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Thursday, July 27, 2006

PUP Me...

Camp has not even started and the Pats have 10 guys on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. THE HELL??

On the List:
WR Bam Childress, CB Randall Gay, S Rodney Harrison, WR Chad Jackson, T Nick Kaczur, C Dan Koppen, RB Patrick Pass, LS Lonie Paxton, DL Richard Seymour and DL Johnathan Sullivan.

How the hell can all these guys be hurt?? I mean, Harrison, yeah I know, he's still recouping from his injury, but come on!! How the fuck can Chad Jackson be hurt already? Richard Seymour? What the hell happened to him that he's on the PUP list?

I am at a loss.

Oh and LB Chad Brown is back on the team. Whoop.

Go Pats

In Belichick We Trust

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Shout out to Lushy, YO! Pats camp tomorrow! YO!

What's up 'yall. I know. Folks from Massachusetts are not supposed to say, 'yall, but hey I live out in the sticks, well, the Massachusetts sticks... Whatever that is. For what it's worth, there are 3 dairy / beef / buffalo farms within 3 miles of my house. Anyway..

I wanted to send out a quick thanks to Lushy over at Such a Pretty Face for sharing that cool NFL opening day countdown that's over there in my sidebar with me. Thanks Lushy!

I am now officially off for the weekend. I'm taking Friday and Monday off to enjoy some hot July weather before it's gone.

Tomorrow I'm taking the fam down to Foxboro to take in some real live foosball. Well, real live foosball practice that is. My kids are all excited to go down and see Patriots Training Camp: Day 1. They've already got their Tom Brady jerseys all laid out and ready to go for tomorrow. I think this is going to be fun. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm hoping to get some good pics while I'm at the Pats Training Camp and maybe I can get an autograph or two, or maybe I can make eye-contact with Coach Belichick. Hey you never know. Anything can happen.

I was going to bring my whistle and bull-horn with me too. I was thinking maybe I could help out the coaches, you know, yelling at the players through my bull-horn and blowing my whistle.

ALL RIGHT YOU GUYS TIME FOR SOME UP-DOWNS!! UP!! DOWN!! UP!! DOWN!!

But, then I did some thinking and decided that might not go over well...

That's tomorrow. I'll tell you all about it later.

Earlier this evening I made my Wife a Pina Colata. I had never made one before but I followed the directions and I thought it came out ok, but when I gave it too her she kind of smiled weakly at me and said, 'um. that's good.'

'What's wrong with it?'

'Nothing. It's good.'

'No it's not. When I make you a good drink you're all excited and, "MMMMMM THATS GOOOOD!"'

'Well...'

I took it back and put more rum in it. Cruzan rum. From the Virgin Islands. The greatest place on Earth. But more rum didn't fix it. So I tried more pineapple and more cocoa-nut milk. Still no go. Then my Wife took the pineapple and looked at the can. Expiration: 2004. Maybe that's it.

'Gimme that. I'll drink it. You want a Mango Margarita?'

'MMMMM THATS GOOOD!!'

That's more like it.

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Branch ad-nauseum, Sox lose, Yanks win...

Expect to hear daily reports on Deion Branch's holdout as the press does everything in it's power to whip Patriots fans into a frenzy about the situation.

Link: BostonHerald.com - N.E. Patriots: Agent: Branch wants fair treatment.

I gotta admit, Deion not being at camp does bug me. The Patriots internal rule of not discussing pretty much anything at all with anybody outside of the organization can be a double edged sword sometimes.

There's no denying the Patriots' information clampdown policy is a good thing for the team, but with situations like Deion's hold out and Maroney's contract, I can't help but wonder what's going on. Are the two sides talking? Are they close to making a deal? Are they not talking at all? What's going on? We'll never know. That's just the way it is with The Patriots.

After taking the first two games against the A's, The Sox lost yesterday's series finale.

I have not watched any of the last few West Coast games. 10 PM is just too late for me to start watching a ball game, so every morning for the last few days, I'd wake up and check the scores.

I'd see the Sox had won, 'YES!' Then I'd see the MFY had also won, 'DAMMIT!'

Last night I actually watched the end of the Texas / MFY game to see if the Yankees would lose.

My wife was flabbergasted. 'This isn't even the Red Sox. Why are we watching this?'

'The Sox lost today so I want to see if the Yankees will lose. COME ON TEXAS!'

'Well I'm not watching this. This is ridiculous,' she said.

Of course, the Yankees did not lose as I had hoped they would. Texas had them on the ropes in the late innings but could not close the deal and the Yanks wound up gaining ground on The Sox in the standings.

The Sox just can't seem to put any distance between themselves and the Yankees, but, that's the way it always is I guess.

Even though I keep telling myself not to, it seems I've become fixated on the AL East standings. That is not good. I have a hard time letting go once I've become fixated on something. Dammit.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Branch plans no-show for Camp

Looks like Deion Branch is going to crank this little contract dispute he's been having with the Pats up a notch. He plans to miss the start of Patriots training camp, and will not be joining the team until the contract issue is resolved.

As a fan, if there's one thing thing I don't like, about sports in general, not just The Patriots, it's reading about squabbles over contracts and money.

