Favre and Vick

Brett Favre FINALLY called it quits yesterday. I think. Really, he means it this time. At least he told the Vikings that he wasn't going to play for them this season.

I feel for the guy and all athletes who are at the end of the road. I can see how their minds say "Yes" but their bodies say, "No." My empathy for Favre is somewhat tempered by the mean-spiritedness of this last "comeback." Sure, he knows the Minnesota coaches, but when you've been in the league as long as he has you know just about everyone. And it's not that a 39 year old quarterback is the Vikes' missing piece to the Super Bowl. Rather, he just wanted two shots a year to stick it to the Packers who eventually cut him loose after several off-seasons of him fucking with them with his "will he or won't he" retirement talk.

People tend forget great players' last gasps (Willie Mays with the Mets, Joe Namath with the Rams, Johnny Unitas with the Chargers) and they should. We can't blame athlete's for wanting to keep doing something they've mastered since they were a children. Hopefully Favre has gained some grace about this.

Yesterday, the NFL gave Michael Vick a conditional reinstatement. Basically, he can practice with the teams as soon as he's signed, play in two pre-season games and be elgible no later than week 6 (assuming he's on the straight and narrow). I wrote about Vick a couple of days ago, so I won't rehash my feeling about him. I can see how the commish would want to give some flex to the timeline for him coming back. Without deadline pressure, teams can take a longer look at Vick and their situation before making the decision to bring him onboard.

It's somewhat unfair to Vick in that if he's in football shape and ready to go week 1 he's essentially being punished AGAIN for the same crime for which he's already been in the slam for two years. And he seriously needs the money to pay off his debts, etc. I still think someone will sign him, though for the life of me I can't think of who (hm...maybe the Vikings are still looking for a third quarterback). It may not happen until a quarteback (starter or second string) gets hurt during pre-season.

Sweet 16

The wife and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary at the theater on Friday. Well, at the kids theater watching the HB's troupe. It was a fun night as the HB really enjoyed being the the play and he did well. My parents came to the show that night and back to the house for dessert. They left relatively early so we weren't cock blocked. The wife and I will have a bit of a delayed celebration next weekend as we're going to drive up the coast north of Santa Barbara for a weekend of wine tasting and Indian casino gambling.

I got some plans back from the contractor for redoing the kitchen in terms of options if we knock out a wall or two. Nothing big is really grabbing me, though there are a couple of minor options that may make a big difference. We gotta decide soon as I'd like for them to get going on this right after Labor Day. Of course, that assumes that the wife can make up her mind and stick with it, so Halloween may be a more accurate start date.

Been loving how the Angles have been playing. Winning 9 in a row and scoring a ton of runs. They've been coming from behind a lot as well. Now they just need to keep that up through the week and thump on Texas and put them out of the race.

With football training camps opening this week (yay!), I've been giving more thought to the whole Michael Vick situation. It seems weird that there are guys in the league who have plead guilty to vehicular manslaughter who have gotten lighter suspensions than Vick. Granted, it's a different commissioner and Vick was also involved in gambling and lying to the NFL. But, they guy plead guilty and served his time. Anything else the NFL throughs on top of him is just piling on and is unfair. Whether another team give him a chance is a completely different question. There's not way he's anywhere near football shape, and probably won't be for months. With all the shit a team's gonna get for signing him won't be worth it for this year. But next? Who knows?

LAKERS!

The Lakers polished off Orlando last night in what was their best game of the series. No excuses about missing open shots as LA played suffocating D and did not allow Orlando good looks at three-point shots or for them to get into a rhythm.

As usual, the Laker defense, led by Ariza's steals, got them going on the 16-0 run that ended things. Balanced scoring (5 guys with 10+ points) made things easy for them on offense. They were also faster to the ball and out-rebounded the Magic.

The media, always looking for the easy story took to comparisons. Is Phil Jackson a better coach than Red Auerbach because he now has 1 more championship (10 to 9)? Does Kobe belong in the same breath as Michael Jordan?

For the first, the answer is yes. When Auerbach and the Celtics were dominant there was no free agency. Once you had a player you had him for life. Russell, Cousy, Jones, Havlicik, etc weren't going anywhere. This isn't to discount what he did. Keeping guys that motivated for that long is no mean feat. But, from year to year he knew who he was going to have, could mold them to play his style and discipline them more easily. Jackson had a different cast around his stars pretty much each year. He's won with a dominant big man (Shaq) and without.

