The Phillies Does Their Part and Cap Off an Incredible Sports Weekend in Philadelphia

What more can I say? ::

THE PHILLIES ARE ONE WIN AWAY FROM BEING WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!

wow....what a way to end an incredible sports weekend for Philly fans...

Above: Whoddathunkit?? Phils pitcher Joe Blanton has more home runs, hell, more hits, than the Rays #3 and #4 (Carlos Pena and Eva Longoria respectively) hitters combined. Hee hee...


First the Flyers get off their season-opening schnied by waxing the Devils in a home-and-home on Friday and Saturday night...then as the Flyers are polishing off the Devils for the second time in 24 hours, the Phillies are just starting their assault against the Tampa Bay Rays....going long into the Saturday evening and early Sunday (Game 3 ended at 01:47) and securing a 5-4 win.

Then the Eagles come off their bye and handle a very game Falcons team 27-14...and as Ashley Fox, an almost unheard phenomena struck the Linc: Phillies chants at an Eagles game!!!

Brett Myers said this of the pre-game warm-up: "I went out to throw a bullpen today," said pitcher Brett Myers, a man who has dreamed of this night for seven seasons. "And I heard one of the greatest things I've heard in a long time. "It's 4:15 in the afternoon. The Eagles are playing across the street. There's 2 minutes left. And I'm hearing Phillies chants. And that's weird, man. I'm used to hearing Eagles chants all these years. So to hear that, it gave me chills. It told me, 'These people are ready to go.' "

Then the Phils step-up in the hot glare of prime time and lay a whuppin' on the Rays 10-2....fed by Ryan Howard's two towering home runs (a three-run and a two-run shot), the first of which ripped open a close 2-1 game in the 4th inning and gave starter Joe Blanton a nice cushy 5-1 edge. He quickly gave up a solo shot to the Rays in the top of the 5th, but then right in the bottom of the inning he got it right back, and "Joltin' Joe k.o.'d a 93mph heater from Ray's pitcher, I can't remember who...what I can remember is that a hefty pitcher in Phillies pinstrips jacked a non-doubter in the 5th inning of Game 4 of the World fucking Series!!

As Sam Donnellon writes: Blanton did his usual thing last night: Six innings, two runs allowed on four hits. He worked quickly. He threw strikes, he struck out seven and walked two. He created a pace that finally loosened the grips on the Phillies' bats, or at least created the unfamiliar sights of consecutive hits, and a home run to leftfield off the bat of Ryan Howard.He also hit a home run, the first by a pitcher in a World Series in 34 years. And when he walked off, it wasn't yawns."My job is not to go out there and hit home runs," Blanton said. "My job is to go out there and throw the ball well and give my team a chance to win. And when you hear that applause coming off the mound after pitching, you kind of get that sense you did your job."

This is a guy most everyone groaned about when GM Pat Gillick picked him up at the trade deadline in July. Hell, it barely registered on my radar...I don't pay much attention to baseball. The season is too long for me to get emotionally invested like I do with the Eagles....I just figured the Phils had a chance to go get a real top-of-the-rotation stopper and decided to go for the cheaper alternative...I was wrong...the Phillies went for a competitor. Blanton competes when goes out to the mound, and the Phils responded, and going 12-4 (counting post-season) in games he's started since coming here from the A's.

Well all he did was win the biggest game in the past 15 years for the Phillies...hopefully it will soon be remember as only the 2nd biggest game in the past 15 years, as Cole Hamels goes to the mound tonight to try and close out the series...

I mean, Philly hasn't been this close, in...in...well fuck...I can't even tell you when...The Eagles SuperBowl run was awesome, but it was a single game, and the Eagles squandered early chances to score TDs in the first quarter, and we Iggles fans got that all-too-familiar creeping feeling of dread deep in our gut that we'd pay for it (and we did).

So it is not without some trepidation that we await the start of Game 5...it is scripted just as we'd want it...Staff ace Cole Hamels is our best pitcher, and we can close out the World Series at HOME! How perfect would that be....but first things first...we need to pitch, hit, run, and catch better than the Rays for 9 more innings. Now is NOT the time for celebration....I know we can't help but anticipate it....leading 3-1 in the World Series is certainly better than the alternative (we could be using our rosaries to pray for an improbably 3-game comeback by the Phillies instead of anticipating a trip down Broad Street.)

Come on fellas, bring it home...and if you do, you might just hear me cheering all the way from Japan!

Phillies Win Game 3 - and an Epic Sunday is on the Table

The Phillies won one heckuva baseball game last night. I really thought that blown call by the umpire in the 7th inning was going to be one of those "talk about it forever" calls, because it really looked like the Rays were going to ride that gift to an improbable comeback.

