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Sunday, April 30, 2006

I'm building a monster in my basement...

A Green Monster.

Monstah

Right now it's a work in progress. It needs a couple more coats of paint. When this part is finished I'm going to get some stencils and paint the scoreboard on there too. I want to try and paint letters and numbers that are approximate to the actual size of the real scoreboard, so it will wind up looking like a section of the Green Monster, not a full, mini-sized scoreboard.

I'm thinking I'll paint a little doorway and in a darker green paint, that you'll have to look closely to notice, I'll write something like 'Looking for Manny?' With an arrow pointing to the door, or something goofy like that. (I'd be open to suggestions actually...)

It should be pretty cool when it's finished. (If it's ever finished...)

Saturday, April 29, 2006

NHL Playoffs: Quarterfinal Picks

Ok, I know I'm pretty late in posting this, but here's the list of who I'm rooting for in the NHL Quarterfinals. Even though The Bruins are not in the playoffs, I still enjoy playoff hockey. How can you not? The players kick it up to a whole new level for the playoffs.

Winning the Stanley Cup is probably the most difficult achievement in professional sports.

Here's my picks:

East:
Ottawa / Tampa Bay - Ottawa - (The Sens currently hold a 3-1 lead in the series.) - I gotta root for the Canadian team over the Florida team. Plus TB won it last year, or two years ago to be exact... Update: Prior to my posting this, Ottawa won tonight and took the series 4-1.

Carolina / Montreal - Carolina - (series is currently tied 2-2.) - Well, first off, no matter who they were playing, I'd be rooting against Montreal because I fucking hate the Habs, but I also like to root for the 'Canes (formerly known as The Hartford Whalers). They are kind of one of my backup teams.

New Jersey / NY Rangers - Rangers - Doesn't matter at this point since the Rangers got swept...

Buffalo / Philly - Philly - (series is tied 2-2.) - Gotta go with the Flyers here. I've always liked them as long as they were not playing the B's.

West:
Detroit / Edmonton - Edmonton - (Edmonton leads series 3-2) - It's more that I'm rooting against the Wings than rooting for the Oilers here...

Dallas / Colorado - Colorado (Colorado has a 3-1 lead in the series) - The Avs have been my 'B' team ever since Ray Bourque got traded out there.

Calgary / Anaheim - Calcary (series is tied 2-2) - I gotta go with Calgary over Disney's team.

San Jose / Nashville - SJ (SJ leads the series 3-1) - First and foremost, the new Worcester AHL team is the Sharks affiliate team, so they automatically get my support for bringing hockey back to Worcester. Second, Joe Thornton plays for San Jose and I hope it galls the shit out of The B's management to be sitting at home watching Thornton in the playoffs.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Men in Black...

The Nextel Cup series travels to Talla-dangerous this weekend and along with it will come The Intimidator's induction into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

To honor the event, all of the DEI cars will feature a special paint scheme that replicates the late Big E's black #3 Chevy.


(daleearnhardtinc.com)

I have slightly mixed feelings about all of the cars bearing the same black paint scheme that Dale used to drive with. I certainly don't think it's a 'bad' thing in any way, and for the most part, I think it's a very cool way to remember Earnhardt, but there is a part of me that also thinks it's a little odd to have five cars all using the same paint scheme as the old #3.

I can definitely see doing it for Jr.'s car, that makes sense, but all 5 DEI cars? I don't know. There's a little part of me that finds that a little weird. I don't really know how to express this feeling properly in words. It strikes me as somewhat macabre.

Then again, it is Dale's company and all of the cars are 'his', so in that vein, it does make sense for all of his cars to bear his former paint scheme as a tribute to him.

I can imagine it will be very, very special to be driving one of those tribute cars this Sunday.

It also makes me laugh a little to think of five cars that all look like Dale's old car terrorizing the other drivers on the track. When Dale was alive, during most races, one black 'Intimidator' car was more than enough for the rest of the field to have to deal with.