I'm a huge Kobe fan, but I'm not ready to put him on the same level as Jordan. Magic Johnson, yes, but not MJ. Bryant has just learned to really get his teammates involved (see the number of assists he had in the Finals). If he keeps doing that and gets a couple of more rings, then he'll prove it. In the meantime, he is the best player in the game and we should enjoy him for what he is and quit worrying about who he is not.

LAKERS!

NBA Finals

OK, it's going to be the Lakers and the Magic in the NBA Finals. My prediction? Lakers in 6 (sorry, Lola).

Yeah, the Magic beat the Lakers twice during the regular season. But that was with Jameer Nelson who will most likely be out during the series (or very rusty otherwise).

I just don't see how a team that lives and dies by the 3-pointer can win with this much pressure. Also, while Dwight Howard is a great player, Cleveland didn't have one guy, let alone 3 like the Lakers, to match up with him.

When the Lakers faced Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu on a regular basis they didn't seem to cause them too much trouble, so I don't know why the would now.

Finally, I think the Magic should be much more worried about how they are going to matchup with Gasol and Kobe.

In unrelated news, UC Irvine got bounced in the first round of the NCAA baseball tourney. Bummer for the Anteaters.

Lakers, Whew

As predicted here earlier, the Lakers beat the Nuggets in 6 games. They definitely saved their best for last, as they did almost everything right last night. They out-shot (57% to 43% overall, 56% to 42% from 3-point range, 100% to 80% from the line), out-rebounded (38 to 27), out-blocked (4-3) the Nuggets and moved the ball better (28 to 14 assists). Even when Denver caught them in the second half and the crowd went nuts, the Lakers went into overdrive and put the game away.

Their opponent in the finals will be either Orlando (who holds a 3-2 lead in the series) or Cleveland (never count out LeBron James). Tonight's game 6 is in Orlando. Game 7, if necessary, will be Monday in Cleveland. The finals don't start until June 7, so both teams (whoever they are) will be rested.

The Lakers were 2-0 against Cleveland and 0-2 against Orlando in the regular season. Despite that, I would rather they face Orlando (sorry, Madison Avenue). They would have home court advantage. Also, Orlando beat them before Jameer Nelson got hurt and he gave the Lakers all kinds of trouble.

Go Lakers!

Laying an Egg

The Lakers obviously thought that yesterday was Easter as they laid a GIGANTIC egg against Houston. The Rockets were without the player most damaging to the Lakers (Yao Ming) and the Lakers just came out playing flat. They didn't pound the ball inside (where they now had a significant advantage) and, as is his custom, Phil Jackson didn't call any timeouts when Houston was jumping to their big lead. I understand during the regular season having the team work through these tough spots. But it's for REAL now and for the life of me I can't understand how he could just sit there and watch as they dug themselves a 15 point hole in the first few minutes.

I still think they'll win this series and go on to the Finals, but they clearly lack heart. Either Cleveland or Orlando will chew them up.

In better news, the Angels have righted their ship and are back over .500 and only 1/2 game out of first place in the West after sweeping the first place team in the Central, Kansas City. Now they have the Red Sox coming to town for three games, including a day game on Thursday. All Angel/Dodger day games are company holidays as far as I'm concerned.

Calling Them as They See/Saw Them

Hm..weird that I would write about sports announcers twice in a week. However...

Normally, I watch sports with the sound off. After you've watched enough games there's really not much more they can say on TV (having said that, I LOVE listening to games on the radio). With all of the super-loud people on TV, it is hard to remember how different John Madden, who announced his retirement today, was.

I loved his enthusiasm when he was the RAIDERS head coach and was glad that he brought it to the broadcast booth. He thoroughly enjoyed football, knew it inside and out and expressed both. He also brought a coach's view of strategy to the booth (as I recall, there were plenty of ex-players calling games, but no coaches).

I'll admit that I haven't listened to him in a couple of years, but I don't recall anyone saying that he had lost it. Though, I know some who were tired of his shtick. He retired from the RAIDERS before he had to, so it's not surprising that he would do that again. I wish him well and hope that his next chapter is as good as his last one.