Branch is going to try and play a little hard-ball with The Pats. Fine (pun intended). The Patriots don't generally cave in to this kind of tactic, but Branch does have the team at a bit of a disadvantage here. The Patriots don't have an especially potent group of receivers at the moment. Yes, they have rookie Chad Jackson, but to me, he does not count as a known quantity yet. Jackson has shown there is a lot of potential there, but he has yet to play a down of actual NFL football. Bethel Johnson had a lot of potential too...

The bottom line is, the Pats are thin at receiver and are going to need Branch to play this year. The team could take the stubborn route and continue on without him, and I would not put it past them to do so, but hopefully this contract issue will get worked out quickly, a-la Richard Seymour's previous situation. I'm sure that Branch is thinking the exact same thing, 'Hey it worked for Big Sey'.

Maybe for now, The Pats will take the same approach with Branch that they did with Seymour. Throw him a bone to make him happy and get him to Camp, then work out a long term deal afterwords.

Either way, training camp is going to start on Friday, with or without Branch's presence, and with Deion holding out and rookie running back Laurence Maroney as of yet unsigned, this will open the door for other players to get some reps. I'm sure Corey Dillon will not be upset if he does not have to share time with Maroney for the first few days of camp.

Until Branch gets his new contract, I expect to hear a lot of, "I can only comment on the guys that are here," quotes from Coach Belichick, but I think both sides know that the team is better with Branch on the field, not sitting at home paying fines and getting pissed off.

Let's hope this contract talk ends quickly and we can get back to talking about what's happening on the field, not off it.

In Belichick We Trust

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Thank God for Columbian Supremo...

Thoughts that went through my head today as I sat through one of the most boring training sessions ever in the history of man:

'Thank goodness they refilled the Columbian Supremo coffee in the break room'

'Boy there's a lot of lines and circles on that diagram. I have no idea what any of that means. Guess I shouldn't have stopped paying attention two hours ago.'

'I'm in acronym hell. How does anybody remember all these damn acronyms? Fuck I hate acronyms. WTF.'

'Elisha Cuthbert is hot'

'I wonder how much I could get for the old freezer in my basement'

'I gotta pee'

'Have the Pats signed Laurence Maroney yet?'

'I'm not going to remember any of this next week'

'Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake...'

'Is it 4:00 yet?'

Monday, July 24, 2006

Great Googily-Moogily. Law signs with K.C...

Ty Law and the K.C. Chefs, I mean, Chiefs, made the news official today after Law passed a physical for the team. He signed a 5 year, 30 million dollar contract with K.C. Of course, at age 32, it will remain to be seen if he will actually collect on all 5 years worth of that contract.

Personally, I would have liked to have seen Ty Law back in a Patriots uniform this year, so I will admit to being disappointed by the news that he had signed with K.C., but I was not under the delusion that he would come back to The Patriots for the same sentimental reasons that I wanted him back, to take ownership of several team records and to finish out his career with The Pats. I knew from the start of free-agency that it would be the team that offered Law the largest amount of dollars that would acquire his services.

I'm sure Ty will do very well out in K.C. with their new Head Coach, Herm Edwards, and with Law playing alongside a quality cornerback in Patrick Surtain, I'm sure the K.C. defense will be much more formidable this year than it has been in years past.

On paper right now, K.C. has a pretty good looking team.

Thankfully in the NFL, the games are played on grass, not paper.

Meanwhile, my team, (yes, that's right, it's MINE,) The Patriots, are heading into Training Camp this week. Camp starts this Friday and the last time I checked, The Pats have 3 draft picks remaining to be signed. No worries. History has shown the distain that Coach Belichick holds for rookies who show up late to camp due to contract issues. I'll be surprised if the last three players, including 1st rounder Laurence Maroney, are not signed by the time camp starts on Friday.

While we're on the subject of wether some people (Deion Branch, cough! cough!) will showing up to camp on time or not, I noticed this tidbit today. It seems the NFL has increased the maximum daily fine for players who are under contract and fail to report to camp. As stated in the article, the amount of the fine has nearly tripled, going from 5,000 to 14,000 dollars a day.

Maybe some players (Deion Branch, couggh! Sorry! Something in my throat,) will be thinking twice about holding out this year. Hopefully Branch will be at Camp and there won't be any problems, but what I'd really like to see is the whole issue with Branch's contract situation put to rest once and for all.

I can tell you one person who won't be holding out at the start of the Pats Training Camp this Friday, ME!

I'm planning on heading down to Foxboro for the afternoon camp session on Friday and I'm going to bring my kids with me. Yes, I am going to shamefully use my children as bait to attract players and get their autographs and pictures.

Lets face it, no football player can resist a cute baby all decked out in a Patriots outfit, spit-up or no spit-up.

Just plain beat...

Usually throughout the day, as things happen to me or as I read about events that occur with the Patriots or Red Sox, I think, hey, that would be a good subject for a post on the site.

Or maybe I'll think of some cool idea for a graphic that I could work on for my site banner.

But then, by the time I'm home from work and everything is settled down in the house, it's after 8:30 and I am just beat. I don't want to think about stuff, I don't want to do anything. I just want to sit and do nothing bug veg out on the couch.