When I imagine what's going to be going through the other competitor's heads, especially the older guys who raced with Dale for many years, when they see five black Chevys on the track, it puts a smile on my face. I can also imagine a few of them will be wondering if they are seeing a ghost when that familiar black car fills up their rear-view mirror once again.


(daleearnhardtinc.com)

I still remember well that race at Talladega when Earnhardt drove from 17th to 1st place in about 5 laps to win the race. Hopefully Little E can get that #8 car into Victory Lane this weekend. To me, that would be the best way to honor Dale Earnhardt's memory.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Odd and ends...

Quick note to self: Don't work on website posts after 11 PM. You are prone to making lots of grammatical errors.

Self replies: Thank you, you tool.

If you have not checked out The New England Patriots Podcasts yet, you have been missing out on some great shows. The guys over at Patriots Football Weekly have been doing two pre-draft Podcast shows a week and they have been very informative. They are definitely worth checking out.

Fred Kirsh, if you want to thank me for the PFW Podcast plugs, a complimentary renewal to my PFW subscription would be nice. Hint!

Google Calendar: Did you know you can add the Red Sox and Patriots schedule to Google calendar by just doing a quick search in public calendars? Well you can. And it's awesome.

Despite the Pats glaring need at wide receiver this year, this very informative article over at The Cold Hard Football Facts explains why it would probably not be in the Patriots' best interest to pick a receiver in the 1st round of the NFL draft.

Also, I gotta say, this Draught Party CHFF is planning at The Cask this weekend sounds like it will be a blast. I am highly considering sneaking out of the house and making an appearance... We'll see.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Some Pats pre-draft thoughts...

The NFL draft is coming up this weekend and the Pats are loaded with picks, with multiple draft picks in the 3rd (2), 4th (2) and 6th (3) rounds.

Despite the alarming departures of some popular and, more importantly, very productive free agents earlier in the year, if you take a look at the Pats overall roster, things are not in that bad a shape right now.

O-Line / D-Line: The Pats are solid in the trenches. In the O-Line group you've got Neal, Koppen, Mankins, Light and Hochstein, and on the D-Line you've got Seymour, Wilfork, Warren and Green.

Contract issues aside (I believe Koppen will be due some bucks soon,) in these two areas, the Pats are pretty much set. I'm guessing the Pats will mainly look to add depth in these positions just in case of injuries.

Linebacker: Even though the Pats lost Willie McGinist, they are still in decent shape at Linebacker, with a group that includes Bruschi, Colvin and Vrabel. The problem is that after these guys things get a little thin, with Banta-Cain and Beisel following up.

This is an area on the team that could definitely use an injection of youth. The Pats need to start bringing in some new guys here to serve as the linebacker core of the future.

Quarterback: It goes without saying we are set here. The Pats need to bring in a veteran to compete with Cassell for the #3 job. 

Tight Ends: The Pats like to run a lot of two tight end sets and right now they only have two players at that position, Daniel Graham and Ben Watson, both of whom are known to hit the injury list at least once a season. The Pats were solid at #3 with Fauria, but now that he is gone to The Kingdom of Dan down in Washington, The Pats will need to acquire a 3rd tight-end.

Corner / Safety: If there's one area the Pats have depth, it's in the D-Backfield. The problem is, the last few years, they've needed all of that depth and then some to make it through the season. The Pats have got corner-backs and safeties up the ass but this is still an area the Pats will continually look to improve. They need to find that 'shut-down' corner of the future as well as well as a player they can groom to eventually take over the reins at strong safety.

The most glaring need on the Pats roster right now is at wide receiver. The Pats have Deion Branch, Troy Brown and Reche Caldwell as their number one, two and three receivers right now. Bam Childress and Bethel Johnson are also in the mix, along with a few other players that you probably would not recognize if they ran into you on the street.

