My New Year Resolutions

Yes, I'm back from vacation so you can all start checking here again:

My resolutions for 2009

1. To remain zestfully clean
2. Not to make fun of Michelle (at least on days that don't end with a y)
3. Try to make it through all the Curious George books this year.
4. To spoil myself and get my clothes martinized once a month (btw, what the hell is martinizing?)
5. Will finally stop watching Mayberry RFD reruns.
6. To match my donations to BHS and the University of Arizona from last year (not that hard to match $0)
7. To collect the 4 million dollars Richard owes him (yes, he really does owe me that much, just ask him)
8. To do everything I can to make Obama a success
9. Will grow my hair back so I can have the same hairstyle as disgraced Illinois governor Blagovich
10. By year's end, be able to beat california governator Arnold in arm wrestling.

Awesome story!

USC makes 4th straight Rose Bowl!

USC beat UCLA 28-7 today to win the Pac 10 title for the seventh straight year! The Trojans also earned their fourth straight Rose Bowl bid and will play Penn State on New Year's Day!

I'm In

Neat USC video showing what goes on before games and practices

BTW, BEAT UCLA SATURDAY!!!!!!

Did you know what UCLA actually stands for?

U
Clowns
Lost
Again

One More USC/UCLA Post

This is the opening part of one of my favorite shows, which was dropped this year. It was called Trojan Rewind and they showed a half-hour highlights version of the previous weeks game. What I liked about it was they spent the first four or five minutes of every show giving you an example of what it was like to be at the game, the extra stuff. Here's the opening of the USC/UCLA game from 2005, USC won 66-19! Shows you some idea what it's like to attend this game in person, something I was fortunate enough to do many times in the late 70's and on through the 80's.

The Greatest Rivalry in College Sports

That's right, UCLA may stink this year but there is still no better rivalry in college sports than USC/UCLA. Show me any other place where you have two schools of this caliber in the SAME TOWN!

Here's some you tube stuff I found on the rivalry:

This one I can't embed but it's funny

USC 38, Notre Dame 3!

YES!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A few scenes from one of my favorite movies, Plains, Trains and Automobiles, a film I watch every Thanksgiving:

My 101st post!

As the title says, this is the 101st post on my 'new' blog. I figured it should have something to do with dalmations. (even Michelle should be able to figure out that!)

Ukranian Cold War Humor

Set in the late 70's, early 80's, a Ukranian hog expert, from Kyiv, is in Cincinnati and decides to defect to WKRP

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Great Line

watching Everybody Loves Raymond, he's going through mid-life crisis and his wife catches him making a list of life goals. She's dismayed most of them are foods he wants to try, nothing serious.

She says 'you are a writer, don't you want to write the great american novel?"

His answer, "I don't even want to READ the great american novel"

Going out way we came in

Brethren's season ended much the way it started:

Brethren Christian falls on the road in first round

TWENTYNINE PALMS – Brethren Christian lost to Twentynine Palms, 63-22, on Friday night in the first round of the CIF-SS East Valley Division playoffs at Twentynine Palms High.

Warriors quarterback Brad Hess got as much as he could out of the passing game by completing 12 of 24 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw one interception.

Hess’s primary target was wide receiver Jeremiah Bell, who caught seven passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns.

The Warriors’ defense was swamped early, allowing the Wildcats to score 56 of their 63 points in the first half.

Tim Conway

Another of my favorite comedians..note how hard Harvey Korman is trying not to laugh during this scene:

One of my favorite comedians

I don't think I ever posted any Bob Newhart stuff yet, but lot of my personality and sense of humor is similar to his. This is a classic scene from the Bob Newhart Show where he plays a shrink who thinks he's going on a morning TV show to discuss advances in psychology.

Somehow BHS made CIF Playoffs

The bracket

When will they ever learn?

PBS has some new show that claims lot of the old testament is fairy tales, so to speak.

Here is my favorite line in this stupid article:
The entire Exodus story is debunked, as is the idea that the Israelites were monotheistic following the contract made between God and Abraham. It turns out idol worship was common through the reign of King David and right up to the Babylonian exile.

NOW, I never went to seminary or anything, but even I know, just from reading Exodus-2 Kings that idol worship WAS common in Israel. That's why God kept having to punish them constantly. Pretty much from the reign of Joshua through Solomon and beyond it was common.

If that's their big selling point of why this show will be groundbreaking, I don't see it frankly.

I also like this line:
Is the Bible the word of God? Only if God dictated it to dozens, maybe hundreds, of different writers, each of whom wrote and modified stories using different patterns of language over a period of centuries.

Well, duh! It says that IN the Bible. There was no Washington Post around in 400 BC.

Our Speaker of the House

Nancy Pelosi Techno Chicken from wreckandsalvage on Vimeo.

A little Cap history

This is the first college football game I ever saw on TV and why I am a big USC fan to this day..
It's November of 1974, USC is losing 24-0 to Notre Dame late in the first half...watch and see how it turns out (it's not that long)

One more cool USC band video

Here's the drummers warming up before the on-campus pep rally. This is pretty impressive even for those who don't like hearing drum music by itself

Four Straight Wins for the Kings

This win came on the road too!