Take tonight for example: I was planning to write a little about the Pats, since training camp starts up this week, but when I rolled up the driveway this evening, my wife pulled in right behind me with a car-load of groceries to be put away. While we were getting all that done, we discovered a bottle of corn syrup had somehow opened up and run all down the inside of the cabinet, making a sticky, glue-like mess, so I had to clean that up. Ug what a mess. Then it was time to cook dinner, then clean up after dinner and finally, after battling with them to eat a single pea and a single carrot, it was time to get the kids into bed.

Now it's almost 9:00. Whew. I feel old and tired. Maybe I'll just sit and relax for a little while and if I feel better I'll try and bang something out later... If not, well, you'll know I was at least thinking of writing something!

Update:
After I wrote the above post I made myself a whiskey and ice and sat on the front porch swing with my Wife and watched the sunset. We saw a shooting star and tried to figure out some of the constellations and wether a planet that we were looking at was Venus or not. Neither of us knew if Venus came out in the day or in the night, (maybe both?) so we were not sure which planet we were looking at. Either way, it was nice.

Friday, July 21, 2006

West coast baby. Pretty Cool Huh?

Anybody out there every had Reiner beer? Awesome stuff. Ok. It's the West Coast equivalent of Budwieser. But still. I don't care. I love it. Is it still around? I can't seem to find any references to it in google. What's up with that?

Earlier:
10 PM

Wife: What, is the game just staring now?

Me: Yeah, they're playing in Seattle.

Wife: Well I'm not staying up for this.

Me: I probably won't either...

And yet, here I am, still watching the game, wondering if I should grab another beer out of the fridge. At 11 PM.

Tek just hit a home run to make it 4-0, Sox. That is good because the AA starter on the mound for The Sox will need all the help he can get tonight.

So, while you're here, what's goin' on? Happy Reward Friday.

How about Shea Hillenbrand and his little tirade up in Toronto? Remember when he was considered 'un-tradeable' by many in Red Sox Nation? Till all of a sudden he got traded for pitcher Bun Yun Kim, who did nothing but irritate me... and Hillenbrand called Theo 'A Fag' on the way out of Boston. Hmm. I wonder what Shea called the guys up in Toronto? Dumb-Ass.

I was watching 'NFL Tonight' on ESPN earlier this evening and they did a feature on Tedy Bruschi and the day he spent with a young boy from the 'Make a Wish' foundation who had lived through a heart condition very similar to Tedy's.

Tedy had him down to Foxboro and gave him the grand tour of Gillette Stadium, with a locker all decked out for him, uniform, pads, helmet, a game ball, the Lombardi Trophy.. everything. Bruschi had this young boy run out onto the field through the big football helmet, run down the field for a touchdown, dude, he gave this little kid the works, the fucking works.

I gotta say, Tedy Bruschi made me cry. Watching how happy he made that little kid with all the stuff he did for him, I was all misty and choked up. Somebody punch me in the arm, quick.

Tedy Bruschi is the best. '54'

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Sox take win. No wondering, 'What If...'

Shilling was not dominant but he was good enough to get the job done for the The Red Sox, who got the win today, 6-4 over The Texas Rangers. That was good to see. I got out of work just in time to hear the bottom of the 9th inning on the radio as I drove home, so at least I got to catch at least some of the game.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that Wake is going on the DL due to a stress fracture in his ribs. He will probably be out for a month. David Wells is close to returning but he is probably 2, maybe 3 weeks away. The Sox are going to have a rough stretch these next few weeks, playing Seattle and Oakland with a patched up pitching staff. Strap in and hold on tight.

I actually watched some of the new NESN TV show, 'What If...' tonight. I did not see the whole thing but I caught the last 40 minutes or so. This was the first episode and in this particular show, they focused on Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS between the Red Sox and Yankees, and what might have happened if Pedro Martinez had been lifted in the 8th inning.

I will admit, the outcome of the show was interesting, if not surprising, and I have to say, it did feel kind of nice, in a soothing sort of way, to see Pedro taken out of the game in the 8th, as he should have been. It was kind of like, vindication, or something. I don't know how to explain it. Too bad it did not happen in real life, but hey, that's the way it is. (What a philosopher, eh?)

It looks like they have some other interesting scenarios planned for this show, such as what if Bledsoe had played in the Superbowl instead of Brady, what if Belichick had remained as Head Coach of the NY Jets, Cam Neely had not been hurt, stuff like that.

Hmm. Some of these questions I don't want to know the answer to.

Red Sox vs. Rangers. Let's Go Sox!

In order to help the Sox get the win today vs. the Rangers, I'm trying to pitch in any way I can, so I've got the Sox t-shirt, Sox socks and other Red Sox related garments on. Good Karma baby, good Karma!

Something tells me this is going to turn out to be an important game today. I am not sure what it is, maybe it's just the oatmeal I had for breakfast, but I feel like this could be one of those 'key' games that come up throughout the season. Or maybe it's just that the close proximity of the Yankees to the Sox in the standings has me all on edge.

The MFY have a 4 game set against a tough Toronto team this weekend, while the Sox are going to be taking the long flight out West to play Seattle. Maybe the Sox can put a little distance between themselves and the Yankees by the time Monday rolls around again.

I need to keep reminding myself not to get all caught up in the standings already, but I find I'm already thinking about what's going to have to happen to make the playoffs this year. With the way things are in the A.L. Central, a Wild Card berth is looking like it will be very difficult for The Sox to attain this year. Of course, it would be nice to win the Division for once and not have to worry about getting the Wildcard, but there's still a lot of baseball to be played before that outcome is decided. 

