competitive... and i try to lie as little as possible on this blog so...
I had Tom Brady and Randy Moss the year the broke the single season records together, and that season i finished third. to date that is my best finish. I am usually pretty bad at drafting, drafting all heart no head and going for combo points and having multiple players from one team. Last year i went 1-16 so this year i needed a change. after talking to Stiz, we decided to combine our ownership, and i would take over his team (with my pitiful team disolving). thus the Harrisburg Stizzlers was born.
I feel confident that we'll be competetive, but i'll be honest, if my players all stay healthy i can make a run for this thing. So without further ado, Ladies and Gentleman, your 2010 HARRISBURG STIZZLERS!!
QB's
Peyton Manning, Phillip Rivers, Carson Palmer, Chad Henne. Its pretty sweet when the only question mark a position is your 4th string player.
RB's
Rasharrd Mendenhal, Ronnie Brown, Shonn Green, Steve Slaton, Reggie Bush.What i like about this list is by week 4 i'll know which backs to use against which match-ups and have plenty of options and in the meantime i have 4 starting running backs.
WR's
Desean Jackson, Santanna Moss, Wes Welker, Jacoby Jones, Dez Bryant. Clearly this is my weakest position by far. we have a large leage and i waited two rounds too long before getting a franchise WR. lets see if anyone truly steps up...
TE's
Jason Witten, Antonio Gates. Nasty
K - Nate Kaeding
DEF - Pittsburgh
DE
Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis. You may think it irresponsible to have both indy DE's on your team... but they're both beasts and as long as i check the matchup i'll know who to start. and if one goes down with an injury i have a second option.
DT - Jay Ratliff. What can you say about a D-tackle. least glamorous position on D
LB's
Paul Pusluzny, Terrell Suggs, Demarcus Ware, James Harrison. This list of line backers makes me REALLY wish we had more than one damn staring LB
CB's - Charles Woodson. beautiful bastard
S
Darren Sharper, Troy Polamalu. Simply amazing
Like i said, if they stay healthy my players should be solid... we shall see. more to come as the season progresses.
I had Tom Brady and Randy Moss the year the broke the single season records together, and that season i finished third. to date that is my best finish. I am usually pretty bad at drafting, drafting all heart no head and going for combo points and having multiple players from one team. Last year i went 1-16 so this year i needed a change. after talking to Stiz, we decided to combine our ownership, and i would take over his team (with my pitiful team disolving). thus the Harrisburg Stizzlers was born.
I feel confident that we'll be competetive, but i'll be honest, if my players all stay healthy i can make a run for this thing. So without further ado, Ladies and Gentleman, your 2010 HARRISBURG STIZZLERS!!
QB's
Peyton Manning, Phillip Rivers, Carson Palmer, Chad Henne. Its pretty sweet when the only question mark a position is your 4th string player.
RB's
Rasharrd Mendenhal, Ronnie Brown, Shonn Green, Steve Slaton, Reggie Bush.What i like about this list is by week 4 i'll know which backs to use against which match-ups and have plenty of options and in the meantime i have 4 starting running backs.
WR's
Desean Jackson, Santanna Moss, Wes Welker, Jacoby Jones, Dez Bryant. Clearly this is my weakest position by far. we have a large leage and i waited two rounds too long before getting a franchise WR. lets see if anyone truly steps up...
TE's
Jason Witten, Antonio Gates. Nasty
K - Nate Kaeding
DEF - Pittsburgh
DE
Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis. You may think it irresponsible to have both indy DE's on your team... but they're both beasts and as long as i check the matchup i'll know who to start. and if one goes down with an injury i have a second option.
DT - Jay Ratliff. What can you say about a D-tackle. least glamorous position on D
LB's
Paul Pusluzny, Terrell Suggs, Demarcus Ware, James Harrison. This list of line backers makes me REALLY wish we had more than one damn staring LB
CB's - Charles Woodson. beautiful bastard
S
Darren Sharper, Troy Polamalu. Simply amazing
Like i said, if they stay healthy my players should be solid... we shall see. more to come as the season progresses.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
If i were Reuben Amarro Jr....
Allow me to go over the last calender's year worth of phils moves.
1.) Trade for Cliff Lee. watch him tear up the postseason and win the heart of EVERY SINGLE philadelphia fan when he made that blasee catch on the mound in the first game against the Yanks.
2.) Trade Cliff lee to Seattle, loose Kyle Drabeck (the phils future) in a trade to Toronto to acquire Roy Halladay (The present)
3.) Watch Cliff Lee get traded to the Rangers, trade away J.A. Happ (Our present future) for Roy Oswalt (A Glorified Jamie Moyer)
4.) Watch Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick consistently be inconsistent and not quite be sure who Roy Oswalt really is.
We could have gone into the postseason with a rotation that looked like: Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Happ, Blanton/Kendrick. but thats pretty pie in the sky. i could have lived with Halladay, Hamels, Happ, Blanton, Kendrick. but i hate the idea of Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt, Blanton, Kendrick. Two almost guarenteed losses, two who knows what, and one almost guarenteed win. i don't like those odds, especially since we have to rely on a bullpen that is as inconsistent as the second half of the rotation.
Now some people would bore you with everything that everyone is already saying. who should have been kept, who should have been moved where, when Blanton and Kendrick would play russian roulette... but here's an idea for this post season and even next year.
Lets say and pray Jamie Moyer comes back, and comes back to form for the playoffs, bam, one guarenteed loss changed to a maybe. sign pedro, see sentace above. next year sign Jamie and Pedro to half year contracts. Jamie is lights out up until the all star beak then he tends to fall off and kill his stats. Pedro gets attled before the july classic then as the pressure mounts starts to mow down batters like a freak (until he hits 100 pitches). why not just let both of them pitch in their ideal half of the season and have some fun with the post season rotation. i know a bunch of people will consider me moderatly retarded for saying these things but... lets be honest, it'd work.
1.) Trade for Cliff Lee. watch him tear up the postseason and win the heart of EVERY SINGLE philadelphia fan when he made that blasee catch on the mound in the first game against the Yanks.
2.) Trade Cliff lee to Seattle, loose Kyle Drabeck (the phils future) in a trade to Toronto to acquire Roy Halladay (The present)
3.) Watch Cliff Lee get traded to the Rangers, trade away J.A. Happ (Our present future) for Roy Oswalt (A Glorified Jamie Moyer)
4.) Watch Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick consistently be inconsistent and not quite be sure who Roy Oswalt really is.
We could have gone into the postseason with a rotation that looked like: Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Happ, Blanton/Kendrick. but thats pretty pie in the sky. i could have lived with Halladay, Hamels, Happ, Blanton, Kendrick. but i hate the idea of Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt, Blanton, Kendrick. Two almost guarenteed losses, two who knows what, and one almost guarenteed win. i don't like those odds, especially since we have to rely on a bullpen that is as inconsistent as the second half of the rotation.
Now some people would bore you with everything that everyone is already saying. who should have been kept, who should have been moved where, when Blanton and Kendrick would play russian roulette... but here's an idea for this post season and even next year.
Lets say and pray Jamie Moyer comes back, and comes back to form for the playoffs, bam, one guarenteed loss changed to a maybe. sign pedro, see sentace above. next year sign Jamie and Pedro to half year contracts. Jamie is lights out up until the all star beak then he tends to fall off and kill his stats. Pedro gets attled before the july classic then as the pressure mounts starts to mow down batters like a freak (until he hits 100 pitches). why not just let both of them pitch in their ideal half of the season and have some fun with the post season rotation. i know a bunch of people will consider me moderatly retarded for saying these things but... lets be honest, it'd work.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Please tell me the Dead-Ball Era isn't a fluke here
I wrote this headline while getting drunk at 11am off of strong Rum and Cokes at my favorite Harrisburg restaraunt, Zia's. Matt Garza threw a one-walk no hitter. Matt Garza threw to 27 batters and 27 batters only (said one walk was erased on a double play). Matt Garza threw the 6th no hitter* of the year and was one walk shy of the 4th perfect game of the season*
*Please note, these numbers and this article will be recognizing Armando Gallaraga's perfect game that was robbed from him. the record books may never actually add it, but i promise you i ALWAYS will*
How is it that hitters have been so flappable this year? i haven't seen grown men stammer and stutter so bad since Leo McGarry's debate prep. At first this year they blamed the weather saying once the temperatures rose, so would the batting numbers. But then came May. The pitchers are still dominating the game. You can think of # pitchers off the top of your head that you know could be a cy young candidate (Cliff Lee, CC, Halladay, Jimenez, Johnson, Insert Cardnial Here, Linceculm) but can you tell me who will the real consistent hitters are this year?
jose Bautista (30 HR) Joey Votto (25 HR, 70 R, 68 RBI's, .318 BA), and Miguel Cabrerra ( 24 HR, 88 RBI). would you have guessed ay of them? no, you probably thought Pujols, A-roid, and Prince Fielder. i don't blame you but hey, lets be honest, its not the year of the hitter. BAs are down, RBIs and HRs at teh all star break are lower than they have been since pre steroid era...