What it's like at a USC Football game

I told Michelle I'd post some typical atmosphere at a USC football game, since she's never been to one.

First, it starts with the on-campus pep rally about 90-minutes before the game (this video I couldn't imbed, sorry)

Making the short walk across the street to the Coliseum for the game:



Then, before the game, the pre-game show (this is from the Rose Bowl when USC won the national title):


This song is always played as soon as USC clinches a win and also the first song played after wins in the postgame concert


Another post-game concert song, a special tribute to UCLA

The former home of BHS baseball

Shot of Long Beach's Blair Field...

If you look just past third base you'll see the dugout where RichardJ spent the majority of time during his one glorious season of HS baseball.

In the stands behind it you'll see where Michelle sat, trying to figure out the difference between a hit or an error or a wild pitch or passed ball.

For a visual tour go to this site

Some other ballpark tours of note:
Salt Lake City Bees
Cooperstown's Doubleday Field
Our lousy Class A Stadium in Watertown

A good argument for remaining single

I found this comic strip to be amusing today

Footage of RichardJ's Wedding Reception

I found this on you tube, it's Richard's wedding reception from several years back..I'm also going to book this group if I ever get married for my reception:

Kings win again! (3 straight, .500 record now)

Is it too early to plan a Stanley Cup parade?

Veteran's Day

Found this video on NHL.com, it's about a former Clarkson player I covered, Chris Clark (class of 98). He was always one of my favorite players to deal with, really great guy off the ice. On the ice, however, he's a goon!

Vintage Larry David/Michael Richards

From 1981 sketch comedy show Fridays (sorry picture is slightly blurry)

The hottest team in pro sports!

Ok...so maybe they aren't, but the Kings did win another game!

Some old-fashioned hockey violence

Pretty good short video I found on you tube of some of the best hits from Clarkson's two games with top-ranked Colorado College a few weeks ago...(it's hard to believe but these actually are very nice guys off the ice)

Do you believe in miracles?

Ok..this isn't as dramatic as the US beating the Soviets in Lake Placid, but BHS actually dominated a football game Friday night? I believe the 'mighty' Warriors are now 3-6 on the season.

A Classic Larry David Moment

Clip from 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' on HBO. Larry David comes home from shooting a movie in New York City to some surprising news:

Kings snap 5-game winless streak!

Good to see there are worse teams in the NHL than the Kings!

Cartoon Break

One of my favorite Disney cartoon shorts from when I was a kid

California

Glad to see my home state hasn't lost all common sense!

Kings Lose 1-0 to Ducks

At least a goal was scored in 60 minutes, that's better than my rate of seeing 3 goals in 410 minutes of HS soccer games.

The Bright Side

It's the morning after, here are my thoughts for some 'depressed' Republicans...

1. McCain would not have been a good president, had he won, it would certainly have led to a defeat in four years and then, shudder, we could have heard this phrase, "President Hillary Clinton".

2. Remember 1994...This win puts ALL the pressure on the Democrats, who now have the house and senate as well. If Obama tries to get too radical the public will backlash, just as it did with Hillary's health care takeover attempt, and Republicans will win back congress.

3. This was NOT a change in how America feels about itself politically. Some are going to try to claim that this has become a more liberal country, etc. I completely disagree. We had possibly the most unpopular president of modern times in office, we are in two wars, one which most people don't agree with (note, I'm not taking sides on that issue here merely pointing out that fact) and a few Republicans disgraced the party while in office with stupid scandals. This was more just people wanting to go a different way for a while. I'm not panicking and assuming this means death to the idea of Republicans ever having power again. It just means we have to stop nominating old war heroes (see Bob Dole 1996) for president and start nominating people that are in touch with the current times and will appeal to people who want to see the government move in a different direction. Frankly, we had a LOUSY group of people running for president this year and there really was no great choice who could have overcome all this background stuff.

4. Finally, it appears the Democrats will NOT get 60 senate seats, which means Obama HAS to govern more from the center. If he tries to push some over-the-top legislation through congress it will be filibustered.

Anyway, no reason for despair, you can't expect your party to win every election, that's not realistic, and our country will be just fine.

Election Humor

Funny clip from the Daily Show's Election 2004 coverage on the stupidity of exit polling

Kings Lose Again

Is the season over yet? At least the Kings made the second game of the Hockey Night in Canada doubleheader

USC Halloween Prank

One of USC coach Pete Carroll's traditions is some sort of stunt during practice the week of a Halloween game. Here's the latest:

Kings Blanked

4-0 loss to Vancouver last night. Canucks defenseman Willie Mitchell had an assist. I remember Willie better as a Clarkson defenseman who used to like to try to sneak pieces of butter onto the shoes of his teammates at team dinners, while they weren't paying attention.

Some Humor

A great clip from Everybody Loves Raymond...His mother is taking a sculpture class and comes up with, let's say, a rather unique design.