That mix does not inspire a lot of confidence in me right now. Tom Brady is the focal point of the Pats offense and that means he's got to have somebody to throw the ball to. Branch is a good number one, but he will be double teamed like crazy if the Pats do not get a bona-fide #2 receiver to line up with him. I'm sure Troy Brown will be as reliable as ever and can always be counted on to make plays, but I am not sure he is a #2 receiver at this point. He is (and really always has been) more of a #3, slot-man. The rest of the guys on the list are relatively unknowns at this point. Aside from the fact that he was on Angela's fantasy team, (which actually inspires confidence in me that he's probably a decent player,) I know very little about Caldwell, the free agent who was brought in from San Diego.

I will be shocked if The Pats do not draft a wide-receiver this year. Frankly, I don't see how they can't.

Running back: The Pats have a good group of running backs but age and injuries could decimate this area of the team in the blink of an eye. The Patriots need to add some depth here. If Dillon is not able to perform again this year, The Pats have no-one that can step in to replace him right now.

Patrick Pass and Heath Evans did ok filling in last year, but the Pats need to find a real back up running back for Corey Dillon. I would love to see them find one of those diamond in the rough, Curtis Martin type picks in this year's draft, a running back who can come in and be part of a new foundation at this position, which has never truly been solid since the departure of Martin. (By the way, I predict Curtis will never win, or even play in a Super Bowl thanks to his good buddy Bill Parcells and his 'poison pill' contract... How's that workin' out for ya Curtis?)

So to sum up, yes, the Pats certainly have some holes to fill, but this is not what I would consider a 're-build' year, it is more of a re-tool and tweak year. With the bounty of draft picks The Pats have at their disposal, I'm sure a lot of those holes will be getting plugged up very soon.

IN BILL (and Scott) WE TRUST

Friday, April 21, 2006

Friday playlist...

Friday night and the wife's out with the kids on a pilgrimage to the mother-in-law's house. Nobody's home but me. That's a perfect excuse to play along with some loud music...

When She Begins - Social Distortion
Making Believe - Social Distortion
This Time Darlin - Social Distortion
Rough Boy - ZZ Top
Cumbersome - Seven Mary Three
Last Kiss - Pearl Jam (cover tune)
We Got the Beat - Go-Go's
Vacation - Go-Go's
Just Like Heaven - Dinosaur Jr. (originally by The Cure, but I like Dinosaur's version better)
Faithless - Social Distortion
Hatebreeders - The Misfits
Don't Take Me For Granted - Social Distortion
There Goes My Life - Kenny Chesney
Nobody's Fool - Cinderella
Skulls - The Misfits
Anything But Mine - Kenny Chesney
Footprints On My Ceiling - Social Distortion
Tell Me - Galaxie 500
Some Kinda Hate - The Misfits
Do You Wear The Mark - Danzig
The KKK Took My Baby Away - Ramones
Simple Man - Lynyrd Skynyrd
The Old Account - Johnny Cash
Death or Glory - The Clash
Ball and Chain - Social Distortion

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Thank Adam Stern...

Those pesky Devil Dogs are back.

Matt Clement pitched a very good game but despite the overall good outing from Clement, the D-Rays managed to stick around and keep things interesting as the game wore on.

Thank goodness for timely hitting on the part of the Red Sox to keep the Devil Dogs at bay.

To be honest, I was kind of in cruise mode during this game, watching out of the corner of my eye and doing other stuff. Things were back and forth but in the back of my mind I felt the Sox had this one in the bag the whole time.

When Papelbon came out, I said to myself, 'The Sox have the lead, Pap's on the mound, this one'll be over soon...'

Except it wasn't.

For the first time this season, Pap got himself into a big jam in the 9th, putting man after man on base and loading them up. The unpleasant thought of this game turning into Paplebon's first blown save started to creep into my mind. Thankfully a fly ball to center wound up leading to a game saving, diving catch by Adam Stern, scooping the ball up before it could hit the ground and clutching it in the end of his glove like ice cream of top of a cone.

Final result: 7-4, Boston. Whew!