... which brings me to the next point: you can't blame it all on the Steroirds. power numbers being down? ok, i'll but steroids playing a part, but you can't tell me that battign average was really helped that much by steroids. sure, it may be a factor because less balls are caught on teh warning track, but that doesn't account for enough, liners are down, situational hits are down, strike out counts are up. this has nothing to do with steroids.
Allow me to throw out my theory. it begins with the idea that the newest crop of young pitchers are a great corps of great arms. i can understand that, strasburg, johnson, jimenez... they're awesome, they're young. but why? my theory is that there is a bell curve in emphasis on each game./ i noticed it when the NFL was switching between power and speed backs. at first you wanted a powerback, a bulldozer to break down the opposing front seven. So what happened next? better defensive players came around, bigger stronger, meaner, they gobbled up the backs and the powerback was put on the shelf. enter the shifty speedy back, he came in and outran outmoved and out hustled the ogre defenders, so defenders had to become leaner, smarter, and more well rounded. this has had several curves over the history of the NFL
The same has happened in baseball. for years the league was dominated by hard hitting enigmatic hitters. now we have slick throwing smart pitchers.
I hope this sin't a fluke, i hope the dead ball year stretches into a dead ball era. i like defensive baseball... don't judge me
*Please note, these numbers and this article will be recognizing Armando Gallaraga's perfect game that was robbed from him. the record books may never actually add it, but i promise you i ALWAYS will*
How is it that hitters have been so flappable this year? i haven't seen grown men stammer and stutter so bad since Leo McGarry's debate prep. At first this year they blamed the weather saying once the temperatures rose, so would the batting numbers. But then came May. The pitchers are still dominating the game. You can think of # pitchers off the top of your head that you know could be a cy young candidate (Cliff Lee, CC, Halladay, Jimenez, Johnson, Insert Cardnial Here, Linceculm) but can you tell me who will the real consistent hitters are this year?
jose Bautista (30 HR) Joey Votto (25 HR, 70 R, 68 RBI's, .318 BA), and Miguel Cabrerra ( 24 HR, 88 RBI). would you have guessed ay of them? no, you probably thought Pujols, A-roid, and Prince Fielder. i don't blame you but hey, lets be honest, its not the year of the hitter. BAs are down, RBIs and HRs at teh all star break are lower than they have been since pre steroid era...
... which brings me to the next point: you can't blame it all on the Steroirds. power numbers being down? ok, i'll but steroids playing a part, but you can't tell me that battign average was really helped that much by steroids. sure, it may be a factor because less balls are caught on teh warning track, but that doesn't account for enough, liners are down, situational hits are down, strike out counts are up. this has nothing to do with steroids.
Allow me to throw out my theory. it begins with the idea that the newest crop of young pitchers are a great corps of great arms. i can understand that, strasburg, johnson, jimenez... they're awesome, they're young. but why? my theory is that there is a bell curve in emphasis on each game./ i noticed it when the NFL was switching between power and speed backs. at first you wanted a powerback, a bulldozer to break down the opposing front seven. So what happened next? better defensive players came around, bigger stronger, meaner, they gobbled up the backs and the powerback was put on the shelf. enter the shifty speedy back, he came in and outran outmoved and out hustled the ogre defenders, so defenders had to become leaner, smarter, and more well rounded. this has had several curves over the history of the NFL
The same has happened in baseball. for years the league was dominated by hard hitting enigmatic hitters. now we have slick throwing smart pitchers.
I hope this sin't a fluke, i hope the dead ball year stretches into a dead ball era. i like defensive baseball... don't judge me
Rookie Rites of passage
Its what they are you know. its not hazing... these days hazing is an act of terror or when a group of persons in a selective group put physical, mental, or emotional strain on a person who wants to be a member. What Roy Williams asked of Dez Bryant isn't hazing, its just a rookie rite of passage. But lets be honest, this really isnt that big of an issue. in fact, i trult believe it wouldn't even be a real issue if not for the numerous news outlets and uneducated bloggers (ah thank you). but in the world of Tweeting, sexting, espn boston and chat-roullette... nothing is above, or more legitamately, below news coverage and speculation.
But lets think with a (silly) thing called reason. what if Dez Bryant interpretted it as hazing. what if Dez just wanted to show Roy Williams that he doesn't see himself as any less of a reciever (because lets be honest if Miles Austin, Tony Romo or Jason Witten asked him... he probably would have done it. but i truly believe it IS a humiliation for a reciever as good as Dez Bryant (and im callin it, he is an immediate impact player) to have to carry the pads of an overated overpaid, underperforming never was thats always been outshined by the NEXT reciever to come in (see Calvin Johnson, Miles Austin). if Anything Roy Williams should have to carry someone's pads until he actually proves he is worth a damn.
But there are two sides to every reaction. Regardless of who asked Dez to do it, its an important tradition. maybe the rookies don't appreciate it and maybe it doesn't really mean that much to the veterans, but clearly not doing it is a big enough issue to cause a rift in team chemistry. Roy Williams has stated thats its really no big deal, but he said he'd get his due. run up the bill at dinner... but if Dez isn't going to carry the pads, why would he pick up the check? won't he get a little pissed aboutgetting taken advantage of anyways? Dez admits that if he knew how big of a deal it was he would have just done it. but thats apologizing without meaning it in my book. The only reason he regrets his decision is because it got him in hot water. Dez... i don't blame you.
Who's right? Who's wrong? Both... maybe neither... but lets be honest, this isn't really a story until it disrupts the team unity
But lets think with a (silly) thing called reason. what if Dez Bryant interpretted it as hazing. what if Dez just wanted to show Roy Williams that he doesn't see himself as any less of a reciever (because lets be honest if Miles Austin, Tony Romo or Jason Witten asked him... he probably would have done it. but i truly believe it IS a humiliation for a reciever as good as Dez Bryant (and im callin it, he is an immediate impact player) to have to carry the pads of an overated overpaid, underperforming never was thats always been outshined by the NEXT reciever to come in (see Calvin Johnson, Miles Austin). if Anything Roy Williams should have to carry someone's pads until he actually proves he is worth a damn.
But there are two sides to every reaction. Regardless of who asked Dez to do it, its an important tradition. maybe the rookies don't appreciate it and maybe it doesn't really mean that much to the veterans, but clearly not doing it is a big enough issue to cause a rift in team chemistry. Roy Williams has stated thats its really no big deal, but he said he'd get his due. run up the bill at dinner... but if Dez isn't going to carry the pads, why would he pick up the check? won't he get a little pissed aboutgetting taken advantage of anyways? Dez admits that if he knew how big of a deal it was he would have just done it. but thats apologizing without meaning it in my book. The only reason he regrets his decision is because it got him in hot water. Dez... i don't blame you.
Who's right? Who's wrong? Both... maybe neither... but lets be honest, this isn't really a story until it disrupts the team unity
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Athletes with Agents
it never used to be common noise, athletes with agents, but it seems like every second there is a new scandal about a student athlete being in cohoots with an agent. Reggie Bush started the fire but ever since the sanctions against USC came down its been breaking news after breaking news. is it becuase its now a bullseye and everyone is on edge? or is just that kids are a lot stupider these days? (yes, i used the word stupider for dramatic effect). Everyone's quick to give the coaches a lot of guff, and yes... it might be wise for them to include a day of "don't be an asshole and ruin our team" lectures, but its not their fault. its not even their job. self respect, responsibility and ownership are the things a college aged student learns from their parents.
Is it the Agents fault? about as much as it is the car salesman's fault you bought a lemon. he made it sound exotic, but you were stupid for buying it. Is it the fault of the student athlete. With regards to Reggie Bush, that just sucks for everyone. who do you penalize? Can't penalize the coach, he flew the coop to Seattle. can't chastize the player, he's too busy celebrating a world championship, and you can't penalize the Agents because this isn't a court of law. so what happens, the current students, fans, and athletes get screwed out of a chance for greatness.
So what do we do?
Lets assume this is going to happen no matter what. Its happened in the past (Chris Carter) its happening now (everyone in the SEC), it will happen in the future. so how do we make the playing field level, how do we keep it conducive to team chemistry, how do we make it legitamate.