Presidential Endorsement

OK..The election is less than a week away it's time for me to announce who I am supporting for president: television/movie actor Larry Storch.
Why Larry you say? Well, Ronald Reagan was an actor and he made a pretty-good president, plus Storch was in one of my favorite movies of all time "The Great Race".
Also, he played corporal Agarn on F-Troop, so he has some military experience and he's 85, so he also has McCain beat in the age dept.
Also he may invite Connie Stevens and Ken Berry to the balls, so we'll have an F-Troop reunion!

STORCH/JARMAN 08

Kings take champs to OT

My 'other' office

Thought I'd show everyone the nice, calm, professional manner of activity at the place I'm usually at for 3 of my 5 work days.
(beware, this is in the student section and the video gets a little choppy, but you get a nice glimpse of what it's like at a typical Clarkson hockey game).

Obama's October Surprise

Listen to this radio show he did in 2001, wanted to 'redistribute wealth'

Kings win on the road

I miss this guy!

Few classic Reagan clips/commericals

Morning in America


Bear in the Woods


Great Debate lines
Age


There you go again.Are you better off?


And, finally, outdoing Ford at the 1976 convention

The Kings win streak is over

Larry David visits Jack-in-the-Box

Another clip from one of my favorite shows: Curb Your Enthusiasm

My new blog

I started a new blog early this month but had to get approval from work to make it public.
It's not like this one, it's strictly about my main beat at work, the Clarkson men's hockey team. Feel free to check it out, but posting there is monitored by me because I don't want fans to use it as a place to bash people. Also please don't reference this blog there, this is my 'home life' so to speak, that's my work life.

The Kings are on a Roll

Who would have guessed the Kings would win more games this week than the Dodgers?

Do You Believe In Miracles? (Part 2)

First the US beat the USSR in 1980, now the Kings win a game!

The *Real* R2D2

Finally the truth has come out
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

The Kings Continue Their Perfect Season!

Home opener...No goals...five straight scoreless periods...80 more of these games to go!

USC Humor

Two funny USC-related videos..

First, a commercial for USC doctors starring football coach Pete Carroll


Then, USC alum Will Farrell misunderstands a charity, thinks its to raise awareness for kids of sumo wrestlers:

If I have to suffer, so should you....

One of my new 'services' will provide highlights from LA Kings games:

My Kind of Humor

was watching a rerun of Curb Your Enthusiam tonight..had to find this scene on youtube to share. It's Larry David checking into a hotel in NYC and being a smartass with the bellboy.

Funny Political Video

I look forward to this video every election season. It's funny regardless of what party you prefer!

Music for RichardJ's Kids

My most embarassing life truth...first concert I ever saw was this group (but NOT from the night this video was recorded)

A Favorite Song

I like to steal ideas from other people and since RichardJ posted favorite songs of his kids I figured I'd post a REAL favorite song of mine. I posted a fake version of a favorite song on his comments page (I tend to be a smartass in case you didn't know).
But this song I really do like and it's because it's funny. Yes, those are convicts in the audience in the video:

Shouldn't These Guys Swap Jobs?

Game one of the Dodgers/Phillies NLCS is Thursday night in Philadelphia...
The teams had two memorable back-to-back series in 1977 and 1978 and I happened to realize today that two key infielders from those series happen to coach the OTHER side this time around.
Here is the current Philadelphia Phillies first-base coach: Davey Lopes.
And here is the current Los Angeles Dodgers third-base coach: Larry Bowa.
To make things even odder, in 1977 the Dodgers won game 3 of a best-of-five series in Philadelphia, rallying after being down 5-3 with two out in the top of the ninth. Lopes drove in the tying run on a groundout when he barely beat out a throw from Bowa, who still insists he threw Lopes out!

Where are they now? Pt. 2

I also noticed that our sr. year social studies teacher has aged considerably! (see what teaching people like Michelle and Richard for one year can do to the body?)

Where are they now?

I found former BHS football coach Ron Myers on the web. He's now the head coach of Soquel HS in Santa Cruz, California. I always liked him. He was my PE teacher in 8th grade and seemed like a nice man. I noticed after he left (after our sr year) that BHS football was in the doldrums for years!

Vintage Michelle Footage

I asked around and was finally given police footage of Michelle the first week she had her driver's license backing up her car. Enjoy!

Get out your disco clothes!

Yes, we are having a 1970's flashback in the 2008 National League Championship Series.
The Los Angeles Dodgers will be playing the Philadelphia Phillies. The teams met in three memorable LCS in the late 70's and early 80's.
The Dodgers beat the Phillies in 1977.
The Dodgers also beat the Phillies in 1978 (I had tickets for game five, which of course did not occur!).
The Phillies got their turn in 1983, beating the Dodgers.

This time around the Phillies will have home-field advantage, which means games 1,2 and 6,7 (if necessary) will be in Philly.

Strange, but True

Found this picture today on a website..Dodger Stadium, in 1963, hosted a ski jumping competition. The photo included is the workers preparing the ramp!