Coincidentally (I think), the LA Times ran a story on the Clippers' long suffering (as any long term employee of the Clippers is) announcer, Ralph Lawler. Actually, the coincidence was that I watched and listened to him do a game the day before. He's as good of a play-by-play man as they come, but has languished in LA in the shadow of Chick Hearn (Lakers) and Vin Scully (Dodgers).

He has a job of extremes. On one hand, when I was doing college radio, I would have given my left nut to get a professional play-by-play gig. But, if I knew that the team I was covering would lose 2/3 of their games almost every year, that would give anyone pause. Who wants to deliver bad news to fans just about every night?

What's amazing is that he's one of the only competent employees that is visible to the public that the Clippers' owner Donald Sterling keeps around. To work for such a cheap ass who puts a barely passable team on the court must be tough. One can only conclude that Lawler is a) a crazy optimist and/or b) he LOVES basketball and/or c) he's as loyal as can be. Of course, he's well paid, gets to travel in style, etc. But, still. You'd think that after Hearn died he would have had his agent at least call over to the Lakers. Maybe UCLA or USC basketball?

He's a pro. Too bad he's had to slum it with the Clips.

Happy Valentine's Day

The wife and I feel the same way about going out for dinner on Valentine's as we do on New Year's. So, we normally do something quiet. When I proposed such for tonight, I got crickets and a shoulder shrug. She's obviously thinking wayyyyy to much about work. I'll still get some goodies (cheese, salami, bread, wine, etc.) for tonight. If she's still not in the mood, then I'll have a great late night snack...heh.

I've been trying to get my arms around the whole Alex Rodriguez mess. Here's a guy with all of the baseball tools one would need (like Bonds), yet he still feels the need to cheat (I never believe a guy who says he quit that stuff before he got caught--they are always looking for an edge). I don't know why the commish doesn't suspend him. When he was using the collective bargaining agreement with the players said that it was forbidden to take illegal drugs. At the time, taking steroids without a prescription was illegal, so, what's the problem? Let the union decide to stick up for a cheater.

However, I don't think that the other guys who tested positive in the (supposedly) confidential program should be outed. You make that kind of promise, you should keep it. Too bad for A-Fraud that his came up in the Bonds investigation.

Just remember in all of this that people scoffed at Jose Canseco when his book came out naming all of these guys. He's been right every time.

More Hoops and Into the Woods

Could it have been a better basketball weekend?

UCLA and Notre Dame renewed their hoops rivalry. Back in the day, it was as intense as USC-ND in football. The Bruins put it back in the stone age by giving the Slumping Irish a serious and well-deserved ass-kicking, 89-63.

The Lakers finished up their road trip against the Cavs in a game billed as Kobe vs. LeBron. Well, Kobe was puking before the game, LA played lock down D on The King and Lamar Odom played out of his mind. This all added up to a 10 point Laker win, ending Cleveland's 23 game home winning streak. I wish it were the NBA playoffs now, sigh...

The HB had a great time with Into the Woods. He sang (surprisingly) well in his solos and was very comfortable on stage. He really enjoyed this production and is ready to go for Alladin next.

Hooping it Up and the HB on Stage

Now that football's over (sniff) I've been turning more of my attention to basketball and it was a cool week to do so. My primary concern is the Lakers.

Things have been going well for them the season. They were in position to have the best record in the league, which is key for home court advantage in the playoffs, and then Andrew Bynum got his knee fucked up, again. It's not the same one as last year and he should be back before the playoffs, but you never really know.

Amidst all of this, the Lakers hit the road for what could be their biggest trip of the season. So far, so good. They've won at Minnesota, Memphis, New York (with Kobe setting a new Garden scoring record), and Boston (in overtime the night after the Knicks' game over the fucking Celtics--heh). They finish up tomorrow in Cleveland against LeBron and the Cavs, who have the 2nd best record in the league. If they can beat the Cavs they'll have another leg up for home court advantage (they beat the Cavs at Staples last month) and really show the league that they mean business this year.