Enter Hampsterdam. in season 4 of HBO's "The Wire" Major "Bunny" Colvin had a radical idea to, not legalize drugs, but decriminalize drugs. he pushed all of the drug trafficking to sections of Baltimore that were uninhabited and away from the parts of society trying to succeed. it was monitored: no weapons were allowed, there was on site medical testing and informational kiosks and active good doers there to make sure there was a quality of life in this new area. what happened? the rest of the city streets and corners were able to stay alive and thrive and enjoy peaceful existence. was it pretty everywhere? no but... it worked.
I say let them sign. if an agency is willing to put their money into a kid, they absolutly should be able to... but that kid gets no scholarship. no funding, no meal plan, NO help from the school. if its allowed, they will and only the cream of the crop will eve have the chance to have agents becuase if they're going to foot the bill for college, they aren't going to waste it on a bust. then more walk-on kids can get scholarships, more families can be helped out and maybe we can get back to playing college football as opposed to college politics.
Is it a pretty solution, absolutly not but... it'll work, and even if it doesnt... at least SOMETHING is being done
Is it the Agents fault? about as much as it is the car salesman's fault you bought a lemon. he made it sound exotic, but you were stupid for buying it. Is it the fault of the student athlete. With regards to Reggie Bush, that just sucks for everyone. who do you penalize? Can't penalize the coach, he flew the coop to Seattle. can't chastize the player, he's too busy celebrating a world championship, and you can't penalize the Agents because this isn't a court of law. so what happens, the current students, fans, and athletes get screwed out of a chance for greatness.
So what do we do?
Lets assume this is going to happen no matter what. Its happened in the past (Chris Carter) its happening now (everyone in the SEC), it will happen in the future. so how do we make the playing field level, how do we keep it conducive to team chemistry, how do we make it legitamate.
Enter Hampsterdam. in season 4 of HBO's "The Wire" Major "Bunny" Colvin had a radical idea to, not legalize drugs, but decriminalize drugs. he pushed all of the drug trafficking to sections of Baltimore that were uninhabited and away from the parts of society trying to succeed. it was monitored: no weapons were allowed, there was on site medical testing and informational kiosks and active good doers there to make sure there was a quality of life in this new area. what happened? the rest of the city streets and corners were able to stay alive and thrive and enjoy peaceful existence. was it pretty everywhere? no but... it worked.
I say let them sign. if an agency is willing to put their money into a kid, they absolutly should be able to... but that kid gets no scholarship. no funding, no meal plan, NO help from the school. if its allowed, they will and only the cream of the crop will eve have the chance to have agents becuase if they're going to foot the bill for college, they aren't going to waste it on a bust. then more walk-on kids can get scholarships, more families can be helped out and maybe we can get back to playing college football as opposed to college politics.
Is it a pretty solution, absolutly not but... it'll work, and even if it doesnt... at least SOMETHING is being done
is it really a Vick-tory?
Mike Vick just can't stay out of the news. but its not like its because he is a TMZ low-impact news guy... he makes big splashes in the headlines. If its not dogfighting its bakruptcy, if its not a shooting at his birthday, its bankruptcy fraud. Mike Vick can't help but make a splash... except of course for on the football field.
The man barely made an impact, was used very infrequently, had some dazzle but had some flops too. he has is and always will be an average quarterback at best. As a wildcat option, he's a dream come true. he's a refined tim tebow, an effective option, and a threat to be reconned with. Its a rebuilding year at Quarterback for the eagles so why not take some strain off of Kevin Kolb and use vick about 35% of the time. give vick 30 easy pass routes about 10 options and 4 keeper plays, throw him in (especially on 2nd and 18 or first and ten). Have a quarterback by committe and do work. but hey, Andy Reid knows what he's doing... unless it comes to coaching or child-raising.
For all the trouble he is to have as a member of the team the Eagles might as well get something for him. the man is damn near unpunishable now. Someone lies about Ben Rapelessberger taking advantage of her and he STILL gets suspended. Someone who helped ruin Vick's first life (and wasn't even invited) gets gunned down just 3-minutes after number 7 is invloved in seperate altercations and leaves his own birthday party, how does that NOT warrant a suspenssion.
Roger Goodell has been the enforcer, he has been the sherrif, he has been the law. if you even sneeze into trouble your reprimanded. if someone even suggests that you farted in church you get suspended. i want to know why Vick is above the law. but really, i want to know what the big deal over Mike Vick is. i have never cared about a backup as much as i do with vick. the man is barely ever seen in a football game yet gets more media attention than Derek Anderson, Chad Henne and Trent Edwards combined. from now on, i just dont care about Mike Vick until he's relevant
The man barely made an impact, was used very infrequently, had some dazzle but had some flops too. he has is and always will be an average quarterback at best. As a wildcat option, he's a dream come true. he's a refined tim tebow, an effective option, and a threat to be reconned with. Its a rebuilding year at Quarterback for the eagles so why not take some strain off of Kevin Kolb and use vick about 35% of the time. give vick 30 easy pass routes about 10 options and 4 keeper plays, throw him in (especially on 2nd and 18 or first and ten). Have a quarterback by committe and do work. but hey, Andy Reid knows what he's doing... unless it comes to coaching or child-raising.
For all the trouble he is to have as a member of the team the Eagles might as well get something for him. the man is damn near unpunishable now. Someone lies about Ben Rapelessberger taking advantage of her and he STILL gets suspended. Someone who helped ruin Vick's first life (and wasn't even invited) gets gunned down just 3-minutes after number 7 is invloved in seperate altercations and leaves his own birthday party, how does that NOT warrant a suspenssion.
Roger Goodell has been the enforcer, he has been the sherrif, he has been the law. if you even sneeze into trouble your reprimanded. if someone even suggests that you farted in church you get suspended. i want to know why Vick is above the law. but really, i want to know what the big deal over Mike Vick is. i have never cared about a backup as much as i do with vick. the man is barely ever seen in a football game yet gets more media attention than Derek Anderson, Chad Henne and Trent Edwards combined. from now on, i just dont care about Mike Vick until he's relevant
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Be Careful What You Wish For
Sometimes you just need a night like tonight. As a baseball fan and avid pitching lover i have always wated to experience aperfect game. i don't care how, but i wanted to follow a perfect game from at the most the 4th inning on. Tonight i was listening to the Phuils Reds game. it seemed like a match made in heaven. Roy Halladay, Cy young winner, perfect game owner, Ace pitcher against a 23 year old kid with only 3 MLB starts to his name named Travis Wood. through 4, you started to sense it.
If you ever do get to experience a perfect game against your team for all 9 innings you experience quite the roller coaster of emotions. Its a lot like "Lost" actually. your so excited and intruiged at first and after the 3rd inning (second season) your hooked, once you get to six, you know something big is happening here, but you don't really wanna think about where its headed (Wait they're off the island? wait, they wanna get back to the island? What do you mean they can move the island? How the hell are they in two different time periods simultaneously? why is everyone dying but kate dammit!) so many emotions are makeing their way through you all in dramatic swings. Curiosity, Fear, Anger, Despair, Unease, Anxiety.
You know theirs a good chance you'll be witnessing history tonight, but never in a way you ant to see. you don't want to be the first team to have a perfect game and be perfectoed in the same season. you don't want it to be a 23 year old in onlyhis 3rd MLB start, you don't want it to happen against your Ace for whom you haven't given any run support to. and you Really don't want it at home, during a shaky injury riddled season.
It's worth noting that Joey Votto, having been snubbed in the all star game has been a man on a mission like President Bartlett when his youngest daughter Zoe was abducted. He's been tearin' shit up and leading two of the 3 triple crown categories, hitting like a savant and doing it humbly. Thats a scary man to have on the other side.
When the bottom of the 9th came around, and we were guarenteed Travis woods had to pitch 10 perfect innings if he was going to win this game. in his first game back from a long enough stint on the DL we got one of our surprisingly clutch hitters back. Carlos Ruiz, Chooch is one of our most valuable players. from being such an important part of our world series team, to giving us a reason to not play Chris Coste,being a wonderful backstop and an even better game caller. he caught and called our 2nd team perfecto, Roy Halladay gave him his due. after doing extensive work in the off season on his stance, he came back this year with more stats, a higher batting average and some of the first half of the seasons most clutch plays. but he hasn't gottent too much love. He's a lot like Josh Charles' character in sportsnite... without all the bitching and whinning.
Like the Dependable Veterans do, Chooch came through. with a leadoff double the perfect game was over, the no hitter too! everyone in philadelphia took a deep breath... and then rememberred its a still a scoreless game. When uiz advanced with one out, we believed we could win this thing. But we'd have top wait because the ninth was over, Haladay was done, and we lived to fight a little longer.