Classic Comedy

This was one of the funniest Tonight Show bits I ever saw..This in three parts..The first is what causes the 2nd and 3rd segments to happen. Basically, David Letterman used to live near Johnny Carson in Malibu. Johnny pulled a prank on him one night on the show. Then, months later, Letterman returned seeking damages and former People's Court Judge Wopner had to settle the issue!

PART ONE (the original prank)


PARTS TWO AND THREE (the People's Court)

Upstate NY Cuisine

Today I thought I'd share an image of a popular dish in parts of upstate NY, mostly Rochester, which is about 3 hours from me. It's called a garbage plate, and as you can tell by looking at the picture, it literally looks like they just take leftovers and put it all in a big pile on a plate for you. Its good though!
Common ingredient in a typical garbage plate is putting macaroni salad and potato chunks (sort of like hash browns) on the bottom layer. Then you put some hamburger patties or ground beef on top (can also add a sausage or hot dog) and you cover it with onions and melted cheese and other spices.

White Sox/Twins: One-Game Playoff

The White Sox won today forcing a one-game playoff tomorrow night for the AL Central title. Baseball has had many memorable playoff games or mini-series to determine division champions over the years. Here's footage from one of the best movies ever made, "Ken Burns Baseball" about the 1951 3-game playoff series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants to determine who would win the NL Pennant that season!

2002 Remembered

Angels start the playoffs on Wednesday so remembering the 2002 World Championship season in this post with some you-tube videos shot from the stands

FINAL OUT: GAME SEVEN


TIM SALMON HR IN GAME TWO, GO-AHEAD RUNS

Cap vs. Bill James

Well, techically the baseball season has possibly two more days to go, but I'm going to go ahead and compare my picks with what the computer formula made by Bill James in the 80's thinks.
First let me explain the current situation. The NL is all set. The matchups are Dodgers vs. Cubs and Phillies vs. Brewers. We also know the Angels play the Red Sox in the AL. The Rays are also in the playoffs, we just don't know who won the AL Central yet. Minnesota is 88-74 and the White Sox are 87-74. The White Sox have to make up a rained out game against Detroit on Monday and if they win then play the Twins in a one-game playoff on Tuesday.
Now, on to the predictions. Remember, one point for picking a division series correct, 3 for LCS and 5 for World Series.

DIVISION SERIES
Angels vs. Red Sox: Bill James says Red Sox; Cap says Angels
Rays vs. Twins/White Sox: Bill James says Rays; Cap says Rays
Cubs vs. Dodgers: Bill James says Cubs; Cap says Cubs
Phillies vs. Brewers: Bill James says Phillies; Cap says Brewers

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Bill James
Red Sox vs Rays: He picks the Rays
Cubs vs. Phillies: He picks the Cubs
Cap
Angels vs. Rays: Cap picks the Angels
Cubs vs. Brewers: Cap picks the Brewers

WORLD SERIES
Bill James
Cubs vs. Rays: He picks the Rays
Cap
Angels vs. Brewers: Cap picks the Angels

NOTE: I did NOT pick the Angels because they are my favorite team. I picked them to lose in the first round last year. I just picked them because they won 100 games and I think they have a great pitching staff and enough hitting to win.

Clarkson Alumni

Two guys I used to cover are in this photo from a recent NHL exhibition game. The guy with the puck on the Sharks, No. 48, is Steve Zalewski, he was on Clarkson's team last year! The Ducks player, No. 40, is Kent Huskins, he graduated in 2001. Shows you can know me and overcome that obstacle and still make something of yourself!

Coming Soon: Cap Carey vs. Bill James

One of my favorite baseball writers is Bill James, a man who is famous for his ability to break down the game with interesting statistics. I found an old Baseball Abstract, a book he published in the 80's, that gives his formula for picking the winner of baseball playoff series. He said that it had a 70 pct accuracy rating.
So, once all the division races are settled, and I know who plays who, I will pick my own winners in each series and let James pick his with this formula and we'll see who does better. I'll award one point for picking a division series winner correct, three for a league champion and five for the world series winner. Obviously if one of us has a team winning the World Series that gets beat in the first round we are out of luck.
Here's a breakdown of James formula (note, some of it defies logic, but, again, it works 70 percent of the time)
1. Give one point per half-game difference in record. So if a team is 100-62, plays a 90-72 team that is 20 points.
2. 3 points to team with more runs scored
3. 14 points to team with FEWER doubles
4. 12 points to team with MORE triples
5. 10 points to team with MORE home runs
6. 8 points to team with LOWER batting average
7. 8 points to team with FEWER errors
8. 7 points to team that's turned MORE double plays
9. 7 points to team whose pitchers have walked MORE men
10. 19 points to team with MORE shutouts
11. 15 points to team with LOWER ERA or if World Series team whose ERA is lower than the league average by more
12. 12 points to team in postseason play more recently. If both were in same year than give to team which did better
13. 12 points to lead that lead in head-to-head competition (not used for world series)

It's Time for Llizo!