The Phillies had just taken a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning off back-to-back jacks by Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. And the ageless Jamie Moyer comes to the mound in the top of the 7th and the first batter bunts down the first base line...Moyer flies towards it, dives and scoops the ball with his glove directly to Ryan Howard at first who snatches it bare-handed about a quarter-step before the running touches first....and the umpire calls his SAFE!!! Citizens Bank Ballpark about exploded in rage....Then the next batter doubles, and the Rays have 2nd and 3rd no outs....Two groundouts score the runners and instead of going into the 8th with a 3-run cushion like they should've, its a one-run ball game. The Rays manufactured another run in the 8th, and suddenly, there is no Brad Lidge coming in to hammer down the save in the 9th, rather its J.C. Romero looking to make sure the Phils don't have to score to tie the ball game in the bottom half of the inning.

Well he did his job
And the 9th inning went something like this: Rays reliever J.P. Howell hit Bruntlett with a pitch to start the inning. Enter Grant Balfour , who threw a wild pitch that caromed off the backstop to catcher Dioner Navarro , whose throw trying to get Bruntlett skipped into center field. With Bruntlett on third, the Rays issued two intentional walks and brought in right fielder Ben Zobrist for a five-man infield.''It looked like they were about to blitz,'' quipped Howard. Ruiz followed with a 22-bounce dribbler down the line and third baseman Evan Longoria charged. He dived for the ball, and rushed an underhanded flip home that sailed over Navarro's head. The single was just the Phils' second hit in 33 chances with runners in scoring position this Series. The Phillies rushed from the dugout to congratulate Bruntlett at the plate and Ruiz at first base.

And chaos ensued across the Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. I mean this is the first World Series win in Philly in 15 years. And it gives the Phils a 2-1 lead in the series...a series Phillies fans hope never returns to Tampa Bay. If we can take care of business tomorrow, er, later today, then hoo-boy, we could have Cole Hamels coming into start game 5 with a chance to clinch the World Series in Philly!!!??? OMG...that would be awesome...

But before we get ahead of ourselves, there's some business to take care of. Game 4. And does Sunday ever have the potential to be a great day for Philly fans.

The Eagles take on the Atlanta Falcons at home at 1pm EST
The Phils place next door a few hours after the conclusion of the game at 8:22EST

South Philly is going to be rockin' ALL DAY LONG! I wish I was there. But I'll take a couple of Ws tomorrow that for sure. Bring it home fellas!

The Phillies are Going to the World Series, and other odds and ends during an Eagles Bye Week

Wow folks, the Phillies have phinally done it...15 years after the beloved Summer of '93, when the likes of John Kruk, Darren "Dutch" Daulton, Curt Schilling, Jim Eisenreich, Pete Incaviglia and Lenny Dykstra captured the hearts of Philadelphia fans everywhere, the Phils are going back to the World Series.

I fully admit...the baseball season is way too long for me to invest myself emotionally in the Phillies. And I've derided them for years about not being interested in truly putting a winning product out on the field...but it was really great to tune in Comcast the other night on my Slingbox and see the city going nuts after the Phillies clinched the NLCS 5-1 against the Dodgers.

I mean the sense that this team has a real chance just pervades a Philadelphia sports fan senses right now. We can't think of anything else right. This is the perfect week for the Eagles BYE....well maybe not perfect....next weekend, when the Phillies are actually playing the game would be better, but...with no football to take our collective minds off the upcoming Series...the city is just going to be bubbling with baseball phever.

This team has a lot in common with the 1993 squad. Plenty of power, clutch hitting, and ability to comeback from any deficit...and you know what...our pitching is probably better than that team. How long has it been since our bullpen has been this rock solid? I dunno...1980, maybe?

Now I am not going to get too excited, but with the Philadelphia Soul winning the Arena football crown earlier this year, maybe they broke the ice for the big boys to breakthrough.

Other thoughts:
- I agree with some the Philly writers and Comcast analyst Brian Baldinger that the Eagles even thinking about trading for Kansas City TE Tony Gonzalez is a bad sign. I mean, didn't we put the franchise tag on L.J. Smith? Where the fuck has this guy been? I remember reading an article defending his play, saying the Eagles were keeping him into block and not throwing his way that often. Hmmm, I wonder why that is? Perhaps because any throw to LJ has about a 50/50 chance of clattering to the ground...Still, if you're going to inquire and admit the position needs help, you might as well go through with it and bust a move to get the guy in here.

- Good thing for the Flyers the Phillies are doing so well. I don't think Philly fans are even aware that the NHL season has started, let alone the fact that the Flyers are winless in their first four games. Hey fellas, your grace period has two, three weeks, tops!! That third week is only going to be there if the city is still embraced in the euphoria resulting from a World Series win...If not, look for a very harsh eye be cast upon you if you're still bumbling around in mid-November.