Roy Halladay. what more can he do for us? regardless of what happens from here on out he's done more with less, witched 8 9-inning games (7 complete games), throwing the 2nd perfect game in phils history, and now kept us out of the other side of that record book category and saved us from watching a bullpen train wreck. Jose Contreras, Dan Hernendon and Brad Lidge? if anything these names would have installed confidence in Travis Wood... but Halladay, thats a scary thing to come across. A lot of people say "Desmond is my constant" well... Halladay is my Desmond.
When Brad Lidge took the mound in the tenth every Philadelphia fan held their breath again. In Analogyworld, Brad Lidge is Ben Linus. You want to root for him because he's the backbone of the 2008 World Series team, just as Ben was the reason you kept watching in seasons 3-5. But after that you just never know which version is coming. is it meltdown brad/self-serving ben or is it World Series Hero/the good side of Ben. Still, whenever Lidge looses a game or blows a save i am filled with teh same dissapointment i fel with Ben antagonized Meany and then watched him execute his daughter. But no matter what, i always know the next time i have to count on them i will, i will believe in the good, i will have faith. Faith was a owerful thing tonight. after getting himself out of a little game Brad had perserved the shutout, gave us a fighting chance.
A ho-hum at bat by the phils and reds led to the bottom of the 11th... when Chooch came up to the plate with one out. Everyone could feel it, and when he smackedhis second double, we knew. it was our night afterall. after a Wilson Valdez intentional walk and a Ross Gload flyout (that wasn't deep enough to advance the runners of course) the longest tenured phil and unarguable leader of the team, Jimmy Rollins came to bat.
The second the ball hit the bat we all knew what could happen. as Jimmy made his way to first Carlos ran harder than Matt Santos and made his way into home. three straight walk offs by the Phils. three great nights of extra inning baseball, three magical reasons to believe.
The Slump is over, this CAN be our year. we can win in any situation (except maybe 2 run lead from the 6th on with our Bullpen pitching). but there is no reason to count the Phils out. Tonight is going to go down in my top three sports memories of all time (ruight up there with our demolishing of Johnny Bronxton in the '08 NLCS and Lidge's greatest slider ever getting the rays to strike out and getting the Phils a ring). This game was exactly what good baseball is. I welcome the dead ball era in baseball, i love good pitching duels. i hope pitchers continue to bring their A-game against Halladay, these are the best games.
There is so much baseball left. the 2010 season Part Two... soon.
(and for those of you scoring at home we counted 4 Lost References and 3 Aaron Sorkin references. Congrats to those who bet on Lost, well done)
If you ever do get to experience a perfect game against your team for all 9 innings you experience quite the roller coaster of emotions. Its a lot like "Lost" actually. your so excited and intruiged at first and after the 3rd inning (second season) your hooked, once you get to six, you know something big is happening here, but you don't really wanna think about where its headed (Wait they're off the island? wait, they wanna get back to the island? What do you mean they can move the island? How the hell are they in two different time periods simultaneously? why is everyone dying but kate dammit!) so many emotions are makeing their way through you all in dramatic swings. Curiosity, Fear, Anger, Despair, Unease, Anxiety.
You know theirs a good chance you'll be witnessing history tonight, but never in a way you ant to see. you don't want to be the first team to have a perfect game and be perfectoed in the same season. you don't want it to be a 23 year old in onlyhis 3rd MLB start, you don't want it to happen against your Ace for whom you haven't given any run support to. and you Really don't want it at home, during a shaky injury riddled season.
It's worth noting that Joey Votto, having been snubbed in the all star game has been a man on a mission like President Bartlett when his youngest daughter Zoe was abducted. He's been tearin' shit up and leading two of the 3 triple crown categories, hitting like a savant and doing it humbly. Thats a scary man to have on the other side.
When the bottom of the 9th came around, and we were guarenteed Travis woods had to pitch 10 perfect innings if he was going to win this game. in his first game back from a long enough stint on the DL we got one of our surprisingly clutch hitters back. Carlos Ruiz, Chooch is one of our most valuable players. from being such an important part of our world series team, to giving us a reason to not play Chris Coste,being a wonderful backstop and an even better game caller. he caught and called our 2nd team perfecto, Roy Halladay gave him his due. after doing extensive work in the off season on his stance, he came back this year with more stats, a higher batting average and some of the first half of the seasons most clutch plays. but he hasn't gottent too much love. He's a lot like Josh Charles' character in sportsnite... without all the bitching and whinning.
Like the Dependable Veterans do, Chooch came through. with a leadoff double the perfect game was over, the no hitter too! everyone in philadelphia took a deep breath... and then rememberred its a still a scoreless game. When uiz advanced with one out, we believed we could win this thing. But we'd have top wait because the ninth was over, Haladay was done, and we lived to fight a little longer.
Roy Halladay. what more can he do for us? regardless of what happens from here on out he's done more with less, witched 8 9-inning games (7 complete games), throwing the 2nd perfect game in phils history, and now kept us out of the other side of that record book category and saved us from watching a bullpen train wreck. Jose Contreras, Dan Hernendon and Brad Lidge? if anything these names would have installed confidence in Travis Wood... but Halladay, thats a scary thing to come across. A lot of people say "Desmond is my constant" well... Halladay is my Desmond.
When Brad Lidge took the mound in the tenth every Philadelphia fan held their breath again. In Analogyworld, Brad Lidge is Ben Linus. You want to root for him because he's the backbone of the 2008 World Series team, just as Ben was the reason you kept watching in seasons 3-5. But after that you just never know which version is coming. is it meltdown brad/self-serving ben or is it World Series Hero/the good side of Ben. Still, whenever Lidge looses a game or blows a save i am filled with teh same dissapointment i fel with Ben antagonized Meany and then watched him execute his daughter. But no matter what, i always know the next time i have to count on them i will, i will believe in the good, i will have faith. Faith was a owerful thing tonight. after getting himself out of a little game Brad had perserved the shutout, gave us a fighting chance.
A ho-hum at bat by the phils and reds led to the bottom of the 11th... when Chooch came up to the plate with one out. Everyone could feel it, and when he smackedhis second double, we knew. it was our night afterall. after a Wilson Valdez intentional walk and a Ross Gload flyout (that wasn't deep enough to advance the runners of course) the longest tenured phil and unarguable leader of the team, Jimmy Rollins came to bat.
The second the ball hit the bat we all knew what could happen. as Jimmy made his way to first Carlos ran harder than Matt Santos and made his way into home. three straight walk offs by the Phils. three great nights of extra inning baseball, three magical reasons to believe.
The Slump is over, this CAN be our year. we can win in any situation (except maybe 2 run lead from the 6th on with our Bullpen pitching). but there is no reason to count the Phils out. Tonight is going to go down in my top three sports memories of all time (ruight up there with our demolishing of Johnny Bronxton in the '08 NLCS and Lidge's greatest slider ever getting the rays to strike out and getting the Phils a ring). This game was exactly what good baseball is. I welcome the dead ball era in baseball, i love good pitching duels. i hope pitchers continue to bring their A-game against Halladay, these are the best games.
There is so much baseball left. the 2010 season Part Two... soon.
(and for those of you scoring at home we counted 4 Lost References and 3 Aaron Sorkin references. Congrats to those who bet on Lost, well done)
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Its a scorcher out there
As i sit in my air conditioned living room sitting next to my mother watching "enterprise" and trying to stay out of the 100+ degree heat i decided its time to dispell my flip flopping ways. here on 7/7/10 i am going to promulgate my favorite teams of each sport, why they are, and what they mean to me. from here on out these will be my teams, forever.
NFL
The Miami Dolphins. Ever since i saw Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, i have been a dolphins fan. from Dan marino to Jay Feidler, the shitty of the greisses and now the tale of two Chads. The nice thing about being a dolphins fan is that even when they make a major offseason acquisition (See: Ricky williams, Joey Porter, Chad Pennington) ya don't get dissapointed when they fail to make the playoffs, or when they do you just KNOW the football gods are going to pin them against the Ravens and the Dolphins are GOING to go home that night dissapointed. But at the end of the day, no matter how gay it makes my circulatory system, i bleed teal and orange.
MLB
The Philadelphia Phillies. Earlier this season with the Strassburg Senators in full swing i almost became a Nationals fan, immersed in the pride of the Nationals organization. but fuck the Nationals (hahahaha, i said buttfuck) but the Phils started to slump and a lot of people jumped off the band wagon, i decided it was then that i needed to stay a Phils fan. It all started in 2006 when my best friend Matt took me to a Phils Mets game. it was only my 2nd MLB game ever. my first was an orioles win at home over the yankees when i was maybe 6 or 8 years old. all i remember is falling asleep in the 3rd inning and i woke up when it was over and the O's had won. But the mets phils game at citizens bank park was amazing, and the chance to heckle an outfielder WITH the philadelhia faithful was all i needed to become a phils fan... course the game winning 8th inning homerun by Pat burrell helped. So i am forever a philadelphia phillies fan.