No offense to BHS alumnus Bruce Eien, but I feel it's time for a change in the head coaching position at BHS and I nominate classmate Robert Llizo!! He lives nearby, working at Biola, and he can't do any worse!
Here's Brethren's latest score:
Saddleback Valley Christian 76, Brethren 32 (that's NOT made up)
Add to that a 46-6 loss to Riverside Christian to open the season followed by last week's 23-14 loss to Calvary Chapel!
This could be worst BHS team since my senior year, a team Robert was on, but I don't hold him responsible. I blame BHS's stupid policy that only seniors could have a mustache. That caused the person who would have been our starting QB, Angel Dominguez, to transfer.
My rant is over! I'm sure RichardJ, who I assume is a season-ticket holder and saw all three games, has his own opinion on this issue.

Celebrations

LA's baseball teams celebrating their respective division championships
Dodgers

Angels

Dodgers Win West

Thanks to the Cardinals beating Arizona 12-3 this afternoon the Dodgers won the NL West before they even started their last home game. San Diego won that game 7-5, but it ended with a champagne party in the clubhouse.

Funny Joe Torre Commercial

I like this commercial showing how Dodger manager Joe Torre is adjusting to life in LA after being in NYC since 1996.

Get Ready for a WILD Baseball Weekend

There are just four days left in the baseball season and there are still MANY things undecided! (Not every team is as fortunate as the Angels, who have been selling division champion hats, albeit very UGLY ones, for several weeks now).
NL UPDATE
The Dodgers are 83-75 and Arizona is 79-79. That means the Dodgers have to lose FOUR straight games while Arizona wins four straight for their to be a one-game playoff Monday night. Of course the Dodgers close the season in SF, you know the Giants would love to sweep them.
The Mets are busy collapsing again in the NL East. The Phillies are 89-70 and have a 1 1/2 game lead on the Mets, who are 87-71. But the Mets are also blowing the wildcard race and are now tied with the Brewers with four games left in the season.
The Cubs have already clinched both the Central Division and home field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.
Who the Dodgers play depends on if the Mets or Brewers win the wild card. The Cubs get to play the wild card team IF it's not from their division, which Milwaukee is. So, if the Mets are wild card the Cubs play the Mets and the Dodgers play the Phillies. If the Brewers are the wild card the Cubs play the Dodgers and the Phillies play the Brewers.
AL
The Angels are 98-60 with four games left, so if they go 2-2 they'll win 100 games for the first time in franchise history. The franchise record for wins is 99, set by the 2002 World Championship team. The Angels also have a two-game lead on Tampa Bay for best record in the league, which brings home field advantage throughout the World Series, since the AL won the all-star game again this year.
Tampa Bay is 96-62 and leads Boston, which already clinched at least a wild card berth, by three games with four to play.
The interesting race is the AL Central. Chicago had a 3 1/2 game lead on the Twins a few days ago, but Minnestota beat them twice already and now the lead is only a half-game and the teams meet again tomorrow night.
The Angels will be playing the Red Sox in the first round, barring a surprise, and Tampa Bay will play whoever wins the AL Central.

Trojan Rewind: Virginia

Hate to put these in out of order, but the site I get them from posted them that way. Here's highlights of USC's season-opening win at Virginia:

Classic 70s music

One last Disneyland post

This was one of my favorite rides, especially back in the 'ticket' days when I had run out of them and needed to kill time. I remember once taking about 4 straight trips on this thing without getting off. Also was good way to rest feet which were tired from walking.

Disney's Best/Worst Songs

Two rides at Disneyland, both songs you never get out of your head. You'll have to guess which song I think is the worst!

Yesterland

Footage of Disneyland's Main Street Electrical parade...It was sort of cool, but after you saw it once or twice it was also a GREAT opportunity go get in line for rides like the Matterhorn that usually had long lines.

Last Game at Yankee Stadium

The Yankees played their final game in Yankee Stadium last night. Even if you hate the Yankees, as I'm sure at least one of my readers does, you still have to admit this is THE baseball stadium. So much history has happened on this field, no other baseball stadium compared in that vein. I included a picture of what the NEW Yankee Stadium, which opens next season, will look like.

Billy Joel, Dream Concert (the final four)

Well, here are the last four BJ songs in my concert, my four favorite songs of his of all-time.
No. 4 River of Dreams


No. 3 Scenes from an Italian Restaurant


No. 2 My Life


No. 1 Summer, Highland Falls


*Encore* Hey, every concert has an encore and this one needs a closing number!

This makes me feel old!

For fun I'm doing a little 'before and after' thing here. This song was No. 1 my senior year of HS. The first video is shot 'then' and the last one is from the current tour. (Note how cool David Lee Roth looked in 1984 as opposed to how nerdy he looks now, also that is Eddie Van Halen's kid playing bass. He was born SEVEN years after the music video was shot)

My Hometown

Some footage shot Saturday of Olympic gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh competing in the early rounds of the Manhattan Beach Open (the MOST prestigious beach volleyball tournament).
NOTE: this is not some cheap attempt by me to get women in bikini's onto my blog!