In college hoops, Pat Summit, the head coach of the Lady Vols, won her 1,000th game. Most women's programs haven't won 1,000 games. This year she's had a tough job with a team of mostly freshman. They probably won't win the NCAA championship, but they'll be badass for the next few years, at least.

On the men's side, the tournament is shaping up to be awesome. Several teams have been ranked #1, so there's a lot of parity. The Vols are very inconsistent (one of their guards really needs to step up) and will have a tough time repeating last year's tourney success. I'd be stoked if they made the Sweet 16.

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Today and tomorrow the HB's theater group is performing Into the Woods. He has a couple of good parts (they go with two casts) and is very excited. We got him a DVD of the original Broadway cast, so he knows the show inside and out (the kids are only doing the first half of he show).

The kids have been working very hard with 4 hour practices after school all week. The wife and I caught some of the final rehearsal last night (after going to the most customer service oriented bar I've ever been in) and it's looking good. I'll letchya know how things go.

Super Bowl Wrap-Up

Going into yesterday's game, I thought the Arizona bandwagon was getting a little full. As a RAIDER fan, there's no way I could root for the Steelers, but I thought they were going to win the game.

All of this talk about it being the "Greatest SB Game EVAH!" is a bit overblown. The Cardinals played like shit in the first half and had tons of penalties. It was about the most exciting 4th quarter you could have with Zona coming back from 10 down to score 17 unanswered points, only to have their defense run out of gas at the end. And the catch that Holmes made at the end was amazing.

This was the first full game the NZS II saw. We talked a lot about the rules, etc beforehand, so he followed it pretty well. However, all of the penalties kind of threw him for a loop. All in all, he enjoyed the experience.

I played football during halftime, so I missed Springsteen, who I think is completely over-rated. I'm surprised that they couldn't find someone good from THIS century to perform.

As for the ads, well, I don't pay much attention to them, even at $3mil a pop. Now we just gotta wait 7.5 months for football to start again, sniff.

Rose Bowl

Beer's wet, the sun rises in the east and USC creamed another Big 10 team (Penn State) on New Year's Day. This was the 3rd year in a row in the Rose Bowl, and a couple of years before the streak started they hammered Iowa in the Orange Bowl. The final was 38-24 (giving some bettors a heart attack as PSU almost covered the spread in the last few minutes), but the game wasn't even that close. 'SC clobbered them. PSU tried to play the "no one respects us card," but they weren't respected in this game for good reason. These things go in cycles, but right now the best in the Pac-10 is just better than the best in the Big-10 (note that that Pac 10 won all 4 of their bowl games, the Big 10 has only won one with one remaining).

I watched the game (sorta) with my dad who is a Penn State grad. He excused himself pretty early on to go play solitaire on his computer or some such shit. I brought the NZS to my parents house so he could say goodbye to them, but it was pretty clear he didn't get much sleep last night and he snoozed through most of the game (he was rooting against USC). So, basically, I could have saved the gas and watched the game on a bigger, HDTV at home. Oh well.

In a big surprise, Lynn wrote on my facebook wall wishing USC well. Last week I got a holiday card from her and her bf. Weird.

Tomorrow will be a pseudo work day. I have one task to accomplish. Once I do that I'm going to return a back-up xmas gift I got for the NZS and use a giftcard to get Guitar Hero World Tour. That'll lead to a productive rest of the day;-)

NFL Week 17--Whither Farvre? (Updated)

Whether it was balance in the league or a fluke in scheduling, this year weeks 16 an 17 in the NFL have had meaningful games between playoff contenders. It made for a great day of football watching.

My main preference coming into the game in the NFC was for the Eagles to get in the playoffs. For this to happen they needed some help. First, they needed my RAIDERS to win at Tampa Bay. This wasn't as onerous as it sounded as the Bucs were riding a 3 game losing streak. But still, this was the RAIDERS. Amazingly, and behind some great running by Michael Bush, they won. Next, the Eagles needed either Chicago or Minnesota to lose. The Vikings won a nail-biter against the Giants (whose playoff positioning would not be affected by today's games), but the Bears got beat by Houston. This meant that Philly would still have to beat Dallas at home in what was essentially a playoff game.

It was a laugher. I cannot count the number of ways that the the Cowboys sucked and it was beautiful to watch. I called my relatives in the Philly area and they were jubulant.