For now, Shill is on the Hill today and as we all know,


(AP)

Curt's The Man.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Taking the good with the bad...

By the time this afternoon's game had ended, I did not even realize it was a whole new game that had been played, since my computer's scoreboard checker did not change from the 'Red Sox 1, KC 0' it had been displaying from last night.

The good news, The Sox got the win and the MFY lost, giving us a 1.5 game cushion. There's a long way to go in this season so I don't want to start getting fixated on the standings just yet.

The Sox have a difficult game on tap tomorrow, a make-up with Texas in the afternoon before flying out to Seattle to play the Mariners. Thankfully Shill is on the hill, so I am confident that he and The Sox will get it done tomorrow.

They've got a killer cross-country trip once the game ends though and that will be tough.

There is word on the street that Wake has a stress fracture in his rib (thanks to Beth for the link). That is bad news. The Sox have yet to confirm this info. I'm going to knock on wood (a.k.a. my head) and hope for the best here.

David Wells seems like he's just about ready to return to the rotation. I'm not his biggest fan, but the sooner he can get back, the better. He should bring some duct tape and a ball of string with him. You never know when The Sox are going to need it with all of the injuries to our pitching staff lately.

Cast your vote for the Best Heavy Metal Album Ever!

Cullen over at Half a Pica Distance wants to know which album people think is the Best Heavy Metal Album, ever! His readers threw their faves into a big pile and now it's time to vote for your favorite:

The one poll to unite them: The Best Heavy Metal Album Ever!

These polls are fun to do and it's all just for fun, so bang your head over to Cullen's site and cast a vote!

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Fun with music...

Stolen from Michele and Turtle, who stole it from Pril, who stole it from somebody else.. Either way, it's fun!

Step 1) Pick a band or singer
Step 2) Answer the questions using only song titles
Step 3) Post

Artist - Ozzy:

Are you male or female?: Mr. Crowley

Describe yourself: Believer

How do some people feel about you?: Diary of a Madman

How do you feel about yourself?: I Don't Know

Describe what you want to be.: Flying High Again

Describe your current mood: Revelation

Describe your friends.: Over The Mountain

Share a few words of wisdom.: You Can't Kill Rock and Roll

Dougie to the rescue, again!

It was good to see the Sox get the win last night. I think if we had lost to KC last night, I might have had a minor Red Sox meltdown.

I have to admit though, I did not watch most of the game. After we got the kids into bed and got the dishes and everything else in the house squared away last night, by the time I got a chance to check the score in the game, it was 4-0 KC. Not good.

I watched a little bit of the game but I could feel my Red Sox Annoyance Level beginning to rise, so my Wife and I decided to switch over to a different channel and watch a movie, 'Die Hard With A Vengeance'. Yes, it's a bit of a ridiculous movie, but it's entertaining. There are lots of explosions and car chases, which I like.

After Bruce Willis had taken out the last bad guy and uttered his final, one-liner joke, I switched back to the Red Sox / KC game. I was expecting to be aggravated by the score, but instead I was happily surprised to see the Sox had taken the lead in the late innings and went on to win the game.

Yippee-Ka-Yay Mutherfucker. 

Even better, the Sox comeback victory was mainly due to a game-tying Monster Shot from Doug Mirabelli. Doug is one of my favorite players on the team. He catches Wake, which is wicked haahd, and he takes his at-bats bare-handed, and that is cool.

Of course, on the flip side, Wake seems to be hurt and the Yankees won their game vs Seattle, so they are still right on the heels of the Red Sox in the standings. Hopefully, Wake's back will be ok with some rest, and with a little help from Seattle, maybe The Sox can gain a little ground in the standings tonight.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Mission Impossible: Best Metal Song, Best Punk Album, ever!

It's Monday, its incredibly nice out, at least where I am, and I am at work trying not to spend the entire day continually checking these two, insanely impossible polls:

Cullen over at Half a Pica Distance is trying to find out what song is 'The Best Metal Song Ever!' Anything and everything is being accepted, from Poison to Slayer, meaning this poll going to be completely out of control, (but fun!) so get over there and put in your suggestions.

Michele and Turtle, over at Faster Than The World, have, with the help of their readers, narrowed the best punk albums from the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s down to 5 picks.  Now they are letting readers decide which one is the best of all, so be sure to go vote over and vote for your favorite.

The time-wasting potential here is endless.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Does anyone in Red Sox Nation really wonder, 'What If?'

NESN has been plugging the heck out of their upcoming show, 'What If...', which is purportedly going to answer the question, 'what would have happened if Grady Little had not left Pedro on the mound in Game 7 of the '03 ALCS'.

The ads for this show have been seemingly non-stop. I even heard a promo for it on the radio today, while waiting for the Sox vs A's game to start.

The ads for this show have finally gotten to the point where they are now getting under my skin and I have to wonder, has somebody somewhere at NESN decided that Red Sox Nation is just too happy and content after finally winning the World Series in 04, so they need to stir up some shit and get us all irritated and annoyed by dredging up the outcome of the '03 ALCS and what 'might have happened'?

Does anybody that watched that game really wonder what would have happened? I mean, come on, we all know what would have happened. Why do you think we were all so god-damm pissed off after the game!?