Congrats to Joe Maddon and the Rays

Former Angels coach Joe Maddon led the Tampa Bay Rays to their first playoff appearance Saturday. The team still is fighting to hold off the Boston Red Sox in the A.L. East, but their first playoff appearance is quite an achievement.
The Rays remind me a bit of the 1969 Miracle Mets, who had never finished in the top half of the standings before winning a World Series.
How bad have the Rays been? Here's their year-by-year records since they started in 1998:
63-99, 69-93, 69-92, 62-100, 55-106, 63-99, 70-91, 67-95, 61-101, 66-96 and so far this year: 91-61.
As you can see, Maddon has done quite a good job turning this franchise around!

Quite the Interior Decorating Job!

Um...I'm not sure this is the look I'd go for in an office, myself, but you have to admit it's rather intimidating to a guest. BTW, if McCain/Palin ticket wins she'd have the best legs of any VP since maybe Spiro Agnew!

Billy Joel Dream Concert, Part 2

(part 2 of 3)
No. 8 Root Beer Rag


No. 7 Angry Young Man (this song actually used to open all his concerts, but I'm listing them by my favorites so it's in the middle)


No. 6 Movin' Out (not to be confused with the Broadway musical by same name ;p )


No. 5 The Stranger


**concert concludes tomorrow with my four favorite songs..try to guess them**

Where I went to HS

Stumbled on this nearly year-old footage today (NOTE: those who went here will see this school is still full of dorks)

Billy Joel Dream Concert, Part 1

Getting off the sports theme...Those who know me know Billy Joel's my favorite singer. Through the magic of you tube I'll present my own BJ dream concert, i.e. my 12 favorite songs of his (all live versions) in three parts. (I would have picked a top 10 but that's so cliche). Here's 12-9 in reverse order. This I'll post one day at a time.

No. 12 Say Goodbye to Hollywood (I listened to this in my car as I started my drive back east when I moved away from home in 1993)


No. 11 All for Leyna (this is a music video, but shot like a live version, couldn't find a concert video of this)


No. 10 Everybody Loves You Now


No. 9 Pressure

Nine days left

Baseball season has just a little more than one week to go and one of 11 teams will wind up being World Champions in a little more than a month.
Here's a brief update on how things stand with about 9 games left to play.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
West - So far the Los Angeles Angels are the only AL team to clinch a playoff spot. The Angels are 94-59 and need to go 6-3 in their last nine games to win 100 games as a franchise for the first time.
East - Tampa Bay, which never had a winning season before, is 91-61 and leads the Boston Red Sox by 1 1/2 games. They also are just 2 1/2 behind the Angels for best record. That is important because if they face each other in the playoffs the team with best record gets home-field advantage.
Central - The White Sox are 85-68 and have a 2 1/2 game lead on Minnesota, which is 83-71.

MY AL PREDICTIONS
Angels finish with best record, Tampa Bay holds off Boston for the division title but Red Sox are the wild card and the White Sox win the Central. That would leave opening-round playoff matchups of Angels vs. Red Sox and Devil Rays vs. White Sox .

NL
West - The Dodgers are 80-74 and lead the Diamondbacks (76-77) by 3 1/2 games.
Central - The Cubs are 92-60 and have clinched the division. Milwaukee is 84-70 and in the wild card race.
East - Mets are 86-67 and have a half-game lead on the Phillies at 86-68. One of these two teams will likely be the wild card.

MY NL PREDICTIONS
Dodgers hold off Arizona and win the west, Mets hold off the Phillies to win the East but Phillies are wild card. Playoff matchups would be Cubs vs Phillies, Mets vs. Dodgers.

Postseason predictions will come once I know who actually makes the playoffs and what the matchups are. However, I should note I am VERY bad at picking baseball playoff series winners for some reason.

One last trip down memory lane

Got into the vintage baseball kick with this being the last week, starting Monday.
Here's some actual TV broadcast footage from game seven of the 1952 World Series in Ebbets Field!

Vintage Baseball

Found this on youtube tonight, pretty cool. It's home movies of the Chicago Cubs. First 3 mins is opening day, 1930, at Wrigley Field and unveiling the NL champions banner. The last 3 mins is footage from first game of the 1929 World Series against the Philadelphia A's. (Wrigley Field looks exactly the same around the infield, but you'll notice there are no ivy-covered walls yet and no real outfield bleachers.

Stop-him-now

This is a pretty amusing website I stumbled on that is anti-Obama. Has a daily cartoon news cast as well.

Here's today's news update:

Trojan Rewind

Well, Fox Sports Net in LA cancelled one of my FAVORITE TV shows, Trojan Rewind, which used to show highlights of USC football games. Fortunately someone on You Tube is doing his own version of condensing the games. It's not quite the same but for any USC fan out of the country who wants to see last Saturday's game against Ohio State here it is condensed (BTW this team is just awesome to watch)! This is pretty much a web version of what was my favorite show. It's long but check it out!

Seeing how well Emily can teach

July Baseball Report

Another month of the baseball season has ended so it’s time for my fourth update of the season.