Monday, April 17, 2006

An exciting finish on Patriots Day...

Today I was stuck and work and it looks like I missed out on a hell of a Sox game. Mark Loretta took on the hero's role today with a bottom of the 9th, 2 out, 2 run, game winning walk off homer. Damn. That would have been so cool to see!

During the course of the game, I checked in for an occasional update via CBS Sportsline but the computer generated experience leaves much to be desired compared to the real thing, especially when the score is going back and forth on the virtual score-board and you're dying to know what is happening in real life.

Getting the game updates via computer gives me a very disconnected feeling. My head tells me I should be excited, because there are obviously good things happening at the ballpark, but without any visual or audible connection to what is happening on the field, my heart does not get that adrenaline rush feeling of excitement when something happens. It's just full of anxiety and questions, "What's going on? What's going on? What's going on?? Come ON you stupid computer screen thing! Update already!!"

Well, there's always the highlights when I get home...

Since I'm on the subject of Patriots Day baseball, my first trip to Fenway happened to be a Patriots Day game and now every year on this day, I think back to my first visit to Fenway Park and my first live Red Sox game experience.

Here's the problem: I don't remember very much of it.

I don't remember who the Sox were playing that day, I don't remember who pitched or any of the players on the field. I don't even remember who won or lost. All I know is, I sat in the bleachers, The Sox were playing and I had way too many beers in me.

I also remember that I had a blast at the game, and I recall going out into the jammed streets of Boston afterwards to watch the marathon runners and to visit, then shortly thereafter get thrown out of, several nearby taverns... Ahh, youth.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Papel-balls

Watching Pap stare down batters with the rain coming down around him... Mesmerising. Especially going against Ichiro, (my favorite player who's not a Red Sox), getting the swinging strike and circling the mound... Letting the fury reign for a brief moment... That's the outlet after getting the big strike out. The right foot follows through and comes down and he circles the mound letting that smoldering intensity flame up and then burn off quick, reigning it in for the next batter... Papelbon of the 0.00 ERA. I fucking love that guy.

Rally cap needs some mojo...

Last night I flipped on the TV and put the Red Sox game on. It was 1-0 Sox.

I went upstairs to get the kids into bed and when I came back down it was 6-1 Jays and I was asking myself what the hell happened here? Is this a repeat of last nights game?

Unfortunately it was not a repeat, but it was more of the same from The Sox starting pitching, allowing the Jays to build up an early inning lead that would eventually prove insurmountable.

The Sox rallied in the late innings once again last night, but unfortunately, the early inning deficit proved too much to overcome. I had the rally cap on but it just did not have enough mojo in it to help the Sox get over the hump.

Thankfully, we have a stopper. My son's favorite player, 'Curt Shilly' is on the mound tonight versus my 'B' team, the Seattle Mariners...

Thursday, April 13, 2006

The Pink Hat Brigade has a new member...

No, it's not me... (wise-ass)

The other day, I got home from work and my kids were outside, enjoying a nice spring day. As I got out of my car, my daughter came running up to me and I was surprised to see that instead of wearing her 'batting practice' red and blue Sox cap, she had switched over to a (brace yourselves) pink Red Sox ball-cap.

"Daddy look at my new hat! It's pink!!

"It's very nice," I said. "I really like it!"

"I know, isn't it cool? See ya!" and off she went, running down the lawn (I wish I could harness that energy).

To be honest, I prefer the red and blue batting practice cap, but I'm not going to tell her that, and if it makes her happy to wear a pink Red Sox cap, that's all that matters to me.

I hope the Anti-Pink Sox Cap Gang will cut her some slack. After all, she is four and her favorite color happens to be pink. The thing that counts is not the color of the hat but the 'B' on the front right? And if you could see the way she can hit the ball off a T at her age, pink hat or no, the only thing you'd probably say about it would be some thing like, 'Wow that little girl in the pink Sox hat can really swing the bat!"