The Sox were up 5-2 in the 8th. Pedro had barely escaped the 7th, and it was obvious to everyone watching the game that he was cooked. I remember watching that game, thinking, 'just get through the 7th and you're done Pedro. Just get through the 7th...' and when he finally did manage to get out of the inning, I felt great. Timlin would be coming in next. We were almost there.

The tandem of Timlin and Williamson had grown to become sure-fire nails for the 8th and 9th innings. Everybody in the entirety of RSN was expecting to see Timlin come in for the bottom of the 8th and I was nothing less than shocked when I saw Pedro come back out for the 8th inning. I remember thinking, 'what is he doing going back out there? Grady, what the hell are you doing here?'

As the 8th inning wore on, I remember I actually felt the presence of 'The Curse', (or whatever you want to call it).

I was not one of those people that went around saying, 'they're cursed, The Sox are cursed,' and I did not go around blaming all of the team's misfortune over the years on that ridiculous 'Curse', but as I watched in disbelief and horror as the 8th inning of that game unfolded, I literally felt it. I could feel the hair on my neck go up. I could not believe what I was watching was happening. It almost did not seem real, like it was some kind of bad dream that you could not wake up from but it was real. What I was seeing was actually really happening. Not only was Pedro in the game in the 8th, but Grady was leaving him in. On purpose. Intentionally. With Timlin's killer arm wasting away in the 'pen, just sitting there waiting to go.

I swear to God could actually feel the presence of that fucking Curse as I watched the Red Sox 5-2 lead wither away and die.

Earlier in the game, my wife had decided she had had enough. She had escaped the insanity and had gone upstairs, leaving me alone to watch the game. I remember pacing around my living room by myself talking to the TV. 'Doesn't he (Grady) know what's on the line? What is he trying to do, help Pedro feel better about himself? It's a little bit late for that kind of stuff now! Timlin in the 8th, Williamson in the 9th, God-Dammit!! Timlin in the 8th, Williamson in the 9th!! GET PEDRO OUT!! GET HIM THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!!'

Here is an extract from an unpublished journal that I kept in 03. Here is part of what I wrote during that game:

Title: Tension and Relief

Abstract: Top of the 8th... ALCS

Body: Tension... and Relief. Tension... and Relief. Relief! As David Ortiz hits a home run off David Wells to make the score 5-2 Red Sox in the top of the 8th. A little breathing room with Timmlan coming up.

When the Yankees are at bat, it is tension. Waiting for Pedro to throw strikes. Hoping nobody gets a hit or a home run.

Relief comes when the Sox get up. I can relax a little. Nothing bad can happen when we are at bat, only good things like, hopefully, runs coming across the plate.

Now we are back to tension. The Sox got one in the 8th and are done. Pedro is coming back out. I don't know if that is such a good move. He gave up a homer in the 7th. Looked a little tired. I'd rather just go with Timmlan here. Tension starts. 2 more innings left (I hope!)

GO SOX!!

UPDATE:
I can't believe what I just watched. I just cant believe it. They left Pedro in in the 8th. He gave up three runs. Now it is a tie game going into the 9th. I just cant understand / believe it. Why didn't they bring in the closers. They just blew this game. I... just... cant.. believe it.

A friendly note to the folks at NESN: EVERYBODY IN RSN THAT FOLLOWED THE TEAM IN 03 KNEW WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED. WE DON'T NEED YOU TO TELL US 'WHAT IF?' BECAUSE WE ALREADY KNOW THE RED SOX WOULD HAVE WON THE SERIES. JESUS!

TIMLIN IN THE 8th. WILLIAMSON IN THE 9th, GRADY. TIMLIN in the 8th. WILLIAMSON in the MUTHER-FUCKING 9th. JEZUS! FUCK!

I remember somewhere during the extra-innings, I went to bed. The game was not over but I just knew in my gut The Sox were done and I could not stand to watch it. I tried to go to sleep but I couldn't and I tossed and turned in bed wondering what had happened. Finally at some point in the early morning I got up and put the TV on to try and find out. The first thing that came up when the TV came on were two anchor-people for ABC News, both of them wearing those shiny blue Yankees jackets and wearing big smiles. I just turned the TV back off.

Here's another excerpt from my '03 journal:

Title: They lost

Abstract: Loss in extra innings

Body: Well the Red Sox lost the game. They blew it. Thanks Grady. Way to go. They lost in extra innings. I am too disgusted to write more about it.

And finally:

Title: Aftermath

Abstract: Still feeling the pain

Body: Well it's been over a week now since game 7 and what will be forever known in Red Sox lore as 'The 8th inning'. I still find it mind-boggling what I witnessed. Unbelievable! However, I am not alone. Millions of people feel the same way. Grady will probably be fired (or whatever) this Monday. I still feel a dull kind of ache over it.

Watching the Pats beat the Dolphins in Miami (for the first time ever!) in overtime helped take the sting away though.

I guess the other good news is the Yankees are down 3 games to 2 in the World Series to the Florida Marlins. Another year hoping for the Yankees to lose.

See?

Remember?

Quit trying to stir us up with the bad old days NESN. We like being happy. As my Wife so eloquently put it, 'Didn't The Red Sox win the Series in 04?'