- I am not all that concerned that the Cowboys traded for Lions WR Roy Williams, a player we coveted in the off season. Why? Because there is a thing as having too many #1 guys on a team. A team with Owens needs stable, #2 type wideouts...guys who are comfortable not being "da man." That is exactly what Roy Williams was in Detroit. And guess what, he's getting paid like it in Dallas now as well...more than MEO in fact...hee hee...I can't wait to see how THAT plays out over the rest of the season and into February....but the simple fact is...the Cowboys couldn't satisfy Owens greed for the football when they were he was the #1 target in the pass pattern 20+ times a game, with maybe 15-18 chances going his way...They already have the best TE in football in Jason Witten taking away some of MEO's chances...now they have a big-time, big-dollar second WR, and you don't pay a guy $9mill/year to not throw him the ball....I mean how many times are the Cowboys going to throw the ball per game? 50? Maybe...they might have to in order to keep the ball going to all their pass-catchers.

Another Good Day to be a Philly Fan

WOW, folks, by almost any measure Saturday was a damn fine day to be sports fan in Philly.

The Phillies stomped the Pirates to take their road-trip to a 5-1.

The Flyers rebounded strong from a disheartening OT loss in Game 1 to even up their best-of-seven series, beating the Canadiens 4-2 and wresting home-ice advantage for the hometown boys on Broad Street.

And did the Eagles ever make some waves on Day 1 of the NFL Draft. Did they have the best day? No, it hard to make the best impression when some other teams (Carolina, KC, Dallas) came away with multiple first rounds picks. That said, the Eagles scored themselves some DT depth with ND Trevor Laws and go themselves a KR/PR and a potential contributor, match-up nightmare guy in Cal WR DeSean Jackson.

Its not the players themselves that have Eagles fans buzzing, it's how we got there. The Eagles FO swung 3 draft-day trades on Saturday.

First they got a sweet-offer for their first-round pick, #19, from Carolina. You see, Carolina wanted an OT. There were five certifiable blue-chippers this year (Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you, two, maybe three of them will pan out and live up to expectations, but all five are considered really good). Well the top 4 prospects were gone by pick 15 (when KC moved up to take Branden Albert), and hell, even Detroit got into the act and picked up a non-Top 5 OT at Pick 17. So Carolina was desperate. They wanted them at OT, and there was NO CHANCE that a guy like Jeff Otah from Pitt (shout out to my old alma mater) was going to linger around until the second round.

So Carolina forks over a #2 and #4 pick this year, and next year's #1 selection to for Philly's #19 this year. Lo' and behold, they select Otah. Just to show how this tumbled even more teams to fall all over themselves. It helped the Washington Redskins too, because then Atlanta panicked, and seeing 6 of the Top 8 OL gone, they traded with Washington for the Redskins pick at #21, and they selected an OT as well.

So they then had two #2, one #3 and three #4 picks (along with 1-5th, 4-6th and a 7th).

Then the Eagles ship their own #4 (not Carolina's, it was higher, and they can't trade the comp pick) to Miami for scatback Lorenzo Booker. Evidently, a guy they wanted to draft last year but didn't get the chance.

However, this left the Eagles without a first round selection, and the fans, well, they were a-howling. We want to see picks! We want to debate the selection and all that fun shit. And here the Eagles are, trading down, amassing more picks in a draft were we already have 11!!

So finally, after HOURS of waiting it the Eagles turn again in round 2, and there are still a TON of quality players out there...they lost out on WR Devin Thomas, who the Redskins snagged with the second rounder they got from Atlanta, but NO wide receivers went in the first round, and Eagles were sitting there at #43 (overall) with their choice of a bevy of Wideouts...

and what do the Eagles do??

THEY TRADE DOWN AGAIN!!!!! Augh, the howls got louder. Dave Spadaro and Merrill Reese on Philadelphia Eagles.com are going looney...

They trade with Minnesota....Minnesota gets the Eagles #43 pick and Eagles lone 5th round pick (#152). The Eagles get Minnesota #47 pick and Minnesota's 4th round (#117).

So, for moving down 4 slots, the Eagles get to move back up into the 4th round (essentially moving a pick "up" 35 slots....) Here is the thinking folks...the next teams on the board following the Eagles were the Bears, Lions and Bengals. They were probably assured by the Viking that they wouldn't take a player the Eagles were targeting....So the Vikings take a safety (T Johnson), the Bears reach for a RB (M. Forte), the Lions reach for a LB (J Dizion) and the Bengals go for a hella-reach and chose some WR few people outside of the draftniks have even of and pluck some dude from Coastal Carolina (yeah, watch this dude rock). So the Eagles, still have their choice of some top-tier WRs.....and now its #47, followed, quickly by #49. THe only team in between - WASHINGTON. And the Redskins already picked a WR.