In the AFC, my only concern was the cheating Patriots to miss out on the playoffs. For this to happen they either needed to lose to the Bills or have the Jets beat Miami, or have Baltimore lose. The New England beat Buffalo in a gale, so it was up to the 'Fins to beat the J-E-T-S.

This game was filled with intrigue. First, it was the Jets who turned in the cheating Patriots, so it was ironic that the Pats were in a position to root for them to win. Also, the Miami quaterback, Chad Pennington, was given the unceremonious boot when the Jets signed Brett Favre. Pennington has completely outplayed Favre this year, especially during the last month and now had the chance to stick it to New York in their own stadium.

Favre may have taken the Jets about as far they could go this year (rember, they were 8-3 with the first win over the Titans). But, like in last year's NFC championship game, he KILLED his team with his play today (20 of 40 for 233 and 3 interceptions). OK, since the Ravens won it didn't matter what the Jets did, but that's not the point. The Jets tossed aside a perfectly good QB in Pennington and a 3rd round draft pick for Favre and now have basically nothing to show for it, except a whole lot of jersey sales. And they get to go through Favre's annual "Will he or won't he retire" dance. Nice.

But, at least the cheating Patriots got shut out of the playoffs. Karma's been good to them in 2008. Blew their perfect season in the Super Bowl to the Giants, lost Tom Brady for the year in week 1, and missed the playoffs because they team that caught them cheating couldn't win. It doesn't get any better.

The Chargers and Broncos are playing right now for the last spot. I've got in on DVR and will watch it later. I haven't decided who to root for. I just wish I would have invested my good luck in games while in Vegas.

[In an update, the Bolts HAMMERED the Donks, giving Denver the honor of one of the greatest collapses in NFL history. Also, the Jets' head coach is the first casualty of the Favre trade. I'm sure there is more to come.]

Fantasy Football Upate

I try not to bore people (and readers) with details of my fantasy football team. Either your into it or not, and when your not few conversations can be more insufferable. Shit, I don't like listening to my friends talk about their fantasy baseball teams since I'm not in the league.

The cook think about our league is that we've had it for about 22 years. Obviously, we were ahead of the curve. Back then, it was a good excuse to go out and drink beer in the middle of the week. Then again, none of us had kids (and very few had wives), so we didn't really need an excuse. I was still in grad school for the first couple of years, but it was still going strong when I got back.

We've had a pretty good core of guys the whole time without much churn. The continuity has made things fun and led to some good long standing rivalries. We put in a little money, but it's really about pride and having a good time.

I've won a few championships over the years, but the last two years have been a bit of struggle (poor drafts and injuries), but this year I've made it into the playoffs and have a good chance to win this week (I doubt I'll be able to go all the way).

Key to my playoff run has been Brian Westbrook of the Eagles and making a trade for Philip Rivers of the Chargers. My kickers have been solid as well (Akers of Philly and Bryant of Tampa Bay).

I'll keep you posted on my playoff progress.

In real football news, UT announced the hiring of Lane Kiffin to take Philip Fulmer's place. Fulmer has been loyal and generally done good things for the university and the team over the last 30 years or so. However, the quality of the team on the field is on a downward trajectory an its not like their off-field behavior or graduation rate makes up for it. My biggest complaint with him is that the players are no better as seniors than as sophomores. He recruits good talent but has lost the ability to develop them. All things must come to an end, quite frankly, the writing was on the wall about this last year. I wish him all the best.

Kiffin is a good, but not great hire. I don't know how much he was responsible for USC's offense or recruiting when he was there. I don't hold his short tenure with the RAIDERS against him because Al Davis has lost his fucking mind (but, that's for another post). I would imagine the head coaching experience in the NFL will be a selling point to recruits who see themselves going to that next level. Also, the organizational experience will help.

If he can up the graduation rate and start competing again with 'Bama, Florida and Georgia, I'll be happy. Otherwise, bring on the next guy.

Take Him Out to the Ball Game, Part II

Oh, some things I didn't mention about the Clippers game:

1) Clearly, they have a no visible tattoos/non-ear piercing policy with their dancers. Which I think only leaves about 50 in the city.