Yes. Yes, they did. Thank God.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

11 years of putting up with me...

Today is my 11 Year Wedding Anniversary.

Yup, thats right. My Wife has been putting up with all of my nonsense for 11 years.

She is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I am not just repeating some mushy Hallmark Card poem when I say that I feel like the luckiest guy in the world that she has chosen to be my Wife, and to share her life with me.

This afternoon I'm taking her out to Legal Seafoods at the Long Wharf in Boston and then we'll be taking a sunset Harbor Cruise.

Our lives are very hectic these days with the kids, work and all the projects that seem to always be going on around here. It will be nice to have some fun and spend some time celebrating our special day together.

Happy 11th Anniversary Sweetheart. I love you!

Friday, July 14, 2006

Sox / A's game 2: This is a joke, right?

Seeing that tonight's Sox / A's game was completely out of hand in the early innings, (Thanks for nothing Beckett. Yeah, I am pissed at you, fucker.), we decided to watch an episode of 'Miami Vice' and hope for things to look better when it was over.

Well, Crockett and Tubbs got the bad guys at the end, but when 'Vice' was over and we checked out the score in the Sox game, it was still completely out of hand and right now it's standing at 15 - 2 in the 8th.

This is not how I was hoping we'd be heading into the 2nd half of the season.

(Pats camp in 2 weeks people. 2 WEEKS. I'm gettin' all itchy and jittery thinking about it. FOOTBALL!!!)

Oh my god. 7-0??

I've been busy all night and I just now checked the Sox / A's score on the computer. The Sox are down 7 to nothing in the 5th??

What the hell?? What is the matter with these guys (Beckett! WTF!!)

I guess it's a good thing I have not been watching so far...

Extra inning losses make me sleepy...

I tried to stay up late and catch the final result of the extra inning game between the Red Sox and the A's last night, but I could not keep my eyelids open past 11:00 PM.

I managed to stay up just long enough to see Paplebon get the final out in the 10th. He was not his normal, 'lights out' self, but he got the job done, leaving the mound shaking his head.

Using the telekinetic link that exists between the TV set in my living room and Fenway Park, I let him know, 'It's alright dude, you got it done.'

With that I headed off to bed with my usual mantra of, 'well, they're just going to have to win it in my sleep,' but in the back of my mind, I did not have a good feeling about this one.

I awoke this morning and checked the score. I was disappointed but not really surprised to find that The Sox had lost, 5-4.

Julian Tavarez, (fucking Tavarez) gave up the winning runs in the 11th. I just don't know what to say about that guy. I don't like to bash players but I have no confidence in Tavarez when he comes into a game. When I see him coming out of the pen I just shake my head and say, 'here we go.."

It is not good when you are continually more surprised to see Tavarez get out of an inning unscathed than you are to see him give up home runs. There have been games where he's been lights out, but it seems like those moments are not as frequent as the times where he gets himself into winning-the-game-is-now-on-the-line jams.

I have a feeling that Tavarez's continued presence in our bullpen is going to bite The Sox in the ass at some point this season, and it's going to happen at some critical juncture, like the October time-frame... That would be bad. I'm hoping to see Theo work some magic and bring in somebody more confidence-inspiring for middle relief. We'll see.

For now, let's hope Beckett is solid right from the start in his outing vs. Zito tonight.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

I know style...

Quick back-story:

We have an old couch that is going to go in the basement. There is nothing wrong with it, other than the fact that, according to my Wife, it's the wrong color.

Me: "What's wrong with it? It looks fine to me."

Wife, rolling eyes: "IT DOESN'T MATCH!"

Me: "Doesn't match what? Everything down here is white. How can it not match?"

Wife: "It doesn't match because it's going to be up against a big green wall!"

Me: "Phht. Looks fine to me."

Wife: Rolls eyes.

There you have it. That's the back-story.

So my Wife has been on a quest to find a slip-cover for the couch that will match the Green Monster that I've painted in my basement. For you men out there, I know there's a lot of you bachelor-types who might not know this, but a slip cover is a fancy cover that fits on the couch and makes it look like it's got different upholstery. It's kind of different from the old sheet you might have used, or maybe are using right now... Women like this stuff. I don't know why. It's along the same lines as decorative pillows.

Anyway, The Wife is on a quest for a slip cover. Tonight we were sitting in the living room. I was watching the Sox / A's game, which is still in doubt as I write this, with the score tied 3-3, and my Wife was searching on the internets for slip-covers.

I glanced over at some of the pictures of the various styles she was looking at and asked, "Do they have any Patriots slip covers?"

"No."

"You didn't even look!"

"I don't need to look. I just know they don't have any."

"Gimme that thing," I said, grabbing the lap-top.

I fired up google and did a couple quick searches. Sadly, I had to concede to her. I was not able to find any cool Patriots slip-covers.

BUT

Look what I did find!

Dude! THAT THING IS AWESOME!!!

While I was searching for some Pats slip-covers, my Wife had gotten up to get herself a drink of water. She came back and asked in a smirky tone, 'Well, did you find any Patriots slip-covers?'

'Nope. Better!' I said, showing her the Patriots couch.

She was aghast.

'We need to get this,' I said. 'THAT THING IS AWESOME!!'

'We can't afford it.'

'Look! There's even a matching recliner!'

'We can't afford it.'