So I think this was the Eagles thinking - the Reskins need to shore up their OL and DL, so lets chose our DL first, and heck there is no way the Skins can chose all the WRs, so we're still sitting pretty. With #47 - The Eagles select Trevor Laws, DT Notre Dame. Then the Redskins go TE, and the Eagles pluck a guy many suspected they pick (if he was still around) at the #19 position - Cal WR Desean Jackson.

So to summarize: the Eagles got a 3rd down back from Miami, their 3rd DT and some much needed depth at DT, and their KR/PR+potential slot WR threat in Jackson.

I see potential immediate help from both players. Laws should be able to step in and join Bunkley and Patterson in the DT rotation. The DE are pretty much set with Cole, J. Thomas, Clemons and Abiamiri. Jackson can flat out fly. So I'd hope that in addition to return duties, the Eagles O-minds could come up with some personnel packages designed to isolate Jackson on a safety or 4th CB and just see if the young guy can blow by them.

Good Time to be a Sports Fan in Philly

Well there is something on tap for all sorts of sports fan in Philly.

The Flyers won GAME 7 versus the Capitals. IN OVERTIME no less! What a game, what a gritty performance....next up, the Canadiens...oof...that's going to be a stern test for John Stevens' team.

Chase Utley is kicking much ass in Major League Baseball and the Phillies, for the first time in a while, they haven't fallen on their face in April.

In the basketball arena, the 76ers stunned the Detroit Pistons in Game 1 on the road, and they're just about ready for tip-off in Game 2. Now, I don't care about the NBA at all, but I do hope the 76ers give basketball fans in Philly something to cheer and get excited about...its been too long for them.

And finally, there is the NFL Draft, the primary off-season moment of excitement (outside of training camp and preseason games). Come this weekend, fans around the country will be debating their team moves...who they drafted, yada yada yada....Its fun, but its a completely useless exercise to be perfectly honest.

Put it this way - this year is really the first year that we can legitimately judge a team's performance in the 2005 Draft. Those players have had three years to make an impact. That accounts for any long time to injury, etc, etc. These guys should be established young pros, and if they aren't....well then....perhaps a sterner evaluation or the removal of rose-colored glasses is in order.

Phillies and Eagles news

Wow, here is a shocker: The Phillies dropped their season opener. And guess who "dropped the ball"? The bullpen. Now I know all you Philly fans are surprised. But I, personally am a bit disgusted. Rollins and Utley homer...Myers pitched into the 5th, before running into some trouble, but jeez....the Phils fight back and tie the game and then BOOM....the floodgates open in the 9th. Its too early to hit the panic button, but the Phillies need to avoid a slow start. Its killed them every year in recent memory. It just disheartening to see the Phillies primary trouble area (back end pitching) come up and bite them in the ass on opening day.

As for the Eagles - the NFL announced the compensatory selections for each team in the upcoming NFL draft. The Eagles scored 3 comp picks: one 4th round pick, and two 6th round picks.

The Birds have 11 picks overall. Here is the breakdown, provided by the Eagles public relations department and PhillyNews.com

1st round – 19th overall
2nd round – 49th overall
3rd round – 80th overall
4th round – 115th overall
4th round – 131st overall (compensatory)
5th round – 152nd overall
6th round – 184th overall
6th round – 191st overall (from Cleveland)
6th round – 200th overall (compensatory)
6th round – 203rd overall (compensatory)
7th round – 230th overall (from Seattle)

The Eagles traded their own 7th-round pick to Buffalo for linebacker Takeo Spikes. Oops, oh well I guess it wasn't that bad a one-year rental, considering 7th rounders rarely make the Eagles squad anyway.

Sunday Pointers

I can't say I have a solid idea about what to post today.

There are some funny things about Mike Vick's plea deal I suppose. Like the fact, pointed out by George Dohrmann, "Vick agrees that 'Bad Newz Kennels' business enterprise involved gambling activities in violation of the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia ... Most of the 'Bad Newz Kennels' operation and gambling monies were provided by Vick ... Vick did not gamble by placing side bets on any of the fights. Vick did not receive any of the proceeds from the purses that were won by 'Bad Newz Kennels.'" (uh-huh, sure)

One can read this as a clear admission that Vick bet on dogfighting. He put the money up. He lost money if his dogs lost. However, Vick says he didn't win money if his dog won. Can one be a gambler if one never takes any winnings? Defenders of Vick could argue he was simply putting up money for his friends to gamble, that he was (if this is even possible) only half a gambler.

Another key: will the judge even accept the plea deal? I think he will, but it wouldn't be the first time a judge denied one...