NBA
The Orlando Magic. Usually the apparel backs the fandom, but in the NBAs case, the apparel made teh fan. my Nana gave my older sister an Orlando Magic starter jacket, after about a year my sister gave it to me and i didn't have any allegiences so i decided to become a Magic fan. throughout highschool i followed the stoned T-mac franchise, they were pretty fun to watch... but the goddam Grant Hill era made me stop caring so much. then they drafted this gangly 7-foot freak of nature highschooler with braces named Dwight Howard. in 2009, shortly before i graduated college said best friend Matt gave me an Orlando Magic vanity plate... then they lost to the Lakers in the NBA championship game. after that i finally started to ACTUALLY follow the NBA. i will forever be a magic fan.
NHL
Washington Capitals. I'm not really that big of a hockey fan, but this year the local Hershey Bears made a run at their 11th franchise AHL chamnpionship and their 2nd back to back. they lost the first two games of the Calder Cup finals to the Dallas Stars and i was worried they wouldn't repeat. now normally this wouldn't mean too much, but since i had to Enumerate a domicile housing 3 hershey bears and i... er... have a little history of accidentally ruining teams when i interact with their players so i was praying i didn't end up screwing the team. then they rolled off 4 straight wins, sweeping the texas stay, and i listened to every second on the sports radio. so i am a DIE hard hershey bears fan now, and since i have no realy professional team, i might as well be a Caps fan.
NCAAB
Penn State. ever since my father took me to a PSU game at the Bryce jordan center i've been an avid fan... but Gysaii Clineheard helped that out. he was a dominant force on the paints and a superstitious man on the line. Penn State basketball kinda sucks, so there isn't much to talk about... but they sure as hell won the Nit 2 seasons ago... and i'll take that
NCAAF
Unknown. i have decided to never have a live or die allegience to an NCAA football team. the makeup of every team is different every 4 years, and i love that. so my allegiences will shift every four or so years. i went from Chad Henne's Wolverines to Darryl Clark's nittany Lions to Lesean McCoy and Dion Lewis' Pittsburgh Panthers
Thats all i got. glad i could shed some light on some things
NFL
The Miami Dolphins. Ever since i saw Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, i have been a dolphins fan. from Dan marino to Jay Feidler, the shitty of the greisses and now the tale of two Chads. The nice thing about being a dolphins fan is that even when they make a major offseason acquisition (See: Ricky williams, Joey Porter, Chad Pennington) ya don't get dissapointed when they fail to make the playoffs, or when they do you just KNOW the football gods are going to pin them against the Ravens and the Dolphins are GOING to go home that night dissapointed. But at the end of the day, no matter how gay it makes my circulatory system, i bleed teal and orange.
MLB
The Philadelphia Phillies. Earlier this season with the Strassburg Senators in full swing i almost became a Nationals fan, immersed in the pride of the Nationals organization. but fuck the Nationals (hahahaha, i said buttfuck) but the Phils started to slump and a lot of people jumped off the band wagon, i decided it was then that i needed to stay a Phils fan. It all started in 2006 when my best friend Matt took me to a Phils Mets game. it was only my 2nd MLB game ever. my first was an orioles win at home over the yankees when i was maybe 6 or 8 years old. all i remember is falling asleep in the 3rd inning and i woke up when it was over and the O's had won. But the mets phils game at citizens bank park was amazing, and the chance to heckle an outfielder WITH the philadelhia faithful was all i needed to become a phils fan... course the game winning 8th inning homerun by Pat burrell helped. So i am forever a philadelphia phillies fan.
NBA
The Orlando Magic. Usually the apparel backs the fandom, but in the NBAs case, the apparel made teh fan. my Nana gave my older sister an Orlando Magic starter jacket, after about a year my sister gave it to me and i didn't have any allegiences so i decided to become a Magic fan. throughout highschool i followed the stoned T-mac franchise, they were pretty fun to watch... but the goddam Grant Hill era made me stop caring so much. then they drafted this gangly 7-foot freak of nature highschooler with braces named Dwight Howard. in 2009, shortly before i graduated college said best friend Matt gave me an Orlando Magic vanity plate... then they lost to the Lakers in the NBA championship game. after that i finally started to ACTUALLY follow the NBA. i will forever be a magic fan.
NHL
Washington Capitals. I'm not really that big of a hockey fan, but this year the local Hershey Bears made a run at their 11th franchise AHL chamnpionship and their 2nd back to back. they lost the first two games of the Calder Cup finals to the Dallas Stars and i was worried they wouldn't repeat. now normally this wouldn't mean too much, but since i had to Enumerate a domicile housing 3 hershey bears and i... er... have a little history of accidentally ruining teams when i interact with their players so i was praying i didn't end up screwing the team. then they rolled off 4 straight wins, sweeping the texas stay, and i listened to every second on the sports radio. so i am a DIE hard hershey bears fan now, and since i have no realy professional team, i might as well be a Caps fan.
NCAAB
Penn State. ever since my father took me to a PSU game at the Bryce jordan center i've been an avid fan... but Gysaii Clineheard helped that out. he was a dominant force on the paints and a superstitious man on the line. Penn State basketball kinda sucks, so there isn't much to talk about... but they sure as hell won the Nit 2 seasons ago... and i'll take that
NCAAF
Unknown. i have decided to never have a live or die allegience to an NCAA football team. the makeup of every team is different every 4 years, and i love that. so my allegiences will shift every four or so years. i went from Chad Henne's Wolverines to Darryl Clark's nittany Lions to Lesean McCoy and Dion Lewis' Pittsburgh Panthers
Thats all i got. glad i could shed some light on some things
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Dear Jay Feilder,
Sometimes, you just don't know what you have until its gone. I never knew, back in 2004 when we unloaded you to the hapless Jets, i never knew how much i'd miss you. 5 seasons with the fish 11,040 yards 66 Touchdowns 63 int's, but a competitive team damn near year in and year out. As a fan im, really sorry for how badly i begged for Ray Lucas, im even more sorry that i was oh so happy to see Brian Greise take your starting spot. Nick Saban, you ruined one of the classiest acts in the National Football league. a winning quarterback, a stand up guy and an ivy leaguer now washed up and forgotten about. well number 9, i haven't forgotten about you... and here are a few epic Jay Feidler moments i'll always remember.
Sports illustrated cover after our 3-0 start, you rushed into the end zone and you just looked like a damn competitior.
Beating Payton Manning back when he was still in our division
replacing Damon Huard, thank christ.
Having absolutly no talent on the team yet still making it to the playoffs just to innevitably loose to the superbowl champions Baltimore Ravens
Making me forget, more than a few times, what a quarterback with the number 13 on hius back looks like
taking it all in stride
never causing an issue, never letting media get you down, always being a respectable and respecting person
being a role model
helping us land ricky Volume 2.0 (volume 1.0 = texas/new orleans, version 4.20 = africa haitus, version 5.0 = this ricky)
being the last dependable quarterback until Chad Pennington came along before he died for the 40th time
and last but not least... thank you for letting me know what its like to believe. i believed in you and i believed in the dolphins. the last time you were at the helm is the literal last time i believed we could win a superbowl. brian greisse, daunte culpepper, really any of the JOKE of quarterbacks we had, none of them had the talent you had n your pinkie my good sir.
But now we have Chad Henne... potential gunslinger, PA boy, Michigan alum, and wearer of the number 7. if health stays consistent i truly believe we have a shot, but Jay i want you to know...
i will always have a special place in my heart for you...
...No Homo
Sports illustrated cover after our 3-0 start, you rushed into the end zone and you just looked like a damn competitior.
Beating Payton Manning back when he was still in our division
replacing Damon Huard, thank christ.
Having absolutly no talent on the team yet still making it to the playoffs just to innevitably loose to the superbowl champions Baltimore Ravens
Making me forget, more than a few times, what a quarterback with the number 13 on hius back looks like
taking it all in stride
never causing an issue, never letting media get you down, always being a respectable and respecting person
being a role model
helping us land ricky Volume 2.0 (volume 1.0 = texas/new orleans, version 4.20 = africa haitus, version 5.0 = this ricky)
being the last dependable quarterback until Chad Pennington came along before he died for the 40th time
and last but not least... thank you for letting me know what its like to believe. i believed in you and i believed in the dolphins. the last time you were at the helm is the literal last time i believed we could win a superbowl. brian greisse, daunte culpepper, really any of the JOKE of quarterbacks we had, none of them had the talent you had n your pinkie my good sir.
But now we have Chad Henne... potential gunslinger, PA boy, Michigan alum, and wearer of the number 7. if health stays consistent i truly believe we have a shot, but Jay i want you to know...
i will always have a special place in my heart for you...