2) The enthusiasm in the crows was pathetic. I thought that the Clipper fans had that "Yeah, we're not front running Laker fans" chip on their shoulder. I got the feeling that half the people there were given tickets by people who only wanted to have the seats for the Lakers, and really didn't give a shit about the Clips. Given that Staples holds 20k, it was only half full, and only half of them were pulling for LA, there were only about 5k people cheering. Not good.

Fulmer is Out

University of Tennessee head coach Philip Fulmer announced that he had accepted the university's decision not to bring him back next year. Did he really have a choice? He'll probably get an athletic department job to go with his $6,000,000 buyout.

My thought about Fulmer is that he had a great ride and the university should keep him around, but he's just not an effective head coach anymore. In the mid-late 90's UT competed for a national title ever year, which is all you can ask for as a fan. But, he hasn't won the SEC since 98 and the last two years the team has been struggling to compete in the SEC east, let along for a national title. Also, they've had significant off the field problems with the players, which definitely hurts. It's also been frustrating that he hasn't developed the players much after they get there. Their recent quarterbacks didn't seem any better as seniors than they were as sophomores.

The name I keep hearing as a replacement is Will Muschamp, Texas's defensive coordinator as he has deep SEC roots. Given how well Urbn Mayer has done at Florida, I wouldn't mind seeing a guy from a successful non-BCS team (e.g., Boise, Utah, BYU, TCU, etc). I'm not sure it's best for a guy's first head coachiing job to be in the SEC, particularly at a school that expects to win.

Loyalty is a tough nut in college football and there's a lot that makes a program successful. Fulmer dedication and loyalty to the school cannot be questioned, but the overall results can be. It was just time for a change.

Awesome Football Day

During college football season, some Saturdays are blah. No good teams play each other. This is NOT one of the those weekends. The outcome of today's games won't determine who will go to the BCS bowl games, but it will have a lot to say about who doesn't go.

Right now I'm watching undefeated #8 Texas Tech play #23 Kansas (big bowl game winners from last year. Lots of points are going to be scored in this one. I like the upstart Red Raiders in this one.

The two best teams in both the Big 10 (Ohio State and Penn State) and Pac 10 (USC and Arizona) play tonight. Next to the Vols (and I'll get to them in a minute), USC is my fave college football team (probably because they were so good when I was a kid), so I'll be rooting for them. My dad went to Penn State and I'm tired of watching Ohio State get their asses kicked in the BCS championship game. So, I say go Nitany Lions. Of course, an Ohio State loss would not knock them out of the Rose Bowl (the Rose Bowl loves keeping Big 10 vs. Pac 10 matchups, no matter what, like last year when Illinois was fed to USC). This could setup another USC-Ohio State matchup, which would suck.

The Vols play their biggest rival, #2 Alabama, at home tonight. On paper, 'Bama should crush them. But, like beating Georgia last year, ya just never know with the Vols. Beating the Tide would definitely make their season (and, unfortunately, save Fulmer's job).

#7 Georgia plays at #13 LSU in what is essentially an SEC playoff game. The team that loses will have a tough time making it to the SEC championship game. Georgia hasn't been playing that well, and LSU's gotta be pissed over the ass kicking Florida gave them. I think the Tigers will take are of business at home.

#1 Texas is at #6 Oklahoma State. Texas controls their own destiny for the Big 12 championship game and the BCS championship. OK State become a real player with a win and would throw the BCS rankings into a tizzy. But, right now Texas is just playing too well, and I think the Longhorns will win.

Game 3 of the World Series is scheduled for tonight, but there's a good chance it will be rained out, so there will be more time to watch football and more WS when there's no football--woot!

World Series

Here's my third (and final) post of the night, so you may need to read further down.

By the time this gets posted it will be after the game's over, but right after I get done watching the first game of the World Series on DVR. I do want to go on record saying that I'm pulling for the Phillies. Nothing against the Rays, who vanquished the hated Red Sox, but not only do I have lots of family in Philly, but it's been forever since their sports teams won anything.

Now, you're saying, "But Chat, the Rays have never even BEEN to the World Series. Doesn't that count for something?" and you'd be right. Here's the thing. The Rays have only had 9 years of futility, but the Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2004, so folks in Tampa are not exactly long suffering for a championship.