But here's the problem for me on this blog - I don't really care about Vick anymore....I hope the judge sends him away for 18 months and that I don't have to be bothered watching his scrambles on PrimeTime for a few years....

But the only other thing I have on my mind at this point (besides work) is the wretched play the Phillies. You see, about a week ago the Phillies were 3 games behind the NY Mets for the lead in the NL East and a game behind the Padres for baseball's "wildcard" (something I still view as a rather weak move to expand MLB's playoff system, and something that's extended the baseball into territory well beyond where it should be - namely NOVEMBER)

Well anyway, the Phillies has a recent road-trip against really bad teams, one of them Pittsburgh Pirates - so what do they do? Lose the series and finish 3-3....ok - its crunch time and the Phillies have the fortune to have 6 games vs lousy teams and they dork it up. No problem....big long 10-game homestand should do the trick. A real test. Do well, REAL WELL, and they could exit the home-stand in two weeks atop the NL East or at least the Wildcard....

Results? 3 games vs the Dodgers - 1-2
3 game vs the Padres - 0-2 so far, losing in brutal fashion each time
Do the games vs the Mets even matter anymore??? While the Phillies suck dick like a gigolo on Castro Street, their main competitors are winning (exception, the Braves are going down like a $2 hooker as well). So as of right now they're 4 games back of the Padres and 7 games back of the Mets.

Team to beat my ass.

Like a Lamb to the Slaughter

That what taking the new DLPT V test was like...so much for my tingli nengli (that's listening comprehension to you non-Mandarin types). Whew...I thought I'd done a lot better than I did, but unbeknownst to my delusional brain, my ass was getting pounded more than a $5 gigolo on Castro Street (that's in San Fran, in case that makes the allusion any clearer for you).

Oh well. No use crying, just got to keep on trucking, get some reading practice and hopefully take less of beating next week on part 2 (not counting on that).

So what else is new?
Well the Phillies continue their up-n-downs....getting their ass reams on day and returning the butt-scouring the next with a 26-hit, 15-3 smackdown on the Dodgers.

Oh yeah, how could I forget? Michael Vick, the dog-fighting dickhead, got indicted by the Feds. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. I had to turn on the slingbox and watch ESPN News for that one. What a dumbshit. I have to say, I ragged on ProFootballTalk.com last week cause I think they've gotten a little high and mighty, but the site has been fairly informative on this Vick stuff. I'm not a big fan of their pissing match with ESPN (they've really got it out for Len Pasquarelli - but hey, maybe the dude deserves it), because I think its better form to take the high road instead of constantly finding fault and pressing the case that "we're right, he's wrong, he's a bad guy".

Other than that, I like the depth of their reporting on the Vick case. The link above goes to an entire page which chronicles the story.

And oh, I played a demo for OVERLORD on the Xbox 360 - who knew evil could be so much fun? I mean "liberating" the town of Spree from the little fat halfling "oppression"...that's grand. If you've ever wanted to control some "minions" and watch them gleefully run about to loot and pillage (all at your command) try this game out.

10,000 Losses? Nothing to see here, move it along people.

Ok, ok, so its no secret, the Phillies lost game # 10,000 the other night. Enough, let it be. Yes, the franchise sucks. Drop it. It doesn't really impact this year in any way (it was inevitable that they lose at least 45 games this year; no team goes 120-42. This thing is, by reaching the 10,000 plateau so quickly, they've really hamstrung yet another season.

The Phillies talked about how much they needed to have a good April. Oops
Then they have their customary-pick-up-after-the-opening-faceplant-streak. Check.
Wherein, sportswriters once again get fooled into writing about the Phillies as if they were actual contenders. Check
But the Phillies simply bounce around .500, forever looking up at the clubs they purport to be better than. Check

This season is progressing right on schedule I tell you.

I mean good ole' Cholly Manuel talked about needing to start off fast in the second half (hmm, when have we that before?). And the Phils look great for two games, hammering the World-champ Cardinals twice....and then, with their typical aplomb: they give right back and take a shellacking, so they win the series, but all they manage to do keep pace a steady 5 games behind the leading Mets (heck they actually LOST ground to the Braves)...oh yeah, didn't you know? The self-annointed "team to beat" in the NL East is trailing not just the Mets, but the Braves as well. So it won't matter if they get their heads out of their asses long enough to overtake the Mets, cause if they do, the Braves will probably have beat them to it, and be another tauntingly close 2-3 games ahead of the Phils....sigh

Everyone ready for another "oh-so-close" September?

Thursday Follies

Did I really take all week off, with no blogging?
Holy crap....sorry folks, don't mean to disappoint, but working a lot sort of takes the starch of what I want to do with the my limited time after work.