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

The good news we've been waiting for: Seymour is LOCKED IN

You like Apples? How about these apples: ESPN.com: Seymour, Pats agree to long-term contract extension.

Terms were not disclosed, but the article speculates that Seymour could retire in a Pats uniform. Fan-effin'-tastic!

This is great news for Patriot Nation. As we watched one big name after another leave the team at the beginning of free-agency, I had been hoping The Pats were behind the scenes at Foxboro working on a deal with Seymour. It's good to see that hopeful thought realized.

Maybe we will soon hear a similar story regarding Dion Branch's contract as well. Fingers are crossed.

IN BELICHICK WE TRUST

Some thoughts on The Pats recent signings...

So the Pats were busy last week (for them anyway), signing four players. None of them are big name, break the bank type players, but all of them are solid and, with the obvious exception of Gramatica, will provide good depth in the secondary, an area that has continually been snake-bit with injuries for the past several years.

I expect all of these players will mainly be special teams contributors, but that should not be considered any kind of slight towards them. Anyone that's followed the Pats during Belichick's reign knows that Special Teams are not an area that is considered any less important than Offense or Defense. All three phases count in The Pats system.

The most recent signings were Tebucky Jones and Martin Gramatica. I've gotten the general impression that people are 'down' on these two signings and I don't really see why.

I'll talk about my thoughts on Gramatica first. I get the impression that people are somehow expecting the Patriots to just go out and replace Adam Vinatieri. Well, that can't be done, so I think bringing in Gramatica is a good move. Prior to his injury, he was a very good kicker with good distance and accuracy. He is supposedly fully recovered from his injury and now will get a shot with to resurrect his career with The Pats. That story sounds kind of familiar... Frankly I like Gramatica over Paul Edinger.

I expect The Pats will also bring in a rookie kicker to camp and let the two players battle it out for the position. Who knows, they could even bring in a player from NFL Europe to add to the compitition as well...

The other player signed recently, Tebucky Jones, has come under a lot of derisive talk as well. Why are people so down on Tebucky Jones? He is an exceptional special teams player and is a quality safety as well. He is a former starter for the Pats, who is familiar with their defense, and if we get bit by the injury bug again, Tebucky will provide The Pats with a very good backup at the safety position.

I am not trying to convince anybody that Tebucky is the perfect player, and I know all about his tendency to occasionally whiff on tackles, but I'm not expecting him to replace Rodney Harrison (who will be back this year). He is a special teams guy and a backup and I think he fits in well in his intended role. If we start losing players in the defensive backfield again, I'd rather see Tebucky back there than Artrell Hawkins or Gus Scott. I think Tebucky may still be carrying the stigma of the failed experiment playing at corner under Pete Carroll. When he moved over to his natural position at safety, he showed an immediate improvement. He was a very good player when he was with the Saints as well. Stop dissing Tebucky.

Earlier in the week The Pats had signed Mel Mitchell. I don't have a huge amount to say about this signing that's not already been talked about in the papers and the article I linked to. He's a good special teams guy and provides depth in the secondary.

Finally, Eric Warfield, from K.C., another decent corner, not a guy that makes you jump up and down in excitement over the signing, but a good addition that ads depth in the secondary where we need it.

The Pats also kept one of their own, signing cornerback Randall Gay today. Hopefully he (along with everyone else back there) can stay healthy this year.

With all the guys The Pats have brought in to provide depth in the secondary, I'm hoping this will be the year we will see Troy Brown spend the entire season focusing on offense.

I will admit to being pretty freaked out several weeks ago after seeing Adam and Willie leave The Pats for other teams, but I have settled down at this point. The draft is only a few weeks away and the Patriots are loaded with picks. That is the area where the Pats have always tried to build the team and I am looking forward to seeing who The Pats will get in the draft this year. I'm sure the free agent signings are not done either.

There's still a long way to go between now and the opening game in Sept.

IN BELICHICK WE STILL TRUST

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Rules? What rules?

File this one under: What a Tool...