Philly has teams in the major 4 professional sports. They have not won a championship since 1983. That's 103 seasons of not bringing home the big prize. Only Cleveland, with probably the most heart wrenching defeats, has more at 158 seasons. The only other cities that can even enter the long suffering argument are Buffalo (80 seasons with two teams), San Diego (90 seasons with 3 teams if you include the Clipper years) and Seattle (92 seasons with 3 teams, and they don't even have the Sonics--who won the only championship--around anymore).

So, you nasty, cynical, we'll-boo-Santa Claus mutherfuckers, I'm with ya in this one. I even whipped up cheesteaks tonight with the HB to lend moral support. If that doesn't work, I'll hunt down some Tastykakes.

Tonight's result: Phillies 3, Rays 2.

Homecoming

Tonight is the NZS's homecoming football game. Now that his knee is healthy enough for him to play, he's asked the wife and I several times if we're going to the game. I'd go no matter what (I've been to some where he hasn't played), but this is the exchange student-mom test for her as she detests football. But, we'll meet some friends there so it shouldn't be too horrible for her. Although, come to think of it, I don't think she's ever been to a football game and not drank a bunch of vodka. I guess there's a first for everything.

I couldn't get myself to watch the Dodgers-Phillies game last night. I guess I'm still a few days away from watching baseball again.

Work is going fine. So far, no cancellations based on the economy (yet) and a new project keeps chugging along. We'll just keep our fingers crossed.

Angels Lose to Red Sox...Again

OK, now that some time's passed, I think I can write about this.

FUCK!!!!

When I was a kid, the Angels SUCKED. Less than 10,000 people would go to Fan Appreciation Night. But, my brother and I would always get my parents to take us the games. I loved baseball, and the Angels were my team.

In the 80's, they got moderately good, especially in 1986. Most people remember that year as Bill Buckner letting the ball go through his legs enabling the Mets to win the World Series over the Red Sox. For Angel fans, it's the year Donnie Moore gave up the home run to Dave Henderson in game 4 when the Angels were one strike away from going to the World Series (Moore was so distraught that he later killed himself).

Now, the Angels are good. They go to the playoffs almost every year and they won their first World Series in 2002. However, since that great year, they've flamed out in the playoffs (normally, against the Red Sox). Last year they had a lot of injuries, but this year they had no excuses. They team was healthy and rested since they wrapped up the division so early. And they were playing well the last two weeks of the season.

They weren't aggressive enough at the plate in game one, and their pitching let them down in game two. In game 3 they showed some grit and came from behind to win in extra innings. All they needed was the same kind of effort in game 4 to play the deciding game five at home. They fought and came from behind and had a chance to win in the 9th, but lost in the bottom of the inning. What happend?

It's no accident that they Angels have been this good for this long because Mike Soscia is their manager. He brings a smart brand of aggressive baseball and has been able to teach it throughout the organization. But, in game 4, he made a strategic blunder when he had Aybar squeeze with Willits on 3rd and one out. Why?

Strategically, the Red Sox were better off with runners on first and third and one out, so they were not going to throw Aybar a strike. Terry Francona (the Red Sox manager) also knew that Socscia likes squeeze bunts (the player on third breaking for home while the batter bunts the ball). So, instead of intentionally walking Aybar, he had his pitcher throw pitches high and inside, which are very difficult to bunt. This is what happend for the first two pitches.

Then, inexplicably, since it was obvious what the Red Sox were doing, Soscia puts on the squeeze play. Aybar misses the ball and Willits gets tagged out. So much for the rally and the game's still tied.

So, instead of a one-run lead (assuming that after the walk to Aybar, Chone Figgins would do something good--he was 2-4 in the game and is generally too fast to hit into double-plays) and the best closer in baseball, Frankie Rodriguez, in to pitch the 9th, the Angels have to go with their setup pitcher, Scott Shields, who had pitched 2+ innings the night before. I don't want to recap the rest, but it was the Red Sox celebrating at the end.

I fear that the Angels are turning into the Braves of the 90s--good enough to go to the playoffs each year, but missing that extra spark to win it all. Given how sucky the Angels were when I was a kid, writing that sentence almost seems like heresay. But, when they have the best team in the league as they did this year, another first round flame-out is frustrating.

FUCK.