So what's cookin'?

First off, some of the guys from my wife's shift had a "movie night" in the barracks on Tuesday night. The movie? Reno 911! Miami. and I'll tell you what. It was fucking HILARIOUS. If you like the show in the slightest, you have got to see this movie. I was skeptical at first...I mean the show is basically skits, but the premise actually works (with a healthy suspension of disbelief). Moreover, its one of those rare comedies that is actually funny until the very end.

But mostly its been a lot of work lately, so while I've been keeping up with all the latest Eagles news (like the fact the Donovan made it through most the mini-camp work-outs), I haven't had the time to really put together any cohesive thoughts about the Birds, let alone the NFC East.

In other news. Slammin' Sammy Sosa hit home-run #600 today, against, of all teams, the Cubs. Hee hee. Once again the Phillies became the Phrauds....they blew 2 of 3 versus the Detroit Tigers, and did the same wilting-act versus the Cleveland Indians.

And the COUNTDOWN is officially on. The Fightin' Phils are now 10 losses from 10,000, which would set the standard for futility by any major league team, in any sport, anywhere. Good lord. What have the dedicated phans in Philly done deserve a club like this?

Mid-Week Considerations

Tired of having posts with "thoughts" in the title, so here are a few, uh, things swirling around in my head as I peruse the Internet after a long day at work.

Man, sure didn't take the Phillies that long to sink back down to .500 did it? Consider this: The Phillies needed 49 games in 55 days to finally surpass .500. They needed just two games in two days to return there. They took a pounding early and late tonight in an 11-5 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park. The Phils need to beat the Diamondbacks in the series finale Wednesday or dip back below .500. Sigh.

Michael Vick has now dipped to sub-human dick-wad status in my book. Hmmm, I wonder what the ink-black houses in the woods were for? Hmmm....perhaps to hide an illegal dog-fights at night? Fucking jack-ass. Read this story from SI, and if you don't think the same way, find a lost and found and ask them if anyone has turned in a soul recently.

I'm glad I'm not a taxpayer in Illinois....why would a state adopt and then spend mega-bucks to defend legislation that has already been ruled unconstitutional? And raiding unspent money for social services to go to court about video-game legislation? That's ridiculous.

You think your HDTV is impressive? Your HDTV sucks. Sorry, I don't mean to be a jerk, but it's no longer cutting edge. 1920x1080? Please. Japanese broadcaster NHK has come up with what they call Super Hi-Vision, and it puts HD to shame with an insane resolution of 7680x4320. Yeah, that's the equivalent of 16 HDTVs crammed into one. Like I said, your HDTV sucks.

Friday Follies

Its actually Saturday for me, but I think this will officially post for Friday back in the States, so....a few random funnies I've stumbled across recently.

Odd and End thought for the day:
As I "enjoy" a Phillies game via my new Slingbox (ok, now that I've had a minute to think about that statement I really need to change the channel), I just watched the Phillies #5 hitter, Pat Burrell, strike out on 3 straight pitches...what the hell? Stand there twice taking strikes and whiff badly on a slider...wasn't he nicknamed Pat the Bat not that long ago? More like Pat went splat, now.

Notable stories:
DUDE, your getting ripped off by Dell. (at least NY thinks so and is suing Dell for Fraud)

In Ottawa, Illinois one McD's employee took the happy meal to a whole new level. The employee is a 17 year-old high school senior, he's been arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia (ed., how about possession with intent to be retarded?) See the local Fox coverage here. Man, I bet late night Happy Meal sales soared at McDonald's located near college campuses....

Taking the PS in Playstation the wrong way:
This blurb from E.D. Hill at FoxNews about a dude who celebrated his new PS3 by pissing on his old PS2 console, which happened to still be plugged in the wall. He was electrocuted and fell to the floor unconscious. As Kotaku adds, "After coming to about ten seconds later, the student was rushed to the hospital where a doctor's prognosis confirmed he was in fact an idiot." In related news Nintendo trumped Sony again by announcing their Wii game console--which is currently thumping the uber-expensive PS3 in sales--will now be waterproofed. (ed., not really, but if you want to try and win a Darwin award, by all mean, repeat the feat).

Ok, so when do they apologize?
Police in the U.K. responded swiftly when they say a shadowy armed gunman lurking in the front room of a suburban home. Armed officers burst into the house, shouted at the owner to lie on the floor, and ordered him to surrender his weapon. But efficiency turned to embarrassment when the "gunman" turned out to be a life-sized model of the video game character Lara Croft, complete with trademark outsized pistols.

Computer shop owner David Williams, 42, had taken the dummy home in Dukinfield, near Manchester, to put it up for sale on auction site eBay. What the know the kicker? They still arrested him, and he awaits charges....you gotta be shittin' me.