TEAM OF THE MONTH: The Los Angeles Angels win this award easily, finishing with a 19-6 record in July to improve their best-record-in-baseball mark to 68-40, good enough for a 12-game lead in the A.L. West. The Angels have a four-game lead for best record in the AL, which would mean home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, including the World Series, since the AL won the All-Star Game again.
Other candidates: New York Mets 18-8, Colorado Rockies 17-10, Los Angeles Dodgers 16-10.

WORST TEAM OF THE MONTH: Another runaway winner, the Washington Nationals. Washington, which was 33-51 heading into the month, added to its woes with a 5-19 mark in July. Things are so bad in the capital that the Nationals dumped veteran catcher Paul LoDuca today as well as shortstop Felipe Lopez.
Other candidates: Oakland A’s 8-17, San Francisco Giants 8-16, San Diego Padres 9-16.

Pennant race report
AL EAST: The surprise Tampa Bay Rays remain in first place but go just 13-12 in July. Another month like that and they might lose their 3-game lead on second-place Boston. The Red Sox were just 11-13 in July. The Yankees had another hot month, going 15-10 and are now 31-22 in the last two months. They are only 4 ½ games behind the Rays and closing in on Boston for what could be a wild-card spot.
AL CENTRAL: The Chicago White Sox have a half-game lead on the Minnesota Twins. The White Sox were 13-12 in July while the Twins went 15-10. Pre-season favorite Detroit appeared back on track after going 20-8 in June, but the Tigers were only 13-13 in August.
AL WEST: Only way Angels don’t win is if they bring Gene Mauch back from the dead to lead them on a historic collapse.

NL EAST: The closest race in baseball right now. The Phillies have a one-game lead on the Mets and just a 1 ½ game lead on the Florida Marlins. The Mets were only 40-42 heading into July, but an 18-8 month has them back in the race.
NL CENTRAL: The Cubs just swept a four-game series at Milwaukee to build a five-game lead on both the Brewers and Cardinals. Prior to that series Milwaukee had been one of the best teams in July, but finish the month 16-11. The Cubs went 15-11 while the Cardinals staggered to a 13-14 record.
NL WEST: A two-team race, for now, but don’t count out defending league champion Colorado, which went 17-10 in July after posting a 32-51 record the first three months of the season. After going 22-33 combined in May and June, the Diamonbacks rebounded to go 14-11 in July and have a two-game lead on the Dodgers. The Rockies are eight games back.

See you on Sept. 1!

Why it pays to live near Canada

The Olympics start next Friday and I was just checking out TV listings and noticed something interesting..

Living 18 miles south of Canada, I get a few Canadian networks on TV.

NBC is showing the opening ceremony next Friday at 8 p.m. By that time it will have aired TWICE on Canadian TV, which is showing it live at 7 a.m. and re-airing it again at 6 p.m.

This is typical however. I remember watching Nancy and Tonya skate about 12 hours before CBS aired it in 1994..one of the RARE times I actually watched skating on TV, just wanted to see if someone would be whacked again.

Hall of Fame Weekend

Tomorrow is induction day for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown NY.
The two main inductees this year are relief pitcher Rich Gossage and manager Dick Williams.
Williams managed the Boston Red Sox, Oakland A's, California Angels, Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners, finishing with a record of 1,571-1,451.
He managed the 1967 AL champion Boston Red Sox and won World Series titles with the A's in 1972 and 73 and then led the San Diego Padres to their first World Series in 1984. He also was a key part of the Montreal Expos turnaround, even though he was not there when the team finally won a division title in 1981.
He's also the answer to a trivia question. The manager of the defending league champion gets to manage the All-Star Game the following season. Most would assume Mike Scioscia was the first Angel All-Star manager in 2003, after his team won the 2002 World Series. But Williams left the A's after the 73 season and managed the Angels in 1974, so he got to manage that All-Star game in an Angel uniform.
Gossage played for the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Oakland A's and Seattle Mariners in his career (it's almost worth a four-hour drive down to Cooperstown just to see how they fit all those teams on his plaque!). He finished with 310 career saves and may be the last old-school reliever to make the hall. By old-school I refer to relief pitchers who actually came into the game when there were potential tying or go-ahead runs on base as early as the seventh inning!

Olympics will ruin baseball, before killing it!

It's already known that baseball and softball are being wiped out of the Olympics after the current games end next month.
Here's the latest in Olympic-baseball stupidity courtesy of an LA Times blog:
Extra innings during Beijing Olympic baseball games will have something extra.

The rules will stay the same for the first 10 innings, but if a contest stretches into an 11th inning, each team would begin its next at-bat with runners on first and second. Managers also will be allowed to start the 11th at any point in their batting order.

Here's how it would work, according to the Associated Press: A manager who chooses to lead off the 11th with the club's No. 3 hitter would have to put the No. 1 batter on second base and the No. 2 hitter on first. If there's a 12th inning, it would begin wherever the previous lineup left off -- again with two batters on base and one at the plate.