ESPN: Reggie Bush wants the NFL to let him wear number 5.

The arrogance of this guy... After the NFL denies Bush's request, I hope he's then forced by the league to wear the number zero or even better, double zero.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Pats schedule thoughts...

After the brutality of last year's Patriots schedule, this year's schedule is much more reasonable. There is a long way to go and a lot of stuff that will happen between now and the start of the NFL season, but here are my worthless thoughts with a look at this seasons games anyway.

Sep 10 Buffalo 1:00pm - The Pats will be opening up the season at home against the Bills. It's always good to start at home with your own crowd behind you. The Bills are one of those teams where the record does not matter for the Pats. They are always tough.

Sep 17 @N.Y. Jets 4:15pm - The Jets are going to be starting in their first year with their new head coach, Eric Mangini, who, while he was a fine defensive coordinator (for all of one year), has zero head coaching experience. This will be an interesting game. Normally I would say the Pats roll in this one due to the coaching factor, but Eric has a little inside information that may throw a little twist into this one. I still see this one as a win for The Pats.

Sep 24 Denver 8:15pm - A home vengeance game against The Broncos on Sunday Night Football. Realizing it's way too early for predictions in a game like this, I'll pick the Pats, for the incredibly logical reason of, 'because'.

Oct 1 @Cincinnati 4:15pm - I know I've said this before and I will say it again: 4:00 games rock. Cincy is not a pushover team anymore. This one will depend on the health of Cincy's quarterback, Carson Palmer. This should be a fun game, either way.

Oct 8 Miami 1:00pm - Miami comes to New England in early October and the weather should be fantastic, unless it is rainy or something. Either way, there won't be any snow. I'm sure they Fish are very grateful.

Week 6 BYE - The bye week comes at a pretty good time. Almost right in the middle of the schedule. Nice.

Oct 22 @Buffalo 1:00pm - Just as Miami should be happy to be heading to N.E. in Oct, I am also happy to be heading to Buffalo in October. Buffalo is always a crazy place to play late in the year, with the snow and the wind. I'd rather head up there when the weather is decent.

Oct 30 @Minnesota 8:30pm - Dome team in dissarray. Nuff said.

Nov 5 Indianapolis 8:15pm - Indy comes to N.E. The NFL just wants to keep giving the Pats opportunities to beat up on Peyton Manning in prime time I guess. I think the 'Greatest QB in the History of Football' luster is finally gone from Manning after last season. It'll be interesting to see Adam's reception at the Razor with a horse-shoe on his helmet.

Nov 12 N.Y. Jets 1:00pm - Jets at home. With more than half a season behind Magini to 'settle in' as head coach, it will be interesting to see the difference in the Jets at this point in the season compared to our initial meeting in game 2.

Nov 19 @Green Bay 1:00pm - Has Brett Farve made his decision on wether to retire or not yet? Geez... Pats at Lambeau. This should be a fun game. And, once again, I can't help but notice that we will be playing a cold weather team in the fairly mild month of November. Fantastic.

Nov 26 Chicago 1:00pm - Chicago comes to Foxboro. This should be another fun game. The Pats are playing some cool teams that they have not seen in a long time this year. When was the last time Chicago was in Foxboro? I can't even remeber... I still want vengeance for SB XX.

Dec 3 Detroit 1:00pm - As we enter December, we head inside to a dome to play a, well, let's just be honest, a team that's not very good. Of course, there's always the 'Any Given Sunday' factor, but I think The Pats should win this one.

Dec 10 @Miami 1:00pm - December 10 and we're in Miami. This is more of a favor for Miami than The Pats, but I don't think you'll hear any loud complaining in Foxboro either. I think the AFC East will be a battle between The Pats and Miami this year, so this will be a key game for both teams.

Dec 17 Houston 1:00pm - A warm weather / dome team heads up to N.E. for a nice cold December game. Welcome to The RAZOR Houston.