This New Slingbox is AWESOME

Hoo-hoo webmates, yours truly is no longer bound by the measly 6 channels of programming the Armed Forces Network pipes out to off-base residents here in Japan (via a very sketchy satellite by the way.).

The Reason? This little puppy:
The Slingbox Pro. I had my dad in Delaware go to the local Best Buy and buy all the necessary gear (Slingbox and a router). Then Comcast provided an extra HD Set-top Tuner (for use in the den, where the folks don't have a TV, but you don't need a TV for Slingbox to work!), just the cable, tuner, slingbox and way to connect to the internet (high-speed connection highly recommended).

Well anyway, I don't my dad, Don't muck with it, just hire the guys from Geek Squad to come out and hook everything up and get it running like it should. It may have cost me a little more up front, but it was SO worth the hassle-free installation and set-up, which no doubt would've derailed the experiment for a several hours (The folks aren't too tech-savvy).

Well anyway, got back from the PT test this morning and had a message on our Vonage (got a stateside number for easy access...god I love the Internet). It was the 'rents. The Slingbox was hooked up and ready to stream.

And the best part: all I needed to do was go to Slingmedia.com, click the support tab and download the SlingPlayer! I figured I'd need the disk mailed out to me or something weird like that. I was NOT expecting it to be this EASY. And our timing couldn't have better. Sling now support Macs, so Christina can (and did) download the player and watch on her laptop (heck she had is up and running faster than I did).

In less than a minute. A minute: I had the program installed (ok, it took about 3-4 minutes to download over the Fiber Optic line) and has tuned in the Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia and was watching Harry Kalas call the 7th inning of the Phillies 6-2 win over the Brewers.

Hell, it was so cool I forgot all about my general disdain for baseball. This was HARRY KALAS, you know how long its been since I've heard Harry Kalas call a Phillies game??? Has to be 10 years....man....this frickin' thing is sweet! There plenty of features on here as well, favorite channels (which helps, because Comcast streams hundreds of channels). '

So what about the quality? Its pretty damn good, let me tell you that. Its got great quality at a relatively small size (say 640 x 480 size screen)....I mean its just like having a TV on about a quarter of my monitor screen. I can blow it all the up and show it over my rather large 26" widescreen monitor, but the quality degrades quite a bit. Still on any size, I can read the tickers along the bottom of the screen and all that jazz.

IF you want a taste of hometown TV, or just want to be able to keep up with your team on the road. The Slingbox is SO simple...its simply unbeatable....go get one!

Definitely a Random Thoughts Day

I've got some work to do, so its definitely not a day for a long drawn out entry..

News and Notables:

- Raiders DT Warren Sapp has apparently really slimmed down in the off-season. I've run hot-n-cold about Sapp in the past. I didn't like the Bucs, never really have, and wanted him to shut up a lot, but he was good, and I enjoyed his banter with Brett Favre, that was just two competitors out there on the field having a good time. I will tell you two things that strike me about the story: 1) he knows he's a leader for the Raiders D and they have a brand new coach. What better way to lead by example than to work hard in the off-season, buy-in to the new regime (especially when you had a pow-wow with the owner about the problems with the old one), and visibly dedicate yourself to the team (shedding 50 lbs is a big deal for a DT).
2) Maybe its the distance or the fact that I don't follow the Raiders that closely, but consider the contrast between Sapp and prima donna malcontent WR Randy Moss. Both played for a NFL-Worst 2-14 franchise, but they might as well have been on separate planets. Sapp anchored (ed.: almost literally, playing at 334 lbs) a defense that kept the Raiders competitive in the majority of the games, and provided the lone glimmer-of-hope for a wretched team. Moss anchored (ed.: as in literally dragging to the depths) a offense that produced a beyond-anemic 12 touchdowns (ed.: are you joking Micc? 12 TDs in 16 games??? That is mind-bogglingly pathetic, someone call Matt Saracen and Smash Williams from the Dillon Panthers those boys need help). And all the while Moss bitched and griped and whined and pouted and occasionally ran a route and caught a pass, finding the endzone 3 times I think (hey, that's 25% of the offense, ed.). You know what? I never heard Sapp complain. He just worked. I never saw the Raiders D openly rip into the offense (maybe they did, and I am wrong, but I never heard of it) and for that I credit the leadership on the Raiders D, and Sapp is a part of that.

Hmmm, so much for the short entries....

Ok short and sweet (ed.: let's see how this works....)

The Phillies crumbled again. Sigh...I envision this happening all summer long, spurts of good/decent play followed by just enough losses to keep the Phillies from ever actually catching up to the leaders in the NL East....sorta like the road-map the Phils have followed for a the last 3 seasons.