...No Homo
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
is Lebron really selfish?
Honestly, think about it. If he were selfish he'd be on his thirty team world tour. if it was all about the money, he'd go play tax-free and without salary cap in Europe. if it was all about him he'd be hitting up every single sports media outlet. but he isn't. he's playing in the NBA next year, the teams have to come to him, and aside from one Larry King interview he's been absolutly silent. Dwayne wade lets it slip about the free-agent sumit, and then they have it with just three players (bron-bron, d-wade, and chris bosch), in secret, and without fan fare.
What part of Lebron James' actions screams selfish? im not sure. Now, please don't dismiss me as one of the thousands of lebron phallaciators. truth be told, i've always hated the guy for all the media attention he gets, i've hated his inability to show up in big games, i hate the way he makes itall about himself, i hate... well, truth be told i hate how jealous i get because of how talked he is.
But heres the thing. aside from his advertisments, when does Lebron ask for the spotlight? when does he put himself out there for no reason? and as far as the advertising goes, hell, even Brady fucking Quinn is a spokesman for someone so i think its safe to say if your an athlete and someone tells you to sell something for $x, you do it.
So ESPN, FOX sports, everyone else with a blog, shut the fuck up about Lebron. honestly, the REASON its always about him is because you assholes make it that way. on ESPON radio last night one of the hack DJs decided thaat if he goes on for 30 minutes without a Lebron update a buzzer will go off to remind him to. i dont think that was Bron-bron's idea.
We, as sports fans, want our 365, 24/7 sports information, myself included (hell, i've become "THAT GUY" that listens to only sports talk radio when in the car) and because Lebron's pending free-agency is the hottest sports subject, these entertainment mediums become obsessed with Lebron watch.
so the next time you say to yourself "Jesus, why does Lebron insist on being the center of attention?!?!?!" change your tone and write an e-mail to whatever sportscaster is talking and politely tell them to shut the fuck up.
that is all
What part of Lebron James' actions screams selfish? im not sure. Now, please don't dismiss me as one of the thousands of lebron phallaciators. truth be told, i've always hated the guy for all the media attention he gets, i've hated his inability to show up in big games, i hate the way he makes itall about himself, i hate... well, truth be told i hate how jealous i get because of how talked he is.
But heres the thing. aside from his advertisments, when does Lebron ask for the spotlight? when does he put himself out there for no reason? and as far as the advertising goes, hell, even Brady fucking Quinn is a spokesman for someone so i think its safe to say if your an athlete and someone tells you to sell something for $x, you do it.
So ESPN, FOX sports, everyone else with a blog, shut the fuck up about Lebron. honestly, the REASON its always about him is because you assholes make it that way. on ESPON radio last night one of the hack DJs decided thaat if he goes on for 30 minutes without a Lebron update a buzzer will go off to remind him to. i dont think that was Bron-bron's idea.
We, as sports fans, want our 365, 24/7 sports information, myself included (hell, i've become "THAT GUY" that listens to only sports talk radio when in the car) and because Lebron's pending free-agency is the hottest sports subject, these entertainment mediums become obsessed with Lebron watch.
so the next time you say to yourself "Jesus, why does Lebron insist on being the center of attention?!?!?!" change your tone and write an e-mail to whatever sportscaster is talking and politely tell them to shut the fuck up.
that is all
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
1460 the Ticket, after further review
i still can't get over the fact that i never listened to AM sports talk radio before working for the census.Now, i have been blessed and lucky to have 2 of my 3 opps be in the field and in my car a significant amount of the time. i have grown quite fond of EVERY show on 1460 the ticket, even when that bastard Bruce Jacobs was on. i hate Bruce Jacobs because he wants me to, im a Dolphins AND Phillies fan, truth be told, i listened to him because he knew his stuff and he did very well filling in for Hartman and friends. andways, yesterday afternoon, i had some time to kill before i started working for the census and i was on my way home listening to the 3 o'clock show, after further review.
They were talking baseball and Ken Griffey and how his walk-off hit the other night shouldn't overshadow the fact that he's slumping and someone needs to sit down with him and say "Hey, maybe its time. don't trivialize any accomplishment, don't hang on, your better than this". and they said that if he retired he could sit back and catch up on LOST. this spurned the talk of how the LOST finale had capture every facet of the global media. everyone everywhere was talking about it.
Then they went on the joke around about "Yeah, but who was lost, better yet, who was found?" and "Did someone get voted off?" they acknowledged none of them watched the show and said, "You know what, we need to take some callers to help us figure all this stuff out". they gave out the number, i swore i was dialing it faster than they were saying it and before i knew it i was listening to the ring, not a busy signal, the ring.
Next thing i know i hear the show in the background. "This can't be real? there's gotta be a call screening process, there's no way im just straight on the show" so i placed an inopurtune Danny Zuko 'A-heh-A-heh" and sure enough in 10 seconds o heard it over the radio. i was on After Further review. They chimed me in "Ok Caller, we wanna know whats you deal, but better yet, are you lost?" i laughed and said no, im a short time avid listener long time lost fan. thy asked me what the show was.
What a question.
I launch into how, MY THEORY is the story was the redemption story of the cast aways, but mostly of Jack Sheperd. The man was rollercoastered by the fans. steadily but surely we went from liking him to loving him to disliking to abhoring back to tolerating then to accepting and now back to loving. thats good writing and great acting. i then went on to say how i believe this final season's parralell world was Jack's purgatory or waiting station before he could go to the afterlife. all the otehr castaways in that sideways world were sleeper cells waiting to be woken up to usher Jack on. i say that because it appeared in this final episode that as people became enlightened, they knew EXACTLY what they had to do and were extremely ok with it.
They then ask me, so when did Jack Die? I said the very last scene of the series. the series came full circle and THATS how you know its Jack's story. JJ Abrams has said he always knew what the last image would be, and since he started the series with Jack's eye opening, and ended it with it closing, its clear it has come full circle, its just jack
"Ok, so when did everyone else die?" who knows. some die before, some die after, its important to realize what Jack's Dad said, "everybody dies sometime kiddo" because it was JACK's waiting station, these people were made for him, not necessarily the actual person's afterlife self.
"So the people that got off in the plane, did they die like seconds after Matthew fox?"
"I thought you didn't watch teh show"
"Humor the audience"
"ok" i said "well, thats one of the best things about the shows, it what keeps us all coming back each time, its the questions. they answer one and give you two more at the same time, thats why its captured America in a way the clones couldn't. Shows like Jericho and Flashforward tried to cash in on what LOST is, but nothing is, was or will be LOST"
"Your absolutly, i was a big Jericho fan, you watched it?"
""Mark, i was NUTS about Jericho" that got them REALLY laughing.
"So Alex, what did you get from the show?" i got the best tv show i've ever seen, i got to see a griping fast paced show about redemption, faith, fate, self, commjunity... i got a series that got to tell its complete intended story in its own way on its own time, and end it the way it was always meant to end
"Wow, so now that you have all this LOST-less freetime, what are you gonna do" Well, im about halfway through my season in Ken Griffey Baseball for the super nintendo so... i'm gonna go out there and win me a world series"
I checked my phone, i was on teh radio for 6 minutes 43 seconds. what can i say, i do a god interview
They were talking baseball and Ken Griffey and how his walk-off hit the other night shouldn't overshadow the fact that he's slumping and someone needs to sit down with him and say "Hey, maybe its time. don't trivialize any accomplishment, don't hang on, your better than this". and they said that if he retired he could sit back and catch up on LOST. this spurned the talk of how the LOST finale had capture every facet of the global media. everyone everywhere was talking about it.
Then they went on the joke around about "Yeah, but who was lost, better yet, who was found?" and "Did someone get voted off?" they acknowledged none of them watched the show and said, "You know what, we need to take some callers to help us figure all this stuff out". they gave out the number, i swore i was dialing it faster than they were saying it and before i knew it i was listening to the ring, not a busy signal, the ring.
Next thing i know i hear the show in the background. "This can't be real? there's gotta be a call screening process, there's no way im just straight on the show" so i placed an inopurtune Danny Zuko 'A-heh-A-heh" and sure enough in 10 seconds o heard it over the radio. i was on After Further review. They chimed me in "Ok Caller, we wanna know whats you deal, but better yet, are you lost?" i laughed and said no, im a short time avid listener long time lost fan. thy asked me what the show was.
What a question.
I launch into how, MY THEORY is the story was the redemption story of the cast aways, but mostly of Jack Sheperd. The man was rollercoastered by the fans. steadily but surely we went from liking him to loving him to disliking to abhoring back to tolerating then to accepting and now back to loving. thats good writing and great acting. i then went on to say how i believe this final season's parralell world was Jack's purgatory or waiting station before he could go to the afterlife. all the otehr castaways in that sideways world were sleeper cells waiting to be woken up to usher Jack on. i say that because it appeared in this final episode that as people became enlightened, they knew EXACTLY what they had to do and were extremely ok with it.