Dec 24 @Jacksonville 1:00pm - And once again, we head south, this time for a rematch with Jax. This one will be tough. Jax will have revenge on their minds for last year's playoff loss and both teams will be making a playoff push at this point in the year.

Dec 31 @Tennessee 1:00pm - David Givens will be wearing the flaming thumb-tack on his head, but will we miss him at this point in the year or will we will be saying David who? We'll see. New Years Eve. Let's kick the New Year celebration off right with a Pats win. Sounds good.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Pats 2006 schedule now available

The Pats Schedule is here! The Pats Schedule is here!! WOOO!!

There. I got all excited. Happy now NFL?

New England Patriots 2006 Team Schedule

Dissection to follow later...

KEEP THE FAITH

2 out of 3 ain't bad...

Coming off an ugly loss to Texas on Tue, I was hoping to see Josh Beckett come out and blow people away on Wednesday night. While that did not exactly happen, he put up a hell of a fight and got stronger as the innings wore on. I liked Beckett's intensity and the 'no quit' attitude and you're not going to hear me complain about giving up only one run during the game, that is for sure.

Timlin came out in the 8th and gave us a scare, putting a bunch of guys on base and bouncing one past Tek to advance runners, but like Beckett, he was able to bear down and get 'er done, (with a little help from Texas 3rd base coach, Steve Smith, doing his best Dale Sveum imitation in waving home an obviously surprised Mark Teixeira.)

Jon Paplebon, who is quickly becoming my new favorite player on the Red Sox, came out in the 9th and was like, 'enough of this shit. 1, 2, 3 and we're outta here boyz. We will be having none of this ground out, pop-up, relying on our defense crap. Expect no contact muthas. The only place this ball is going to wind up is in Tek's glove...'

I had some serious hetero man-love goin' for Pap as one batter after another came up to take huge a swing at a ball that had already gone by them. I love the controlled intensity of Paplebon and his 'no fear' stare, and I love how that intensity seems to boil over after he gets a strike out and he circles the mound to reign it back in for the next victim.

The end result, 2-1 Sox and we're off to Fenway South in Baltimore. Nice.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

The Best of Both Worlds...

If you've got a spiffy Intel based Mac, you can now install and run Windows XP on your machine, thanks to this new software release from Apple called, Boot Camp. This is very, very cool. One computer can do it all.

Now, if you could run XP on top of OS X, that would really be cool. Maybe in a few years when I'm ready to trade in 'ol reliable, (PowerBook G4,) they'll have that working too.  (Holy fuck do I feel like a geek right now. Nerd alert!)

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Opening Day thoughts and indoctrination techniques...

Just a few quick thoughts on Opening Day:

The game tracker of choice at work is CBS SportsLine. The graphics are very well done and it provides a lot of good information. One thing that was interesting was this thing they have called the glog. Basically it's somebody live blogging the game. Nice gig...

It was good to 'see' Shilling come out and dominate. I think he's out to prove something this year. Paplebon was impressive as well. Foulke was shaky. I'm not one of those people that's going to jump all over him right off the bat, but he needs to show that he's got his shit together fairly quickly. Luckily The Sox had a big lead in the game, so no harm done, but if that was a one or two run game... Nuff said there.

Earlier tonight I finally broke the news to the kids that Johnny Damon is now a Yankee. Johnny was their favorite baseball player... They seemed to take the news well. My daughter still wanted to root for Johnny, but my wife suggested she root for Big Poppi instead.

"What does Big Poppi do?"

"He hits baseballs out of the ballpark. He hits lots of home runs."

She had to think about it, but after a few minutes she seemed to be ok with that. My daughter is 'the hitter' of the crew. She likes to hit balls off of a T and she takes it very seriously. If I tell her that she had a nice hit when she only got a peice of the ball, or hit the T, she's all, "No Dad, that wasn't a good one," so I think that might be part of the reason she was able to make the switch over to Ortiz.

My son liked Damon a lot too, but he took the news a little easier. He likes to throw the ball so he is a Shilling fan. "Is Curt Shilly still on the team?"