The French have a conservative President, Nicolas Sarkozy, who says that his "American friends that they can rely on our friendship ... France will always be next to them when they need us." What sort of alternate reality did I wake up in this morning? Do we have to like the French now? (well maybe not, he did say friends can think differently and called for the U.S. to lead the fight against global warming, btw you're getting better at keeping things short, I'm impressed). Better him than some socialist turd who wants to turn France into a welfare state. (oops, already there, ed.)

Don't fuck with the Scots: A funny story from the UK as a Scottish wife puts dog poop in her hubbies' curry - talk about "Bone appetit" (lame, ed.)

Clemens the mercenary is returning to the Yankees. Yea - so he can be a big hero and try and save New York, am I the only one who doesn't care?

Goodbye, Don Ho.

-fin

Phucking Phillies and For the Love of God, something "football" happen....

The the pre-draft doldrums are killing me. There is no Eagles news and there isn't a team out there doing squat in the week before the draft. DAMN! We're stuck in this endless "we need a LB" or "we need a Big RB" or "this mock draft has us taking a WR!" loop.

And don't even get me started on the Phucking Phillies....how in the ever-loving hell can that team, with those players, be this f'ing pathetic? After all their talk, and being a chic pick to be a legit playoff contender they are 4-11 and the bona-fide worst team in baseball. Oh good lord. I really feel for the folks suffering through that crapola. I refuse. Don't confuse this with rooting against them. I would like for the team to do well, for other fans' sakes, not my own. Even if they do well, I will not jump on the bandwagon, cause I've lost interest in the marathon baseball season (of course for the Phillies, they keep starting each season like James Caan's writer in Misery, tied to the bed with a madwoman breaking their ankles).

Perhaps if the idiot owners had chosen Jim Leyland (who, by the way, was hired by the Detroit Tigers after the Phillies took a place and promptly resurrected a perennial door-mat and guided them to the World f-ing Series) instead of good ole Cholly, the Phillies might look like a team actually prepared to compete in games. Instead they're a can't hit-can't pitch laughingstock - AGAIN - who've buried themselves, their post-season hopes, and any chance of a cool, dreamy summer for the city's dwindling number of baseball fans by the end of April....

American Idol, The Phillies and Pelosi Oh My!

You know, I swore I would never get sucked into American Idol. And for the longest time, I've been successful at watching the early shows, cause it is truly hilarious watching all the dipshits who think they have talent and then tuning out until the either, the next season, or at most the finale. But this year is different. I'm actually tracking the show (thanks to TiVo) and paying a modicum of attention. For instance, this week, I listened to the show from my home office while it played on the TV in the living room. I cannot say why. Honestly, maybe it just that I've been able to watch many of the shows with my wife, and that we'll argue/critique the performances.

I did stumble across this great article about American Idol from this week's TIME.
Its actually one of the best articles about Idol I've read.
And I can't believe Sanjaya is still on the show. Heck he wasn't even in the bottom 3 the past two weeks!

Next up: What the hell is up with the Phillies? I thought they were supposed to be good this year. I heard all this talk about them (not that I pay much attention to baseball chatter), and read Jimmy Rollins little "we're the team to beat" spiel. So what happens...the bullpen falls apart two nights in a row, the hitters start cold, and all the talk about the team understanding the necessity of rolling - if not hot - start goes down the friggin' drain with a season opening sweep at the hands of the Braves....way to go fellas.....and don't plead with the fans to "stay with us" as described by Sam Donnellon - just friggin' win and you don't need to worry about hearing E-A-G-L-E-S chants at the ballpark.

Finally, I'm not sure what the hub-bub about Nancy Pelosi's Middle East trip is all about...IHT (the international arm of the NYT) talks about the President criticizing the trip, and I've seen a lot of comments about it, pro and con. But while a lot of the media concentrates on the brouhaha, they don't talk about the other delegations that have talked with Syria the past, or heck even the present. Yes, Pelosi outranks them all. But I don't see that as particularly damaging to our cause. I think the Republicans just don't want to see the nation highest-ranking Democrat going out and possibly not following the administration's lead. In that sense, I can see how a reasonable argument could be made, IF, afterwards, her actions demonstrably undermined the U.S. - AND NO, simply going and talking does not qualify in my mind. We talk with everyone. Whether we want to acknowledge that or not. If Chris Hill can represent the President in talks with Kim Kye Gwan (who represents North Korean despot Kim Jong-il) in Beijing, then I think the country will survive a few moments of sweet talk between Nancy Pelosi and President/King Assad of Syria.

Media Matters is chronicling the criticism, legit and facetious, of the Pelosi trip. Mostly they take the media to task for misrepresenting the trip and not being equally critical of a Republican entourages' trip to Syria.