They then ask me, so when did Jack Die? I said the very last scene of the series. the series came full circle and THATS how you know its Jack's story. JJ Abrams has said he always knew what the last image would be, and since he started the series with Jack's eye opening, and ended it with it closing, its clear it has come full circle, its just jack
"Ok, so when did everyone else die?" who knows. some die before, some die after, its important to realize what Jack's Dad said, "everybody dies sometime kiddo" because it was JACK's waiting station, these people were made for him, not necessarily the actual person's afterlife self.
"So the people that got off in the plane, did they die like seconds after Matthew fox?"
"I thought you didn't watch teh show"
"Humor the audience"
"ok" i said "well, thats one of the best things about the shows, it what keeps us all coming back each time, its the questions. they answer one and give you two more at the same time, thats why its captured America in a way the clones couldn't. Shows like Jericho and Flashforward tried to cash in on what LOST is, but nothing is, was or will be LOST"
"Your absolutly, i was a big Jericho fan, you watched it?"
""Mark, i was NUTS about Jericho" that got them REALLY laughing.
"So Alex, what did you get from the show?" i got the best tv show i've ever seen, i got to see a griping fast paced show about redemption, faith, fate, self, commjunity... i got a series that got to tell its complete intended story in its own way on its own time, and end it the way it was always meant to end
"Wow, so now that you have all this LOST-less freetime, what are you gonna do" Well, im about halfway through my season in Ken Griffey Baseball for the super nintendo so... i'm gonna go out there and win me a world series"
I checked my phone, i was on teh radio for 6 minutes 43 seconds. what can i say, i do a god interview
The Fifteen Inning Game
Here is what i love about where i live. last night i was going to the store around 10 oclock to get some groceries. as always the radio was on 1460 wtkt The Ticket and as i pulled into GIANT the announced informed me the score was 2-2 bottom of the 10th inning. i knew i had to shop quick. by the time i got out it was still 2-2 but now it was the top of twelve. it seemed like Yunior Novoa was throwing some pretty accuate stuff (which is great because he's been slumping). by the time i unloaded the groceries, it was the bottom of 12 and i started to drive towards City Island and Metro Bank Park.
it was 11:15 and as i pulled into my spot Jesus Valdez popped up for the second out. i quickly walked along the path, and the steps and rapidly waked into the stadium. there were two outs, Brad Coon on first and as i finally took a seat a called strike three took all 12 of us spectators to the top of the thirteenth inning.
I was sitting right beneath the center of the scoreboard and was in solid earshot of Jesus Valdez and Brad Coon since wel... no one was there, i was the only guy in an outfield seat, and im sure they could use some amusement. I started to bang my hands on the old bleacher/now railing on the outfield deck. its funnym, of literally any seat in the house i could have choosen i chosen a seat thats free anyways as part of the standing room only price. what can i say, its my favorite spot. i like to heckle opposing outfielders and try to converse with the home guys.
Junior was stil pitching, which kind of surprised me because wel.. from what i've seen and heard from this season, you take an inning without an earned run and you yank him before he gets too wild. nedless to say by the 13th inning stretch it was 3-2 in favor of the Bowie Baysox and their damn bright orange jersey's.
The first batter, i can't remember who, lined out to third and then Chris Marrerro came to the plate. CM was 1-2 with a few sacrafices and a few walks, but unfortunatly it semed his streak of 3 consecutive games with a home-run would stay there. then came the 2-2 pitch. the second it hit the bat you knew it was gone. here it was coming, right overtop of me. now i love homeruns, i love them so much, but never before had one ever come anywhere even close to anywhere near me. but this one shot directly above me, directly above the scoreboard too. i waited, and then i heard it. the ball had hit the barn at the top of the hill beyond the carousel and the train, and hell, even the tree line. i asked the security gaurrd "How far is that?" he replied:
"Well, to the tracks, its 465, and if it hadn't hit the barn i dunno... probably around 500 feet"
And just like that the magic was sustained. in the bottom of the 13th inning Chris marerro's monster shot had extended the tie game... but only for one more inning.
In between the bottom of 13 and the top of the 14th, i recieved a text from Stiz "Magic, Celtics tied at the end of regulation" Thus meaning the Orlando finally decided to show up in these 2010 Eastern Conference Championship, and were finally showing intensity and heart in the possible sweep-clinching game for boston. i decided, what the hell.
"Celtics, Magic Tied at the end of Regulation" i shout to the oiutfield. Brad Coon, the dirt-stained centerfielder yelled back "Really?" i replied "Yup" he said "Keep me posted" i replied "I'm not goin anywhere" he gave me a thumbs up, as did Jesus Valdez, the Left Fielder and proud wearer of the number 24. interesting sidenote, stiz told me the score of the game, which gave me my first personal moment with the harrisburg senators, an individual one on one experience with the home team. last game i went to, i stood in right field, where jesus valdez was playing, last night, left field, where he was again. it was unintentional each time, but he rocks stiz;s number. foor for thought
but i digress.
Juniopr lets two baserunners on and three perfect gap shots later its a different pitcher, a different feeling, and a 7-3 hole. the senators showed life in teh bottom of the 14th, but uinfortunatly down by 4 with runners on first and second with 2 out Jesus grounded out to end the ball game.
I never thought i would leave a 7-3 loss by my team feeling so absolutly sublime and content. but the sens battled for 14 solid innings, they just didn't hit all that well. 11 hits in 14 innings. i dunno, marero and coon did work, but hpefully this little hiccup goes away and they get back to .500 and beyond.
I had a personal experience with Harrisburg Senators... and i got the see the end of a 14 inning game for fre. i love Harrisburg
it was 11:15 and as i pulled into my spot Jesus Valdez popped up for the second out. i quickly walked along the path, and the steps and rapidly waked into the stadium. there were two outs, Brad Coon on first and as i finally took a seat a called strike three took all 12 of us spectators to the top of the thirteenth inning.
I was sitting right beneath the center of the scoreboard and was in solid earshot of Jesus Valdez and Brad Coon since wel... no one was there, i was the only guy in an outfield seat, and im sure they could use some amusement. I started to bang my hands on the old bleacher/now railing on the outfield deck. its funnym, of literally any seat in the house i could have choosen i chosen a seat thats free anyways as part of the standing room only price. what can i say, its my favorite spot. i like to heckle opposing outfielders and try to converse with the home guys.
Junior was stil pitching, which kind of surprised me because wel.. from what i've seen and heard from this season, you take an inning without an earned run and you yank him before he gets too wild. nedless to say by the 13th inning stretch it was 3-2 in favor of the Bowie Baysox and their damn bright orange jersey's.
The first batter, i can't remember who, lined out to third and then Chris Marrerro came to the plate. CM was 1-2 with a few sacrafices and a few walks, but unfortunatly it semed his streak of 3 consecutive games with a home-run would stay there. then came the 2-2 pitch. the second it hit the bat you knew it was gone. here it was coming, right overtop of me. now i love homeruns, i love them so much, but never before had one ever come anywhere even close to anywhere near me. but this one shot directly above me, directly above the scoreboard too. i waited, and then i heard it. the ball had hit the barn at the top of the hill beyond the carousel and the train, and hell, even the tree line. i asked the security gaurrd "How far is that?" he replied:
"Well, to the tracks, its 465, and if it hadn't hit the barn i dunno... probably around 500 feet"
And just like that the magic was sustained. in the bottom of the 13th inning Chris marerro's monster shot had extended the tie game... but only for one more inning.
In between the bottom of 13 and the top of the 14th, i recieved a text from Stiz "Magic, Celtics tied at the end of regulation" Thus meaning the Orlando finally decided to show up in these 2010 Eastern Conference Championship, and were finally showing intensity and heart in the possible sweep-clinching game for boston. i decided, what the hell.
"Celtics, Magic Tied at the end of Regulation" i shout to the oiutfield. Brad Coon, the dirt-stained centerfielder yelled back "Really?" i replied "Yup" he said "Keep me posted" i replied "I'm not goin anywhere" he gave me a thumbs up, as did Jesus Valdez, the Left Fielder and proud wearer of the number 24. interesting sidenote, stiz told me the score of the game, which gave me my first personal moment with the harrisburg senators, an individual one on one experience with the home team. last game i went to, i stood in right field, where jesus valdez was playing, last night, left field, where he was again. it was unintentional each time, but he rocks stiz;s number. foor for thought
but i digress.
Juniopr lets two baserunners on and three perfect gap shots later its a different pitcher, a different feeling, and a 7-3 hole. the senators showed life in teh bottom of the 14th, but uinfortunatly down by 4 with runners on first and second with 2 out Jesus grounded out to end the ball game.