The changes announced Friday by the International Baseball Federation will go into effect in time for the Beijing Games that begin on Aug. 8.

The changes were made to save time, said federation President Harvey Schiller: "We must demonstrate to the International Olympic Committee [that] not only does our game belong alongside the other great sports of the world, but our sport is manageable from a television and operational standpoint.”

AP reports that USA Baseball executive director Paul Seiler initially opposed the change, but he gradually came around.

"The traditionalist in me says, 'no way,' " Seiler said. "But you know, in the Olympics, where you have [a] finite amount of time to get your program finished [and] the early game goes 15, 16, 17 innings, then what does that do? Television is affected, transportation is affected — a lot of logistical things that we don’t have to worry about on a Friday night in Durham. It’s a domino" effect.

Tale of two football players

Two football players found out they won't be playing in the NFL this season for different reasons.
Caleb Campbell, a recent graduate of West Point, was told he could try out for the Detroit Lions, who drafted him in the 7th round, only to find out the day before training camp opened that someone on capital hill had demanded he instead honor his 2-year service commitment.
Muhammad Abdulqaadir, a running back from Southern Illinois who had 21 touchdowns this year, has not been offered any NFL tryouts. The reason for this is believed to be that his father, Mujahid Abdulqaadir Menepta, is currently in jail on terrorist charges and is accused of having something to do with 9/11.
Not really sure what to say on either case. I do think policy was changed at the last minute for Campbell, but I also think if you go to a military academy you owe it to your country and the taxpayers who paid your college tuition, to do your service.
As for Abdulqaadir..He is estranged from his father, for obvious reasons, and I'm not sure why you'd punish a son for a sin of his father. I guess it's good Fidel Castro didn't have a son named Stu who tried out for major league baseball in the 60s.

Brother can you spare 25 million?

Angels reliever Francisco Rodriguez seems poised to obliterate the saves record of 57 set by Bobby Thigpen in 1990. Rodriguez has 42 saves with 61 games remaining in the season.
But the big news around K-Rod, as he is nicknamed, and which I'll use because I'm tired of typing 'Rodriquez' is his plan to file for free agency after the season ends, hoping he'll get a $25 million a year deal.
First thought: I don't blame K-Rod for being upset with the Angels. He was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying he won't negotiate with the team during the season because they had six-plus years to work something out with him and didn't. (For those of you unfamiliar, baseball players have to be in the league x number of years before they can become a free agent, so early in their careers they are at the mercy of their team or arbitration hearings to get a better payday). The Angels have messed with K-Rod in the past. They took him to arbitration last year and won, only having to pay him $10 million this season instead of $12. One wonders if it might have been better to just pay the extra $2 million and keep somewhat of a good relationship with a 26-year old phenom. Also, back in 2002, the team voted to give him less than a 100-percent share of the world championship money, even though he was arguably one of the two or three most important reasons why the team won the title! The rational was that he only joined the team a few weeks before the playoffs, which is true.
That said, I don't think K-Rod will be an Angel next year. The above paragraph is reason enough why he'll leave the franchise and I don't see the Angels shelling out $25 million for any player!
Will that kill the Angels? Absolutely not.
Relievers have short shelf-lives nowdays. Remember Eric Gagne? The Mariano Riveras who are stars for a decade or more are few and far between.
No one doubts he is having a great season this year, but he still has two or three blown saves, despite his 42 saves and his WHIP (Walks, plus hits divided by innings pitched) is 1.235. That means he gets the job done, but makes the manager or fans (like this one) very nervous in the process.
So who could be the Angels next closer if K-Rod leaves? There are two options on the current roster. Setup man Jose Arredondo, 24, has a 4-0 record this year with a 1.33 ERA and has a 1.00 WHIP. Another option, though MUCH more risky, is to use 32-year old Kelvim Escobar, a starting pitcher who has missed all of this season with injury. Nobody knows how healthy he'll be next year, but the Angels don't need another starting pitcher and Escobar did record 38 saves for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2002.
If I was the Angels I'd sneak Arredondo into a few save situations late in the season on days when K-Rod could use a rest. Get him some experience in the pressure situation and be prepared for the possibility that he may be the future.

I'm back with changes

This blog has returned, but it will be different than the one which was here prior. It will consist of my opinions and other assorted things on the world of sports with some 'other' activities included from time to time. There will be less about my personal life or the antics of friends involved.
For those who read a few facts about me. I grew up in Southern California, Manhattan Beach to be precise. I have worked as a sportswriter for the Watertown Daily Times in upstate New York since late 1993 and my main beat is the Clarkson University men's hockey team.
I should also include teams I like so any biases I may have can be known, although I think I can be fair even if I write about a team I like or dislike.
Baseball: Los Angeles Angels
Basketball: Pro - Los Angeles Lakers; Colleges - University of Arizona and USC
Football: Pro - Oakland Raiders; Colleges - USC and University of Arizona (note: USC football is something I've loved since I was eight years old!)
Hockey: Los Angeles Kings (can you guys win something just ONCE!?)