'How about as an anniversary present for you?'

'Oh, yeah. That's real romantic. Just what I want, a Patriots couch.'

I guess some women just don't know style + romance when they see it.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

New and interesting uses for a ShopVac

Earlier in the day, while putting a new roll of toilet paper on the dispenser, my Wife had somehow managed to flush the roller.

How do these things happen? I don't know.

I was getting ready for work when I heard an, 'OH MY GOD!' from the bathroom.

'Whah? What happened!?' I yelled back, thinking something was wrong.

'I DON'T BELIEVE IT!' was all I got back.

Now I was getting concerned. Just as I was getting up to see what was wrong, my wife emerged from the bathroom looking completely flabbergasted.

'Is everything ok??'

'Yesss. You're not going to believe it.'

'WHAT!'

'I flushed the roller for the toilet paper dispenser.'

'You what? How the hell did that happen?'

'Well don't get mad at me, it was not on purpose!'

'Well I know that, but what do you expect me to say?'

I had to leave for work and did not have time to deal with the problem right then. The toilet was still flushing and seemed to be ok, but I thought it was a little strange that the roller would go down that easily. I had a sneaky feeling the roller was just stuck in there and I was going to have to figure out a way to retrieve it, but for now the water was going down so I headed out to my paying job.

When I got home it became obvious that the roller was lodged in the toilet. The problem was, how was I going to get it out in the least disgusting way possible?

I did not have a lot of options.

I tried the plunger, that was not working, a wire, also not working and as a last resort, my hand (yeah, gross) which was, once again, not working.

Now what?

I washed my hands five or six times and got online to see what google could come up with. I typed in 'snake toilet', and google found this site, which contained the brilliant suggestion of using a ShopVac to recover the roller. Apparently, and, incredibly, my Wife is not the first person who managed to somehow accomplish the feat of flushing away the TP roller.

I got my ShopVac out of the basement and drained as much water as I could from the toilet. Then I stuck the nozzle in the hole and let er' rip. Thankfully, (mercifully) the roller was the only thing in there and after a few tries, I was able to get it out.

I never thought I'd be using my ShopVac to fix a toilet. I jokingly let my Wife know that she officially 'owes me one' for that little mishap.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring. I can only imagine...

Quick! Everybody look at the rain!

There's a big thunderstorm passing through the area and like a bunch of little kids, everyone around me here at work has jumped up from their chairs to go and look out the windows at the rain pouring down. It's just... so... exciting!

Now I find myself being curiously drawn to the window to gaze at nature's fury... Ooooo! Lightning! Ooooh! Thunder!!

Maybe we'll have a tornado! That would be awesome! (Actually, no, it woudn't.)

I worked in a cold, windowless cave for many years and I gotta say, having windows at work is cool.

Monday, July 10, 2006

When was the last time I posted?

When was the last time I posted? Last week or something? I can't remember. Dude, I am flat out all the time busy. Some day I'd like to spend a weekend just doing nothing but hanging out in the sun. Maybe when I'm too old to move I can get my son to come over here and help me with all this stuff.

Last weekend, with the help of my father-in-law, who has had to give up way too much of his life for this project, I got the closet doors installed and framed with trim in our basement, a soon to be finished room. Got some baseboard trim in too.

This week the guy from the oil company is going to come and finish up the heat and then we can get the rest of the baseboard trim in. That should be pretty easy. And we have one window and one door, a pocket door, to frame up with trim. Oh, and the cabinets and shelves. Sheesh.

I think then it will be finished and it will finally be Miller Time on this basement project for real.

A couple cool things happened to me over the past few days.

My baby daughter, who is 4 months old and is doing great, rolled over from her back onto her tummy. She's on the move now! Pretty soon she'll be crawling. What a joy she is.

My 'big kids', my daughter and son, who are 4 years old, have been doing really well too. They start summer-time camp and summer-time pre-school this week. They have been taking swimming lessons and they are really doing great at it. They swim like fish and really love the water.

I think I really have something in common with my older daughter. She seems to really like music. She is always coming up with her own tunes and songs. When I play my guitar she jumps around and dances. Plus she likes the Ramones. And Black Flag. And Social Distortion. Her fav is The Ramones.

That's good 'jump around music' she says.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Sox avoid embarassment, take the final game against the Rays...

My wife was watching some pre-hottie Natalie Portman / post-hottie Susan Sarandon chick flick so I was left to getting updates on tonight's Sox game via the computer.

I watched with mounting consternation as the Sox seemingly comfortable 4 run lead over the Rays continued to shrink as the innings wore on, going from 4 runs down to 1 run as we hit the top of the 9th.

If the Sox blew this one, it would not have gone over well.

The movie ended and I clicked over to the Sox game just in time to see a bunch of the good guys rounding the bases in the top of the 9th inning. Suddenly the lead was back to being comfortable again and I could relax.

The Sox bats finally woke up, (and for Wake! There's a pun in there somewhere..) and they avoided the sweep.

On to Chi-town...

(Oh. And it's 3 weeks 'till The Pats training camp starts. Just in case you were wondering...)

Starting over...

I've done a pretty poor job of getting back on track with my daily exercise routine. I've managed to get up and get outside only one day each week since I started again, but I just kept telling myself to keep trying and to start over the next day.