"Yup!"

"I like Curt Shilly!"

"Good. He is a pitcher. He throws the ball."

"I'm going to root for Shilly."

"OK"

My daughter asked, "Who does Johnny play for now?"

"The Yankees."

"We don't like them. They are stinky."

"That's right, they are."

"Just like The Steelers, right Dad?"

"RIGHT."

After the big sister and brother went to bed, I sat with my baby daughter and watched a little of tonight's Sox game while she drank her bottle. It has not been a good game to watch as your first Red Sox game, ever. I told her, "Don't worry, tomorrow they'll be better..."

She gave me a look, as if to say, "Ok Dad. If you say so," and headed off to sleep.

Monday, April 03, 2006

It's on

According to the Red Sox schedule magnet that's stuck on my refrigerator, in a few hours, there'll be some Red Sox baseball.

If you're going to be stuck at work and you're on a Mac, you'll need this. If you're on Windows, you'll need this.

If you're going to be in a bar, sipping a beer, eating wings and watching the game live, blow me.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Recent observations...

Noticed recently:

File under - Protect me from myself:
New software recently released for the latest iPods now has a setting that allows you to set the maximum volume for the device. I don't really have a problem with that and I guess it could actually be a pretty handy setting, but I have to wonder, is it really necessary?

How about this for an idea: if you think your music is playing too loudly, just turn down the volume. I know, call me crazy!

Oh wait, that would mean you might have to take some personal responsibility for your own actions. Never mind.

File under - Football Geek:
Speaking of the iPod, I've been listening to the Patriots PodCast over the last week or so and I have to give it an enthusiastic thumbs up! It's no secret that I can't stand Boston Sports Talk Radio, so The Pats Podcast has been a great find for me. Get it on iTunes.

File under - Nerdery:
While at work, I've seen people goofing off in a variety of ways, from playing solitaire, to shoot-em-up video games, to just plain sleeping at their desk. I'm certainly not perfect myself and have been known to occasionally waste valuable company time and resources goofing around on the internets.

My personal goof-off sin involves Bloglines. I go there several times a day to check for updates to people's sites. It's not like I'm spending hours there or anything like that but, let's face it, the less time spent wasting time at work, the better. That is where this handy little Konfabulator widget comes in. It displays the most recent Bloglines site updates right there on the desktop. Very cool! (And free. Bonus!) "This'll put you in solid with your boss..."

1st Baseball Post: 5 reasons why the Yankees will win the A.L. Pennant

Reason #1: They have one of the best if not the best pitching staff in baseball. Two words: Randy Johnson.

Reason #2: They have the best shortstop in the game in Derek Jeter.

Reason #3: A-ROD breaks out this year and finally claims his unfulfilled championship destiny as a NY Yankee.

Reason #4: Johnny Damon is the best lead off hitter in the game, and now that he's cut his hair, he'll be even faster on the baselines.

Reason #5:
APRIL FOOLS!!

Ok. I know. That was an easy one. Did I get ya? Yeah. Didn't think so, but it was fun anyway. The Yankees win the A.L. Pennant this year...Phhht! Hah!

This morning I tried to explain to my kids the concept of April Fools Day:

"Here's what you do. When Mommy comes downstairs, tell her something like, 'we don't want any jellybeans for Easter'.

They gave me a befuddled look and said, 'Nnnoooo Dad, we do want jellybeans on Easter!'

'No, you're not getting it,' I said. 'It's a trick. It's not real, you're just playing a silly joke on somebody. So when Mommy comes down, say something like, 'I want some carrots for breakfast'.

'But Dad, we want waffles for breakfast, not carrots!'

Forging onward, I tried to explain again, 'You guys are not getting it, April Fools is a joke, you don't really mean it.'

'A joke?'

'Yeah'

'Okaay. Dad, why was six afraid of seven?'

'Why?'

'Because seven ate nine!'

I give up.

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