I never thought i would leave a 7-3 loss by my team feeling so absolutly sublime and content. but the sens battled for 14 solid innings, they just didn't hit all that well. 11 hits in 14 innings. i dunno, marero and coon did work, but hpefully this little hiccup goes away and they get back to .500 and beyond.
I had a personal experience with Harrisburg Senators... and i got the see the end of a 14 inning game for fre. i love Harrisburg
Issac & Ishmael
Islamic Terroist is to Islam as
Is to Christianity
Its a simple enough word problem really. you'd be surprised what some people think goes in the blank. The correct answer is a little shocking at first, but will make sense shortly, res assured. the answer looks a little like this:
Islamic Terroist is to Islam as
KKK Is to Christianity
Ya see Islamic Terrorists are just a small offshoot from the religion, and they are an offshoot that most people in said religion vilify. Most Christians aren't happy the KKK claims to be a part of them, just as most Islams are against the terrorists as much, if not more than we are.
It's because of this fact that i'm really getting tired of common people taking unprovoked shots at those who look middle eastern. its extremly unfair to label everyone, or even a majority of these people in that category. Please don't misinterpret, my view in no way shape or form applies top members of the government in any facet, i in no way shape or form criticize them. the person i criticize is the sunoco customer who says he loves our station because "You're all american, i won't support those terrorists". thats cool, but im pretty sure neither do middle eastern gas station owners/attendants. those men and women are just people who came to America for whatever freedom they wanted to embrace. and thats ok, thats America, thats why we're here.
These people are just like everyone else, huans trying to make a living. There is no reason to harbor hatred or fear for the middle eastern community. In fact, theres something to be said for what open minds and open arms could do. perhaps our not-so subtle hatred and fear of what we do not know is the reason some peaceful middle easterns turn. think about it, if your girlfriend was always accusing you of cheating, though you've never so much as eye-f*cker another person, you might be swayed to go right ahead and cheat. if your going to get criticized or crucified for it, you might as well do it.
I don't know. i have never once had a negative experiance with a middle eastern American. they are friendly, they are open, they are very intelligent and they are helpful caring people.
Maybe we should all excercise having an open mind and open arms before an open mouth
Is to Christianity
Its a simple enough word problem really. you'd be surprised what some people think goes in the blank. The correct answer is a little shocking at first, but will make sense shortly, res assured. the answer looks a little like this:
Islamic Terroist is to Islam as
KKK Is to Christianity
Ya see Islamic Terrorists are just a small offshoot from the religion, and they are an offshoot that most people in said religion vilify. Most Christians aren't happy the KKK claims to be a part of them, just as most Islams are against the terrorists as much, if not more than we are.
It's because of this fact that i'm really getting tired of common people taking unprovoked shots at those who look middle eastern. its extremly unfair to label everyone, or even a majority of these people in that category. Please don't misinterpret, my view in no way shape or form applies top members of the government in any facet, i in no way shape or form criticize them. the person i criticize is the sunoco customer who says he loves our station because "You're all american, i won't support those terrorists". thats cool, but im pretty sure neither do middle eastern gas station owners/attendants. those men and women are just people who came to America for whatever freedom they wanted to embrace. and thats ok, thats America, thats why we're here.
These people are just like everyone else, huans trying to make a living. There is no reason to harbor hatred or fear for the middle eastern community. In fact, theres something to be said for what open minds and open arms could do. perhaps our not-so subtle hatred and fear of what we do not know is the reason some peaceful middle easterns turn. think about it, if your girlfriend was always accusing you of cheating, though you've never so much as eye-f*cker another person, you might be swayed to go right ahead and cheat. if your going to get criticized or crucified for it, you might as well do it.
I don't know. i have never once had a negative experiance with a middle eastern American. they are friendly, they are open, they are very intelligent and they are helpful caring people.
Maybe we should all excercise having an open mind and open arms before an open mouth
Friday, May 21, 2010
Harrisburg Senators
This year i have become an avid and die-hard baseball fan. from little league to highschool to college to minor league and pro, i adore baseball. it took my almost 23 years, but eventually i realized baseball isn't boring, its calculated, its rigorous, its the best pro sport, at least in my opinion. i've lived in the harrisburg area all of my life and have gone to Senators games for as long as i remember, hell, my oldest memory is of going to a game with my dad, tripping, busting up my nose and bleeding throughout all 9 or however many innings we stayed for.
At the beginning of the season i was quite the hater for the sens. having lived in the area all of my life, i have been completly surrounded by the loosing legacy of the lovable losers that play on teh city island diamond. Maybe its the fact that Stephen strasburg created such an amazing buzz, maybe its the new and improved metro-bank park, maybe its the fact that im addicted to sports talk radio and everyday 1460am plays the sens game and the announcers are amazing and great to listen to.
I don't know what it is, but yesterday when i went to the Harrisburg Senators win to clinch the series sweep of the reading phillies, i knew. i was officially a sens fan for life. all year i've been leaning towards it, i've been feeling very connected to the team by listening and following along to every game, hell, im tempted to buy a radio just so i dont have to sit in my car to listen.
I dont know if they end up tearin shit up if i'll be called a band-wagon jumper, i dont know if you CAN be a bandwagon junmper for a .500 team, but i am absolutly a 100% senators fan for life... and Danny Espinosa is my favorite player.
still waiting for that really good blog. these have been good teaser attempts... lets hope i can write something substanial at some point
At the beginning of the season i was quite the hater for the sens. having lived in the area all of my life, i have been completly surrounded by the loosing legacy of the lovable losers that play on teh city island diamond. Maybe its the fact that Stephen strasburg created such an amazing buzz, maybe its the new and improved metro-bank park, maybe its the fact that im addicted to sports talk radio and everyday 1460am plays the sens game and the announcers are amazing and great to listen to.
I don't know what it is, but yesterday when i went to the Harrisburg Senators win to clinch the series sweep of the reading phillies, i knew. i was officially a sens fan for life. all year i've been leaning towards it, i've been feeling very connected to the team by listening and following along to every game, hell, im tempted to buy a radio just so i dont have to sit in my car to listen.
I dont know if they end up tearin shit up if i'll be called a band-wagon jumper, i dont know if you CAN be a bandwagon junmper for a .500 team, but i am absolutly a 100% senators fan for life... and Danny Espinosa is my favorite player.
still waiting for that really good blog. these have been good teaser attempts... lets hope i can write something substanial at some point
Rallycaps
A couple of years ago i had an idea for a buisness in downtown harrisburg. Harrisburg has a lot of sports nuts and a lot of sports teams. the only poroblem is all of the sports teams are minor league... or worse. yet we're covered in a lot of sports. in Baseball there is the Harrisburg Senators, Soccer has the City Islanders, Hockey has the Hershey Bears, outdoor football has the Paxtang Pirrana, and indoor Football has the Harrisburg Stampede. now all of these teams (except, for the most part, the hershey bears) could use marketing help, and could use a place to get more fans. therefor im convinces with a good enough sell, the teams that have their games televised for any network could allow our bar to show that feed/play that announcer play-by-play on the radio.
Even though it would loose money, after every single game, after everyone, a free round to everyone at the bar to either drown their sorrows or celebrate a victory. After each game, there would be a prize pack drawing of tickets to see said team, when you come in before the game you get a raffle ticket, if you stay til the end, theres a drawing and if your picked you win (thus having a 3-4 hour customer depending on sport and circumstance.
There could be meet and greet and signing events for the players, why not, get them some notoriety and get us some customers. the place would be decked out in local sports memorabilia, like even old Harrisburg heat/wildcat jersey's, newspaper articles things like that.
the male staff would wear the ref uniform of the active sport, the females would wear the jersey of the team playing that night and black pants or whatever female servers wear in sports bars.
I think this would be a fun type of bar. and thats what i wrote my first blog post about... next one should be better, i hope
Even though it would loose money, after every single game, after everyone, a free round to everyone at the bar to either drown their sorrows or celebrate a victory. After each game, there would be a prize pack drawing of tickets to see said team, when you come in before the game you get a raffle ticket, if you stay til the end, theres a drawing and if your picked you win (thus having a 3-4 hour customer depending on sport and circumstance.
There could be meet and greet and signing events for the players, why not, get them some notoriety and get us some customers. the place would be decked out in local sports memorabilia, like even old Harrisburg heat/wildcat jersey's, newspaper articles things like that.
the male staff would wear the ref uniform of the active sport, the females would wear the jersey of the team playing that night and black pants or whatever female servers wear in sports bars.
I think this would be a fun type of bar. and thats what i wrote my first blog post about... next one should be better, i hope
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