Well this week I've actually managed to get my tired self out of bed to go outside and exercise for two days in a row! Woo! I'm on a roll now. This morning I even ran instead of walking! Well, I jogged. Whatever. It was faster than walking.

I'd rather just walk, because I hate running, but I need to kick things into a higher gear with this whole losing weight thing.

I'm also back on the 'looking for people to jam with' list. This is a subject that I have found difficult to get my thoughts together on. I've actually tried to write a post about this several times but my thoughts surrounding the whole series of events are kind of mixed up and jumbled.

It turns out my latest stint playing with the band I was briefly in just did not work out. I thought that things were going well but I missed a practice one week so that I could install the floor in my basement and the band leader got all pissed off about it, to the point where he could not even respond to e-mails for over a week. I thought that his reaction was a bit over the top and ridiculous, and it really annoyed me that he was so angry about my not being able to make practice that one week.

Practices were on Sunday afternoons and I had told them right from the start that there would be times when I would not be able to come if there was something going on with my family or work that needed to be done at home. Everyone in the band seemed cool with that, until it actually happened, that is.

I was going to try and just blow the whole thing off but the issue with my missing practice did not go away and I decided that it was not in the best interest of either myself of the band to continue with them. I realized that I was not going to be able to give them the kind of commitment that they were going to need to accomplish their goals and from an irrational, emotional standpoint, the fact that the band leader was so pissed off at me made me even more pissed off at him and the whole situation. I thought it was asinine and it got to the point where I just did not want to deal with it. I was in this for fun, not a hassle.

I thought about trying to keep going with the band and see if things would work out, but my gut was telling me that it was not going to happen. I was at the point where I had become so annoyed with the whole situation that I would not have been able to let it go myself, so I told them thanks, it was fun and wished them luck. I realize I was probably being a little bit irrational about the whole thing, but sometimes you just have to listen to your gut. Most of the time, your gut is right and your head is wrong.

So now I'm back hoping to someday find some people I can just jam with and not have to worry about learning songs that I don't really like as fast as I can. I'll probably put another post up on Craigslist after my basement is finished and I have a cool place of my own to do some jamming.

Every time I do this whole band thing I learn a little more. I've been playing my guitar for a while now but I have not been in a lot of bands. I'm basically a newbie at this whole thing. I did not think it would be so hard to find people in common to just hang out and jam with. I'm sure my time constraints and grown-up responsibilities do not help the process. I'll just keep at it. Next time I will be a little more strict too, NO Beatles tunes.

Bitch, Bitch, Bitch...

Pet Peeves:

- When guys walk around the office wearing just their socks, or worse, in their bare fucking feet. What the fuck dude? This is work, not your fucking living room at home. Put your god-damn muther-fucking shoes on. I don't want to look at your stinky, overgrown toenail havin', crusty-skinned feet. Hygiene alert! Sheesh...

- The Red Sox losing 3 out of 4 to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Notice I said, '3 out of 4', because losing tonight's game is not an option. The Sox are getting the win tonight and that's it. Getting swept by The Rays is simply not going to happen. Not. Gonna. Happen. End of discussion.

- Bitchy people. Oh wait. That would be me right now.. Never mind.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Happy 230th Birthday U.S.A.

I'd like to wish a Happy 4th of July to everybody that stops by here today. Hope you have an enjoyable and safe holiday.

The Declaration of Independence

My thanks go out to those that originally forged this document and to those that still defend it today.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

I hate restrictor plate racing...

6 laps to go in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona and of course, there's a huge wreck. Of course!

This is why I hate restrictor plate races. Yes, they are exciting, but come on. This happens every fucking time. Less than 10 to go and there's always, always a wreck. It's ridiculous.

Greg Biffle got loose and took out a bunch of cars, including Mark Martin (of course!), Bobby LaBonte, Jeff Gordon, I don't even know who else. What the fuck dude. What the fuck!

Tony Stewart wins the race. Better him than either one of the Bush brothers (=dickheads).

Bobby LaBonte was funny in the interview after he got wrecked. They were asking him how he felt about getting wrecked and then cut away to something else. When they came back to LaBonte, they asked him the exact same question. His reaction: Well I'm still just as disappointed as when you initially asked me that question.. just a few moments ago.

Bobby LaBonte is awesome.

Wakefield 1-5-0

Congrats to Tim Wakefield for career victory 150 today. Congrats to Manny for his 2,000th hit. Of course, with all these milestones, is seemed inevitable that one had to end, and Boston's streak of error free games ended at 17 games. I was bummed out to see the streak end, but it had to happen eventually.

I actually sat and watched some of the game with my Dad today, which was pretty cool. My Dad knows absolutely zip about baseball. I mean zilch. Nothing. He does not even know how to tell what the score of the game is. He does not know that there is an away and a home half to every inning...

I'm not trying to rag on him or anything, I'm just trying to get across how little the man knows about baseball. See, that's why I think it's cool that I watched some baseball with my Dad today. I explained how to understand the score (runs, hits, errors), I explained how the innings work, how to know wether it's a ball or a strike, and what's generally going on in the game. It was kinda weird too, because explaining baseball, for most people anyway, is normally the Dad's job, but it was still cool.

Maybe I'll get him to Fenway Park someday. We'll probably have to start with a Worcester Tornadoes game and work our way up.

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